38 Week Update

Whoops! Idk why this didn't post (or did it??) but I have another pic to add at the bottom (taken Monday) anyway. Hereeee we go.

How far along: 38 weeks and 6 days. OMG. I cannot freaking believe we're a day away from 39 weeks. 8 days till our due date??? How did this happen??

Size of baby:   A leek or A FREAKING PUMPKIN. At least it's fitting... start of fall and all... Average = ~6.2-9.2 lbs, 18-21" long. 

Our 20 week ultrasound had placed him/her in the 97th percentile for size (!!!!) buuuut our 32 week ultrasound's guesstimate was in the 65-75th percentile range. Yes please!

Physical symptoms: I waddle. 9000 degrees overheated. Braxton Hicks contractions up the wazoo, throughout the day, most days. Hemorrhoids. Groin is generally better except for sometimes in the morning. Cervix gets stabbing pains sometimes. Heartburn every couple of days. Restless legs are back but easily solved with a hot shower. REALLY sore back and REALLY grotesquely swollen feet. I spent most of Sunday lounging around and the swelling went down a bit but over Rosh Hashana and Shabbos we were walking like 2-4 miles per day, so by Saturday evening my feet were enormous and crazy painful.

Thursday night we were walking home from some friends' house and I was getting reallllly painful contractions. We had to stop a lot. Really thought it was going to happen that night, but it stopped overnight though.

Weight gain/loss: Ugh. Rosh Hashana killed me. Too much eating. I'm up 36lbs. I don't even know.

Maternity clothes: While I've been home during the week I'm mostly in PJs all day. Just a sports bra and pj pants when I can get away with it, actually. Sexy! Haha. But when I make public appearances, it's the same old story- maternity shirts, a denim maternity skirt, normal elastic waist skirts still fit. Maternity/nursing bras and like sort of sports bra type things or tank tops with shelf bras. Maternity things are getting tight and short. My new maternity dress that I'd been saving for Rosh Hashana makes me look huge. And I had to wear real stockings with it because it's knee-length (I've been wearing longer skirts with knee highs). But at least my normal stockings still somehow fit!

Stretch marks: Still just on my right side but they got a little bit bigger. Boo.

Sleep: On and off but not terrible. Not sleeping for long periods of time- more like a series of naps. If I miss my sleep window of opportunity then the restless legs start up, hardcore. 

Best moment since last week: Rosh Hashana was from Wednesday night until Friday night, and went straight into Shabbos. We saw a lottttt of friends at different meals (we celebrate with a big meal at night and a big lunch every day, with 6 meals in all because of Shabbos thrown in there). So there was a LOT of good food (hence my lovely weight gain) and a LOT of walking and a LOT of socializing.

Movement: You can really see where his/her tush or feet are at most times. Definitely which side of my belly s/he is on. Moving around a lot, actually. The troops are getting restless.

Cravings/aversions: I haven't had super strong ones... milkshakes and pizza I guess, haha. Nothing overriding though.
I ate meat and chicken on RH and Shabbos, but because I felt like I should for the kid's sake. ;) 

Gender: Confirmed!! We're keeping it a secret...

Labor signs: Lotsss of Braxton Hicks contractions... Like I said, they were realllly intense on Thursday night and actually again on Saturday night but not as bad as Thursday night. We have a Dr appt today so we'll see how that goes (I'll try to remember to post an update!!). 
UPDATE! Nothing exciting, but the Dr said I'm 50% effaced. Not at all dilated. C'mon babyyyy.

Aaand I'm overall enormous:

OMG and nestinggggg. I HARDCORE cleaned the bathroom tonight (something E *always* is in charge of) and Tuesday I made these: 

They're apple cupcakes... In no way healthy. They just look like apples for Rosh Hashanah because it's a tradition to have apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year. We gave some of them to our dinner/lunch hosts but there's still a bunch left in the house and they're definitely contributing to the weight gain department. Womp Womp Womp.

Belly button: Still an innie but really pushing it's limits and the skin around it is still really sore.

What I miss: Beer, actually. And laying on my stomach. Just having that option. Sushi, I guess.

What I am looking forward to: Getting this kid out of me. No, but really. For serious.

And that one last pic (clearly feeling thrilled to head to our doctor appointment!!):

37 Week Update (FULL TERM!?!?!?!)

How far along: 37 weeks 6 days. 6 days past "full term". Holy Moly.  

Size of baby:   Swiss chard or winter melon. Not helpful. Average = ~6.2-9.2 lbs, 18-21" long. 

Our 20 week ultrasound had placed him/her in the 97th percentile for size (!!!!) buuuut our 32 week ultrasound's guesstimate was in the 65-75th percentile range. Yes please!

Physical symptoms: Super nauseous occasionally. Strong gag reflex to smells is back. Exhaustedddd. Doctor said my cerix is still closed but that the baby is still head down and "very low". Sometimes the baby is in an extra low position and it's hard to walk. I waddle. I think I've figured out that my panic attacks happen when I have coffee. Not all caffeine, just specifically coffee. Awesome. 9000 degrees overheated. Braxton Hicks contractions up the wazoo, throughout the day, every day. On Friday in the cab ride home from my doctor I was like doubled over in pain from them. Cute? Hemorrhoids. I pee every 15-20 minutes sometimes and am dying of thirst right after. Allergies are super bad. Nipples leaked again on Saturday I'm still freaked out by it but not as bad as I was a few weeks ago. Groin is generally better except for sometimes in the morning. Cervix gets stabbing pains sometimes. Heartburnnnn. Restless legs are back but easily solved with a hot shower. 

I'm a bundle of joy. But!!! I can generally eat normally and I'm kind of in a generally pleasant mood and I'm happier, physically, than I have been for months. I keep telling people this has physically been the easiest two weeks of the whole pregnancy and I really don't think that's a lie. It's really hard to walk and move but I'm generally not nauseous or puking or unable to sleep for days on end... 

Weight gain/loss: Haven't checked in a few days but then it was 30-31lbs. :( 

Maternity clothes: While I've been home during the week I'm mostly in PJs all day. Just a sports bra and pj pants when I can get away with it, actually. Sexy! Haha. But when I make public appearances, it's the same old story- maternity shirts, a denim maternity skirt, and normal elastic waist skirts still fit. Maternity/nursing bras and like sort of sports bra type things or tank tops with shelf bras. Maternity things are getting tight and short.

Stretch marks: Wah! My two tiny dots on the right side have grown! I think it's bc I mostly sleep on my left side, so my belly is sort of pulled to the left for long periods of time. Big bummer. 

Sleep: On and off but not terrible. Once I'm up, I'm Up for the day. If I miss my sleep window of opportunity then the restless legs start up. 

Best moment since last week: Whew! Busy week! Tuesday evening I got "coffee" with a friend (she got coffee, I got a chocolate frappe- it was pretty gross actually). Wednesday E and I it dinner with his dad at a favorite restaurant. We got mushroom burgers and fish tacos and something else super good but I can't remember. Then E and I got milkshakes on the way home. Then we grabbed my 2 garbage bags full of clothes to donate and walked them over to a friend so she could go through them and donate whatever she doesn't want. She lives pretty far and te restaurant had been about a 20min walk from the subway each way so i was pooped and we took a break on a bench on the way home. Another friend walked by as we were sitting there (near her house) and got excited she'd bumped into us bc she had two brand new pairs of shoes in E's size that she wanted to know of we'd buy off of her bc her husband had ordered them and didn't want them. E wears a size 16-18 depending on the shoe so he jumped at the opportunity and scored a free pair of flip flops and a super discounted pair of steel-toed boots for winter. He's a happy camper! Thursday night I went back to that fried's house for her birthday party. We painted tambourines (a Jewish/chasidic custom)- here's mine with a shofar on it for Rosh Hashana: 

Shabbos was fun, and then Saturday night E had a get together of a bunch of guys from our community before slichos. The Saturday night before Rosh hashana there's a custom to say some specific prayers after midnight, so guys in our community tend to have a "farbrengen", or get-together, beforehand to kind of keep each other awake and psych themselves up for it a little. We had some snacky foods for the guys and I made mint brownies which were a hit. And yesterday I got my hair done. 

 

Movement: S/he still gets the hiccups a lot. And I can usually tell exactly where s/he is in my belly. Been stretching his/her legs out to right by my sternum a few times a day and his/her head pushes even further down than it generally is and sometimes you can like "see" where his/her tush or feet are. So crazy. Totally kills when my ribs get kicked. 

Cravings/aversions: I haven't had super strong ones, but little cravings here and there for eggs & cheese on a bagel, a milkshake, and cookies... Etc. Nothing overriding though.
I ate meat and chicken on Shabbos, but because I felt like I should for the kid's sake. ;) 

Gender: Confirmed!! We're keeping it a secret... But every single person who's shared their prediction has said the same thing. Literally not one person has said the other gender. So crazy. Although I think I unintentionally threw a bunch of people off at the birthday party on Thursday. 

Labor signs: Lotsss of Braxton Hicks contractions... And I guess that stabbing pain in my cervix counts. And the head is super low. And, and, and. Labor can't come soon enough at this point!

Belly button: Still and innie but really pushing it's limits and the skin around it is really sore.

What I miss: Alcoholic beverages. And sleep. Sushi. 

What I am looking forward to: Getting this kid out of me. No, but really. For serious.

Also, Rosh Hashana!

Bump shot (and new hair!!).. I'm more enormous in real life:

36 Week Update

How far along: 36 weeks 6 days. "Full term" as of tomorrow. I. Can't. Even. 

Size of baby:  A bowling ball or honeydew melon or romaine lettuce. Average still = ~4.2-6.5 lbs, 17-20" long. Our 20 week ultrasound had placed him/her in the 97th percentile for size (!!!!) buuuut our 32 week ultrasound's guesstimate was in the 65-75th percentile range. Yes please!

Physical symptoms: Fainted for a sec in the doctor's bathroom. I knew it was coming and sat on the toilet seat cover and leaned against the wall. Really wasn't feeling well before then- cab ride was really rough and I got super nauseous. And the internal exam really hurt and the office was really hot and I was dehydrated an hadn't slept. Sooo that was a whole slew of a combination of factors. Doctor said my cerix is closed but that the baby is head down and "very low". All he said was that I wouldn't go into labor that night (Friday). What?? K so Back pain, and sometimes the baby is in an extra low position and it's hard to walk. I waddle in general. Emotional- mini panic attacks pretty much every day.  Braxton Hicks contractions up the wazoo, throughout the day, every day. Hemorrhoids. But bc the baby dropped I can actually breathe most of the time now and I CAN EAT!! Before I'd eat a few bites of something and need to lay down to digest or be writhing in pain from there being no room- now I can eat a whole meal!!! Dangerous. I'm def exhausted and pee every 10 minutes. Boobs hurt a lottt. Thankfully my groin muscles and cervix hurt a little less!! 

Weight gain/loss: Haven't checked sice Friday but then I was up 28.5 lbs. Boo.

Maternity clothes: While I've been home during the week I'm mostly in PJs all day, haha. Sexy. But when I make my limited public appearances, it's the same old story- mostly maternity shirts, a denim maternity skirt, and normal elastic waist skirts still fit. Maternity/nursing bras and like sort of sports bra type things. Things are getting tight and short. 

Stretch marks: I still have like two tiny dots between my belly and hips on both sides.

Sleep: On the nights when E is home I'm pretty okay, but the other nights I think my anxiety is sabotaging me. Getting veryyyy nervous/excited/emotional/petrified about this birthing process. 

Best moment since last week: The apartment and nursery are slowing becoming under control. The apartment is kinda filthy bc I'm spending all my energy on organizing, but, errr, it's getting there. One of my besties is in town for the next 3 weeks, so that's exciting. Had a girls night dinner last night with her and 2 other friends. Got to see a bunch of pictures of a friend in Brazil's baby. She got married to one of E's besties about 7 mos after us and they just had their first baby about 3 mos ago. He's seriously gorgeous. Also got dinner with E and E's dad and E's uncle on Wednesday night. Whew. 

 

Movement: S/he still gets the hiccups a lot. And I can usually tell exactly where s/he is in my belly. Been stretching his/her legs out to right by my sternum a few times a day and his/her head pushes even further down than it generally is and sometimes you can like "see" where his/her tush or feet are. So crazy. Totally kills when my ribs get kicked. 

Cravings/aversions: I haven't had super strong ones, but little cravings here and there for Parmesan, Lobster (yeah idk), balsalmic vinegar dressing, eggs & cheese on a bagel, a milkshake... Etc. Nothing overriding though.
Back to hating on meat, chicken majorly grosses me out. 

Gender: Confirmed!! We're keeping it a secret... But every single person who's shared their prediction has said the same thing. Literally not one person has said the other gender. So crazy. 

Labor signs: Lotsss of Braxton Hicks contractions... And I guess that stabbing pain in my cervix counts. And the head is super low. And, and, and. Labor can't come soon enough at this point!

Belly button: Still and innie but really pushing it's limits and the skin around it is really sore. 

What I miss: Alcoholic beverages. And sleep. Sushi. 

What I am looking forward to: Getting this kid out of me. No, but really. For serious.

Also supposed to get ice cream wth a friend this week and E's dad will be back in town Wednesday night so we'll get dinner with him again. 

Aaaand a bump shot:

Nightstand Makeover

Anyone else remember when Young House Love had an article in their book "One Nightstand, Two Ways", about a single piece of furniture that they made over in a couple of different ways? And none of them or their editors picked up on the sexual inuendo in the title? Was it two ways or three ways? Whatever. "Three ways" would've been even better. Anway, THAT happened.

Last time we saw this nightstand, E and I had just tried to DIY some new handles holes and it turned into an epic disaster but eventually ended up alright. Well, now this happened: 

Idk what's going on with the photo quality lately guys, I'm sorry!

Here was my process, in photos (I used frog tape and Martha Stewart craft paint):

And here's a shot from farther away:

It still needs some touch-ups and a coat or two of a sealer or whatever it's called but E is super excited about it and I'm pretty pleased with myself, haha. 

Also, it's 2:15am and I can't sleep and we had a dr appt in the morning and I'm craving, separately: Parmesan, lobster, and balsalmic vinegar and oil to dip fancy bread in. This is clearly one classy kid. 

35 Week Update

Holy freaking crap we're 36 weeks tomorrow?! 

How far along: 35 weeks 6 days (4 weeks to go as of tomorrow... OMFG. 1 month from our due date as of yesterday. I can't even.)

Size of baby:  Average = ~4.2-6 lbs, 17-20" long, or the size of a coconut, cantaloupe or butternut squash! Our 20 week ultrasound had placed him/her in the 97th percentile for size (!!!!) buuuut our 32 week ultrasound's guesstimate was in the 65-75th percentile range. Yes please!

Physical symptoms: I think I made it all week without a dizzy spell until tonight! I've been camping out in the A/C all week. Back pain, especially after painting the trim in the baby's room. Emotional. Braxton Hicks contractions up the wazoo, throughout the day every day. Definitely waddling. Hemorrhoids. But my nipples stopped leaking! I can like barely breathe no matter what position I'm in, which is super fun. And I'm exhausted and pee every 10 minutes. Loving this stage. Oh and my like groin muscles are KILLING me, it's really hard to stand up, etc bc of it and I had like stabbing pain near my cervix a couple of times (internet research says this is from it getting ready to dilate?). 

Weight gain/loss: This morning I was up 28lbs, boooo.

Maternity clothes: While I've been home during the week I'm mostly in PJs all day, haha. Sexy. But when I make my limited public appearances, it's the same old story- mostly maternity shirts, a denim maternity skirt, and normal elastic waist skirts still fit. Maternity/nursing bras and like sort of sports bra type things.

Stretch marks: I have like two tiny dots between my belly and hips on both sides.

Sleep: I think my anxiety has been getting the best of me. Lots of trouble sleeping. Some restless legs. Some having to pee 100x before I fall asleep. Some dying of thirst, then immediately having to pee. Some insatiable hunger, lol. Some totally no reason. 

Best moment since last week: This week was INSANE bc E started his 3 rd year of grad school. Full time school on top of full time work. Yep, this is gonna be awesome. #3moreyears. But we got the crib, assembled it, started painting the nursery, and a bunch of other stuff we ordered with our 15% off registry code came this week too so our apartment is covered in boxes and $#!+ is getting real. Also, I'm straight up addicted to buying crazy cheap baby clothes on eBay so there are a million packages coming every few days. And our favorite family to go to for Shabbos are back in town after going away for the summer so we got to see them this weekend. Oh AND we got lunch with some of our besties on Tuesday. Whew! Seriously crazy week.

Oh! And add pumpkin cream cheese muffins to the cravings list too, which resulted in.... These:

I baked them last night during some anxiety-induced (dangerous word around here!) insomnia. E already ate like 6. I added chocolate chips to some. I'll post the recipe when I get a chance (writing this from my phone!)!
 

Movement: S/he still gets the hiccups a lot. And I can usually tell exactly where s/he is in my belly... today the right side was really squishy and the left side was really hard/full. Been stretching his/her legs out to right by my sternum a few times a day and sometimes you can like "see" where his/her tush is. So crazy. 

Cravings/aversions: I haven't had super strong ones, but little cravings here and there for Parmesan, Shirley temples, and milkshakes. Coffee.
Back to hating on meat, chicken still grosses me out except that I craved sesame chicken with mashed potatoes again one night this week. 

Gender: Confirmed!! But we're keeping it a secret...

Labor signs: Lotsss of Braxton Hicks contractions... And I guess that stabbing pain in my cervix counts, lol. 

Belly button: Still and innie but really pushing it's limits and the skin around it is sore. 

What I miss: I'd still love love love like an extra 2 feet worth of internal body space.

And alcoholic beverages. And sleep. Sleep's a big huge one. 

What I am looking forward to: Getting this kid out of me. No, but really. For serious. 

Clearly Nesting

Welp, here's a post for the second day in a row, and hopefully there'll be a weekly update tomorrow morning which is some kind of record. 

Clearly, I'm nesting. Today we bought a gallon of paint, I painted almost all of the trim in the room, and we attempted to plug the holes in the guest nightstand and drill new ones to fit the handles I bought for it like 2+ years ago. I say "attempted" because... We're apparently pretty useless in the handyman DIY realm. We bought the wrong kind of putty, maybe, and then we broke multiple drill bits tryin the make new holes, and the whole thing turned into a much longer and complicated ordeal than we'd banked on. But, it's mostly done and it's definitely not perfect but it's got character. Or something. Here are some photos, I'll add a finished product one when I eventually finish it (I think it just needs a little paint?).

Here are our plugged holes:

Next, I had this brilliant idea to mark where the new holes needed to go with charcoal:

But that didn't work so well. Oh well. Then we broke not one, but two drill bits:

And that's when E went all MacGyver on it. You can see the first handle installed in the background. It's a little crooked but the bottom one is much better and I think I'm the only person who'll ever notice. 

I can't remember if I posted this last night, but we built the crib!! Here is is in progress: 

E was super excited and cute the whole time. :) I was a stress ball and probably incredibly unpleasant. But I maybe made up for it a little by making a bunch of painting progress tonight while E isn't home! I painted all of the trim and edging all around the room. Well, around like 85% of the room because I couldn't move the trundle bed by myself. But whatever, here's the progress shot:

Maybe I'll actually get you some finished product shots soon! For now, I'm pooped. 

Furbishing!!!

We have the nursery paint color picked!! Finally! 4.5 weeks from our due date! Haha.... Whoops. 

These were the three we eventually narrowed it down to:

Here are the samples painted on the wall:

Please excuse the cruddy photo quality!!! In the end we're going with Misted Green by Benjamin Moore. Whew! Quiet Moments was too light and I was really pulling for Beach Glass but in some lights durin the day it's just a little too baby blue and I was really trying to avoid any baby-like colors. And definitely not baby blue bc I want this room to be gender neutral. I've never been much of a pink fan, so we always knew if we had a daughter there wouldn't be a pink-overload nursery or anything. I think this'll work for either gender (we know what we're having but are leaving room for surprises and hopefully future children!).

Feels good to have this decision made. Tonight we're setting up the crib(!!!) and we also just placed the hanging pad on the desk. With a little box of diapers and diaper cream, etc next to it. Crazy!! This is getting real... 

34 Week Update

Happy Labor Day!  Hopefully there won't be any actual labor today, because there's a huge parade in my neighborhood and it's pretty close to impossible to get out of here. I'd be headed to the hospital via ambulance, I think...

Also, does anyone know what happened to My Prairie Abode? Her blog was a favorite of mine and she's since made it private and I'm, like, genuinely worried that something happened but reallllllllly hope that's not the case. Hopefully it's just my previously-infertile-paranoia. Hope she and the baby are doing super well...

Erm, anyway...

How far along: 34 weeks 6 days (5 weeks to go as of tomorrow... OMFG.)

Size of baby:  Average = ~4.2-5.8 lbs, 17-20" long, or the size of a cantaloupe or butternut squash! Our 20 week ultrasound had placed him/her in the 97th percentile for size (!!!!) buuuut our 32 week ultrasound's guesstimate was in the 65-75th percentile range. Yes please!

Physical symptoms: Dizzy spells, but less than last week- but that's because I've been camping out in the A/C all week. Back pain, especially while standing for more than 30 seconds. VERY emotional. Braxton Hicks contractions up the wazoo since Friday night. Definitely waddling. Oh, and, for the epic TMI portion of this week, I have hemorrhoids now andddd my nipples started leaking Saturday night. Which spawned the most epic emotional breakdown of my entire life. I just wasn't ready for it to happen yet. Poor, poor E, dealing with all of these tears.... Oh and I can like barely breathe no matter what position I'm in, which is super fun.

Weight gain/loss: Eeek I'm actually not sure. On Friday I was still up 26lbs but I haven't weighed myself since then, so.... let's just go with that.

Maternity clothes: While I've been home during the week I'm mostly in PJs all day, haha. Sexy. But when I make my limited public appearances, it's the same old story- mostly maternity shirts, a denim maternity skirt, elastic waist skirts still fit. Maternity dresses or old non-maternity empire waist maxi dresses. Maternity/nursing bras and like sort of sports bra type things.

Stretch marks: None yet!

Sleep: A little bit better! I've been getting crazy exhausted so as long as I lay down in my "window of opportunity" then I'm out. But i have a little bit of restless legs beforehard or even just while sitting sometimes. I also wake up pretty often, occasionally to pee, but I have generally been able to fall back asleep after. If I miss my window, though, it's all over for hours and hours.

Best moment since last week: Our Doctor appt on Friday went well... and Shabbos was nice.... we went to friends for the friday night meal and another friend was visiting from Israel and he stayed with us for Shabbos and 3 of his friends came to us for lunch on Saturday. He made a lot of the food for it, actually, all I did was make pesto salmon and salad. Which was great. I actually peaced out from lunch for like 30+ minutes and took a nap. Haha. Shabbos meals last for hoursss.
 

Movement: S/he has been a litttttle bit quieter, but still gets the hiccups a lot. And I can usually tell exactly where s/he is in my belly... today the right side was really squishy and the left side was really hard/full

Cravings/aversions: I haven't had super strong ones, but little cravings here and there for Parmesan, root beer, Shirley temples, and soft serve. 
Back to hating on meat, chicken still grosses me out.

Gender: Confirmed!! But we're keeping it a secret...

Labor signs: Lotsss of Braxton Hicks contractions...

Belly button:  Shallow innie, but the top is kiiiinda starting to poke out a little after I eat or take a deep breath.

What I miss: I'd still love love love like an extra 2 feet worth of internal body space.

And alcoholic beverages.

What I am looking forward to: Getting this kid out of me. No, but really.