Breadcrumb Week 35

How far along: 35 weeks! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up 21 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight as of 7/3 

Symptoms:

• food aversions, but those have gotten less severe as the pregnancy has progressed. Still not the biggest fan of meat, but I'll eat chicken and beef pretty regularly. 
• tiredness exhaustion 
• loss of sex drive
• constipation
• getting winded easier
• super vibrant dreams  
• heartburn / acid reflux - This used to occur only at night, but it's been bothering me throughout the day as well now. 
• I've officially had to go up a size in underwear. 
• Gravity is my enemy - getting up from sitting to standing is painful and trying to roll over / get out of bed is an Olympic event.
• I'm starting to realize what my limits are. I can run one or two errands, but I tire out pretty fast. 
• Gestational Diabetes 
• General aches and pains. Hello third trimester! 
• Increased discharge
• Charlie Horse cramps

Maternity clothes: All day, every day. I keep saying I need to find bigger shirts since most of mine are too short now, but I feel silly buying more clothes with only a few weeks left. 

Stretch marks: Yep, I've got 'em. Thankfully the few that I have are all on the underside of my belly and so far haven't gotten darker or multiplied yet.  

Sleep: I have my good nights and my bad nights. I realized this weekend that I've been relying on my pregnancy pillow more than I thought. K wanted to take it away for a night so we could cuddle and I slept horribly. I still get my best sleep between 5-8 am when I have the entire bed to myself. 

Best moment last week: My family came down for the 4th of July weekend. Living so far away from my family, I haven't had the opportunity to really sit down and show them what we've accomplished with getting ready for baby. I finally got to show off the nursery (which they loved,) and everyone oo'd and ahh'd over the tiny baby things. My mom expressed interest in washing all of the tiny baby clothes, so I saved them all for her. We washed, sorted and hung them all while talking about pregnancy and raising a child, something I haven't been able to do yet! I miss living near my mom all the time, but especially during big events like our wedding and this pregnancy. My parents are going to be wonderful grandparents and my sister is going to be an amazing aunt. Breadcrumb is so lucky! 

My mom, sister and I also went to pick up some last minute baby items. We finally settled on a crib mattress and picked up things like a breastfeeding pillow and washcloths. We're pretty much ready for Breadcrumb to come whenever he wants to! 

Movement: Movements are still big sweeps of a leg or arm across my stomach. I can also feel the hardness of his butt or back on my right side. I can feel hiccups in my pubic bone or right hip every day.

Food cravings: Water. I can't get enough! 

Gender: Our little man!

Labor signs: I've been feeling a lot of pressure "down low" as well as a general soreness in the belly region. Contractions are occurring more often, but no real pattern to them. 

Belly button? The top half of my belly button is totally flat, but the bottom half still has a bit to go. I can see my belly button totally flattening out by the end of pregnancy, not sure if I'll have an outie. 

What I miss: I want a fountain Coke, alfredo, and a chocolate cupcake after delivery.    

What I am looking forward to: I've started weekly appointments, and my next one is on Wednesday, 7/9. We also have a baby shower thrown by my coworkers on 7/12. 

Baby Buys: My mom, sister and I went shopping for some last minute things. We picked up a crib mattress, breastfeeding pillow, baby bath tub, and little things like breast pads, washcloths, breast milk storage bags, and more. Just the small things that no one has gifted us yet that we needed. 

Milestones: We hit 35 weeks which means just 35 (well technically 34 at point of publishing) days until the due date! Of course, he could come any day now, but it's strange to think we have just over a month until the due date! 

We also installed the car seat in my car. I told my mom it feels like a bigger milestone than getting the crib because it's an outwards sign that we're having a baby. People will see the car seat and expect to see a baby soon. We've had the crib for months, but it hasn't felt like such a big deal because only K and I have seen it. 

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We had an ultrasound and appointment on 7/3 to check on Breadcrumb's size and how he's doing. We found out he's already 5 pounds, 9 ounces! (the pregnancy websites estimate babies around 4 3/4 pounds by week 34, and about 5 1/4 by week 35.) My doctor was surprised by his weight, but didn't say anything about it being a complication or due to the gestational diabetes. She wants me to start coming in weekly (which I believe my clinic does by week 36 anyways,) to monitor Breadcrumb's weight. K and I know that ultrasounds are used just to guesstimate the size of a baby, so we're not too worried about things right now, but I am happy for the close monitoring, just in case. 

Things are getting super squished in there, so we didn't get any good pictures, but the ultrasound tech did point out that he already has hair! We also got to see his little chest rise and fall while he practiced breathing. 

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Lately, I've been feeling somewhat stressed about the fact that Breadcrumb could really come any day now. While I know *logically* that all a baby needs is food, something to keep him warm, somewhere to sleep, and his parent's love, and I know *logically* that we have everything we really "need" for when he comes home, I'm still worried that we don't have everything. We have diapers (both cloth and a small pack of disposables for when he first comes home,) we have tiny clothes that might actually be too small for him! We have a car seat, and hopefully I'll be able to breastfeed, but we also have a small thing of formula that was randomly sent to us, just in case. We have all the necessities, but I'm still worried. I think it's a mix of first time mom worries and a bit of allowing myself to buy into the idea that babies need so much. 

It also doesn't help that the nursery is still not 100% put together. Again, we have all the big items, but it's not organized well. I also haven't fully packed our bags which makes me nervous. I know that if I just sit down and do these things, I'll feel so much better, but part of me is also afraid of packing the "wrong" things. Again, I know logically that once I'm pushing the baby out, what I brought / didn't bring won't matter, but it's that new mom worry! 

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Our friends had their twin baby girls on the 4th of July! The mom had to be admitted to the hospital after the babies' growth had slowed down and she had protein in her urine. She was almost 36 weeks which is amazing for twins and the twins came out at 6 and 5 pounds (I don't remember how many ounces.) They went through IVF and I told her that I couldn't imagine a more perfect birthday for the girls as the 4th of July. Your birthday doesn't get much more special than fireworks!  

It really solidified the idea that Breadcrumb could come at any moment. I know that twins (usually) come weeks before their due dates, but if forced me to see how close to our due date we really are!

Keegan and I also had some fun with sparklers this weekend

I wanted to write Breadcrumb's name, but we haven't decided on it yet... He may be nameless coming home from the hospital!