Oof. The last couple weeks have been really rough, but mostly not for pregnancy reasons.
Ben got diagnosed with epilepsy and had a hard time adjusting to the medicine. I’ve been feeling sick and exhausted. Jack and I both ended up taking the full week after Thanksgiving off of work to recover. It’s been a lot to deal with. I’ve written a lot about it, and I’ll post those thoughts one day – hopefully with the addition of some future perspective – but for now I really like having everything here be pretty pregnancy-related.
For now, suffice it to say that it was not the Thanksgiving weekend we had in mind, but everyone on our end is doing fine and we’re mostly on the other side of the rough patch.
Previous Updates
I’m Pregnant! + The First Trimester
At 33 weeks pregnant, baby girl was supposedly the size of a cantaloupe. At 34 weeks, a honeydew.
Symptoms
For most of week 33, I was not very hungry at all. I ate when reminded and that was pretty much it. My appetite came back for the past week, which has been nice, but I am feeling kind of bored by food.
I’m taking a lot of senna and magnesium and occasional aloe water.
My sciatica has been mostly gone the last few weeks until a couple nights ago.
Sometimes I get a fairly awful cramp in my right side. I think this might be round ligament pain? Do I need a belly band for the last few weeks of pregnancy? No idea.
I have to pee a whole lot and I’m crazy thirsty.
My sleep has been crappy, but I’m sleeping a lot anyway.
I get out of breath so, so easily, despite keeping up a decent workout routine my whole pregnancy. Like, if I talk too much, I sound like I went for a jog.
Baby girl is crazy active and she really likes to curl up in a ball on my right side. I think I had some Braxton Hicks contractions around 33 weeks, but I haven’t had much happen since, so I’m less sure about that than I was then. I generally feel like there’s a lot of slightly uncomfortable shifting happening in my pelvis, though.
If I had to guess, I’d say her head is usually close to my right hip and her feet are usually somewhere around the ribs on my left side. I get kicked frequently and I think she likes to punch my bladder.
I have changed my stance on whether I look pregnant after seeing this picture of me from about 33.5 weeks.
Pregnant, yes, but I don’t think I look as pregnant as I expected to this far along. I’ve gained about 18-20 pounds, though, and it’s all in my belly and my boobs, so I’m right on track.
Food
My diet is still pretty much normal, but I’m not going to pretend I remember everything I’ve eaten the last few weeks. I made zuppa tuscana one day and chicken marsala with mashed potatoes another, both of which were amazing. We had Thanksgiving + leftovers, my parents have brought us takeout and we’ve ordered plenty ourselves, Jack has made several omelets, my grandma dropped off some soup and zucchini bread, and we got more takeout.
Once things started to normalize a bit, Jack and I made these French Onion Chicken Lasagna Roll-Ups. We had fun making them – they’re definitely a project – and they were good, but not as flavorful as either of us expected.
I also just made Pesto Salmon with Lemon Thyme Potatoes and parmesan roasted broccoli, which was freaking amazing, and these Crockpot Red Curry Lentils with added spinach and rotisserie chicken + homemade naan. We have a ton of lentils left, so I’ll probably add those to the freezer stash.
I’ve snacked less than usual the last few weeks, but did have some Larabars, apples, pears, cereal, and zucchini bread.
Exercise
I’m still following the Expecting and Empowered pregnancy guide, so that covered six of my workouts the last two weeks, and I’ve been doing a little pelvic floor and/or flexibility work most days.
I haven’t walked the dogs too much the last few weeks, but we’re easing back into short (and very chilly) walks now.
Preparations
We had another baby shower, where people mostly gave books, which was perfect since we had all of 7 baby books before.
I finished buying our Christmas gifts. Nothing is wrapped. I am considering handing people their gifts unwrapped because I despise wrapping, but I’ll do my best to have that not be the case.
Jack and I worked on decorating the nursery. It now has a rug and bookshelves and artwork, and it’s really coming together. We may not get the name sign we’re hanging above the crib until after she’s born, but that’s okay.
I found some shirts that I think will work for nursing and beyond, as well as nursing bras I don’t hate.
My car is usually covered in dog hair, since I take the boys for walks more days than not, but I took some time to clean it out really well. We’ll put the car seat bases in our cars this weekend!
I got a haircut for the last time before baby girl arrives. It’s something I only do about 4 times a year, so I figured if I do it a month before my due date, I’ll be set for a while no matter when she comes.
Do we get to see nursery photos eventually? Glad things are calming a bit and hoping they stay that way for you all!
For sure! I want to get our rocking chair and her name sign up but I’ll definitely share once we do. 🙂