Week 31.

Here’s where we are this week:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Images and content courtesy of babycenter.com

How far along: 31 weeks

Total weight gain: +27.5 total.  This is +2 from last week.  Looks like I will surpass the 30 lbs. I gained with Anna.  It’s strange because I don’t feel like I look any bigger this time than I did last time, but obviously I am.  Maybe this just means that Baby J has a big and heavy brain!  Surely that’s where all this weight is coming from, right?

Sleep habits: Still waking up every hour to pee, sometimes multiple times/hour.  3 a.m. is still my witching hour.  I could seriously start my day at 3 a.m. because I’m completely awake and ready to conquer the world.  I should probably utilize this energy and do tasks around the house, but that would require me getting out of the bed, and I’m just not up for it.  It seems illegal to fold clothes or clean toilets at 3 a.m. while the rest of the world sleeps. 

Maternity clothes: I’m sick of this unseasonable weather.  It’s not quite summer clothes weather, and it’s certainly not winter clothes weather, so I’m left with in between stuff that I really just don’t like.  I don’t think we’ve seen below 50 degrees since December.  I don’t ever remember a time where our winter was so warm.  I was actually excited to be able to be pregnant during the winter time because I love big, bulky sweaters and think they look especially cute on pregnant women.  Oh well, first world problems, right?  

My maternity jeans that I’ve been wearing since the early 2nd trimester are still fitting, miraculously.  I’m hoping I can just wear them for the remainder of my pregnancy and maybe bust out some of the summer dresses I wore with Anna once the weather starts feeling more like summer.  I can’t see myself buying anything else at this point, but I may not have a choice if this weather doesn’t hurry up and change over for good.   

Best moment of the week:  Joe, Anna, and I took a trip to a little hole in the wall town near us, and we found an amazing little BBQ place (thanks to Urban Spoon).  The ribs were amazing, and the muffaletta I had was seriously the best I’ve ever eaten. 

Food cravings: Nothing too specific right now.  I’m still not as ravenous as I was in the 2nd trimester. 

Symptoms: I still have quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions every day, but it’s not as bad as it was a few weeks ago where I had them non-stop for days.  If I sit for prolonged periods of time or over-do it (like doing lots of laundry seems to trigger them), I get them pretty badly.  It’s just so frustrating because I feel like I’m very limited at this point. 

I’ve had minimal cramping lately, very similar to mild period cramps.  It’s nothing too significant.

My belly has grown quite a bit, so my skin feels stretched to the max, and my entire mid-section feels tight.  It’s very hard to bend over and do easy tasks like putting on socks/shoes or pulling up my pants.  Also, getting up from a lying down position is pretty difficult these days.

Heartburn, holy heartburn.  I don’t know if it’s my pre-natals, the food I eat, the fact that I fall asleep fairly quickly after eating or a combination of all three, but this heartburn has GOT to go.  Then again, if heartburn =  lots of hair on my baby’s head, then I’ll just suffer through it.  It would be nice to have a child with a full head of hair.  Of course this is just an Old Wives' Tale, so who knows how much merit it has!
 
Movement:  His movement has slowed a bit this past week.  I think he’s sleeping a lot more during my waking hours.  He still hiccups quite a bit, mostly after I’ve eaten or if I drink something cold. 

The nursery:  I’ve done zero in the nursery over the past few weeks.  nothing.  I was scared that this was going to happen because I vividly remember this happening with Anna’s nursery as well.  As soon as I hit 3rd tri, all of my energy and motivation went out the window.  And here I am again with lots left to do.  I know it doesn’t matter if his nursery is done before he arrives, but I don’t want to worry about decorating a nursery with an infant and a toddler in the house. 

So, I really need to get off my butt and do the following (maybe if I make a list, that will help):

Order a dresser – I’m still on the fence if I want to buy one from a place like Goodwill/Craigslist and paint or if I want to shell out more $$ on a dresser from a store.  I will probably have to use some of our tax refund and just buy one from a store because if I’m not feeling up to decorating a nursery, I’m sure I won’t be feeling up to stripping, sanding, and painting an entire dresser with moving parts and lots of nooks and crannies.  I think once I get a dresser, I’ll feel more motivated to finish the nursery.

Hang the curtains.

Order the decorative pieces to finish the room (the hanging ceiling orbs)

Get the gutter to create the bookshelves and enlist the services of my handy husband to actually hang them on the wall

Wash the bedding

Make the bird mobile

Hang the wall letters

What I’m looking forward to:  Finishing up the nursery.  Meeting my little man.  It’s getting closer!  Eeek!

What I miss: Being able to put on socks without getting winded and feeling like my entire abdomen is going to pop.

Last appointment details:  At my OB appointment on Friday, February 3, Baby J’s heart rate was 139.  He was measuring exactly on track which was a relief since he was measuring 2 cm behind the past two appointments.  My Dr. said this was probably because he was lying in a weird position and now he’s not.  Either way, I’m glad that he’s measuring on track now. 

She checked me again because I’m still having frequent BH contractions, and my cervix is still closed, high, long.  So, no change there, thankfully! 

I found out at my appointment that my OB is actually pregnant and is due about a month before me.  She was carrying small all this time and then her bump finally popped, so I finally noticed and asked her about it.  Scrubs obviously hide a lot.

She told me that as long as everything went OK with her delivery that she’d be back in time to deliver J.  I guess Drs. don’t get the luxury of having 6 week maternity leaves. 

Regardless, I’m not too hopeful that she’ll be delivering the baby.  It doesn’t really matter because the OB I used with Anna was out of town when I went into labor.  I had a male Dr. deliver Anna which I wasn’t exactly thrilled about at first, but it all worked out, and it was a smooth process. 

Next appointment:

My next appointment is Friday, February 17. 

See ya next week!