36 weeks.

We just got back from a fun dinner with soon-to-be-great-aunt-Tricia; it was so nice to see her here in DC but I wish she had brought some Arizona warmth with her ;) It’s been a good week around here that included a day off {thanks to an icy storm} and several freezer meals prepped and ready for us when times are busier.  And onto an update!

How far along: 36 weeks

Symptoms:

·      I’ve been pretty hungry this week.

·      I think that first trimester hormones have returned; my skin is wrecked and I’ve been super annoyed/angry/upset for no good reason.

·      My upper back is still hurting and my hips and lower back hurt too, but only in the middle of the night – when I get up every two to three hours to use the bathroom I need to flip over to my other side to even out the pressure.

·      Baby girl definitely spends some time pushing down hard every day, which, if I’m walking, makes me move a bit slowly.

·      I hadn’t articulated this before because I kind of just realized this today when swapping pregnancy highlights with a coworker today – I’ve been getting bad cramping/twisting/knotting in my calves {charlie horses}. But it’s only in the middle of the night and if I stretch out/flex my legs…they kind of hurt!

Wait gain: 166. So I’ve lost a pound in the past week? I’m wondering if this is OK? I think I read somewhere that some women actually lose weight at the very end but I thought it was at the VERY end and I still have four more weeks…I’ll ask about it next week.

Size of baby: a honeydew melon or a head of romaine lettuce.

Exercise: I walked a mile on the track while Mikey played soccer last weekend and we had a good two mile walk this evening…around the track I was feeling a bit crampy and tonight I felt the same way after rushing to make a light so the walking is great as long as I don’t go too fast.

Milestones: my very sweet and generous coworkers threw me a sweet baby shower today! And this past week I got about six meals made and frozen for when the babe is here. I also got all of our newborn clothes washed and folded.

My hospital/birth center bag is partially packed and we have all of our consent paperwork signed and ready to go.

My substitute at work was hired this week {yea!} and I’ve put a good dent in the preparation for her so I’m feeling OK about that.

I also triple checked with our HR person about my days and dates so to be sure about when I can go out on leave; it’s not like I’m tied to staying at work until a certain date, rather, I get my 12 weeks FMLA, I’d like to take off the remainder of the school year, when summer vacation starts I’m no longer “on leave”, so I need to count back 12 weeks from the end of summer – that gets me to about the week before my due date. If I can make it to that week, I’d like to stay until my due date to try and maximize my salary. That also means I’ve got to hustle on the home front to get things ready because it could be that when I wrap it up at work, I might not have much if any time before we become parents.

What I miss: no back pain and sleeping in any position I’d like.

Sex: girl girl girl girl girl girl girl girl GIRL!

Movement: our daughter has been squirming around still and I love it. There have been a fair amount of hiccups this week too. I love feeling her move and I know that I’ll miss this part of pregnancy probably the most.

Thoughts/questions/concerns: let’s get ready!! I know that parents never really feel better but I’d like to get as much done as possible; laundry, a crafty thing I have planned for her, the car seat, get her baby carrier washed, make more meals, etc.

Sleep: every two to three hours for bathroom and to flip over to the other side. But it really is good sleep while I’m getting it!

Goals: more nesting and getting stuff ready at work…

Random: it’s the weekend!!! And we have some more bowling on the agenda!

xoxo, natty ♥