Bumpdate: week 36

How far along are you? 36 weeks  
Total weight gain: 31 lbs 

Stretch Marks? None on the belly. Found a few new ones creeping up each of my hips. 

Sleep: I've been taking more trips to the bathroom and sometimes I'll wake up with an aching hip, depending on which side I've slept on. 

Best moments: My aunt, uncle, and cousins were in town for a day so I was able to meet them for lunch. It was so nice to see familiar faces again :) 

Missing Anything? My pre-pregnancy wardrobe and painting my toenails. 

Movement? Yes. I think I can visualize/feel her positions, and understand where her body parts are now. 

Food Cravings: Nothing in particular. 

Symptoms: More trips to the restroom. Swelling~ I was scolded by my midwife for not drinking enough water. 

Belly Button in or Out? Out. 

Happy or Moody? Happy. And nervous. 

Looking Forward to: My sister-in-law and brother-in-law coming to visit during Labor Day weekend! 

We did a neat exercise in Bradley this week that involved ice water. (No, not the ice bucket challenge.) We were each given a bowl of ice water and we had to put our hand in for a whole minute while trying to relax our bodies. It's meant to be a contraction simulation. I understand that putting your hand into freezing cold water is nothing like labor pains, but the point of the exercise is to see how our bodies reacts to pain. You start the minute by slowly emerging your hand into the water, and by 30 seconds your whole hand needs to be submerged. Your coach/husband then times the rest of the minute and helps you to relax during the "contraction." It was fun to see how Ryan acts as a coach. We did this exercise three times. The first time my body was tensing up like crazy and my breathing was ridiculous. By the third one, I was much more relaxed and tried not to think about the pain too much. It's a cool exercise to do to mentally prepare for labor. All the men got a turn after us, and Ryan didn't even flinch during the minute. I tried to coach him but he was in his own world. I'm jealous. 

Another neat thing that happened- we were at the birth center for a breastfeeding class and during the class I could hear  moaning coming from the other side of the building. I whispered to Ryan, "Someone's having a baby!" Soon everyone else heard it too. We all became pretty excited about it. Near the end of the class one of the midwives emerged, with a little blood on her shirt, announcing the baby was born, "She got the baby out in three hours!" She didn't mention if her labor was 3 hours, or if she was in the birth center for 3 hours before the baby came. A three hour labor would be amazing. 

Around Here

Look! A blog post that isn't a "bumpdate!" I've found it impossible for me to blog about nothing but my current life experiences, and right now that experience is being pregnant. So deal with it *z-snaps in your face*. I honestly don't know if I've lost or gained readers since I've announced my pregnancy. But anyway here are some books I've been reading. Husband Coached Childbirth is the book we use for Bradley class. Is anyone interested in hearing more about Bradley?? I feel like I'm super annoying by mentioning class all the time. But hey, I've become pretty passionate about natural childbirth, and I believe every woman should be more educated about the subject! 

This book is fiction. The stories in here are nothing short of bizarre. Often times after reading one I think to myself "WTF did I just read." But the next day I remember the more endearing parts of the story. They are sad and happy and depressing and lovely stories. 

We are in a one bedroom apartment so I have not had the pleasure of decorating a nursery. Boohoo. This little setup is actually in our living room because our room is really that small. We'll have to move to a two bedroom apartment once the baby is too big to sleep with us/in a bassinet. This is why I haven't gotten too involved with decorating the walls. 

This is my life now. That list is intimidating to me, too. Preparing my body for labor.... 

I've had to channel all my nesting energy into this scrapbook since I don't have a nursery to prepare. I like how it's turning out! I'm so glad that I decided to take weekly photos. Although, I feel a little guilty not knowing if I'll make something like this for baby #2 and so on. Life will be much busier the second time around. These are my favorite pages- 

Bumpdate: week 35

So the thing is- I was too lazy to take bump photos today after church. I usually stay in my Sunday dress until the sun isn't so harsh to take a decent photo outside, but I'm way too tired these days. These photos were taken yesterday at the Mesa temple. (It seems like every photo is a "look at my bump" photo when you're pregnant.) It was our first time inside this temple for a session and it's the oldest one I've ever been in! 

How far along are you? 35 weeks  
Total weight gain: 30 lbs 

Stretch Marks? None on the belly. 

Sleep: Decent. 

Best moments: Receiving a used Baby Bjorn from a friend. Yes! I still want to look into the sling/fabric type carriers too. Any moms have suggestions? 

Missing Anything? My pre-pregnancy wardrobe and painting my toenails. 

Movement? Yes. 

Food Cravings: All the sweets. I've been using this app to keep track of what I'm eating and each week I print it out to show my Bradley instructor. It's a weekly assignment for everyone in the class (...except the husbands...). It really keeps me accountable for the things I'm putting into my body, but it's kind of embarrassing sometimes when all I want is chocolate and ice cream and cheese cake! She mostly just checks if we're eating enough protein, veggies, and fruits. I'm getting a lot better at eating more protein and fruit, but vegetables are just not as fun to eat. 

Symptoms: Oh, my back. It's the worst it has been. Maybe a visit to a chiropractor would be worth it. Speaking of chiropractors- we had a guest speaker in Bradley class a couple of weeks ago talk about the benefits of aligning your baby's back. I have no idea how it's done but it's completely gentle and whatnot. One of the things the speaker mentioned- if your baby tends to feed on one of your breasts more than the other, it's probably because he/she has a crick in their neck. I never would have thought that would be the reason, so it was super interesting! 

Belly Button in or Out? Out. 

Happy or Moody? Moody. Mostly anxious. 

Looking Forward to: My friend's baby shower next weekend. And going to my first blogger conference in September! 

Bumpdate: week 34

How far along are you? 34 weeks  
Total weight gain: 29 lbs 

Stretch Marks? None on the belly. 

Sleep: Decent. Loving our new mattress :) 

Best moments: Bonding with Ryan over all this "parents to be" stuff. 

Missing Anything? My shoes. 

Movement? Yes. I can visualize her in there better the bigger she gets. 

Food Cravings: Nothing in particular. 

Symptoms: I'm so puffy. I don't wear my wedding ring anymore because every morning it feels stuck. And my feet look chubby- the flats I bought a size down are tight now. 

Belly Button in or Out? Out. 

Happy or Moody? Moody. 

Looking Forward to: Seeing what the heck this babe'll look like. The last ultrasound we had was at 20 weeks and we're not planning on getting another one. I think her profile looks like Ryan's and I have a feeling she might have big ears (we both had big ears as kids...one of us still does...).  As for skin and hair color?? No idea. I'm betting on brown eyes, though. 

So it doesn't seem like baby has dropped yet- breathing is still a little difficult at times. Although when I was at a mom/baby specialty store the worker kept insisting how low I was carrying, and she couldn't believe that my due date is next month as opposed to this month. Huh?? Maybe it's because I'm pretty short so my bump just looks closer to the ground than the average mom. Once I do fully drop I'll probably still have trouble breathing since my torso is so short. 

Overall, strangers haven't been rude or anything. I hear so many stories about strangers coming up to pregnant women to touch their bellies, or people giving them bad advice. People ask me questions, but no one has touched me...yet(?) *knock on wood* But I'm not sure how bothered I'd be by it since it hasn't happened. 

This is unrelated, but I finally saw The Fault in Our Stars a couple of weeks ago. *SPOILER ALERT* It was pretty dang good! I wish that the scene where Augustus was crying at the gas station was more like the book- they left out a part that would have shown how vulnerable he really became, where he talked about wanting to be someone's hero and how he felt like his life was meaningless if he couldn't do that. That part is what made me cry the most in the book. I also wish that the trip to Amsterdam would have been during spring, like in the book. I was looking forward to the outdoor dinner scene with all the blossoms falling from the trees as they people watched. One more thing- Hazel seemed like such a loner in the movie. I wish they would have mentioned her friend or how she was no longer able to relate with her old friends and vice versa. 

What I loved- (1) Augustus was perfect. They picked a good actor. (2) The Anne Frank House! I didn't realize just how painful it would have been for Hazel to climb all those stairs until watching the movie. And that kiss. Yes. (3) I think this movie was as accurate as it could be. I understand that you can't fit all the good parts into a 2 hour movie. I think The Hunger Games saga needs to realize this and bail on a two part finale. It only worked for Harry Potter. 

Bumpdate: week 33

(My face when I realize that we'll have the baby next month...^)

How far along are you? 33 weeks  

Stretch Marks? None on the belly. 

Sleep: Decent. 

Best moments: Mattress shopping! We're finally upgrading from a full to a queen. Whoa. 

Missing Anything? My bod. 

Movement? Yes. It's funny to watch my belly expand in certain spots when baby stretches.

Food Cravings: Cheesecake and pie. 

Symptoms: All the usual discomforts. 

Belly Button in or Out? Out. 

Happy or Moody? Happy. 

Looking Forward to: Shopping for a bed frame, new sheets, and a comforter. And maybe a bassinet and a rocking chair/glider? Moms!: any suggestions on where to get a good glider? We're also thinking about getting a recliner instead. Any thoughts? Where do/did you like to nurse your baby? (Please leave a comment if you have answers for me.) 

I bought this dress yesterday and thought it was the most perfect thing. I thought, "I can even wear this after the pregnancy!" And then I realized that my wardrobe is going to change again in order to accommodate for breast feeding. Yay. So I'll probably wear this dress as often as I can before baby arrives. I'm getting more anxious about her arrival. What the heck is she gonna look like?? Ryan and I look so different. 

Today in Relief Society we talked about "barriers" that we think set us apart from other women in our church. The lesson was about unity within the RS and how important it is that we realize that there shouldn't be these barriers between the younger women, the older women, the mothers, the single mothers, the newly weds, the unmarried, etc etc. You have no idea how much I needed this lesson. Ever since we moved into a new ward I kind of struggled to make friends. It was easy making friends with a fellow pregnant gal, 'cause hello. But I felt like I couldn't make friends with any other girls my age if they haven't experienced what I'm going through. See, I feel like all I talk about is being pregnant and I don't want to bore/annoy anyone that hasn't been pregnant or doesn't even want to think about being pregnant themselves. You know? I feel like that has definitely been this imaginary barrier that I thought up- I don't know that that's what these other girls are thinking about me. And I'm not sure if all I do talk about is this pregnancy. (It just seems like it.) 

It was a great lesson about unity, and acceptance, and remembering not to judge a book by its  cover. And after the lesson I felt like it was much easier to talk to a newlywed girl sitting next to me. Win.