30 Weeks

In less than 7 weeks I'll be considered "full term." Note to baby: Mommy would prefer it if you'd come closer to this side of 40 weeks (but not before 37!), rather than after 40 weeks.

This week I'm dealing with some serious allergies, which I've rarely had to deal with in my life. Started out with a horrendous sore throat on Monday and today I've graduated to a constant runny nose, sneezing and watery eyes. I just took some Benadryl so let's see if I can finish this blog entry before it kicks in and I dive face first into the keyboard.

Took the glucose tolerance test two weeks ago and found out on Tuesday that I passed - woo hoo! - but I am slightly anemic. So I'll be adding iron supplements to my nightly regimen. These puppies better not bring back the battle of the bowel movement or I'll be seriously pissed. My intestines and I have been on good terms for the last 6 weeks or so and I'd like to keep it that way. The dr also mentioned that I should eat more red meat and leafy vegetables. So I decided to have Sloppy Joes on Tuesday and Wednesday for dinner and tonight I had a giant cheeseburger. All for the baby - see what a good mommy I am!

Nevermind the fact that I have an appointment tomorrow where I'll be weighed. Ugh. I've gained a respectable amount so far, not too much, not too little. But I still have plenty of time left to put on some serious weight and I'm finding it harder and harder to eat healthy. When I get tired or sick I tend to just eat whatever I feel like eating. And considering a good night's sleep hasn't happened since the first trimester I'm pretty much tired all the time. I went walking three days this week though so hopefully that will help keep some of that fat off.

Mom and I had a practice photo shoot yesterday at Bruce Park in Greenwich. We're going to go back this weekend and do the real thing when the sun is in a better position. Here are some of my favorite shots from yesterday's shoot:




I don't know why I'm making such a weird face in this one:


Relaxing...


30 Weeks 4 Days

28 Weeks

I've made it to the final stretch - the third trimester. I go back and forth between feeling like I've been pregnant forever and feeling like the second trimester flew by. I feel pretty good, other than the normal aches and pains from storing extra bulk in the belly region so I can't complain too much.

I think the most frustrating part for me has been the development of the dreaded "pregnancy brain." I'm used to being organized and having my system, especially at work, and I'm finding that I need to fine tune it more because I forget routine things. And it's not just work. I've now been to the grocery store twice only to discover when I got home to cook something that I'm missing a key ingredient. I check the receipt, and sure enough I bought it. I just misplaced it somewhere between paying for it and bringing it home. I mean can't these kids have mercy on the poor pregnant lady and yell out to her that she forgot a bag? I suppose it's possible that they do call after me and I'm just so far gone in lala land that I don't even hear it. My friend Jessica suggested wearing a t-shirt that says something to the effect of, "I'm pregnant. Please make sure I load all my bags in the cart before walking away. Thank you." It's really not a bad idea.

Enough about me. We may have finally come up with a name for the little guy but Kenny is not ready to commit just yet so I won't post it here. I'll just tell you that it starts with a B so the middle name can't be an initial or start with J for fear of playground bullies who find it amusing to make fun of a poor kid just because his initials spell out BUG or BIG or BAG... you get the idea. Not that my kid would stand for any of that nonsense. He will surely be a devastatingly handsome, strong willed, genius child with his mommy's fondness for organization (I need someone on my side here to help Daddy along with this idea of finding a place for things).

Below is a picture of my sexy six pack, er I mean keg, at 28 weeks, 3 days.

25 Weeks

My stomach doesn't look like it's getting any bigger, which I suppose is a good thing considering I've still got 3 months of girth to acquire. My faithful blog readers will be happy to know that my BM troubles seem to have passed for now. I've graduated to jump-out-of-bed-and-fall-on-the-floor leg cramps instead. If I had to pick one over the other, I suppose I prefer the leg cramps.

The little bean is getting more and more active. Saturday morning I laid in bed for an hour just watching in awe as my stomach jerked around. He couldn't decide where he wanted to settle in for his next nap so he tried out a few different spots. He still likes to be nice and low, snuggled up right next to (or on top of) my bladder.

I have my next OB appt next Thursday. Just a regular torture-fest that starts with me trying desperately to pee in a cup rather than all over my hand (aiming is pretty much impossible at this point). Next I get to be weighed - awesomeness. Then the fun part where I get to listen to his heartbeat. The thingamabob that she uses to listen to his heartbeat (a doppler, I guess?) actually has some interference so you can hear a radio talk show. Makes it sound like there's a whole bunch of people in my stomach. Pretty funny. Anyway, about two weeks after that appt I have to go for my GD test (glucose tolerance to test for gestational diabetes). At that point I'll be 28 weeks and my appointments will be every two weeks instead of every four weeks. That makes me happy because I'll get more frequent reassurance that everything is fine in there.

Anywho, below is a picture of my belly we took yesterday. Looks pretty much the same as the last one we took three weeks ago.

25 Weeks 2 Days

Dear BM Gods...

There are few things worse than - how can I say this delicately - feeling the urgency of a bowel movement knocking at the door but being too backed up to get any relief. It got so bad I actually had to leave work on a day when half the department was out on vacation to begin with. Nothing like telling your boss about your constipation issues. Thankfully, she's pregnant too so she was very sympathetic. As I sit here washing down my bran muffin with some prune juice ::vomit:: I can say with absolutely certainty that I'm done with this crappy side effect. Pun intended.

The other night I was afraid all my powder room "efforts" actually did something to the baby because he was quiet all night. The next morning as I was driving to work I played a song over and over again singing at the top of my lungs and threatened to keep it up until he moved for Mommy. Finally, after about the third time, he gave me a few nice kicks to tell me to shut the hell up and let him sleep. He's just like his daddy, no appreciation for my raw talent.

Tomorrow night I have a work function to go to. A cocktail hour (cocktail-less for me) and then a sit-down dinner. I'm all about sitting down. Let's see how long I can stay awake for this one!

24 Weeks 3 Days

24 Weeks

The little jumping bean is more and more active as the days go by. Until a few days ago I could wake up for my nightly pee breaks and fall right back to sleep. Now he's flipping and flopping just like Mommy. I guess he's having a hard time getting comfortable too.

My cravings have changed from my usual salty to a new sweet one. This month we can't get enough ice cream. Last week we tried Moose Tracks - vanilla ice cream with chocolate swirls and peanut butter cups. This week we're having vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered pretzels. Great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. (OK, maybe that should say breakfast, lunch and dinner.) But don't worry, we're still getting plenty of protein, fruit and vegetables.

Other fun things happening this month: Bowel movements now require maximum effort for minimal payoff. Random dizzy spells. Spontaneous, uncontrollable yawning in meetings (that one might not be pregnancy related). Random people asking me how much weight I've gained. (This one I don't get. It's NEVER ok to ask a woman about her weight unless you're her doctor and it's your business. But there's something about pregnancy that makes people forget this rule.) Another growth spurt for the girls. (This one is truly a fun one. I've been waiting since puberty for this day. I finally broke down and bought three new bras about 2 weeks ago and it's looking like it's only a matter of days until those bite the dust too.)


24 Weeks

22 Week Belly

21 Weeks

First, let me start of with a PSA. That's public service announcement for those of you who aren't big on message boards. Anyway, when you're pregnant and eat too much Chinese food don't try to eat your daily dose of dried prunes until you've given your stomach substantial time to digest. Kenny was not terribly thrilled when I announced that I threw up, yet again, in the bathroom sink. I don't know what my aversion to the toilet is.

The baby has been on the move. I woke up on Saturday morning and could see him kicking me about two inches under my belly button. Until that time he was much lower, somewhere in the vicinity of my bladder which he frequently uses as a punching bag. He seems to have settled back down again over the last two days though so his venture into the higher regions of the womb was short lived. Let's hope he gets adventurous again and moves up for good soon.

Oh! Kenny finally felt him kick a few times last night. Very exciting!! It's fun that I get to feel him all the time, like we have a secret little club, but I'm glad Kenny was able to feel it too. It sort of solidifies the fact that there's a mobile creature shacking up in there, a fun litle fact that Kenny likes to remind me of on a very frequent basis. As if I can forget!

Today on the way home from work, the baby and I were enjoying the soundtrack from Les Mis. I was singing away at the top of my lungs and he was rolling around like crazy in there. I'm going to assume he was enjoying it and not trying to get away from all the noise. You're going to assume that too. When we're in the car I make sure to let him know which music "we" like. No sports radio or heavy metal like Daddy listens to. Yesterday morning was especially exciting because we heard Bon Jovi's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and Pat Benatar's "We Belong." We LOVE those songs!!

We went to Buy Buy Baby on Sunday to start a registry. What an overwhelming experience. Too. Much. Stuff. I think we registered for about 5 things before I was too cranky to continue. We can do the bulk of it online though, so that makes it easier. Sort of.

21 Weeks 3 Days