In so many ways this pregnancy is going incredibly quick. I can't believe I am already in my 34th week! My energy has waxed and waned a lot these last few weeks. I've kept a running list of things to do before baby and have diligently been checking things off every day. This week I have completed the pre-registration forms for the hospital (but still need to turn them in) and have written out our birth preferences. Sometime in the next couple of weeks I need to put the car seat base in the car and pack my bag for the hospital. Other than that I feel as ready as I'm going to be. I couldn't be more excited and anxious to meet our little man!!
Weight gain so far: 22 lbs.
Worst parts of pregnancy: I have considered this entire pregnancy a total blessing but there have been some less than fun parts. I had really bad "morning sickness" throughout the first and half of the second trimesters. I just came to understand that every time I ate I was going to throw it up. It only caused me to miss a couple days of work in the beginning. Then, last month I had a lot of dental work done which disturbed and irritated my mouth. Besides the pain of having a root canal and crown put on I got a terribly case of pregnancy gingivitis. My gums were so swollen and sensitive that it hurt even when I wasn't eating! Thank goodness that ended once we were done with all of the dental work and I'd been treating the symptoms for several weeks.
Best parts of pregnancy: For those of you who haven't been following my blog over the last several years you wouldn't know that I have something called PCOS. I was told years ago that it would most likely take fertility intervention for me to ever have a child so when I say that this is a miracle, it truly is. I have so much joy and every day my heart feels bigger in anticipation for my son. One of my favorite things about this pregnancy is that he is very active and so I feel him everyday, all day long, even still. It helps my nerves to know that he's healthy and doing alright in there. Another favorite part of being pregnant is that it has brought me and my boyfriend so much closer. I am so happy and so in love! I feel incredibly blessed that God has given me these two. ♥
Unless you're really paying attention, one of the things you don't really hear women talk about is their anxiety regarding the changes to their body during pregnancy. All throughout this pregnancy I've embraced the little changes here and there. I love my baby bump and have had fun watching my belly button start to stick out. But then, all of a sudden a few weeks ago, I started getting stretch marks all along the bottom of my stomach. I'm not going to lie - it freaked me out! I've been using BioOil this entire time and was happy with the lone silvery stretch mark but this came as a shock. I saw myself in the mirror and all of a sudden there they were. My sister calls them love marks and I'm trying to embrace this attitude toward them.
Other than working down my to do list I am reading, relaxing, and trying to prepare my mind and body for childbirth. I am using HypnoBirthing to birth my baby and have just attended my 4th of 5 classes with Carol Yeh-Garner. She's a great teacher and I highly recommend her if you're in the San Diego area! As part of the class I am reading the book HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method. I am also currently reading On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep. I read it once as a nanny but that was about 8 years ago so I'm due a refresher. I'm hoping to finish it soon so that I can start on The Nursing Mother's Companion - something I know nothing about as of yet!
A few more weeks babe :)
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