Week 31: Recovering

Oh, man! What a weekend! First of all, we had some crazy bad thunderstorms that flooded our basement with water. Luckily it only got a couple of inches high along the far wall and back right corner by our washer and dryer, and luckily our basement isn't finished and everything we were storing on the floor down there we had in tote bins vs. cardboard boxes so nothing got ruined. If this had happened any weekend before this one we would have had all of our garage sale stuff destroyed, though!

Apparently what is happening is that, with the crazy amount of rain water that we accumulated through three days of severe storming, the water is seeping in through the ground pipe that we have. Unfortunately, we don't have a sump pump for the water to escape through, and the drain we do have in the basement floor is too low, so the water accumulates and moves around the basement before it even hits the drain. So as soon as it finally dries up enough that we can tear up the floor without risk of a bunch of sogginess underneath, we get to invest a few hundred dollars into getting a sump pump to prevent this from happening again.

It definitely could be a lot worse and I am thankful we didn't have some of the crazy damage that was done to people's yards and trees, nor did we lose power for more than 5 min when some of our friends were electric-less for days. But poor Jon had to go downstairs every 10 min (now, several days later, it's been reduced to every couple of hours) and use the shop vac we borrowed from his parents to suck up water from the back corner and then squeegee the remaining amount into the drain in the middle of the floor because the water just keeps seeping in. It's just a pain in the butt, but we're lucky there was no major damage done to our house or anything, with the exception of one of our trees that looks like it exploded into the shape of Chinese lantern...

We'll be taking that down, as well, as the only thing holding it up is the other tree it is resting on now, and it is between two power lines it could take down if it fell. That was one of the two trees we were going to extend the hammock Jon's been wanting so badly between. Poor Jon....I guess his hammock dreams won't be realized anytime soon!

We also really lucked out that none of the storming affected the big garage sale! It was supposed to storm all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but we only maybe got 5 minutes of rain during the middle of the day Thursday and we still had a great turnout. Jon and I made over $300, well over our goal of $180 to buy a freezer for the basement. Score!

On the down side, I was stupid and didn't put on any sunscreen since it was so overcast, and I paid for that by getting some pretty nasty burns on my feet, chest, and shoulders. On top of that, though I've had little to no issues with swelling up until this point, after being on my feet outside in the humidity on concrete and in flip flops, my ankles have been the size of beach balls since Wednesday night and are showing no signs of ever returning to their normal size. I've been soaking them in freezing cold water and elevating them as much as possible, but any other suggestions on how to deal with these monsters would be greatly appreciated!

How far along? 31 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 18 lbs...up 3 lbs this week?! Pretty sure at least 2 lbs of that are in my feet....
Maternity clothes? Loving dresses right now. I wear them pretty much every day with some maternity stuff mixed in.
Sleep? Sleep was pretty terrible this weekend. How are you supposed to sleep when you are pregnant so you are only allowed to sleep on your side, but your chest and shoulders are sunburnt so bad that it absolutely kills to lie on your side?!
Stretch marks? Still none, thank goodness. My belly button on the other hand is alternating between flat and a little popped depending on my position and where Baby Girl is sitting.
Best moment this week: The garage sale! As much of a pain in the rear end as it was, and how much pain it caused afterward, I'm super ecstatic about the success of it. Plus it was really nice to have a couple of days off work to get to sit outside with my mom and sisters all day.
Miss Anything? Woodchucks, Angry Orchards, laying on my belly, and being able to fit into my shoes.
Movement: More forceful but slowed down. The wild kicks are few and far between, but she's able to shift almost my entire stomach now.
Food Cravings: Lemonade, Izzes, milkshakes, avocados, cottage cheese on triscuits with Mrs. Dash...is it weird that most of my cravings are beverages?
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really
Gender: Baby Girl!
Pregnancy Symptoms: Heartburn, swelling, and back pain. I'm finally going to get my massage on Friday that I won at the Baby Expo, though! I'm so excited! It's loooooong overdue!
Labor Signs: Nope, even the Braxton Hicks are less than they have been in the past couple of weeks.
Wedding rings on or off? Still on and staying strong. No swelling in my fingers yet, thank goodness!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! I had some crabbiness this weekend with my feet being in so much pain (and quickly reminded Jon why it's better to just expect that I'll need an epidural...I do not deal well with discomfort!) but other than that I've been in a pretty good mood!
Looking forward to: Massage on Friday and baby shower on Saturday!

To Do List:

Pack Hospital Bag
Fold and organize baby clothes
Write out birth plan
Make list of "must do" items for when Baby gets here (breast pump delivery, short term disability form, etc)
Purchase remaining items off of registry
Make up some frozen meals for post baby
Write thank you cards for work baby shower
Figure out daycare
Stock up on postpartum items (hand sanitizer for guests, pads, stool softeners...you know, all the fun stuff)
Baby-proof the DVD shelf (have Jon attach it to the wall)
Put up the corner protectors in Baby's room

Week 30: It's Getting Hot in Here

Alright, I know I shouldn't be complaining about the heat when I complained for so long about the cold weather all the way through April, but do you know how hot 80 degrees feels to a 7 month pregnant woman?! It feels like I'm having hot flashes all day every day!

I'm smiling, but I'm actually NOT happy about that!

How far along? 30 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Still 15 lbs up, no gain this week
Maternity clothes? All maternity all the time, partnered with some maxi dresses/skirts and a few pairs of pants I can still squeeze into with the belly band.
Sleep? On and off. I DID (or rather, Jon did) seem to find a cure for my restless legs, though! It's not really so much restless legs as it is restless feet...the second I lay down in bed my feet freak out and feel like they're trapped even when they're just laying out in the open. On Sunday night I started soaking my feet in scalding hot water for about 10 min (based on Jon's suggestion of what he used to do when he had this problem as a kid) right before bed and have been doing this every night since and haven't had one problem with restless legs/feet! It greatly increases my ability to fall asleep at night.
Stretch marks? Still haven't found any and I still haven't been using any ointments or oils in months. On the other hand, as you can see from the chalkboard post, my belly button is verging on the inevitable. Right now it is practically non-existent, not popped out but no real hole any more, either. We were down in the cities at The Nook for Father's Day on Sunday and I SWEAR it was popped out for a bit. I don't know if it was from eating too much or the way she was sitting, but I could definitely feel it out when I ran my hand over my belly and my sisters claim they could see it through my clothes. I was not a happy camper. When I stood up to go to the bathroom to check it out though, it was back to its flat state.
Best moment this week: Getting the car seat! We ended up getting the Graco SnugRide 35 Infant Car Seat in Harlow and it is pretty dang adorable (and gender neutral for any future babies :-) ) and also surprisingly light which will be helpful in lugging Baby Girl around! We got the car seat (which came with a base) plus two extra bases, one for Jon's car and one for Jon's parent's car, and with the 20% off coupon we had we got one of the bases for free. Score!
Miss Anything? Looking decent in a swimsuit? I want to go to a water park so bad in this heat!
Movement: Still super active, but it's changed to a lot more slow rolling then quick kicks. It feels a lot like the balls in those massage chairs moving around, only inside my stomach. It's super weird! I also felt definite hiccups the other night!
Food Cravings: Back on my lemonade kick! I want it all the time. That and milkshakes. Yum!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender: Pink!
Pregnancy Symptoms: Heartburn and back pain (no more restless legs, knock on wood!) I've also started having a few instances of not being able to get enough air. I get out of breath trying to put my socks on, but that's been happening for a couple of weeks now. The other day I woke up on my back (shame shame!) and felt like my lungs weren't expanding all the way and I couldn't pull enough air into my body. I panicked at first but then rolled over onto my side and was fine again. This same thing has happened a couple of times since in different positions...Baby Girl must be beginning to venture up to my lungs.
Labor Signs: No, though I suppose I should add this one in now since I'm only 10 weeks out!
Wedding rings on or off? Still on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! With small bouts of moodiness/being over emotional
Looking forward to: Making lots of money (hopefully!) at our garage sale this weekend (cross your fingers for no rain!) and baby shower a week from Saturday!

I've also decided to start adding a To Do list to the end of my posts to keep me on track for all of the stuff we still have to get done over the next several weeks. Some of them are a little early to be thinking about, but it makes me feel better to have them on an organized list so that I know I won't forget about them:

Pack Hospital Bag

Fold and organize baby clothes

Write out birth plan

Make list of "must do" items for when Baby gets here (breast pump delivery, short term disability form, etc)

Purchase remaining items off of registery (ouch!)

Make up some frozen meals for post baby

Write thank you cards for work baby shower (already behind on this!)

Figure out daycare (wah!)

That's enough to keep me totally freaking out for now!

Week 29: Back on Track and Feeling Good!

How far along? 29 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 15 lbs up....10 more lbs to go to meet the minimum I'm supposed to hit.
Maternity clothes? Yes combined with my stretchy sundresses and a few pairs of pants that will still fit with help from my belly band.
Sleep? This is getting a bit more sparse. I've got good nights and bad nights, but for the most part back pain, restless legs, hunger, and having to get up to go to the bathroom have pretty much ruined my sleep schedule.
Stretch marks? Still none yet despite being terrible about doing my Bio Oil every night. It's been weeks since I've put it on...whoops. On the belly button front, it is dangerously close to the popping out line. The top is visibly sticking out a bit and the rest is pretty flat...not much of a hole there anymore. I'm wondering if having an outie will help me to get over my uneasiness with belly buttons since I'll be forced to see it and have things (namely my clothes) touching it every day. I'm shuddering at the thought, but maybe it will be good for me.
Best moment this week: Passing my gestational diabetes tests!!!!!!! YAY!!! We went in at 7:30am on Monday morning and after fasting since the previous night I was STARVING. They did an initial blood draw and then on an empty stomach I had to chug the nasty drink again, except this time it was fruit punch flavored which made it 10x worse since I hate fruit punch. I then got to sit around for 3 hours while they continued to do blood draws every hour for a total of four blood draws (including the pre-nasty-drink blood draw). The first hour I felt pretty ill and the nurse told me I was allowed to go throw up if I needed to since you only have to keep the drink down for 1/2 an hour. It wasn't necessary though as I started feeling a lot better by hour #2. I had heard how hellish the 3-hour glucose test is, but honestly it wasn't much worse than the first one I had had last week since the first hour was the worst part. After my hour #2 blood draw I had a nurse come and talk to me about the results they'd gotten back so far. To pass the test you need to be under the limit on 3 out of the 4 blood draws. For the initial blood draw you need to be under 95 and I was at 80, for the first blood draw after the drink (hour #1) you need to be under 180 and I was at 133. She told me she'd come find me after my hour #3 blood draw and if I had passed my hour #2, I was free to go before they got hour #3 back since I would have passed the required amount. Hour #2 results came back soon after my last blood draw and I was at 124, well under the required 155! I later found out that my hour #3 draw, which was supposed to be under 140, I was at 117 for. It feels SO good knowing that not only did I pass, but I passed 4 out of 4 with pretty huge margins so I don't need to sit and wonder if I maybe should have been treated (which I would have if I had just barely passed). I'm still going to watch how many desserts I'm eating and try and cut back on the sweets a bit, but it is still a huge relief!
Miss Anything? Bellinis and Woodchucks...sigh....With this nice weather I really just want to sit outside in the backyard with a Woodchuck. 73 more days....
Movement: Active as ever!
Food Cravings: Pickles and Peanut Butter Patties (not together, though I do like the alliteration)
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender: Girl :-)
Pregnancy Symptoms: Back pain is getting progressively worse, restless legs every night (thanks to my hubby for the foot rubs to calm them down!), and heartburn is now becoming a growing issue, as well.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Going to buy our car seat on Friday, our garage sale a week from Thursday, and two and a half weeks until another baby shower!

Week 28: Changing Up My Diet

YAY for third trimester! I kind of felt like once I got to the third trimester it would feel like Baby Legg's due date was right around the corner, but I then I think about how long the first and second trimester felt and I get impatient all over again!

The downer so far this week was my 28 week screenings. Jon and I went in for our appointment on Monday and had both the hemoglobin test and gestational diabetes test run. First of all can I say how nasty that stuff is that they make you chug down for the GD test? They give you three minutes to drink this bottle of what takes like flat Sprite with an extra pound of sugar added for good measure. That plus an empty stomach got me gagging a little bit, but I quickly put that to rest when the nurse told me that if I threw up I'd have to come back and do this all over again. Then you sit around for an hour, the first part of which I just felt sick and the second part I felt exhausted from coming down from the brief sugar rush, before getting blood drawn.

Later that afternoon I got a call from our nurse saying that not only was my hemoglobin test a bit under the normal threshold (not enough to treat me as being anemic though, just lower than their standards and so I need to up my iron and vitamin C intake) but I failed the gestational diabetes test. Balls. I was at a 156 with the threshold being a 140, so now I get to go back for the 3-hour round 2 test on Monday where I have to start fasting the night before and then drink the same stuff again (gross!) and then sit around for 3 hours this time while getting blood drawn every hour on the hour. If I pass two out of the three tests, I'm deemed to be fine. If I fail two out of the three or more then I am diagnosed with gestational diabetes and have to take another three hours off of work on Thursday to take a class on how I need to proceed through the rest of the pregnancy.

It's frustrating and disappointing because I feel like I've been so overly careful about what I put in my body while pregnant (NO alcohol, caffeine, deli meats, hot dogs, sushi, OTC meds, etc, etc, etc, etc) even when my doctor says its ok to partake in some of these things every once and awhile. I feel like I've been pretty "by the book" on all the pregnancy rules, but it goes to show that you can't prevent every complication. At the same time, I have been eating more sugar and fat then I usually do because I've been lagging behind on weight gain (and because I've been craving it, who am I kidding). Anyways, it came as a reality check that I need to be even more careful about what I'm consuming everyday. Cutting out toaster strudels and muffins for breakfast, switching up my afternoon snack of fruit for veggies, upping my water intake over fruit juices, and cutting back big time on all the desserts are just a few of the changes I started making this week in order to make sure Baby Legg is growing as healthy as can be in there (and hopefully not too big!!)

For some fun news, today my work threw a baby shower for me and the other two girls in the accounting department that are pregnant. It was so nice and I'm so thankful and overwhelmed by the generosity of the people I work with. My car was FULL of baby stuff when I left work tonight!

It made me even more anxious for baby to get here so I can start putting all this cute stuff to use!

How far along? 28 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 14 lbs up according to the official doctor scale on Monday
Maternity clothes? Yup. Can't wait until this baby weight is shed and I can rediscover all my old clothes. It feels like I wear the same things week after week.
Sleep? Once I get to sleep I'm able to sleep through the night pretty good (though I have to get up to go to the bathroom at least once a night), it's getting to sleep with the back pain and restless legs that's the big issue. I also continuously wake up laying on my back (a big no no) rather than my side because the hip and arm I'm lying on cramp up and/or fall asleep so fast now with all the extra weight!
Stretch marks? None yet. I've been really bad about keeping up with my Bio Oil regimen though...I need to get back on that.
Best moment this week: Work baby shower! And finding out we won round two of our court case! Take that, Meanie McJerkface lawyer!
Miss Anything? All my clothes!
Movement: Tons! Doctor even said I probably don't need to keep track of her kicking with the kick count watch that they normally recommend since she's so active!
Food Cravings: Avocados, peanut butter cups (especially now that I've cut back on them!), cottage cheese with triscuits
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender: Girl!
Pregnancy Symptoms: Back pain and restless legs are the two biggies with some other TMI stuff that I won't share :-O
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy for the most part. I had a couple of downer moments earlier this week, feeling like a failure of a mom for not passing my GD test, but I quickly gave myself a kick in the butt and reminded myself that there could be way worse things that I'm dealing with. Still have my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly on Monday!
Looking forward to: Monday being OVER, hopefully hearing back that there's no gestational diabetes for me, and our garage sale in a couple of weeks.