34 weeks and counting

28 weeks

It's actually been a long time since I did a pregnancy update. Here's what's been up the past couple of months!

*My hair finally stopped falling out. YAY. It took until month 6 to happen. So I'll just enjoy this pregnancy benefit for now and brace for postpartum shed in a few weeks.

*A FEW WEEKS, PEOPLE. I delivered my other two kids in the 38th week, so here I am 4 weeks away from that. 4 WEEKS. I am not ready!!

*I had an ultrasound at 31 weeks and QQ is growing well. She had her hands in front of her face (and was flipped head down) so we weren't able to get any cute pictures of her face. But we're going to try again at my appointment next week. Dr. Sanders likes to get use out of that million dollar ultrasound machine that he has.

*Even though QQ is growing well, I have not gained much weight. After the first trimester weight loss, getting back to square one and then going the rest of the 5-6 months, I only gained 18 lbs. overall with my other two. I'm on that same track again. Please do not hate me...my body really struggles to keep two people alive at the same time. And I eat every 2-3 hours or else my blood sugar tanks. In fact, I went out for jelly donuts after my appointment last month when the doctor expressed some concern about the weight thing. DOCTOR SANCTIONED DONUTS! :)

33 weeks

*You remember the time change a month ago? It almost killed me!! I had already been struggling with insomnia and restless leg syndrome (RLS) for a couple of weeks, and then the time change nearly finished me off. And unlike the rest of you, our kids did not get a spring break that week. It was just evil, all around. I could barely function. And when I get that tired, my good friends Dizzy and Faint (my constant companions during my pregnancy with Luke) come roaring back.

*I did try some prescription meds for the restless leg syndrome, and lo and behold it actually did help with my legs, but it also made my heart race out of control and made me incredibly dizzy. So that was the end of that.

*My heart conditions have somewhat improved, but then again, not so much. My blood volume has increased, which makes my blood pressure higher (a good thing in my case), but my POTS has become worse. All I have to do is bend over to switch laundry loads, or help Luke get dressed, and my blood pressure drops and my heart rate skyrockets. It is so dumb. Also, taking showers is becoming rather hazardous. The hot water makes my heart rate go way up for a long time. I took my pulse 10 minutes after my shower last night and it was at 140 beats per minute.

*Which brings me to say this: I am not planning another natural, unmedicated birth this time (not that I had planned it last time, either...) because the pain and the stress might actually give me a heart attack. In fact I am sort of hoping to be induced so as to be safely in the hospital the whole time.

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34 weeks

*The CPNL (Crazy Pregnant Nesting Lady) has calmed down somewhat. I sort of ran out of things to organize after my latest foray into my closet. I had to switch out all of the outgrown shirts and pants I had in there--and we are on the cusp of warm weather, so I had to do the warm/cold switch. Although there's still some of both seasons crammed in there because last week it snowed several times but now it is 72­°. And I ended up cleaning out the glove compartment in my car, which had four years of expired registrations and miscellaneous crap. Some of the CPNL energy rubbed off on Mark, apparently...he has not only tidied up the top of the dryer (where he dumps all his stuff) but straightened up the garage, his shed, his gaming stuff and even the black hole where we keep all of our USB cables and cords!

*Mark's work decided to drop the group insurance plan that he was covered under and announced to us that we'd have to find a replacement plan and sign up for it. They told us this on Thursday, March 27th. Open enrollment for health insurance closed on Monday, March 31st. WHAT THE BLEEEEP. And Mark left town that weekend and could not be reached on his cellphone while he was out hiking, so it was all up to me. At first, they told us that they wouldn't cancel his coverage until June 1st, but then the next day said it was going to be cancelled by May 1st. There was no way I was going to switch insurance that close to having the baby, and Mark was having surgery in a week (and we were planning on having the rest of the year to take advantage of his deductible being met!). The whole thing was just nuts. We had to cancel the kids' insurance as well as Mark's and get us all signed up on Arches Health Plan (which I already switched to in February). His work has told us that they'd help to pay for his portion of it, but we don't know when that money will be appearing and so in the meantime I have to come up with $600 for us to all be covered come May 1st. I am not amused.

*The quest for an actual baby name has continued. I really wanted to name her Miranda (I've loved that name for 15 years) but Mark wasn't going for it and wanted to name her Taya. I *thought* we had compromised and agreed on Isabelle, but I wanted to call her Belle for short, and Mark wanted to call her Izzy, and so that had to be tossed out. Even after going through all the girl names in a book with 100,000 names, we were no closer to agreeing on anything!! It has been really stressful! Finally, right before Mark went into surgery, I think we came up with something we both like, but we're keeping it under wraps for now so as not to jinx it. Luke's probably going to keep right on calling her QQ no matter what we name her.

*QQ has hiccups a lot now, and wakes up right after I eat and when I lie down on my side. She does the normal flails and karate chops, but also does this pointy starfish thing where she wants to streeeetch all her limbs out and ends up penetrating several internal organs rather deeply. It can be painful. I have Braxton-Hicks contractions every day.

*I am becoming increasingly ditzy. I leave the stove/oven on...I forget stuff, drop things, am more klutzy and space out all the time. My brain function is maybe at 60% on a good day. So that's fun...oh and the mood swings, emotional instability, fatigue and achy hips! Yesss!! Don't mess with me!!

*Time is passing by a lot faster now that I am getting close to delivering. Every Monday, I hop on to Alpha Mom to read her week by week pregnancy calendar. It is hilarious and a little snarky but also informative and well researched. It's great for moms who have been pregnant before who want to laugh about the various indignities that come with the territory. I wish it had been around ten years ago. I really look forward to reading it every week.

*Lastly, the gifts keep rolling in! I feel so blessed by all my kind friends and family. Here's what I've received in the past week:

 DARLING newborn outfit from my friend Shelly Kupfer. I love yellow!

My friend Emalia Tillotson made me some binky clips and also a car seat cover! Hallelujah! I had been planning on making one but haven't had the chance and now I won't have to stress about it. The fabric is so cute, too.

And my friend Jamie Vakautakakala sent me these adorable leggings she sewed. She started up an etsy shop just a year ago called LittleVMen, selling her little boy ties, and recently expanded to bowties, and little girl leggings and headbands. She has been incredibly successful and has even done several events with Zulily! All that while putting her husband through medical school and taking care of her five kids. Sheesh.

Sorry, that was a long, rambling post. I'll try to update more frequently on the pregnancy. It's going to all be over soon enough!