36 Weeks

How Far Along: 36 weeks

Weight Gain: 33 pounds

Aches, pains and other: Everything between my ribs and hips hurts. All the time. Especially my hips and lower abs. Rolling over in bed is excructiating.

Milestones: Less than a month to go.

I will fix this when I am on my home computer.

 I am feeling done. I'm not saying I want this guy to come early or even before 39 weeks but pregnancy is no longer fun. I hurt. I'm tired all the time. I'm so tired of constantly having to pee. My clothes aren't fitting. I'm just at that uncomfortable all the time stage and it can only be relieved by having a baby. So I just have to deal with it for another 4 weeks or so.

But the truth is I need the time. I haven't washed any baby clothes. I haven't gotten the co-sleeper out of storage. I don't have any bedding or for that matter a bed for this little guy yet. I think a shopping spree is in order this weekend if I can find the energy.

We did get our new stroller though! Baby Jogger City Select, it is the bombdiggity. I love that it can be a single or double stroller and OMG it is smooth like butter. I never dreamed I would pay so much for a stroller but at least we got it for 10% off the list price. 

So here I am- only 3 days until I am full term. Only 24 days until my due date. Where has the time gone.

34 Weeks

How Far Along: 34 weeks

Weight Gain: 27 pounds

Aches, pains and other: My pains move around randomly. Today it's my hip, yesterday my back. Somedays my cootchie-pops aches and other days it doesn't. But there is always some sort of pain.

Milestones: This is the last week that I will not have an OB appointment until he is born.

Oh yes! This was a Christmas present from my husband and I not-so-secretly love it. The brand name is "Forever Lazy" and I want to help it live up to it's name. It is warm and fleece and on a cold, rainy day like today, it is heaven. Too bad I can't wear it to work. Extra special bonus, it will fit while I'm pregnant and after I give birth. Yes, I look like Violet Beauregard and my husband keeps making inappropriate comments about the zipper in the back- but damn it's comfy.

On the baby front, all is good. I think I will manage to keep the weight gain between 30-35 pounds. A far cry from the 20 pounds I wanted to limit it to, but way better than last pregnancy's 50 pounds.

33 Weeks

How Far Along: 33 weeks

Weight Gain: 26 pounds

Aches, pains and other: Recently, he has been causing extreme pressure on my lady parts. To the point that they were swollen and painful all the time. He apparently moved a little though because for the last two days the pain has been gone. Thank you, little feller! He continues his assault on my ribs.


Milestones: He is head down.

You'll notice the tank top is required because my shirts are getting too short.

I've been absent for a few weeks. I have been busy with Christmas and stuff and just plain exhausted. I am lucky to stay awake until 9:00.


But all continues to go well. We had an ultrasound last week that showed him to be perfect. Like I said above he is head down, but he is currently facing forward. He really needs to turn around and face backward for em to have the best chance at a VBAC.  But he has time, and I wonder if him turning around might have something to do with the easing of the pressure and pain I've been having in my unmentionables. I hope so.


Things are coming together to prepare for his arrival. Diapers have been ordered, a friend gave me a huge tub of little boy sleepers, the nursery is done. I just need to dig all the little baby stuff out of storage and get it cleaned up and we will be ready to go.

30 Weeks

How Far Along: 30 weeks

Weight Gain: 25 pounds

Aches, pains and other: This baby is all up in my ribs. In fact, it feels like he is stretched out like an upside down Vitruvian man. I don't know how he can be in so many places at once.

I also ache from just below my ribs to below my hips. Every muscle in that area feels like it has been subjected to an extreme workout. I guess it has from the inside out.

Milestones: Nursery is done!

Dat belleh is gettin' big! And I feel every bit of it. Extreme over indulgence over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend did nothing to help the situation.

In theory, I only have about 10 weeks to go (yikes), in reality it's more like 11.5 or so. I should really get on buying this child some clothes, blankets, etc but there are just so many other things to buy this time of year. Also, we are having another ultrasound at 32 weeks and I kind of want another confirmation that there is indeed a penis in there before I spend money on blue. I have looked at my 20 week u/s pictures a million times and I still can't see what the tech saw. With my daughter it was clear and I knew before the tech even said it out loud.















Standard OB appointment this morning. All is well with the babe and best of all I got confirmation that I do not have gestational diabetes. I was assuming that no news was good news but it is nice to have the confirmation. Especially when it is 3 days until Thanksgiving and there is dressing, mashed potatoes, rolls adn pumpkin cheesecake to be consumed. The bad/good news, the baby has moved way up and now my stomach capacity is way down. Good for controlling weight gain, bad for filling up on Thanksgiving deliciousness. First world problems.

27 Weeks

How Far Along: 27 weeks

Weight Gain: 20 pounds

Aches, pains and other: My back is starting to ache at the end of the day so I'm taking baths every night. I assume this will continue until February. More concerning is that I occasionally get a second of the sciatica that brought me to my knees at the end of my last pregnancy. I am terrified of that coming back.

Milestones: 85% chance of survival if he was born today. ::knock on wood::

This picture is actually from Saturday but I decided to put up a picture that proves I can actually look decent and don't always look like hammered shit.

27 weeks!! By some guidelines that is the third trimester. I generally consider 28 weeks to be the start of the 3T though, so I have one more week to go.

I had an OB appointment this morning that included my glucose challenge to test for gestational diabetes but did not include any mention from my doctor about the fact that for the second month in a row I gained 8 freaking pounds. I guess they know that pregnancy weight gain has it's own pattern for everyone. I'm onto appointments every 2 weeks now and that really hit home that I am no longer newly pregnant but actually entering late pregnancy. Holy Moly!

The appointment also included a real discussion on my decision to VBAC. He is so supportive and encouraging. He told me that they won't put a deadline on me and that we won't even start discussing Plan B until at least 41 weeks. He gave me a 60-80% chance of success if I go into labor on my own.

I am so encouraged. I've read so many stories from women who's OB's are not at all supportive of their decision to VBAC and do everything to set them up for failure. Given that my OBs let me try to induce for 4 days last time around before calling for the knife, I truly believe that they understand that vaginal birth is the most preferable choice.

I still have so much to do. The baby has almost no clothing. I still need to sign up for the newborn diaper rental, my toddler needs a new bed so that the baby can have a crib. We need a new stroller but that is a post in itself.

26 Weeks

How Far Along: 26 weeks
Weight Gain:18 pounds
Aches, pains and other: My bladder currently has the capacity of a walnut. I'm already at the point where I feel like I am about to burst with only a tiny trickle to show for it. Hopefully, he will reposition soon and get off my bladder.
Milestones: We finally painted the new nursery

Today's belly pic brought to you by Halloween!

I continue to consistently put on at least 2 pounds a week despite all efforts to stave off the massive weight gain. I am really hoping it will simmer soon. I am not at all looking forward to next week's OB appointment and not just because I have to take my Glucose Challenge. I'm seriously considering taking my food diary printouts to prove that I am not dining on Reese's and buttercream frosting. But they don't care. They just look at the number and don't care about excuses.

If there is any doubt about where those pounds have gone. Check out the bagginess of the sweater at 22 weeks versus today. Umm, hello there belly. I've started measuring ahead which is no big surprise as I think he is going to be a very big baby.

  Happy Halloween!

A big, whiney weight vent

I am at a complete loss when it comes to my weight gain right now. It is simply impossible. At 19 weeks, I had gained a whopping 4 pounds. I was feeling smug. I'm all, "I've got this."  Famous last words. Fast forward to today, 25 weeks 4 days and I have a gained a total of 19 pounds.

What the effing eff!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!

If you can't do that math let me help you, that is 15 pounds in just over 6 weeks. Or 2.5 pounds per week for 6 weeks. How is that even possible?

Have I been eating fettucini alfredo morning, noon and night? No. I hate alfredo sauce.

Did I crawl into an extra large tub of movie theater popcorn and eat my way out? No. I wish because that would mean that I have both seen a movie recently and got to eat popcorn. Sadly, neither of these things have happened.


In fact, I have continued to carefully track my calories almost everyday. Most days look like this.

Where my daily goal is the number of calories required to maintain my current weight. When it should take 500 calories over and above this number to gain a pound a week, my current rate of weight gain suggests that I am consuming 1250 extra calories per day!! That is simply not the case!!

Am I perfect every day? Of course not but I am on target most days and the days I go over I do not go over by thousands of calories. For the last week, I have eaten a more gestational diabetes friendly diet which is lower in carbs and have almost eliminated refined carbs and the result, I gained 2 pounds.

I know some of this is water retention, but by looking and my hands and feet I can tell that it's not a lot. 

I don't know what to do. I am on the path to gain at least 50 pounds while I'm pregnant just like last time. And that weight did not fall off. It stuck around until I forced it off. I don't want to have to start all over again. I feel like giving up and just diving into a pizza.


I am frustrated. Very, very frustrated.

Things that have made me cry today

Ahh, pregnancy hormones. I have cried several times today and it is at this moment, only 9:09AM.


- The story of the 2 week old baby rescued from the Turkey earthquake rubble
- Every picture I see of Baby Lisa
-An interview with the man who is "Elmo" (those kids he was visiting were just so freaking happy to get to hug Elmo....crap, here I go again.)

25 weeks

How Far Along: 25 weeks
Weight Gain:16 pounds
Aches, pains and other: There is no delicate way to this, my crotch hurts. After a weekend of lifting and wrangling my toddler, I am usually sore on Mondays. Especially in the part of my body bearing the weight of the little man.
Milestones:25 weeks down 15 to go.

I have gained 10 pounds in 6 weeks. Amazing. I admit that I haven't been perfect but 10 pounds in 6 weeks when I had only gained 6 during the first 19 weeks of pregnancy is astounding. I am continuing to try to keep it under control but some of it is out of my control. I'm trying to stick to a Gestational Diabetes type diet even though I don't have GD. It's a great way to eat healthy and keep calorie control. It also helps regulate blood sugar which is good for pregnant women whose metabolism is a bit altered.

I can't believe it is only 15 weeks until my due date. That seems so short but when I think it is 3.5 months until my due date that seems like all the time in the world. When I think of  much going on before then, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, my daughter and husband's birthdays, I wonder how I'll ever get ready for this little guy.

It will work at though. It always does.

24 weeks

How Far Along: 24 weeks
Weight Gain:14 pounds
Aches, pains and other: It's getting harder to find a comfortable sleep position but luckily I'm so exhausted by bedtime that I don't have trouble falling asleep. Staying asleep is another story.
Milestones:At 24 weeks baby has a 50-50 chance of making it outside the womb. God forbid, we ever have to test this theory. I want him cooking for another 15+ weeks.

I pixelated my face out of this weeks photo. I had a freaky, unattractive look going on. I feel like my belly has really popped in the last 2 weeks. There is no doubt I look like a pregnant person. That's good because now nobody will pay attention to the size of my ass.

All is well pregnancy wise. We finalized the name for this little guy. But we won't be revealing it until we introduce him to the world. I am for some reason superstitious about calling the baby by his name before he is born.

I am really tired these days. I have so much motivation for things I want to get done but my energy just doesn't match up. It will be a miracle if we finish the new nursery before the third trimester. Which is, OMG, only a month away!!!

23 Weeks

How Far Along: 23 weeks
Weight Gain:12 pounds (According to doctors scale. 8 lbs in one month. How does that happen)
Aches, pains and other: Heartburn, heartburn and more heartburn.
Milestones: Really started being able to feel and see movement from the outside.

How Far Along: 22 weeks
Weight Gain:14 pounds (What is happening?)
Aches, pains and other: Feeling OK, but my back gets sore after a weekend of toddler wrangling.
Milestones: Started working on the new nursery.

So, according the scale I gained 2 lbs this week. That means 7,000 calories over and above what it takes for me to maintain my current weight. That is 1,000 extra calories per day! That did not happen. Not only did I not eat that much (I know, I track) this is the first week when I have really been walking. I walked at least a mile 5 times last week. It's not a lot but it is better than nothing.

I still have 1 week to go before my next doctor's scale weigh-in. At my current rate, I will weigh in about 9 lbs higher than last time. I'll give you a minute to wrap your brain around that- 9lbs in 4 weeks. OK, it should be 7 because my last weigh-in was about 2 pounds too low. I think I must have been dehydrated. 9 pounds is going to get me a talking to. They'll make me do my 1 hour glucose tolerance test early for sure with that.

But, the baby is great. He's kicking up a storm. I love that reassurance. 

20 weeks

Halfway. Well, for people who have 40 week pregnancies it's halfway, I still have another week before I really think I am more than 50% done.

How Far Along: 20 weeks
Weight Gain:10 pounds (wha?!?!?!)
Aches, pains and other: Heartburn, heartburn,heartburn.
Milestones: It's a healthy boy!

Umm, remember last week when I was only 6lbs up total. Did I gain 4lbs in one week? Maybe. I didn't really track last week but I don't think I over ate by 14,000 calories. I'm blaming the pregnant lady's stand-by, water retention. My weight can seriously fluctuate by up to 5 pounds in a 24 hours period these days. Luckily, Fall has come to town and I am actually doing some walking. I've also decided to sign up for a Saturday morning prenatal yoga class.

And yet, I don't feel like my belly is really getting that much bigger. I'm not worried about the baby or anything, I know that it is growing fine. But when I look at my 16 week belly shot versus my 20 week, I don't see much difference. Not a big deal, I will be ridiculously large in no time. 

It's a.......

Leading up to my big ultrasound yesterday I, like many knocked up chicks before me, consulted many old wives tales and even a novelty to help me determine the sex of this baby. I don't do well with not knowing these kinds of things.

I looked at heart rate, chinese gender prediction, whether or not this baby was stealing my beauty, etc.

Then I broke down and shelled out $30 for this in a moment of weakness. I resisted it when I was pregnant with my daughter but I was weaker this time around.

Finally, after counting down the weeks, the days, the hours, the minutes, we finally had our big ultrasound yesterday.

First off, let me say that the baby is PERFECT! That is absolutely the most important. The growth is right on track, there are the right number of parts and everything is where it should be. You never, ever get tired of hearing the doctor say, "Everything looks perfect".

And now for the results

Old wives tales average= 60% in favor of boy.

Intelligender=

Ultrasound says= BOY!!!!!!!! 

Not a money shot. We don't do privates on the internets.

I can't believe it. Even though I thought it was a boy, it was still a shock to hear it. It is so exciting to be going on a whole new adventure this time around. I was prepared for a little girl last time because I used to be a little girl. A boy. OMG. Dirt and noise and craziness. I can't wait to meet him.

Extra good news, now I get to shop because we don't have any clothes for a boy. We don't even have anything gender neutral as far as clothing goes except for some white onesies. I'm greasing up my credit card as we speak.

How far: 18 weeks
Weight gained: 8 pounds (gah!)
What's happening?: Round. Ligament. Pain.   Oh my god, I do not remember it being this bad during my last pregnancy. I feel like I've gone a few rounds with Jillian Michaels but only between my belly button and hips. Oh, that sounds a little dirty. Not like that. The pain. The pain.

I can't believe I'm closing in on half way. This pregnancy has been flying by even though each week seems like an eternity. According to the scale this morning, I gained 2.5 pounds in a week. That may or may not be the case. My parents were in town and my very Southern mother cooked the whole time. I ate a lot of bread. We'll see how the scale looks for the rest of the week before I kick myself for those biscuits and gravy.

Pre-baby to do list

Honestly, I can't even think of that much to do. With pregnancy number 1, the to-do's seemed overwhelming, but this time we already have a shitton of baby gear. We have childcare lined up. We have loads of baby crap. We have loads of feeding, nursing, etc crap. Wow, preparing for baby number 2 is a lot less time consuming than getting ready for the first one. Of course, I have about 115% less free time to prepare for this one than I did for Caroline, so I guess it all evens out.

1.  Switch my stepson  to the current nursery and turn it into a tween boy room and switch current teen boy room to nursery suitable for a toddler and an infant, possibly of different genders.

Not my actual baby room. I wish

Actually, this one makes my head hurt with the enormity of it. But it has to be done. Our house has four bedrooms but one is 2 floors below the others in the basement. Obviously, we can't put either of the little kids there and stepson isn't quite ready to be that separated from the rest of the family at night. Plus, I'm not ready to give up having a guest room. So, Caroline and the new baby will share a room for about 2 years (unless we get a new house between now and then). The current nursery is tiny and there is no way to fit two kids in there. Stepson's room is much bigger and unfair or not, he is only here part time so the switch is non-negotiable. But there is so much to do. I can't really start until I know whether we are having a boy child or a girl child and I know what to do about paint and decor, so I can keep my head in the sand about it for a couple more weeks.

The hardest part of this task with be cattle prodding DH into action...during football season. 

2. Get new furniture and bedding for new baby.

Easy enough. Just need to know the sex of this thing.

3. Clean and sanitize entire house.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. As much as I want this done, the only way it will happen is by hiring a team of industrial cleaners to come in and hose this place down. I just don't have the time or energy to tackle such a huge, futile task.

4. Buy new diapers.

My favorite task on the list. We cloth diaper and like many other cloth diaperers, I am addicted to buying fluff. I've been on the clean and sober, no fluff, wagon but now I am happily jumping off! I'm trying to be sensible though. Since I still have 5 months to go until the baby is born, I am only buying during sales or other incentive type events. I love DiaperShops.com because they always have a coupon for discounts or free diapers, but I'm trying to hold out for the really good deals. I'm also looking into renting newborn cloth diapers. If this baby is like Caroline, it won't fit into newborn size diapers past about 2 months and I'm certainly not investing in purchasing new ones, but I want my itty bitty in fluff, so rental looks like the best option. It would probably be cheaper to use disposables until it is big enough to fit in to one-size diapers, but we chose cloth diapering for reasons other than cost (though the cost savings are significant).

5. Stock freezer with meals. 

I didn't do this last time and regretted it. This time will be different. I'm hoarding recipes on Pinterest and plan to start prepping just as soon as the weather cools and it isn't a million degrees in my kitchen. Again, this all must be done with a toddler attached to my leg just to add a little extra challenge.

6. Buy boy clothes

 If it is a boy.

What else? I don't know. Spend time with Caroline? Always. Sleep? As if. Dates with husband? Whenever we get the chance. I know I must be missing a ton but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is.

Where's my cane? Where's my teeth?

Elderly multigravida. Second or more pregnancy in a woman who will be 35 years of age or older at expected date of delivery."

If you are over 35 and pregnant, sneak a look at your chart sometime. You will see the word "elderly" on there. What? Elderly? Yep, in the world of obstetrics, once you reach the ripe old age of 35 you are elderly. Seeing that word is, disconcerting, upsetting, offensive, tear inducing. It's just a medical term but why the eff did they have to choose that one. Elderly!! WTF?


Is there some sort of AARP for Elderly pregnant women that enables us to get discounts?

17 Weeks

How Far Along: 17 Weeks
Symptoms: An unwelcome return of first trimester exhaustion
Showing?: Yes.
Weight Gain: 5 lbs
Milestones: Hmmm, I can't really think of anything this week.

The face is pixelated because it is not good. Scary. Very scary.

Of course, the day I decide to wear a sundress with the intention of keeping a sweater on over it is the day the HVAC system in my building is on the fritz. So I am roasting and that is doing nothing to help the overwhelming exhaustion I am feeling right now. It is the first trimester all over again. Yesterday, I took a 3 hour nap and still managed to fall asleep shortly after 9 last night. Only to feel like I needed a couple of more hours when the alarm went off this morning. I hope this passes. I hope I'm not getting sick.

In other news, the pounds are coming on. I am ravenous and it is what it is. I am trying to make healthy choices but I don't always succeed. The worst is when I don't bring enough food to work and end up having no options other than the vending machine. It doesn't help that people are always offering me sweet treats. Their way of helping to fatten up the pregnant chick. I'm trying though. Still need to find some time and energy for some exercise.

Only 3 weeks until the big ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. It seems like forever!

Planning the escape route

For anyone who doesn't know the birth story for my daughter, the quick version goes like this: 4 days of induction resulting in less than 3cm dilation and a c-section. 6 nights in hospital, 2.5 hours before I held baby for first time, 5 days for my milk to come in. The long version is here.

It was not the nicely medicated, textbook birth that I had envisioned. I honestly didn't give the possibility of a c-section any thought because if there is one thing the women in my family can do well it is push out babies.  I secretly thought that if I really wanted to I could do it without an epidural. That's how badass at delivering I thought I would be.

I was wrong.

But now I have a second chance. At my first doctor's appointment this pregnancy at 7 weeks, my doctor brought up the possibility of a VBAC. I said I couldn't think that far into the future. And that was true, at that point I was only focused on the keeping the little pea sized embryo in it's cozy home through the first trimester.

Now that I have managed that goal, I have begun thinking about how I'm going to get this kid out of me when the time comes. I previously thought that you couldn't go overdue and still have a VBAC, but I was wrong. That really opens up the door for me (I can't envision me going into labor before 420 weeks). The more I think about it and research it, I really, really want this).

This gives me a little added motivation to limit my weight gain and work on toning on flexibility. Excess weight can hinder chances for a successful VBAC and extra muscle is useful for pushing large parasites out of your ladyhole.

So that's my goal for February. That mean accepting that I likely won't have a baby before my 39th birthday on the 11th. It means considering my due date to be February 20th instead of the 6th. It means 6 months of worrying that maybe my body doesn't know how to go into labor. And 6 months of hoping that it does.

15 Weeks

How Far Along: 15 Weeks
Symptoms: Just peeing all the time
Showing?: Yes.
Weight Gain: 4lbs
Milestones: Maybe feeling a little movement

As you can see I finally got Scott to take the photo. The results are no less heinous. How many chins are there. But check out that cute little munchkin in the background.

 I had my monthly OB check this morning. Everything is as it should be. The heartrate was a nice strong 160. For the second time this pregnancy the dr. commented on how my uterus was really tilted waaay back. I never heard anything about this in my first pregnancy. Is it possible she put it back in wrong after my c-section. (I kid, I kid).

Their scale had me up 6lbs from last appt. I would be freaking out except a) I ate a lot of salt yesterday- pickles and movie theater popcorn (not together) b) I think my last weight was artificially low due to some dehydration. They have me at a net gain of 4lbs, which isn't too bad at 15 weeks.


I think I'm feeling a little dancing from this little one. There is nothing like feeling your baby move inside you. When I was pregnant with Caroline every movement excited me, it never ever got old. I'm really looking forward to feeling more from this little guy. I say guy because right now I'm feeling like it is a boy. That is based on absolutely nothing though. Next week I may think it is a girl. I won't know for sure for 5 more long weeks.