I had good intentions, everyone - really! I meant to start doing pregnancy updates every two weeks... but time has slipped away. At this point I'll be lucky to keep up with my monthly updates!
Keeping in line with my previous posts, I'll divide this update into "pregnancy health" and "what's going on around here" sections. Let's dive in!
Pregnancy Health Update
Pregnancy
We are now doing prenatal appointments with our beloved midwife every two weeks! Baby and I both look great according to all standard measurements (BP, FH, FHT, etc.). There has been absolutely no deviation from standard measurements, which is just a little crazy. Not that we're complaining!
For those keeping track of our journey, ketones are now trace only (somewhere between zero and +1).
Energy Levels
Unfortunately, my energy levels are fading quickly - standard for third trimester. I have never made it back up to "normal" during a pregnancy, and it doesn't look like it's going to happen this time either! I am working diligently on my Before-Baby To-Do List, but it looks like several items (namely the cooking ahead for six weeks bit) are going to get the axe - as usual!
Nausea
Nausea is still ever-present, anywhere from "comfortable" to "ick!" It depends on the time of day and what I've eaten. I have had chance-after-chance-after-chance-after-chance to see that carbohydrates are truly evil during pregnancy (further proof that what we're doing is working!). Whenever I overindulge, the next day is simply awful. Week 29 was particularly rough after indulging in a couple of days of evening carrot cake. Delicious, but oh, the after-effects!
I think we've actually gone slightly backwards with nausea, but that is typical during the third trimester. It happened last time. Thankfully it's not a huge regression.
For the record, I am now allowing myself more carbs than the strict VLC allows. I'm doing some low-carb (but not very-low-carb) foods like cottage cheese, as well as small amounts of fruit and beans. I'm avoiding grains and straight sugars completely. I wish I could say that having small amounts of carbs was easier than the strict diet I've been on for two years, but actually... it's not. It's harder. Really, it's like telling a cocaine addict that he can have "just a little" bit of cocaine. Truly, abstinence is better than reawakening those carb cravings.
Good News!
Week 32 is always a wonderful landmark because it means that we now have our choice of transport hospital! Our favorite local hospital can only take mamas and babies that have made it to 32 weeks or later, so it's always a big relief to know that, if needed, we can head to the hospital where we feel comfortable rather than one of the alternatives.
Pregnancy What's-Going-On-Around-Here Update
Random Pregnancy Stuff
We... still... don't... have... baby... names. My goodness - this is taking forever! If we don't get on it soon, it'll be more along the lines of, "The baby's here! Quick, somebody open the baby name book and point randomly!"
In better news, I am thrilled to say that my skills of fetal palpation are finally showing some signs of improvement! Till now I've been absolutely hopeless, but now I am getting better and better at determining baby's position. Baby is still quite the flipper - he alternates between LOA, ROA, and transverse - many times a day!
Other News...
We celebrated our little guy's fifth birthday and survived the Great Phoenix Flood of 2014 - all in one week!
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| Flood Day! |
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| Birthday Cake! |
Field Trips, School Stuff, Etc.!
It's time for homeschool field trips to start in earnest! One of the beauties of doing school over the summer is that we get a really good start on academics without having to bother with all of the logistics of field trips. Now that we're well-established in our school schedule and routines, the rest of the world is starting school... and thus it's time for field trip season to start! We will average one to two field trips per week for the rest of the season (until whenever baby puts in an appearance!).
Our first official field trip of the years was a chance to visit a bat tunnel in Phoenix. It wasn't a huge success (too much heat, too few bats!), but we all had fun anyway.
I'm finally feeling well enough to get back into fun-kid-project stuff! Here are a few of our latest projects - homemade GAK, homemade playdough, and oven-s'mores.
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| Homemade playdough - one of my favorites! |
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| Oven s'mores - easy and fast! |
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| Homemade GAK and playdough (looking worse for wear after all of the colors have been mixed by little hands!). |
I finally spent my birthday money! Yes! Target, how I love thee!! One dust-buster, a set of baby-proof doorknobs, a duster, a crib mattress-cover, and of course... plastic storage boxes. Mmm. The rest of my money is being saved to buy fruit trees this coming February!
In other cheering news, I'm finally feeling well enough to get back to some of my normal activities - namely, playing the piano and organ and getting back into meal ministry (which is a good thing, considering how many of our friends are expecting babies over the next quarter!). It feels lovely!!
But now that I'm (mostly) feeling better, I really need to get back into hardcore birth prep - namely, walking, stretching, strength exercises, etc. *Sigh*
And finally, I'm still (STILL) working through my Spring Cleaning Lists (which I hope to publish here soon). My current projects are:
- Using the food in the freezers so that I can defrost/clean them soon. This is one... slow... process.
- Oiling the wooden furniture - My favorite! Easy, fun, great results.
- Washing (lower) walls - NOT my favorite. Difficult (i.e. impossible), time-consuming, and gives absolutely horrid results (patchy). I will never go for textured walls again - they just suck up the dirt and refuse to relinquish it at any price. Does anyone out there know how to wash those critters effectively? (Aside from just burning down the house and starting over?)
And one more thing... I'm finally seeing progress on my project of getting a chore system in place! It's taken a long time, but the train has finally left the station and we are seeing a wee bit of positive movement.
Chores are not just a matter of chore charts and logistics. By and large, they are a matter of working through character issues - obedience (vs. feet-dragging), diligence (vs. laziness), positive attitudes (vs. sulking), etc. It is really a huge training ground for parenting skills, and I find that I need all of my strength and energy to keep focused on end-goals (that of producing good husbands and decent human beings for the world at large). It is very easy to become discouraged in this, as it is in all areas of parenting.
But we press on!
Dear friends, I've rambled for long enough! I'll try to check in as often as I can! Have a wonderful week!
What a lot of good news from you! It is so fun to read such cheerful optimism. :) I continue to wish you well.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! Thank you also for your blog - I enjoy reading about your adventures, as well as your willingness to share your challenges that you face. Wonderful stuff!!
ReplyDeleteAre there any specific strengthening exercises that work well for you? I should probably start doing something like that as well :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Kristina!!! :)
ReplyDeleteMy set of pregnancy (birth-prep) exercises is something like this:
Kegels - Can't stand the things, but I do them.
Cat-backs - Where you're on hands and knees and you alternate arching your back as far as you can, first down and then up. I think Dr. Bradley recommended doing 40 of these, 4 times per day. I might get in once! :)
Squatting - Just sitting about like an ordinary frog, looking silly. :)
Butterfly exercises - This is the yoga-like position where you sit on the floor and pull your heels in toward your body as far as you can. Then you move your knees up and then push them down, each time pushing against your knees with your hands (for resistance training).
I also try to do as much floor-sitting as possible - in Bradley, they tell you to sit only on the floor, not in chairs and especially not on sofas - this is for optimal fetal positioning (to prevent baby from turning posterior and etc.). Next best bet is a hard chair. Anything that keeps the mama upright or forward-leaning rather than backward-leaning.
I think that's about it! I usually try to keep up other exercises, like plies (ballet squats) and walking, but those are the birth-specific exercises.
Can't wait to meet the new little one in just a few weeks!! :)
Diana