35 Weeks

35 Weeks

Maxwell's size: Over 18 inches long, and about 5 1/4 lbs, about as much as a honeydew melon.

How far along: 35 Weeks, and only 35 days left til my due date! 

Total weight gain:  26.5 lbs.  Only half a pound this week!

Sleep: Sleep has been a little better now that I've figured out that I need to put a pillow under my hips.

Stretch Marks: Still none, we're getting close to the end, so I'm really crossing my fingers now!

Symptoms: Hardly any Braxton-Hicks this week, really only when I'm getting dressed or undressed.  Heartburn has been BAD this week, I've actually had to go back to using Tums.

Movement: He's still moving quite a bit.  I keep waiting for it to slow down as he runs out of room, but he hasn't so far.

Belly Button: It's still hanging in there, but only by a thread.

Nursery Update: I still haven't done either of the last 2 projects (dresser drawers & painting shelves) and now I have some more laundry to do because we bought a swing (used) and we got some more hand me downs from a friend of James' at work.

Sneak Peek from my Maternity Session

Thanks to the lovely Sheena Been, of Photography In the Light, we had our maternity photos taken yesterday at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.  Less than 3 hours after the end of our shoot, she already had some photos for us to peek at!  We are so thankful for these beautiful photographs and can't wait to see the rest!

Photography In the Light

Photography In the Light

Photography In the Light

Photography In the Light

Photography In the Light

34 Weeks

34 Weeks

Maxwell's size: Almost 18 inches, and a 4.75 lbs, about as much as a durlan fruit.

How far along: 34 Weeks, only 42 days left til my due date!  We're going home for a visit to VA at the end of this week to get maternity photos done!

Total weight gain:  26 lbs.

Sleep: Still not sleeping well, but it was better this week.  But, I think that was only because I was so tired! 

Stretch Marks: Still free of them so far!

Symptoms: Still having Braxton-Hicks, but nowhere near as much as I was having them before.

Movement: He's still a mover.  I took a video of him moving that I'll try to post on here.

Belly Button: It's still hanging in there, but only by a thread.

Nursery Update: I finished the exterior of the hospital bag, so now I just need to finish the lining!

The beginnings of a hospital bag

Amy Butler Weekender Bag to be

Eventually, it will look more like this.

33 Weeks

33 Weeks

Maxwell's size: About 17 inches, and a little over 4 lbs, about as much as a honeydew melon.

How far along: 33 Weeks, only 49 days left til my due date!

Total weight gain:  24 lbs.  Still no gain this week.  I'll have to ask my doctor on Tuesday if that's ok.

Sleep: I take back what I said about being able to get through the next few weeks!  Sleep is getting almost impossible.  I'm waking up just about every hour because I'm either so uncomfortable I can't sleep or I have to pee.  So, I'm going to get a massage on Tuesday and hope that it helps me to sleep a little better.

Stretch Marks: Still free of them so far!

Symptoms: I actually had less Braxton-Hicks this week, but I did make an effort to take it a little easier at work this week.  The heartburn, however, has not subsided.

Movement: He's still moving like crazy!  I'm definitely not complaining, it's very reassuring to feel his movements.

Belly Button: It's still hanging in there, but only by a thread.

Nursery Update: I didn't get much done this week because James was out of town for a bit and with me not sleeping very well, I'm spending most of my awake time at work.

32 Weeks

32 Weeks

Maxwell's size: About 16.7 inches, and around 3.75 lbs, about as much as a squash.

How far along: 32 Weeks, only 56 days left til my due date!

Total weight gain:  24 lbs.  Didn't gain anything this week!  Definitely not complaining!

Sleep: Still getting worse, but I only have 8 weeks left, so I feel like I'll be ok.  I know I'm not going to be getting much sleep anyway once he gets here, so I see it as acclimation. 

Stretch Marks: Still free of them so far!

Symptoms: Heartburn and Braxton-Hicks are getting more and more intense.  But as I said before, I made it pretty far without any major discomfort, so I think I'll be ok for a few more weeks.

Movement: He's still a crazy mover.  He kicks all day long and sometimes he wakes me up at night with his jabs.  Usually because he punches my bladder and causes an immediate need to find a toilet.

Belly Button: It's still in there, mostly.  There is one side that's semi-popping out, so it's going to be soon!

Nursery Update: Still haven't painted those pesky shelves, but hoping to get that done on Wednesday when I have the day off again.  I'm also hoping to sew my hospital bag this week (or at least start it) so that I can get to work on packing it!  Also, the diaper bag should be here tomorrow so that I can pack all of Maxwell's things that we'll need in the hospital.

One of the goals I had for this pregnancy (and I'm proud to say that so far I'm reaching my goal) was to never, ever just let myself go.  I told James in the very beginning that under no circumstances was he ever to allow me to walk out of the house in sweats unless we were going to work out or making a midnight run to Wawa (and even then I still wore yoga pants and looked cute!).  So far, I have managed to get myself fully dressed every day, with the exception of when I was sick and spend the whole day in bed.  This is important to me not so much for the superficial reasons of still wanting to look good, but because I think that allowing myself to just dress however I feel like it, i.e. letting myself go, leads to letting myself go in other areas.  I want to make sure that just because I'm having a baby I don't just change who I am completely because it's easier.  I know that with motherhood comes a lot of changes, but I just don't think any of those changes have to be negative.  And I certainly cannot allow myself to ever wear "mom" jeans, bleh.  I want to make sure I carry this goal over once he gets here.  Although I know it may not be realistic to get dressed every day once he gets here, I want to make sure I do something for myself every day, even in that means I just get to take a shower in the beginning.

Diaper Bag

I just ordered my diaper bag!  I was going to wait until he got here to get one, but then the one I've been eyeing went on sale!

Timi & Leslie Charlie Diaper Bag

31 Weeks

31 Weeks

Maxwell's size: About 16 inches, and a little over 3 lbs, about as much as a pineapple.

How far along: 31 Weeks, only 63 days left til my due date!

Total weight gain:  24 lbs.

Sleep: It's getting more and more and more and more uncomfortable to sleep.  Mostly because I can only get comfortable on my left side, but I can only fall asleep on my right side.  I end up tossing and turning a lot.

Stretch Marks: Still none!  I'm in the home stretch now with only a little over 2 months to go and every week I'm crossing my fingers that I don't find any!

Symptoms: Still battling heartburn and the Braxton-Hicks contractions are in full force.

Movement: I'm pretty sure he's going to come out kicking and punching because he moves ALL THE TIME.  He used to move on a bit of a schedule, but not anymore.  He's constantly kicking, rolling, and wedging his feet (or other body parts) into my ribs.

Belly Button: It's still in there, surprisingly!  

Nursery Update: I haven't done anything with the nursery this week.  It was too cold to get outside to paint the shelves, so hopefully I'll get started on that this week.