Yesterday marked the beginning of week 31. Right now our little guy weighs over 3 pounds, but he still has about 3 to 5 pounds to gain before he arrives. Measuring about 18 inches, he is quickly approaching his birth length. (His mommy was 20 inches long, and his daddy was 21 inches long when born, so he probably has a little bit more to go!) Also developing pretty quickly these days are the baby's brain connections (he has to make trillions of them!). He is actually able to put that complex web of brain connections to good use too as he is already processing information, tracking light, and perceiving signals from all five senses.
Our little boy is probably also pretty sleepy, putting in longer stretches of snooze time, specifically in REM sleep. Due to this, I supposedly should be noticing more defined patterns of awake (and kicking) and lseeping (quiet) times from him, but these days, he's still pretty much a spaz...haha I feel like he moves around all of the time, and right around the time I start thinking that I haven't felt him move in a little bit, he'll start going again. I guess he's pretty quiet at night time when I'm sleeping though, which is good! I can also feel that he's starting to run out of room a little bit, and I've been feeling less kicking, and more scraping across my belly. If he's particularly spunky, you actually see the action from the outside, which pretty much just looks like my belly twitching. I think I've also started to feel him having hiccups. It's not something you can feel from the outside, like the other movements, but several times a day, I feel a little movement that is very rhythmic, occurring every few seconds, and lasting several minutes.
Last weekend, my family and friends threw a baby shower for me at my Aunt Beth's house, which was awesome! I had a really nice time, and we got a bunch of awesome baby gear! We were a little worried about fitting it all in our apartment, but it wasn't so bad. The closer it gets to the baby coming, the more excited we get, and putting away all of our new baby things has just added to that excitement!
This past week, I've started feeling a little more yucky than usual. In the mornings my stomach has felt a little blah, and sometimes that feeling has lasted throughout the day. I never feel anything close to being nauseous, but it sometimes puts a damper on my appetite, or I just spend the day not being able to think of anything in particular that I would like to eat. Heartburn has started to get a little worse these days as the little guy gets bigger, and that probably adds to the yucky stomach feeling.
I've also definitely noticed it getting a little harder to breathe this past week. Sometimes I feel like I just can't get in a deep enough breath of air, or I just get a lot more winded or tired going up stairs than usual. This is pretty normal, since as the baby gets bigger, it gets more crowded in my belly, and he has to start pushing on all of my organs, including my lungs (don't get me started on when he kicks my bladder...haha). I've been told that when the baby begins to drop down into my pelvis closer to the time of delivery, I'll find breathing much easier again.
Up until this point, I've been very lucky and have felt really good. But, today was a particularly bad day. I started off with a pretty yucky tummy, which lasted all day. In general, my muscles have felt pretty tired all over for no good reason, and my belly has been hurting over the past few days as it continues to expand (he must be going through another growth spurt that I can't keep up with...haha). Things got worse in the late afternoon when all of a sudden, my left eye got all weird and blurry (which is known to happen to pregnant ladies), and I was feeling a bit dizzy. I was trying to write at the computer today at work, so that didn't mix well! Fortunately, it was close to the end of the day, so I just went home at a reasonable time for once. When I got home, I just laid down for a while, and that helped a lot. I felt much better after about a half hour, and while my tummy still isn't quite settled, the other symptoms have subsided. Since it's Friday, hopefully I can get a good long sleep in, and I'll probably be as good as new tomorrow.
This week we also had another baby appointment, which was pretty uneventful. The usual weight, urine, and blood pressure numbers were taken, which were all good. (My blood pressure was a little high at the last check-up, but it was back to normal this time, so that's good!) They also checked how big my belly is getting, and we listened to the baby's heartbeat again. As the doctor said, all of my testing up to this point has been great, and I'm pretty much on "auto-pilot" at the this point...haha
On Thursday, Mark and I attended our last birthing basics class. To finish up the course, the instructor went over things that happen right after the baby is born, including what standard procedures are done on the baby, and the various characteristics of normal newborn babies that we can expect. The other major topic we went over was cesarean births--when they're usually done, and what they involve. We also talked about postpartum depression (and how this can differ from the normal "baby blues") and how long it takes for a Mom's body to return back to the non-pregnant state. Finally, we ended with some more breathing/relaxation exercises.
Well, I guess that's it for now!
-Mandy :)
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