35 week Pregnancy Update

With only 5 weeks left until my due date I can't help but feel anxious, scared and excited all at the same time.  I'm excited to meet this little girl that I've been carrying in my belly and excited to start our life with her, I'm anxious to know when she will make her arrival but I'm scared of what labor is going to be like and how much our life is going to change once she's here.  I know these are all normal feelings but man is my mind going crazy these days.  The past few nights I've had a hard time falling asleep because I have so many things running through my head.  I start thinking about how labor is going to feel, wondering when during the day/night it will start and when will I'll know it's time to go to the hospital, will she be late, early or on time, will I end up with a c-section like my mom...oh so many questions.  Then I start thinking about what kind of mom I'll be.  Will everything just come naturally to me?  How will I know how much and how often to feed her, change her diaper?  How am I going to function once I have to go back to work having had very little sleep?  The questions I have are endless but I guess that's what being a new mom is all about.  You learn as you go and everything works out eventually, right?

Regardless of how scared I am about everything right now I also cannot wait to be a mommy to this little girl.  I feel like God has given me a little girl for so many reasons and one of those reasons being that I get to make up for everything my mom didn't do with and for me growing up.  I'm not saying my mom was a "bad mom” because growing up I had everything I needed and more (although I give my dad credit for that), however, she was and still is very selfish.  Her selfishness took away a lot of special moments for me and it also prevented us from having a close relationship of doing mother and daughter activities.  I can honestly say I’ve never gotten a manicure/pedicure with my mom, never have had a spa day with my mom, I can’t even remember ever going to the movies with her or her taking me out to dinner just the two of us.  I can say we went shopping a lot, but that was only because I begged my dad for new clothes and he would give her the credit card to take me shopping and then she would hardly let me pick out a whole lot and would buy herself a ton of new stuff. I never got a sex talk from her, nor could I talk to her about any of the boys I dated or was interested in, heck I couldn’t talk to her about anything. She attended my wedding but didn’t help plan it and wasn’t there until minutes before walking down the aisle.  I can go on and on about all the things she didn’t do but really what good does that do me?  All I know is that I’m going to do everything my mom didn’t do and more with my daughter.  I want her to feel like she can come to me with anything.  I want to build a relationship with her that I never had with my mom and take her to do all the things that make you feel girly and special.  God is giving me the opportunity to make up for lost time and I can’t wait to be the mom I always wanted my mom to be.  

I need to start packing my hospital bags within these next few weeks. Any suggestions on some MUST bring items?

I don't really have much of a birth plan.  People think I'm crazy but I really want to go into this and enjoy the process rather than worry about something not going the way I planned or scaring myself half to death. I know I want to try and labor as much as I can at home where I'm most comfortable and then once the pain becomes unbearable on our way we go.  I rather not be induced because I hear it makes labor ten times more painful but if it needs to be done then it needs to be done.  If I need an epidural (which I'm sure I will) I WILL get an epidural.  I've also prepared myself that I may end up with a c-section just like my mom and while that scares the crap out of me, so does a baby coming out vaginally LOL.  That's about as far as my "birth plan" goes, pretty basic huh?

Now that I’ve put all my thoughts out there, let’s carry on with my 35 week update.  Only 2 weeks left until I’m full term and right about now this little one is doing a lot of growing  She’s putting on about 1/2 a lb a week which explains why my stomach feels so incredibly heavy now and why my feet hurt super bad after standing for longer than 10 minutes. While pregnancy has been pretty easy for me I'm soooo ready to be done. I think I'm at the part of pregnancy where everyone says they are done and it's no longer as enjoyable as it once was.  I felt GREAT until I hit 34 weeks and then slowly started feeling more tired, sore and uncomfortable.  This week has been the most exhausting week I've had during my pregnancy.  I feel completely drained, a little bit of swelling coming on, nauseous, sore and the pressure I'm feeling down below when standing is soooo uncomfortable.  I'm now getting up to use the restroom twice during the middle of the night and I've had a few sleepless nights that really suck, especially when you have to work the next day.  However, I've also had some really awesome nights of sleep like last night and the night before so you never know what you’re gonna get.  I'm really looking forward to going on maternity leave so I can relax and nap more often and not feel so stressed because there is so much to do both at work and at home. I honestly feel a bit overwhelmed right now just thinking about all the needs to be done still.  

Speaking of maternity leave, I had my 34 week check-up last Thursday and my Dr. insists that I stay off my feet for long periods of time.  She doesn't want me going into pre-term labor so she said I need to start resting as much as possible.  She also wants me to start maternity leave next week, so October 4th will be my last day at work.  I've gone back and forth on whether I want to take a whole month off before or work until two weeks before my due date, however, after talking to my doctor I've decided taking a month off (well actually 3 1/2 weeks) before my due date is best.  I cannot wait until I'm officially on leave, I am exhausted, not to mention I have so much organizing I have to get done on very little energy.

This past weekend was our baby shower.  Everything turned out so beautiful thanks to my mother-in-law and best friend and all our other family members that helped put it all together.  They really went above and beyond and took care of everything so I didn't have to do a thing.  Josh and I feel so blessed.  We had about 80 people at our shower and the day went by so quickly that I felt I didn't even have the chance to talk to everyone.  We got just about everything we need and more for this little one so we are set!  Now I just need to figure out how to organize everything and wash everything.  The day after the shower I was so exhausted I felt sick.  Thankfully I took the following day off work because there was no possible way I would have been able to function.  Every part of my body was sore, my eyes were burning and my feet hurt so badly.  I felt so awful that for the first time in 5 years of being married I made my husband a grocery list and had him do our grocery shopping so I could stay home and rest.  I'm so thankful for that man, he has helped me so much during this pregnancy with cleaning, doing the dishes every night, picking up dinner the nights I don't feel like cooking and offering to do anything and everything he feels is too much for me. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who truly cares about how I feel and I feel even more blessed to know our daughter is going to have one amazing daddy who will do anything for the both of us.

Lately I’ve been missing my crazy workouts that I use to do pre-pregnancy.  Maybe it’s because I tend to push myself harder during fall/winter that I’m starting to miss my old workouts and since we are now officially out of summer it makes sense that I’m starting to think about my old workout routines.  Last week I did 3 days of cardio and 4 days of lifting (a total of 5 days).  Two days of jogging for 45 minutes and 1 day on the bike for 25 minutes.  I was super tired every day after work last week so it was really hard to get out there and get my workouts done. I'm pretty sure my jogging days are now over until this little girl arrives (my stomach just feels too heavy now) so I plan on getting in some uphill walking a few days a week from here on out and continuing to try and lift when I can. I really want to try and push myself as long as I can.  I figure once I’m on maternity leave it will be a bit easier to make time because I’ll be home all day so I can workout when I feel the best which is usually mid-morning.  My husband and I are already coming up with a plan to get back into shape after the baby is born and my doctor approves me working out.  I’ll be sure and share that plan with you all once that time comes.  What I can share right now it that it will include a few days of insanity, lifting and running.  

There’s not much more to update as of now, however, I did promise you guys some more maternity photos, so I've shared some more below as well as a 33, 34 and 35 week belly pic.  I post most of my belly updates on Instagram (stephani_fitlifehappywife) and share only a few on Facebook.

How far along: 35 weeks (almost 9 moths, yikes)

Weight Gain: 17 lbs at my last appointment.

Stretch Marks: None

Belly Button: Flat but starting to pop out a tiny bit.

Wedding Rings On/Off: - off for now : ( they were getting tight and I was afraid I'd wake up one morning and not be able to get them off.  I feel naked without them!

Movement: Lots of movement all day long and nonstop hiccups which feels like a twitch I can't get rid of lol.  This little girl is active all throughout the day and less active at night which allows me to sleep pretty well.  Her movements are painful these days, I feel like I'm being elbowed from the inside 24/7 and each movement causes me to tense up, it's really hard to relax with how much and how hard she moves.
Feeling: Exhausted!

Cravings: My mom swore up and down that I would have these crazy cravings eventually but it hasn't happened yet.  I still want fruit a lot or anything cold like Thai Tea Boba mMmmm

Symptoms: Shortness of breath.  It's getting harder to breath the further along I get, especially after meals.  I hate the feeling of not being able to breath, it's one thing I definitely won’t miss.  I'm also feeling a little nauseous and my feet hurt constantly.  I've had a few nights where I've felt some sharp pains down below and cramping in my pelvic area.

Missing: Sushi I want sushi BAD.  Being comfortable after meals and my hardcore workouts.  Hopefully I can do pull-ups, pushups and dips again one day soon.  I know it sounds crazy but I miss being able to do them!

Looking forward to: Maternity leave so I can relax both physically and mentally.

Sleep: Sleep is still better than it was pre-pregnancy, however, it's getting harder to initially fall a sleep at night.