Week 35

How far along:

35 weeks.

Best moments so far:

Does nap time count? As I near the end of this pregnancy, my overall patience level with the boys...in particular, one specific 3.5 year old who is constantly causing trouble towards his brother (think pushing, tackling, touching when not wanting to be touched, stealing whatever toy he is playing with, encouraging bad manners at the dinner table, and overall just using an extra loud and aggressive tone and attitude towards him)...has been next to ZERO. I'll be honest, I'm completely fed up, and have a serious love-hate relationship right now. I am so thankful when T gets home in the evening, or when I can take him to school for a few hours just to be able to recenter and have a chance to play with our little G without him running and hiding between my legs because his big brother is scaring him. We definitely need of a new form of discipline around here, because so far, nothing we have been doing has any staying power, and only seems to make things worse. If his act doesn't clean up in the next couple of weeks, I'm strongly considering sending him to daycare. Adding a new...and very fragile baby...while functioning on very little sleep...to the already super stressful days with our oldest, is most likely a huge recipe for disaster in the coming weeks. So...best moment? No. But at this point, it can hopefully only get better.

In a true 'best moment', I did get a dress to wear for maternity photos (assuming my photographer gets back to me before baby arrives!), and I also settled on family picture outfits for newborn photos. This had been stressing me out BIG time, so I'm hopeful that when everything arrives in the mail, it will all look GREAT together, and I won't have to worry about it again until next fall when we do family pics for Christmas cards!

Other highlights from the week include attending registration and open house for C's new preschool next fall. It seems waaaaaaay too early to even be thinking about this, but that's the way of the world! He loved meeting his potential teachers and exploring around the preschool rooms to see what 'school' is all about at the elementary level! He later told me that he was going to teach his little brother all about how to do it, and also teach him how to use the potty like a big boy. #thinkshesallgrownup #moretalkthanactions #onecanonlyhope

Maternity clothes:

Most. 

Sleep: 

Ok, but as baby continues to grow, the space for my bladder is getting smaller and smaller, and I have found myself having to get up more in the last week during the night to use the restroom.

Miss Anything:

Peace. See above 'best moment'.

Baby Movement:

LOTS. I do feel like baby's movements have maybe slowed down a little during the daytime hours, but when I finally sit down at the end of the evening, the kicking, rolling, and flipping is nonstop until after I fall asleep. I was convinced last night that the baby was going to kick itself right out of the womb!

Cravings and Aversions:

Fruit this week. Fresh pineapple, raspberries, and orange juice. Yum yum. Don't worry though, my daily craving for chocolate or sweets remains unchanged.

Queasy or sick:

Nope.

Symptoms: 

I've had more fatigue this week than I had the past few weeks, and have needed an afternoon siesta on several occasions to get caught up. I haven't had a crazy amount of Braxton Hicks at all, so I think it's safe to say that baby is not thinking of an early arrival this coming week! 

Looking forward to:

My 36 week checkup is next week, and after some discussion, T has decided he may actually make an effort to join me. He came to most of my appointments with C, and a handful with G, but has yet to come to a single appointment (aside from ultrasounds) with baby 3. If nothing else, maybe it will keep G a little more content to have dad there so he doesn't have to crawl on top of me while my doctor is trying to check baby out! After this next appointment, I'll be starting weekly checkups until baby's arrival, and it all becomes much more real!

On my mind:
I've been thinking about finding a baby book lately, but am not sure what direction to take. I did get a childhood history journal from Promptly Journals (same as the ones C & G have) that goes from pregnancy-18 years old, but I think it might be fun to have a more traditional 'baby' book with more room for pictures to document baby's first year. (The Promptly Journal is amazing, but only allows room for one picture at each month of the first year, and focuses more on the writing). G has this one, which is cute, but I'm not convinced I would buy again as many of the photos it requires are a super inconvenient 3x3 size which I have yet to find someone who prints, and some of the milestones it picks out are not necessarily things I took pictures of. I'm thinking maybe something more clean and simple like this one from Artifact Uprising might be just the ticket.

Speaking of 'clean and simple', I've been contemplating investing in a new play gym for baby that isn't quite so wild and crazy to have on our main floor. I've read several articles lately about many of the playmats on the market being overstimulating for babies, and this one from Lovevery was designed by a group of child development experts with specific milestones in mind. It doesn't hurt that it is a 2018 National Parenting product award winner, comes with play suggestions for the first year, is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and has great reviews. Not to mention, it would be nice to have a play gym on each level of our home so that there is an obvious 'safe zone' for baby to play that is impossible to miss for the other two wild & crazy kids in this household...eh hemmm....I'm looking at you C & G. You can read more about the Lovevery play gym HERE.

In other unrelated baby news, I've been thinking about getting C's birthday party planning underway. I won't likely have too much extra time on my hands after baby's arrival to do much party planning, so anything I can get done ahead of time might be great. He's been telling me he wants a 'taco party' lately, so maybe we'll have a Four Year Old Fiesta! Taco House anyone?!

34 Weeks

Week 34

How far along:

34 weeks. How ironic that baby is the size of a box of cookies, since my countertop is currently loaded up with boxes of cookies after a Girl Scout cookie haul! In other news, we learned in our baby book that the average baby at this age is about 5.5 lbs and 12 inches long. Lots of growing in the length department for this little one to catch up with where big brothers were length wise when they were born!

At my OB checkup this morning, baby still continues to measure exactly on track, and had a heart rate of 130bpm. See what I mean about the heart rate being all over the place!? My last appointment I think it was around 160bpm, and before that 140bpm. No consistency in the home stretch I guess! G happened to be with me for the appointment, and he was so concerned about everything happening, that he wouldn't even let me get my weight checked without being held, had to come to the bathroom with me, and literally climbed onto the exam table and sat down right on my face while my doctor was using the Doppler to check for heart tones. Standing on a chair holding my hand was not nearly close enough for this little mama's boy! Such a little mother hen!

Best moments so far:

G took notice of my stomach for the first time this past week, and when I explained to him there is a baby in there, he was oh so curious! He patted my tummy, and looked at me expectantly as if to say 'how can this be?'. I informed him he was going to be a Big Brother, and his face split into a wide grin. Oh so sweet. Hopefully he will be a great big brother when the time arrives, and understand that he won't be the baby of the house anymore! Wishful thinking no doubt!

C, meanwhile, has accepted and seems to be looking forward to the fact that a new baby will be joining our family around Easter. This last month or so he has been very curious about the baby, and is always asking questions about 'when will the baby come out?', 'will the baby pop out?', etc. C struggles with sharing my attention with G during the day when he is home and not in school, so I am thinking his transition to sharing even more of his 'mom time' once baby arrives may be a tough few weeks until we get into some sort of routine. Hopefully our visitors those first few weeks will make a point to single him out too, and not just focus all attention on the newest little one!

Maternity clothes:

Yes. Usually a mashup of maternity + non-maternity layering pieces.

Sleep: 

Not too bad. Starting to think I should go to be earlier though to take advantage of these last few weeks of uninterrupted sleep for the foreseeable future.

Miss Anything:

The occasional glass of wine. We've had a lot of cold weather and ice lately, and being cooped up inside all day long with the boys has been a true test of patience. It'd be great if I could unWINEd at the end of the day!

Baby Movement:

Yes. Somewhat slowed down during the day at least, but when baby is moving, my entire stomach moves. I think there has been lots of flipping around this week!

Cravings and Aversions:

Nothing in particular.

Queasy or sick:

Nope.

Symptoms: 

I've had occasional back pain when sitting/standing in my lower left back this past week. This is the same spot that plagued me earlier on, but T assures me it is just a muscle, and not a nerve getting pinched since I don't have any radiating pain or tingling to go along with it. Either way, it has been pretty uncomfortable at times.

Looking forward to:

I ordered a personalized baby blanket with baby's NAME printed on it this week...Eeek! There's no turning back now! It has a 3-4 week turnaround + shipping time, so prayers that this little one doesn't arrive before my hospital photo prop! My parents were asking over the weekend if we had a name picked out, and I got the all clear from Grandpa T to use our chosen name even if my brother and his wife end up using the same one...HA! Chances are that we will have a new niece or nephew before our littlest love arrives, so fingers are crossed we don't choose the same name! If we do...at least we live in different towns and have different last names! While we have had baby's first name picked out for a while, we have yet to make a final decision on a middle name. With G, we didn't decide until after he was born, so unless we really buckle down, we won't likely be monogramming anything with baby's initials! Speaking of monogramming with initials...G's nursery still has C's initials above the crib, so obviously this hasn't been a priority at our house! Whoops!

This week I reached out to our family photographer to set up a baby bundle photo package, and am now stressed about what everyone will wear for newborn family pictures. Obviously most of the pics will just be of the new baby, but I love the pics we have of the boys together from when G was born, and I have one of our entire family from when each of the boys was born hanging on the wall in our bedroom. Such a special time to remember, and I look forward to capturing this memory again with our newest little one.

On my mind:
T & I were talking this week, and I commented that we may only be three weeks away from adding a new little one to our family. C was born at 37 weeks, and G at 38 weeks, so it will be interesting to see when this little bundle will arrive. A friend of mine who has more than two kiddos told me that with each consecutive pregnancy, her babies were born closer and closer to her actual due date after having a couple of early arrivers, so who knows...maybe we'll make it to 40 weeks this time! What it definitely means, however, is that I need to start thinking about getting baby clothes washed up and a hospital bag ready...sooner rather than later just in case!

I mentioned one of my biggest concerns (making it to the hospital for delivery) to my doctor this morning at my OB appointment, and she commented that I need to make it at least two more weeks to be able to deliver locally. She also let me know that she has pretty much zero confidence that I would be able to make it to a bigger city (1.5hrs away assuming I left immediately) before baby came if I were to go into labor between now and then, so in other words, we'd basically just be 'up a creek' so to speak. Hey thanks for the vote of confidence! She also voiced a thought that I should maybe consider having someone else drive C to school/me to the hospital as we get closer to my due date so that I'm not that much further away in case I went into labor while on the opposite side of town, or worry about trying to drive myself there while being in active labor if T is at work. Each delivery is different, so we can't know for sure what to expect, but if history were to repeat itself, not making it to the hospital could be a very real possibility. I am hopeful that as long as my bag is packed, I will be as prepared as I possibly can be to get there in plenty of time! A feat that would certainly be easier to accomplish if my two little sidekicks were peacefully sleeping!

33 Weeks

Week 33

How far along:

33 weeks...this past week seems to be over before I could blink, and before we know it, we will have another little one around here. Our baby book says that baby will be gaining about 1/2 lb a week from this point until the end, so lots of growing going on! I'm starting to get excited to meet our newest family member but also starting to feel the crunch to get some baby things organized...or maybe just anything organized! Commence nesting mode!

Best moments so far:

We've been in full Valentine's mode over here for the last couple of days. C has a party at school, and decided he'd like to take 'train' Valentines to his classmates and teachers, so I've spent more time than I'd care to think about constructing said Valentines. They turned out super cute - I'll give him that. Tonight, we are planning to construct and decorate a train themed Valentine box for his party at school in the morning, and he can hardly wait to work on a project. With all the talk about love & hearts around here, C asked me one night this week 'Is the baby eating your heart?'...LOL. Oh my...the questions kids come up with!

Maternity clothes:

Yes. Above sweater is old from Gap, but it's one of my favorite colors to wear, and I couldn't resist wearing a little pink to celebrate Valentine's Day this week!

Sleep: 

Not terrible. Just a lot of tossing and turning throughout the night. I may have gone to bed before 10pm last night, so I'm feeling a little more energized today than normal!

Miss Anything:

Warm weather. It has been another super cold week, and we have barely left the house for any exercise or fresh air. There is supposed to be one warm day in the coming week, so I'm hopeful it works out to get outside and maybe take a stroll around the block.

Baby Movement:

Yes, but I think movement has slowed down quite a bit this week as baby seems to be running out of room to be quite so active. 

Cravings and Aversions:

I picked up a giant box of strawberries at the store this week, and am looking forward to making some strawberry shortcake (one of my favorite desserts) for Valentines.

Queasy or sick:

Nope.

Symptoms: 

I have not had nearly the same amount of Braxton Hicks this week as I had the past couple of weeks, and I imagine this is a product of being back in our regular routine and not moving around so much.

Looking forward to:

I've started to think about packing a hospital bag, and getting together a take-home outfit for baby. With C, I was super unprepared as he came much earlier than we were anticipating (3 weeks early), and I would like to find the new baby a special outfit for coming home, and a couple of blanket/hat combos to use for pictures at the hospital. We should probably start thinking about digging out our infant carseat and getting that installed as well, but I am dreading the day when I have to put C in the 3rd row and figure out how to climb up and around the other seats to help him get buckled/unbuckled every. single. time. we go anywhere. Ugh. It would certainly just be easier to switch vehicles...hint hint...The thought of setting new baby outside in the rain & elements this spring while I help C get in and out of the car really doesn't get me too excited!

On My Mind:
One of my biggest...and scariest...concerns for this pregnancy are the logistics of getting to the hospital before baby decides to arrive. I know a couple of girls who have had such quick deliveries that they ended up delivering at home unexpectedly, and I just cringe at the thought of having to deal with that trauma to both myself and the boys who would no doubt be onlookers to the event, or at least screaming for attention or worry for mommy from the other room. My fingers are crossed that whenever the day arrives, T will still be at home, and not 30 minutes away at work, and that I will not be all the way across town running errands. Based on my experience with G, there is zero chance I will be driving myself to the hospital! Oh...did I mention that the nurses on the OB floor told T he better get an at-home delivery kit put together?! For real tho...

Meatball Sub Casserole

Lately, I've been on the hunt for quick, easy meals as we prepare to add a new baby to our family this spring. If adding a newborn to the mix goes anything like the last two times, one of my biggest hurdles will be getting a meal on the table come dinnertime. If I'm honest, most of the time, I could just be content with popcorn, cereal, or a cold-meat sandwich after a long exhausting day chasing around our busy little boys, but T would be very much opposed to that plan as he typically doesn't eat anything until dinnertime. Alas, the hunt for the perfect mix of go-to quick dinner recipes is real. While cooking my way through several failed recipes from Pinterest, I stumbled across this one that was quite the opposite, and enjoyed by all. It is quick, semi-homemade, and super delicious.

Recipe from The Country Cook

MEATBALL SUB CASSEROLE | Yield: 1 9x13 pan | Total Time: 45 min

INGREDIENTS:

1 loaf Italian bread, cut into 1 inch slices
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 C mayonnaise
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
2 C shredded mozzarella, divided
1 pkg fully cooked meatballs, thawed
1 28oz jar marinara sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice Italian loaf, arrange in single layer on baking sheet. Toast under broiler on each side 1-2 minutes. WATCH CAREFULLY so it doesn't burn!

Arrange toasted Italian bread in a single layer in a 9x13 glass baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Spread over toasted Italian loaf. (NOTE: You may have extra. Save it for another use.) Sprinkle with 1/2 C shredded mozzarella.

Mix together thawed meatballs and marinara sauce. Spoon over cheese. Top with remaining mozzarella.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Serve with salad!

32 Weeks

Week 32

How far along:

32 weeks, and feeling more like 40! This past week of traveling, while lots of fun, was exhausting when you add in the fact that I'm in my third trimester and am carrying around what feels like a watermelon in my abdomen. After spending the week together on vacation, T has predicted that baby #3 will come at 35.5 weeks (a bit earlier than I'd like!) based on my general difficulty getting around and overall discomfort. While I'm looking forward to newborn snuggles, I'm most definitely not prepared to bring home a newborn in three weeks! Eek!

Best moments so far:

It was soooo nice to get some fresh air and sunshine this past week in Florida. I enjoyed several slow walks on the beach, and T & I even got to sneak out for a couple of dinners out after the boys went to bed. Thanks Gma J & Gpa T! I'm not sure how many more opportunities we will have for 'date nights' before baby comes, so it was especially nice to be able to enjoy a few hours out sans kiddos while on vacation.

Also exciting, I had an OB checkup this morning, and did not in fact gain 10 lbs while traveling! Ha! Baby checked out fine, and had a heart rate of 160bpm...two weeks ago at my appointment baby's heart rate was just 140bpm, and at every appointment previously was a consistent 150bpm, so a little random that it has been so sporadic lately, but all is still within the normal range. P.S., did I mention that both boys tagged along for my appointment? A real treat to be sure. G was so worried about the fact that I wasn't holding him that he had to stand on a chair next to the table with his hands ON me while my doctor was using the Doppler to find baby's heartbeat. He's going to be just a bundle of fun when new baby arrives and he no longer is the baby of the house!

Maternity clothes:

Yes. My standard uniform is typically some form of black pants/leggings paired with a cami and an open cardigan. 

Sleep: 

Not real great. We slept in a queen sized bed while on vacation last week, and I was constantly being woken up because I was too hot from T's body heat. Happy to be home now and back in our king sized bed with room to breathe! I think at this point in my pregnancy with G, I had started sleeping with a pillow between my knees to ward off hip pain, but so far, I haven't had any serious discomfort to make me want to introduce another pillow at bedtime.

Miss Anything:

Warm weather. Not excited for the week of negative degree temps and snow ahead!

Baby Movement:

Lots! T commented that he thinks this baby is much more active than either C or G were, and I would have to agree.

Cravings and Aversions:

Nothing in particular, but I did enjoy eating lots of fish this last week. Wish I was comfortable cooking it and could get good quality (a.k.a. non-fishy tasting) fish at home! Until then, I'll just be dreaming of my favorite blackened grouper sandwiches, and pecan-crusted snapper. Yum yum yum.

Queasy or sick:

Nope.

Symptoms: 

Lots of Braxton Hicks contractions this week, and overall discomfort. I'm guessing a product of traveling and being much more active than typical.

Looking forward to:

I'm working on planning out a little surprise for the boys from their new sibling when they come to visit at the hospital, and have been brainstorming what to include. So far, this 'big brother' t-shirt is a must-have for when they come to visit, but I'm still contemplating what else to include. I think I'll probably snatch up a couple of books about being a big brother (here & here), and maybe a new toy of some sort and snacks to occupy some time while 'quietly' visiting the OB floor...haha...wishful thinking I'm sure. With baby 3's due date very close to Easter, I don't want to get too carried away and step on the Easter Bunny's toes!