Pregnancy: 37 Weeks

How far along: 37 weeks

Size of baby: according to my doctor, Noodle weighs between 6 and 6.5 pounds right now and will weigh between 7.5 and 8 pounds when he’s born. (He used something called the Leopold, rather than ultrasound, which has a much smaller margin of error.)

Weight Gain: 28 pounds???? It may be a little higher, but I’m sure it will even out over the week, so we’ll call it 28.

Symptoms: I’m a frequent flyer to the bathroom and have been having more low back pain. I think the back pain is more a symptom of sleeping on my side than anything else, but I could be wrong.

Exercise: Does pushing a double stroller up a hill and around a zoo count?

Clothes: Maternity!

Cravings/Aversions: Craving sweet things and Chipotle, not really adverse to anything.

Movement: Still strong pushes, mostly consisting of Noodle jabbing his bottom into my ribs. He needs to get the “go down!” memo. Also, every time he kicks me on the left I feel his hand poking me on the right. Someone has disco fever.

Worries: Since I feel pretty good, I’m concerned I’m going to end up being pregnant forever. My doctor won’t let me be pregnant forever, but since I was on time with Colton, going overdue doesn’t excite me too much.

Milestones: Baby is considered full term! If he’s born this week, Noodle shouldn’t need any extra support and would probably not need to stay in the NICU.

Best Moment this Week: Sarah and Caroline came! Not only did we have lots of fun with the kids, but they also sewed my nursery curtains and crib skirt and put together and hung my mobile. I watched, wrote thank you notes, offered opinions, and slept. They are the best nursery slaves ever, and I shudder to think what state this poor baby’s room would be in (and what state my pregnancy hormones would have me in), without their help. I’m pretty sure I can’t thank them enough for them complete and total awesomeness.

Pregnancy: 36 Weeks

How far along: 36 weeks

Size of baby: Baby weighs about 6 pounds and is approximately the size of a bowling ball or watermelon (hopefully a small one, because that seems really big!).

Weight Gain: 26 pounds. The same as last week! This is extra good since I’m certain this next week will be like a 2 pound gain with all the fun birthday dinner, husband cooking on my actual birthday, baby shower, Sarah and Caroline visiting going on. All in one week!!!

Symptoms: I thought I was feeling low pressure last week. Um, no. NOW I’m feeling a LOT of low pressure. And cramping. Some of the pressure/cramping is so painful its hard to move. But if I can manage to change positions, I can usually find one that relives that sharp pain, which makes me super happy.

Exercise: Like I was going to start this now.

Clothes: All maternity clothes and very happy about it. I decided on Saturday this baby was head down and super low when I had on a pair of pants I had worn a week ago with now issue and had to keep pulling them up so my stomach wouldn’t hang out from under my shirt. It was a super attractive look.

Cravings/Aversions: Chocolate. Noodles/pasta. Things that are easy for me to cook.

Movement: Still strong pushes, with occasional sharp kicks and jabs. Based on the pelvic pain/cramping/pressure, it feels like Noodle has very broad shoulders that are pushing on my pelvic area. Not sure if that’s true, but it sure is what it feels like.

Worries: Not a whole lot this week. I’m a little worried I won’t be able to have my doctor deliver my baby again this time, since my due date is on Memorial Day and he is out of town the Thursday and part of Friday before.

Milestones: Baby’s bones are beginning to harden more, but will remain somewhat soft/pliable to get through the birth canal.

Best Moment this Week: I decided to totally rip off this super cute brother art project, and tackled it this weekend. Colton, who normally loves painting, wasn’t as into it as I thought he would be, so we got creative. He painted his hands to make hand prints, we both painted our finger tips to paint with, and we used lots of different grass, ferns and leaves as well. Even though there were some stressful moments with someone wanting to run away, it was nice to be outside, all three of us, working on a project for our new baby.

Pregnancy: 35 Weeks

How far along: 35 weeks

Size of baby: Baby weighs about 5.5 pounds and is about 18 inches long.

Weight Gain: 26 pounds.

Symptoms: Total “pregnancy brain.” I know medical people say this doesn’t exist, but then why does every woman I’ve ever talked to experience this to some degree? Suddenly feeling a lot, lot more tired. I’ve also been feeling more low-pressure, which I’m hoping means baby is head down, getting ready to be born.

Exercise: Still none.

Clothes: Maternity clothes! Although, now I’m bummed I put away my wintery clothes, because its cooler here now and I’m too tired to mess with undoing and then needing to redo this.

Cravings/Aversions: Chocolate covered soy nuts. I ate this all the time with Colton, and have just started wanting them again.

Movement: Lots of strong pushes, some that even make my belly look distorted and triangular shaped. A week ago my Dr. said Noodle was head-down, and even though it feels like he can move everywhere, I’m going to assume that’s still correct.

Worries: I’m concerned with how Colton will handle being a big brother. My Bible Study group had a small shower for me last week, and when I told C we had presents for Noodle in the car he immediately looked disappointed and said, “but where my presents?” One of the ladies had sweetly included a little something for him, and I told him he had a small present and he perked right up, which is good, but just that he immediately felt left out made me worry about how he would do. I have some special things he will receive from the baby, he will get to pick a special present to give his brother, and have been talking to him about how much Noodle loves his big brother, all the fun things C can teach him, and how he is my big boy and good helper, all of which I hope will help ease the transition. All I can do is wait and see what happens.

Milestones: If Noodle Baby were born now, he would do well and likely not have any long-term health issues from being born early. He is mostly fully developed now, so his main job for the next 5 weeks will be gaining weight.

Best Moment this Week: Noodle’s room is finally painted! We also set up his crib and bassinet, and I dedicated Saturday to unpacking and refreshing our baby clothes. They are now clean, folded in drawers, ready for baby. He also has diapers! Nothing else is really ready for him, but if I suddenly and unexpectedly go into labor, we have the necessities ready.

Pregnancy: 34 Weeks

How far along: 34 weeks

Size of baby: Baby

Weight Gain: 24 pounds…24 pounds…please be 24 pounds! Turns out, its 25 pounds this week, which still isn’t bad.

Symptoms: I have finally reached the point where I need to use the bathroom at least once a night. If I don’t wake up and go, I can barely get out of bed in the morning, thanks to the pain of my child sitting on my bladder. It doesn’t feel like I have to pee so much as it just feels like the baby is going to come out, dilated or not.

Exercise: Still none.

Clothes: Maternity clothes! I put away my wintery maternity clothes this week, and in the process I pulled out some clothes I think will work well postpartum. Obviously I don’t know how things will end up postpartum and what I’ll feel like wearing, but it does seem like I have a reasonable amount of things to wear early on.

Cravings/Aversions: None in particular, other than chocolate, which is pretty much a constant craving for me.

Movement: Still getting strong pushes and rolls that seem to be all over the place. I can’t figure out where this baby is at all. I think he’s head down because of the pressure on my bladder, but the way he moves feels like he’s still little and moving everywhere.

Worries: All of a sudden I had this terrible thought that I’d like this baby more than I like Colton. Not love, just that I’ll think one kid is cooler, or easier, or more fun than the other. Maybe this is what moms mean when they say they worry they will love one child more than the other.

Milestones: If I went into labor this week, my doctor wouldn’t try to stop it. Even though I wouldn’t be full-term, he says at that point whatever would be causing me to go into labor would do more harm to the baby to keep him in than coming six weeks early would.

Best Moment this Week: I was carrying Colton, and said something about I thought I had to go to the bathroom, but it could be his knee pressing into my bladder, or Noodle sitting on it, I wasn’t sure. Colton said, “Me and Noodle are kicking each other!” Ah, brotherly love.

Happenings

Potty training sooo did not happen. The first three days were good and encouraging, but towards the end of day three things started to go downhill. And then they went downhill in a huge way. Basically, my child has an iron will and decided that he simply did not like using the potty, so he wasn’t going to. I won’t go into specifics, but it got so bad I decided he could go back to diapers. There have been a few consequences of not being a big boy and wearing diapers (namely, no taking a toy to bed) because his was a willful refusal to use the potty rather than an ability issue, but I think we’re all happier and less stressed for it.

We just recently traded my trusty RAV for a new set of wheels, a mini-van. We’ve been looking for a Sienna (chosen for its good safety rating and my general love for my RAV) since December, and finally found one that had everything we needed, plus some bonus features, within our budget at a dealership less than five minutes from our house. Colton loves the van (and I better call it a van and not a car) and I am loving the automatic sliding doors and trunk.

A friend of mine had her baby yesterday! I ended up watching her daughter while she went to her regular appointment. When she got sent to Labor and Delivery, I took her daughter with me to school to pick up C and her brother (thankfully they go to the same school!). Since I didn’t have car seats for them all, we walked to the cupcake shop across from school to celebrate the new baby’s birthday. We got a candle and everything, and had only just sat down when they started singing Happy Birthday. They just could not contain their excitement and it was really one of the most precious things I’ve seen.

Stocking the freezer has been going well. I have most of the major things on my list crossed off, so all that’s left is to make meatballs, taco bread, and two more batches of baked oatmeal. Of course, should time allow, I’ve found a few more things I’d like to make, but even if I don’t get to the remaining things on my list, I feel good about the amount and variety of meals I have already frozen.

It is finally warm here, and we enjoyed an after dinner walk as a family recently. Colton loved running everywhere, finding a stick, holding my hand, and generally getting sweaty. It was a short walk, and I was hot, pregnant and still sick, but I am so glad I sucked it up and we spent time outside as a family.

Despite being of an iron will, Colton is sometimes disgustingly adorable. Since my husband was out of town for a couple of days this week, I took him to Chick-fil-a for dinner one night. At one point he stood behind me in the booth, arms around my neck, head on my shoulder, “whisper-singing” so the whole restaurant could hear, “I love you very much! I love you very much! I love you very, very much! How I wonder what you are. I love you very much!” Can we just skip the tantrums and live in that moment for forever?

Pregnancy: 33 Weeks

How far along: 33 weeks

Size of baby: Baby weighs almost 4 pounds and is somewhere between 17 and 19 inches long.

Weight Gain: Staying even at 24 pounds, and hoping to maintain that next week too.

Symptoms: Cold/sinus thing courtesy of C that is kicking my butt. BUT, still not much hip and low back pain. But feeling super yucky and tired thanks to this cold.

Exercise: Still none. But it is warm here! So, assuming the weather and my health cooperate, I’d like to get some walking this week and weekend.

Clothes: Love maternity clothes. I am currently wearing a shirt my friend lent me that’s an XS. It was one of those I put in a, “hahaha, that’s so sweet you think I could wear that but there’s no way that’s ever happening” pile, but it works. Won’t work for much longer, but it works and it brings me endless amounts of happiness.

Cravings/Aversions: I want very warm things or very cool things to soothe my throat, but I don’t think there are really any pregnancy related.

Movement: Not quite as many sharp kicks. Noodle is apparently running out of room because I feel stretching movements (something low on the left and high on the right) and less defined rolls.

Worries: C-Section. I’m not totally worried about this since I really just want my baby to be here, regardless of how it happens, but the idea, and the recovery especially, freaks me out. Honestly, the whole recovery thing stresses me out a bit, just because my recovery after Colton (for a natural, pain-med-free birth) took seven weeks. I can’t swing that with my soon to be three year-old.

Milestones: Baby’s skeleton is hardening and he is putting on lots of fat to be a sweet, pudgy newborn.

Best Moment this Week: Eh, not sure. Nothing super notable seems to have occurred this week.

Pregnancy: 32 Weeks

32 weeks on Easter Sunday and visiting my grandparents.

How far along: 32 weeks

Size of baby: Baby weighs about 3.75 pounds,

Weight Gain: This is tough this week, since I ate a ton of dessert items over Easter weekend, I’m up to 24. Hopefully this will level off this week.

Symptoms: Still feeling more tired than I have been, especially after dinner time. But other than that, I feel good. I don’t have a lot of hip and back pain at the moment, which I’m very excited about.

Exercise: Nope; hence my ridiculous weight gain.

Clothes: All maternity, all the time.

Cravings/Aversions: No aversions, and craving lots of sweets.

Movement: Noodle baby is a strong kicker and seems to be all over the place.

Worries: Potty training. I’m worried I don’t have the physical or emotional stamina for this, but it must be done.

Milestones: Baby is growing some hair! His hair is beginning to get some pigment, so if I could see him, his hair color might be discernible.

Best Moment this Week: Colton randomly laid his head on my stomach and said, “I love you Noodle!”

Activities for Potty Practice

Today we start “potty practice” in our house. I’m not calling it training, although we are going cold turkey and completely saying goodbye for diapers during the day (including naps). We have had mornings where we do this, but since this is C’s Spring Break from preschool, we are devoting an entire week to this endeavor.

Ideally, I might have waited until past C’s 3rd birthday to do this, but at that point I’ll most likely have a 3 week old or younger, so there will be no potty practice going on then. And C’s last day of school is two days after my due date. There is no way we’re practicing using the potty when I’m overdue. Since this is the largest chunk of time we’ll have before C becomes a big brother, its time to suck it up and give it out best shot. (NOTE: If potty training totally does not happen this week, I am okay with it. I would love for him to be potty trained pre-baby, but if not, we’ll try and deal with it later in the summer.)

The thought of being housebound with a child I have to watch like a hawk for signs of needing to potty for an entire week is a little scary to me. So, I sat down to make a list of activities that would be easy to do and would hold his attention for about 20 minutes, without being so absorbing he wouldn’t break for the potty. Here’s what I came up with:

• Set the table – I’ll make a place setting template and let him lay out the silverware and dishes.
• Baking soda and vinegar – I’ll tint the vinegar and let him watch the different colors bubble.
• “Fishing” with a slotted spoon – Erin gave me this idea; fill a bowl with water and some small, lightweight toys and let your toddler fish them out with a slotted spoon.
• Make binoculars – I have several empty toilet paper rolls, so we may end up making a few pairs if it goes over well.
• Finger Painting
• Spin Art – we make ours in a salad spinner, and C loves this activity. It is low mess, should be easy to pause if we need to potty, and always a hit at our house.
• Easter Bunny Lunch – we will be repeating this hit!
• Car races in empty wrapping paper tubes
• Cars in Bean Bin – this is a fun sensory activity, but one that tends to absorb C a lot. We did this on a previous potty day and it was a little too engrossing.
• Bean Transferring – transfer beans from a bowl to a cup with a spoon.
• Make a Popsicle stick puzzle – use large craft sticks and a favorite picture to make your own puzzle; double the fun since you can make it and then play with it over and over.
• Water color painting
• Sorting Snacks – mix small, dry snacks and have toddler sort them. When the sorting’s done, it’s snack time!
• Washing – we do this frequently in our kitchen, and C loves to wash a variety of toys.
• Ladling water into buckets – this is an outside activity we will do if it is warm enough.
• Sandbox – I assume this could be dangerous, so I plan only to do this towards the end of the week if C seems to be getting the hang of things.
• Practice Pouring – another outside activity, if it is warm.
• Feely bag – put a few toys in a bag, have child close his eyes, reach in and feel an object. Then he has to guess what it is.
• Matching – I took photos of some of C’s vehicles, animals and letter blocks and printed them out. He has to match the object to the picture. So far we have done this with his vehicles only, and the actual matching part was very easy. This kept him occupied for a surprising amount of time, as he then purposely did them wrong, demonstrated to me how to match the cars, and drove the cars to and from their spots while humming a special song.
• Stickers – cheap and always a hit.
• Cutting practice
• Gluing shapes
• Tracing pages – I’ve pinned a couple that are tracing lines or letters I think will work well
• Have a picnic – weather permitting
• Egg hunt – indoor or outdoor, or both!
• Foam stickers – C loves doing these
• Paint Chip Matching
• Letter, matching, and number worksheets – I pinned some of these a long time ago and think they will be fun now, as C had developed in interest in letters and numbers. I’d like to do some upper and lowercase matching with him, as he is beginning to identify lowercase letters more consistently.
• Make our own playdough
• Laundry Basket Toss – toss soft balls/bean bags/washcloths into a laundry basket.
• Dot Markers and dot coloring sheets
• Cut a banana – use a plastic knife to practice cutting skills
• Shaving cream play – our bathtub is out of commission, so we’ll do this on a tray
• Pom-Pom Transferring – use tongs or tweezers to move pom-poms from a tray into a bowl.
• Snack letters – put snack (goldfish, small crackers, raisins, etc.) on the outline of a letter.
• Grow Animals – the Easter Bunny brought those capsules that dissolve in warm water to reveal spongy animals, should be fun!

Surely this list will get us through the week, right? C will also probably help me with cooking dinner, and we’ll also probably spend some time free playing with favorite toys (this list is for when one of us needs a change of pace – now I won’t have to scramble to pull together a fun activity!). I’ve gotten a whole stack of new books from the library to read while we sit on the potty and just for fun.

But, just in case I burn through all my activities in two days, what are some things you love to do with your kids that will help keep us both sane?

Pregnancy: Week 31

Don’t mind the mess – my husband spent the weekend updating Noodle’s electrical. Maybe in a few weeks we’ll be ready to put some furniture in there!

How far along: 31 weeks

Size of baby: Baby is 2/3 of the length he will be at birth and is about the size of a head of cabbage.

Weight Gain: 22 pounds.

Symptoms: I’m starting to feel more tired these days, especially in the evenings. I also had more contractions this week, along with cramping lower in my uterus. Sadly, I got sent back to Labor and Delivery (my doctor wanted to monitor me, since I had been having contractions for about 2.5 hours, and it was later in the day so I couldn’t go to his office), where my doctor ran a preterm labor test, as well as tests for infections that could cause my lower cramping, and everything came back negative. Other than that, and some uncomfortable swelling, things are looking good.

Exercise: Not really. I was really considering adding walking with the 5K program my church is doing, but then I had contractions again and thought that might not be the greatest idea.

Clothes: Maternity, but today I’m wearing my husband’s sweatshirt.
Cravings/Aversions: I had one of Cook Out’s (a small, NC based chain) Caramel Fudge milkshakes over the weekend and it hit the spot in the very best way. If my meal there didn’t cause me to gain about two pounds, I would be eating that at least once a week.

Movement: Moving more towards rolling and changes in pressure instead of spastic kicks and hits. Unless they are to the bladder, in which case they are nice and strong.

Worries: Not totally worried about this, but I’m starting to think with my two trips to L&D that I’ll go two weeks overdue! My real worry is potty training C next week; now that I’m feeling more tired, I’m just concerned the effort and concentration this will require will wipe me out and wear down my patience.

Milestones: Baby’s brain is almost fully developed; the speech and language centers are currently developing.

Best moment of the week: My husband finished our desk AND updated all the electrical in the baby’s room over the weekend. After some hole patching, priming, and painting, this baby will start to have a real room!

Easter Lunch

When a giant spring snowstorm derailed our day’s plans, I decided C and I needed a fun, easy to pull together activity.

Since we had just been to an Easter egg hung, we had plenty of eggs, and I remembered the Easter egg lunch I’ve seen everywhere on Pinterest.

I put my own spin on it, serving it in a muffin tin (I didn’t have an egg carton) with the eggs closed. Closing the eggs meant he had to guess what was in each one and since I told him the rule of his Easter Bunny lunch was that he had to eat what was in whatever egg he opened before he got a new one, it meant he ate everything in each egg.

Our eggs were filled with cheese, carrots, crackers, strawberries, letter cookies, ham, tortilla and one egg had a piece of candy. He ate everything in the dozen eggs I prepared for him, and then fixed six more at his request.

I plan to do this again on a regular basis, not just at Easter time. It was a fun way to connect at lunch time (he needed help opening each egg and I prompted him to guess what was in each one), and I felt like he ate much better than he normally does for me. I think, if I planned this better, he would eat with a much better variety than he normally does.