My Pregnancy Must Haves

Aside from my first pregnancy must haves post, here are some additional ones that I have needed more-so in the later months of pregnancy.

Panty liners: The Kotex U brand is my favorite. 

Bra upgrade: The bras that fit me during 1st and 2nd trimester no longer fit me in the 3rd trimester. A few months ago I would never have guessed I would be going up another cup size. I was lucky to snatch good quality bras at the Victoria's Secret semiannual sale though. 

Maternity Leggings: So comfy. I work at a university, so I wasn't about to let myself wear sweatpants to work (even though it crossed my mind many, many times). So I wore maternity tights, leggings, and maternity leggings. I didn't want to stretch out any of my jeans so I didn't even try to squeeze into them after I gained my first ten pounds. The maternity leggings were by far my favorite. 

Body pillow: This is a no brainer. I've never heard of someone "not needing one" during pregnancy. I got a body pillow cover to match our bed set. 

Maternity tops and belts: In the first few months my belly started showing, those belts made a world of difference. They were the difference between looking like a borderline overweight girl and having a cute belly bump. 

Maternity workout top: I bought this at 7 months pregnant and I love it. 

What To Expect While You're Expecting book: This book along with a couple pregnancy iPhone apps really helped me know what was going on with my body and the baby at all times. I was able to keep my calm and have a fearless pregnancy. 

Massager: This isn't the exact one I have, but it's nice to have Adam give me random back massages at night. I don't have any significant back pains now, but I'm guessing I will be happy I have this during labor. 

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36 Weeks: Full Term

At the last few doctor appointments, baby has been head down, so let's hope she stays that way! Last week I booked baby girl's newborn photography session with Christina B Photography. She's going to come to our home and take pictures of baby girl the first week of March (if things go accordingly). I had been thinking for the last month or so if I wanted someone to take maternity pictures of me, and I decided I don't. I've been taking weekly ones on my own, which is good enough for me.

All our ducks are pretty much in a row except for childcare. I did go and tour a daycare center yesterday. We've been exclusively looking into daycare centers so far, mostly because we haven't seen or heard of any good home daycares. They also make me nervous for some reason. I'm in a between rock and a hard place, though, because I'm going to take about 12 weeks off, which leaves me returning to work the first or second week of May, BUT I get the summer off (starting the middle of June). So baby will be going to daycare for about a month and then I get to stay home with her for a while. This makes me want to take an extra six weeks off, but it'd be unpaid. So I'm still trying to decide the best way to do this. My sister will just be getting done with finals in May so ideally I'd hire her as a nanny for a month, but she might be trying to move back home and look for a real job.
Anyways, the place yesterday was great and everyone was really nice, but I still got teary eyed thinking about leaving my baby at this place with all these strangers. Sigh.

Baby size: 6 pounds and more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's growing at the rate of ~1 ounce a day and will be considered full term at the end of the week!

Movement: She's still moving lots and making me smile :)

Stretch marks: This last week and a half some have officially creeped their way onto my lower belly. Reallll bummer since just 2 weeks ago I thought, 'if I don't have them now I'm probably in the clear'. Wrong.

Belly button in or out: Still an innie

Cravings: Sometimes it's a burger, sometimes it's mexican food, and sometimes it's simply just sweets. Never two cravings at the same time though. Still haven't had any "weird" cravings like pickles and ice cream that you always hear about.

Symptoms: Overall feeling pretty great. Just some acid reflux still. Some days my Prilosec does wonders and some days it doesn't seem to work at all. Also, I sweat profusely at work (I will even crack my window open a tiny bit, even on a -18 degree day). At least our house is kept at a nice 68-69 degree temp, otherwise I'd sweat profusely in my sleep.

Miss anything: WINE. Family: I wouldn't be pissed if you brought a bottle of wine to the hospital after I deliver ;)

36 Week Belly:

1 comment LABELS: 36 weeks, 3rd trimester, belly pic, pregnancy, pregnancy blog

35 Weeks: Only 35 days left to go!

Due date is in a month, that's crazy! I've been trying to refrain from catching my full body reflection in windows and mirrors. Everytime I do, it never fails, I subtly whisper to myself "god, you're huge". But at the doc appt. yesterday she said I'm only measuring 33 1/2 weeks, so I'm actually measuring a little behind.

To-do list is thinning out:

-Baby K'tan carrier
-Baby's take-home outfit
-Find day care <----- need to get on this :/ (we are currently on one waitlist)
-Put in maternity leave request at work
-Nursery decor hung
-Stock changing table
-Order & put on crib bedding/changing table cover
-Pack hospital bag (still need to finish)
-Discuss birth plan with doctor. (Example of a birth plan found here.)
-Set up pack 'n' play
-Put together baby swing
-Install carseat

Baby Size: 5 1/4 pounds and 18 inches long. The size of a honeydew melon. Baby is pretty much developed and her main job the next few weeks is to just put on more weight.

Maternity clothes: Finally bought a pair of maternity leggings and realized I have been seriously, seriously missing out.

Symptoms: The acid reflux was getting out of hand, so yesterday my doc prescribed me Prilosec, and I'm weirdly excited about it. Hopefully I won't sound like a dinosaur/fire breathing dragon anymore.

Sleep: Good, except I have to exclusively sleep on my right side because when I sleep on my left, it's acid reflux city. I looked it up to figure out why this is and I came to find that you're supposed to sleep on your left to REDUCE acid reflux. So now I'm confused. Maybe my body is just backwards.

Food Cravings: Burgers, tacos, and anything sweet

Movement: She's still moving all day everyday. At the doc appt. yesterday, she took the heartbeat and said she was a "happy baby".

Labor Signs: Still None!

35 Week Belly:

 

Nursery Preview:

7 comments LABELS: 35 weeks, belly pic, nursery, pregnancy, pregnancy blog

34 weeks: 6 weeks left to go!

The closer I get to that 40 week mark, the less ambitious I get. At least I'm accomplishing the nursery. We put together the crib a couple nights ago, and I love it! I got the crib bedding in the mail, too, so I washed and put it on yesterday.

As far as movement goes; she does not stop. That's okay though, I'm not complaining. I've never once gotten annoyed of all the movement going on, it's a nice reminder that she's there. Lately I've been wondering when she's going to come. I hate not knowing; is she gonna be on time? Early? Late? 2 weeks early? 1 week late? I just need to know!!!

Baby size: 4 and 3/4 pounds and 18 inches. Baby is the size of a cantelope.

Symptoms: Feeling heavy pressure in my pelvis, she must be dropping. Running is also getting to be more challenging. I'm now down to 1 mile on the treadmill and slowing down.

Food Cravings: Nothing specific comes to mind, but my appetite is definitely big. Every now and then I'll crave a burger, but not a fast food burger, yuck.

Sleep: Still going really well, just getting up to pee 2-3 times in the night.

34 Week Belly:

Leave a Comment | LABELS: 34 weeks, 3rd trimester, 8 months pregnant, belly pic, pregnancy

33 Weeks

Well, another week down! Still feeling great. On Saturday I had my second baby shower, and it was also really nice. We had a nice brunch with coffee (wasn't expecting that much food!).

The hosts:

After getting all the gifts at this shower, I feel pretty ready for baby. Adam and I have now received basically all of our necessities for our little newborn, just as gifts. I feel really spoiled. I've also already washed all the newborn clothes, blankets, burp cloths, and bibs. Nothing like being a little over prepared :)

There's just a few things left that we still have to get:
-Breast pump accessories (One of mom's coworkers gave me their Medela pump-in-style, so I just need to get new parts. Saving lots of $$$!)
-Baby K'tan carrier (like the Moby but no confusing ties)
-Video baby monitor -- If anyone knows of a good one let me know! I cannot decide on which one to get.
-Baby's take-home outfit!

The to-do list I posted at 29 weeks is getting done!:
Finish nursery
   Rug
   Wall decor
   Mirror
   Shelf/shelves
   Stock changing table
   Order crib bedding/changing table cover
Pack hospital bag
Discuss birth plan with doctor. (Example of a birth plan found here.)
Purchase all items left off of registry

I casually talked to my doctor about a birth plan but she didn't seem too thrilled about the idea of making one. She said things will happen, I could change my mind in the moment, and some things aren't in my control. She did say I could make a brief outline of the essentials, but just don't expect things to go according to plan.

Yes, I've already started packing my hospital bag. There's a robe, fuzzy socks, slippers, and some sweatpants in there so far.

As far as the registry goes, like I said, we basically got everything gifted to us and a lot of the things left aren't needed right away. For example, a stroller; baby will be born in winter and I don't plan on going to a shopping mall or anything right away. Same goes for the highchair.

Baby size: a little over 4 pounds/a little over 17 inches (according to my MyPregnancy app).
It's getting to be SO entertaining to watch my stomach when she's shifting around in there. But every time I get the video camera out to record it, she stops moving! So camera shy!

Symptoms: Acid reflux is back (took a vacation for a while) and more frequent trips to the bathroom. Also, still no BH contractions and still no back pains or anything. I think working out helps!

Belly button in or out: Still completely an innie, not even flat yet. And still no stretch marks. Yesterday after my doc told me "this next month and a half there's going to be a lot of stretching", I went and splurged on a $42 bottle of stretch mark creme. Better be worth it!

Looking forward to: Putting the crib together and finishing all the last touches on the nursery.

33 Week Belly:

Leave a Comment | LABELS: 33 weeks, 3rd trimester, 8 months pregnant, baby shower, belly pic, pregnancy, pregnant

New favorites

Got these as gifts from mom (&dad). The pack & play is going to be used in place of a bassinet for the first month or so. 

Leave a Comment | LABELS: pregnancy