How far along? 31 weeks
Updates on baby: (Thanks to WhatToExpect)
Weighing in at three-plus pounds and measuring 18 inches long, your baby is quickly approaching her birth length — though she's got to pack on another three to five pounds before D-day. Also developing at an impressive clip: your baby's brain connections (she's got to make trillions of them!). She's now processing information, tracking light, and perceiving signals from all five senses. She's also putting in longer stretches of sleep, which is why you're probably noticing more defined patterns of wakefulness (and movement) and rest (when she’s pretty still).
Maternity Clothes: Of course. Actually the shirt that I am wearing in the pictures is a maternity blouse and I almost feel like it is too small for my belly. It's short! What do you do when you start outgrowing maternity clothes? This past week I picked up a hand me down maternity jacket and coat which I think I'll be very thankful for soon. None of my current jackets come close to zipping or buttoning. Sometimes I wonder how I was ever so small!
Symptoms/Body Changes: In short, this is how I feel:
Pregnant, big, immobile. Although, I really know I am not that big. Things just take more effort these days: things like standing up, rolling over in bed, putting my shoes on. This week my appetite has been fluctuating like CRAZY! Some days I have no appetite for dinner, so I eat as much as I can, which is usually half the amount I used to eat. Then the next day my cheese and crackers that I pack for lunch just aren't cutting it. My stomach is growing by 3:00 and I want a meal. These changes are difficult to plan for, but I have just learned that I need to go along with the flow and listen to my body in these moments. Our little girl needs different things as she continues growing so I can't continue to be the extremely routine person that I was before. A first trimester symptom that is creeping back up is my heightened sense of smell. Today in church I smelled about 5 terrible things within an hour. It was probably just someone's deodorant and another's coffee breath or something, but the smells just stopped me in my tracks and bothered me. Also, I have been noticing that I am really picky about the way water tastes again. Welcome back, extremely high maintenance Ashley.
Exercise: The weather has been awesome!! I try to walk 2 miles each day with the pup and hubby and this happened most days this week. I lifted weights only once, and I really need to get better about this! My goal this week is to lift weights twice and do pilates twice. I really hope to meet it because once it gets cold I want to have some kind of routine of going to the gym so that I won't completely stop working out before the marathon of labor.
Movement: Her movements have gotten so big, but they aren't quite as consistent. Like the weekly update said, I notice her resting for longer periods of time lately, but then when she moves... she moves. She rocks my whole belly around. She stretches and rolls, kicks and flips. There was one night when her head was all the way over on the right side of my stomach and she was kicking me on the left. Then another evening as David and I were watching my belly move (We are easily entertained these days), we saw an arm or a leg move all the way across my stomach. It was so awesome. She is becoming less shy for David and this week a few friends got to feel her move too!
Cravings/Aversions: Mostly feeling blah about food. However, I have noticed that I choose lots of dairy foods when it comes to picking out what I eat. The top things on my list are consistently milk and cereal, yogurt, and cheese. I am definitely starting to crave some sweets though, however this could just be that fall is here and all things baked and warm sound yummy!
Getting ready for baby: This evening David and I organized our shower gifts in the second bedroom which felt really good. Soon enough we will have a dresser and then we will be able to put all of the adorable clothes that we have gotten away. There is a basket in our bathroom now which is quickly being filled up with Johnson's Baby was and cute washcloths :) Mostly we are just trying to keep things organized until shower season is over and then we can really start finding permanent places for things.
What I miss: Studying for and taking exams these past two weeks have made me miss my old brain. I know I have mentioned this before, but I really feel like the hormones affecting my brain along with general fatigue affecting my productivity understandably makes being a good student more difficult. I have trouble focusing for long periods of time lately, making studying for math exams difficult, and during both midterms that I have taken recently I have run out of time which has never, ever happened to me in the past. I never realized how natural school was for me until now! But I am keeping up just fine and have been encouraged lately that I have found a good balance that should work for the rest of the semester.
What I am looking forward to: Well... I am looking forward to Thursday. I have a doctor's appointment that day! But more than that I am looking forward to Tuesday and Wednesday being over. It is exam week for my students which means proctoring and grading week for me. Between Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 8 p.m. I will be doing nothing but proctoring and grading (other than sleeping and eating). It took quite the toll on my body last time and I hope that this time around I can get all my work done without exhausting myself too badly.
Well friends, it is 9:30 which means it is time for me to get ready for bed. Sleeping is still quite the struggle, so I am always exhausted by this time of night.
Buenas noches!
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