33 Week Bumpdate

I learned two things today… self portraits are hard and I need to be drinking a lot more water even though I drink at least 90oz a day plus a pregnancy tea or two and have to pee every 20 minutes because you’ll read more about that later…

But wow, thirty three weeks in and barely a peep out of me! Sorry folks, moving has been rough on my third trimester bod and mind. How could it be that we will be meeting our little BB in less than 9 weeks?!?! I say 9 because my midwives won’t lets anyone go past 42 weeks! It’s wild how much time has past and how soon baby will be here.

Life is a bit crazy with my recent move up to New Jersey and Brenton still being in Oklahoma but we are very excited to become parents to our miracle baby.  The house is a disaster with piles of our stuff everywhere but it will come together.  Until then I’ll just enjoy growing this sweet little human of ours.

33 Week Pregnant Bump Update

Does the baby move differently now than earlier in the pregnancy? 

Oh man, I feel every movement BB makes even when I’m moving too.  Before the baby moved mostly in flutters and up until about 26 weeks it was just that.  I remember the first time I felt an actual limb! It was the coolest thing/maybe made me a little nauseas realizing it was a leg of the human I am growing! But I got over that fast. The movements have gotten more pronounced, now BB full on rolls and kicks and feels like he or she is coming out of my side. BB’s currently head butting my bladder and trying to stretch my stomach more with kickies.  Clearly we have a tiny dancer in there!

Has your appetite increased or decreased? What do you typically eat in a day? Any new aversions or cravings? Heart burn yet?

This is the strangest thing because baby has hung out so low this whole time and has just started moving on up to my ribs I have been able to eat normal size meals still.  Some days I seem to be less hungry and then other days I’m ravenous!

In a typical day I usually eat:

Breakfast – 2 scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit and 1 piece toast with butter + a 1/2 caff coffee

Snack – Rx bar or almonds with cranberries (<– hello sweet tooth!)

Lunch – Salad with baked chicken

Dinner – Chili or Baked chicken with roasted yams and broccoli with quinoa 

Post Dinner Snack – Banana with almond butter before bed

I have been trying to avoid added dairy because my cheek acne is flaring up. But I do have a new craving… chocolate covered pretzels! I haven’t given into any previous sweet craving much until recently.  I guess there could be worse things than 10 chocolate pretzels after dinner.  But if I want my acne to go away I should stop this too… the pull is strong folks.  No heartburn yet either, but that could be around the corner.

Experiencing any increase or decrease in pregnancy symptoms? Have any disappeared completely or are you noticing any new symptoms you haven’t experienced before?

Honestly, because I never really felt too sick I just started to feel like I’m carrying a growing human. My bump basically grew overnight this past week and now everything is getting a little bit harder.  In the past few days I’ve been starting to have a bit of difficulty taking really deep breaths and bending down.

Size of the baby?

I use the Ovia App and have the size setting to French pastries. Currently BB is the size of three chocolate croissants, yummmmmyyyyy. Brenton uses an app too called DaddyUp and today according to his app BB is the size of a salmon!  I don’t know how my stomach is going to get larger but I know it is!

Any stretch marks yet?

No thank goodness. I heard they are genetic so thanks mom!! I occasionally put a coconut/shea lotion on my belly if it feels really tight but I haven’t been religious about it.

Any pain or swelling in any new parts of your body or in different parts of your body than you’ve noticed before?

It’s getting a lot more difficult to stand for long periods of time as my feet start to hurt.  No swelling yet though so thats good.  My boobies and nips hurt… like a lot.  And I’ve actually already had a clogged Montgomery gland last week.  It felt like a pimple that hasn’t emerged yet! It has been getting better with warm compresses and hot showers.  I know this won’t be the last of my boob issues.

What are the workouts you do and ways you’re staying healthy when you’re 33 week pregnant?

A lot of workouts are uncomfortable the bigger my belly gets.  Not to mention I have to modify everything a whole lot.  I still love walking, squats, lunges and prenatal yoga.  I sometimes make it to the base gym still for some light lifting.  In a typical week, I’ll go for a walk three times, the gym one day a week, and prenatal yoga once a week.  I’d like to get back into daily mediations to mentally prepare better for a natural birth.

How is the unpacking going?

Uh, good one! Hahaha… okay but in all seriousness, this is happening so slowly.  If I weren’t pregnant the house would have been fully set up 2 days after we moved in.  But that’s just not happening and you know what, that’s okay! I have about a good 2 hours of unpacking and organizing in me before I’m done for the day and that usually happens in the morning.

Are you fitting into maternity clothes yet? Any brands you’ve found that fit best for petite pregnancies?

Oh heck yes! I’ve been wearing those wonderful maternity shorts/jeans/leggings since 15 weeks.  I purchased my lower body attire from Motherhood Maternity (size small).  And I have a few long sleeve tops from Pink Blush Maternity that can be worn for nursing too.  I also some hand-me-downs from some girlfriends. But now its chunky sweater weather and most of mine still fit.  So 90% of clothes are still non maternity. However I will never pass up an opportunity to purchase a dress.  And Pink Blush has great options that can be worn during pregnancy and after! I already purchased my dress of newborn photos.

Weight Gain?

No trouble with this one! I barely had any sickness in the beginning so actually most of my weight gain happened in the first 20 weeks.  I think by 20 weeks I gained about 17 pounds.  Thus far I have gained 25 pounds and its all in my belly, at least I think it is.  This has been the hardest to adjust to.  I’ve never seen a heavier weight on the scale (that actually happened 20 lbs ago) but I still feel strong and honestly am loving my baby belly.

Have you experienced Braxton Hicks Contractions yet?

Yup! Legit just had one… They have definitely kicked it up this past week. I had one at my midwife appointment yesterday and I asked her “Is this a Braxton Hicks?” She felt my belly and was like “Yup! Most definitely.”  Really it feels like baby is pushing up against the front of my uterus causing my belly to get hard and tight. I use to get them when I walked starting around 18 weeks but now I get them when I sit too.  Totally normal folks, my uterus is getting ready for the big day plus it helps me practice my breathing through them! Thankfully they don’t hurt but they do make me feel like I have to pee immediately.  And so because of this I need to up my water intake a bit more.

How are you sleeping and is there anything helping you with the discomfort?

Sleeping is starting to get even more difficult.  I’m a stomach and back sleeper so sleeping on my side is killing my hips slowly.  I’ve used the Belly ‘N Back pregnancy pillow since the beginning of my second trimester, fall asleep on my side after a bit of tossing a turning and somehow still end up waking up on my back.  I have yet to wake up without feeling in my leg and BB likes to hang out on my right side so I’m not too worried about cutting of any supply of nutrients to baby if I do wake up on my back.  Inferior Vena Cava Syndrome happens in about 5% of pregnancies and my body will wake me up if something is wrong.  It’s better to get good sleep than worry about IVCS.

Have you started nesting/decorating the nursery?

Soooo this, along with a lot of the house setting up, is going to have to wait until Christmas.  Brenton won’t be able to get up here to the house until then because his training keeps getting delayed and extended.  But thats okay because we don’t even have most of our nursery items anyway.  I’m having my baby shower this weekend so I’ll be coming home with a lot more items for baby!

Where do you intend on having baby?

Ideally at home! Unless baby comes before 37 weeks or is breech when the midwives check I’ll be having BB in the comfort of my own home.  I’m not anti-hospital, I’m just in the camp that birth shouldn’t be made into a medical big deal unless it needs to be, i.e., you are high risk or baby is breech.  Our bodies were made for this ladies.  Thankfully if an emergency were to arise we are 5 minutes from a hospital and I will gladly go.  I’ll be packing a go-bag just incase in the next week or so.

The question everyone asks… do you think you’re having a boy or a girl?

I honestly have no idea but I we both have a suspicion this little miracle is a boy.  So that probably means we’re having a girl, right!?!

There you have it! My 33 week (and the rest of pregnancy) bumpdate!!! Hope you enjoyed reading this update.  Comment below if there is anything you’d like to know in my next bumpdate!

Exhibit A as to why self portraits are hard! Blurry everything.