32 Weeks

How far along? 32 weeks, 2 days

How big is baby? His unofficial fruit size is a squash. Mommy's little pumpkin :)

Total weight gain: 19 pounds.

Stretch marks? Not yet.

Exercise? I suppose watching college football and thinking about how nice it would be to run around outside doesn't count?

Sleep: I've added a new pillow to my collection. Grabbed a regular pillow from the guest room to put between my knees and it's helped a lot! I got one of the Boppy wedges, but it's so small I just kick if off the bed. Figure I'll hang onto it and use it as a tummy time prop. Still sleeping decently well.

Movement: I feel him a lot more frequently now that he has turned head-down. The movements are fewer and more pronounced. (i.e. instead of multiple kicks, I'll feel him arch his back).

Baby boy has discovered what he can do with his elbows! At times I feel like I have two little round horns on the sides of my belly. A few times he has stuck them out and then squirmed/twisted at the same time...ouch!

He has developed pretty regular patterns of movement - early morning, around 4:00 and after 7:30-8:00 are his most noticeable awake times. I can also normally feel him moving around if I get up in the middle of the night.

He’s had the hiccups a few more times and I think it’s absolutely adorable!

Food Oddities: Ice cream has somewhat lost its appeal to me, surprisingly. I'd rather enjoy a piece of chocolate or part of a candy bar for dessert. (Very odd for me!)

Almost anything pumpkin related makes me drool. Publix was out of pumpkin Eggo waffles today (yes, I’ve already eaten the whole box I got last week). Good thing I still have some pumpkin bread at home!

Apple pie was mentioned in childbirth class today and now I can’t stop thinking about it…

Oh, and I was so excited for all the Thanksgiving magazines on my NextIssue App...but then I started reading them and it became "yuck...gross...cringe...eww..." Maybe I'll fare better with the Christmas issues! Mike and I are planning a very small Thanksgiving at home. His mom and sister will be on a cruise, and I'll be 36 weeks so we probably won't head up to my parents. I'm curious to see how I do with the turkey. I won't go anywhere near baked/roasted/grilled chicken breast, but I may do turkey if it's sliced thin and has gravy on it.

(I have no idea how to explain the "rules" for what forms of chicken/poultry I will eat, so just rest assured that they exist and no, they don't make a lick of sense to me either.)

Symptoms: Haven't had much lightheadedness this week, thankfully.

I mentioned that my legs aren't feeling very stable to the doctor, and she responded "Well you're nearing the end of your pregnancy and you're going to continue to have some symptoms and become increasingly uncomfortable." Is it bad that the main thing I heard was "you're nearing the end of your pregnancy" and I immediately thought, "Thank God!"?

Still having some Braxton Hicks contractions, but they don't bother me. Continue to be rather short of breath and frequently tired. I have three large projects occurring simultaneously at work, so it made for some late nights last week and I’m paying for it in terms of my exhaustion level. I just can’t work at the pace I’m used to this late in pregnancy. (Not that I ever enjoy working late…)

As far as being uncomfortable - some days are better than others. Just kind of depends.

Update on my knee: It’s getting a lot better! I can walk normally on it and have regained most of my range of motion. I can’t kneel directly on it, nor can I squat down or sit with my legs crossed. I’m anxious to regain full use of it! The nasty scrape/rug burn is healing nicely, just slowly.

What people are saying:

Irony – I get a lot of comments at work about how big my belly has gotten, followed by comments about how little overall I still am. It always amuses me!

I’ve also found that men make more comments than women about my pregnancy. It seems like it would be the other way around. In my experience, women are more apt to give a knowing smile; men are more likely to say “Congratulations on the baby!” It might be due to the taboo about saying anything unless you are 100% certain, but at this point there is definitely no doubt about my condition!

Sweet Moments: Today at childbirth class the instructor was teaching us a few breathing techniques and explaining how our partners can help us relax during a tough contraction. So to pretend she told us to tense our shoulders and scrunch up our faces and told our partners to practice the calming techniques. What does my husband do? He promptly says, “Wow that’s a really ugly face!” Needless to say, I burst out laughing, to which he replied, “See? My technique worked! It distracted you from the pain and now you’re relaxed.”

Make room for baby: Last Sunday I had a wonderful baby shower – it was so great to see friends and we received so many nice gifts for the baby! My mom and I had a great time looking through everything when we got home…my husband came home after football and said it looked like a hurricane swept through the living room :)

Miss Anything? Not monitoring every. single. ounce. of fluid I’m drinking. I am so over it! I can’t force myself to drink either…I’ll literally start gagging.

Looking forward to: Getting closer and closer to the finish line.

Worst moment this week: None really. It was a pretty uneventful week.

Best moment this week: My baby shower last week was so much fun!