Phew. Last week, I had a whole five days of blog posts planned out.
And instead of waking up early and creating blog content, I slept until my kids got me up every.single.day.
So, there were no blog posts last week.
And somehow I’m still exhausted.
Some days I have to remind myself that I am 7 months pregnant and I don’t need to pressure myself to do it all. I’m feeling it, y’all. This pregnancy has a solid 9 weeks left and I’m looking forward to that moment in 9 weeks when it will be over.
Size of Baby: My baby is the size of a coconut! That seems huge to me! He is growing and chunking up now, and boy oh boy is he a mover and shaker! Even the midwife said he was one of the most active babies she had seen. I was sitting on one couch and Theo was sitting across the room the other night, and he could see my entire belly moving around from ACROSS THE ROOM!
The midwife said I’m still measuring about two weeks ahead, which is pretty unusual for me. I am not sure if my dates are off, or if for whatever reason I’ll grow a big baby this time. Only time will tell!
Symptoms/How I’m Feeling: I am going to do my best to restrain myself from complaining. Pregnancy is a wild beast. It’s a beautiful and miraculous process to grow an entire human and I know that I can sometimes take that for granted. This pregnancy has been hard since day, and it continues to present a number of challenges. My hip pain has actually disappeared which is wonderful, but I am now starting to feel like a whale when I attempt to roll over. The nausea is still present, and sometimes the vomiting as well. The past few weeks the strangest pregnancy symptom I’ve developed is this insanely itchy rash. It’s mostly on my legs so my doctor said it’s not PUPPPS, it’s just an increased blood flow and irritation to my skin and my hormones. But IT ITCHES SO BAD. I currently have coconut oil and lavender smeared on my legs, then I wrapped them with ace bandages so I don’t scratch!
However, the baby is incredibly healthy and exactly on track. Literally every crazy thing is happening to my body, but the baby is kept completely safe and just growing away. I’m so very thankful for that. I’ll take nausea and itching for my sweet little one any day.
Emotionally, I’m doing much better now. The unexpectedness of this pregnancy has been a struggle from the beginning, but I’ve been able to deal with a lot of those emotions as the months have gone by. I’m kind of ready for this baby to born so that my pregnancy is over, and I’m excited to have another little one around and begin that adjustment process.
I think we have finally settled on a name, but there is still some debate around our house! And no, we will not be announcing the name until he is born. Our criteria is: unique, has to match with the last name, and preferably Biblical or have strong meaning. Any guesses?
Sleep: I still sleep alright, although I wake up exhausted. I’m only up 1-2x a night, but I also really struggle to get comfortable.
Cravings: Eh. No cravings, still. It’s a cruel world when I can have nausea and vomiting with no cravings for 10 months straight and still gain a lot of weight. I have enjoyed Honey Nut Cheerios a lot this pregnancy, so if the baby were to be whatever food I’ve eaten most, it would probably be that!
Aversions: I mostly can eat anything, but on my nausea days I just don’t feel like anything. No meat, no cheese, no sweets for me.
Exercise: Yeah, no. This has also been one of the hardest parts of this pregnancy, as I’m usually very active and try to stay in shape/healthy/up on my exercise. But not this time around. The exhaustion and the nausea are overwhelming, and even exercising doesn’t help it much. I do try to go on a daily walk with the kids that is about 1.5 miles, so I’m not sitting on the couch ALL DAY. But I pretty much want to!
Birth Prep: Wait, I have to give birth soon, don’t I? Ha! I’ve submitted my registration to Family Beginnings (the birth center), I have my favorite birthing book on hold in the library, I’ve started to nail down who will be with me through labor and delivery, and I’ve reserved someone to come and encapsulate my placenta! I think I have nailed down someone who will be able to watch my kiddos while I labor and am in the hospital, and I’m SO GLAD my mother in law gets to come soon after the baby is born! This was one of my big anxieties so having that planned out is really, really helpful! We are getting closer to the big day!
The Rest of the Fam: Everyone is holding in there, but I think we will all look back on these 10 months as a “hard time” for our family. I’m not able to be the fun and active Mom that my children are used to, and I know that they feel it (but don’t understand it). Theo has obviously taken up the brunt of the load in caring for Tera and Kiah and doing a lot around the house (not to mention listening to me whine about my aches and pains and giving me foot rubs).
Oof. Your pregnancy sounds so rough! Hopefully his size is an indication that he’ll come sooner rather than later!
My second pregnancy was kind of like this. A bit of a surprise. Physically and emotionally the worst for me. And to top it off I was in the middle of a new job that I so desperately wanted to keep. Life is strange and God really knows what’s best for us. I have admired your grace and transparency. You are very strong. I can’t wait to see pictures of your littlest baby. Take care.
My second pregnancy was kind of like this. A bit of a surprise. Physically and emotionally the worst for me. And to top it off I was in the middle of a new job that I so desperately wanted to keep. Life is strange and God really knows what’s best for us. I have admired your grace and transparency. You are very strong. I can’t wait to see pictures of your littlest baby. Take care.