Pregnancy Update: 36-weeks (1-month to go!)

Here are my 36-week stats: 

Feeling:
I feel great these days...at least during the day. It seems as though the farther I get into this pregnancy, the better I feel. I have great energy and I have been getting a lot of cleaning and organizing done lately. (Could I be nesting??) I don't know if my diet change from having gestational diabetes has any part to do with my feeling great, but whatever it is I'll take it. I do however, have aches and pains when I stop moving. If I sit for too long I get uncomfortable, and in bed at night there is a lot of tossing and turning. I am still not sleeping that well due to having to pee almost once an hour (!) along with being uncomfortable. I am sure it is my body's way of preparing for sleepless nights with the baby. Also, backaches in pregnancy are over talked about. My back doesn't hurt at all, for me it is my ribs and my feet. Ohh the aches! All in all though, I am feeling quite positive and energetic about the end of this pregnancy.

Bump:
The bump has either not grown in the last month, or is growing ever so slowly. I felt like I was getting really big really fast, and then things halted. When I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes they put me on a fairly strict diet and I have actually LOST weight. (whoa there!) I never expected to restrict what I ate during pregnancy let alone lose weight. My midwife doesn't seem concerned though, so I am not going to worry about it. The baby has measured small for my whole pregnancy, so it makes sense that my bump isn't that big. (Right, right? Should I be worried??)

Craving:
Well...my cravings are limited these days since I am on a diabetic diet. I have mostly cut out complex carbs, or anything moderately high in carbs, along with sugar. So that leaves me with veggies, meat, cheese, yogurt and some fruits. The fruits that I am living on (or that I crave, I guess) are cherries and strawberries. I can eat a decent amount of them without making my blood sugar spike, whoop whoop! It's the small things. Occasionally, I will eat salads all day so that I can get ice-cream at the end of the day and not mess up my blood sugar. This whole gestational diabetes thing has become a game really. I am always learning little tricks.

Baby Stats:
Babycenter says the baby is the size of a melon right now. She should weigh about 5 pounds and measure about 20 inches long. Wow! I don't know where my baby fits into those stats though, since she is small for her size. (They are saying that she will probably come LATE since she is so small!) I can feel her regularly throughout the day. The midwife says my uterus is all the way up under my ribs and I don't doubt it because I have gotten some swift kicks from behind the ribs. That's a special feeling let me tell ya... Usually when I sit or lay down is when the baby gets really active. She kicks and moves all over the place. If I lift up my shirt I can often see my belly moving, so crazy.

What about a name?
Everyone asks us if we have a name picked out and what it is. So far we have told everyone everything about the baby and my pregnancy, EXCEPT for the name. We've had a name picked out since we knew she was a girl, but decided not to tell anyone. Well, the weirdest thing happened. I stopped liking the name! How does that happen?! I started saying the name out loud to get used to it and I didn't like it. Just like that. Bah humbug! So now at 36-weeks we are starting from scratch with names. We really have no clue what to name her. Any suggestions? I think we are going to wait until she is born and wing it. Great plan right?

36-week (diabetic friendly) Pregnancy Food:

dill pickle, cherries, whole grain crackers with cheese, hummus with celery

grilled steak, asparagus, 1/2 piece of corn

Pregnancy Update: 30-weeks, 3rd trimester (7ish months)

Here are my 7-month stats: 

Feeling:
I am definitely feeling the weight of my belly these days. Until now, I haven't had too many issues and my energy has been great. With the growth of the baby and my belly though, I have begun to be physically tired more quickly. In fact, I was unloading the dishwasher the other night and was out of breath by the time I was finished. (Now that's just ridiculous!) My back also aches now, along with my ribs. Whoa, the rib pain is unreal! I assume my ribs are trying to expand along with the baby and that is causing me a LOT of uncomfortable pain. Sleeping is pretty much a joke at this point...in fact, I welcome the days when the baby is here and at least I can be comfortable in bed while I am sleep deprived. Body comfort is something I don't think I will have again until after the baby is here...ho-hum! I did have an awesome prenatal massage though. It was complete bliss and I definitely plan to get more of those in the following months. I have also started working out again. Ha, yes in my third trimester! I felt well enough to exercise in my second trimester, but didn't make it priority. So now that I have finally gotten around to it, I hope it is not too late. I try to get to the gym at least 3-5 times a week for a good hour of walking on the treadmill and even some light weight lifting. (Go me!) So far, it has been ok. I am slow, but at least I am doing something. Emotionally, I am still all over the place. I have good weeks and bad weeks. I think going to the gym is helping me to balance my emotions though. Yes, the power of exercise!

Bump:
The bump is GROWING. This lady is definitely pregnant, there is no more hiding it! In fact, the comments from strangers have begun. Now that people can see I am obviously pregnant they want to comment. For the most part I don't mind the comments and luckily I haven't had anyone be too grabby or touchy feely with my belly. (Though I don't mind that either. A pregnant belly is definitely something that begs to be rubbed. Even I as a pregnant lady myself, I want to grab every round pregnant belly that I see. So while I've got it, it may as well get the love from everyone else. So touch away, rub my belly for good luck! ...within moderation of course.)

Craving:
My cravings are still short lived. I think pregnancy cravings are a myth. I really haven't had any earth shattering absolute definite cravings this whole pregnancy. Cravings are normal for everyone, I think in pregnancy though, we just tend to satisfy the cravings more often. If any craving were to stand out to me these days it would be cantaloupe. I eat it every day and can't get enough of it. I've also been eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (still), along with fish, quinoa, baked oatmeal, trail mix, clementines, bananas, and salad. I've been eating some giant plates of salad!

Baby Stats:
Babycenter says the baby is the size of a large cauliflower and probably weighs about 3 pounds. She is now able to open and close her eyes and apparently she regularly tastes the amniotic fluid. She is also drinking it and peeing it out on a regular basis so that her organs get a jump start on learning to process liquids and food. The biggest thing for baby girl right now is her brain and fat growth. I also feel her whomping kicks on a regular basis now. If I lay down on my left side she starts kicking right away.

Awkward Dream:
Lately, my dreams have been filled with ex-boyfriends. So weird! The last time I dreamt excessively about ex-boyfriends was right after I got married. I can understand why I drempt of them then, it was my subconscious processing the fact that I was committed to one person for the rest of my life. I am not quite sure what it means this time... Either way, the most recent dream that I had of ex-boyfriends was set in an airport. I was pregnant and with ALL the ex-boyfriends together. One by one I said heartfelt goodbyes (and even kissed them) as they each boarded a separate plane. Once they were all gone I sat in the middle of the airport floor and ate a giant bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. The saying goodbye part as each of them boarded a plan and flew away was quite symbolic, but the spaghetti and meatballs part just has me confused...

30-week Pregnancy Food:

Cantaloupe and honeydew melon with popcorn

Blueberry banana baked oatmeal with cinnamon and almond milk

Quinoa with pesto, parmesean asparagus, and twice baked potatoes (both sweet potatoes and regular)

Chocolate covered frozen banana chunks