Pregnancy Update: 29 Weeks

Guess who's a week behind again!!!!  THIS GIRL!!!

How far along?  29 Weeks

Baby size?   The size of a squash! 

Baby progress?   Not much is happening these days as he's just packing on the fat and continuing to work his organs and practice breathing, swallowing, etc so that they can function on his own at birth.  His movements are getting stronger and more fluid movements, than quick jabs.  His brain now controls his body temperature and breathing.  His irises respond to light be dilating and contracting (they save he'll move towards the light if we put a flashlight on my belly).  

Weight gain?  I'm a little bothered because I seem to be putting on weight more easily now.  I know you add more at the end, but at this rate, I'm going to add a total of 100 pounds!!!  I'm up another 2 pounds putting me at 20 pounds.  

(Pregnant crotches bring all the dogs to the yard....at least, that's how I'm singing it.  Yadi, and every other dog I'm around, must be able to smell this baby or something because they're all drawn to it.  I didn't even notice I caught Yadi on camera doing this until days later).

Sleep?   What's that?  Sleep does not happen.  I'm asleep around midnight, but wide awake between 1am-2am and then I don't go back to sleep until about 4am-5am.  At which point I only get another hour or so before getting up for work.  Pregnancy insomnia is no joke.  The only good thing is that I don't feel tired during the day so I'm able to function like a normal human being.  Although I'm sure one day that will catch up with me.

Symptoms?  

Same ones...acid reflux, hip and back pain, and baby brain.
I'm also having pain because Little Homie now has his feet tucked behind my ribs, under my right boob.  It's so painful.  The only way to get relief is to arch my back backwards, which means I'm sticking my belly and chest out.  It's not cute.  So I really only do that when I'm home or in my office with my door shut.  

Cravings?  None at the moment.

Movement?    It's all the time and it's STRONG!  Little Obie is one active fella!

Workouts & Activity?  I decided to embrace daylight savings and just force my body to get some exercise.  When I got home from work, I decided to take the dogs for a walk.  A random neighbor said I was insane for taking two large dogs on a walk by myself being "so big" but they're great walkers; they don't pull and do really well!  However, this walk was a bad move.  My belly contracted about 3 blocks into our walk.  About half a mile in, the skies opened up and it began raining.  I said, "Okay, Little Man, we're about to attempt to light jog.  Hold on tight!"  We lasted about 10 houses before I stopped.  With a contracted belly, a racing heart, and a just a big belly bouncing in front of me, it was painful.  So we walked the last half of the walk in the rain.  (Thank goodness for dogs that dry super quick and don't really have the strong 'wet dog' smell.)

How are you feeling?  I feel good.  My belly contracts a lot, which sometimes has me worried but overall, I feel good!

Best moment this week?  Childbirth class.  Call me weird but I really like this class!  Our instructor is awesome and she makes the class really enjoyable.  I don't know what I expected from this class, but I thought it would be awful and scare me.  It covered pretty much every aspect of pregnancy, labor, post-partum, and even parenting that you could want.  It eased my mind about a lot of things and made me feel much more prepared.  I also love that they went over relaxation and massage techniques and had the significant others practice with us :)

Worst moment this week?   Sitting, rather uncomfortably, in the doctors office to be hooked up to the NST machine for monitoring.  Good news is, while I do have a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions in a small period, both Baby and I do great doing them.  My doctor said active women can have them more often and it's okay if our heart rate and blood pressure are good, which ours were okay.  She said we'll keep an eye on it and monitor more often to make sure it doesn't change, but for now, we're good to keep on keeping on!!!  But the test itself was boring, the straps were rather tight, and they had me laying on a hard bed, at a weird angle.  But I guess that's not THAT awful of a worst moment, huh?

What do you miss?  Functioning throughout my day without a foot up in my ribs, causing a lot of pain.

Things that suck?   Being clumsy and having a big belly.  Normally, (daily), I drop food in my lap.  But it falls on my pants, which are almost always black or dark wash jeans, so the food stain is hidden.  These days, my belly sticks out so far, that it catches every single drop.  And because my belly is so out there, my spills are noticeable to all.

Things that don't suck?  Actually having my husband alongside me for these childbirth classes.  We've been really fortunate that he's been able to attend every one.  Typically, the military dictates your life and most things do not happen in your favor.  However, Nick was so lucky to get a kickass squadron that truly cares about family and they've been able to work with him to ensure that he's been able to make it all the classes with me :)

Looking forward to?   Finally ordering our baby furniture next week!  We've held off because it wasn't in the warehouse, which meant it would take 10 weeks to arrive.  But next week, it'll be in the warehouse so by waiting to order it, we will get in 7-10 business days!  We're getting closer to getting that nursery finished!