Pregnancy Update: 31 Weeks

How far along?  31 Weeks

Baby size? Pineapple; about 17.5 inches tall! and weighing somewhere around 3.5 pounds.  

Baby progress?  Baby Obie should be close to his birth height!!!  His neck is more flexible and he can more easily turn it.  He's pretty ready for birth now as his senses are developed and his immune system is now almost ready to fight off and prevent illnesses.  His brain is still developing under his soft skull;  the bones that make up his skull are not yet fused together and this is so that he can pass easily through the birth canal.  The other bones in his body are hardening and preparing to support his body after birth.  Baby Obie's lungs are still developing to full capacity, but right now, they are practicing breathing 30-40% of the time.  

Weight gain?  27 pounds.  

Sleep?  I actually think it's slowly getting better.  Maybe it's that 3rd trimester exhaustion setting in?  I don't really feel utterly exhausted though.  Everyone said the 3rd trimester is like the 1st in that the exhaustion is ridiculous.  Granted, I'm not THAT far into the 3rd trimester, but it's not too bad.  But maybe it's slowly setting in and that's why I'm sleeping better.  Not great, but I'm getting about 5 hours a night, which is better than the 3-4 I was getting before.  

Symptoms?  Nothing new to report.  Same ol', same ol'.
Back pain, hip pain, ginormous boobs, vomit inducing acid reflux, little sleep, etc.
Oh wait, my feet, that's a new one.  My feet are now KILLING me after only a few hours at work and they're swollen by the time I get home.  I've never had swollen feet in my life, but I guess pregnancy brings about lots of new things.  

Cravings?  French toast sticks.  And mango ice tea.  

Movement?  Still a lot.  It's crazy because I can something rolling across my belly.  (Elbow?  hand?  Butt? Who knows!)  All I know is this kid doesn't ever stop moving. Unless I'm sleeping. And even then, I'm not sure.  I just know I'm asleep so I'm unaware if he's moving.

Workouts & Activity?  Nothing more than walks with the dogs, my job (which is not a sit down at a desk all the time, but instead in and out of car all day, walking all over, standing and giving presentations), and doing things around the house.  It's not "real" exercise but I'm definitely not a blob.  

How are you feeling?   Still feeling good!!  We got answers to this polyhydramnios so I'll have to update you all on that. 

Best moment this week?   Little Man had the hiccups and Nick was able to feel them AND see them!!!  Poor guy gets the hiccups often, but Nick has never been able to feel them.  Until this week :)
And I got to see him again!!!!  It's one of the few perks of having something "wrong" and needing ultrasounds more frequently

Worst moment this week?   My work event.  I had my first event (one of four down!) this week and oh.my.goodness was it rough.  After just two hours my feet were so swollen that my shoes were cutting off circulation.  I loosened them as much as I could but it didn't help.  I didn't want to take them off because my back and hips were killing me and tennis shoes obviously would offer the best support for my body.  Then about four hours into the event, my legs began to swell and my pants started to become tight and cut off circulation.  I was miserable.  Thankfully I only had to work 8 hours (mid event to clean up) instead of set-up to clean up which was about 16 hours.  But even those 8 were killer.  That night when I got home, I tossed and turned and cried and was just a mess.  My feet were throbbing so badly and it ended up making me anxious and I could get no relief.  I didn't even notice how badly my back hurt because my feet hurt so badly.  The following day I laid around all day but it didn't matter. I was still in so much pain.  It wasn't until day three that I felt back to my normal pregnancy achy self.  I'm not sure how I'm going to handle my next two events considering they're back to back (8 hours on Friday and 8 hours on Saturday).  

What do you miss?   Being cold.  I know, I know.  I hate being cold but lately, this pregnancy has made me so hot!  It's more so at night but I get so miserable at night.  But I'm weird and I HAVE to sleep with some sort of blanket on me.  Not a sheet, that's too thin feeling.  A blanket or comforter or something.  But then I'm hot.  So the AC goes down and the fan goes on level 5.  It's insane.  

Things that suck?  Needing to really stretch out (spreading my legs and stretching my groin and hips) but not really being able to do that because it's not acceptable to just spread eagle in a public place like Starbucks.  So I take breaks in my car to do so.  I know, so classy and attractive.  But I'm just keeping it real.

Things that don't suck?  Having a supportive husband that makes sure he's off on my events.  I am so glad he was there at my event to help support me.  My job is far from easy so it's nice to have the help.  It's also nice for him to see all my hard work over the past year come together for this huge event.  
Also having a husband in a squadron that allows him to come to appointments with me.  

Looking forward to?   Seeing this guy again on his 3D ultrasound.  I just hope he actually cooperates this time, but I'm fairly doubtful.  He doesn't like to be seen :(