33 Weeks

Total weight gain: 21.5 lbs
Fetal size: a durian fruit! (approximately 4 pounds & 17-18 inches long)
Movement: This baby feels like it is everywhere at once! I wonder how big he or she will be!!
Symptoms: I am contracting practically daily now and actually got into a time-able pattern Sunday night. Time to increase the water intake! Unfortunately, the insomnia has hit again this week. 

The baby is practicing coordinating breathing movements with sucking &swallowing, which would explain all the hiccups lately! The fetal bones are hardening (except for the skull for delivery) and the baby could grow a full inch this week. The baby is also keeping its eyes open during awake periods. 

I had a thyroid appointment yesterday and she wants to decrease my dose of medication slightly since I didn't gain weight like she had anticipated. I had gained 2lbs since the last appointment 6 weeks ago. She said I may start sleeping better too. She did make the comment that I "look ready to go. The baby looks big and low" (this coming from a thyroid Dr. with not much experience on pregnancy). The good news is I don't have to go back to see her until 2 months postpartum! 

I have a diaper sprinkle this weekend and an OB appointment next week already!

32 Week Appointment

This morning I had my regular OB appointment at 32.1 weeks. Here is the update:

BP: 110/68
Fetal HR: 150's
Fundal Height: 32cm (on track for 32 weeks)
Weight Gain: none since last appointment a month ago

My OB literally gave me a high five for not gaining any weight. He said "you are doing awesome this time". I have not been eating differently so I really don't know why I maintained this past month. However, I am happy that I am doing better this pregnancy than my last two.

I start going for check ups every two weeks now!

32 Weeks {8 Months}

Total weight gain: 20 lbs
Fetal size: a squash! (approximately 3.8-4 pounds & 17 inches long)
Movement: The baby is getting very strong and lets me know if he or she doesn't like how I am sitting. 
Symptoms: Braxton hicks and mild heartburn continue

I haven't gained weight since 28 weeks. I am sure the stomach bug I now have (after a week of caring for sick little girls) has caused the weight loss for this week. I am going to make sure baby is measuring on track at my appointment. 

I am so happy to have hit the 32 week milestone! At 32 weeks alveoli (air pocket cells) start to form in the lungs the baby should have breathing movements up to 40% of the time. The lower esophagus muscles are functional now. Glomeruli function (blood filtering capillaries in the kidneys) is now complete. The next milestone is at 34 weeks and then we are in the home stretch! 

I have a 32 week OB check up tomorrow morning. This will be my last monthly appointment and then I switch to every two weeks x 2 appointments, then weekly till delivery! 

My "diaper sprinkle" is in 2 weeks and I can't wait to stock up on the necessities for this baby! I have created a neutral wish list on Amazon so I can do a quick check out with anything I still need before delivery. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime free 2-day shipping! 

The World's Toughest Job

As we are currently battling Reese having a GI bug, I stumbled across this video interview for The World's Toughest Job.

Enjoy!

31 Weeks

Total weight gain: 20.5 lbs
Fetal size: a pineapple! (approximately 3.5 pounds & 16.7 inches long)
Movement: Lots of good strong kicks this week!
Symptoms: Lovely round ligament pain when getting out of bed; braxton hicks this past week

Only 9 weeks to go and in the single digit count down! This week wrinkles on the skin are disappearing and fat deposits are storing.

Easter Bunny 2014

We took the girls to see the Easter Bunny today and actually beat the bunny there! So they allowed the girls to play with the prop area while waiting. This helped Scarlett warm up to the area some. I also think it helped that I showed Scarlett last years picture of all 3 of them with no tears so that she could see she wasn't scared.

The bunny finally arrived and the girls were SO incredibly excited!!! They were giving her high fives, touching her whiskers, touching her ears, & rubbing her "fur". 

30 Weeks

Total weight gain: 20 lbs
Fetal size: a large cabbage or a (very large) cucumber! (approximately 3.25 pounds & 16 inches long)
Movement: The baby is getting more and more active. I tend to have a knee rolling around on my upper left quadrant. The baby has been getting a lot of hiccups too. 
Symptoms: Holy heartburn!!! The past 3 days have been unreal with the heartburn flare ups!
Exercise: Went on two 1mi power walks and desperately wanted to start running! I miss running so much!

Only 10 weeks to go until we meet this little one! I lost .5lb this past week and I am surprised but I will take it!

I actually had my 2nd gender specific dream on Sunday night. I dreamt that we had a gender reveal party and when we cut the cake it was pink in the middle (meaning a girl if you are unfamiliar with gender reveal parties).

I have worked out a deal with an Etsy seller and she is allowing me to pre-order a gender specific blanket & a changing pad cover for 25% off and I will notify her at delivery which gender the baby is. This allows her to pre-order all the fabric and be prepared to make the specific items quickly after delivery and get them in the mail to me within a few days after the baby is born. She will also pre-send me samples of each fabric so I can pre-match craft paints to the fabrics prior to delivery.

Who says you can't be prepared with a "Team Green" (gender surprise) baby?!

I am relieved almost all of our baby gear is not gender specific! The carseat is red, stroller is black, baby whale tub is aqua, the highchair is expresso and cream, the baby swing & vibrating chair are cream.

Things I need to get taken care of soon: get a new baby monitor, diaper bag (my zipper broke from overuse on mine but I could manage to keep using it), & stock up on diapers & breastfeeding supplies. I am thankful a friend is hosting a "diaper sprinkle" for me in May to help me stock up on necessities!

Tomorrow Is Not Guaranteed

In the middle of the night I heard Bailey (our dog) jump up and run into our master bathroom and make a "gag" sound. She has been doing this gag/cough thing for a few days now but this was much more pronounced. I figured she surely had gotten sick but there was nothing. She continued through the night pacing back and forth in our room without laying down and resting. I went to put her outside and she could barely walk. Around 7am I told Cody there was something wrong with Bailey. At 7:30am, Cody called the vet. Cody was able to drop her off at the vet at 7:45am before work so the vet could check her out between surgeries.

Apparently she was really sick because by 8:30am they had already called to say Bailey had a 104 fever & was wheezing. They said she either had pneumonia, heart failure or cancer. She needed blood work, IV antibiotics and an x-ray. We already knew she had cancerous tumors removed externally last year so in my gut - I knew.

When we got the news I was shocked at how bad she actually was. Bailey has a large growth on her right lung that perforated the lung and caused it to collapse. It is called a spontaneous pneumothorax caused by a cancerous lesion. She also has possible growths on the left side too. This was just an x-ray and not full body, so the there is a chance the cancer is much more far spread than this.

Unfortunately, there is not much we can do. There is the option of referral to a specialist, doing a CT, surgery to removed the damaged lung, etc. but this most likely won't change the outcome. All we can do is "supportive care" for her.

Bailey will get antibiotics to treat the fever & steroids for her lung/pain. If she continues to have restless nights of pacing around, we need to let her go according to the vet. She really couldn't tell us a timeframe on the prognosis. If the tumor ruptures, she will bleed internally and it will kill her. That could occur at any time.

I tried to explain to the girls that Bailey was very sick and would be with Harley soon. The girls were with me when I picked her up from the vet this afternoon and they were SO excited to see her!

We hadn't been home 10 minutes and I found Reese under the kitchen table whispering to Bailey while I prepped their dinner.

We spent the evening outside with Bailey and I got some sweet pictures of the girls with her. She seemed better than she was this morning. Definitely not in pain like this morning! Her breathing is hard and labored but she is drinking water and ate for the vet.

The girls had fun giving Bailey a shower in my master shower and making her smell "beautiful". They spent the rest of the evening sitting on the game room floor on each side of her as she rests.

We know Bailey's time with us will be ending too soon. She has missed her best friend, Harley, ever since he passed last May.

We are blessed to have right now and will be grateful for any additional time we get with her! We will continue to love on her with all our hearts, spoil her with treats (and possibly table food), and take a lot of pictures while we can.

All we can do is pray for peace and comfort.

29 Weeks

It's time for a pregnancy comparison!

29 weeks with baby Sweatman #4

29 Weeks with Scarlett
(I can't even keep these same shorts up this time around)

29 Weeks with Emma

29 weeks with Reese

Total weight gain: 20.5 lbs
Fetal size: an acron squash! (approximately 3 pounds now & 15-16 inches long)
Movement: The baby thought it would be fun to move around during the entire 2hr movie at the theater last night!
Symptoms: I had a very hard day today emotionally

I thought my baby belly was bigger this time around but now that I see the comparison I think it is smaller than with Scarlett. 

I am shocked that I didn't gain any weight this past week! Especially since we had date night last night and I ate way too much at a fancy steakhouse followed by a Starbucks coffee, handful of movie theater candy, & a bowl of ice cream when we got home. I am sure next week will catch up to me. The scale and I have a love/hate relationship. 

It is crazy to think we are in April now and in just a few short months our little gender surprise will be here! We received our first official baby gift for this baby the other day! We are so close to meeting this little one!