32 weeks. This has been such an interesting time. I am growing SO FAST and getting SO CLOSE. I keep wondering what else might be in store for me for the rest of pregnancy. Whether I’ll feel pretty good like I do now, or hate every second of being huge like I thought I would. Right now, I’m mostly enjoying it.
How far along? 32 weeks/~8 months!
How big is the baby? About 4 lbs and about 18 inches. They have started getting big enough that sometimes their movements make me uncomfortable. I even had to “correct” them a week or so ago when they jammed their arm or leg into my side in a way that was legitimately painful and left it there.
Total weight gain/loss? I started at 123 and right now I am 150, so I’ve already gained a total of 27 lbs. I was at 147 for a while and then gained 3 lbs in like 2 days. I swear my weight is very very weird.
Maternity clothes? Most of what I wear isn’t maternity. On the bottom I for sure have been wearing maternity for a good long while, but my favorite tops are actually short dresses that I wear like tops now. I have one actual maternity shirt and one t-shirt that is really long that works like a maternity top. I stopped being able to wear normal shirts without my belly popping out sometime in the last month or so. I’m surprised it lasted so long.
Sleep? Sleep has been decent overall, which I am very grateful for. Since I HAVE to sleep on my side now (Otherwise I will wake myself up from snoring. Ha!) my back and sides aren’t always comfortable, which kind of sucks.
Best moment this month? The baby being head down made me VERY happy, since I do not want to deal with switching to an OBs care right now. In California it’s not legal to have a breech birth at home and very few providers will attend vaginal breech births, but there is at least one here so I’d have to switch to his care to attempt a vaginal birth if my baby was breech. I realize that I am lucky to even have that option, though, as so many places don’t have ANYONE that knows how to do vaginal breech births anymore.
Symptoms? I’ve been doing relatively well, but I have had some niggly annoyances like SI joint pain, still some gallbladder pain but overall it’s much better. I try, as much as I can, to focus on the positive. So, instead of focusing on the few things going wrong with me (like the above and some reflux at night), I listen to what’s going on with other people and think “Man, I’m lucky that isn’t happening to me right now.”
Food cravings? I really want dairy products of all types. Just chugging a glass of cold milk sounds like heaven. Unfortunately, I can’t because of a sensitivity that means it gives me reflux (even pre-pregnancy), but what are you gonna do?
Food aversions? None anymore. I do find myself getting kind of bored, though. I keep eating the same things because they are easy, cheap, in season, and not aggravating my gallbladder. I’ll like it for a while and then I decide I want something else and get on a new food jag.
Baby’s sex? I lean towards it being a girl, as do my mom and midwife. Buuuuut, I really have no idea. I know that when we find out if it IS a boy I will feel way more surprised than if someone tells me it’s a girl.
Labor signs? None yet, thank goodness.
Belly button in or out? Out! Before I got pregnant, I thought it would bother me to have my belly button go out and to have a dark line on my stomach (the linea negra). Weirdly, it doesn’t bother me at all.
What I miss? Sleeping on my stomach/being comfortable when I sleep, eating anything I want to, not taking supplements, just being in control of my body in general.
What I’m looking forward to? I’m still looking forward to meeting the baby the most, certainly of anything pregnancy/baby related. I am also having a baby shower around the end of November and looking forward to seeing some people I haven’t seen in a while.
Things I HAVEN’T done this month? I’m not really sure what kinds of medical stuff normally goes on around this time, but I do know that this is about the time a lot of people have baby showers, so I’ll talk about BABY STUFF. I don’t have much yet, and I think compared to most people I’m not going to start out with too much, either.
So far the one intentional thing I have gotten (my mom actually got it for us) is a woven wrap. It was important for me to get a baby carrier because I HATE using strollers (plus they don’t work for some things, like hiking) and the woven wraps are super versatile in that you can use them to carry the baby in front, in back, on your side, and from teeny tiny baby to toddler. In fact, I’ve carried my toddler nephew and niece in mine.
My step mother-in-law made the baby a quit, so that is the other “new” thing we have for them, so far.
I also got some used cloth diapers and wool covers, which I was very happy about. I also knit the baby a newborn hat and plan to knit them a blanket.
I hope to primarily be able to get things for the baby used and good quality and avoid poor quality new junk. Our registry is small and I definitely hope that we can at least get thing things that are not on our registry used (like CLOTHES, we’re registered for none on purpose). Because I have already been asked, here is what’s on our registry. This is almost everything we plan on starting out with for the baby/birth (besides clothes, of course). Feel free to tell me if I am being idiotically minimal or have unnecessary things for someone who is trying to be minimal.
I will say, though, caring about environmental and health things and having a baby that people want to buy things for can be really stressful!
How I’m trying to ensure a healthy pregnancy?
- Good diet
- Positioning exercises
- Walking a lot
- Working on gallbladder health
- Going to the chiropractor
Although I just stopped going to the chiro because my insurance only covers 12 visits a year, so hopefully I will be all good until delivery.
I am also trying to get better at regularly drinking raspberry leaf tea, which helps tone the uterus and can help with labor. I’ve been super inconsistent, though. If anyone has any tips for someone who rarely drinks anything other than water and smoothies of how to get consistent with tea and/or infusions lay them on me! I tend to be terrible at routine.
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I don’t think that is a minimal list at all.in fact it is super practical! I got way too much stuff with my first that I didn’t end up using. The woven wrap is fantastic! It was by far my favorite baby carrier! I’m so excited for you! The only other thing I would recommend adding which was a life saver for me was the book the womanly art&t of breastfeeding. So much fact based invaluable information in it when you can’t reach a lactation consultant for an immediate question. Looking forward to more updates!
I’m reading it right now (Checked it out from the library. I love the library!). I know it’d probably be good to have as a reference, but I figure if I read through it all now and I can’t remember something I’ll know where to go to find it. My doula also includes a breastfeeding class in her doula package, so I have that coming up, too!
I’m (possibly naively?) not THAT worried about breastfeeding, though, since I grew up seeing it a lot.
You will be fine then! You won’t readily fall into breastfeeding traps from misinformation or different expectations. I didn’t have much of that growing up that I truly remember. But I was determined to breastfeed no matter what and I think your outlook on it is so Wonderful!!!
Where did you get the used cloth diapers and what kind of raspberry leaf tea do you get?
Thanks!
The used cloth diapers were local, so I’m no help there :). I think there are a lot of buy/sell/trade groups on facebook, though, so you could always give that a try.
I have one box of pregnancy tea someone gave me that they didn’t like. That has raspberry leaf and other things. I get mine loose leaf in bulk from my co-op, but I think it’s this brand: http://amzn.to/2fMwlea