29 Weeks - Baby 2

Pregnancy Update April 12, 2014

Thanks for the cute new shirt, Gracie!

How far along: 29 Weeks.  Due June 28, 2014.

Size of baby: 15.25 inches, 2.5lbs. A butternut squash.

What developed this past week: Baby 2 is about to start growing by leaps and bounds during the next 3 months... this should begin limiting his range of movement as his space gets cramped. This probably also mean that my ribs are about to start getting kicked! :)  He's putting on white fat (vs brown fat that helps regulate temperature) which serves to plump him up! 

Weight Gain: 24 lbs. I don't pretend to understand what's going on with my weight! One week, I gain nothing, the next I gain 3 lbs! What?! 

Maternity clothes: All maternity and Caleb's shirts to sleep in.

Gender: A little boy.

Movement: Still no hiccups!!! Moving all the time... in all corners of his world. 

Sleep/Symptoms: Braxton Hicks every day, usually a couple times. Also I've been getting the pinch in my my back/hips like I used to get (back in 2010) and am thinking I may need to make a trip to the chiropractor to put my hips and lower spine back in alignment. It comes and goes though so I'm waiting until there's no denying the need.  If I go to the chiropractor, the dentist suggested I ask him if there's anything I can do about my jaw cracking (dentist said is not tooth related). It doesn't ache anymore, but the right side cracks open multiple times a day. Maybe it's from all my joints relaxing?? I don't know... 

I've had a few migraines the past couple weeks, seemingly brought on by nothing. I've read that women get increased headaches in the 3rd trimester due to increased hormones, so maybe that's it?? I also started wearing my old glasses during work (while staring at a computer screen), and that seemed to help the strain in my eyes/forehead. 

What I miss: These past couple weeks have been really busy.. so I currently miss just sitting still on the couch with my husband watching our shows and catching up after Bryson goes to bed. Not really pregnancy related, though I could point out that if I wasn't pregnant, maybe we would have watched a few more shows... at 10pm, when I'm currently usually sleeping. lol

Cravings: Kraft Mac n cheese! I've wanted it and had it a few days in a row this week. I've also really been enjoying a new found granola cereal from Quaker. Not a craving, but it IS good! Get to your store for some Real Medleys, people! :) 

Best moment this week: My 29 week doctor appointment. Baby's heart beat was 138 and I measured on track at about 29 weeks. I told Dr V how I've been having the burning/aching/pain in my ribs already (like I had with Bryson) but still can't figure out what it is... She knew what it was! After not being able to come up with a plausible reason for it for the past year and a half (since it began happening with B), I was thrilled to have an answer, even though I can't do anything about it. Apparently, the round ligament pain pregnant women get at the bottom of the uterus can also happen at the top! The ligament goes all the way around the uterus, so when I sit forward/up, that ligament (near my rib cage), is fighting to hold the baby in! No wonder it feels like muscle burning - IT IS! 

Dr V. also told me something else I didn't know - women who have hematomas in their pregnancy often have lower birth weight babies. I didn't really get details about why that is, but she said at my next sonogram, she's going to have Laura measure the baby and make sure that he's growing appropriately in comparison to the last scan.  I did notice at each of my scans that the baby is 2-3 days smaller than what I know the gestational age to be... but it hasn't worried me at all. What is 2-3 days when we're talking average measurements here?? I only noticed because this baby has been around 45th percentile and Bryson was around 65th!  No big deal. I've measured on track at every appointment, so I'm glad they are being diligent but I doubt it will be an issue. Honestly, I won't be disappointed if I don't have to birth another 9-pound baby! :) Bring on a normal 7-pounder!! Seems like it'd be easy! lol

SO my next ultrasound is in 2 weeks (the 22nd), and Laura will check both the baby's size AND the location of the placenta. We're praying that it has moved out of the way so we don't have to schedule a c-section or worry about bleeding. I can't WAIT to know!

Bryson Update: This weekend we finally had nice enough weather to enjoy some time outside... B LOVES it and doesn't want to come in... Here are a few pics:

B's first time at the bowling alley... 

This kid is so strong, he picked up a 10-12 lb ball! We had to rush to put a hand under it to make sure it didn't fall on his toes... no worries - he HAD it! 

Another first this weekend - STICKER FUN! Not sure why it's taken me this long to get stickers out, but we finally made a sticker page this weekend and he had fun sitting in a booster seat at the dining room table!! My big boy!

And for fun, Bryson tried on Daddy's hat and football jersey and looked SO cute :) He surely is his daddy's boy!

sideways/backward was his own doing - can't teach style that cool ;)

For fun - anyone who wants to see a gratuitous video of this kid throwing a ball with his daddy FOREVER, both righty and lefty, click the link below :)

At the end, he shows his sense of humor and urge to entertain us and hits himself in the head with the tennis ball to make us laugh... goofball!