32 - 33 Weeks - Baby 2

Pregnancy Update May 10, 2014

Thanks to my SIL, Erica, for the shirt! I am amazed it fit her with twins, yet just barely fits my singleton baby belly! I'm claiming the 8 inch height difference! lol

How far along: 33 Weeks.  Due June 28, 2014.

Size of baby: 17 inches, 4.25lbs. The size of a pineapple!

What developed this past week: Baby's skeleton is hardening, though the skull will not fuse together completely, but will overlap allowing for continued growth all the way up until early adulthood! He will put on about half a pound per week over the next four weeks, then the rapid weight gain will slow for the final few weeks. 

Weight Gain: 27 lbs.  

Maternity clothes: This question is a joke at this point :). When I do try to wear my own tee shirts, I have to make sure my yoga pants go up high enough so I don't have to be pulling my shirt down all the time to be sure my belly is covered. So basically, I just wear maternity. Makes things easier :)

Gender: Another wonderful boy! I am SO interested to see if he's a "Farrell boy" - sports-aholic, risk-his-life-for-a-ball boy (like Bryson is)... or if he's more like me and will gladly shield his face at the cost of dropping a ball. haha Oh the things I never thought I'd be thinking about! 

Movement: I know I've said it before, but this kid goes crazy at night! To prove it, I got a video on May 8 (at 32w6d) of him rolling around while I was relaxing on the couch at 10pm. He must have plenty of room in there, because these aren't just swift kicks and punches, they are body rolls! 

Sleep/Symptoms: Sleeping okay still - no insomnia and no middle-of-the-night bathroom trips! I love it! I know many women who were not blessed with good sleeping abilities while pregnant - I don't take it for granted! I can't imagine how women function with little ones at home, AND a exhausted-no-sleep pregnant body!! No thanks!

I still haven't gotten out my snoogle, though I'm on the verge because I've kinda squished the life out of my throw pillows - apparently I have strong knees... lol

What I miss: Just sitting comfortably at work. I have to take breaks to stand every few hours because my back and the top of my round ligament (which I always refer to as my ribs) ache rather badly. 

Cravings: I don't think I've said that I've been enjoying gala apples lately - especially with cheese! MMM... Just saying it out loud makes me want one RIGHT NOW.

Best moment this week: I had another doctor appointment, as I'm biweekly now... I measured on track at 32 weeks and baby's heart rate was good! (130-140s if I remember correctly?) 

Randomly, after seeing Dr Wise on Tuesday, Wednesday I got a phone call from the nurse saying that Dr V was ordering a follow up ultrasound for my next appointment (3 weeks after the prior u/s). I'm happy to know that both doctors keep up on my charts, though I only see one at a time! Dr V is more conservative than Dr W, so I made sure my next appointment is with her, following the u/s, considering she's the one who ordered it. I'm going to clarify that this is why, but last I heard, Dr V had said that she wants to follow/track the baby's growth because of my 1st trimester hematoma. I've never heard of that before, but that's why she gets paid the big bucks and I don't! She's been doing OB for more years than I've been alive (she delivered me 28 yrs ago!), so I surely trust her to not be doing unnecessary testing, but to be cautious and conservative. I much prefer caution to the alternative! So far, no reason to think anything is wrong, though the baby has been smaller than Bryson was, but that doesn't mean I'm not happy to keep checking on him to ensure nothing goes wrong and isn't found in time...  Selfishly, since we get another chance at it, I'm HOPING B2 doesn't have his foot in front of his face on Friday so I can see those sweet cheeks!!! I 

Bryson Update: B has been up to so many new things recently... Many pride-inducing mama moments! :) For one, he's become a pro at doing puzzles! I've had a few puzzles with 4 pieces each that have basically served as chew toys for the past 8 months. I'm glad we've finally moved on from that and recognize their true value in education! :) I'm going to have to get smaller or more-piece puzzles for him soon to keep that brilliant mind going strong!

Another CRAZY new development is B's urge to learn to use the potty! At 17 months old, I'm sure this will be awhile, but he has the start of it down! He grabs his diaper every time he is [already] going to the bathroom and when asked if he is going or needs to go potty, he RUNS to the bathroom! It's wonderful! I was not prepared this early, so I need to buy him a potty before he loses interest. We've been putting him on the big potty with the seat down and clothes on (just to get him in the habit), because he freaks out if you try to set him on it lid-open, clothes off. Apparently, my man who is afraid of next to nothing, is afraid of falling in! :) 

For grins and giggles, I'll post the videos I took (in the car) of Bryson practicing saying, "Cockadoodledoo!" and him shouting for his BFF, "Emma!"

If anyone brings up Emma, he SHOUTS her name until distracted! hahah When we were in Target on Saturday, Bryson randomly thought of Emma and began shouting her name all through the store! I had to keep telling him she wasn't here and to shhh!! hahaha He's too cute! 

We did a few fun things over the weekend too - #1, Just Bryson and Mommy went to Tim Horton's for a date Saturday morning! He's never had a muffin and I wanted to spoil him with some one-on-one time, as those weekends are quickly coming to an end! Daddy was busy at work, so the timing was great. We had almost the whole place to ourselves, only one other table of women there. Because it was so empty, I let Bryson get down from our reading in front of the fire place and explore. He loved to run down the hallway from the bathroom into my arms as hard as he could! So sweet. A few times he decided it'd be fun to chat with the other women and workers. Everyone said how cute he was and asked me when I'm due with B2.
Bryson LOVED his fruit explosion muffin and I loved my chocolate chip muffin and french vanilla cappuccino (what B doesn't know won't hurt him lol).

After a good nap, we went to Daddy's playoff flag football game! Bryson was THRILLED when we got there early and I let him walk out onto the field, quarterback shirt on and ball in hand!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of Daddy and Bryson looking at me or playing together!

This kid has an arm. Often he has two arms! Switches it up! Ambidextrous still and fairly equally skilled on both sides!

Uncle Greg was teaching him how to hold his hands to catch the ball

During the game, Bryson kept pointing down to the field asking (in grunts and points) if he could go back down and play! He'd also point and say "ball" each time the team lined up with the ball on the line. And of course, he noticed Daddy playing quarterback and pointed and said "Dada!" each time he saw him! TRUE LOVE.
To hold Bryson over while Daddy was busy downstairs, taking up the whole field... Bryson had cousins playing football (toss) with him! He LOVED it and pretty much played the whole hour, with a few stops to check on Daddy's game. I may need to look into what to do for addictive personalities before it gets too bad... lol

32 Weeks

Pregnancy Update October 1, 2012

How far along: 32 weeks! 56 days left... 

Size of baby: 16.7 inches, 3.75 lbs. - A "Large Jicama"

What developed this past week: Still getting more baby fat! He's likely going to double his weight between now and birth! And let me tell you - there have been plenty of days this past week where I FEEL like he's doubling his weight and stretching out my belly! Ouch!

He now has toe nails and finger nails and he's shedding the soft lanugo hair that covers his body and his real hair and skin is becoming soft and smooth.

Weight Gain: 27.8. Went back down a little - I'd say the weight check from last week wasn't quite accurate - it definitely didn't seem to me like I had gained almost 5 lbs in one week! I guess the doctor's scale on Wednesday will help solve this mystery.

Maternity clothes: All maternity. Getting out my fall clothes now! Love these comfy sweaters and long sleeve shirts.

Gender: HE'S ALL BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"
(Bryson means "smart", Nicholas means "winner" or "victory of the people")

Movement: He's a mover and a shaker! It's cool now because I can "rub his back" or use my hands to slide him back and forth and he responds to my touch! It's also funny to feel him fall subject to gravity when I lay down on my sides at night - he feels like he's about to fall out my side! When I turn over onto my other side, I feel him slide down the other way and rest on the bed as well! I even had Caleb put his hand on him while I turned over the other night so he could feel his little body slip down.

Sleep: After being exhausted all last week, over the weekend I got a few nights of some GOOD sleep - 9-11 hours a night! I couldn't BELIEVE that I did that 3 nights in a row. Usually if I sleep that long one night, the next night I'm awake in the middle of the night. Must've needed the rest! Since then, I haven't felt so exhausted and it's been great! Feeling like your head is going to drop on the keyboard at work is miserable - hope I can stay rested enough that I don't get to that stage again (until after birth!).

What I miss: Talking (for extended periods of time) without feeling like I'm winded! I swear I've never smoked a day in my life, but I feel like I'm a chain smoker sometimes! lol

Cravings: Nothing.

Best moment this week: We had our last Childbirth Class this week. We talked about what to expect during delivery, making a birth plan, breastfeeding, etc... all the finishing touches! I'm definitely glad we took this class - I feel a lot more prepared and I think Caleb does too. Now he doesn't have to just watch me go through labor and have no clue what is happening or how to help. I feel assured that we CAN do this! (Regardless, we have to at this point! But it's good to feel prepared.)

I also thoroughly enjoyed going to the chiropractor a few times! Highlight #1 - relieving some of the rib pain in my upper back/stretching out my back and hip muscles. Highlight #2 - LAYING ON MY STOMACH! :) Love the drop table - wonder if he'd let me take a little nap when he's between patients ;) lol

Another thing I'm VERY happy I did this week was make some freezer meals!! My friend, Sarah, came over and we made 6 recipes each (at least 10 meals and leftovers) in about 4 hours! It feels good to have healthy/homemade food in the freezer ready to eat! We're going to try to do it every once in awhile so that we can keep the meals coming and I'll be prepared with ready-to-cook food when Bryson comes and I have no motivation/energy to cook good meals! 

This is what I used to get started on my first freezer cooking experience. She lists 10 recipes, but I started with just 6 of them... don't want to bite off more than I can chew in my first try! :) Wish we would have taken a picture of our finished products! It was awesome!

What I am looking forward to: Our doctor appt this week!! Bring on the ultrasound! Can't wait to see my little man's face again! And we get to find out how big he is, what position he's in, etc. My MIL and husband are coming to the appt on Wednesday at 4.

Right after our doctor appointment on Wednesday, Caleb and I are going to our first Newborn Care class! It will actually be a private class where the teacher will go over the first 2 weeks worth of material, since we will not be able to attend the class on Thursday nights for 2/4 weeks! I'm pretty excited that we'll get one-on-one, to our level, lessons!

This coming Sunday is our final baby shower! My mom and sisters are throwing it for us and it will be for my friends and friends of our family to come and celebrate Baby Bryson! Can't wait!