34 weeks!

Size:

Our cantaloupe is now weighing about 4lbs 13oz and is still about 17inches long. I can't believe how much weight the little one is putting on every day. I can definitely feel that the room is getting squishier in there. At this point all my pregnancy apps recommended talking to the baby because he or she can hear really well now. I feel kind of bad, I haven't done that at all the poor little one isn't even going to know who I am after birth. I guess I should start talking! 

Pregnancy Symptoms:

Movement is still strong and I'm feeling it on more and more of a constant basis. I love feeling all the pushes and mini punches from inside me and I know that I'm really going to miss feeling all the movement once the baby is out. I think this week I may have had my first feelings of being ready to be done. I'm  still not feeling pain but I was just hit with the excitement of actually meeting the baby, and SOON! I can't believe that the birth is roughly only 6 weeks away.

 Ohhh I do have one symptom that is most definitely notable. I've developed some slight swelling. We had some really nice warm weather here the last couple days and I think my body is responding, my hands have gotten a bit on the puffy side and by night time my feet look just a little fat. It's not a concern at this stage, just normal pregnancy stuff and I still have my 'goal' of wearing my wedding ring till July at least so I just have to make it one more week! 

Sleeping is still fabulous with the slight exception that our room is so hot that I just lie on top of the covers, I don't know what I'm going to do when it gets even hotter as there is only a certain amount one can undress to... bring on the fans! 

Life Happenings:

I had another midwife appointment this week. This one was actually a home visit, it was really nice, I didn't even have to leave my house! At this appointment we talked a lot about procedures that we may or may not want done at the birth and it really struck me just how close we really are. I just can't believe that we're at 34 weeks! One more appointment and then we move to WEEKLY ones! Baby is still head down (WOOHOO) and my uterus is growing at EXACTLY the proper rate (YAY) so she was quite pleased. 

We have now attended 2 birth classes and I'm really liking all that we're learning. I really feel like this is helping us prepare for what's to come and there is so much more to learn in the weeks to come. Last week for about half an hour of the class I got to lie down with pillows and try to sleep while Ben massaged me- no complaints here! 

This past week I also started a prenatal yoga class. This is something that I've been interested in for about 4 months and just haven't taken the time to research a class to go to, so when another pregnant friend suggested I come with her to the class she's going to I decided to take her up on it. Wow does it feel good! I felt a little stiff the day after but man did those stretches just make me feel like I was the strongest woman in the world after! I also couldn't believe how well I've been sleeping since the first class. I wasn't even having problems before with sleep but I have been sleeping SOOO soundly since. 

This week I really kicked up my reading as well. I"m almost through this book and I have a couple more that I want to make sure I an get through in the next couple weeks. I've been blown away at how great Ina May's book is and although there is the odd thing that she says that I would disagree with, she is incredibly wise and has A LOT of experience to back up all that she says. 

So I am now at 3 weeks left of work! That's 99 massages and 12 shifts! At this point I'm just getting really excited to be done. I still enjoy going to work but the thought of having all day to get things done and to prepare is just exhilarating to me! There is one thing about my job that I'm going to miss though, and that is the air conditioning (our house does not have this luxury). If I can work up the courage to wear a bathing suit I may just end up living at the outdoor pools for the last month...

Weekly Highlight:

A friend from college came into town this weekend and called me up for a visit. It was SOOO nice to see her again since it had been at least 4 months. We sat outside and visited for 3 hours and although I now have a wicked burn, it was so worth it to catch up and visit. I love seeing old friends! 

The 34 week bump. Believe me it is growing by the day! 

And because I like to add one of my current baby, here's Rose on her way from the Vet, full of treats and happy! 

26 Weeks!

Size:

Our cucumber is measuring around 14 inches and almost 2 pounds!!! I sure have felt a pretty massive growth spurt in the last week or so. I haven't worked up the courage to actually weigh myself but boy is this belly starting to have some weight to it! I can't believe the countdown to this little one's due date is under 100 days! It doesn't mean much to me seeing as I have a feeling our due date is sure to come and go with no sign of any baby yet, but it's still crazy to think that the birth is at least close to 100 days away!

Pregnancy Symptoms:

Well there are quite a few of these creeping up here and there now. I have gotten a liquid iron supplement that tastes like you're drinking a frying pan and boy is it NASTY, but hopefully it will do the trick, I'm looking forward to seeing how my numbers improve after the next test! 

Blood pressure seems to be staying low, usually hovering around 100/60, so I'm not concerned there at all anymore. I've been taking it every morning and usually one other time during the day and it never changes much, I suppose that will be something to watch out for a little later on. 

Yesterday I did have a bit of a freaky incident, I was at work and all of a sudden I felt really strange. I broke into a cold sweat, I started seeing spots, I felt like I was about to throw up and I was extremely dizzy. I ended up actually excusing myself from the massage and going to lie down, after checking my blood sugar-sure enough it was low, I got some food in me and slowly but surely I started feeling better. I'm glad everything turned out fine but it gave Ben and I a bit of a scare. 

Friday I go for my blood glucose tolerance test where they check for gestational diabetes. I'm pretty concerned that I'll be within the diabetic range. I've been checking my blood sugars and they seem to be a little high in the mornings so we'll see how I do at the test. I may have to go on a pretty restrictive diet. 

Other than some minor discomfort due to gaining a gut I feel like I'm doing just peachy! Pregnancy is pretty amazing!  I'm getting pretty pumped to see how things change in the coming weeks! 

Life Happenings:

Well even though pregnancy is treating me fine, my tooth sure hasn't! After my 2nd root canal 2 Thursdays ago I developed an infection and was on antibiotics that seemed to take FOREVER to kick in. My tooth hurt like crazy and since I couldn't take much for the pain it was a pretty uncomfortable week. It's finally just now getting easier to chew and I would say the discomfort is relatively minor. 

On another note, we are registered and signed up for birth classes! We will be starting the class in June and it will run once a week for 12 weeks or until I give birth. Hopefully I give birth before the 12 weeks are up, seeing as that would put us well over 2 weeks past the due date. I'm really excited for Ben to become a little more immersed in birth related stuff. We are planning a pretty natural birth which takes a lot of preparing and learning how to deal with what we're going to be experiencing. I'm really looking forward to starting preparation for what is going to be a pretty intense experience for both of us I imagine. 

Weekly Highlight:

Well this isn't really a one time thing, but this week we've been living at my parents. It's been SOO nice having meals made and to not have to worry about anything house related. I get up and breakfast is ready for me! Not to mention we don't have to worry about getting groceries! We will be living here till the end of May so I'm certain it will get old after a while, but for now it's been REALLY nice. 

The stack of books that I'm reading though. A few of them I've read before but it's definitely not a bad idea to read them again, in my opinion. That top one is for Ben, I told him he had to read it cover to cover...I guess we'll see how that goes.

A pic of my 26 week belly. I know it's not a good one but it's the best I have at the moment. I'll have to take some better ones for 27 weeks!

Bossypants.

I have a new book to add to my book club!

Tina Fey has just come out with a book and it is fabulous!

I picked up Bossypants about a week ago and it's quite funny. If you enjoy Tina Fey's quirky sense of humour in 30 Rock or SNL I guarantee you'll enjoy this read.

Don't think twice it's alright

Once again I've left things wayyy too long, it's not that I've been too busy, or bored, I've thought about blogging lots in the past few weeks but just haven't gotten around to doing it...

These past few weeks I've really been trying to put in time at the gym. It sure is frustrating to not see the results that you want. I have learned that I'm quite possibly the most impatient person that I know. As of today it is 3 weeks since we started at Mecca Fitness and somehow I secretly was expecting to reach all my goals by now....silly Sov....It took months to get to the state that I'm in, I don't know how I expected to miraculously change shape in a matter of days. Anyways enough about the gym I'm annoying myself just talking about it.

So if you had read this post you would know about my reading list for the year. I have updates! So I finished The Birth House, it continued to be one of my favourite reads right till the end. It's not an overly 'feel good' type of book I realized as I was pretty disturbed by some of the things that I read, but we can't always read books that make us feel good. Speaking of 'feel good' books, I also finished Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk which was one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. Not only was it really easy to read (it only took about 2 1/2 hours to read) but now whenever I think about it I'm reminded of lying by a pool in Arizona reading it in the sun. I've changed my mind about Tess of the Durbervilles, I'm not going to read it, there's a reason I've had the book for 4 years and have tried to start it about 5 times and have never gotten past the first chapter. I guess I'm going to have to post a revised reading list seeing as I'm pretty much done the one that I had made.

On a totally different note, yesterday was Ben's 22nd birthday! We are finally the same age! I hate the three months of the year when I'm a year older, so it's nice to be the same age. I'll save his 'Birthday Post' for later...

Anyways, this was quite a mishmash of a post but it's what was on my mind.

Solveig's Personal Book Club

So these are the books that I've compiled so far for my reading goals for 2011, I know I'm not aiming overly high at the moment but I'll be pretty happy if get these done by summer.

The Birth House- by Ami McKay

This is the book that I'm probably most excited about, I'm probably halfway through and I'm enjoying it immensely. The story is set in Nova Scotia during the time of the First World War. It explores all aspects of the miracle of childbirth from the eyes of a girl who stumbles upon midwifery. So far I'm really grabbed by the story line, at this point I would recommend it to anyone. Every page is a joy to read!

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk- by David Sedaris

This book I haven't actually started yet, however I'm really excited to get to it! I have read some other books by David Sedaris and his writing is really funny, if at times a bit off colour. The difference with this book as opposed to his others is that this one is a collection of short stories featuring animals where as the others I've read were short essays pertaining to things in Sedaris' own life. I guess we'll see!

Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering- by Dr. Sarah J. Buckley

So in doula class we were told that this book would be a good read and it almost always seems that whenever I'm doing some birthing research this book is recommended. I have yet to pick up the book, but once I do I'll most definitely fill ya'll in on what I learn. A cool fact, the author Sarah Buckley is an MD who had all four of children at home. I'm sure I'll learn a lot. I'd like to have this one read by March as I have my first birth as a doula then!

Tess Of The Durbervilles- by Thomas Hardy

I've had this one lying around for at least 4 years and still haven't gotten past the first chapter, now I just want to finish is out of principle!

Well those seem to be the only ones that I can think of at the moment. I'm open for suggestions. I'm just really needing to get back into the habit of reading again because I really do love it.