Pregnancy Update: Weeks 32-35

My oh my, it’s been a while since I’ve had time to even think about this blog, let alone publish a post. When I get really busy at work, I find it very hard to open up my laptop at night to write. It just feels like way too much effort, especially at this stage in my life with the whole pregnancy + toddler thing going on. I have a few posts I’ve started and are sitting in draft form, which I will hopefully get done before this baby comes along! Luckily I’ve been pretty good at at least keeping up with these pregnancy updates. Here’s a look at the last four weeks...

Week 32 

I had a prenatal check-up this week. The last one I had was at 30 weeks, and the midwife was concerned when she did my belly measurement that I was on the small side. The measurement is taken from the uterus (which is just below the rib cage as far as I can tell) to the top of the pubic bone, and the measurement should be about 1cm for every week of pregnancy. So at 30 weeks 30cm is a normal measurement. I was measuring 28cm, which is small, but not too small - the midwife said they would just monitor this at my next appointment. This week when I went I was still measuring at 28cm, so now I’m well below “normal”. I was sent to have the baby’s heart rate monitored for about 20 minutes, and everything seemed ok. They then did a scan to check the amount of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby. They said this all seemed fine. So it may just be that I have a small baby. At this point they have asked me to come in for an extra ultrasound in two weeks, a growth scan to check that the size of the baby. 

We had this appointment two days before our planned Babymoon in the Blue Mountains, and Andy, being a bit of a worrier, thought we should cancel. But I asked the midwives and they said it should be fine, and to just take my prenatal records along in case I had to go to hospital.

While in the Blue Mountains we did a lot of walking, probably more than I should considering my lower back pain. But actually the pain wasn’t too bad, especially considering the amount of walking was probably 3-4 times more than I usually do (according to the amount of “steps” my iPhone said I did each day). I wonder if the acupuncture combined with the magnesium I’ve started taking has helped with this?

I’ll write a separate post up about our trip at some point! Below are some pictures of my belly during this week, first at Hanging Rock and second in the Blue Mountains:

Week 33

School holidays are over, so it was back to work for us this week. I only have five weeks left, although I was pretty exhausted by the end of this one. My sleeping seems to have improved this week though, which I am going to attribute to taking magnesium daily. 

We moved Ella into her “big girl bed” this week, which she loves and seems to have transitioned to quite well. We ended up getting this toddler bed from IKEA, which is nice as it has a railing and is very low to the ground. We also got a Gro Clock, which shows stars during the night, and then changes to a sun during the day. The sun comes up at a time pre-set by us, currently 7am. Ella is pretty excited when she wakes and sees the sun, as she knows she is allowed to get out of bed then. The funny thing is, she still calls for someone to come and get her. It’s like she hasn’t realised that she is able to get out of the bed herself! (Note: When she wakes before 7am and the stars are still on the clock we have had only some success in convincing her to stay in bed. If one of us stays in the room and reads a book with her she is willing to stay, but we haven’t quite got to the point where if she wakes up early she just stays in her room on her own.)

We bought this bassinet for the baby this week, although I definitely did not spend $450 on it! I of course scoured Gumtree until I could find someone selling theirs nearby, and ended up with one in great condition for a third of the price. The same person also happened to be selling her Maxi Cosi car capsule, also in amazing condition. She needs it for another month so we are going to pick it up in mid-May. I love Gumtree! And I now feel like we are getting somewhat prepared for the arrival of this baby. 

Week 34

I had my growth scan this week, and happily everything seems normal with the baby. It is measuring at about the 30th percentile, so on the smaller side, but sort of average small which is fine. When Ella was born her weight and height were in the 25th percentile, so this isn’t hugely surprising. 

I went to acupuncture again over the weekend, and mentioned that I’d had a lot of heartburn over the past week. My acupuncturist put three press tacks (they are round stickers the size of a thumb tack, with a teeny tiny needle in them) on my upper chest area which she said to leave on for a week to help with the heartburn. I was super skeptical, but I have not had any heartburn since wearing them which is amazing.

I went through all of Ella’s old clothes this weekend, and realised that we don’t have a huge amount of newborn clothes. I must have got rid of lots of those when we moved. My mom has thankfully stepped in, done some shopping, and now our baby will have some clothes to wear for the first few days of its life. I’m finding it a bit annoying to look for baby clothes when we don't know the gender of the baby, as even clothing that is “gender neutral” still seems to clearly have a boy or girl look to me! 

Week 35

Oh man, I am tired. This week has been a killer at work, starting with parent-teacher interviews on Monday night until 8pm. I don’t think I ever recovered from that. Work is as busy as ever and I feel like my boss is trying to squeeze every last day out of me! I’m so tired by about 7:30/8pm every evening, all I want to do is veg out on the sofa. I did manage to leave work a bit early on Tuesday and go for a swim after work, which made me feel a lot better. I’ve also been going to a prenatal yoga class on Wednesday nights, and no matter how tired I feel going in to this class, I feel both relaxed and refreshed when I leave. I know that no matter how tired I am, doing some activity, no matter how small, is going to make me feel much better than just totally vegging out. 

Ella was ill this week, a minor virus, so her moods have been up and down. That usually means our moods have been up and down as well! We’ve had some rough nights, and at the moment she will only let Andy comfort her when she wakes upset, so unfortunately it has been hardest on him.

2 weeks of work left, and I am REALLY hoping this baby stays put until I finish up!