Just in case you’re interested in catching up on baby #3 updates so far, here are all of my baby/pregnancy-related posts in one place:
- Pregnancy Announcement: Our Family is Growing!
- Baby #3: All the Details (So Far)
- 27 Weeks with Baby #3
A whopping three posts! Ha! I must admit, this pregnancy has felt like a complete whirlwind and I’m not sure if this is due to the fact that I have two energetic kiddos to look after as our third baby grows in my belly but I have to think that’s a BIG part of it! Anyway, I really do hope to do a better job of sharing the end of my pregnancy on the blog and am kicking things off with a recap of the last three weeks of my pregnancy below.
Also, I hope this goes without saying at this point in this space, but please take time away from my blog right now if reading about pregnancy causes you any pain. I get it completely and am sending you love.
PBF Baby #3: Weeks 28-30
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28 Weeks Pregnant
My 28th week of pregnancy was a smooth one! It kicked off with a prenatal appointment (which was technically at the very end of my 27th week) and this appointment also included my glucose screening. The appointment went well, though when my doctor asked me about feeling our baby’s movements, I shared that I still wasn’t feeling too much. I previously learned that I have an anterior placenta so this is to be expected but when I told my doctor there was still no way I could calculate kick counts at this point, she recommended a non-stress test just to make sure our baby’s heart rate looked good and consistent over a 20-minute time period.
This made me a little anxious for obvious reasons but ended up being a wonderful blessing because everything looked great and “as it should” at this point in my pregnancy. It’s just crazy to me how much an anterior placenta impacts the movement I’m feeling because during the non-stress test, I could hear big movements but barely felt a thing!
As for how I am feeling right now, I’m definitely feeling more and more pregnant by the day! My belly feels like a force and by the end of the day, it feels like it’s stretched to the max and sometimes uncomfortably big/full which I know is comical since I still have a lot of growing to do!
My workout motivation this week has been L-O-W but thankfully I am still loving just being outside and staying active with the boys so I feel like while my workouts haven’t been overly consistent, I have been active. That’ll do for me! In terms of food, my motivation to cook anything is also low right now but easy-to-make meals like oatmeal, sandwiches, grain bowls and smoothies are getting the job done. Oh and I feel like I’m eating my bodyweight in fruit every day — we’re talking whole bags of grapes in one day and endless amounts of watermelon. Fruit is my BFF.
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29 Weeks
My 29th week of pregnancy was rather uneventful but in a good way! I had another prenatal appointment and once again got to hear our little one’s heartbeat. During this appointment, I came to my doctor with some questions about delivering at our hospital in the middle of a pandemic and learned that I will have to be tested for COVID-19 upon my arrival and only permitted to have Ryan in the hospital room with me — no other visitors will be allowed during our stay. I will also be switching to some virtual appointments versus coming into the office, assuming I feel regular movement from our baby and everything else feels normal.
Speaking of baby movement, toward the end of my 29th week of pregnancy I began to feel a lot more movement from our little one. It’s still not constant nor is it all day every day but at least movements are daily and becoming increasingly obvious. It does a lot to ease my anxiety and I love feeling those sweet baby rolls! (This was also the first week Chase felt our baby move and it was so, so awesome. He was so excited!)
During my prenatal appointment, I also stepped on the scale and learned that my weight is within a couple of pounds of the weight I was when I delivered Chase! I guess the fact that I’ve been feeling much larger much earlier this pregnancy wasn’t all in my head! My doctor wasn’t concerned since my weight gain is still within the normal range at this time but I’m now 28 pounds up from my pre-pregnancy weight and definitely feeling large all over. During all of my pregnancies, I feel like I’m pregnant in my arms, legs, butt and hips, too, and that’s certainly the case this time as well. While I admittedly struggle some days with feeling rather big and less-than-beautiful, I fully believe my body is gaining the weight it needs to gain and doing exactly what it needs to do to carry a healthy baby right now. I have a sense of peace and gratitude over the changes my body goes through during pregnancy and as long as my doctor isn’t worried about my weight gain, I am not either.
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30 Weeks
This was the week of the pregnancy sigh! Phewwww. I’m feeling the weight of my belly more and more and am very aware of the space our little one is taking up in there. It seems to be leading to constant sighing as a way to catch my breath. I feel like I’m sighing so much right now that I had to tell Ryan not to take my sighing as some kind of passive aggressive response to whatever he’s saying or doing. I’m just trying to comfortably breathe!
While I feel good when I’m standing, walking or lying down, sitting on a plush couch is oddly not the most comfortable thing because it can make me feel squished. Apparently this little one needs lots of room to feel comfy!
As far as food this week, I cannot stop eating big bowls of oatmeal. (Can you tell this was the inspiration behind Monday’s 10 Healthy Oatmeal Recipes blog post?) I feel almost apathetic about food right now and nothing really sounds that good to me. I just want bland, filling, carby foods and oatmeal is my go-to right now. I load up a big bowl with chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds and raisins and go to town. Oh and I also am oddly obsessed with Hawaiian sweet rolls, aka doughy pillows of happiness. My appetite is raging in the morning and I swear some days I feel like I eat non-stop from 6 a.m. to noon but then I am never really that excited about dinner. My appetite seems to taper off at the end of every day but that’s been a theme for me this entire pregnancy.
In terms of other symptoms, I’m actually feeling relatively normal outside of obvious physical changes and food preferences. I feel rather exhausted at the end of every day and often want to curl up in bed by 8 p.m. I am also experiencing semi-regular calf and foot cramps but other than that, I’m feeling good! I hope I’m saying similar things in another three weeks when I hope to check in and share another pregnancy update with you guys again!
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I gained 37 pounds with my first pregnancy which I didn’t expect! You aren’t alone with your weight and my doctor wasn’t concerned either! Although mine was mostly belly, thighs and boobs-the huge pregnancy boobs were the worst! I don’t miss that! I’m confused about the part with Ryan being allowed for the delivery and after delivery-isn’t that the entire time? Do they mean you have to labor alone and only have him in the room when you start pushing?
Oooh sorry! That is confusing! He’s allowed the whole time — just no other visitors & the boys cannot come to the hospital.
Julie you look great!!! I love your pregnancy posts. I’m 24 weeks with my 2nd boy and I like to gauge what’s ahead by your posts since you’re a bit ahead of me 🙂 I’m feeling big all over, but I also think summer doesn’t help with that at all. I was wondering where do you get your maternity workout shorts? I’m not able to find many that are available.
congrats to you!! two boys = the BEST kind of chaos!! i’m so excited for you!!!! <3 and to answer your questions, i actually recently got a pair of movemama apparel maternity shorts and they're the BEST. they have a panel for over my belly which makes them SO comfy, especially since so many of my pre-pregnancy shorts dig into my sides and look a little ridiculous at this point. here's the pair i have: https://bit.ly/2DijoWd (full disclosure, they were sent to me to try for free but i truly LOVE them! the woman who owns the small company is a local mom here in the charlotte area and so sweet!)
Thank you so much for linking those! I just saw a small became available so I’ll snatch those up right away. All of my pre-pregnancy workout shorts also dig into my sides and just don’t cover my belly at all at this point. Thanks again!!!
Julie, I received the shorts this week and they’re amazing! Thanks so much for the recommendation 🙂 I also left them a review on Amazon.
You look fantastic, Julie! I love these updates and can’t wait for our introduction to your newest member of the family. Best wishes for an easy rest of your pregnancy.
You look so cute!! I definitely gained weight FASTER with my second baby than my first, but eventually leveled out around the same. I think I just carried the weight differently. Of course, I started out 10 lbs heavier from the get go sooooo haha! I’m loving following your third pregnancy journey – giving me baby fever! <3
thanks so much, sarah!! yes, i noticed i’ve gained faster with each pregnancy as well — i think our bodies go into “go-mode” much quicker with each baby!
Love the updates. You look awesome! It’s funny, reading this is exactly like hearing myself talk about my symptoms (right down to the food, breathing, and tiredness parts). Although, I am impressed, I’m not that big (first baby, I’m tall, plus my core is tight apparently) and I still feel all of it, so you are a rockstar! I may have mentioned it before, but I have an anterior placenta too and I can honestly say that, from here on out, you’ll probably feel a lot more. I’m at 36 weeks tomorrow and for the past 5-6 weeks, it looks like my belly is doing the wave at various times of the day haha!! Glad you’re otherwise feeling good!!
that makes me excited to hear!! movement seems to increase every day and i loooove it. big congrats to you — you’re so, so close!!!!
Aw thank you! Very excited and nervous 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’ve been following your blog for years and am pregnant too! It’s also fun to me how similar our pregnancies are: I am one week ahead, have an anterior placenta too, and my breath-catching sighs are definitely commonly misinterpreted by my husband LOL. Wishing you the best!
i seriously sigh all day long!! haha! at least it doesn’t come along with eye rolls — haha!
You look so great! So excited for you! I just learned last week that there are throat and nose covid tests in addition to the one publicized in the news. SO glad Ryan can be with you at the hospital. I have been craving those sweet hawaiian rolls and I am not pregnant! I love them with ham, swiss cheese, and chickfila sauce…or that recipe online with the glaze with poppy seeds, margarine, onion flakes, etc. It’s sooo good!
oh yessss i know that recipe and it is the BEST!! my mom would always make them for parties. so good!
I think some ladies with their ‘feeling very pregnant’ are hilarious. I’m more like Sadie….I don’t realize it until I can’t fit through something because I forgot how big my belly is getting! Ha! You look amazing, by the way! I’m so glad things are going well for you and your little one. It’s so exciting! I’m at 37 weeks right now with my first! I’m getting a little nervous, but everything is going to go just fine. 🙂
I love the updates 🙂 I won’t be having more babies so I still like reading preg updates from other people! I had an anterior placenta with my daughter and felt so much movement but I know that’s not typical. I had nothing to compare it to so I didn’t know what the other felt like (I had two miscarriages before my daughter and never made it to feeling kicks). I remember thinking if this is what an anterior placenta feels like with this babe, I can’t imagine getting any sleep if I had a typical placenta! And turns out she has been super active since she was born too! Have a great week Julie!
I so feel you on the sighing. I’m 30 weeks and find myself doing that and groaning a lot lol. Bending over to pick something up is the hardest. I feel like my eyes are gonna pop out of my head. Lol. Also I am a nurse and have to wear a mask all day at work and that’s almost impossible! So hot! Hang in there mama! We are strong!
It’s such an exciting time!! You look wonderful and are doing a great job of caring for yourself. Looking forward to “meeting” the baby and seeing if they are a boy or a girl!
You look fantastic Julie. Such an exciting time for you and your family. During both my pregnancies I had terrible leg cramps (I would wake up crying from the pain) and my doctor recommended increasing my potassium by eating 1-2 bananas a day plus extra fluids. It helped a lot.