All previous weekly updates and pregnancy/baby-related blog posts may be found on the Pregnancy/Baby page located at the top of this blog!
Baby Updates
Baby is almost 18 inches long and weighs nearly 5 pounds… about the size of a cantaloupe!
I know this is weird, but when I see these pictures, I feel like my belly doesn’t look nearly as large as it looks/feels in person. It’s becoming a force!
Weight Gained
22 pounds.
Workouts
I miss my workouts! Even with all the modifications I had to do before the pain in my glutes/lower back started, I LOVED working out while pregnant and exercise truly made me feel like myself and gave me such a great boost of energy and endorphins.
This week my workouts were still quite limited, but with my physical therapist’s blessing, I was able to sit on a bike (with a backrest) and get in about 30 minutes of biking at the gym five days this week. It wasn’t challenging at all and I barely worked up a sweat, but simply moving my legs felt like a blessing. I also incorporated some light strength and barre work (I just turned the volume off on my phone and followed this *free* short HIIT barre arms workout on YouTube at the gym!) and I also did certain parts of Ballet Beautiful workouts.
The Ballet Beautiful workouts can be a bit redundant (lots of counting!), so I’ll play them on silent on my laptop at home and follow along while I catch up on super-classy TV shows like The Bachelorette.
Symptoms
Bending over has started to really stink! I joke to Ryan that the “belly fights back” whenever I try to bend over to pick something up. I guess I always expected my belly to be a bit softer and roll a bit when I lean over, but man it is HARD and doesn’t move at all! Ryan told me I have a “really awesome ab” right now. My one-pack is on fire! Ha!
Some unexpected nausea rolled over from last week, but I could usually keep it at bay as long as I immediately ate something. I feel like I’m back in my first trimester when I couldn’t go more than 60 minutes without eating.
Sacroiliac pain continued full-force this week. It’s quite miserable and I feel like all those weeks of saying I felt blessed to have a relatively “easy pregnancy” are coming back to (quite literally) bite me in the butt (and lower back). My mobility is still pretty horrific and I continue to be unable to walk without a stabbing pain.
Food Aversions
None. I even ate chili this week which has been a big no go for me since my first trimester!
Food Cravings
Fruit!! (You’re totally shocked, I know.) Loving watermelon, plums and grapes.
Sushi was also a big-time favorite this week. (I stuck to pregnancy-safe California rolls.) So delicious!
Sleep
Sleep is not so great. I just cannot seem to get comfortable but reading right before bed helps a ton since I will just keep reading until I cannot keep my eyes open any longer!
Looking Forward To…
Our Childbirth Prep class on Saturday! I NEED this class. Every time I start to read about childbirth in one of my pregnancy books, I start to freak out and get knots in my stomach. I am hoping this class will help me feel more comfortable and understand more about what to expect in a way that doesn’t send me into a total panic. Let’s hope, right!?
I am also looking forward to meeting with another physical therapist on Thursday. While I absolutely love my current physical therapist (I’ve been seeing the same PT who is helping Ryan with his ACL recovery), she’s used to working with athletes and after a few sessions together without any progress, she gave me the information for another physical therapist in town who mainly works with pregnant women that I’m hoping that may be a better fit!
Any Baby/Pregnancy-Related Purchases?
You guys provided some awesome recommendations on nursing bras and tops on my post last week! Thank you! A bunch of you recommended Gilligan & O’Malley nursing tanks and bras from Target. Late last week I browsed around Target and tried a few different styles. I ended up leaving with this bra that seems like it will be both comfortable and functional. (I also have this bra, which was a baby shower gift from my mom that she bought due to the 2,000+ positive Amazon reviews.)
I’ve also started assembling my hospital bag and picking up odds and ends like travel-size face wipes (I use them daily and love them for a quick refresher), snacks, etc. Your comments on this post and on my Facebook page have been really helpful as I make my packing list!
Belly Button In Or Out?
Gradually popping out more and more with each passing week. My belly button still isn’t visible though clothing, but it’s definitely protruding a bit!
(Pic snapped on the lake at 34 weeks 6 days!)
Feeling…
My 34 week prenatal appointment obviously brought some added stress and anxiety into my life this week, but I am so grateful everything ended up okay and that I was able to see our little guy during a 3D ultrasound.
I felt mostly like myself this week but had some emotional moments, too. I don’t want to harp on the pain I’m feeling in my lower back/left glute too much because I know I sound like a broken record but there was one day this week that I began crying in the kitchen because I just felt so immobile. I was looking at roll of wrapping paper that I wanted to put away in the closet and simply walking 20 feet seemed so daunting and tears just started flowing. I felt ridiculous and frustrated and also upset with myself for feeling so emotional about something so menial, but I just couldn’t help it. A good cry actually made me feel a bit better and I’m trying really, really hard not to focus on the limitations I’m experiencing right now and instead direct my thoughts and attention to the excitement to come and the little baby I have growing inside me.
I’m also feeling more and more ready for our baby to come. Of course anxiety still comes in waves (related to both giving birth and actually being a mom), but another part of me is hoping these next few weeks pass by in a flash because I am dying to hold our little one in my arms.
My mom has graciously offered to come help us out after I deliver and this sounds fantastic to me, but I have no idea when I should have her come and for how long. Any advice on this? (Ryan gets one week of paternity leave.) My mom is the easiest person in the world and blends very well when she comes to visit, so I know having her in our house won’t add additional stress and will only help. Plus, her experience both as a nurse and a two-time mama will obviously come in handy!
I’d love to hear a little bit more about your experiences if you guys had a family member/close friend come help you out after your baby was born. How long did they stay? When did they arrive? Any insight would be appreciated! Luckily my mom is flexible and very go-with-the-flow, so I don’t really feel pressure to have it all pre-planned, but the planner in me does like to know a little bit about what I can expect!
Any Movement?
Yes! Still loving all the big rolls that seem to go across my body. Our little one always seems the most active when I lay down on the couch in the evening or hop into bed at night and first thing in the morning after I wake up.
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
I had horrible SI pain towards the end also! I’m a nurse and could hardly work the last couple weeks since it was so painful to walk. You’ll be relieved to hear mine went away immediately after delivery! My mom came to stay 2 days before my hubs went back to work. He had about 18 days off total. She stayed with us for a good month since we live two states away from any family. It was a HUGE help. She made meals, cleaned, did all the non baby things so I could focus on my baby girl. We did say that we loved having the time to ourselves first even though we struggled through a bit since she refused to sleep unless someone held her until we got a rock and play! It was such a valuable family time and so special to build that family relationship, so I recommend at least a few days of just you three!
Definitely have your mom come! I just had my fourth, and my mom has come for at least two weeks after they were each born. For my first baby (when I had no idea what what I was doing and wasn’t used to sleep deprivation), it was so nice to have her help around the house (she did EVERYTHING!), plus it was so nice to have moral support from someone who has been through it before. Even the most incredible husbands don’t understand what it’s like to give birth/nurse/etc. or the toll it takes on your body.
And for any future kids, having her around is a life saver as well, because then she can occupy the older ones!
One other little word of advice my grandma gave me when I had my first was to wear comfy/lounge clothes as long as possible, because as soon as you wear real clothes and put on makeup, people assume you have recovered and they expect things from you!
You’ll do great! It’s scary to think about now, but giving birth is the most incredible miracle and it’s totally worth all the pain once you are holding your baby in your arms!!
One of the best things I’ve done for my sacroiliac pain has been purchasing a lacrosse ball (they are harder than tennis balls) and utilizing it as a mini foam roller. I’m sure there is a YouTube video out there that can explain it better, but essentially you line the ball up on the wall near your lower back/hips/gluteus and use your own body weight to roll into the ball. As a runner, it’s helped me tremendously with pain that a normal foam roller couldn’t help with. It does take a bit of patience with getting the ball aligned (especially with a bump) but so worth it. Anytime I feel any pain arising from that area I can easily massage the pain away fairly easily. Plus it’s compact, so you can pack one in your purse or gym bag. Feel better!!
I’m only 23 but I have arthritis in my SI joints. I totally understand what it’s like to have pain there, so extreme that you can’t walk, and I have so much sympathy for you! It’s definitely not fun at all. I hope that you will get some relief soon!
I am sorry that you are in pain:(. I had many a good cry while I was pregnant. I am sure that pain is overwhelming and hope your new PT can help. I heard about the “calm” that comes over you before you have your baby and I honestly thought that was a bunch of crap. It was actually true for me. I was also worried about labor. I ended up having an emergency c section and my father in law was on call to come up and watch our dogs(2 vizslas) so he was at our house when we got home. He stayed for a few days and then my mom came about a week later. Having people stay is really helpful because your main focus will be on the baby and not what you are eating and they can help by making food, doing laundry and helping with the baby.
My parents are both retired and only live about an hour away so they were able to come out right as I went into labor. They stayed at our house while we were in the hospital and took care of our dog which was nice. It was great not to have to worry about getting our fur baby somewhere else! After we got out of the hospital, I thought that I was going to want a few days with just our little family before having my parents come back to help out, but honestly, after undergoing a long labor and emergency C-section, I was more than happy to have my parents staying with us as soon as we got home from the hospital. They ended up staying for 2 weeks and I was SO grateful to have them. They cooked for us and basically helped with everything around the house so that I could concentrate on recovering from surgery and taking care of my new baby girl. So my advice would be if you have a really good relationship with your mom, and it sounds like you do, have her stay for as long as she can! There’s no reason you need to be superwoman and try to go it alone in those early weeks! I will absolutely do the same thing whenever I have more kids. My little one is now 4 months old and my mom still comes out every Wednesday to watch her so that I can make appointments and run errands! The one thing I would NOT do, though, is have your mom book any plane tickets now for around your due date, because you just never know when the baby will actually come. Mine was a whole week late! So unless she is able to potentially hang around for a long time if you’re late, I’d have her wait until game time to come.
Don’t underestimate the power of pregnancy hormones. They can make you cry at ANYTHING!! I thought my crying was totally rational until right after delivering and then it was so out of control but I knew I was soooo happy about our little boy! It was only then that I really fully realized how much hormones play a part in your emotions (before and after delivery) and you just have to roll with it (obviously being on the look out for ppsd and ppad). And bonus tidbit that only one person warned me about; the shift in hormones immediately after delivery can make you sooooo ridiculously hot that you may sweat like you have never sweated before, turn the ac as low as it will go in the hospital room (after freezing rain fell that night when you delivered), and your husband will be freezing in his sub zero rated sleeping bag he brought to sleep in.
Btw I was really freaked out about delivery too but ended up having a great delivery!!! It isn’t all roses and puppy dogs but it’s amazing what your body is naturally designed to do. It’s biology magic how the right hormones can make your body adapt and change to deliver the baby. So I hope you can find whatever will help you during delivery. For me it was focusing on whatever stage of labor I was in at that moment (vs worrying about what it will feel like next) and an epidural which I don’t regret one bit! I actually loved my delivery experience because of it I think, I was able to focus better, rest some, and remember it afterwards!
Hi Julie! I can relate on many levels. I had stupid left sacroiliacal pain in the 3rd trimester of my pregnancy. It was difficult, but looking back, I am glad I just kept moving. Actually, my main workout was ballet beautiful, but not just the dvds, but the streaming too. Besides this, I walked a ton, really slowly, after I figured out, how to move my leg without a lot of pain. After 2 months of suffering, the pain went away. But I kept moving. You wouldn´t believe how great of a workout Ballet Beautiful is. I kept up with it, I had an easy labour, and easy, and fast delivery. I also used, while in pain kinesiology tapes. They helped.
Because I live in another country of Europe, than my mom, she came, right after giving birth, and stayed for a month. And it was lifesaver. In that foggy state of mind, with your hormones all over the place, while being sleep deprived, I needed the help, and your mom sounds just like my mom. She was great! She arrived few hours before me leaving the hospital. I didn´t wanted her to be here while labour.
Good luck Julie!
Most of the help we received from family members involved them holding the baby while we caught up on things like housework and making ourselves a meal. I would not recommend this. Instead, have the family cook for you and wash the dishes for you while you hold and stare at your precious little one. Or of course, take a nap!
My parents live in town so I saw them almost every day after I had my baby. There were pros and cons to this. I can only share my experience, but the first two weeks is not that bad. Yes you are up every 2 hours every day and night, but between feedings my baby just slept and it was easy. Now at 2 weeks things got interesting. Lots of screaming and crying (which is normal) but my husband was back at work and I was alone so that’s when having my parents’ help was super appreciated. However having my mom there when I was giving birth was important to me…especially since when the real hard labor started my husband was gone dropping off our dogs haha.
Anyways, do what feels right to you. It does take time to recover from birth and complications can arise (my first night home I had an extreme allergic reaction to my milk coming in and/or the oxytocin). Having a baby is awesome and you and Ryan will settle into a routine quickly. Mom instinct really does kick in immediately.
Sooo sweet!! LOVE these updates!! So excited for y’all!!!
Yes!! Having my mama come after my son was poor was the most amazing thing ever. I had her come the next day after I had the baby and she even stayed with me in the hospital (I had a c-section) so my husband could get a good night sleep at home. She stayed for 2 weeks which was the perfect amount of time to get help and rest. After that I was excited to figure out how to do this mother thing on my own, but I greatly missed her as soon as I dropped her off at the airport. I also had her do the cooking so I could focus on the baby and resting. It was so nice to have home cooked food when you feel so frazzled and overwhelmed. Congratulations! You are going to be a great mom. Also, don’t worry too much about the birth, the nurses are SO helpful. They really will coach you along for everything and they will teach you how to care for the infant as well the first few days. 🙂
Dang it, born not poor haha
My rec ( given that your mom sounds like a super easy “guest”, which is how my mom is!) is to have her come a few days after delivery for a week or two! You and Ryan can have a few days to establish being a fam of four, then your mom can swoop in when he goes to work and help walk the pup, clean a bit, etc. good luck! Being a mom is about a million times more amazing than I ever imagined 🙂 I joke with by hubby that I would have wanted babies right when we got married if I knew it was this good. I have an 8 month and want allll the babies already 😉
I love the Bravado “Felicity” nursing tanks from Target.
I gave birth on June 30th to a beautiful little boy. My parents been coming over almost every day for 3-5 hours to help make sure we have food, do laundry, clean up the house, and just be with me. My husband is on paternity leave for a month and he is also very appreciative of the help. I’d say have her come for atleast 2 weeks. I can’t speak for my experience beyond that because I’m not there yet!
Babies sleep a lot. If you think it will be tough to change your sleeping habits, then having your mom there will certainly help but after my husband returned back to work a week later, I was flexible and didn’t need anybody
i am really interested to see everyone’s comments! I am in a similar boat where both sets of parents live out of state and unsure what to do. On one hand, my husband has 2-3 weeks he can take and he is concerend about everyone coming right away and then boom! he goes back to work and neither moms are there to help me. My mom has to work so she is thinking it will be loads of 4 day weekends while his would probably do more of a longer 2 week stint. Then there is the other part of me that knows while Im in the hostpital Im gonna want my mom 🙂 Sigh. We still dont know what to do! Plane tix are requried for both moms so it stresses me out trying to make a decision bc once locked in, its not easy to cahnge!
My best friend just had her second and she heartily recommends getting and taking as much help as possible right away. Those first few weeks are intense and they found themselfs anxious for help almost right away. Ill be curious to see what you do and what your thoughts are afterwards. Im due in Oct and I definitely know what you mean abou just wanting to meet the little guy already! Good luck!
I live in North Carolina and my parents live in Texas. When we had our son, we just contacted my mom when I went into labor and she bought a plane ticket for the following day. She was able to meet us in the hospital which gave my husband some freedom to go home and sleep and take care of the dog (we have a wild vizsla too ha). She stayed for a week. I think that was perfect. My husband didn’t get any time off work so to have her there was a must because you are very sore and tired which makes everything much harder! Good luck, can’t wait to see pictures of the little guy soon!
You look amazing!! 🙂
I was fortunate to have my mom right down the street, I wish I used her more! I was so excited to take care of my little one that I tried to do it all myself and then eventually my tired self caved! I say have your mom there whenever you need a break!
My mom came for about a week after baby was born and it was WONDERFUL. She helped so much with keeping things clean, was doing laundry all the time. I think one day baby boy went through 10 outfits . I’d done lots of freezer meals before hand so she didn’t do much cooking but helped lots with dishes. Your hubby will be a huge helper of course but it’s just really nice to have mom there when you have questions or concerns. Totally recommend it!
I had my mom there immediately and for several weeks. It was hard for me to let go of her being there because she was so helpful. I would say at least a couple of weeks. It’s so nice to have help with household things as well as reassurance with baby stuff.
Hi Julie,
I am due August 8th with my second boy and I have had the Sacroiliac pain and what I have found to do wonders for me is the foam roller. I just lay on the ground and put the foam roller right under my hips. I just lay there letting everything stretch out and then I keep the foam roller still under my hips while lifting my legs up in in the air in a bent position and then I move my hips side to side. I have tried doing all kinds of other exercises but they only aggravated it more. Maybe this will help you as well!
I highly recommend having your Mom come as soon as the baby arrives. My Mom came down the day my son was born and was planning o spending one week with us and ended up staying for 2 weeks. I cannot imagine how we would have survived without her. She did our laundry, did the grocery shopping and cooking, cleaned for us and helped with the baby. She would watch him each night after dinner so my husband and I could sleep for a couple of hours before his 11pm feeding. It was the only 2 hours of consecutive sleep we got! I am not sure how we would have survived without her. I am sure your Mom will be a huge help and be able to set your mind at ease with her nursing background. It can be really nerve wracking the first few weeks trying to figure things out while you yourself are recovering.