Pregnancy notes from Tami Final week Whew! Only one more long day to go! And the days have been soooooo long! And I've been really uncomfortable since about Sunday. Sleeping got worse, the belly totally dropped (I can tell because now when I sit down I can actually feel the entire bottom of my belly resting on my upper thighs). I have a strange tightenning feeling going on all around my belly, but the baby still moves quite a bit. Kyle has been really good about dealing with Mommy not wanting to move around too much. It sure is going to be different for him when the baby comes home! Well, the next update you read should be from Jeff announcing the big news! Thanks everyone for all your concern and support these last couple of weeks. It's meant a lot to all of us! 37th week If Kyle was going to be a soccer player because of all this kicking, then this one is going to be a professional kickboxer! Or maybe a baker, since I just spent an hour trying to fall asleep while he/she just kneaded and kneaded the sides of my belly as though it were dough. This part of the pregnancy is definitely not fun. I finally forced myself to slow down and take it easy after a long busy weekend of aches and pains, mostly because I think I was doing too much. I felt so much better today after making a point of taking it easy the last few days, so I think I'll stay on the easy street path until next Friday. 36th week Okay, I'm so done with being pregnant. Totally ready to get the baby out and into the world. Jeff has been hustling to get the final touches into place - only two more weeks! We rearranged the furniture in Kyle's room to accommodate the crib, although the baby will spend his/her nights in our room the first couple of months. I feel pretty full and bloated most of the time, and very tired due to not sleeping well (writing this at nearly midnight once again!). But looking back I feel very lucky since most of my discomforts have been all the pretty minor stuff. The groin pains were much easier this time around, no swollen limbs, no gestational diabetes or dietary restrictions, etc. I was also so sure that I might actually go into labor earlier than our scheduled c-section date, but now I'm not so sure since I'm still really short of breath and have that stuffed up under the ribs feeling which are prettysure signs that the baby hasn't even dropped yet. Oh well, so much for Mother knows all! Oh yeah, and if it's interesting to anyone, I had a dream a few nights ago that the baby was born and it was a boy! I do still feel like it's a girl, but I did dream with Kyle that he was going to be a boy, and you can see how that turned out... 35th week? No way! Wow, it feels like there is so little time left to get ready for the baby! Everything takes me twice as long, and I'm exhausted most of the time. Plus, I'm starting not to sleep well. In fact, I'm writing this tonight at midnight because I couldn't stand to be lying wide awake in bed. And I know I harp on this, but this little baby sure does press and push and kick and roll and somersault around inside me 'til I can barely stand it. It's actually painful sometimes. I definitely don't remember this with Kyle. I know I had some bad sessions and a few painful kicks every once and a while, but this is like a daily basis. In fact, it is a more notable day if I DON'T have a punching session that causes me to close my eyes, clutch my belly and wince as this baby digs in to me. But I suppose it will be out soon and causing me all other sorts of grief! :o) Just kidding, of course! I hope…. (cross my fingers) 33rd week: Okay, the groin pains have been mellow this week, so it's nice that they aren't as bad this time around (knock on wood). But holy cow, this baby is kicking up a storm. I swear it feels like he/she is having convulsions inside me. People keep saying, does the baby kick or roll? This baby is doing triple somersaults. This baby is doing choreographed hip hop routines. Other than the extensive movement, though, I feel pretty good. Although I'm not really exercising at all, I still do most of the household chores and Kyle keeps me pretty busy, so I think I've finally decided that I'm more active than I thought. Cardiovascularly I'm going to have a lot of catch up to do after the baby is born, but I'm really not feeling too bad overall. 31st week: Okay, I'm now definitely approaching the tail end of my pregnancy. I can tell because the nice mellow time I've been having is slowly fading off. Suddenly, I just feel huge all the time. It's getting more difficult to walk around and doing simple chores is much more tiring. Little things like putting my socks on and cutting my own toenails require gymnastics or Jeff's help. Also, the little uncomfortable things are starting - my back is starting to ache a little more, picking up Kyle has to be done slowly and carefully, and just turning from one side to another takes effort. And the groin pains are starting, which I surely remember from my first pregnancy. Yeah, these are fun. I can be walking across the room, and suddenly it feels like someone has stabbed a red hot knitting needle up my groin. It literally only lasts for one second, but it is so sudden it just takes my breath away. So if you see me spasm uncontrollably and then immediately straighten up and walk away, I'm okay. Just a groin pain. Hated them the first time around, and hate 'em this time, too! Jeff felt a great kicking session last night. The baby was sort of just pressing out on my belly with a body part and then holding it in place. Jeff could feel around the outside of it trying to figure out what part it was. Also, the baby started hiccuping the last couple of days which at first was cute, but then I remember how annoying hiccups are if you're trying to nap or sleep. It's funny, I remember the first time around I was so fascinated by every little thing, but this second time I feel more annoyed with the little things that are uncomfortable. 27th week: Okay, this baby is really kicking a LOT! Sometimes, I'm pretty convinced that he/she is trying to just kick a hole right through the side of my stomach to join the outside world early! Although my sister mentioned that her pregnant friend was saying the same thing, and she is only 10 days earlier along than I am. Maybe all babies kick this much at 6 monhs - who knows?! I'm pretty sure that I'm going to give this baby a sweet tooth because I have been cramming down all sorts of holiday cookies, chocolate and other goodies like a mad woman. I just can't seem to get the cravings out of my mind, especially in the afternoon just after lunch. It's like my hunger feelings won't go away no matter how much I eat unless I finish off with a cookie or something. Aaaarrggh! 26th Week: Okay, I'm a month behind, I know! This month has been really good, but also really busy. I'm not very uncomfortable, my stomach isn't overly big yet and there's definitely no more of the unpleasant side effects of pregnancy (nausea, headaches, etc.). I feel like the baby is kicking a lot, but maybe I'm just noticing it more since babies tend to kick when a person is sitting still for a while which I don't get to do very often with Kyle running around! When I finally settle down for a nap or at bedtime, the baby will kick off and on for 10 - 45 minutes, which really crimps my hours of sleep. And she kicks hard sometimes - hard enough to make me jump! Also, I'm not sure anymore about the sex of the baby. I felt for so long that it was a boy becuase of the hard and early kicking, the way I'm carrying out in front instead of the sides and other "old wives tales" about how to know what you've got. Plus, I just kind of pictured myself with two boys. People often remark that I usually refer to the baby as "he". But now, all of a sudden I feel like it is probably a girl. I noticed that I suddenly just started using "she" all the time for the last 10 days or so. It's strange to me because I don't have any reason to think that it is a girl at all, since all the signs point to a boy. So I have no idea anymore, just a weird sixth sense and I'd prefer basing my guess on something a little more concrete! Well, as concrete as an old wive's tale, anyway! Ha, ha! ;o) 22nd Week: Okay, so where is my smooth sailing? Aren't the 5th, 6h, and 7th months supposed to be so easy? I feel so huge! My belly has actually just started getting in the way of things - putting on shoes, cutting toenails, etc. It's not big enough that I can't do these things anymore, but suddenly there is this bulky belly getting in the way of things. I still get nauseas quite a bit and my stomach and chest area feel very tight all the time. It seems like the baby is nudging and poking all the time. All of this has convinced me these last few days that this baby is going to be early! He feels so huge already and I think he is impatient to get out! (Don't forget that this "he" stuff is just my guess…we're not finding out the sex of the baby 'til it is born!) 20th week: Halfway there! With Kyle's pregnancy, this was a time of smooth sailing. Although I'm feeling much better I still get slightly nauseaus every day, but only for an hour or so. I also feel so much more tired than I remember the first time, but Kyle is going through another discipline problem stage so he just may be wearing me out mentally as well as physically these days. Baby Wrigley is very active and rolls and pokes all the time, and I'm pretty convinced that it is going to be a boy. 18th week: Well, after my rave review of feeling better I had quite a down week. Admittedly, it wasn't as constant as it has been, but it certainly lasted more than half the day and, as usual, was particularly bad at night. On the bright side, yesterday was very nice and mellow. And the best part of all is that I'm beginning to feel the baby move! In fact, last night the three of us were all lying on our bed upstairs watching a few minutes of T.V., and the baby was being really active by poking me every couple of minutes. I rested my hand on my belly and realized that he was poking 'out'. So I had Jeff put his hand on my belly and sure enough after a few minutes, he poked out at Daddy! I knew he felt it, 'cuz he cried, "Whoa!" all of a sudden, and was so happy he was able to feel it so early in the pregnancy. 17th week: Wow, I am feeling great! Last Friday was a breakthrough day. I felt pretty good that whole day and it's been that way ever since. Although I occasionally get some of my first trimester symptoms, it's just once in a while and I have long stretches of the day where I feel normal. I still wake up a lot at night but I fall back to sleep pretty easily, thank goodness. It's helped to eat smaller meals all day, too. I eat about 6 times a day, roughly every 3 hours which is kind of weird, but helps me avoid that uncomfortable 'stuffed' feeling. 15th week: Okay, it's been a while since I posted. I wasn't feeling well enough to write anything during week 12. Then, I was in Idaho for my 13 and 14 week updates. But really, it was just three weeks of the same - headaches, ultra tired, and nausea throughout the day - and me just more irritable since I was getting really tired of it. Idaho gave me a nice long break from the hassles of everyday chores and such. I got to rest and take lots of naps so I came back pretty physically revived. All this week my nausea seemed to be slipping away little by little. Instead of feeling it all day, I have little 30 minute (or so) pockets where I don't feel it. I thought it would be over by this weekend, but now I think it might be another week before it's really gone. The evening is always the worst. I'm getting a good size belly now, so I guess Jeff and I will have to start taking pictues. 11th Week: The most important thing about being at 11 weeks is that I am 1 week closer to getting out of the first trimester. I am officially tired of being nauseus and tired all of the time. On top of that I got a cold yesterday morning, and it looks like it also kicked in for Kyle late last night as well. Thank goodness for being at home during the day and having naptime! :o) And what is the deal with acne during pregnancy? I remember having a little while carrying Kyle, but I am breaking out all over. I feel like I'm 13 again - I've got acne, my skin is all sallow looking, and my hair is getting all thick and coarse and dry. I guess it's just all the hormones raging inside me. Every sappy commercial brings tears to my eyes! I don't remember being so emotional the first time around, but you'd probably have to ask Jeff, since I'm sure he'd remember! And just a note here on Jeff - he's been so wonderful! He just keeps telling me I should rest and not worry about anything, and then he picks up any slack from the day - he does the chores I don't finish, he spends extra time with Kyle so I can lie down for a few minutes, etc. He really has been such an incredibly perfect partner through all of this. 10th week: Okay, 10 weeks. So these last two weeks have been more of the same - nausea and headaches. Last week seemed like the worst week, but I think I just finally got tired of feeling sick so much of the time. Plus, on Monday I got a Migraine. It was a really small one, but the second within 5 weeks, so that is NOT good! Now, whenver I feel any kind of pain or pressure in my head I'm paranoid that I'm getting a migraine. I really can't wait for this first 3 months to be over, and I really hope I don't feel this way on our trip at the end of the month. 8th week: Well, here I am at 2 months, and I would like to start the updates again. I am not reading any of my old updates because at the end of the pregnancy I want to be able to compare them to see how similar (or not similar) my two pregnancies are, and I don't want to be reminded of anything I wrote down the first time. So far, I have had two symptoms that I do remember from the first pregancy - tiredness and slight nausea. Again, I feel lucky that I don't actually get sick, but rather, I feely slightly nauseous off and on for most of the day. It definitely seems less intense than the first time around, but of course maybe I'm just more tolerant this time because I've been through it before. The only thing that is new are headaches. The first week I realized I was pregnant I had a major migraine, and since then I have had very minor headaches off and on throughout the day about 2 - 3 times per week. I am definitely showing much earlier, too! I don't think I showed with Kyle until 2 1/2 - 3 months, but I was showing a little by 6 weeks this time. As my 9 year old niece, Melissa, put it when she saw me in my bathing suit yesterday - "Wow, Aunt Tami, you're stomach is getting fatter every week!" Kyle's Page Tami's 1st Pregnancy