Third Trimester

Since I am a little behind on my blogging, I will just compile my third trimester in one blog post.

Overall, I had a wonderful pregnancy.  I felt great and pretty well kept my energy levels and health all the way through.  It was challenging sometimes though caring for a 2 year old (carrying, bathing, dressing, hauling) with my big ole pregnant belly :) 

The only "complication" so to say was when I was 33 weeks.  I had laid down for a nap while NK was napping and when I woke up my back hurt. I figured it was the way I slept and that maybe a walk would kinda "work the kinks out."  I started walking with my friend Amanda at her house.  About half way through the walk I started cramping and would feel sharp pangs of pressure "down there."  My cramps were not intense like contractions at all, very mild with no rhythm or pattern at all.  However, I called my OB just to be safe and they wanted me to come on in.

They hooked me up to the monitor and luckily I was not having contractions.  I also hadn't dilated or thinned any but his head was already "engaged" and my cervix was posterior so they put me on bedrest for a week just to be safe.

Let me just say that bedrest with a two year old was IMPOSSIBLE.  I tried to do as little as possible though and rest (or at least stay off my feet as much as I could).  I still continued to hurt some in my back and feel lots of pressure, sometimes it felt like I could just sneeze and he would pop out (not that easy mind you!) and it remained that way until the end!  My cervix never changed though, not until the last couple weeks then it only changed slightly.

I started back walking after they released me from bed rest and started back working 2 days a week.  I probably could have worked 3 days, but I didn't want to push it and by this point tending to Norah Kate was getting harder.

When I turned 37 weeks, I began exercising again... mainly just doing 30 minutes on the elliptical.  I was still feeling lots of pressure and started having frequent Braxton Hicks that would often get regular.  I was only 1 cm dilated and not making much progress.

I had an ultrasound at 36 weeks and Little Man was measuring perfectly!  They guessed his weight at 6lbs 1oz then.  I had another ultrasound at 38 weeks and 5 days, the Tuesday before going to the hospital and they guessed his weight 7lbs 4 oz.  Again, measuring perfectly, but smaller than Miss Norah Kate :)

34 Weeks

 

36 weeks


37 weeks!

I may or may not have laid out just a few days before being induced!



 

38 weeks!

 

 A couple weeks before being induced and right up to being admitted to the hospital I was having a lot of anxiety.  It wasn't that I was having doubts or regrets, mainly I was just very nervous about delivery and having another newborn in the house.  I started worrying about my capability to be a mother to TWO precious blessings.  I worried about Norah Kate and ensuring that she was still a priority and that she didn't feel left out.  Needless to say, up until the day I was induced I was pretty well a nervous wreck those last few days!

39 weeks!  On the way to the hospital to meet Baby Grant!

I went in to be induced Wednesday March 19 (really March 20 @ midnight) and they started the induction process!

23 Weeks

I can not believe I am over half way through this pregnancy!  It is really scary/exciting/overwhelming!

I am so excited about having another baby, but naturally I worry about how NK will handle having another baby in her mama's lap.

BabyBoy is moving around like crazy.  He still don't seem to be as active as what Norah Kate was though, so maybe he will be more laid back :)

Our last ultrasound was the anatomy ultrasound and I was 21 weeks.  They estimated his weight at 12 ounces and he is most definitely still a boy!  He was measuring 20 weeks and 2 days which they said is normal.

My cravings still include fruit and cottage cheese, but also dark chocolate, hot chocolate, Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist, French toast, eggs, and bacon.

I feel great!  This chiropractor really helped my hip and back.  I have joined the Y because running is more difficult so I am mostly doing the elliptical, stationary bike, squats and lunges (without weights).  I still run some, but it just depends on how bad he is jumping on my bladder as to how well it goes.  So far I have gained 12 pounds which about right on target where I was at this point with Norah Kate :)

I am not near as tired or as moody as what I was the first trimester.

The only negative thing has been pee-ing on myself when I cough, sneeze, or laugh with a full bladder!!  I have been doing Kegel's like crazy but they aren't helping.  I can only imagine how bad it will be with future pregnancies!

I am starting to feel Braxton Hicks more and more... mostly when I work and I think it is because I don't drink enough water (yes, please, slap my pregnant hand... Drinking water is the biggest challenge!)

So far I have done nothing yet to prepare for this baby!  It is so different than with Norah Kate. By this point with Norah Kate I had a whole room full of decorations for her nursery, clothes, etc.  I also had her nursery mentally decorated in my mind and probably would have had her room finished had we been in our house.  I have bought BabyBoy a few outfits, a thing of bottles, pacis, and a few packs of diapers and wipes.  I know now that a newborn requires a lot less "stuff."  We will be just fine with a bassinet or Pack and Play in our room, a few sleepers, and some wipes and diapers! 

My next appointment is December 11 and I have my glucose test (yuck!).  I will 25 weeks then!  Amazing!  It is crazy to think about because then I will have one more appointment before it goes to every two-week appointments which will then make my pregnancy fly by even faster!

Homemade Baby Food

Since my piglet is now eating solid foods twice a day, I decided to make my own purees for her.  It has been super easy, fun, and very inexpensive.  One sweet potato makes about 5 servings for her and she ate off of one banana for 3 days.

Fresh Fruits & Veggies

I found this website, Wholesome Baby Food, which is AMAZING!  It has recipes, step by step instructions, freezing/storing suggestions, and lists of foods that your baby can eat at the different stages.  It has been my baby food Bible!

We are eating stage one foods and so far she has had bananas (loves!), sweet potatoes (mmm.. not so much), avocado (loves!), acorn squash (loves!), apples (loves!), and peaches (we made some sour faces with these).


She loves bananas so much that she "mmmm.mmms" the whole time I am feeding them to her.  I can mix something she isn't crazy about, such as sweet potatoes with bananas or apples is she enjoys it a whole lot more.  After I defrost her food from the freezer, I usually put cereal in it to thicken it up and to give her extra iron.  Last week, I pureed zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, apples, and peaches and put them in the freezer. 



I bought the Baby Bullet Turbo Steamer and use that to steam my veggies. 

After steaming, I put them in my food processor and puree.  I add water as needed to thin it out.  Norah Kate likes her food more soupy. 

I have used both the food processor and the blender.  They both work pretty good.

 

Once you are satisfied with the consistency of your puree, pour it into ice cube trays and freeze.  Once they are frozen just pop them out into ziploc bags.  I put two cubes into a milk freezer bag, label and date.

 Voila!  Baby food made easy :)

I really like my steamer for multiple reasons 1.) By steaming foods they maintain more nutrients 2.) It cooks the food in minutes (the longest cycle is 13 minutes) 3.) The Baby Bullet Steamer also can sterilize bottle nipples, pacis, etc, and it will defrost frozen baby food.  I bought it for like $25 at Walmart. 


Norah Kate gets cereal at lunch and veggies at supper time.  We will eventually work up to cereal for breakfast, veggie/fruit for lunch, and veggie/fruit for supper.  We have followed the "four day" rule.  Each time I introduce a new food, she gets it for four days in a row to make sure she is not going to have an allergic reaction to it, then we try something new.  I don't stress to much about how much she eats either.  If I can only get her to take a few bites of something, then so be it... She is still breastfeeding so I know she is still getting all of her nutrients.


Pears will be the next thing I make for her.  I have also started some combinations for her with foods we have already tried, such as apples and sweet potatos or bananas and apples.  Don't worry, I taste test everything before I feed it to her!


A few things I have learned, peaches and apples don't go very far at all! Four peaches made only 3 servings.  And 3 apples only made 6 or 8 servings.  I will probably buy adult all natural applesauce from the grocery store for apples, and may try a bag of frozen peaches next time.  With everything else though, a little went a long way!


I thought about doing the Baby Led Weaning which is when you introduce pieces of food rather than purees.  For instance, you would give the baby slices of a banana or sweet potato and let them feed themselves.  This makes me really nervous because of choking!  I gave Norah Kate a banana and let her chew on it the other day just to see what she would do and she LOVED it, but then hunks of the banana started falling off in her mouth and scared me to death.  For now we will stick with our pureed mush and might try Baby Led Weaning later.

Oh and she has two pretty pearly whites on her bottom jaw now!  They came through two weeks ago!

Baby Essentials

When I was registering for my baby showers, I had NO clue where to start.  I took Mama with me, and she was not very much help.  To her defense, you didn't really register for stuff when she was having babies, and too things have changed so much.  I ended up registering for a little bit of everything and  kinda learned the hard way about the things I love, couldn't live without, and things that haven't been very helpful.

Of course, some things will be no-brainers, so I will skip over those (stroller, car seat, ect.)

Here are a few of my favorite things:

• Diaper genie:  her room never smells like dirty diapers
• Wipe warmer:  get a good one!  The first one I got dried my wipes out, so I went and bought the Prince Lionheart wipe warmer.  It is AMAZING.  It has a wet pad in the bottom so the wipes always stay nice and moist!  Norah Kate don't know what to think when I wipe her bottom with a cold one, she is spoiled ;)
• Snug a Bunny Swing and Bouncy Seat:  She loves her swing!  It has different swinging motions and an overhead mobile.  I like the neutral colors too, so that I will be able to use it for a little boy.  My bouncy seat stays in our bathroom.  It's my babysitter while I am in the shower or getting ready!
• Nap Nanny:  This thing was a life saver during NK's first couple of weeks/months, when I would jump up at every little cry or wimper.  She went through this stage where she didn't like to sleep laying flat, and the Nap Nanny let me safely put her in the bed with me while she was so tiny.  Now it stays in our living room and she will take naps in it.  Be sure not to put it in their cribs though!!



• Summer Infant Mother's Touch Baby Bather: I love it!  It is mesh, so it's way more comfy than a plastic tub and it keeps them from sitting in the dirty bath water.



• White Noise machine:  It helps during nap time.  She almost can't go to sleep when it is stone cold quiet.
• Ameda Double Electric Breast Pump:  Medela makes a good one too, but I love my Ameda!  I would highly recommend buying a good one if you are planning on pumping a lot or continuing to breastfeed once you return to work.  Even if your aren't planning of pumping, you may find a handheld pump helpful at some point!  It saved me when we were having issues!
• Backseat Mirror:  It allows me to see her when I am driving, and now that she is a little bit older she talks to and flirts with herself in the mirror!

Things you can't get enough of:

• Onesies/sleepers:  I especially love the zip up sleepers.  Fumbling for buttons at 3am is no beuno!  That first month we changed outfits AT LEAST three times a day.  Leaking diapers, spit up, and breastmilk everywhere!
• Homemade burpcloths:  the ones made out of cloth diapers = my favorite!  They are absorb wonderfully!
• Extra crib sheets/basinet sheets/changing pad covers:  Same thing as the outfits... they get pretty messy, so extras are nice :)
• Clothes hangers:  I had to keep buying more!!

Things to keep in mind:

Don't panic if you feel like you have too many of something, chances are you will be grateful for the extras.  I thought I had way too many burpcloths and blankets at first.  After I had Norah Kate I was so excited when I got a few late gifts with homemade burpcloths and things, because I was thinking about buying more!!

Don't open up or take the tags off of every little thing.  Because I had such a big baby, I had to return some of her newborn size diapers, she was in size 1s pretty quick.  I had actually opened up one pack too many, and I HATED wasting those diapers!  I also only washed up and took the tags off her newborn and most of her 0-3 months clothes.  You can always return extras OR regift ;)

Don't stress too much about the nursery.  I was bound and determined to have her nursery finished a month before she got here.  Haha!  She has yet to sleep in that crib at night, and has only taken a few naps in it!  I am trying to gradually get her used to her room.  We have just started our bedtime routine in there, I rock and nurse her in her room after bathtime, and read a story to her.  Then she gets laid down in the Pack-n-play in our room.  Really, if you had room for a basinet/Pack-n-Play and changing station in the master bedroom, you could probably get out of not having a nursery for the first few months all together (unless your were one of those that wanted your baby to start out in her own room from the get go, not this mama!).

Don't get your heart set on one particular brand of bottles/pacifiers etc.  I literally have almost every brand paci and bottle.  We had to test run several brands until we found what she liked.  NK is pretty picky about what goes in her mouth!

Go ahead and register for things they might use/need later.  Walker, electric socket covers, sippee cups, eating utensils, ect.  Also register for gender neutral things.  That stuff is expensive, and a lot of stuff you will not get at second baby showers.  If we have a boy next, most of the high priced items are gender neutral!  Yay!

Have a little first aid/ medicine kit handy.  I would have hated to make a trip to Walmart in the middle of the night for Tylenol, or a thermometor, or gas drops!  P.S.  Don't leave the hospital without their suction bulb!  The store bought ones don't hold a candle to it!  It's big and orange and ugly, but works like charm!!

You could probably talk to ten different mothers and they would all give you a list of different things they "had to have" but these were my favorites and things I learned!  Hope it helps!

Ohhh, I didn't even think about that...

In that last month of pregnancy, while I was so busy making sure Norah Kate had everything she needed after delivery: stocked nursery, basinet with diapers and wipes in our room, packed and organized diaper bag, baby essentials, I didn't even think about what I might need for after delivery.  Thank goodness for a life-saving email I got from The Bump., otherwise I might have been totally unprepared!  For those of you who are preggo, make sure you join this website.  It is free and they will give you updates on your baby as it grows, and they also send you emails with good articles.  Well this email was about "What happens down there...after delivery."  The lightbulb went off, ohhhhh my, I didn't even think about that!

Here is your warning:  those of the male species you may want to just skip this post all together, those of you who are weak in the stomach, skip on, but those of you who are pregnant for the first time... you might just find this helpful.

Now I know you are thinking, ew, is she really writing about this?  Yep, because I had no idea what to expect.  Yeah, I had my postpartum clinicals in nursing school, but come on, we all know how we getting shorted a good clinical experience at school.  My postpartum clinicals consisted of taking vital signs, fetching water, we "watched" a fundus get massaged, and I got to help a lady up to the bathroom, yay me :)  Because of my career, my friends being nurses, and a good bit of family being in healthcare, bowel habits, symptoms and side effects are nothing short of a dinner conversation.

Below are things that I found very helpful after a third degree tear and an almost 9lb baby:


Pads:  plenty of them, whichever brand you prefer (Kotex, Always, etc.)  You won't be able to use tampons, so get over it.

Witch hazel pads (TUCKS pads):  you can find them at your local supermarket or drug store.  Witch hazel is used for inflammation and stinging.  They are good to wipe with and just to leave on  your pad.

Advil:  I was fortunate not to have to take anything any stronger.  You will be sore.  I hurt all over.  I felt like I had just done the hardest workout of my life (thinking back, I really did).  My neck hurt, back hurt, legs hurt...  The first night we came home, I sat down on the dining room chair and thought I was going to jump out of my skin!  Nothing but soft, comfy surfaces for a while please!

Cotton, full coverage panties:  Go ahead and go to Walmart and purchase some cheap panties that cover you up!  The last thing  you are going to want is a ruined pair of Victoria's Secret panties.  Same goes for your pajamas.  I mean, if you are okay with the fact that a pair of $50 pjs might get ruined, then go ahead... don't say I didn't warn ya.

Ask for extras when you leave the hospital.  I got them to send me home with an extra thing of everything.  Pads, epifoam, and Dermaplast spray.  The epifoam and Dermaplast along with the TUCKS pads made everything feel so much better "down there."  The last thing I wanted was to send poor Matt out in search of these things, so I wanted to make sure I had enough!

Also, you know how you laugh at your mom when she is running in the house, "I gotta pee!"  Go ahead and laugh now, just wait until you have one of your own!  I was really concerned at first, I thought I was going to have to purchase some Depends!  When I had to go, there was no holding it!  My OB told me that was very common after childbirth, especially big babies.  Go ahead and plan on doing your Kegels!!

Go ahead and get you  a stool softener (Colace), and ask for them in the hospital.  You will want that first #2 to be as easy as possible after all that.

If you can, arrange for help!  I had so much help after I had Norah Kate.  Thankfully.  I am very close with my family and my in-laws.  It seemed like every day for a week someone was here, either to help do the laundry, dishes, hold the baby so I could get a shower, cook or bring supper.  It was amazing.  Little things like that were life-savers, greatly appreciated.  If it's offered don't turn it down, if it's not offered ask for it :)

Anyhow, I know you probably think I am crazy now, but I hope this helps for you first time preggos out there.  I was not even thinking about what I would need after the baby got here.  I wasn't expecting things to be so, um, well, brutal.