(Photo courtesy of Lisa Rennert Photography)
10 weeks later and we are ready to go!
I am now 39 weeks pregnant, which means I am well into my 9th month of pregnancy and this baby girl is fully cooked!
We have spent the last few weeks making some trips, going to baby showers, heading on maternity leave (for me) and finishing up house projects (still working on some of those). Our biggest project was our nursery and we are finally finished!
Last update it was looking a bit like this:
And we have finally finished it to where it looks a little more like this:
Big improvement and we love it. We repainted, put up a chair rail and wall paper, ripped up the carpet and put down new flooring, revamped the dresser and decorated the walls. It is our favorite room in the house and it came together perfectly.
We also had a maternity shoot at 36 weeks and already got our pics back (the perks of photographer friends). Here are a few:
(Photos courtesy of Lisa Rennert Photography)
Here is a little rundown so far at 39 (!) weeks:
Body Stuff:
- Weight gained: 35-40+lbs. My belly is measuring exactly where it needs to be, so I’m still in the right range and feel good.
- Iron: Borderline low. I don;t have to take any extra supplements, I just need to make sure to take my prenatal vitamin and eat more iron-rich foods. I’ve been opting for green smoothies with kale, spinach and chia seeds and red meat once or twice a week.
- Blood Pressure: In check. It is a little high for me, but I usually run in the 90/40 range, so even normal or “low” blood pressure always seems high to me.
- Aches and Pains: Still none. I mostly feel heavy and some pressure on my pelvis as baby grows and starts to drop. It’s more of a general stiffness when I wake up or at the end of the day, but nothing that moving doesn’t help.
- Pyriformis/Sciatic pain: None. I’m not sure if it is that i have backed off a little on barre, or spread it out more, or if it is the floating around in the pool, but it is pretty non-existent.
- No back pain. Yay!
- Nose Bleeds: They flared back up for awhile and I would get a nosebleed at least once a day. Luckily, they have eased up again and I haven;t had one in awhile. I think it has to do with weather changes and low iron levels.
- Pee: Yes, all the time. I always have to pee.
Baby Stuff:
- Size: about 6.5 lbs at our last check-up (probably closer to 7 now) and the size of a pumpkin. Plus, she feels really long, but that could just be that things are getting crowded in there 😉
- Gender: Girl!
- Name: Elli, short for Elizabeth Grace.
- Kicks and Rolls: The kicks are getting huge and have turned into some big rolls around my belly. Sometimes you can see my belly sit to one side or shift completely. Other times there are little shakes and punches that happen, almost like a spasm, for a minute or two. And there are still some super strong kicks. She seems to have some fierceness to her, and we think she might be a bit of a goofball.
Food+Cravings:
- Water and coconut water. It has been so hot that ice cold water and coconut water are my go=to drinks throughout the day just to feel cool enough.
- Iced Chai Latte. I have about one a day ( I make it at home) with soy milk. I’m not sure if this is a craving or just a preference 🙂
- Watermelon. I can’t have enough.
- Smoothies. I have about one huge mason jar worth of a green smoothie each day. Lots of veggies and juicy fruits (pineapple, citrus, mango).
- I think I have been craving less junk food and more healthy food. Pizza and egg rolls have been much less than in the first few months and salads and veggies have come back into my diet in full-force.
Workouts:
- I finished teaching classes in mid May at 36 weeks. I could still do the classes, but I was tired in the evenings and knew I couldn’t keep it up for much longer.
- Barre: Not in classes, but in short increments each day. I usually do 10-20 minutes 5 days a week.
- Walking: 20-30 minute walks with the dogs around my neighborhood, plus an additional evening walk when I can.
- Yoga: Um, not so much. It is just too hard to get on the floor or get into the poses.
- Swimming: We put in a pool, so I have been hopping in after my walks and barre workouts to cool down, relieve some pressure off my feet and legs. I swim (with a float) a bit, but also float around and read.
Sleep:
- Not too bad. I went through a phase of not sleeping much, or not very well. But other than waking up to pee once a night, I am sleeping pretty well. I wake up when I need to roll over, but that is mostly because my belly is so heavy at this point. Once I’m comfortable again, I fall back asleep.
Belly:
- By the end of the day, it feels really heavy and is hard to get into bed or get comfortable on the couch. Sometimes I get a little bit stuck where I am 😉
- It looks like I have a ball in my shirt.
- People have been asking more questions out on public (at the store, restaurants, etc) about when I am due or how much longer. Sometimes they just stare down at it while we talk. It is both really nice and really weird.
Latest selfie at 38 weeks:
Things are still going very well and she could be here any day now. I still feel pretty good overall. It is harder to reach down for things and I need help tying my shoes a lot. It is partially because bending is difficult, but also she is so big I can feel her when I bend. Luckily, if I need help, Barry (my husband) helps with whatever it is.
We are both really excited and pretty much ready. We keep telling her she can arrive any time now. As much as we enjoy this precious time with her in my belly, we just can’t wait to officially meet her.
I’ll be sure to post on some of my social media accounts when she is born, but for a few reasons, this will be the last official baby update on the blog. For one, we are going to be very busy in the next few weeks and months just getting to know her and get into a rhythm with our new life together. I don’t see a lot of time for blog updates, although the blog will still have it’s regular posts coming out. The other reason is that this is not so much a personal blog as it is an informative blog and healthy living site. If you regularly read my blog posts, you’ve probably noticed that the posts are less about me and my life, and more about the information in them and you. I want the focus to be on you and how you can use the recipes, healthy tips, of ingredient in your life. So I will continue to have healthy living posts throughout the summer ( I have quite a few already queued up for you and ready to go and I am so excited about them!), but all baby related posts will be found on social media, especially Instagram, where I share more personal tidbits, daily life and behind the scenes stuff. Make sure to follow me @thehouseofhealthy to stay up to date!
Much Love,
