Lima Bean: Week Thirty

How far along: Thirty weeks as of Wednesday, May 7, 2014.  It feels good to be in the 3-0s!  Also, the fact that it is now May makes me a bit anxious, because we are inching closer and closer to Lima Bean's arrival!  Not that I am not very excited to meet her, but because I don't feel prepared.  I will feel better once we get her room painted and decorated.
Size of baby: Lima Bean is about 15.7 inches from head to heel and weighs about 3 pounds, the weight of a large cabbage.
Maternity Clothes: Yep.  We headed to Charlottesville for Mark's five year law school reunion this week, and I was a bit disappointed because of my limited clothing choices.  But the two maxi dresses I have invested in came in handy to make me feel polished.  Plus, they feel like wearing a nightgown!
Movement: Lima Bean is a mover and a shaker!
Sex of baby: It's a girl!
Sleep: Fine.
What I miss: Having an evening cocktail, having lots of clothing options!
Cravings: Ice cream, sweets in general (particularly chocolate).  I indulged in an oreo milkshake from Cookout while in Charlottesville.  Heaven!
Symptoms: Some Braxton Hicks.  I also had that horrid side pain again.  It was worse this time, to the point where I literally couldn't hold Henry because his body pressed on my side and it hurt horribly.  On Friday, I decided to call my doctor to ask about it.  The nurse and doctor I spoke with actually seemed kind of concerned about it, which surprised me, because the nurse at my prior practice pooh poohed it when I called to ask about it during Henry's pregnancy.  The doctor even mentioned coming into the hospital to get an ultrasound, because the doctor's office had closed by the time I spoke with him.  But given that we were headed out of town that day (of course, isn't that the way it always works) and I really didn't feel like the pain warranted a trip to the hospital, I decided against it.  The doctor told me to stop lifting Henry and to call if the pain worsened.  The pain was fairly bad the remainder of the day Friday, but by Saturday it had lessened substantially.  As much as I love holding Henry, it did me good to stop lifting him.
What I'm looking forward to: Choosing a paint color for Lima Bean's room!

Extras: I found out this week that I passed my glucose screening test.  No gestational diabetes for me!  Thank goodness I don't have to drink that horrible orange drink again!  Also, after hearing about my frequent Braxton Hicks contractions last week, my doctor decided to check to make sure Lima Bean isn't thinking about making an early appearance.  Luckily, everything looks good, and the doctor said just to drink lots of water and stop doing too much housework.  I think I can handle that ;-)

Lima Bean: Week Twenty Nine

How far along: Twenty Nine weeks as of Wednesday, April 30, 2014. 
Size of baby: Lima Bean is about 15 inches from head to heel and weighs about 2.5 pounds, the weight of a butternut squash.
Maternity Clothes: Of course.
Movement: Lima Bean is a mover and a shaker!
Sex of baby: It's a girl!
Sleep: Fine.
What I miss: Having energy!
Cravings: Fruit.  A big bowl of cut-up fruit really hit the spot this week.
Symptoms: Braxton Hicks contractions.  I never really had them during Henry's pregnancy.  This time, they began pretty early, around 21 weeks or so.  They were very frequent this week, particularly one day when I was very active--cleaning the house and chasing after Henry.  I know that they are related to too much activity, so I am trying to take it easy if I get more than 2-3 in an hour.
What I'm looking forward to: The weather warming up, so I can wear my short-sleeved maternity tops and dresses.

Lima Bean: Week Twenty Eight

How far along: Twenty Eight weeks as of Wednesday, April 23, 2014. 
Size of baby: Lima Bean is about 14.8 inches from head to heel and weighs about 2.25 pounds, the weight of a large eggplant.
Maternity Clothes: Yes, I am quickly becoming large and in charge.
Movement: Lima Bean is a mover and a shaker!
Sex of baby: It's a girl!
Sleep: Fine.
What I miss: A nice glass of white wine and not feeling tired all of the time!
Cravings: Bagels with veggie cream cheese.
Symptoms: Tiredness, generally harder to move around.
What I'm looking forward to: Being in the third trimester!  The pregnancy feels like it has flown by.

Extras: As I alluded to in the Week 27 post, Lima Bean is an active girl.  Her energy was confirmed right before I entered Week 28 when I ended up in the hospital on IV fluids because of a stomach flu.  It was a most unpleasant experience, to say the least.  I started feeling very nauseated around 6pm on a Monday.  I thought I was just having third trimester nausea, which I had heard can happen.  But by 8pm I was in tears I felt so horrible.  I ended up vomiting around that time.  I called my doctor's office and spoke with a doctor, who told me the bug was going around, and that if I wasn't better by the morning or if I started having contractions I should go to the hospital to get IV fluids.  After that time, I kept getting worse, to the point where I couldn't even keep sips of water down.  I was also having some contractions from dehydration.  Mark made the decision to head to the hospital at around 11:00.  He called my wonderful Aunt Lois to come stay with Henry.  She is a saint and rushed over.  I still felt horrible when we got to the hospital.  We waited in the maternity ward for what seemed like forever, until a nurse came to take me to the triage area for assessment.  It quickly was determined that I was severely dehydrated, so IV fluids started.  I ended up receiving fluids until about 4:30 in the morning.  It took awhile for the contractions to stop, but luckily they did stop after 2 bags of fluid.

I may have felt awful, but Lima Bean was a champ.  My nurse said that frequently when mothers come in with dehydration, babies are "flat" and showing signs of distress, too.  Not Lima Bean.  She was as active and raring to go as ever.  In fact, at one point the nurse could not even get the fetal heartrate monitor to work because Lima Bean loved the sugar-infused fluids I was receiving so much that she wouldn't stay in one place long enough to position the monitor to pick up her heartbeat.  That's our girl!