Lima Bean: Week Thirty Six

How far along: Thirty six weeks as of Wednesday, June 18, 2014. 
Size of baby: Lima Bean is over 18.5 inches from head to heel, the size of a head of romaine lettuce, and weighs almost 6 pounds. 
Maternity Clothes: Of course.
Movement: Lima Bean is a mover and a shaker!
Sex of baby: It's a girl!
Sleep: Starting to have sleep issues--just waking up too often and have some trouble getting back to sleep.  I did not have this problem in Henry's pregnancy, so it's a bit of a bummer.  Plus, I managed to get poison ivy on my right arm (I think from Rowan--thanks, Rowan), and it woke me up itching for a few days.
What I miss: The freedom to eat whatever I want.
Cravings: Salads still.  At least it's a healthy craving!
Symptoms: Starting to feel exhausted all of the time.  Also, I am generally uncomfortable and have more aches and pains than ever before.
What I'm looking forward to: Meeting Lima Bean soon!

Extras: No progress at the appointment this week.  It's safe to say I was disappointed, even though I don't want Lima Bean to arrive for another couple of weeks.  I had been having some shooting pains low in my abdomen and I thought they were a sign that Lima Bean was starting to consider coming.  But nada.  I felt discouraged, but at least I have another few weeks to go to make some progress.

Lima Bean: Week Thirty Five

How far along: Thirty five weeks as of Wednesday, June 11, 2014. 
Size of baby: Lima Bean is over 18 inches from head to heel and weighs about 5.25 pounds.  Next week I start visiting my doctor weekly--we are reaching the finish line here.
Maternity Clothes: I think everything is maternity at this point, save for one maxi dress and a long tunic or two.
Movement: Lima Bean is a mover and a shaker!
Sex of baby: It's a girl!
Sleep: About the same.
What I miss: Nothing in particular this week.
Cravings: Salads, summer fruit like pineapple (which I really shouldn't eat because it hurts my stomach but I do anyway because it's so darn good) and peaches.
Symptoms: Getting a little more uncomfortable, but no real issues.
What I'm looking forward to: Seeing whether any "progress" has been made at next week's appointment.  I really want this baby to come on her own so I don't need a repeat c-section.

Lima Bean: Week Thirty Four

How far along: Thirty four weeks as of Wednesday, June 4, 2014. 
Size of baby: Lima Bean is almost 18 inches from head to heel and weighs about 4.75 pounds.  She's probably hanging out a bit above that, though.  At this week's doctor appointment, she was measuring on schedule.
Maternity Clothes: Yep. 
Movement: Lima Bean is a mover and a shaker!
Sex of baby: It's a girl!
Sleep: Better than last week, but not great.  I wake up several times a night to use the bathroom, and sometimes I have trouble falling back asleep.  I don't remember having this problem during Henry's pregnancy, so it's a bit of a bummer.
What I miss: Not having my uterus press on my bladder constantly--ha!
Cravings: Salads.  I usually don't crave salads, but they have tasted so good lately.  There is a place across from my office that has a salad with grapes, dried raisins, walnuts,  and bleu cheese (I sub parmesan) with a vinaigrette dressing.  It is so delicious and worth the $8 price tag. 
Symptoms: Getting a little more uncomfortable, but no real issues.
What I'm looking forward to: Getting everything in order in Lima Bean's and Henry's rooms.  Now that they are painted, I am itching to decorate.

Extras: My wonderful Aunt Lois and mom threw me a baby shower this week!  It was so sweet of them and not expected since this is baby number 2.  The shower was held at an inn close to my aunt and uncle's house, and the weather was spectacular that day.  We had the upstairs to ourselves and the rooms had wonderful views of Sugarloaf Mountain.  I had a great time visiting with family and friends, and Lima Bean was spoiled with some cute girly items!  My Uncle Tom took photos, so hopefully I can post some soon.

Cars and Trucks and Things That Go!

An update on this nearly-two-year-old and some of his favorite things:

A boy and his bulldozer (and Mommy's shoes!)

Henry loves, and I mean loves, motor vehicles and other things that go!  He is not very picky: he loves, and can name and identify, just about all of them.  Garbage trucks, recycling trucks, bulldozers, cranes, dump trucks, cement mixers, trailer trucks, tow trucks, ambulances, police cars, school buses, firetrucks, etc.  Henry is the Bubba Gump of truck names.

Henry also loves trains, planes, and helicopters.  There is a playground nearby with a train you can ride in a two-mile loop around the park grounds.  Henry LOVES it!  It is actually pretty cool and the ride is longer than I expected.

Playing with his little wooden train.  He now has a lego train set and is pretty much obsessed.

Train ride!  Lima Bean is large and in charge.

Henry's other love at this age is butterflies.  It is an odd love, but a true love.  He can spot a butterfly, real or not, from a mile away.  We were eating breakfast at an outdoor cafe one weekend and he kept pointing to the little girl at the next table over and saying "buddafly."  I kept looking for a butterfly but didn't see one, until I noticed that she had a butterfly sticker on her hand.  Henry homes in on the butterflies like no other.  We have taken him to two butterfly houses, one in NC and one here, and he loved both of them.  I can't wait until we see real butterflies in our yard!

And some final photos because he's just so darn adorable these days:

I would be remiss not to mention Henry's love for his monkey pillow.  It was originally a nursing pillow I never used for that purpose.  It is Henry's comfort item.  He has to have it to sleep and he loves to rub the tag on his face.

Lima Bean: Week Thirty Three

How far along: Thirty three weeks as of Wednesday, May 28, 2014. 
Size of baby: Lima Bean is over17 inches from head to heel, the size of a pineapple, and weighs a little over 4 pounds.  Based on last week's ultrasound, I am guessing she is now about 4.75 pounds.
Maternity Clothes: Yep. 
Movement: Lima Bean is a mover and a shaker!
Sex of baby: It's a girl!
Sleep: Sleep was hard to come by this week.  First, Henry got sick at the beginning of the week.  On Wednesday night he had a 103 degree fever.  After freaking out (he has never had a temperature above 101 before), we called the doctor, who was surprisingly nonchalant about it.  He basically recommended Motrin and watching for other symptoms.  Henry slept well that night, but his fever was still 102 on Thursday.  He was pretty cranky but otherwise symptomless.  By Friday night, although his fever had gone down to 101 or so, he woke up at 10pm or so coughing.  We suspected croup, and everyone's sleep was horrible that night.  On Saturday, I realized that I was getting sick, too.  I had a low-grade temperature of 100.5 with a sore throat and general aches.  Saturday sleep was bad for everyone again.  But by Sunday, Henry was getting better.  My temperature was normal, but I definitely had a full-blown cold.  So my sleep was bad because of congestion and coughing.  Ugh!
What I miss: A good night's sleep, the ability to take medicine for a cold.
Cravings: Soup, smoothies.  I am definitely craving fruit much more frequently this pregnancy than in Henry's pregnancy.
Symptoms: Backache, stuffy nose made worse by a cold.
What I'm looking forward to: Honestly, getting over this cold at this point!

Lima Bean: Week Thirty Two

How far along: Thirty two weeks as of Wednesday, May 21, 2014. 
Size of baby: Lima Bean is about 16.7 inches from head to heel and should weigh about 3.75 pounds, the weight of a large jicama (??).  However, I had an ultrasound this week and she is estimated at 4 lbs, 5 oz.  I thought this sounded huge but the technician promised me it is only the 51st percentile.  We will see how big she ends up!
Maternity Clothes: Yes--I got a new pair of ankle length black pants from Target that fit surprisingly well (worn in the photo but you can't tell).  I like that I have something nicer to wear to work that is still fairly lightweight.
Movement: Lima Bean is a mover and a shaker!
Sex of baby: It's a girl!
Sleep: Getting a little harder to sleep.  I am waking up at least twice at night to use the bathroom, plus it is getting hotter here and I wake up because I am hot, too.  I don't have any problem going to sleep, but the wakings are interrupting my sleep.
What I miss: Nothing specific this week.
Cravings: Pineapple, which is so weird because normally it makes my stomach ache.  But it tastes so good right now.  Other fruits as well, like green grapes and strawberries.
Symptoms: Some hip pain after sleeping on my side all night, but not bad.  Other than that, no real complaints.
What I'm looking forward to: Completing the nursery and getting Henry's room in order.  We are moving a sleeper sofa from the living room to Henry's room so that it can be used as a guest room as well.  The sofa is a grey color that matches Henry's quilt really well.  I think it will look great in the room.

Extras: 
I had a growth ultrasound this week to determine Lima Bean's estimated size.  It was strange to me to have a growth ultrasound with 8 weeks to go, because it seems that there isn't much you can take from it in terms of Lima Bean's estimated birth size.  But it was still nice to see Lima Bean on the screen.  She was surprisingly calm during the ultrasound, which may be the only time she's ever been calm during a doctor's appointment.  As mentioned above, she is estimated at 4 lbs, 5 oz.  She was measuring at 32 weeks, 6 days, even though I was only 32 weeks, 2 days.  This is the first time she was measuring ahead--until now, she was 1-2 days behind.  She has hair, which the technician pointed out.  I wonder whether she will have more hair than Henry did.  He had some hair at birth, but not much.  I asked the technician to confirm that Lima Bean is a girl (she is!  Thank goodness, because we would have a lot of clothes to return if not!).  We also saw her spine, her face, her giant-looking feet--I remember Henry's feet also looked giant at the growth ultrasound simply because the image is so zoomed in--, her hands, her abdomen, and her heart.  I love seeing Lima Bean in scans and wish I could have another one before she's born!

We also had the nursery and Henry's room painted this week.  Both rooms look great!  I bought a floral rug for Lima Bean's room, which has some aqua flowers that coordinate well with the wall color, and I bought three prints and a painting off of Etsy that coordinate as well.  I also am waiting on wall letters spelling Lima Bean's name to go over her crib.

Lima Bean: Week Thirty One

How far along: Thirty one weeks as of Wednesday, May 14, 2014.  Inching closer and closer to the end.
Size of baby: Lima Bean is over 16 inches from head to heel and weighs about 3.3 pounds, the weight of a coconut.
Maternity Clothes: Of course.  I am basically living in leggings and long tops and dresses these days.  I am over my one pair of maternity jeans that actually fits!  Now that it's the middle of May, hopefully I won't have to wear them any more.
Movement: Lima Bean is a mover and a shaker!
Sex of baby: It's a girl!
Sleep: Fine.
What I miss: Soft cheeses, deli meats.
Cravings: Sweets, chicken salad sandwiches.  I can't wait until I can eat turkey sandwiches and prepared salads again.
Symptoms: The side pain is gone, thankfully.  I think it was just a combination of over-use and stress.  Not too many symptoms this week, really.  The Braxton Hicks contractions have lessened, too.
What I'm looking forward to: The color for Lima Bean's room has been chosen.  It's a pretty medium-hue aqua.  Now to get the room painted!  We are having painters come next week to paint baby girl's room and Henry's new big boy room, as well as the awful pepto-bismol pink hall bath.  Henry's room will be the same Williamsburg blue it was in our Arlington house.  His bed and bedding have been purchased from PB Kids.  The bedding is a vintage train motif in navy, red, and gray.  I think it will look great!