31 week Squeak update

I had my 31 week appointment on Tuesday. Everything looks great. My antibodies test came back good meaning that Katherine's blood and my blood did not mix during the c-section and my 0-neg blood is not trying to reject this baby (or something like that). So, I got my rhogam shot and a nifty wallet cart to carry with me until I deliver in case I am in car accident or something - comforting. I had not seen my normal midwife in 6 weeks because I saw the other one last time so she was excited to feel that Squeak was head down. I was also excited to hear that she still is in that position.

Surprisingly I did not gain any weight in the last 2 weeks. Total gain is still 13 pounds with 9 weeks to go. I say surprisingly because to me I feel and look a lot more pregnant each week. Strangers actually ask me when I am due and what I am having which had not happened until recently. On the other hand, my neighbor asked me how the baby was doing because he thought I had already had her since I did not look pregnant. I certainly don't feel like I am watching what I eat and I regretfully admit that I have at least one Dr. Pepper and dessert a day which proves that I am not trying to not gain weight. If the trend continues though I will be actually trying to gain weight toward the end since Katherine was so small. So, if you know of a healthy high protein diet, let me know.

Honestly, this is an area of struggle for me. In my non-pregnant life I struggle to keep my weight down. I constantly have to watch my diet and exercise or it creeps up slowly. For some reason when I am pregnant, the struggle with gaining weight changes from unintentionally gaining too much to not gaining much for no apparent reason. Sure as a girl I enjoy the comments about how small I look since it is the only time I experience those comments. Almost daily someone is amazed that I am starting my 8th month of pregnancy and don't look that big. Of course no one wants to have extra weight to lose but my ultimate goal is to have a healthy baby, even if that means I need to try to gain more weight. Katherine was small (5lb 15.9 oz) and she was past term. I did not gain anything the last 5 weeks which is when the baby is usually packing on the pounds. For the past two years Katherine's tiny size has been a struggle for me as a mom. She is always in the 3-5% for weight so I always stress that she is not healthy even though I can see that she is thriving (all mom's have to worry about something I guess). I do not want that again. So, I guess you can pray for me - both that I would be healthy and gain the right amount of weight and that I would not worry about it.

As far as other pregnancy stuff. My heartburn still bothers me. I finally gave in and started taking Prilosec OTC. The digestive enzyme and apple cider vinegar were just not cutting it. I really gave an honest effort at treating the heartburn more naturally but I was miserable every night and only able to sleep sitting up. Then I was not well rested. The Prilosec helps. Friday I have to admit this defeat to my chiropractor. I am being careful though to take my vitamins as far from my Prilosec as possible so I don't mess up the balance and absorption of the vitamins so that Squeak can get everything she needs. It has helped a lot and this week I have been able to sleep laying down. Now if only I could get to bed at a more reasonable hour.

I never once experienced hiccups with Katherine. This week I have felt Squeak hiccup every night. It is not annoying, just fun right now. So far all of her kicks and movement are fun as well. Even though she is head down she is being polite in her kicks for now. I hope it stays that way but she has a long way to go and will run out of room at some point.

I am getting more tired each week. It is getting harder to deal with Katherine and some days we have a vicious cycle where she tries my patience and I am tired and don't deal with it well and she sees a weakness and tries to get away with more. There have been more than one occasion where she has worn her pajamas for the day because I don't feel like dealing with a power struggle. Today she wore them to school. I at least try to choose cute pajamas if I think that might happen.

Katherine is sooooo excited about baby Squeak. It is really cute. Yesterday at playgroup she was around a 9 week old and she was so sweet. Every time Gabe would cry she would go over to rock him. She is going to be a great big sister.

We still don't have a name so don't ask. We won't tell anyway. We had a name that we tried out last week to see if we attached to it. Sam still really likes it. I like it as a name but am not sure that it is Squeak's name. So, this week we are trying out another name to see how we like it. It was so easy with Katherine because she was named after family members. It has been harder this time. If you have a great suggestion, feel free to leave it in the comments.