32 Week Pregnancy Blog
Written on July 16, 2016How far along? 32 weeks 6 days -- 8 months!
Baby: This week the baby weighs 3 3/4 -4 pounds! (about the size of a head of lettuce) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in the uterus. At her ultrasound this week, Oreo weighed 3 lbs. and 11 oz.! She's gained almost a pound in the past 2 weeks! :) I'm gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to the baby. In fact, the baby will gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. Oreo now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
32 Week Bump!
Total Weight Gain: This third trimester weight gain is no joke...I remember this from my last pregnancy! I have done so well with weight gain in my pregnancy, but recently it seems like rapid weight gain is inevitable. I am still eating mostly healthy (high protein) and smaller portions. The baby is squishing my stomach, so I can only eat so much at a time right now. I feel better when I eat many small meals throughout the day rather than 3 bigger meals. I've still been trying to walk each day and I'm enjoying that. This week I am weighing between 121-122 which is a 15-16 lb. weight gain. I know my belly is bigger, so the baby is growing! She went from being in the 24th percentile for weight to being in the 33rd percentile for weigh over the past 2 weeks, so I'm happy about that! That part is exciting, but seeing the numbers increase on the scale isn't too fun. Since she's had some growth issues, I've been instructed to increase my calorie and protein intake, but it's all for our sweet girl, so it's worth it!
Maternity Clothes: The bigger my belly gets, the more limited I am. I am still wearing my regular shorts with my belly band and mostly wearing just maternity shirts. I am a little bored with the selection, but I am too close to the end to spend money on a bunch of new maternity clothes. I've continued to wear the maternity clothes that I was given in my last pregnancy. Baggy t-shirts, comfy shorts, flip flops, simple maternity shirts, maternity sundresses, and bigger tank tops are my best friend!
Total Weight Gain: This third trimester weight gain is no joke...I remember this from my last pregnancy! I have done so well with weight gain in my pregnancy, but recently it seems like rapid weight gain is inevitable. I am still eating mostly healthy (high protein) and smaller portions. The baby is squishing my stomach, so I can only eat so much at a time right now. I feel better when I eat many small meals throughout the day rather than 3 bigger meals. I've still been trying to walk each day and I'm enjoying that. This week I am weighing between 121-122 which is a 15-16 lb. weight gain. I know my belly is bigger, so the baby is growing! She went from being in the 24th percentile for weight to being in the 33rd percentile for weigh over the past 2 weeks, so I'm happy about that! That part is exciting, but seeing the numbers increase on the scale isn't too fun. Since she's had some growth issues, I've been instructed to increase my calorie and protein intake, but it's all for our sweet girl, so it's worth it!
Maternity Clothes: The bigger my belly gets, the more limited I am. I am still wearing my regular shorts with my belly band and mostly wearing just maternity shirts. I am a little bored with the selection, but I am too close to the end to spend money on a bunch of new maternity clothes. I've continued to wear the maternity clothes that I was given in my last pregnancy. Baggy t-shirts, comfy shorts, flip flops, simple maternity shirts, maternity sundresses, and bigger tank tops are my best friend!
Stretch Marks: Still doing well with the stretch mark cream and belly butter and my belly is still looking pretty good (one small stretch mark) ...hoping it stays that way as my belly runs out of room for this baby!
Sleep: I definitely have less energy than I did for a while, but I still struggle with sleeping. I'm a tummy sleeper, so pregnancy is always tough in that respect. I feel like I can't get comfortable and I naturally wake-up every few hours (usually twice a night). Still eating during the night :) Hence, the small meals every few hours...I don't take breaks! Overall, I'm really not getting much quality sleep, but that's just how the end of pregnancy goes. It's always hard for me to rest and relax at the end when there's so much going on and my mind is always racing with everything that needs to get done. I have been able to nap a little, so that helps me get through the extra tiring days. With that being said, I'm still in "get it done" mode and have majorly been nesting recently. I'm staying very active with all of the preparation for the baby and still feeling good being active! 
Miss Anything? The weight gain has been the biggest struggle for me this week. I'm still wanting to gain healthy weight and not just from overeating and eating junk. It's hard to find the balance sometimes, but seeing that the baby grew and was doing better definitely helps with the weight gain struggle! Also, I'm just feeling pregnant this week. I can tell I'm carrying around an almost 4 lb. baby and she's heavy! I'm just feeling it more and more, especially since I'm still taking care of an 18 month old who doesn't slow down full time! Picking Grayson up or running after him can be challenging sometimes.
Best Moment of the Week: We got the nursery painted this week and I love it! The nursery is gray with a purple accent wall and I think it's really pretty. I'm excited to put the room back together and see how it all looks! Getting closer to baby girl's arrival and feeling more prepared!
Movement: The baby was a little less active this week, but I can feel her body parts so much more distinctly. There are days where she moves all day and days where she moves less. Her movements are powerful and strong and I can tell she's getting bigger and bigger. I can feel her head, feet, elbows, knees, punches, and kicks....it's great. She always has her hands in her mouth during the ultrasounds and I feel her arms move a lot, so it's cool to see what's she's doing in there! While movement is my favorite part of pregnancy, nothing compares to holding your baby in your arms on the outside of the womb. I can't wait! I'm trying to cherish these last weeks of baby kicks because I don't know if this will be my last pregnancy or not, and I don't want to wish it away.
Food Cravings: I've done so well with my protein intake! It's amazing how well and disciplined you will eat when your baby's health is at stake. I am still really enjoying all my high protein food finds (protein bars, shakes, string cheese, Greek yogurt, scrambled eggs, and chicken), but I still love sugar and find it hard to make myself eat the "real" foods some days. I've had a few days where I've eaten a lot of sweets, but thankfully a lot of it has been ice cream which has some protein in there. ;) My favorite food this week has been this high protein, high fiber, and low calorie ice cream I recently found and a delicious pound cake given to us. I normally don't love pound cake, but this stuff is amazing. I've been on an ice cream kick this week and can't get enough of it! Baby girl is definitely a happy camper in there! :)
Anything making you queasy or sick? No.
Gender: Girl! We received 2 handmade blankets and a beautiful handmade hat this week. I've also organized her dresser of clothes, shoes, and accessories and all her blankets, burp clothes, and bibs. Everything is so stinkin' cute! She's spoiled already.
Symptoms: Braxton Hicks contractions but not as often this week, constipation, painful gas and bloating have been issues this week -- my tummy has just been off because of the baby's growth and the major increase in protein, feeling more pressure really low, insomnia, more tired, harder getting up and moving around, always thirsty, colostrum has come in, major nesting going on...definitely feeling pregnant! It's always hard for me to list pregnancy symptoms, because ultimately I have had it so easy! No heart burn, very little pain, a good amount of energy, no sickness, and still feeling good! I count myself lucky. :)
Happy or moody: Moody! This week was especially bad.
Looking forward to: Continuing our long to-do list! Once we get the nursery put back together and the decorations hung, we just have to get the baby monitor, baby book, and some more newborn diapers, and then we are done! I also need to pack my hospital bag and make freezer meals sometime soon. Lots to do, but getting closer and closer to meeting our little girl and I can't wait!
32 Week Ultrasound -- I love being able to see little glimpses of her face! 😍
Doctors Appointments: I had all 3 of my doctors appointments in 1 day this week! I scheduled them all together, so I only have to make 1 trip to Atlanta. My thyroid dosage was lowered a month ago, so we will see if my levels are where they should be! The regular OBGYN went well for the most part. My iron was abnormally high at my past 2 appointments, so I'm getting extra blood work done to check on that. (Always something!) But the specialist appointment (the most important one) went really well! The baby's belly growth is still lagging, but her belly went from being below the 10th percentile to the 16th percentile at this appointment and her overall weight and growth went from the 24th percentile to the 33rd percentile! The doctor was very happy with her growth and said she seems happy and healthy! I go back to the regular OBGYN and the specialist again in 2 weeks, so I'm going to keep focusing on drinking enough water, resting, and getting lots of protein in the mean time! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment