8 Months Pregnant 2014

29 Weeks, February 6-12
We visited Regan and Chris and James had a fun playdate with their girls Morgan and Payton.

Reading to Payton

Baby progress:  First hiccups I could feel (2/11)! Baby is about the size of a butternut squash (or acorn squash?) and maybe 2.5 pounds. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is getting bigger for her growing brain – which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in your baby's skeleton, which is now hardening. There's lots of rapid growth now!

Symptoms: Still throwing up once a week (when I overdo it with sugar), acid reflux, stuffy nose, trouble walking without pain- uh-oh. Evening grumpiness- big time!
Cravings: Burgers, bananas
Anti-cravings: none
My Weight Gain: 20 pounds, but still 1 pounds heavier than last time. Getting closer though!
Thing I Miss: Not worrying about the acid content of foods
Compare to week 29 with James

30 Weeks, February 13-19
Kevin and James enjoyed a snow day at home. We celebrated our last Valentines Day as a family of 3.5, and had our 30-week sonogram the same day. We celebrated Kevin's 34th birthday with Lukas and Sarah.

She looks like James.

Baby progress: Baby girl is supposed to be the size of a cabbage and weigh almost 3 pounds, but our sonogram revealed she's actually about 4.5 pounds. That's more the size of babies that are 33 weeks along, so she's really more like a pineapple. They didn't estimate her length, but we're not really worried about it. She'll probably be taller than me, because it would be hard not to be.

The sonogram technician said that she was already head down and was unlikely to turn around now, but I can feel her kicking and somersaulting all the time. She particularly responds to James crying or screaming.

The sono-tech also said the baby has some hair already, but given what a baldy James was, I am not holding my breath. I have a ton of hats all ready for her, and I'm probably going to get some decorative headbands soon too.

Symptoms: Absent-mindedness and clumsiness, stuffy/bloody nose, some seriously painful baby kicks, grumpiness. No throwing up this week! I think I learned to stop eating sugar when it starts disagreeing with me.
Cravings: Greek coconut yogurt, fish, LAVENDER- seriously.
Anti-cravings: Indian food. No thank you.
My Weight Gain: 21.5 pounds, just half a pound heavier than last time! (though last time I had gained 27-30 pounds already, but I started heavier this time)
Thing I Miss: breathing, going for walks out in the sun
Compare to week 30 with James

31 Weeks, February 20-26
Christina and I took the train to DC to enjoy Girls' Weekend with Laurie, Megan, Janice, and Ash.

Girls Weekend

Baby progress:  This week, baby girl is supposed to be about the size of a coconut or pineapple, about 3 1/3 pounds, but really now we know she's probably more of a cantaloupe, and about  4 3/4 pounds. She should now have toenails, fingernails, and some hair.

Symptoms: My left knee hurts (this happened last time too), stuffy nose, acid reflux at night (though mercifully not much during the day)
Cravings: Peanut butter, bananas, smoothies (mostly fruit, yogurt, bananas), chicken, lettuce (what, why?)
Anti-cravings: Beef
My Weight Gain: 21.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds less than I weighed last time!
Thing I Miss: Breathing
Compare to week 31 with James

8 Months!, February 27-March 5
Kevin and I finally decided on a baby name- it's mostly Kevin's choice of name (still a secret though). My mom came to visit and I showed her the nursery, and she helped me pick Itty Bitty's coming home outfit. Kevin and I went out for date night in Flushing, Queens.

8 months + 4 days

Baby Progress:  I had my 32-week doctor's appointment 3/3. It was pretty uneventful but at least they can see that she's still upside down. I guess that would be good if I had any faith that she was going to come on her own before passing the 8.5 lbs VBAC cut-off. They didn't try to figure out her weight.

She's supposed to be about the size of a large jicama and about 3 3/4 pounds, but since she was about 3 weeks ahead in weight last time, she's probably more of a honeydew melon right now, and certainly over 5 pounds by now. She'll probably gain about half a pound a week now. She's on track to be newborn-James-size at over 9 pounds. So she now has a deadline. If she's 9 pounds by the day before, she's coming out on her due date, April 24.

She "sleeps in" frequently, and stays up late dancing. She hiccups frequently. I am SO! excited!. to meet her!

Symptoms: Headaches, bloody nose, threw up again (after date night-yay), I am SUCH A GRUMP anytime I'm thirsty or tired, acid reflux but only at night, absent-minded, clumsy, cried one day because I was so tired.

Generally, this pregnancy has been much harder on both me and Kevin. The third trimester has been especially hard for me, I think because this time I'm older plus I have to take care of  James while I work from home. It's harder for Kevin because he's been getting up with James for 6-7 days a week, and generally picking up a lot of slack while grow a person.

Cravings: CHOCOLATE!!, grape juice, salt, one day I craved lettuce, vanilla a little, yogurt.
Anti-cravings: 
My Weight Gain: 23.5, still half a pound less than last time, but I'm starting to lose ground here. Possibly I haven't been drinking enough water?
Thing I Miss: Having physical and mental energy. I have none.
Compare to week 32 with James

Bonus belly shots:

Kevin calls this pose "Fashion preggo!"

James tickling my belly post bath (anything to avoid bedtime)

Carrying both my babies

And as of yesterday, I have exactly 7 weeks to go! Baby has a weight-deadline on April 24, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.!