Hellobee

It is hard to believe I am already well into my third trimester. Only a few more weeks to go! I haven’t shared a lot of updates this pregnancy, so it seemed like it was definitely time to share how things are going before the pregnancy is over!

Photo taken by Family Tree Photography

Baby’s sex:  boy  (boy #3 for us!)

Position: Head down. yay!

Symptoms: At this point, I am firmly in the ‘generally uncomfortable most of the time’ phase. My back and ribs often hurt, especially after sitting for an extended period of time. Sleeping is getting more and more difficult. And keeping up with my preschooler and toddler is definitely getting harder. With my previous two pregnancies, I developed carpal tunnel in both wrists during the last few weeks of pregnancy and it didn’t go away until several months after birth. I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen this time around, but I’m just starting to notice some tingling in my hands at random times so I’m not very hopeful.

Complications: So far our only complication has been gestational diabetes. (Which I wrote about here and here)  I was diagnosed early so I’ve been dealing with managing my diet and checking blood sugar for more than 5 months at this point. Thankfully, my gestational diabetes has been fairly easy to control with diet  I do take one pill every night to help manage my blood sugar overnight but that is all.

Sucking his tiny thumb!

Prenatal Care: Because of my gestational diabetes diagnosis (and the fact it isn’t 100% controlled by diet alone), I have had lots of extra ultrasounds and monitoring to make sure the baby is growing appropriately and doing well. Starting at 32 weeks, I’ve had two ob appointments every week including two non-stress tests and an ultrasound. At first I was dreading all of the extra appointments because I typically have to drag my other two littles to the doctor with me, but it actually hasn’t been too bad. I knew I couldn’t have my other two there when I was hooked up to a monitor for non-stress tests so I figured out childcare and it’s actually relaxing having that time to myself. It’s also been really nice getting to see the new baby on ultrasounds so often. Of course, the major downside is I am spending a lot of time at the doctor’s office every week!

Movements: This baby is an active little guy! I wasn’t really able to feel movements until 21 or 22 weeks because of the placement of the placenta, but now he is a mover and a shaker. You can see tons of movement just by looking at my belly!

Bonding: Along with my two other successful pregnancies, I’ve also had three first trimester miscarriages. Because of this, it’s always been tough for me to really bond with baby before he is born. There is just too much fear and anxiety that something will go wrong. But this time around, it’s been much easier to feel connected to our new little guy. I think a lot of it has to do with all of the extra monitoring I’ve had. I’ve already had 8 ultrasounds at this point and will continue to get ultrasounds weekly until the birth. Seeing his cute little face so often has really helped drive it home that there is an actual tiny human growing inside of me! The frequent monitoring has also really helped relieve my fears that something hidden may be going wrong in there.

Preparations: Since this is our third boy in five years, we haven’t needed to buy a whole lot of baby gear. I did replace our infant car seat and a few other things I had already sold or given away. I had also sold a lot of our little baby clothes at consignment sales since we weren’t sure we would be having any more babies. Whoops! But I’ve been slowly filling in our baby wardrobe with second-hand finds and hand-me-downs along with a few new pieces just for this little guy.

Nursery prep: This little guy will be using the same room that my other two sons used as a nursery. Dash recently moved out of the nursery to share a room with Finn, so I’ve been busy loading the room back up with tiny baby clothes and gear. When Dash was born, I gave the room an update with fresh paint, bedding, and art. But this time, I’m debating just leaving it alone. I really love how it looks now and it seems silly to change it all so soon. On the other hand, I don’t want this little guy to miss out on all of the special things I did for my other two. I haven’t made any firm decisions, but right now I’m leaning toward leaving most of the room as it is and doing a few small updates to the accessories to freshen things up.

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Only sixish more weeks to go!  I feel equal parts Yikes! and Hooray!  How did you feel at this point in pregnancy?