Week 31

Sometime this last week I seem to have gotten a lot bigger.  I feel bigger.  And I spent one day running errands and found that almost everywhere I went I got some pregnancy comment or other: from a nurse at a (non pregnancy related) doctor's appointment, the clerk at the post office and then a friend I hadn't seen in about 3 weeks said I looked like I'd "popped".  I don't think that I look HUGE - just very obviously pregnant now so it brings up conversation.  But this is good - I want Baby to grow, and if they're growing, then I'm gonna look bigger!  So I'll take the comments.  At least no one has said the dreaded "you're HUGE!!" or "are you having twins?" or "any day now, huh?"  At least they haven't yet...

How far along: 31 weeks, 1 day
What did baby do this week:  Baby is about the size of a pineapple at around 3.75 pounds and 15.2-16.7" head to heel.  Baby's not doing a whole lot more than just gaining weight, turning more pink (less red) and hardening their bones.  In these remaining weeks, Baby's brain and body will get bigger and lungs will become more and more developed.  Our little one is practicing their breathing 30-40% of the time.
Total weight gain: 23.8 pounds (my weight is all over the place - last week I was up 24, two weeks ago I was up 23.8 so it seems the GD diet is really keeping my weight at roughly the same place.)
Symptoms:  I finally realized that what I thought were some funny feeling Baby movements are actually Braxton-Hicks contractions.  My belly gets hard in one area while it remains soft in other areas.  These don't feel like what I thought they’d feel like, but when people describe it as if your belly is making a fist - yes, that is accurate.  I guess I thought they'd be painful, but my OB said as long as they're NOT painful I can have a lot of them without being concerned (I'd previously read that you should call your doctor if you have more than 4 in an hour, but she said only if they're painful).  I should probably knock on some wood, but OMG I think my sciatic pain went away after acupuncture last Thurs?!  Awesome!!  I've had some tingling in hands when driving for a while and when holding a book while I read in bed.  I guess this has been going on for a couple months (or more) but I thought I'd just mention it since I'd brought up the sciatica.  All these weird nerve side effects!
Queasy or Sick: Nope
Sleep:  Fine.
Best moment this week: We did our maternity photoshoot on Sunday morning!  It was a lot of fun, but tiring (we started at 8am, which if you work backwards to the time it took me to doll myself up - it meant getting up before 6am!!!)  I feel like the photographer captured so much variety; we did 5 outfit changes!  And photos were taken both in a local garden as well as in our home.  I can't wait to see them.
Hardest part of the week: Realizing that I just can’t do as much - and I won’t be able to for a long time!  I am a very busy, independent person and I've been noticing that it's taking me just the slightest bit longer to do things: run errands, get household chores done, make dinner.  Standing for [what I would not have previously considered a long period of time] kills my feet.  I keep thinking about how it'll be better once I'm not pregnant anymore - but then it hits me that it'll probably be WORSE!  Cuz then I'll have a little baby to lug around and tend to! Oh this motherhood thing is gonna be fun, huh?  :)

Looking forward to: My first baby shower this weekend - the one for my friends (thrown by my amazing friends.)  And I seriously can't believe Thanksgiving is next week.  Once these holidays pass we will be facing our little baby's birthday!  And we all know how quickly the holidays pass.  Eeeks!!
Movement: OMG SO MUCH.  I was sitting in a Dr’s waiting room the other day and almost wanted to hide my belly thinking people might be able to see it slightly moving on its own!  (that might be an exaggeration, but it felt like it to me!)
Food cravings: Really been craving flavored drinks.  Like lemonade or juice or even soda!  But of course I don't give in...
Happy or moody: Quite happy I'd have to say.
Labor signs: No
Maternity clothes:  I think next week I'm gonna remove this category.  I mean we all know I couldn't really wear non-maternity if I tried!  However, I did put on a non-maternity cardigan the other day, but just to wear to work.  I couldn't button it or anything.  It was just for my arms.
Belly button in or out: In
Wedding rings on or off: On
Stretch marks: No
Learnings from the week:  I had this realization earlier this week that is kind of odd, but not surprising.  All the rest of my life - when I repeatedly do an exercise week after week, it becomes easier.  This makes sense since your body gets stronger and more adept at completing the task.  But when you're pregnant, I've started noticing that doing an exercise week after week starts to get more difficult!  Not because I'm more "out of shape" but because my belly is growing, my lungs are losing some air capacity, I'm just not as flexible around my midsection, and my body/feet get more sore/swollen as I exercise.  Argh!!  But I still keep it up.  I really think it's done wonders to get me to where I am right now!
Final Thoughts:  A couple days ago Baby was having a very active morning.  Hubby not only felt Baby’s hiccups for the first time, but saw my belly jump on its own - something I’d been trying to show him, but hard it's always hard to get his attention at the right moment.