38 weeks vs. 24

38 weeks

24 weeks

38 weeks, different angle

What do you think? Belly on the left, this morning in my
38th week. Belly on the right, same shirt, different color/ pattern at 24 weeks.

I'd say I have grown.

I am still weighing in around 168 right now and am getting to that "I am done" point, mostly due to the lack of sleep.

Next week is my last week at work (if I make it) and I hope I last so I can tie up some loose ends and leave on a perfect/ organized note.

My students had a surprise baby shower for me today. It was very thoughtful and included a very large gift certificate to one of my favorite healthy places....Trader Joes. I am lucky to have 89 wonderful young people who have been on this journey with me. It is the sense of family that seems to happen on my teaching team that reminds me of why I love my job.

So what could be a better way to kick off my post-baby weight loss/ healthy living adventure than by stocking the house with healthy Trader Joes favs!
That will be on the agenda for the weekend, along with a lot of cleaning, baby gear finding and putting a few new things together.

I am very excited to meet this little lady, to get my body back and to begin living life as a family of 5.

37 weeks...YIKES

37 weeks pregnant is a great point because you are considered full term. This means I do not over-analyze every ache and pain and worry about baby being born too soon. I will be happy if she stays put for another two weeks, as I need to get myself together at work.

Here are my current stats:

Total weight gain:

30 lbs exactly. I started at 138 and now weigh 168. I anticipate that I will gain a few more lbs, ending up with a 33-35 lb gain.

Maternity clothes?

Uggh. The end of pregnancy is NOT fun for getting dressed. Maternity shirts are getting short. I have a few faves that fit..but am running low. I prefer yoga pants to anything else.

Belly button in or out?

It has been out for months. Once upon a time my tummy was one of my best features....Not so sure it will ever be again.

Sleep:

Ha, well I fall asleep...but staying asleep is not so simple. It is a major game of flip the big belly. After three kids I am used to not sleeping

Best moment this week:

I have had the week of, so enjoying some unusually warm weather has been the best. I was also glad to learn I didn't gain any weight at this week's appointment. I feel like my body didn't need it this week. 

Food Cravings:

Pregnant people will probably hate me when I say this, but I do not really believe in cravings. I think it is a crock that people use as an excuse to eat whatever they want. However, I do like to indulge and my favorite warm weather treat is frozen yogurt..which I had twice this week and it was so good.

Food Aversions:

Nothing really. I try to avoid eating too much at once due to a squished belly

Symptoms:

Way too many to list, but the hardest to deal with at this point is feeling like I have a bowling ball between my legs due to intense pressure and the lightening pains this causes me.

Movement:

She is a mad woman. I get elbows and knees and her bum that just full out rolls in my belly, like an alien trying to escape.

Gender:

Ms. Vivienne Rose

What I'm looking forward to:
My final labor experience, knowing our family is complete and starting the journey of getting back in shape and living a healthy, happy lifestyle with my 3 kiddos and husband.

What I miss:

Being able to run around the yard with the kids, intense workouts, breathing like a normal person.

Milestones:

Considered full term

Next appointment:

Next Wednesday when the dreaded internals start

So that is the life of a pregnant chick soooo close to the end. I am trying to rest, to enjoy my little one's while I can still give them attention and to do what I can to get off my butt without pushing myself too hard. I am trying to stay somewhat active, but am not pushing it because my body has been screaming at me lately.

Plus, sometimes you just have to enjoy the pregnancy excuse one last time before you can never do that again...as seen here:

Spring-air, playground workouts and new life on the "farm"

There is nothing like good weather to brighten your spirits. As I mentioned before, I am starting my spring break and enjoying a week off with the kiddos. Today was a beautiful day. We spent some time at the beach (even though it was cold at the shore) because my husband was out for a run and needed us to drive him some water and food on his route. So the kids and I did some digging, seashell hunting and of course Liam HAS to jump off the sea wall 100 times.







Next stop was to pick up daddy and go visit my Mother-in law at the rehab center where she is working hard to get better from a bad surgery. The kids love Nana and we had a good visit.

Then we convinced daddy to head to the playground. It was about 15 degrees warmer inland, which was fabulous
















Liam wanted to go to the playground to show his daddy how he can go ALL the way across the monkey bars without help. I tell you my little guy is pretty darn strong for someone who just turned 4. He is going to be quite the athlete.

I love that we have so many playgrounds here. This playground is my favorite. The last few times I went I did some mini-workouts as the kids played. Today was no exception. We all got our fitness on as we played.

Pregnancy Playground Workout

Here are some examples of what I did:

As I pushed the kids on the swing I did very love squats as I pushed out. I bet I did around 60-80 total.

I did one leg step ups on various size steps..somewhere around 50 on each leg.

I did side scissor step ups on the piping around the border of the playground 3 sets of 12 on each leg.

I went to a steep hill and did lunges up and down that hill 5 times.

There was also a set of stairs that I climbed a few times, two steps at a time.

Then a did alternating sets of double knee lifts (great for working the birthing muscles)
and twist planks, modified from Maria's amazing post found here: http://alifetobraggabout.blogspot.com/2012/04/friday-5-five-exercises-you-dont.html

I enjoyed my mini-playground workout. This playground also has a small gravel track, so it is a great place to come with all the kiddos and set up a routine when the baby is here. I love working out with the family and it is amazing to see the kiddos get some great exercise as they watch their parents do the same. Being a role model for my kids to be active and healthy is my main drive for staying fit.

And just when I thought our day couldn't get any more exciting, I remembered it was time to pick up the baby chicks we ordered. We had chickens for the last two years, but sadly lost the last of our small flock to coyotes a few months ago. So we decided to expand our chicken operation here on our wanna-be farm and now have 30, week old chicks living in our garage. So this fall I will be posting some serious egg recipes, as they are likely to begin laying around the end of October.



















So we will have a lot of new life around these parts. I love the spring and the changes it brings. Our little family plans to take it all in stride and do a lot of planting, growing, working out and raising little things this spring and summer. There is nothing like fresh air and nice weather,,,it seems to revive the spirit.

To gym or not to gym.

Just sitting here..watching my hubby exercise and thinking about how I cannot wait to join him.

This week has brought a lot of rest time. I only went to the gym once and did an exercise video on another day. I think I have finally gotten to the point where I am just going to take it easy. Baby girl has dropped and I started having some pretty strong, but inconsistent contractions. I am in NO WAY ready for her to come. I am 36 weeks and I like my babies fully cooked.

Resting is fabulous. I am off from work all week and the past few days I have slept until 6:30/7, which may not sound late, but it is by our standards. Since I have the week off I am probably going to hit the gym a few times since I don't have the stress of work. But after this week I think I may stick to stretching and walks until she appears.

I love working out, but working out when it feels like you have a bowling ball between your legs is not that great, or productive. Not to mention when you pay for it later on with hips and nerve pain that makes you want to DIE.

I am not really worried about getting back into the swing of things after baby. My husband has been working out pretty hard, so I know he will inspire me.

So here we are. 3.5 weeks until my due date, just waiting our little ladies arrival. I hope she goes easy on me.

Easter Eggs, Over-Eating and Family

We just said good bye to our family who spent a week in town. It was my brother-in-law, his girlfriend and their 3 kiddos. We have a lot of fun, ate too much food and watched the kids play. It was slightly overshadowed by the fact that my mother-in-law has been in the hospital for two weeks and its not doing well. We were lucky enough to visit with her and try to enjoy each other as best we can.
We are very blessed to have a big yard and it is always priceless to watch a gang of kids running around.




























We ended our week of playing and fun with an Easter egg hunt and brunch. We sugared the kiddos up and sent 3 of them off on an airplane back to California. I love watching the kids interact with their cousins and it certainly did wear them out.

I am gearing up for another work week and trying to recover from eating too much, but enjoying myself. I hope everyone has a fabulous Easter. Back to the grind tomorrow.......

35 weeks

I am feeling HUGE. According to thebump.com:

You're 35 weeks pregnant! Baby is now the size of a butternut squash!

 

I think my squash is a very big one. I have started experiencing intense pains in my crotch and I breath a bit better now, which indicates that she is moving down into position.

 

I am in my final hall at work. April is a great "last full month" at work because we have a weeks vacation, plus two additional days off. So it feels very manageable. In total I have 14 days left at work. I am planning to work until May 4th and then be off from that point on, even if she hasn't arrived.

 

I am hoping some nesting kicks in and that I can get this house in order before she arrives.

 

In the fitness world, I am barely holding on. I went to the gym twice this week and am hoping to go once this weekend. The hardest part about exercise at this point is all the pressure in my crotch. I would really like to keep up 3 days a week, but it is tough.

 

I am weighing about 165. I feel like the baby had a growth spurt this past week. This brings my total gain to 27 lbs. Hopefully it isn't too out of control the next few weeks.

 

In non-baby life everything is fine. We have relatives visiting which means a lot of fun for the kids with so many friends to play with. I have today (Good Friday) off and am planning to enjoy some kiddo time and a bit of rest.

 

Happy Easter!