Magic Sleep Elixir, Extreme Nesting, & 33 Week Updates

I had some seriously extreme nesting going on yesterday. Perhaps it was due to the first good nights' sleep I've had in weeks- it's amazing the magic that feeling rested can bring! I felt like I could conquer the world, and I have this little bottle to thank for it:

My pre-natal yoga teacher had mentioned this "Sleepy Nights for Pregnancy" at class last week, and Thursday I finally made the trip to Whole Foods to grab some. I took 2 dropper fulls before bed, 2 when I woke in the middle of the night, and another when I woke toward the morning. I ended up getting about 9.5 glorious hours of sleep- finally rising at 7:30am, which is the latest I've slept in as long as I can remember! This morning I still woke at 6am and couldn't get back to sleep, but at least I didn't have an hour of middle-of-the-night-schizo brain on top of that.

There's nothing like knowing paying guests will be staying at your house for 5 nights to kick the nesting into full gear. This coming Wednesday we have 2 couples arriving to rent our house for the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and there is much to be done. I completely cleaned out, scrubbed down, & organized our kitchen pantry, and did a similar deep cleaning of our bedroom closet.

One half of our master closet- I love this space. How cool is it to have a window in your closet?

I also made great headway in organizing the baby shower loot in our nursery. I have almost all bedding, blankets, & clothes washed & put away- the main things left to do are to hang art on the walls, organize a diaper station, & unpack/assemble the big baby gear.

 We have a changing pad! And I am still playing with that tree branch- the latest idea is to maybe put a storage piece of furniture where it now sits (storage basket drawers?) and have the branch on top of that in a weighted vase.

We also finally settled on the light for above the glider! A Mexican star light. Well, we actually removed the light feature due to the ugliness of an extension cord down the wall- but still love the look of this there. That bird painting to the right will get hung next to the window, and behind the rocker I'd like to either have a mirror or a couple of floating shelves.

I am also still debating on whether or not to get some kind of mobile above the crib. Here is the current view:

And here is what I am thinking of purchasing to hang from the ceiling between those two windows:

Link to mobile on Etsy here.

What do you all think? It could be whimsical/beautiful, or it could look like too much. The challenge with my just ordering it to see is that these are custom made and can't be returned.

I am 33 weeks pregnant today- here are the official updates!

How far along? 33 weeks

How big is baby? The size of a Honeydew melon. The apps say she should be in the 4 pound range now. The growth ultrasound we had a little over a week ago officially clocked her in at 3lbs, 6 ounces, so it is likely she is around 4+ pounds now.

Weight gain? I hit the 20 pound mark this morning! 20.4 pounds to be exact, so almost a 1 pound gain from last week. I am just now starting to get comments along the lines of "it looks like you are going to pop!" and "you're in the final stretch now!" I've apparently grown out of the "you're so small" phase, which is just fine by me. I am enjoying watching my belly grow!

 A belly shot from right before date night with BC Wednesday 

And the standard woobie belly fare (a little blurry, but that's how I'm feeling this morning)

Cravings/Aversions? I've noticed that I am NOT wanting salads or leafy greens lately. Now if we go out to eat I do still order a small salad or at least make sure I eat veggies, but at home it is the last thing I want to have. Very strange. I have been loving cereal as a late night snack (those mini cereal variety packs are awesome!) and am eating a Honey Crisp apple every afternoon.

Sleep? See above. I am hoping my new magic elixir buys me some good rest up until the baby comes!

Symptoms? I am having a lot of aching/stretching in the area between my lower back & glute muscles- I guess that is the outer/back area of my hips? If I am up and about a lot this area gets VERY sore, as it did with the extreme nesting yesterday. It helps to stop and do pigeon pose or a deep front lunge to get those muscles to stretch out.

The baby has been getting the hiccups many, many times during the day! It is a good way, in addition to her regular movements, to know all is well in there.

Most looking forward to? Purchasing the rest of the baby loot we need and starting to get things assembled. Now that the shower has come and gone I know exactly what is left that we need. Our car seat, an extra base, and the baby swing are sitting in boxes in front of me now (I was SO geeked out when that car seat was delivered last night!). And after our ACL guests leave I will order up our stroller and a plethora of other smaller items we need (to include things like pacifiers, newborn size cloth diapers, a baby bathtub/robe/washcloths, bedding items, etc). 

Our official ticker reads there are 49 days left until baby- even less if we do indeed schedule her in week 39 for a c-section! Lots to do, but I am having a lot of fun getting everything organized & prepared. : )

30 Weeks! And a New Baby

First things first- my cousin Amy had her baby boy yesterday! I guess that would make him my 2nd cousin, but it is easier to think of myself as an Auntie to this sweet little one. It has been so awesome to both be pregnant together- we grew up like sisters, and are so thrilled our kiddos will be so close in age.

Look at all that HAIR! He looks just like Amy did as a baby.

Liam Matthew 

Born 9/14 at 2:20 am

9lbs 7oz

21-3/4" long

Somehow hitting the 30 week mark feels like an exclamation to me- another milestone in our pregnancy journey. It also signals how close we are getting to meeting our little girl- I can't believe she could be here as soon as 7-8 weeks from now! That fact alone has re-kicked my schizophrenic night brain into high gear- I finally had a couple luxurious full nights of sleep, and then last night the schizo brain was in full affect again, making for a very sleepy day today.

Yesterday we finally procured folks wanting to rent out our house for the Austin City Limits music festival- and they'll be staying here for 5 nights from October 10th-15th. I am thrilled it is 2 adult couples, as that means I don't have to prep extra beds/bedding! We decided after our first round of renting out our house last March (right when we conceived!) that this was an excellent way to make some side income, and are happy to be squeaking in a bit more as the countdown to baby time draws near. However, with renters coming to stay in less than a month, there are a LOT of to-do's to be done! Here are my lists so far:

For our house:
*Assemble a welcome basket of snacks/coffee/treats
*Put together the 'house rules' booklet, including local Austin recommendations
*Clear out bedroom dresser drawers & closet space for guests
*Repair the tears in our leather couches
*Clean out our fridge & pantry
*Organize & store all of the baby loot currently accumulating in my office
*Have house professionally cleaned

For the studio apartment above our garage where we'll be staying:
*Good lord- FINISH IT so it is habitable! Contractors think they should have it far enough along by the weekend prior to ACL for us to start moving into. It won't have flooring yet, but we'll rough it as needed.
*Purchase an HVAC unit (probably a "split" unit that mounts on the wall)
*Purchase a pull out bed and dining table/chairs (we might just throw an air mattress up there short term)
*Purchase a microwave
*Stock the kitchen with basic cookware, utensils, plates, cups, etc
*Install a clothes bar in the closet

There are a million other tiny items we'll need to move in there to live for almost a week, but this list covers the bare necessities.

In other news- two huge boxes of baby girl clothes were delivered to me yesterday from my dear friend Jenny. She has 2 and 4 year old daughters, and I am definitely lucking out to be receiving their hand me downs! So many cute items- and so many things we actually needed to supplement the gazillions of stash of clothes I've already accumulated (things like zip up sleepers, sleep sacks, side snap t-shirts, and newborn pants). This is the stash as it looked upon first unpacking it (note that I piled clothes on top of each other in a somewhat organized fashion- there are a LOT of clothes here):

And this is moments later- Sam was pretty pleased with his new baby girl clothes bed:

On to my 30 week updates!

How far along? 30 weeks today

How big is baby? She has reached the size of a butternut squash - nearing the 3 pound mark and about 16 inches long. Her bone marrow is now producing red blood cells, she can produce tears, and her lungs are active and maturing more every day. I can feel her hiccuping at least once a day now.

Weight gain? My scale hit 125 this morning! That is a total of 17 lbs gained so far (up 1.5 lbs from last week!). They say the weight gain comes faster at the end (often up to a pound a week)- and at this rate, I bet I hit around 30 total pounds when all is said and done. While doing wash yesterday I was lounging in my skivvies and had a moment where I was a bit alarmed at the state of my thighs. They are still not sucking up much with my trusty 'squeeze test,' but I think they have definitely filled in the space between where my hips were originally and where they have now spread.

The weather in Austin has finally started cooling down- and last night I put on a top I'd last worn one month ago in New Mexico. It barely covered my belly! I am going to have to start getting creative in the next two months with my wardrobe- don't want to invest a lot of money in new maternity clothes, but definitely need to find things that can contain my expansion in a tasteful way.

30 week belly- and JEANS! 

First time I've worn jeans in Austin since maybe last March.

Sleep? Ack- still waking WAY too early every day this week. I had a blissful 2 nights of super long, sound sleep Wednesday & Thursday night- but last night my brain went WAY into overdrive making mental lists of all the prep we needed to do with our house, our studio, my job, etc. I am a sleepy girl today.

Food cravings/aversions? Pretty much the same- not wanting anything to do with meats, but definitely loving fish & veggies, along with apples & watermelons. My sweet tooth is also still going strong.

Symptoms? Lots and lots of Braxton Hicks. Every.single.day. They seem to pick up as the day goes on, peaking in the evenings. They made an early appearance this morning, which was extra special. They don't have any pain associated with them but are super uncomfortable and constricting- and make it really hard to walk while they are occurring.

I am starting to slow down more and more. I attempted a home yoga practice yesterday only to realize that many moves are becoming uncomfortable and difficult- including any forward bending poses. Definitely restricts what I can do to keep in shape- hopefully between my push-ups and lunges I can maintain things at a minimal level until after this baby is born.

Most looking forward to? My upcoming appointments- I have a regular doctor appointment next week, then the following week we get to see our little lady on another ultrasound at the fancy clinic that has 3D capabilities! BC will be along for that appointment, and I can't wait to see how our little one has grown.