38 Week Updates: Baby 2.0

How far along? 38 weeks today! Yep... still cooking.

How big is baby? The apps have her estimated around 7 pounds at this point, though truly it is anyone's guess! She is definitely filling up every inch of space in my belly.

How big is Mama? Not much weight gain since last week- only up .2 of a pound, for a total weigh in at 146.2 (36.2 pound gain this pregnancy so far). I am quite sure that sometime between last week Monday and Wednesday baby 'dropped.' The profile of my belly changed and on Wednesday I also had increased pressure down low, complete with tailbone pain and a resurgence of hemorrhoids (which I haven't had since birth and the post partum period with Iyla!) All of this means it is increasingly painful and hard for me to sit long periods at a time... or walk... or, really, do anything.

 Here's the comparison belly shot between last Monday and last Wednesday- the "basketball" has dropped slightly and shifted to a more oblong shape

And here is this week's 38 week belly shot. 
It looks even MORE oblong to me- she's definitely getting bigger in there!

Sleep? When I am asleep I sleep soundly. However, I wake so.many.times throughout the night having to shift my body and get up to use the restroom. I'm still having my hands constantly falling asleep so I have to mix up my positions frequently.

Food cravings/aversions? Ah, fruit! This past week I can't get enough of watermelon and peaches, along with apples & grapes. I'm wanting lighter foods overall, though am still enjoying the occasional cheeseburger. Fruits, veggies, sandwiches, & cereal seem to be my recent go-to's.

Symptoms? Everything is jacked up to a high degree!

*Pelvic pressure and pain. I'd include here the sore tailbone, hemorrhoid pain, pressure in my lady parts, etc. After using the restroom I often can't stand straight up or walk for a moment or two due to a strange burning/shifting down there- so have to bend over and do "cat/cow" yoga arching of my back before trying to walk upright again.

*Fatigue. The last week has been tough physically. I also seem to be having an uptick in days when I wake and automatically feel absolutely exhausted- like you could knock me over with a feather.

*Sore hands/fingers. This goes part in parcel with the limbs falling asleep at night. By day my fingers are tight and painful to straighten, especially the ring finger on each hand.

Big sister?

Iyla continues to play act all things baby and family on a daily basis. She loves to take my hand and stuff it under her shirt, saying that "baby tickles" is in her belly and asking me to "feel her moving!" It's so sweet.

Here are this week's school photos:

Iyla also got to do a "Kids Night Out" Saturday night at her school. It was a beach themed party, and apparently she and a new little boy named Nico were BFFs the entire night. Here's a shot of her heading out for her fun evening (and Mama and Papa got to sneak in an extra date night- hooray!):

Still in a phase of insisting on TWO BUNS in her hair every.single.day

On Sunday BC took Iyla to a "Discover the Dinosaurs" event- where Iyla picked out a toy dinosaur whose belly lit up because according to her, it had a "baby in its belly." Of course!

Here she is riding a mechanical dinosaur at the event- her face in the 2nd shot is priceless!

Baby prep?

SO READY. Literally. Bags are packed. Diaper stations are stocked. Clothes are washed & organized. Several meals are prepared and frozen. I even had the good fortune of scoring an awesome and super cute new soft structured baby carrier:

This brand- Kinderpack- releases two new carrier prints on Tuesdays and Fridays and typically sells out within MINUTES of the carriers releasing. One of my Mama friends from my November Mamas group is famous for having an incredible track record of scoring these for those of us wanting them- and she did NOT disappoint! This print, known as "Terrapin," became an instant hit- with so.many.moms on message boards lamenting how they didn't score one, and willing to pay a HUGE uptick in price for anyone willing to part with theirs. So: awesome, cute carrier for the new baby that doubles as an amazing investment! BOOM. Now let's just hope this kid let's me wear her (unlike her big sister Iyla who always hated being worn, and continues to be slightly claustrophobic).

Last week I asked baby to please give me time to get my new listing on the market (preferably with multiple offers so I could get it under contract as well). 

Check and CHECK. 

Under contract with 5 strong offers, so baby officially got the GREEN LIGHT on my end to come any day! However, BC says he'd love to have through this week to tie up some work- and so far it seems like she is also listening to him (darn!)

Did I mention how ready I was for baby to come?

I know the end is in immediate sight.... but dang if these last weeks of pregnancy aren't rough.

C'mon baby girl, c'mon!

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating with all of our extended family here in town. I am so thankful Iyla decided to make an early appearance, so she could fully indulge in her first holiday- which she pretty much slept through.

She got a lot of cuddles!

 Uncle Andy (my brother)

 Cousin Alec

 Aunt Jeannine

 Cousin Heather & her boyfriend Patrick

 Chillin' in her Thanksgiving dress

I love the way she poses her little arms! Deep thoughts here.

Sweet moment my aunt captured- the look on my mom's face is priceless.

BC and I snuggling

The Thanksgiving feast is my favorite meal of the year- and my Aunt Sheri & Uncle Vince did an awesome job hosting in her beautiful new home in Cedar Park.

The next morning as I changed Iyla I realized her cord stump had fallen off, at 11 days old! She is now sporting an actual belly button. So cute.

Later on Friday we had a follow up Pediatrician visit to test her bili levels again. Iyla gained 2 more ounces, and clocked in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces! She is growing more and more every day. The good news is her bili levels didn't rise again, but remained the same at 16. The Pediatrician said that the only way to know for SURE if this is breast milk jaundice (which isn't really dangerous unless levels jump up, and clears in a couple weeks) is to do a 48 hour formula diet cleanse, which also tends to bring levels down. After getting a 2nd opinion from another Pediatrician friend, BC and I decided to hold off for now on the cleanse, as I would hate to have it jeopardize my milk supply & Iyla's awesome nursing. I will take her in again Monday to test her levels, and pray they are ideally lower or at LEAST remaining stable. If they have gone up I will likely bite the bullet and start the cleanse.

On the way to the Pediatrician- she is such a little squish in her car seat!

My brother is a photographer, so we took the opportunity to have a little photo shoot with Iyla. She only had one mid-shoot meltdown (didn't appear to approve of the tutu I tried to put on her)- but after a little snack was back in supermodel mode. I snapped a couple pictures with my IPhone of her in her Thanksgiving dress, working her poses:

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful, dahlings

Friday night we took Iyla on her first outing, grabbing dinner out at one of our favorite East Austin tex-mex spots-  Takoba. She did great and slept the entire time! This little one is definitely a sleeper- I have to wake her up for pretty much every meal. I am looking forward to getting the OK from the Pediatrician to just let her sleep during the night and wake ME when she wants to eat!

Iyla's first night out at 11 days old

As far as my continued postpartum recovery goes, things are getting better and better. Yesterday my hemorrhoids seemed to calm down a bit, which is a godsend. I can finally sit normally again! I am now down 14 pounds from my total pregnancy gain and my belly is starting to look more and more normal. Even the squish factor is starting to go down slowly but surely. Still have a lot of toning that could be done, and I plan to start taking daily walks with our little one to help that along.

The 12 day postpartum belly (don't mind the fresh from the shower hair!)

Today BC and I are going to put up all of our Christmas decorations- I love this time of year! He will hang the outdoor lights & put up the tree while I set up my Christmas Village & other festive decorations. I love that Iyla came right in time to celebrate all these holidays as a family. They will definitely be extra special this year!