Week 32 of the JellyBean Progression

Week 32

Had the growth ultrasound last week. Everything was great – baby girl is right on target size-wise, in the 53^rd percentile. She was about 3 ½ pounds (although this week, she should be closer to 4) and should be around 16 inches long. No wonder things are feeling crowded in there!

I’m supposed to be gaining a pound a week from here out, and even though half that goes to the baby, I still feel like PLEASE PLEASE NO MORE WEIGHT GAIN. Ugh! I only gained 15 overall with Fletch – this time I’m already at 25. I am feeling pretty paranoid about gaining any more weight even though Dr. O keeps telling me IT’S FINE. I just don’t want to have to struggle to lose it after. I know the breastfeeding will help – it certainly did last time – but still. I think I will always be worried about weight, pregnant or not.

But, from here out, JellyBean is supposed to gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next couple months. Also, she now has finger and toenails and is supposed to have hair (but we’ll see if she’s born bald like big brother! I hope not.)

Thankfully, I am not having heartburn due to JellyBean crowding all the organs and pushing up on my diaphragm. It is definitely harder to breathe though, and I can hardly eat much at one time because there’s just no room. I have noticed some definite foot swelling this time around – maybe that’s because the weather’s warmer. Also still having the ANGRY LADYPARTS wah wah wah because that totally makes up for the lack of back pain ouch. I swear it’s worse this time. At my visit this week, Dr. O mentioned that a lot of times the second pregnancy seems to hurt worse because all the novelty that you had the first time has worn off. Probably true!

Having tons of BH contractions. Especially when I’ve been on my feet for even a short period – a trip to the grocery store is enough to make the whole belly tighten up for a good long while unless I sit down and take it easy. Same with the ladyparts – I have to sit down a lot and get some of the gravity and pressure off. I feel bad because it means Mr. Fantastic is doing a lot of toddler chasing and dishes and laundry and everything. Maybe I can lure some unsuspecting loved ones into some domestic help after JellyBean gets here to help him get a break.

I’m still not having the back pain like I did last time with Fletch, which is a good sign since for him it meant he was faced the wrong way. But my hips, butt – the whole pelvic region really, really hurts. And my belly hurts – the sides are really stretching. JellyBean is way up high and way out front. I keep bonking my belly into things because I’m not used to how far it sticks out. But in general, I am just super sore and achy and wish we had a pool downstairs like we did when I was pregnant with Fletch. I’m going to have to resort to hot baths to relieve some of this ouchy business.

I have finally found a pretty good sleeping position at least. And we’ve also finally got Fletch sleeping in his own bed (JellyBean, take note – you are on your own!) so I am getting much better rest at night when I can actually stay asleep.

Last week, the night before the ultrasound, I got sick and ended up throwing up. Afterwards, I felt this huge painful movement from JellyBean and figured she must not have liked me barfing and flipped herself over. Sure enough, at the scan the next morning, they said she had moved from breech to head down (where she’s supposed to be.) Yay for that! Dr. O said it was too early to worry about how she was positioned but after the complications with Fletch being face up instead of down; I really wanted this one to go how it’s supposed to.

Fletch did NOT like being born and was in some distress during his birth. Even though I had an epidural, I was very active during his birth – flipping back and forth from my back to hands and knees because his heart rate kept dropping during the pushing but he was happy when I turned over. At one point, there was a bunch of blood and they handed Mr. Fantastic some scrubs and told him to get ready for us to go to the operating room for a c-section. (Which I really, really didn’t want to do) Bless my OB, because she decided that I was pushing great and was strong enough to get him out and shortly after, I did. But it scared poor Mr. F to death – things were happing really fast and with all the blood, he had a brief period where he thought he might lose one or both of us. SO. This time around, I would like a little less drama. Because I’m sure, being my daughter, and being a Haley woman, there will be plenty of drama in her life to come.