Week 33

I feel like I've been pregnant for a long time, but it's crazy to say that we're finishing week 33! Every day bring a new adventure and I'm sure I'll be saying that for a long time to come. There are a few things I've been experiencing on a daily basis which include: puffy/swollen/sore hands from the swelling first thing in the morning and swollen ankles in the evening after sitting at a desk all day then coming home and fixing dinner. Also, my nails are looking rough. The nail beds are so dry and cracking and I have lots of hangnails. I'm pretty sure it has to do with being dehydrated. I drink tons of water everyday now, and can't seem to get enough. Going to bed is when it catches up with me since I can't drink constantly in my 3-hour sleep spurts. But when I get up to use the bathroom I drink a quarter of my Tervis Tumbler full of water or else I won't be able to fall back asleep. (I absolutely love my Tervis Tumbler that I got at our work Christmas party gift exchange, so we just ordered 4 more, woohoo!)

Insomnia is a new things that I've just run into. When I wake up between 3am and 5am lately, I've had a lot of trouble going back to sleep. Sometimes it's because I'm super thirsty and need to go refill my water, and sometimes it's because I'm too hungry to go back to sleep. A couple nights this week I tried both and was still wide awake. I guess Blake is training me for many nights of less sleep than I'm used to. On a similar note, I've been getting really anxious close to the end of the day at work. When 3pm rolls around I just want to get up and go home and do stuff for the nursery or finish any last minute remaining things that we have left to do to be totally ready for Blake's arrival. I guess we can just call it pre-nesting because it's surely too early for the real thing just yet. He certainly feels like a big baby in there but he has more growing to do before it's time to meet him.

Earlier in the week I started having morning sickness symptoms again and it kinda freaked me out. Nausea, dizziness, and hot flashes came over me for a good 3 hour period one day. It happened again later that night, and then again on the way to work the next day. I asked the doctor about it and was told there shouldn't be a problem unless my blood pressure goes up a lot (fear of preeclampsia). If it happens again I'll have to run over to the nearest Walgreens or Grocery store pharmacy to test my blood pressure real quick. (Since driving when you're dizzy is always fun, lol.) Actually, driving in general isn't quite as fun these days since my seatbelt works too well. It is pretty tight on both my waist and shoulder strap, so I keep a clothespin in the car to pin it so there is slightly less tension on the seatbelt. It makes being in the car bearable so that was a very helpful addition.

My visits to the doctor are 2 weeks apart now so this week I went in for my standard checkup hoping the scale hadn't moved too far (how far can it go in just 2 weeks?). It feels like someone else is on the scale when you see numbers that high, oiy. I know other friends that have had babies have told me how tough it is to see the numbers climbing so quickly, but now I understand. Total pounds gained as of this week = 25lb. But on the good side, Blake has a good strong heartbeat in the 140s and my blood pressure seems in the normal range 117/74.