7!

7 weeks left til Bella is officially her own person! She has a closet full of clean clothes (thanks to her aunties in Cali), an amazing baby room (thanks to her grandparents!), a huge and wonderful family all ready to go (spanning coast to coast).... now we just need her to arrive!

I feel like every other day is some new concern!! I pull a tummy muscle on Monday, fine for the next few, the baby stops moving for a stretch of time on Thursday...etc.... So I was only due for this, ha ha. Yesterday I started to feel sick at work, and wound up getting sick three times. I made it to the end of my shift and sped home and spent the rest of the night lying down. I took my temperature and the first reading came out 93.8 degrees!!! I got freaked out and waited 5 minutes and took it again and it was 95.6. I called Brian, who was at his aunt's house for their annual 4th of July celebration and talked to his mom, who is a nurse, who suggested I call the doctor, just in case. Bella was moving just fine, so I really wasn't worried, but the low temp freaked me out, I didn't want her shivering in there or anything, ha. The nurse had me take it again and it was at 96.1 that time, and stayed that way for the rest of the night. The nurse said to call back if anything changes or if I get sick again. Brian and Leslie left the party; she came over and took my blood pressure, which was high for me (I tend to be on the far low side of "normal"), but it was still in a safe zone and read my heart beat, which was in the 70s, took my temp with a different thermometer and it came back 96.1 again, so she made sure Brian stayed with me the rest of the night and I slept and ate crackers for the whole evening. Not how I anticipated spending the 4th of July, poor Brian missed all the good food that was just about to be served at the party (beer brats and cookies galore!) and he missed out on the family's annual horse shoe and badminton tourneys. And his cousin, who just had a baby was there, and was about to hold him when his phone rang! Sorry, babe! I feel much better today, a little sluggish and my back hurts for sleeping on my sides for so long, but overall, much better!!

Anywho...enough about me and my melodramas, here is what is going on with BellaReese this week:

How your baby's growing:


Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds, like the weight of a cantaloupe or a medium pumpkin! and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between now and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Your baby kind of looks like she's coated in a layer of cream cheese these days. The thick, white substance that protects her skin from pruning in the amniotic fluid is called vernix. When she's born you'll probably see some vernix lingering in her "hard-to-reach" places like under her arms, behind her ears and around her va-jay-jay, if she's a she. Other news from the womb this week: The soft fur, lanugo, that covered your baby's body for much of her stay in the womb is now almost completely gone. Your baby begins to develop her own immune system, instead of relying solely on antibodies received through the placenta. This will come in handy when some grubby relative manhandles the baby without washing his hands first.This week, your baby measures about 17¾ inches, as almost as long as an American Girl Doll (!) and weighs almost 5 pounds, as heavy as a bag of sugar, minus the cup you put in your decaf this morning.

Your baby drinks about a pint of amniotic fluid a day.
You may gain a pound a week (500g) for the rest of your pregnancy.
Half of your weight gain will go directly to your baby.

The nails of your baby are now long enough to reach to the tip of the fingers or beyond and may need trimming as soon as they are born. They may scratch their face even before birth.


How your life's changing:


By this week, fatigue has probably set in again (yup!! I can sleep all day again if you let me!), though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable. Nows the time to slow down and save up your energy for labor day (and beyond). If you've been sitting or lying down for a long time, don't jump up too quickly. Blood can pool in your feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in your blood pressure when you get up that can make you feel dizzy.

You are exhausted from hauling your bod around all day, so why can't you sleep at night? Is it because your bladder keeps crying out to be emptied every 30 minutes? Is it because you haven't been able to find a comfortable sleeping position since week 27? Is it because your mind can't stop making lists of things to do or replaying that shocking video you saw in your birthing classes? Yes, yes, and yes. It might comfort you to know you're not alone. Seventy-five percent of women in their third trimester have trouble sleeping (I actually don't have much trouble yet...sometimes if I get up to pee, it takes me a while to fall back asleep, and I can never truly get comfy or into a deep deep sleep, but I think I am pretty lucky still). Certain sleep positions will help you to be more comfortable and sleep better when you're pregnant. If lying on your back is making you dizzy or lightheaded try sleeping on your side. If you feel like bugs are crawling all over your legs in the middle of the night, get your partner to change the sheets. Just kidding. You might have restless leg syndrome, which commonly affects pregnant women (worst feelings ever!!! I just have to keep moving my legs and shaking them and scratching them, it is awful!). But it's still a good idea to have your mate do some laundry.