Pregnancy Update: 31 Weeks

Well Chalupa Batman decided to give us quite the scare at my last doctor's appointment.  Our little family of three had the first appointment of the day and apparently the doppler machine didn't like us. There's no greater panic in the world than hearing your doctor mutter, "where is the heartbeat." I think the doctor saw the look of absolute panic on my face and she immediately proclaimed that the machine was broken and she'd be back in momentarily with a sonogram machine. We weren't expecting to see Chalupa Batman again, but it was rather reassuring to see him moving around on the low-resolution sonogram machine. Needless to say my blood pressure was most likely elevated. That kid isn't even born yet and he's already causing me a few premature gray hairs! I don't know how to properly convey how happy I was the doctor instinctively went for a sonogram machine to calm my nerves rather than just getting another doppler machine.

31 Weeks

Baby's Size: Chalupa Batman is about 3lbs and the size of a coconut.  Based on family history I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for a giant baby and it hasn't been fun.

I'm Feeling: Pretty good. I'm hopefully less than 2 months away from meeting Chalupa and that's got me extremely excited. I just want to met this kid already! But I don't want to meet him yet because I know he's got some growing to do and it would be scary if he came too soon. I'm just trying to keep myself mentally calm during the rest of June and July. August will be a different story and I'm sure I'll be an absolute basket case waiting for this kid to make a move already.

Physically: I am Jekyl and Hyde it seems. If it's less than 80 degrees I have all the energy in the world (not really, but it feels like it) and I'm ready to tackle anything that comes my way. I even thought about mixing in a few minutes of running when I was walking laps at the park last week, but I had to pee so bad after 2 seconds and the bathrooms were inexplicably locked. I haven't ran in a few weeks and I'm at peace with it. I had hoped to run well into my third trimester, but the weather is just not cooperating. Maybe if I get blessed with a fluke 70 degree day I'll try to get in a bit of jogging, but right now I'm really enjoying my evening walks with the hubs around the neighborhood.

I am not looking forward to the weather getting even hotter. We've had a few days where the thermometer has tipped 90 degrees and I've been absolutely miserable. This past weekend was pretty hot and the hubs and I spent a few hours roaming around a local casino just to soak up their arctic air conditioning. I honestly think that might be a new way to get out of the heat - the hubs can gamble a bit and I can walk laps around the casino floor.

My Wardrobe: My outfits are getting even more "streamlined." I need to find a maternity maxi skirt or something quick because the idea of wearing pants is getting even more unbearable by the day. I'm still able to wear a few non-maternity shirts, but I actually made the mistake of grabbing a pair of non-maternity trousers one more and almost passed out when I pulled them over my belly. Sorry for that button indentation Chalupa Batman.

I'm Sleeping: Not as well as I have been. I have to get up more often than not most nights and 4:30am seems to be my new wakeup call. I felt so bad one night because I was tossing and turning so much that I felt I should have moved to another bed just so the hubs could get a decent night of sleep.  Naps are still my jam. I can't figure out how I can get comfortable enough to nap, but not sleep a full night.

Food Aversions & Cravings: I really can't even recall the last time I had a food aversion. Based on my blood glucose screening I have to give up my morning bagel habit. I still want a bagel, but apparently my body can't readily handle that level of complex carbohydrate first thing in the morning. Bagels are now banned! But my body can handle donuts mid-morning because that makes sense. The human body continues to fascinate me.

In addition to trying to eat more fruit I'm also trying to eat more walnuts during the third trimester. All about those omega-3 fatty acids. Oh, and ice cream because it's freaking hot out!  Mint chocolate Klondike bars are my new best friend. I personally have always had a problem with portion control when it comes to ice cream therefore bars are perfect for me. I eat one and I'm done. But if I had a spoon and a half gallon of ice cream I could go to town on that thing. Always could and it'd probably be a lot easier to mentally justify the splurge as "but it's hot and I'm pregnant."

Oddly enough, I gained a whopping pound last month! Apparently just surviving in this heat is a calorie burner.

What I'm excited for this next month: Chalupa Batman's crib should finally be delivered! That's really going to make the nursery feel more done. This upcoming weekend is our non-baby shower, baby shower up in NJ and I'm really excited to see my family. Especially now that my sister has moved to Texas because it is freaking me out that she's not a manageable car ride away anymore. The hubs and I have plans every weekend from here until August and it seems like a lot, but we're trying to get as much done now and get out as much as possible before I get to be full term and potentially completely unable to handle the heat or have the energy to do anything.

The Hubs: I swear he's part machine, but an incredibly kind and patient machine. He is just cranking through house projects like there is no tomorrow. But at the same time he's incredibly attentive to how I'm feeling and if I need help with anything around the house.  We spent Father's Day organizing Chalupa Batman's closet and the hubs folded every single piece of the seven loads of baby clothes we have and put each and every one of them away. I had initially hung up the 0-3 month clothes, but we decided that the onesies needed to be folded instead. I was busy doing the world's worst closet purge and cleaning out the seasonal decor items stored in the nursery closet. And the hubs just folded clothes. And laughed about outfits. And made comments like, "well he needs a different shirt to go with these pants." It might not seem like much, but those moments where we're working together in the nursery have been some of my favorite moments of this pregnancy. We're a team, we're partners, and we're in this together.

Nursery Inspiration

When the hubs and I bought our home in June 2011 we never really decorated the second guest room. We both hoped it would one day be a nursery, but we never called it the future nursery. We threw a purplish-gray paint on the walls from Sherwin Williams and called it a day. The room really became a hodgepodge of random items and my overflow of clothes quickly spread to the room's two closets. A big part of getting the nursery ready meant cleaning the room out and re-homing most of its stuff.

When we found out that we were expecting in December 2014 the very first thing I started to think of was what to do with the nursery.  Initially, we had no desire to find out the sex of our little Chalupa Batman, but after two months of not knowing we were ready to know.  Since we started out thinking of not knowing we leaned towards a gender neutral nursery.  The purple-gray paint color on the nursery's walls is my favorite paint color in the house and I really didn't want to repaint the room. Even before we found out that Chalupa Batman was a boy the hubs was adamant that we didn't have to repaint because "what's wrong with a boy having a purple room?"

Have I mentioned lately that I love that man?

That's when we settled on a black, white, gray color scheme.  The wall color would compliment the color scheme nicely and once we found out Chalupa Batman's sex we would add in an additional accent color.  Full disclosure, there would most likely be a bit more purple in the room if we were having a girl. However, as soon as we found out we were having a boy the hubs immediately thought a few orange touches would be perfect in the nursery.

Also need to point out that the hubs is incredibly involved in the design and implementation of the nursery. Although he has to keep me in check from time to time with practical logic because I may or may not have tried to buy an orange play teepee to put in the nursery.  The hubs was kind enough to point out that Chalupa Batman didn't need a play teepee yet and we could hold off on that item.  Same with the small reading chair. Okay fine and a lot of other things.

The room is going to be the combination of our favorite tastes: modern and rustic. Lots of cool gray tones to bring a bit of modern updates to the room. My favorite black and white tuxedo lamp will be over by the gray glider. But then we're incorporating more rustic and natural elements where we can. The hubs is almost finished with the shelves above the dresser and they're gray stained pine shelves with cast iron piping.

However, the most important touches in the nursery (besides Chalupa Batman!) are the handcrafted family heirlooms. My late grandfather used to make wooden toys and trains and I asked my dad if I could have a train to put in the nursery. The train engine is already up on a shelf and my dad is putting together an assortment of train cars and trucks for me. I can't really sum up my feelings on how happy I am that pieces of my grandfather will be in the nursery. In addition, my dad is making Chalupa Batman a wooden rocking horse. It won't be ready in time for August because that type of wood working project is a "winter activity" for my dad, but I'll be thrilled when Chalupa is finally old enough to play with it. My dad made my nephew a rocking horse and I'm excited that Chalupa will be able to share that with my nephew. I'm going to pay my nephew a finder's fee if he can track down my old Lincoln Logs while he's up at my parents house for a few more weeks.

I know when we first started thinking through the nursery I told the hubs we needed a "theme." He objected to an actual theme, although for a week I was totally running with a "Where the Wild Things Are Theme" because it's one of our favorite childhood books. We settled on a color scheme and that's theme enough for us. Putting together an inspiration board was really helpful because there just seems to be an overwhelming number of options out there for baby stuff. Like I might have run around like a crazed kid in a candy store the first time we went into a baby store.  I needed a picture of the room in my head that was finite in order to focus my attention and harness my crazy energy. :)  

Warrior Dash Maryland

What better way to celebrate National Running Day by sharing a race recap for a race I didn't run! Okay, I could wax on poetically about what running means to me and how important it is for my sanity, but this year while running has still be extremely important to me my greatest joys have been watching the hubs tackle his newest addiction.

Yes, I've helped create an addict - a running addict.

Sure enough, I got pregnant and the hubs became addicted to running. The love/hate affair began last summer when he casually mentioned he'd like to run a half marathon and now he's at the point where he's trying to run a race a month. It's fantastic! He's not overly competitive with his times, but rather signing up for a 10k here and there "keeps him honest."

His May race was a bit different and he "ran" Warrior Dash with his brother and a friend. They guys stayed together the entire time, which meant walking up any part of the course that included an incline because my brother-in-law is not a fan of running and especially not a fan of running up hills.

Overall they had a really fun experience, but if you wanted to actually "run" this race you'd be sorely disappointed. It took them almost two hours to complete the 5k distance because there were such long lines at each of the obstacles. They were in the 11:30am wave and from what I heard the wait times got even longer as the day progressed.  We had a friend run in the 9:30am wave and it took him 50 minutes to complete the course, so if you wanted to run more and wait less I'd highly recommend signing up for one of the earliest waves available.

The hubs was also annoyed by the number of selfie-sticks and group photos out on the course. He got the feeling that so many of the participants were "running for Facebook photos" and that caused even more backups along the way. I say that with a massive grain of salt because it is a struggle to get the hubs to stop for a photo even pre- or post-race! The man is just not a fan of being in photos.

The way this particular course was laid out wasn't very spectator friendly. While the dudes ran, us ladies were able to see the start of the race and then the last 3 obstacles. We sat around for 90 minutes and had no idea where the guys were or even what anyone else was doing because the course was closed to spectators. That was a tad bit annoying because I would have liked to have seen more of the course.

The post race beer line moved quickly and the rinse off shower line wasn't terrible. I'm happy the guys were able to rinse off at least before making their way back to our car! We brought chairs, a cooler filled with beer, and snacks to tailgate afterwards and so many people walked by our tailgate and proclaimed, "why didn't we do this?!?!?"  Definitely tailgate, but just make sure you have a designated driver.

Also, bring sunscreen!

Any other obstacle racers out there? What has been your take on these things? I've yet to do one, but I'm thinking a post-baby fun run sounds like a good time.