Pregnancy Update: 38 Weeks

Hi all!
We are getting closer to meeting our little one, now at 38 weeks, with less than two weeks to go. Next Wednesday, I reach full-term at 39 weeks (or is 37 weeks full-term? who knows!). I'm happy to report that I am feeling really, really good. I am continuing my workouts (still!) and have been super active with Lincoln, taking him to story times and tot times; trying to savor every moment with my little man before we add another member to our tribe. Not only have I been active, but I have been eating really healthy. My diet has cleaned up a ton, and any cravings I have for sweets has gone away (even healthier than when I'm not pregnant). To my dismay, the scales are counting to go up despite my efforts, which makes me think that my body is gearing up for a happy healthy labor and delivery. As such, I have made the decision to stop worrying about the number on the scale - more on this later. In addition, our home is coming together beautifully. Almost all of our furniture has arrived; it's the perfect time to welcome family into our home for baby's big arrival. Today, we are happily waiting for Cate and her crew to arrive in a few short hours. I am blessed to have my best friend by my side as I enter into the last days of my pregnancy. Our mamas were pregnant together and we were born two weeks apart. Thus, this visit is a HUGE deal to us. We can't wait to post on the visit soon. Anyways, here are some of my stats...
​P.S. I can't believe I only have (potentially) two more of these posts before I kick into full-on newborn mode!

Weight Gain: Ok ya'll so I went to the doc on Wednesday and I promised that I would have an update on my weight gain. Here is the thing - I went to the appointment that day knowing that we had a furniture delivery from Anthropologie coming between 10am and 2pm (why do they always give you the longest windows of time???). The delivery crew assured me that they would give at least an hour heads up. Of course, I arrive at my appointment about fifteen minutes early, hoping that I'll get in and get out. Linc and I are waiting and waiting, then about thirty minutes later, they finally call my name. Just when I'm walking back to get weighed, the furniture delivery guy calls. Perfect timing, I thought..  they should be there in about an hour. No. The guy tells me they are around the corner and will not wait. My blood pressure sky rocketed!! I had been waiting for these chairs for months; they are special delivery and I really wanted them for when Cate and all of our family come in for baby's arrival; they seriously complete our family room... HOW COULD THEY! I t thought. At the same time, I really needed to attend this doc's appointment - it was way too much of a hassle and also rude, to leave to go meet the guy. Angry and literally steaming from the head, I pull the "I'm pregnant card." I say, "Listen. I am pregnant, due with my baby in a matter of days. I am at the doctor now and really need those chairs. Is there anything you can do? Can you come back at a later time?" He responds, "No ma'am. You knew the window of time and we need to head back to North Carolina." WTHHHHHHH I thought. Super pissed I ask him to please wait 20 minutes and I'll be home! (LIE). "Okay." he says. I get off of the phone and the nurse is totally empathetic to my situation. She tells me that she will have me in and out in no time. As she is talking, I am stripping down to get onto the scale. Like a pregnant woman would, I am gabbing about how stressed these furniture delivery guys make me, etc. etc. She literally pushed the weight over to tick it up (you know how they do) and before I could look at the number, she slid the bar back to its original place. I have a theory that she didn't want me to see the number, which is why she slides the weights back so quickly. And to be honest, I am glad that she did. It is no surprise to our readers that I struggle with my pregnancy weight. I believe that most women do; in fact, the majority do and there are probably few women who don't. I know I said that I would report on the numbers because I wanted readers to be able to relate to my experience. Not only that, but selfishly I had hoped that it would keep me accountable to stay within a nice range (was hoping for under 30 pounds). The reality is that during my last appointment, I hit a 29 pound weight gain. Ya'll, I have been eating very healthy and working out - I swear. There have been no late-night donut runs; I don't drink soda pop; I don't sit on my butt all day. I am very active for a pregnant lady and eat super healthy. Despite this, the scales are doing what they are doing. Does it make it any easier to face the numbers? The fact that I am eating healthy and working out should make it easier, but let me tell you that it doesn't. Because all in all, it's not keeping my weight in check. At this point, and after my appointment, I have come to realize that I am (obviously) obsessing about this too much. As much as I wanted my story to be heard and to be a comfort for other women, at this point I've decided to stop looking at the numbers on the scale and to stop reporting on them. I'm going to be one of those women that tells friends I gained around 30 pounds and call it a day! If that makes anyone feel bad about gaining more, I will remind you that I gained nearly 60 POUNDS with Lincoln - so please - DO NOT FEEL BAD. What I am here to say is that I need to prioritize mine and baby's health at this point. I don't want my obsession with staying under a certain weight range to impact my diet negatively so that I am calorie counting in my final days of pregnancy. I also want to encourage other women to do the same. There is such a huge obsession with pregnancy weight gain; all moms talk about it; all moms get jealous of the girl who gained only 20 pounds and love hearing the story about the mom that gained 60 pounds and lost it. There are so many emotions about pregnancy weight gain that I just hope to put a little bit of an end to it. I hope to encourage other mamas out there that the number on the scale doesn't matter - especially when you have taken healthy measures into your own hands and have actively been working out and eating healthy. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do about your pregnancy weight gain. So please, don't fret. Know that I am with you. And know that you can ALWAYS lose the weight. Even if you don't, you have a beautiful baby and an amazing family. THAT is what is important; not the number on the scale. Thus, I will stick to my story that I gained 30 pounds this pregnancy, and will give myself a pat on the back and go about loving on myself and my baby.

Diet: This is the perfect segway into diet! Now that I am nearing the end of my pregnancy, I am noticing that all of my cravings have diminished. Usually, at night, I look for something sweet to snack on. As of late, I eat dinner and am seriously not wanting anything sweet. The thought of eating something sweet just doesn't sound appetizing for whatever reason. I have also noticed that I am eating somewhat less or at least comparable to how I eat when I am not pregnant. This means that I'm not snacking as much throughout the day. On the flip side, I have noticed that I am a lot more thirsty these days. Normally, I crave things like juice or at least I did during my pregnancy with Lincoln - where I noticed that I was thirsty ALL OF THE TIME. These last few days of pregnancy, I have noticed that same level of thirst, but instead of craving juice, I am craving water. All in all, diet is normal. If you want to learn more about what I eat on a daily basis here it goes (sorry to be so repetitive if you've already read this a zillion times):
Breakfast: Warm lemon water first thing in the morning. Then a green smoothie with (generally) spinach, 1/2 or full banana depending on hunger, berries or cherries, almond milk and sometimes organic cottage cheese.
Lunch: This ranges but here are some of my go-ti's... tuna salad with mayo, relish and avocado or tomato. I either eat this alone or with one piece of bread. Open-faced sandwiches are a huge go-to. Other options includes cheese or avocado and hummus and chicken salad with raisins and walnuts. Sometimes I have big salads but lately that requires too much effort. I also have been eating Trader Joe's soups lately.
Dinner: This is where I either eat healthy or not so much. I make a generally satisfying dinner, mainly for Ryan's sake. This ranges from salmon, potatoes and veggies to ground beef tacos, to homemade lasagna to a big chicken salad. We try to balance it out. If we had lasagna the night before, we will likely have a big chicken salad the next night.
Dessert: Like I said, haven't really been eating dessert but if I do it's a few bites of soy ice cream or non-dairy Ben and Jerry's ice cream to a few bites of almond butter with either jam or raw honey. If I'm really getting after it like last week when I made Ryan cookies for Valentine's day, I'll have a cookie with soy ice cream. Again, I try to balance this out. If I am full after dinner, I don't eat a big dessert. If I ate a relatively healthy dinner, then I treat myself.
Caffeine: I generally make myself a caffeinated iced latte, as of late. I have this midday because I don't need to caffeine first thing in the morning. I drink it around lunch which is when I need my second wine. This includes 1 nespresso pod, maple syrup and almond milk.

​Exercise: Yes, I am still exercising --- go me! If you aren't exercising, you still rock! I happen to think it helps A LOT, but that is me personally. In my first pregnancy, I was almost worried to exercise. The feeling of running or bouncing felt weird to me, and the thought of exercising really hard just didn't seem right. I mean, I was pregnant, right? If I did anything, it would be walking on the treadmill, but even then, I rarely did that. With my second pregnancy and knowing all of my weight gain from the first pregnancy, not to mention that I had JUST gotten back to my pre-pregnancy weight when I found out that I was pregnant with baby #2. Thus, I was determined to stay active and fit this time around. In the beginning of my pregnancy I ran three miles about 3 to 5 days a week. My pace was super slow - generally around a 9 to 10 minute mile. The key for me was getting these runs in. When I hit about 6 months, the sensation of running gave me major round ligament pain. Thus, I tried a couple of different workouts including spin, hot yoga and barre. At this point in my pregnancy, my favorite of the three was barre. It is easy on your ligaments and a good enough workout for a pregnant lady. I did this until about 8 months. At this point, we moved to Nashville. As soon as we got here, my husband joined the YMCA which has a plethora of classes. I tried spinning but didn't really like the sensation of my crotch (sorry) sitting on a little seat with all of the extra weight I was carrying. Thus, I resorted to step class (that I am obsessed with) and a silver sneakers type workout lol - yes I workout with seniors and love it! At this point, I rotate between the step class (T/Th) and silver sneakers class (M,W,F). I don't workout everyday, but I generally get some sort of physical activity in whether that is a class or walking!

Energy: My energy levels are doing okay. In the morning, I am good. At my workout classes I am good. I hit a wall around 2pm which is when I try to caffeinate, although caffeine hasn't really been helping me. I thought I was going to give it up, but to be honest, I love sipping on a latte whether it gives me energy or not. I thought about giving it up for baby's sake too, but again, I have drank espresso (only one pod or shot) every day, so at this point, what is the difference?

Doctor's Visits: Saw the doctor on Wednesday and it was a whirlwind. Generally, I go in there eager to find out more about my progression (dilation and effacement), and also with any questions of weird symptoms I'm having (usually hoping she'll tell me I'm in labor lol, but I never am obviously). This time, I was so concerned and heated about those damn drivers that I didn't have time to even think about what she was doing. I was waiting for her in the room, while talking on the phone to the Anthro delivery companies - I was trying to call Ryan and our neighbor to see if anyone could be there for delivery. At the same time, Lincoln was crying because he wanted to watch Elmo ( I allow him to watch this during doctor's visits so I can actually hold a conversation with the doctor). She popped her head in while I was on the phone and knew I was off; the quickly grabbed Lincoln, who was crying hysterically and told me she would have the ladies at the front watch him. I felt HORRIBLE... like such a bad mom. I quickly got off the phone after squaring things away, stripped down with the blanket around my bottom half and peaked my head out of the room to see where they had gone. She told me that the scheduling ladies would watch Lincoln and she'd have me in and out in no time. I seriously was so thankful but also felt like such a failure and a head case. I vented to her the entire visit about the stupid delivery guys (who actually ended up being really sweet). She checked me quick, told me I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced and sent me on my way. She is seriously the best. All in all, I didn't get to ask her anything, I didn't get my weight (which now I'm thinking God did on purpose), and so ya, here we are! Now that I am 2 cm dilated I'm hoping that means I'm closer to labor. Well, I know it means I'm closer but I also know that it doesn't indicate I'll go into labor any sooner. So, we wait.

Labor and Delivery: ​So I did a post on things that I need to do before baby comes - if you haven't read it, you can read it here. This was basically me venting about things I need to do before baby comes, including things like scheduling when our families will arrive, designating Ryan as the bad cop from here on out and trying to come up with key things I want on my "birth plan." Suffice it to say, I haven't done half of it. What I have done is talk to Ryan about family and friends coming in after baby's arrival. Again, I won't go into specifics, but this topic tends to stress me out!! Not because our family is demanding about seeing the baby, but just because I know myself and I know how hard it was on me to recover. I remember welcoming friends to come over after the baby came, and even wanted people to come by to show off our sweet angel. What I didn't realize about myself is that I can't help but entertain, and when you are in a level 9 of pain "down there", it's probably unwise to have people over if you can't sit still. The first thing I offered friends was a glass of water, and of course, most would say 'sure!' In that moment, the mere thought of getting off of the couch made me want to cry. I hobbled up, in severe pain, and would get the glass of water. But lo and behold, I found myself doing it time and time again! What I needed to do was realize my limitations or communicate to Ryan that I needed him to play host 100%. However, there is a part of me that feels like I can't even do that because I'm such a pleaser. Also, in the first days being home from the hospital, you'll not only be in a ton of pain that your guests may be unaware of, but you will also be super groggy, out of it and may be going through bouts of postpartum depression. Again, generally I love having people over and talking about their experiences, but I also know that after a baby, there is something about having guests come into your home when you are literally OUT OF IT and gabbing on about their life that will make you want to go batshit crazy - maybe not every time, but definitely if you're  having an "off" day. I remember wanting to scream and also reminded myself to be wary about having guests come so close after baby's birth. I know that second children are different but I also know that birth is the same. It is the same trauma on the female body and it is the same with a newborn, not getting sleep in. Mentally, I was exhausted, had bouts of postpartum depression and simply did not feel like myself. Thus, it strikes a chord with me when people ask to visit us right away. Every part of me wants to say YES. Please come! Please come see our beautiful baby and enjoy in this moment. But then there are parts of me that reminds myself of the moments I simply felt like death after giving birth, where I was bleeding like crazy, not sleeping and seriously felt like a mental case.. (PS they torture people by keeping them awake). So this time around I am trying my hardest to stick to my guns and hold off having too many visitors for the first few weeks. In my opinion, the best time to have people out *especially if they are staying in your home* is probably when baby starts sleeping through the night right?! So maybe around 8 weeks postpartum. Ugh, I don't know. This topic is tough. Again, I totally want everyone to come see baby - not only that but to visit us in Nashville and to see our new home, I just fear that I'll be a crazy mental person and want to be in hibernation mode. Let me know thoughts on this mamas!

Final Thoughts: All in all, we are super happy and the thoughts above are so minor - but are things we have to consider! Above all, we are so in love with our little baby and are so in love with our little Lincoln and all that is about to transpire. We cannot wait to share more!

xx,
​ILA