We were supposed to be out east all last week and traveling home today but had to cancel our trip last minute due to doctor's orders. No more traveling for this third trimester mama! But it's been a good week, went on a few really nice dates with Aziz, got lots accomplished around the house, Lelya was able to start school on time, & I became an official PTA mom :) L's first day of (orientation) preschool was yesterday and the first actual day of school was today, and I'm she's loving it. The bus picks her up at 8:30, I kiss & wave her goodbye, and then I quietly sit in the kitchen by myself for 30 minutes without anyone asking me for any snacks. Then I run errands without toting a hefty little toddler in tow. Simple joys. But I know these 3 hours every morning will be even more clutch when baby girl gets here. Speaking of, I've been in serious nest mode, absolutely obsessed with renovating & decorating her nursery, which we're transforming from an old music studio. It's a very small room upstairs that had no closet so we've had to do some painting and construction work for all her itty bitty clothes & shoes. Lelya has been quite the little helper and puts on her little construction belt and hammers & paints away in her room and talks excitedly about "building a house for baby sister." She's been nothing short of the best kid ever lately. Thanks to a few good friends & my SIL who have little girls, we've received A TON of sweet hand me downs and her little closet is already filled to the brim with tiny little pink clothes. I'm pretty sure she could wear a different outfit every single day for her entire first year - no joke. I have a sneaking suspicion that she's going to get here before her due date so I've been in crazy prep mode, trying to get everything I need and situated for her arrival. (Her hospital bag may or may not already be packed & ready to go ;)) A few other random updates:
- Lelya's been doing AMAZING with her speech lately. We're so extremely proud of her -- she's not delayed at all anymore in terms of her vocabulary and just a little bit in terms of formulating sentences. She speaks a lot in 2 and 3 word phrases but in just the past couple of weeks we've been hearing lots of 4-6 word sentences and spontaneous speech. It's been so fun and pretty mind-blowing to converse with her now.
- I passed my gestational diabetes test! After failing my first glucose test, I had to go back for a 3-hour test where I drank another sugar drink and had my blood drawn 4 times every three hours to test how my body processed the sugar. SO happy I'm fine because I (babygirl) love sweets way too much this pregnancy to cut them out.
- Am 29 weeks pregnant today, in my 7th month, and feeling larger than ever. I gained a whopping 6 lbs since my last OB appointment 2 weeks ago, weighing in at 138 with an overall gain of 16 lbs, so from here on out, trying to only gain 1 lb a week to cap the gain at a total of 25-30 lbs. But still getting this preggo belly to the gym 5x a week! We'll see how much longer that lasts for.
- I have to "fetal monitor" now, which means keep track of baby's movements after meals. Should feel baby kick at least 6-7 times 30 minutes after eating throughout the course of an hour. Fetal monitoring was not something I've ever done before with Lelya, and I have to say it kind of makes me nervous but nonetheless always comforting to know after I feel that 7th kick that she's doing just fine in there.
- The baby weighs 2.5 lbs now and about the size of a butternut squash. I'm also now comforted to know that IF I go into preterm labor right now, chances of her survival and becoming a healthy & thriving baby are very, very likely. I'm craving lots of oranges and cereal (apparently baby needs lots of vitamin C & calcium at this point, so makes sense), and experiencing some awful acid reflux. Having more and more trouble bending down and picking things up, and I finally caved and booked us a housecleaner to start coming regularly.
- We've been training Lelya for big-sisterhood & got her a little baby doll to practice on. My heart absolutely melts when I see her interact with the baby doll...she feeds her bottles, carries her around carefully, 'reads' her his books, takes her for strolls around the house in her little baby carriage, and puts his crocs on her little naked baby feet. The icing on the cake is watching her put her to sleep with her in her bed, wrapping her up in her beloved blankies (aka "treaties") -- You guys, she doesn't share those things with anyone. I can tell already she's going to be an amazing big sister ;)
