36 weeks and random thoughts

Hopefully this means that we have less than a month until Jack arrives! I've been feeling so-so the last few weeks. I still get lightheaded/shaky though the frequency seems to be tapering off. It has certainly been easier to manage while staying at home compared with teaching. It was really bad last Sunday at church and then again on Thursday while I was (ironically) at the doctor's office. I often have dull, achy cramps that last for several hours at a time. It usually helps to take a hot shower or bath. Too bad we left our Jacuzzi tub in Texas! The military housing people definitely don't budget for nice bathtubs. Today I have been feeling great, so hopefully that will continue.

I had an appointment on Thursday. My fundal height is still measuring small so the doctor ordered another ultrasound. I wasn't feeling good at the office and during the ultrasound, I almost passed out, so they weren't able to get all of the measurements. This is right after I had eaten a snack and finished a bottle of water... so frustrating that it isn't a simple low blood sugar problem. That would be so much easier to deal with! Anyway, I was really out of it, so I'm not sure exactly what the results were, but they asked me to wait until the doctor looked at the report before I went home. I wasn't in a condition to drive anyway so I waited with some crackers and a Sprite. I think the bottom line is that the baby looks great but the amniotic fluid level is getting low. They made an appointment for me to get another ultrasound right before my appointment on Friday, so we will know more at that time.

I'm at about +13 in the weight department. I haven't gained much in the last month. I feel like I am eating all the time, but my stomach just can't hold as much food at once. I often end up coming back to finish my lunch or dinner because I can't make it all fit in one sitting. I don't have trouble finishing a bowl of ice cream :) I ended up at +16 with Elise and I bet that I'll end up pretty close to the same number this time. I forgot to mention a few weeks ago that my belly button for sure popped out. It never did with Elise... it basically just got flat, but this time it is very obvious! You can see it in the picture above.

I actually had some contractions yesterday for the first time (and a few that woke me up last night). I never felt any before I went into labor with Elise. The sleeping is getting a little better but the heartburn is still very present. I bought a bunch of cheap maternity tank tops this week and I think they will get me through the next month. I CAN'T WAIT to wear my normal clothes again! I've been so tempted to get my summer clothes out of the garage and put them in my drawers and I will definitely do it before he comes. There are so few things that I wear now that I have a lot of room in my dresser.

Elise enjoys playing in Jack's room. She seems to think that she can fit in the infant carrier, ha! On a side note, I can't IMAGINE carrying it around with 30 lbs of baby in it. I know a lot of infant carriers go up to 30 lbs, but I'm glad we just got one that went up to 22 lbs and then switched to the convertible car seat (we would have ended up with one anyway in order to keep her rear facing longer than a year, even if she hadn't outgrown her infant seat at 8 months, and she was much happier after she could sit up a little higher in the car). We still love Elise's Britax Boulevard CS and she loves it too. When Jack is 6-8 months old, we plan to switch Jack to the Boulevard and then likely get a Britax Frontier 85 for Elise. The new Boulevards look really cool but I think the Frontier will be a better long-term buy because it will last until she no longer needs a car seat or booster (and she'll be about 3 at that time).

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we bought some new cloth diapers to use until Elise is potty trained (at which point, Jack will use them... they snap down in the front to accommodate smaller babies). They are so great and even Mike likes using them. We only use a disposable at night and even pack the cloth diapers for her in the church nursery and with the babysitter. These are so easy to use and I don't mind doing one extra load of laundry every other day. At least I feel like I'm not wasting more money on diapers that I am just going to throw away. These are the colors we bought (and we definitely have 4 of the blue ones since she is crazy about blue!)