34 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 34 Weeks (completed 8/23/14)

Capris: Motherhood Maternity   Shirt: Ross (Maternity Section)

 Total weight gain: Eek! Another 2lbs gained this week. That puts me at 33lbs to date. I'm definitely going to go over the recommended amount. Oh well...

Maternity/baby clothes: Nothing new this week.

Stretch marks? No new stretch marks. I can only pray it stays that way. I mean, honestly, I don't even know where else I could get them at this point.

Sleep: By far the worst week of sleep I've had this entire pregnancy. Most nights I was up all night, or at least half the night, like from 2-6am. Other nights I was up every hour on the hour, literally.... 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, etc. So annoying! I basically didn't sleep at all this week. And I'll explain why in the symptoms section below.

Best moment this week: For as horrible of a week as this was, there was one moment that was really just fantastic... can you guess!? Our Ultrasound appointment, of course! We had our appointment on Monday, and baby girl is doing awesome! She is measuring right on schedule for her due date. She currently weights 5lbs 12oz. We were really hoping to get a great profile shot of her this time since we haven't been able to get one yet, but she is still sitting just way way too low in my pelvis to get the shot. Stubborn or shy, we don't know... but she does not want us to see her face! Really though, I just absolutely love ultrasounds! I am sad that that one is our last one til she is here.

Miss anything? Same as last week... I miss not being itchy, and sleep. I really really miss sleep.

Movement: Yes! Love to feel that girl move! Her movements are definitely a lot more of rolls and shifting now. Sometimes they are uncomfortable or hurt, but knowing she's active puts my mind at ease. I don't like it when she has calm days.

Food cravings: Nadda

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not this week!

Gender: Girl!

Symptoms:
PUPPPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you've had it, you know what I'm talking about... if not, chances are you've never heard of it. Well, let me just tell you, it has made my life absolutely miserable this week. Honestly, this week has been by far the worst one since I've been pregnant. Now, you're probably wondering what PUPPPS is.
Medical Definition: (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy) This is an outbreak of pale red bumps on the skin. These lesions can cause itching or may burn or sting. When they form together in a large area, they are called plaques. In pregnancy, these lesions can appear on the abdomen, legs, arms, and buttocks.

Melissa's Definition: Pure Hell! (Sorry, but that's honestly the only way to describe it.)

Seriously though, I've never been so miserable in my entire life. Remember how 2 weeks ago I started getting itchy on my tummy? Then it got worse last week? Yeah, that was NOTHING compared to this week. A complete outbreak of a rash covering my entire body. No kidding, my entire body! My tummy, legs, butt, back, chest, arms, neck... the only place I didn't break out is my face, hands, and feet. This rash is so itchy I can't even explain it to the point you would understand. I can try, but it still won't do it justice. Imagine having chicken pox and mosquito bites all over your body, then add in the annoying feeling you have when the tag in the back of your shirt just won't stop itching you for whatever reason they do. Yeah, combine all that together and you might get a minimal idea of what I have been going through.

That is why I haven't been sleeping. I wake up because I itch so bad all over. Its just impossible to get good sleep. I loathe the idea of "sleep". It seems like an impossible task.

Anyway, I talked to my doctor about the itching at our appointment on Monday. He explained to me what it was (though I kind of assumed, as I had of course done some research prior to going in). He said the only way to get rid of it is to deliver the baby. AWESOME! Oh wait, that's not for another 6 weeks. Kill. Me. Now.
So he wrote me a prescription to try and help the itching so I could sleep. I can also take Zyrtec and Benadryl as suggested on the box. After the doctors appointment I did some research online and found a forum of people that have had this before to see what kind of remedies they've found. The most common one I saw was for a soap called 'Grandpas Pine Tar Soap'. Almost everyone recommended it and even said it got rid of their PUPPPS after a couple weeks or less. So I went on the hunt! Found out I could only order it online, of course. Had to wait 2 days to get it, but after using that 2-3 times a day, taking an oatmeal bath once a day, taking the prescriptions, and using itching oils and lotions, by the end of the week, the itching wasn't as extreme. I still itch like crazy, but I'm not going crazy anymore it seems. Literally, on Thursday night I had a complete breakdown during my oatmeal bath. I just couldn't stop scratching, I felt like I was going mentally insane, and just started hysterically crying. So incredibly miserable. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me want to start crying again. My husband was sitting outside the tub listening to me complain and breakdown. I told him I just couldn't do it (this pregnancy) anymore. That symptom is the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. I know, its sounds like it wouldn't be that bad... itching, no biggie right? Trust me, you have no idea.

And the crazy thing is, statistically only 1% of pregnant women develop PUPPPS. Seriously!? How did I end up part of that 1%? Lucky me....

Oh! And... heat makes the itch worse. So that's awesome since it's summer. That also means that all my showers and baths have been cold. Like I said, just miserable.

Worst. Week. EVER!

Belly button in or out? Still in!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time? Sooo moody and emotional due to the lack of sleep and the PUPPPS.

 Looking forward to: I don't even know... when the itch stops?
I guess I'm looking forward to my last week of work next week. Last week, that is so crazy to think about.

33 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 33 Weeks (completed 8/16/14)

Skirt: Target   Shirt: Ross (Maternity Section)

 Total weight gain: I can't remember for sure what the number was when I weighed myself, but I think I was up 2 lbs this week. So that would put me at a total of 31 lbs gained so far.

Maternity/baby clothes: New stuff!! YAY! Haha! I may have caved and bought 2 maternity shirts from Ross this week. They are so cheap and comfortable that I couldn't resist. One of them is the one I'm wearing in the photo. Also, we got sooo much new stuff for baby because this week was my baby shower. I'd share pictures of everything, but that would take up way too much time and space. Let's just say that this baby girl is going to be well dressed and have plenty of fun outfits. I'd say 90% of what we got at the shower was clothes. They are all super cute too!

Stretch marks? No new stretch marks that I've noticed. But the itching has gotten SO much worse. It's seriously driving me nuts! My belly is constantly itchy and lotions and oils don't really work that well. Also, I've been getting red bumps all over my belly stretch marks. Gonna talk to the doc about it next week at my appointment, for sure! 

Sleep: Not great. Waking up often as usual, and just not comfortable. Only 7 more weeks! (Hopefully)

Best moment this week: Two great moments this week. The first was on Friday. As soon as I got home, the hubby surprised me with flowers! Cute right? Well, just wait til you hear why...

So he asks me what day it is, and I honestly have no clue. Then I remembered that earlier in the week I had noticed on the calendar in his phone that he had marked the anniversary of our first kiss. So after looking confused, I guessed that was it... I was right! Cutest! I don't know how he remembers this stuff, but I love it :)

The second best moment of the week was my baby shower! I would like to throw a shout out to my mother, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law for putting it all together and making it so fun and cute. I wish I had taken pictures of the decor and food, but I am too spacey these days to remember that kind of stuff. Anyhow, it was so much fun and thank you to all those that came! I loved seeing everyone. Here are just a few photos my friend caught of me opening gifts.

Miss anything? I totally miss my belly not itching, and sleep... yes those two things I miss a lot!

Movement: Yes! She has been getting all A's as far as our 'Kick Count Chart' is concerned. Hopefully those straight A's last through high school ;)

So on Sunday I was just chillin' on the couch with my cat and baby was moving a lot. I finally caught some of it on camera. These are definitely not her biggest movements to date, but I think you can tell pretty well that she likes to move around a lot. I think right now her favorite place to be is on my left. She used to love hanging out on my right. She likes to move from side to side a lot too, and hang out up in my ribs more often. Can't say that's my favorite, but as long as she's comfy right?

Here is the video I captured. First small movement is at 12 seconds, then she goes kind crazy starting around 30 seconds, and again at 1:20ish

Sorry I don't know how to make this video bigger. Still too new to this blogging thing.

Oh, another fun thing for the movement section: I was using an ice pack on my tummy to help ease the itchiness, and she would totally kick it where ever I put it. She definitely does not like the cold! I'd put it on for 10-15 seconds in different places and she'd kick the pack dead center every time. Silly girl!

Food cravings: Nadda

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not this week!

Gender: Girl!

Symptoms: Sticking with the 'What To Expect When You're Expecting' list:

Strong, regular fetal activity: Yes
Increasing vaginal discharge: Yes
Increased Constipation: Yes
Hearburn, indigestion, flatulence, bloating: Yes
Occasional headaches, faintness, or dizziness: Yes
Nasal congestion: Yes
Sensitive gums: No
Leg cramps: Yes
Backache: Yes
Pelvic pressure: No
Mild swelling of ankles and feet: Yes
Varicose veins of legs: No
Hemorrhoids: No
Itchy abdomen: Yes (ugh)
Protruding navel: No
Stretch marks: Yes
Increasing shortness of breath: Yes
Difficulty sleeping: Yes
Increasing "practice" contractions: Yes
Increasing clumsiness: No
Enlarged breasts: Yes
Colostrum: No

Other symptoms:
Dry Skin
Snorting

Belly button in or out? Still in!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy!

 Looking forward to: Our doctor's appointment next week! Yay for Ultrasounds :)

32 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 32 Weeks (completed 8/9/14)

Capris: Motherhood Maternity   Tank Top: Old Navy   Cardigan: No clue! Too old :P

 Total weight gain: Stayed at the same weight this week. So still up a total of 29lbs so far.

Maternity/baby clothes: Still nothing new.

Stretch marks? Nothing new, but the ones on my belly started itching this week. Not fond of that, not at all. 

Sleep: Typical sleep this week. Not too comfortable, its so hard to change sides now, and I always end up stealing the covers from John when I do. Still getting up a lot to use the restroom, and of course, waking up a lot with reflux. I try not to eat or drink close to bed time, but even if I don't, I still seem to get it bad anyway. Its a lost cause... til baby comes of course (or I am assuming anyway).

Best moment this week: Had another appt this week. Those are always fun. Baby is still doing great, which we are just so grateful for! 

Honestly though, this wasn't a really good week otherwise. On Sunday I was having contractions all day long. I'd have 5 in an hour, so I'd lay down as suggested by the doctor, then I'd only have 2-3 more, so we didn't need to go to the hospital thank heaven. So I basically laid in bed or on a couch all day, and if I did get up I would immediately have a contraction. Weird day! Thankfully, that was the only day this week that that happened. By the next morning I wasn't having the contractions like that any more.

Thursday was just a weirdly hormonal day. I was completely fine and happy at work, then as soon as I got home I got extremely depressed for no reason at all. I laid down, and wouldn't get out of bed except to use the restroom and take a bath later that night. When John got home he tried talking to me, but I just wouldn't really respond. I just couldn't, not sure why. He was worried of course, and wasn't sure what to do for me. But by the end of the night, right before bed and after that fabulous bath I was feeling a little better and able to communicate with him more than just hand motions or head nods as I was doing before. He was worried he had done something, but he hadn't at all, it was just hormones.

Then there was Saturday. Oh man, Saturday was a LONG day! It started off good, but ended horribly. John had entered a Dutch Oven Cook-Off at the Salt Lake County Fair and was really excited for it.

 Even though it was hot and not at all comfortable to be sitting around all day waiting for food to cook in dutch ovens, it was fun to watch him do something for himself. He won 2nd place in the amateur division! Good job babe!! The food was delicious and he won over $200 worth of prizes, including a dutch oven, which is what he was hoping for. We had to borrow the ones he cooked in from his parents because we didn't have any. After he won his fabulous prizes we headed over to the Demo Derby at the fair and met up with a couple of friends. It was a lot of fun! We love Demo Derby's.

After the Demo Derby is where the day turned for the worse...

On the way back from the fair, John was complaining of severe abdominal pain. He never complains about anything like that really, and I could tell he was just in serious pain. He wanted to go home and wait it out, but just knowing how bad it must've been considering he could barely walk... I knew we needed to go to the ER. So that's where we ended up.

Pretending it didn't hurt for a picture... brave man!

 After the doctor did a check up with him, he said it sounded like it was Appendicitis. No bueno. So we had 2 options 1) Go into Surgery without a CT to confirm it or 2) Get a CT first to confirm it was appendicitis. The doctor sounded pretty adamant about what it was. All signs pointed towards Appendicitis. John decided to get the CT done first. So he got wheeled off for that and then we had to wait forever for the results.

Waiting... and waiting... I was bored okay? Especially when he was in his CT Scan.

Johns mom came in while we were waiting for the results, in case he had to go in for surgery. So sweet of her! She was of course worried about me as well. Considering how far along I am and the fact that I should've been in bed hours earlier, and my feet were soo extremely swollen. I was also having contractions. Like I said, just not a good night.

After we finally got the results back, the doctor said the CT couldn't confirm appendicitis, but that it also might be too early for it to pick it up yet. It had only been about 6 hours since the pain had started. So he sent us home and said to come back at noon the next day if the pain was worse, then John would likely need the surgery. If the pain was better, then it likely wasn't appendicitis.

Yay! We get to go home! Only been here for, oh, 5 or 6 hours.

Thankfully, by noon the next day John was feeling much better! Still some pain, but not nearly as severe as the night before, so.... NO SURGERY! YAY! Couldn't be more happy about that. I don't like the thought of him going in for surgery. We'd like to try to avoid anything like that for... well, ever.

And that sums up our crazy rollercoaster of a week. Hopefully next week is better :)

Miss anything? I miss being able to sleep through the night. For sure. Something tells me that I'm not going to be able to sleep through a full night for a very very long time though, haha. So I might as well get used to it right?

Movement: Yes! She loves to push out on my tummy as hard as she can lately. When she does it we always try to guess what body part it is she is pushing out so hard. It's so weird being able to feel her as well as we can from the outside now. She's so boney! Haha

Food cravings: Nadda

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not this week!

Gender: Girl!

Symptoms: Decided to do something new here again this week. So below I've got a list straight from my 'What To Expect When You're Expecting' book of likely symptoms for the month. We're going to see how many I actually have... fun right? Haha oh the things I do to entertain myself. Here goes:

Strong, regular fetal activity: Yes
Increasing vaginal discharge: Yes
Increased Constipation: Yes
Hearburn, indigestion, flatulence, bloating: Yes
Occasional headaches, faintness, or dizziness: Yes
Nasal congestion: Yes
Sensitive gums: No
Leg cramps: Yes
Backache: Yes (soooo bad this week)
Pelvic pressure: No
Mild swelling of ankles and feet: Yes
Varicose veins of legs: No
Hemorrhoids: No
Itchy abdomen: Yes, new as of this week.
Protruding navel: No
Stretch marks: Yes
Increasing shortness of breath: Yes
Difficulty sleeping: Yes
Increasing "practice" contractions: Yes
Increasing clumsiness: No
Enlarged breasts: Yes
Colostrum: No

So lets see, that is 15/22 were a yes. Yup, definitely pregnant. Haha! I definitely feel like a typical pregnant person. Wish I could've been one of the ones that got like no symptoms. Wouldn't that be heavenly? Can't forget my other symptoms though that weren't listed. Dry skin, as always and snorting when I laugh of course.

Belly button in or out? Barely still in, but it's in :)

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time? Moody, definitely a moody week.

 Looking forward to: A few things I'm looking forward to. First, my baby shower next week. We are also starting a prenatal class next week that I'm excited for. I know nothing about labor an delivery, so it's about time I started learning! And of course, our next doctors appt in 2 weeks. We get an ultrasound next time, and those are of course my favorite! Hoping to get a good profile shot of her this time, because we really haven't been able to get one yet. I know it'll be harder now that she's bigger, but keeping my fingers crossed!

31 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 31 Weeks (completed 8/2/14)

Capris: Motherhood Maternity  Shirts: I honestly have no idea, had them for too long!

 Total weight gain: Up 1 lb again this week. That makes a total of 29lbs gained thus far.

Maternity/baby clothes: Nadda

Stretch marks? Getting a few more new ones on my tummy. I have noticed that the ones on my chest have faded a ton already. Hoping that means they fade even more (or go away) after the baby is born. Oh! I also noticed this week that I've got the slightest hint of my linea nigra showing up. It's super subtle, John could barely see it when I pointed it out... but it's there. I'm very curious to see if it darkens.

Sleep: Eh, sleep was so-so. Lots of waking up to use the restroom, and waking up with Acid Reflux.

Best moment this week: I have to say the best moment this week was date night with the hubby! We had a blast, and it seems we haven't been on a real date night in so long because we are always trying to save for the baby. So on Friday night we decided to go out and have some fun. We started by going to dinner at Mi Ranchito, clearly mexican food... our favorite, and I can finally eat it without getting sick! YAY! I've missed it so much! Next we decided to go bowling, because we had never been bowling together.... ever. Crazy!

Anyhow, it was just a really good time, and the best part was that I won! What can I say, I'm a rockstar bowler! Haha jk...

After bowling, we stopped at In-n-Out to get shakes, and headed up to a little lookout point above our house. It was like we were teenagers all over again. I mean, how many times would you get shakes and 'park' at a lookout point somewhere when you were in high school... right? ;)

Another great moment this week: painting the nursery! I know I said I'd have pictures this week, but I decided to leave it a surprise. So, you'll see it sometime in the near future instead.


Miss anything? Still just miss being able to move around easily. It will be amazing to get my full range of motion back!

Movement: Yes! Active as usual and always loving it.

Food cravings: I'm gonna have to say Ice Cream. I think I actually do crave that way more than I used to. Mmm... Ice Cream! Maybe also because it's summer?

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not this week!

Gender: Girl!

Symptoms:
congestion
acid reflux
dry skin
leg cramps
swollen feet/ankles
back pain
hip pain
itchy abdomen
snorting

Belly button in or out? Still in! YAY!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy Happy!

Oh... what's this... another cat picture? Yes, I'm obsessed. Soon it'll be pictures of our little girl instead (or in addition to)

Her favorite place to sleep!

 Looking forward to: My baby shower! It's not for another two weeks, but I am really excited! :)