Bumpdate: Week 35

Quickly sneaking a pic in the pool locker room during one of the few times I had it to myself. 

Ah, the monumental 35-week mark -- 35 weeks down, and 35 days to go! I kind of feel like I'm nearing the end of a marathon at this point. The first several miles were pretty easy, the middle miles were a bit of a mental game, and now that I'm in the home stretch, I'm casting aside any aches and pains (or at least trying to) and powering through as an end is certainly in sight. 

This past week was a fun one, complete with lots of playground time, some fun play dates, a great day with Auntie Kate, a good doctor's appointment, a night out to see one of my idols with my mom and sisters, an adventurous dinner out with two toddlers and friends, a swimming milestone, Sammy's first ever full sentence (which was repeated over - and over - and over), and Easter weekend. And overall, I felt fantastic!

Sammy and his Auntie Kate

Two toddlers, running off their dinner calories

Cousins enjoying chocolate milk by the light of the ... iPad? 

I could go on and on about my week, but suppose I'll try to keep this blog post on the topic at hand. According to my WTE app, I'm "definitely" looking the part of a nearly full-term pregnant woman, and likely walking the part. And to this, I concur. Especially as the day wears on, my waddle becomes more and more apparent. Baby Sister is most definitely head down (as confirmed by my doctors) and trying to stretch out my pelvic bones. 

Baby Sister continues to be the size of a large cantaloupe, and should now be about six pounds, but still only measuring around 20 inches in length. As she is getting ready to "fit the narrow passageway"(ew), her bones will remain soft, and her growth will experience a slowdown at this point. Her immune system should now be matured enough to deal with the outside world, though she still has some work to do in regard to her digestive system. 

Total weight gained: My doctor confirmed that I've gained 25 pounds, but breezed over it, which I will as well. I'm sure that I tacked on additional pound or three after the amount of candy I consumed this past weekend, but I refuse to go near a scale today.

Belly / movement: Throughout the week, I felt like I was experiencing less movement, but this past weekend I felt a ton. And it seems pretty obvious to the outside world as there is only so much hiding multiple layers of shirts will do. Also, my belly is so low at this point that I have maybe one shirt left that hides it in its entirety. And frankly, I've given up caring that my stomach is often exposed. Apologies in advance, friends and family.

Symptoms: Okay, so earlier, I said that overall, I felt fantastic. And I do mean that "overall" part. But I had some definite annoying issues this week, which began on Thursday with some of the most horrendous upper leg pain I've ever experienced. Apparently Baby Sister was sitting on a nerve or something, as the top part of my right leg killed, and it was downright painful to walk. Thankfully, that went away after a good night's sleep. But then on Saturday, it returned for a bit, only to be followed by godawful back pain that entire evening. I went to bed early, and spent almost three hours tossing and turning, just praying to fall asleep so the back pain would go away. Luckily, a night's sleep again proved to be the cure. I definitely did not experience anything like either of these symptoms when pregnant with Sammy. Baby Sister is already proving to be quite the opposite of her brother....

Sleep: The only good thing about it is it gets rid of pain. But almost every night I toss and turn non-stop for at least an hour or two. I'm too much of a realist to wish for a full night's sleep anytime soon. Instead, I'll just say that I really can't wait until I can have more than one cup of coffee a morning.

Food cravings / aversions: Similar to last week, candy, candy, fruit, candy. And avocado. And my new favorite, Ben and Jerry's Greek frozen yogurt. (Specifically, the strawberry shortcake flavor.) I'm pretty sure that my stomach is being overcrowded by Baby at this point though, as I seem to be getting full much quicker than usual.

Best moment(s) of the week: As I said earlier, it was a pretty great week. Seeing Ina Garten in person was awesome. She was just as personable and fun as she appears on television, and I would love nothing more than to have a few cocktails with her. 

Also, my big boy now can put multiple words together! And... he basically won't stop. He repeats his chosen phrase over - and over - and over. (For those of you that don't understand toddler jibberish, in the above video, Sammy is saying, "It's a big car." And indicating how big it is with his hand.) 

And finally, my big swimming accomplishment, which leads me to....

Workout: I said last week that I had a couple exciting things planned for my swim workouts this week. I was super nervous that I wouldn't be able to follow through, but somehow I managed! On Tuesday, I swam an entire mile (1,650 swimming yards), but broken up into a few chunks. Still, my largest chunk was 1,200 yards, which was the farthest I had ever swam. I felt okay, but was a little worried about what I hoped to accomplish later on that week....  

Saturday morning, I woke up feeling pretty tired, but knew I had a task at hand - to swim an entire mile straight without stopping! And Lord only knows how, but I did it! And felt absolutely fantastic! The first third of the swim was a bit of a mental game, but the last two-thirds I felt strong, and like I could keep going. And though swimming usually tires me out tremendously, I felt great the remainder of the morning! (And used our drive down to New Jersey that afternoon to take a nap.) 

Again, I know this might not be a huge deal to anyone that has actually grown up swimming, but for as long as I can remember, I've been horribly intimidated by the pool. (And kind of still am!) So it's a big deal to me, and I feel good about being able to accomplish something athletic-related during this pregnancy. For the next month, my goal is to keep up my endurance, but also to focus more on improving my technique. Then, once I get back in the water after having Baby Sister, I will focus primarily on my technique. (And on figuring out how to not drown when in an open water situation.)

I continue to ride my bike as well, though haven't challenged myself to go much further than 10 miles lately. It's rather uncomfortable to ride lately, and this past week I was concerned with keeping fresh legs for my swimming endeavors.

• Monday: Rode 10 miles at an 18.6 mph pace
• Tuesday: Swam 1,650 yards (1 mile!)
• Wednesday: Rode 10 miles at 16.8 mph pace
• Thursday: Rest day
• Friday: Rode 8 miles at 17.2 mph pace 
• Saturday: Swam 1,650 yards (straight!) in about 40 minutes
• Sunday: Rest day

What I'm looking forward to: Still looking forward to / am anxious to see how Baby's birth will play out, though for the most part, I'm just looking forward to enjoying this last full (I hope) month as a family of three. It is completely crazy to me that we will soon be adding another member to our household. I wouldn't necessarily say that I barely remember a time before Sammy, but it does seem like he's been part of our family for much longer than 20.5 months! And now, as he seems to be changing more each and every day, I just want to soak up this time with him as much as possible.