Baby G #1 Bumpdate – The Third Trimester (Weeks 27-37)

MATERNITY DRESS: c/o Pink Blush Maternity

I can’t believe it’s been almost 12 weeks since my last bumpdate here on the blog!! It just goes to show that the last half of pregnancy absolutely flies by! I was told by so many mama’s that the third trimester goes by really slow (and now that I’m in the 38th week, I see what they mean!), but the first part of the third trimester went way too fast for this mama-to-be. Mostly because I felt like I had SO much to do to prep for our little one’s arrival. I’ve talked about it a bit on instagram, but Cole and I actually bought and completely gutted a little fixer upper house about a month and a half ago, so we’re in the middle of renovations, packing up stuff at our current rent house and prepping for baby girl. As of now, we plan to extend our lease at our current rent house through the end of August and officially move into our new home September 1st, but that’s all up in the air due to the fact that we can’t 100% predict when the renovations will be complete and when our baby girl will actually arrive. So in the meantime, I’ve cleared out my former office and converted it into a temporary nursery at our current home and will start to work on her official nursery at the new house once the paint and floors are complete. Phew!! All that’s to say, we have A LOT going on right now, so I haven’t been able to commit as much time to this bloggy business of mine.

 

So back to the point of this post, which is to update you on all things pregnancy-related. Click on the read more button below to get the full scoop on alll the wonders, joys, aches and pains that the third trimester has had in store for this first-time mama-to-be.

Side note – I realized I hadn’t officially announced baby girl’s name here on the blog even though I had on social media! Ta-Da!! A girl has a name. And it’s Everly Austin Green. Click through to learn about how we chose it.

 

Our Baby Girl’s Name:

Everly Austin Green

How Far Along :

38 weeks

Our Due Date:

August 13, 2018 (still!)

Baby Size:

Baby is the size of a winter melon, 19.1 inches and 6.8 pounds (this is a general estimate from one of my pregnancy apps, not her actual height/weight). We actually haven’t had an ultrasound since week 26, which apparently is normal if you are having a healthy pregnancy, but it’s been such a bummer not to get to see our baby girl on the screen and to have no idea how she’s measuring. They do measure my uterus at all of my now weekly appointments, and my doctor said it was measuring perfectly on track.

The Bump/Weight Gain:

30 pounds. I actually started the third trimester by not gaining any weight at all for the first few weeks, even though I could see visibly that my bump was growing larger. Then I had a week where I gained 3 pounds and then some where I steadily gained a pound a week, and it all measured out to be one pound a week, which is what’s expected in the third trimester, so I wasn’t too worried. It’s so crazy how different every woman experiences pregnancy weight gain!

Cravings:

The snow cone cravings have gotten out of control y’all. I’m pretty sure all the workers at Bahama Bucks know me (and Cole, and Lucky and Lady) by name because we drive through at least 3-5 times a week. I get a strawberry cheesecake snow cone with cream every time and it NEVER gets old!! There’s something so satisfying and delicious about a cold, fruity snow cone in the heat of the summer. Other than that, I haven’t had too many other significant cravings, but I have developed a bit of an aversion to meat, especially when it comes to steaks. I’m fine with eating meat when it’s in a sandwich or ground in a pasta, but for some reason a big chicken breast or even a filet mignon hasn’t sounded at all appetizing in my third trimester.

Weeks 27-28

A Girl Has a Name: Sometime in the second trimester, Cole and I finally agreed upon a name for our little one. Cole leans more on the traditional side of names, whereas I like names that are a little unique, so it was really hard to narrow down options. One thing that Cole was certain about was that he wanted her name to have special meaning to us, and how could I argue with that?! We ended up with Everly Austin Green, and I absolutely LOVE it! Everly comes from my grandmother AKA Gigi’s name, Beverly, who’s love, encouragement, example & overall presence in my life has and continues to shape me into the woman I’ve become and who I wish to be (and for the kind of woman we pray our little Everly will become). We chose Austin for her middle name because Austin is the city where me and Cole’s love story began and will always have a special place in our hearts. Since Everly is so feminine, I loved the way it sounded with the more masculine Austin. We cannot wait to welcome our little Everly Austin Green into the world so soon.

Pregnancy Perks: One of the perks about finally having an obvious baby bump?! Strangers are SO nice to you! Sure some may ask to touch your belly (which I honestly don’t even mind!), but they’ll also open doors for you, let you cut in line and just smile randomly at you. I even had a flight attendant ask if I “wouldn’t mind doing him a favor and moving to first class?!“….ummm, yes, please!!! People are very kind to pregnant women and I’ve loved that part of it!

Hair & Nails FINALLY Growing: I was kind of bummed that this one didn’t start earlier on in pregnancy, especially since I started taking prenatal vitamins three months before getting pregnant. But finally around week 27, I started to notice my nails were growing stronger and faster than ever, as was my hair (which you can see through my progressive dark roots in the below photos).

 

Weeks 29-30

Feet Swelling: I’d always heard about feet swelling in pregnancy, but I didn’t realize just how serious it could be until week 30, after our couple’s shower. After our couple’s shower, which was a backyard barbecue style celebration, I got home and was totally freaked out when I saw my feet. I had insane indentions around my ankles where my wedges had been and my feet looked about three times their normal size. I also had what I learned was “pitting”, where if you stuck a finger at any point in my ankle, the indention would just stay there. SO creepy!! It looked like a case of elephantiasis in my feet. And quite uncomfortable too. It took a few days for them to go down, and I definitely learned from that point on to drink TONS of water, stay out of the heat and stay off my feet as much as possible.

Boobs Stop Growing: Throughout my pregnancy, my boobs had been getting larger, heavier and changing shape (which I’ve talked about in previous bumpdates), but sometime around week 30, they just stopped their growth spurt (thank goodness!) and all the tenderness and soreness went away, which was a very welcome change.
Weeks 30-31

Belly Button’s Coming Out: Something I’d been anticipating throughout pregnancy was my belly button popping out. I’ve always had an innie (like allll the way in!) , so I was so curious to see what my belly would look like with an outie. Around week 31, it started to make it’s way out of hiding, and has since almost become all the way out! It’s so crazy all the changes your body makes during pregnancy. I still have to do a double-take when I walk by the mirror.

The Heat is On: Since we first announced our pregnancy, I’d been told numerous times about how difficult it would be to be pregnant in the summer, which I kind of shrugged off. Boy do I understand what they were talking about now!! And naturally, this summer is one of the hottest EVER in Texas, y’all! Sometime around week 32,  I could feel my internal body temperature rise. Just walking outside to my car nearly too my breath away, and sleeping at night has become really tough. We turn our thermostat down to 65 each night, and it takes several hours to reach that temperature, but until then, I feel like I toss and turn from feeling so hot.

Forgetting Things: Pregnancy brain is a REAL thing y’all. In fact, a new study just came out that revealed that pregnant women loose brain cells in the beginning of the third trimester to make way for new “maternal” brain cells that come in during the last couple of weeks of pregnancy. Sometime around mid-third trimester I started forgetting randomly forgetting things. Like the kind of forgetting where I would walk into a room of the house, and completely forget why I was there.

Weeks 33-34

More Nose Bleeds: I mentioned this symptom before, which was significant to me because I’ve NEVER had nose bleeds before pregnancy. In the last several weeks, they’ve become almost a daily thing, and really heavy too. My doctor says it’s fine/normal, but it’s certainly frustrating to me.

Mood Swings: I felt very blessed to not experience too much in the way of mood swings throughout my pregnancy, until around week 34 of pregnancy. For no reason at all, my mood could go from extremely happy to feeling a little on the sad side. It was hard to explain these emotions I couldn’t at all control, and I know I threw Cole for a loop a few times too. Luckily, the mood swings have since subsided and been replaced with extreme exhaustion instead (another not so fun symptom).

Baby Rolls & Hiccups: At some point during these weeks, baby girl’s movements changed from kicks and jabs to full on body rolls across my tummy. Whether her little booty or her feet, I could feel and see her movements as she got cozy everyday.

Camel Drinking Status: Over the last several weeks, I’ve been going through at least two FULL Yeti cups (like the big kind) of water as I sleep. Nighttime is obviously the WORST time for this to occur, since it makes me have to pee even more than I already do, but I just can’t help it…I feel SO thirsty at night. I think partly because it helps me cool down, but Cole loves to call me Camel as he hears me gulping in the middle of the night.

Heartburn: Heartburn came back with a vengeance around week 33-34. I think it’s mostly because baby girl was finally big enough to be squishing all of my organs, but this time it was even more intense. NO matter what I eat, I feel as if all the food is just sitting on my chest, which has led to smaller, more frequent meals and a daily dose of Zantac too.

Weeks 35-36

Extreme Exhaustion: Over the last couple of weeks, exhaustion has hit me big time. Week 36 in particular was really hard. It felt like I’d taken a Tylenol PM every day of the week. All I wanted to do was eat and sleep, and that’s pretty much what I did, feeling extremely guilty for falling behind in work. I felt a little bit better when I did some research and fund that week 36 is the time when progesterone levels peak in pregnancy (which can make you super sleepy!) Luckily, my energy came up a bit the following week and has since then, but I still feel overall exhausted lately, no matter how much rest I get.

Drop It Low Girl: Also in week 36 (which may have attributed to the exhaustion!), I felt Everly “drop” in my pelvis It was in the middle of the night one night when I got up for the fifth time to pee, I suddenly felt enormous pressure in my pelvic area, almost as if someone had kicked me there or something. The next day, I noticed my bump was a bit lower than before, and that I could feel baby girl’s hand movements really low in my pelvis area.

Hiccups: Speaking of baby movements…probably one the COOLEST thongs about being pregnant, or at least my personal favorite, is getting to feel your little one kick and move around. In the last few weeks, not only have I gotten used to Everly’s rolls, but also to her daily bouts of hiccups, which I love!! It just reminds me that she’s there everyday and makes me SO SO EXCITED to meet her so soon.

 

CRAZY to think my next update will likely be less of a bumpdate and more of a baby update!! Stay tuned for more about pregnancy and motherhood here on the blog in the weeks after Everly is born! You can read all my pregnancy posts here!

 

 

Fairwell xx,