30 Weeks

How Big is Baby McLees?  Our little one is comparable in size to the following: a 1-gallon jug of milk, a Gizmo,  a Sara Lee cheesecake, and an eastern cottontail rabbit.  He weighs about 3+ pounds and measures approximately 15.5- 16 inches in length.  Little Michael is consuming lots of calcium as his skeleton hardens.  His head is getting bigger to accommodate a growing brain, and it’s growing more proportionate to the rest of his body.

Movement:  According to my What to Expect When You’re Expecting book,  the fat deposits increasing under his skin are giving him more and more energy, which I am most certainly feeling.  It’s also getting less roomy for him, so his kicks and jabs feel considerably stronger.  From the way he’s moving, and based on our own heights, Michael and I are both predicting he’s got some pretty long legs.

Milestone:  At 30 weeks, our little turkey is 75% done!

Pregnancy Symptoms:  I have been experiencing some on again/off again heartburn, but it doesn’t occur everyday, and it doesn’t last for long periods of time.  I’ve felt significantly more tired during the third trimester than during the first and second trimesters.  I find myself feeling more exhausted after doing tasks around the house like vacuuming or laundry.  My hands tingle basically all of the time now, and the tingling is strongest in my thumbs, index, and middle fingers.  These 3 fingers are the most affected because the nerve that is being pinched controls some of the movement of and supplies feeling to the thumb, index, and middle fingers.  It’s worse in the morning when I first wake up until about 10 or 11 o’clock.  From what I’ve read, this is because we tend to curl our hands up when we sleep which in turn pinches the nerve in the wrist where all the fluid (I’ve learned this fluid is called ‘oedema’!) builds up.  The wrist splint helps with this, but I don’t think it completely prevents me from curling up my fingers in my sleep.  It really gets to me during my shower in the morning.  For some reason, my fingers love to fall asleep and get super numb and tingly with the warm water.  I’m always dropping my razor, shampoo bottle, etc.  I’m happy to hear from my doctor that this symptom should go away after little Michael is born.  Now that I’ve experienced it, I really feel for people who suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome outside of the pregnancy-related version.

Recently, whenever I finish a walk or a bike ride, my muscles have felt sore and unusually stiff, like I need a good stretch.  I did a little research about pregnancy exercises online and decided to get an exercise ball.  It now takes the place of my desk chair at the office!  It’s really comfortable for me to sit on, and it’s supposed to help with posture and strengthen the abdominal muscles.  There are quite a few stretching and strengthening exercises I can do with it, so I think it will help with the muscle soreness/stiffness.  Exercise balls are also supposed to help with the stiffness that can result from sitting in a chair for prolonged periods of time, and I’m hoping this also means the ball will help with swelling and fluid build-up.  Additionally, if I want to use one at the hospital, I’ll have my own.  This one only cost $8 at Walmart.

Maternity Clothes:  I’m still loving the full panel maternity jeans my mom bought for me at Motherhood Maternity when I was in Texas.  They’re comfortable and leave plenty of room to grow.  I also found this flowy, feminine, and floral kimono at Motherhood.  It’s great for wearing over a black tank top with jeans or a knit skirt.

An update on the “growing-out phase:”  As you can see, my natural hair color (along with the grays, which I now embrace as part of my natural hair color!) has completed about 2 inches of growth.  Growing it out is going to be a long process, but I am looking forward to seeing more and more of my natural locks in the months to come.  I’m truly enjoying being free from having to dye it every month and worrying about the roots revealing themselves or whether or not the color matches my eyebrows, which, thankfully, I never colored.

Nighttime:  I’ve enjoyed another week of sleeping well!  I’ve only been getting up once or twice during the night to go to the restroom, and the wrist splint seems to be holding my carpal tunnel at bay.  It hasn’t become unbearably painful at night since the last episode almost a month ago.

Food I’m Avoiding:  I’m experiencing a hearty appetite and at this time, I’m not avoiding any foods.  For a while, I had no interest in salads.  Recently, I’ve actually been craving leafy greens.  I keep a big tub of fresh romaine and iceberg in the fridge so Michael and I can enjoy side salads with our dinners.  I had been buying the salads prepared in bags, but I got tired of always having to pick out pieces of lettuce that had gone bad.  Plus they were more expensive than the packages of hearts and heads.  Buying romaine hearts and heads of iceberg and then cutting them up allows the greens to stay fresher and last longer.  I think I was just being lazy buying the bags!

Food I’m Enjoying:  For a snack, I really like Nature Valley’s crunchy peanut butter granola bars.  Sometimes I even spread more extra crunchy peanut butter on them if I’m feeling like I need more protein.  Yummy!  Little Michael always kicks after I eat something with peanut butter, which makes these granola bars even more enjoyable.  For the past few weeks, the California green table grapes at the grocery store have had the perfect texture and taste, and I’ve been snacking on them often.  I also freeze little bags of grapes to create a delicious frozen treat that’s a lot better for little Michael than my ice cream habit.

Best Moment this Week:   Fall is fast approaching.  I feel particularly excited about fall this year because, since March, I’ve associated the season with little Michael’s arrival.  Additionally, it’s our first fall in Ohio, and I can’t wait to watch the leaves change color.  They are already starting to show signs of changing from vibrant green to an almost  yellow hue.  On Saturdays, college football is on our TV.  We’ve missed the Bears and the Longhorns, but now our teams are back in action!  Spiced pumpkin pie wax melts in my numerous warmers are filling our house with the aroma of fall, and each day is bringing me closer to wearing my new maternity leggings or a lightweight sweater.

Michael:  He continues to be very helpful around the house and didn’t even give me a hard time when I was dozing during Sunday’s Cowboys game.  I didn’t think he was aware that the person sitting beside him was falling asleep, but apparently my hands twitch when I start to doze off.  Since we were holding hands, it was a dead giveaway!

What I’m Looking Forward To:  I get to see my doctor every 2 weeks now, so I’m looking forward to my next appointment.  My doctor is a mother of twins; she just had them in January.  She told me about an organization she belongs to, the West Chester Mothers of Twins and More Club.  They are having a fall tag sale in a few weeks.  The members set up booths in a high school gym and sell their gently used baby clothes, gear, books, and more.  I’m really excited about going, and I hope to snag some good deals for the nursery!

Speaking of baby clothes, I found this adorable pajama set at Walmart.

It even comes with a little blue hat.  I can’t help but smile when I look at the happy faces on the feet!