The Growth of 32 Weeks

By now, our baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in her womb. Eeek...I'm, supposedly, gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to this baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
To accommodate our growing needs, my blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since before I was pregnant. My uterus is now cramming and pushing up near my diaphragm and crowding my stomach (and, boy, can I feel it), the consequences may be shortness of breath and heartburn. You may have lower-back pain as your pregnancy advances. Assuming it's not preterm labor that's ailing me, it's probably the growing uterus and hormonal changes causing these lovely back aches. This expanding uterus shifts my poor center of gravity and stretches out and weakens my, once pretty strong,  abdominal muscles, changing my posture and putting a strain on my poor back. Hormonal changes in pregnancy loosen up my joints and the ligaments that attach pelvic bones to the spine. So don't make fun of me when I look less stable and in pain when I walk, stand, sit for long periods, roll over in bed, get out of a low chair or the tub, bend, or lift things.

31 Weeks and Counting...

Thursday marked another successful trip to Park City to see Midwife Danielle and her team to check on mom and baby and our progress. Last appointment we had a glusclose/hemoglobin test (or in lamens terms; blood test) to make sure that I don't have gestational diabetes or any other blood deficiencies. The results came back to say that I am slightly anemic. Nothing to be too concerned of, I just have to add some more iron into my diet with vitamins and food. More spinach, yummy! Or red meat, no thanks. Beans or anything iron rich. So far, it seems things are perfect. Baby and pregnancy pass exams with flying colors. She is resting confortably slightly on the right side of my uterus and seems to be happy as a clam. (What does that really mean?!?!). While it seems that we are doing well, she is slowly running out of room to move. She is a very active baby and kicks and punches a lot. It has been suggested that I see a chiropractor and massage therapist to make some space adjustments for this little one. As my belly gets pretty tight even after walking for short distances. I have to be honest and say that chiropractic adjustments while pregnant made me a little nervous at first, but after speaking to my doula and a pregnancy specialized chiropractor himself, I feel a lot better about it and will be visiting him in the next week before our travels to California to play in the sunshine with Amy, Mattie and family before September's deployment. All is well, baby is getting bigger and we are still on track for a happy birth and healthy baby. Yay!!