Baby Number 3: 31 Weeks

We've made it to 31 weeks!  

Not that I'm even the littlest bit surprised, considering I went well past 40 weeks with both Bailey and Gerry.  I have no stats on this baby, beyond the fact that he's a normal size and a normal weight and moving right along in terms of growth.  Poor thing doesn't even have a name yet and the walls of his bedroom are still a soft pink, left over from when Bailey was the occupant.  

Such is the life of a third baby.

We've got the crib set up and ready to go, and I'm almost positive that I'll have a clean set of sheets on that mattress before we bring him home.  He's got a dresser with clothes inside, just waiting to be worn.  My bag for the hospital is absolutely NOT packed yet, and I don't plan on even attempting it for another few weeks.  I can distinctly remember when I hit the 32 week mark with Bailey and my sister found out I hadn't packed a bag yet.  "What?!" she screeched.  {Yes, she screeched}.  "How do you not have your bag packed and waiting by the front door?!  You're going to go into labor and HAVE NOTHING READY TO TAKE WITH YOU!!!"  She had me so freaked out that I packed a bag that night, nearly convinced that I was going to give birth before the following morning.  Bailey was born nine weeks later.  Nine weeks.

With Gerry, I packed my bag at 36 weeks.  I was so very, very hopeful that he would be born on or before his due date.  I took my time and carefully packed a few outfits for him and a few for me, being sure to include things like chapstick and a book and photos of Bailey (who was 2 and a half by that point) to focus on during labor.  The bag sat in the trunk of our car for what felt like forever, until Gerry was forced out at just under 42 weeks.

This time I'm not rushing.  I refuse.  We have a coming home outfit washed and ready for the baby, and I have a general idea of what I'm going to pack for myself.  Beyond that, nothing.  I don't even know where the actual bag is.  I'm sure I'll find it accidentally in the next few weeks.

Bottom line, I'm trying really hard not to let myself get too stressed these days.  At my last prenatal appointment I damn near fell off the scale when it showed my weight.  That was a number I'd never seen before.  I had to check my pockets afterward to make sure Gerry hadn't slipped an anvil or something in there before I hopped on the scale.  

He hadn't.

My glucose test came back totally normal, but my hemoglobin is fairly low.  Which explains the ridiculous exhaustion I've been feeling lately.  So I'm taking iron pills twice a day and filling up on leafy green foods as often as I can.  

And have I mentioned the stomach pain?  

I generally try not to complain too much during pregnancy, thought I'm sure my husband will tell you otherwise.  But a few weeks ago, I noticed that the skin on my belly was really starting to hurt.  I assumed it was the literal tearing of a stretch mark, slathered on some lotion, and went on my merry way.  Fast forward a few days later, and I realized that my stomach would start really hurting by the end of the day.  Like, hurt from the inside out and was tender to touch.  I just kept on slathering on more and more lotion throughout the day.  A week later, I was feeling almost constant pain from about 4pm until I passed out for the night.  Moving and bending over made it worse, and pressing on the area was simply out of the question if I wanted to stay conscious.  So I brought it up at my prenatal appointment a few days later.  After a somewhat painful exam, it was determined that I've got a few torn ligaments and an abdominal hernia.

Gross.

And, also, ouch.  And there's not a doctor around who will even attempt to fix the issue until after this baby is born.  So, that's something new this time around.  I'm resting as often as I can with 2 kids and a full time job, but damn if I'm not near tears by the end of the day.  And it also doesn't help that the baby is in there just ninja kicking around all day long.  I love him, but damn.  Settle down, kid.

My life right now

So that's where we're at these days.  Pain on top of the usual sciatica and back issues.  At least it gives me something else to focus on, right?  I'm nothing if not positive, you guys!

Now, we're just counting down the weeks until little man makes his arrival.  I'm due March 30th, but I've pretty much got it in my head that we won't be seeing him before early April.  And I'm okay with that for now.  Scott and I have decided that we'll name him after we meet him, which is an entirely new concept for us.  We had Bailey's name picked out the day we found out she was a girl, and Gerry's name was chosen before we had even gotten married.  So this complete and utter indecision is entirely new and I think we both feel a little weird about it.  We're going in with a short list of names that we like, and we'll figure it out from there.  Hopefully.

In the meantime, we're hanging in there.  Gerry is as crazy as ever and Bailey is loving the Kindergarten life.  I could do with a little less energy from both of them, but we're getting by.  And now we're down to single-digit-weeks {hopefully}...baby will be here before we know it!