Baby Girl,

Most of the time I now think of myself as having two kids.  It is both exciting and scary. Not a vision goes by of our family’s future that you are not a part of.  Dream vacations, family trips, and thoughts of everyday moments include you in it.  When you think about how we don’t even know what you look like or who you will be, it is kind of crazy that you are such a part of our life already.

I’m also convinced that your brother knows you are in there even if he can’t understand what that means exactly.  He has become even more obsessed with lifting up my shirt and poking my belly button, but he also seems to be feeling my belly more lately.  Without any prompting he has also started laying his head on you.  The other night when I was up with him all night because he’s been sick, his little head was laying on my belly and you were just a kicking away.  Looks like you are picking on him already.

Of course, I hope you spend more time getting along than not.

Love,

Mom

Feeling:  Nervous about your arrival and guilty for having another child.

I’m so caught up in what this change will be like for Pierce and worrying about how he will take it.  I feel guilty for the time it will take away from him and the attention he will miss out on.  I can’t imagine spending less time with him or not being involved in his every moment.  At the same time, I’m nervous about your arrival.  I feel like I’m not as prepared as the weeks keep flying by and I haven’t been preparing like I did last time.  I feel like it was so long ago that we had a newborn even though it was only 16 months ago.

Cravings:  Chocolate!  Hershey kisses have only a 2.8g of carbs, so I find myself enjoying a few here and there.  My blood sugar still remains great, and I have only had one high reading by 1 point on a unique day (after eating out and sitting).

Weight Gain: At my last appointment a week and a half ago I had gained 21.5 pounds.

Symptoms:  Feeling good some days and very pregnant others.  Very tired after school days.  Like I can’t even think straight tired.  Suffering battered feet.  It appears my feet have grown a half size or more by the end of some days.  I have almost no work shoes that I can get my feet into.  The ones I can squeeze into leave my feet brutalized by the end of the day.  Peeing all of the time.  Seriously!  Multiple times a night.

Workouts/Running:  The struggle has been real.  

I’m trying to not make excuses, but juggling the school day, picking up Pierce and getting dinner ready for a hungry little person earlier than I expected everyday (he eats lunch at 11:00) makes getting in a workout after school impossible.  The husband is home too late to help start dinner or help in other ways.  After Pierce goes to bed, forget about it.  I am falling asleep in seconds if I sit down.  Right now I feel I need the extra rest.

As for my weekend goals, well the struggle continues.  Two weekends ago we were out of town the entire weekend.  If you have a young kid or more, then you know this means your kid(s) will wake up extra early and probably not sleep that great.  On top of this, they can terrorize a hotel room in seconds, so working out is super difficult if your also trying to get yourself, a husband and a child fed and ready to be places.

This weekend the husband was gone fishing and I am beyond my capacity to run and push a stroller.  Pierce has also been pretty sick.  We’ve been dealing with a high fever that showed up on at least 6 of the last 7 days.  We’ve been to the doctor twice.  We had planned to run the Labor Day Dash 5k in Madison this past Labor Day, but the little man woke up too sick to do that so we had to adjust our plans.  I was bummed and hoped to run one last race.  Oh, well.  Sacrifice is part of parenthood.  Sick babies need love and attention so workouts take a backseat.

Needless to say, you won’t find many miles ran.  I’m not ready to say I’ve ran my last run yet.  Most of my reasons for not running have little to do with how I feel and more just logistics of life.  I am hoping to get in a few more runs, but if life has another plan for me then I’m also ok with that.  I will have lots of time to run in the future.  As for other types of workout, well logistics have made them a struggle, too.

32 Weeks-

Ran-4.5 miles (2.5, 2)

Walked, but haven’t been keeping track of miles.

33 Weeks-

Ran-0 miles

Walked, but haven’t been keeping track of miles.  I should start.

Freezer Meals:  

Baked Ziti-We like to use whole wheat noodles and up the spices.  Season to your taste!

Cheesy Taco Bake and Tuscan Pasta

Looking Forward To:  Making the most of our last moments as a family of three.

Sarah