How I’m feeling: A lot of conflicting emotions…things have been pretty intense lately! I’m feeling happy, grateful, and excited, but also distracted, overwhelmed, and anxious at times. Focusing on the present, rather than worrying about the future, has been helping me a lot though. I just need to remind myself a gazillion times a day, heh.
Midwife appointment: My midwife appointment went well this week. With my first pregnancy (under an OB’s care) we had so many ultrasounds (partly due to checking up on my low-lying placenta), so this time, the fact that I haven’t had an ultrasound since 19 weeks (and possibly won’t even have another before the birth!) is a big change for me. I keep wanting to ask my midwife for an ultrasound just to check up on baby, even though they don’t see a real need for it right now. I guess I just worry.
After reminiscing about my episiotomy recovery last time, I brought up the EPI-NO and my midwife is a big fan. She says it’s helped so many of her patients and recommended that I consider using it, especially given my first experience. I don’t think it’s recommended to start using it until the last 3 to 4 weeks of the pregnancy, so I still have a bit of time to look into it more.
By the way, thanks for sharing your experiences with hypnobirthing! I haven’t had a chance to look into it further, but I’m hoping to very soon.
Home life: All of the walls are now up in the basement and it’s so fun to see the individual rooms! It’s still feeling quite open and airy, which is a relief. The drywallers still have to do all the patching and sanding. The tiling and priming have also started in the master bathroom. We’re using zero VOC paint by Natura once again, so it’s nice not to have to worry about fumes in the house.
Hair/skin/nails: I finally got my hair cut…woot woot! My stylist did some flat iron waves afterward and I felt like a million bucks. It’s amazing what a fresh cut and style can do for a person. I’ve been feeling so frumpalicious lately, lol, but the cut and style gave me a kick to my step again. My skin has still been good for not breaking out since I made those changes a while back, but I’m noticing a lot of pigmentation (redness and pregnancy melasma) as the summer goes on even though I’m using sunscreen twice a day and wearing a hat on walks.
Symptoms: Not too many to speak of. Some back pain in the morning (especially if I find myself sleeping on my back too much) and occasional Braxton Hicks.
Sleep: Sleep has been pretty decent (broken, but decent). Once Adriana goes to bed at 7:30pm, I hit a wall and I’m pretty much unable to move from the couch until I go to bed at 9:30/10pm.
Exercise: My exercise has taken a backseat lately, mainly due to the renovation madness and the intense heat waves we’ve had this month (my phone currently says the humidity makes it feel like 43°C right now…ick). I’m still walking outside each morning (about 25 minutes pushing a heavy stroller/toddler, which feels like a feat), and my goal with Barre3 is to squeeze in two or three 15-minute workouts a week. I think that’s pretty realistic with everything going on right now. Overall, I’m feeling pretty strong and pain-free, even if I’m not doing quite as much lately as I had hoped.
What I’m wearing: I’m starting to get reeeeeally sick of my maternity clothes (anyone else?). It’s been so hot that some of my clothes aren’t even suitable right now, so I feel like I’m just wearing the same few options on repeat. Eric received one of those Facebook flashback photos on his page the other day, and it flashed back to us two years ago. He said, ”Guess which dress you were wearing?!” I looked down at my floral maternity dress. “This floral maternity one?” “Yep, that’s the one!” Well, at least I got my money out of this dress, right? You can’t beat a dress lasting through two pregnancies!
Cravings: Frozen fruit (lately I like eating a mug full of frozen blueberries and raspberries at night). I’m eating a lot of grapes. They are also Adriana’s fave thing in the world right now. I’m still drinking 1 to 2 smoothies a day. I ended up making those Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Bars last week, and my first attempt was a great start. The bars were dangerous to have in the house, though, because they were all I wanted to eat!
Best thing I ate/drank all week: I made a bunch of food from the book on Thursday as I had a reporter come to the house for an interview and photoshoot. My Strawberry Oat Crumble Bars from Oh She Glows Every Day were part of the spread and I had forgotten how much I adore them! Actually, I just remembered that I have several leftover in the fridge and I’m off to enjoy one now….*returns with crumble bar* The second best thing I ate all week: My fave chocolate cupcakes with vegan buttercream! I made them for Eric’s birthday, and whoa, they hit the spot.
Days left until due date: 47 days
PS—you can read my 33 weeks update from my first pregnancy here.
Happy weekend, everyone!
Hi Angela, just one word – love you! ?
Oops, two words ;)
Even though I’m not expecting and pregnancies aren’t in our near future I very much enjoy reading your baby posts to see what one can expect to feel/consider at that time. I also love how informative these posts are, thanks for mentioning the EPI-NO, I just read up about it and will definitely use one to prepare myself and avoid tearing/cutting. Hope the weather will cool down a bit for you so you can enjoy the last few weeks of summer and keep these posts coming, love them! :-)
23 week pregnant and the heat is just awful. I haven’t had many craving- just wanting to drink all my calories since it is so hot. Iced milk drinks, smoothies, ice cream, cereal, whatever. When it comes to dinner time I cringe at the thought of heating something up. I know I have to since I am not much of a raw veggies type of girl.
Make sure you look into the hypnobirthing asap. Usually the classes are done in the second trimester, giving you time to practice the breathing and techniques. Hypnobirthing also includes CD’s that you listen to daily that condition your mind to think positively about birth, which again you want lots of time for! :)
Thanks for posting these updates! Love(d) following along as both times you’ve been pregnant, so have I! Also with the oakville midwives and loving it. It seems like you have a crazy stretch coming up with your book launch and baby due – hope you get some rest in there too! :)
Hi Angela,
Long time reader, first time commenter. Part-time vegan, full time teacher. Mom to two boys. Just my two cents on hypnobirthing. My second labour was much shorter (1.5 hours) than my first and totally doable with hypnobirthing. It is so worth the investment to be able to regain calmness between contractions. To feel in control. To not feel afraid. It makes labour manageable. The thing I found is that you have to practice all the strategies so that when the time comes, you will just pick one or two that work for you in the moment. I live in the GTA. If you don’t have time to take the class or meet with a doula to practice (the ideal route), I have all the stuff you can borrow. Thanks so much for all your amazing recipes!
Hi Angela,
Also a first time commenter. I used the EPI-NO before the births of both my children and was very happy with the experience. I don’t have anything to compare it with, but had no tearing either time. My daughter was born after a very long labour (she was just under 8 lbs, posterior, and didn’t turn but came out that way) and my son was around 9 lbs. It’s not super fun to use, pretty uncomfortable really, but it does give you confidence that you are ready to push out a baby and nothing is going to break. And I’m sure that the discomfort is nothing compared with the recovery from a tear. As I remember they advise only starting after 37 weeks so you definitely have some time to think about it. I was recommended it by a friend who is studying to be an OB and she says that all her colleagues use it before their own births. Good luck
Hi Angela,
I can imagine you feel a bit overwhelmed sometimes, but you’re an awesome mama who is an inspiration to many here, just remember that :).
Regarding the EPI-NO, I’ve heard many good things about it, both from midwives and from friends! I had a similar experience to you with an episiotomy when my son was born last year and I regretted so much not trying an EPI-NO or even just massaging.. So next time around I’m definitely going to try the EPI-NO as I know I will need it ;).
Best of luck with these last few weeks, and hang in there, YOU ROCK! :)
I love that dress!!! Can i ask where you got it? Im 23 weeks pregnant and so frustrated as i cant fit into prepregnancy clothes, and maternity clothes are all too big! Im ALMOST getting sick of leggings and yoga pants!