34 Weeks: (Pregnancy #2)

Am I really writing my 34 weeks pregnancy update? I honestly can’t wrap my mind around how quickly this pregnancy is flying by! I really hope baby doesn’t decide to come early. Right now, my gut instinct is predicting that this baby will be a few days late, or maybe that’s just wishful thinking. Adriana was born on her due date, which I must say was pretty darn good timing!

How I’m feeling: This week has been less intense than last week, so that’s been nice. I’m feeling good overall, aside from being more tired than usual (more on that below). I’m also feeling pretty emotional at times. I got lost in looking through baby pictures of Adriana yesterday, and found myself tearing up left and right! We have so many amazing memories of that time. She is such a little girl now, and while I LOVE the interactive and fun stage that she’s in currently, I find myself shocked at how quickly the baby stage went by, and that it’s over forever. I texted my mom about it and she said, “Oh I know how you feel. There are so many heart-wrenching moments during motherhood.” So true! I’m so thankful that we took so many pictures and videos, because going through them allows me to re-live it all over again. I love her more than my heart can comprehend, and I know she’s going to be a great big sis!

Hypnobirthing update: I looked into some free hypnobirthing apps/mp3s earlier this week, and I haven’t yet found anything that I clicked with. As a disclaimer, I don’t have a long attention span and have never been into relaxation-type things, so maybe it’s just me! With everything going on right now, I’m kind of in the camp that I might just wing it this time.

Home life: The mudding/sanding is almost finished in the basement—thank goodness, because what a huge mess it’s been! They also installed the basement stairs and finished the subfloor in the basement this week, and the tiling is mostly completed in the master bathroom. If you check out my Snapchat today you can see the sneak peek I did yesterday. It’s great to see progress happening! I still don’t think there’s any chance the renos will be completed by the time baby arrives, but hopefully they won’t continue on too much longer after that. At least we can get the real messy stuff out of the way now!

Hair/skin/nails: One of my fave ways to unwind at night lately is to put on a face mask (I’ve been enjoying a charcoal mask by Boscia), make my raspberry leaf tea and a snack, and watch the Olympics. I know that soon our evenings will be a bit less predictable/calm with a newborn, so I’m trying to soak up the quiet hours after Adriana goes down for the night while I can!

Symptoms: I pulled a muscle in my back this week, but luckily it wasn’t too bad. I iced it, and rubbed the area, then the pain pretty much went away a couple hours later. I’m still getting occasional Braxton Hicks and just feeling more and more uncomfortable as the weeks go by. I’ve been experiencing a lot more pelvic area pains. There is no doubt that there’s an almost full-size baby in my belly! Baby has been quite active, and over the past week I’ve noticed tons of baby hiccups.

Sleep: For some reason, Adriana decided her wake up time this week would be 5am! One morning it was 4:45am. Ouch. She’s been happy for the most part, though, and quite hyper! But her bottom eye teeth are going to cut through any day now so I’m bracing myself. I’ve been dragging my butt all week, especially because I’ve been having multiple wake-ups in the night too (thank you pea-sized bladder). Maybe I can just chalk it up to this week being a full moon?! Anyway, I’m just glad it’s summer because I find sleep deprivation is so much harder to bounce back from during the dark winter months. If anything, I hope this is preparing us to handle the sleep deprivation with baby #2 like old pros!

Exercise: I’m walking 25 brisk minutes every morning with the stroller, and doing 15 minutes of Barre3 online 2 to 3 times a week. It feels like a great amount right now, and the Barre3 is as challenging as ever! I have to pause the video after each 2 to 3 minute set to drink water and rest because this mama gets winded so quickly now.

What I’m wearing: Same old, same old, except I did buy a couple new maternity tees from Gap Maternity since I grew out of my Old Navy ones. A girl can only walk around with her belly popping out of a shirt for so long!

Cravings: PIZZA!!! Oh my gosh. I haven’t had many cravings lately, but this one hit me hard. I ordered pizza 3 TIMES this week…lol! Eric is like, who are you? (In case you’re curious, I order regular crust with extra sauce on the bottom, no cheese, and as many veggies as I can pack on. I usually love thin crust, but this craving is for doughy bread, so I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied with a thin crust.) I’ve also been craving sweets still, although I must say that I’m doing a decent job not going overboard with them. I try to first satisfy my sweet craving with a Medjool date, and that *often* does the trick! But of course, sometimes I prefer vegan ice cream or an oreo. A mug of frozen raspberries is also an evening fave if I’m craving something fresh/healthy.

Best thing I ate/drank all week: I made this incredible lentil soup for the blog (recipe coming 3rd or 4th week in September!), and even though it’s been crazy hot, I find myself excited for soup season. It’s probably my easiest soup to date, and I know we’re going to rely on it so much once baby is here. Second best thing I ate all week: My Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats! I made them for a get-together at my friends’ place and everyone went nuts for them. Actually, this time I made them with maple sunflower seed butter, and they still turned out delish.

Recent items purchased for baby? I finally picked up a few more onesies (zip-ups, rather than button-ups, are our fave!). It’s so funny, though, how relaxed I feel about “baby gear” this time around. I feel like as long as we have diapers, onesies/swaddles, a place to sleep, and my boobs handy we are totally set. With Adriana, we didn’t even use her nursery until after 3 months of age. Adriana was in the co-sleeper for the first couple months, and then she was in a bassinet next to my side of the bed for a month after that before transitioning to the crib in her nursery. We loved having her in our room for the first few months (so many cute/funny memories!), and I especially enjoyed being able to lie down at night in the bed to nurse her. We still have our co-sleeper, which we will use again in the middle of our bed for baby #2. This setup worked really well for us, but we’ll see what baby thinks about the grand plan! I won’t be able to set up the new nursery until the fall when the renovations are over.

Hospital bag packed? Not a chance! I need to get on this, but in all honesty I will probably put it off a few more weeks. The good news is our friends who live nearby have agreed to be our child care back-up for Adriana when I go into labour in case my mom hasn’t arrived from out West yet. My labour started around 11pm last time, and I’m wondering if I’m going to have an overnight labour once again with this baby.

Any food prepped? My goal is to start prepping freezer meals at the beginning of September. I’m trying not to start too early so I can avoid freezer burn!

Days left until due date: 40 days

PS—you can read my 34 weeks update from my first pregnancy here!