Showing all posts in Pregnancy

March 23, 2021

Hi! Hope you are well! I feel great to be honest. Sure, I’m not in perfect body shape, cause you know, I am pregnant after all. And my body is trying to tell me to slow down as well. For some reason I still have tons of energy, even on days when I haven’t slept much, I just keep going. For ex. I slept for 1.5 hours uncomfortably on the couch on the night to Sunday due to that the neighbor was smoking weed all night that made our bedroom so stinky it gave me a headache, but I was still up doing stuff during the day. The next evening our bedroom stank again (it’s all day and night these days) but I needed to be comfortable so I just pulled the covers above my head and after a couple of hours I could finally fall asleep, and then up next day doing more stuff.
With all this energy I feel like doing so much, but my body doesn’t really allow me to which is a very strange feeling. It’s not like I get tired or that my muscles doesn’t work, it’s more like I run out of power to actually execute anything. These days, just to be cooking in the kitchen can cause me to hang over the counter for a couple of minutes because the power ran out and I’m slightly dizzy. It’s kinda like being hungover-ish. I’m not tired but the body doesn’t function properly. Hard to explain. It’s simply just my body’s way of telling me to start to take it easy. 

We didn’t do much this weekend. Actually, that’s kinda a lie. I did tons of stuff, at least on Saturday. Bought baby shower dress at TJ Maxx, went Costco shopping and went to the normal grocery store (and both times wiped off all the products which takes time, something we have done for a year now), did loads of laundry, went for a walk on Cove Island where Thor ended up “pooping his pants” which resulted in a full bath when we came home, opened more packages (we feel so spoiled with all these gifts), we sat on our terrace in the sun, watched a Disney movie and ate good food. I am sure that I also cleaned the apartment a bit:)
This upcoming weekend will be a busy one. Baby shower on Saturday and on Sunday we probably have to go do some last errands before I have to isolate myself in April leading up to babys arrival. 

One of those melons was kicking when this photo was taken
(and during the whole time we were grocery shopping)
After my post about craving Swedish candy last week, I no longer have candy cravings.
Now it’s all about fruit fruit fruit, just like in the first trimester

Baby was having a party during my sleepless night and throughout the whole day on Sunday.
Above is from when I tried to take a nap around noon

 

March 19, 2021

Our in-bedroom-nursery is starting to look good and functional:) Once most of it is set up I will show you pictures. The only thing now that I’m a bit worried about is that we don’t have curtains. Or, we have a roll-down curtain/blinds that came with the apartment, but they are sand colored and lets in tons of light plus they are not right against the window sill. On the parking lot across the street they have for some weird reason huge soccer like lights so even in the middle of the night it is quite bright in the bedroom. And babies needs pitch black when sleeping so this is a big issue. And we can’t really put up curtains either since it’s A) pain in the a** to have to screw that into the wall plus B) we might not live here for very long after lilliput arrives. Jim’s answer is to tape a sheet on the wall, and all I can see in my head is that it will look like one of those forgotten houses with homeless people living in it. We are not poor, so to tape a sheet up is a no no for me. But, I also want both baby and myself to sleep once she/he arrives. We’ll see what we end up doing. 

This weekend we are going shopping. We have a babyshower coming up next weekend and I have no clothes. Like, literally, nothing fits me anymore. So unless I want to video chat with people wearing a bikini, I have to try to find something, whatever, anything, to wear hahah. And then we are going to Costco. I was planning on going there in the beginning of April to shop for our quarantine (we have to isolate ourselves before the due date, which will probably be just like what we’ve done for a year now but still), but we have kinda run out of food at home, so we have to go this weekend. I would also like to take Thor to the beach or for hike this weekend. Hoping for nice weather:)

I hope and wish that you’ll have an awesome pawesome weekend!

March 18, 2021

We have lived in this apartment for four years today. When we moved to Connecticut we signed a 15 month lease and I was hoping we would never renew it. Hah! Four years later and we are still living here and who knows, maybe we have another full year here, we’ll see.

Today I’m 34 weeks pregnant. Which means that we have 4-8 more weeks until baby comes (unless she/he comes preterm). Ideally I would cross off basically everything on my todo list before April (that’s a humongous wish) so that I can go into quarantine and do absolutely nothing but meditate, prepare myself mentally for baby, move my body gently in yoga or pilates if possible, go for walks and just relax until the arrival of the little one. 

So, how’s my body and how do I feel at 34 weeks (=week 35 in Sweden)? Like I mentioned in the previous post, I have moments of feeling overwhelmed over everything I need to get done. Most of the things on my todo list I have to do myself, I can’t ask for help. Some of it is stuff that I really enjoy but it takes an incredibly amount of time (like creating the babymoon video, because yes, there’s a video coming, stay tuned), but other daily stuff like folding laundry or cooking is boring but I’m the one who has to do it. 

For the past few days I’ve had some groin and pubic pain. I did ballet and pilates yesterday trying to work on strengthening core, back and leg muscles to help ease the pain but last night it was so painful I could hardly walk or sit. I slept sitting all snuggled into my ginormous pregnancy pillow with my legs resting straight forward which was helpful. I think the reason why I’m so sore in the groin area is because the only way for me to sit comfortably on the couch or on the floor and such has been cross-legged or feet together knees wide to make room for the belly so the muscles are maybe a bit overworked. Plus it’s pretty common from week 34 or so to get this pain since the body is opening up and preparing for the birth. 

I am also really congested nowadays, not just at night like before but all day. I have been short of breath for awhile now and congestion (which is a pregnancy symptom I’ve had since the start of second trimester) plus facemask isn’t exactly making the breathing easier. But the bump is slowly slowly getting lower which makes more room for breathing ok again. 

Lilliput is rehearsing dance choreographies and circus tricks all day long. Kicking, punching and moving around like there is no tomorrow. When the kicking stops I almost get a little worried but then a few minutes later my bladder or my ribs are getting hit so hard that I can hardly function hahah. We’re definitely having a wild one on the way. 

I don’t really feel hunger anymore but have some cravings from time to time. Like for the past few days I can not stop thinking about Swedish candy and pastries. I find myself looking up swedish or scandinavian online stores on the daily now hahah. But it’s insanely expensive. Something that costs like $1 in Sweden costs $14 here plus shipping. But it also doesn’t matter, cause I’m not eating licorice which is what I’m craving the most. I read during my last pregnancy that black licorice, not just the salty one but all black ones that contains glycyrrhizin, can come with possible harmful effects on the baby (lower IQ, ADHD etc). It can also lead to high blood pressure in the mother and preterm births. Sometime in the beginning of this pregnancy I craved licorice but after eating a couple of black twizzlers (which in my opinion is not real licorice) I remembered what I had read two years earlier and immediately put it away (black twizzler however actually has a very small amount of glycyrrhizin so not as bad but still). I don’t want to risk anything, so I have stayed away. I’m married to one of the smartest people I’ve ever met and I want our child to come out the same way:) But I’m drooling just thinking about Swedish sweets. And now when Easter is coming up it’s not gonna be easier hahah. Maybe for my birthday in July I can wish for my parents to send me some stuff

Other than groin pain and shortness of breath, I feel pretty good. I grateful for every single day when I feel ok cause I know it can turn. The bump is getting huge though and people have been saying things like “not long now huh?” or “looks like there is two in there”. I know they mean well but this is not ok things to say to someone. I can take it but some women might not. Same thing, never tell a women with a small bump things like “are you sure the baby is growing like it should” or “you’re so small”. Pregnant women have enough to worry about and to comment on someones body is just not ok. People have been telling me that my belly is huge since the day we announced our pregnancy. The maintenance guy here came up to me the day we came back from our trip and said “looks like you gained weight”. Thanks, I know. And some comment I got from someone a couple of months ago actually resulted in that I always think twice before I post a picture because I don’t want it to look “too big” for the week I’m in, which is retarded. I’m proud of my bump and it’s perfect just the way it is♥

Thor and I slept in a little this morning which was nice.
Looks like I have tons of stretchmarks, but it’s actually just marks from my PJ from sleeping:)

March 16, 2021

When one is getting closer to due date it is pretty common to feel a bit overwhelmed. I have had moments the past week when thinking of all the stuff I need to do and get done before baby comes is making me so overwhelmed that I end up doing nothing at all. Last week I had a whole morning where I found myself sitting on the couch upstairs with my cup of decaf resting on the bump, just staring into the wall focusing on my breathing. That was all I could do that morning. And that is ok. 
My todo list feels endless. But I can’t complain. Other mothers-to-be has the same long lists plus a job to go to, I am just a housewife who’s biggest challenge at the moment is to finish her yoga teacher training before baby comes (my goal was to finish before Thanksgiving but life got in the way). But I can’t diminish myself and my feelings, it’s all real and I’m vulnerable just like everyone else.
And to be pregnant during a pandemic isn’t exactly easy. I’m an introvert and a classic Cancer who loves to hide inside her hard shell, her safe space. I normally love to cocoon myself at home with my hubby and puppy away from other people. But for the past week I have started to feel a little lonely. I have someone kicking me non-stop all day long so I know that I am not alone, I also have the privilege of having my husband working from home during this pregnancy which I am very grateful for. But one can still feel lonely at times.
I understand that this is just a phase and it’ll pass. I know that I need to just cross off one thing at a time on my todo list and soon I’ll be done. But I also have to allow myself to feel and take time for myself when I need it.