so, yesterday was our pre-natal appointment. it went really well. i’m measuring at, what the midwife said was a a good size (34″), my weight gain is at 20 lbs, and the baby is head down! he also seems to favor facing my left side. when we asked the midwife how he’s positioned, she felt around and explained what was where. from that, it feels like skittle likes to stick his little bum up against my rib cage on my top right-hand side (does NOT feel nice) and likes to be cradled along that side of my stomach. this makes sense because i frequently feel a huge mass in there and haven’t been sure if i’ve been feeling a head, butt, or back. i’ve also noticed A LOT of movement all over my left-hand side. turns out, i’ve been feeling little hands and feet pushing and kicking!
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How far along are you?
33W5D.

What symptoms are you experiencing?
slight swelling in feet and hands, insomnia/weird sleeping patterns, heart burn, peeing constantlyyyy.

How are you feeling?
generally good…HUGE.

Any Dr. appointments/ultrasounds/tests this past week and how did they go?
no, but i’ll have my monthly check up with the midwife tomorrow and i’m pretty sure, after that, i am going to begin seeing the midwife every two weeks.

Anything big happening in your personal life (moving, work related, etc..)
not really. just trying to prepare (ourselves and our home) for this baby.

Any questions you want to ask?
nope, nope.

Any belly pics from this week?
yes…
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this past week, i have been sporting a naked ring finger.

last month, i switched from my engagement ring to my wedding band (i’ve never really worn my wedding band because it was always a little bit big and i preferred wearing the one ring).

so, that worked for a little while.
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after much thought and deliberation (between mark and i), we have officially changed “august ryan” to august rylan. yes, that’s an “L” after the “y” and before the “a.”

it all came about after a friend at community group misunderstood “ryan” for “rylan.” we pretty much fell in love with the latter and decided, since we had no particular reason for middle naming august “ryan” other than the fact that we liked how it flowed, that it would be safe to change it up a little and go with “rylan.”

so, what is the origination and meaning of “rylan”?

it’s english and it means from the rye land.

i know. not as attractive as “king,” but whatever. we still like the sound of “rylan” better.

so, there ya’ go.

initials still read: ARR!!!! and that’s all that matters, right?

will post a weekly update soon.

i was just now thinking of all the fun things i’ve always wanted to do with our kids.

plant and grow things (even though i’m really crappy at it), cook, SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS!, make puppets, scavenger hunts, chase the icecream man on a hot summer afternoon, teach them card games, etc, etc…

i know that it’s going to be a little while before i can trust august not to eat mulch and be able to stir something hot, but to know that he will eventually get to a point where he will be able to do those things is exciting.

i really want him to have the best time. and i want to enjoy it with him. especially because, before i know it, gardening and cooking with mama is probably going to be the last thing he wants to do.

buuuut, i’ll just take this one day at a time. i am sure, for the first six months of his life, all he’s going to want to do is eat, sleep, and poop…oh, and cry…because he wants to eat, sleep, and poop.

mark and i had our first child birth class tonight. it went better than expected. and no, i wasn’t the largest one there BUT the people that were bigger than me were either further along than me or having twins. mark did note that i was also the shortest one there sooo, yeah. august is a healthy one!!!

it was fun to meet some new people and begin this class as i feel that taking this class is officially preparing us for that day that will come before we know it. less than two months now, folks! that is if august plans on coming on time.
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i finally succumbed to the chocolate brownie craving that i’ve been trying my best to ignore this past week and added “brownies” to our shopping list when we went to safeway tonight.
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How far along are you?
31W1D.

What symptoms are you experiencing?
braxton hicks contractions, sore muscles, insomnia, mild nausea.

How are you feeling?
still nesting. been feeling a bit “off” lately…especially if i am not getting adequate sleep and eating when i should. also feeling as if baby’s about to explode through my belly. always fun. for the first time, i am feeling like i am ready to be done with this whole pregnant thing BUT i want august to stay in and bake as long as he needs to.

Any Dr. appointments/ultrasounds/tests this past week and how did they go?
nope. almost scheduled one for yesterday after i freaked out over some pretty intense braxton hicks contractions but i ended up cancelling as i was feeling better and didn’t want to blow extra bucks on co-pay.

Anything big happening in your personal life (moving, work related, etc..)
other than my stomach…not so much.

Any questions you want to ask?
nope.

Any belly pics from this week?
yes…
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it is so crazy to see that baby is at the second to last picture when it feels like just last week that he was at the third!!! as much as i feel like i am ready to not be pregnant any more and am just anxious to meet august, i feel that time has gone by so fast!

i have to admit that this chart is starting to freak me out a little.
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this morning, around seven, i had some pretty intense cramping through out my lower belly that went on for about 10-15 minutes. the pain seemed to let up a little but just sort of lingered if i stayed still and would intensify if i tried to move. in between my whining and the occasional curse word :x, mark asked me what it felt like and i said, little charley horses all over my stomach. painful.

i am pretty positive that it wasn’t contractions because nothing i’ve read or been told has mentioned that contractions feel like that and after talking to a nurse and a doctor from kaiser, within the last hour, none of them dropped the word “contraction.” the nurse did mention something about a possible sore ligament even though she wasn’t 100%.

i am not sure what exactly spurred it. the past couple of weeks, as i’ve gotten bigger, i have been pretty cautious about how i’m moving, especially when getting in and out of the bed or repositioning myself in bed since that has become more of a strain as my belly’s gotten bigger. but i’ve never experienced pain like that before.
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