Week 29: Serious Swelling

Size of Baby: an acorn squash. Either our acorn squash is tiny, or this baby just shrank! Holy Schnikes! I just read that it will triple in weight by the end. oh boy.....

What's that Babe up to: hardening bones, maturing muscles and lungs, producing red blood cells, and making more fat.
Symptoms: heartburn, lower back pain, bloody noses, leg and foot cramps, frequent urination, plantar fasciitis, major swelling

Food cravings or aversions: nothing this week
Weight: 183
Weight gain so far: 35
Maternity Clothes: I think I like my maternity wardrobe a lot more than my regular one!
Stretch Marks: no new, but bunches on my hips

Sleep: so much better this week with my body pillow!
Best moment this week: Thanksgiving activities, decorating for Christmas, and more time with the hubster!
Miss Anything: my thin face

Movement: all day long
Belly Button: starting to pop out! I'll show you a picture if it ever fully does....
Wedding Rings: off. wearing a fake band, but even that's getting too tight.
Looking Forward To: watching Catching Fire this weekend!

Journal:
Swelling, swelling, and more swelling!!! My feet and ankles have experienced a great increase in size lately. Usually noticed at the end of the day when my feet are killing me and I finally take my shoes off and prop them up. I take a look at my ankles and I can't seem to find them anywhere!!! This past week it has gotten down right disgusting. Last Friday I was on my feet for most of the day, what with shopping, and volunteering at Ten Thousand Villages, and decorating my house for Christmas, by the end of the night my feet hurt so bad so I took my shoes off to massage them a bit and took one look at my ankles in horror, then laughed! My ankles were tennis balls!!! The inside ankle (is that still called the ankle?) was so fat that you couldn't even see the bone. I pushed in the swelling and when I let go, the indentation stayed there!!!! Talk about disgusting! I slept with two pillows under my feet that night, but when I woke up, the left ankle wasn't completely down. Saturday I was decorating at the church for Advent, so I was on my feet for hours upon hours again and same thing- came home (this time in the afternoon) and checked my ankles and sure enough- both very swollen again. My nurse friends tell me it's pitted edema and to prop my feet up and drink lots of water. So Saturday I took an hour and a half nap (because who can prop their feet up and not fall asleep) with my feet way up in the air, and the swelling went down!! Hurray! I don't really see how I'm going to get anything done though.

I was moving this fluid around

huge cankles!! with my finger mark

nice sock line and serious pitting

Have I mentioned that I have plantar fasciitis? Apparently for most, that means heel pain, but for me, it's extreme arch pain. It really makes me waddle. haha! It's not really funny, actually; it hurts real bad. I can't walk around barefoot for more than literally 10 steps before my arches are burning with pain. Resting them doesn't make them better, they hurt when they hit the floor in the morning. Crocs and my sneakers seem to be the only shoes that I can wear without them hurting so that's all I've been wearing for a while. However, my toes were getting awfully tired of being in Crocs all the time so I invested in some Dr Scholl's arch pain insoles and some other bands I wear around my arches for support and they have helped a lot. I don't know if it's because I was on my feet more, or if they are getting worse, but my feet were starting to hurt even with the insoles and my sneakers. Hopefully it was just because I was on my feet more. Even though I can't prop my feet up at all at work, I am at least up and down throughout the day- not just standing or walking around!

That was 2 large paragraphs of what some would call complaining. Be it known that I was documenting how I'm doing. I am still extremely grateful that I've had an easy pregnancy with no sickness to speak of. I still love being pregnant, it's just starting to get pretty uncomfortable!!! Nothing I can't live with for another 11 or so weeks.

Yikes. That's soon.

I broke the zipper on my sweatshirt because it was too tight!

The rest of the week has been pretty much more of the same. Go to work, feet swell, come home exhausted and TRY to put them up, and start over again the next day

trying to do this more!

I went about a week or so without sleeping with my body pillow because I needed to wash the cover and was too lazy to put it back on. I didn't realize how much better and deeper I sleep when I have it! This week's sleep is much improved!

My doctor appointment on Tuesday was pretty uneventful. Which is a good thing I guess! My sugar was good, my blood pressure was phenomenal, and the baby's heart rate was normal! She seemed totally unconcerned with the swelling, which led to me forgetting to ask if I should get compression socks. I've decided on my own that I should. And by "on my own" I mean with my sister prompting me. A sweet friend is gonna hook me up. I hope I like them and don't hate them... Which is what I'm expecting....

The house is all decorated for Christmas! I have a bookshelf and a teapot collection that I would like to get organized better and decorated but that's a project that's been on my to do list for a while... We shall see when that gets done... Want to see some pictures?

Blessings to all!!

way more flattering with more than just the tank!!