Pregnancy: 31 Weeks

So we all know by now that I've been diagnosed with gestational hypertension (GH). This stinks, but there's nothing we can do to reverse it. It's stabilized for the time being, so all we can do is keep up a super healthy diet, no stress, limited activity, and hope it holds out for another 9 weeks, 4 weeks minimum. Each day counts, so we're taking things one day at a time. And if you have a stressful story, don't tell me until after Hannah is born. I divert all important or potentially stressful decisions to Andrew.

How far along: 31 weeks

Symptoms: For the first time in probably 5 months my knee pain is lessening! This is huge guys. I have had so much trouble with the ligaments around my knees. I don't know when or what the turning point was, but they have drastically improved over the last few weeks. It gives me hope that I won't have life long knee problems, because that definitely crossed my mind after months of pain that only seemed to worsen. Heartburn/indegestion isn't as frequent, which doesn't really make sense, but I'm not complaining. I only get it occasionally now. Braxton Hicks contractions still occur, but again not too often.

Sleep: I'm having more and more trouble falling asleep at night, and this isn't helped by the fact that my little lady has decided that play time starts once I lie down. It could be for a nap, early bedtime, late bedtime. Doesn't matter. When I get comfortable and try to ease off into la la land, she ramps up the action, and doesn't slow things down for a while. Girl friend may be a night owl like her mommy and daddy. I'm not having as much trouble getting comfortable which is a blessing. I've found a few sweet spots that work well. Turning over in the middle of the night is a joke. It's a process, and not a simple one. It involves inching my body little by little to rotate from one side to the other. When I wake up every 2 hours to use the rest room I make some awesome sound effects getting out of the bed. Sidney usually looks concerned for me haha. I've been propping pillows behind me so I don't wake up on my back as often, and when I do I don't worry about it, just readjust and go (try to go) back to sleep.

Clothes: Skirts that have the high waist that fold down, those are awesome. Except I don't fold them down. I pull them up high, all Erkle-style and it is so comfortable. As soon as I get home I'm in house shorts and a tank top. Hot flashes have set in so even in shorts and tanks it's still too hot.

Cravings/Aversions:  My fountain soda and hash brown cravings have been put to a sudden end. This is sad, but better for myself and Hannah. It has been replaced with cravings for bananas and fudge swirl ice cream (it's low in sodium and a small bowl can't hurt!). I've been drinking more water than ever before in my life, and it's so good.

Movement: Within the last 2 weeks she has really stepped up her game. Some days it's near constant movement. In the last month she has rotated her body 3 times. She's been head down for about a month, but she keeps doing 180s and changing the side her body is on. Last Friday her spine was on the right side, then over the weekend she turned and by Monday her spine was on the left side again. She's supposedly running out of room, but apparently there is still room to turn. Working on her piques maybe? She also jabs, wiggles, spasms, and pushes out at random times. It's like she takes her foot and just presses her little 3 and a half pounds against my stomach. She's stopped responding to ice cream. I guess if you have a little every night they become immune to it? :)

Random: She's a strong, sassy little booger! At our ultra sound last week (because of the GH diagnosis we are getting weekly ultra sounds, which I'm not complaining about!) she was flipping us off. Ok, it could have been her index finger, but it's funnier to think it was her middle finger. You be the judge. We figure if she comes early as expected she'll need that spunk to get her through a NICU stay, so we won't get onto her just yet for her rebellion. The US tech also thinks our girl will have a head full (or maybe just a mullet) of hair! What's your guess, a little blondie or a brunette? Andrew and I both think she'll be blond, but he says because we think that she will automatically be a brunette.

Baby Size: This week she weighs about 3.5 pounds and is about 16 inches long. She's starting to put on some fat, and is approximately the size of a head of lettuce or a coconut. That's one round baby!

This comparison is from 2 weeks ago, the night before my blood pressure skyrocketed. The difference in swelling in my feet and face is very noticeable. And belly looks bigger this week! Sidney is always cute.