30/31 week update

I can't believe I am officially in the 9 weeks countdown mode. It feels crazy. I had a good week. We attended a breastfeeding class last Thursday (which unfortunately again was not very beneficial. The lady read through some slides and had a volunteer show some different breastfeeding positions but I do believe this will have to be one of those trial and error experiences for yourself. I am happy that they tried to explain what will happen in the hospital and I pray it works for me but I don't know how much you can learn about it before to really prepare. I did buy a giant book by Dr. Sears called "The Breastfeeding Book" so maybe I will learn a few things!...I also was told that my iron was dipping to lower levels than they would like and that they would most likely start me on prescription iron at my next visit. Well of course I start investigating all of the different iron supplements we sell as prescripions. I cannot find a large difference other than ferrous sulfate (what I am currently taking causes more gi side effects). The others that are available as prescriptions are called polysaccharide iron and is much better tolerated but I couldn't even find where they are more readily absorbed or anything. Well I took it upon myself the past week to take my ferrous sulfate twice a day each time with a chewable vitamin c tablet. Well Voila! the doctor was impressed that my hemoglobin came back into the 11's and told me to go back to just taking one a day and hopefully in two weeks I can stop all together. Thank goodness I don't have to start another prescription med. The doctor was also able to find the baby's head today. Sitting right on top of my bladder head down just like he should be! At least I know now why I must pee every hour or so! I have the day off today and had a doctor's appointment and thought I would plan nothing other than looking for dresses for Ashley and Nick's wedding weekend. Well after searching the internet for a couple hours last night I am dreading actually attempting to find any dresses to try on. They are all so terrible looking and I just have no idea if I will find anything so I may just be ordering a bunch of dresses online and return which ones don't work out. These dresses come at a pretty price. Most of the websites like Destination Maternity, GAP, Ann Taylor Loft dresses start at $100. Is this a joke? For a dress I don't want to wear and probably will wear 1-2 times. I'm on a mission to try to find something more affordable at one of 2 maternity stores I have found in Greenville. I haven't built up the desire to go yet so who knows. I took my first official "nap" since being pregnant. I always read about how everyone has NO energy and takes naps all the time and I haven't taken a nap yet. I thought well my iron has been low and if I was going to be tired it probably would have been then. However, since I have started to experience a little swelling I elevated my feet and took about a 2 hour nap. Verdict? Terrible. I just never feel rested after a nap and look it's 3:30 and I have gotten NOTHING done today and the husband will be home in 30 minutes wondering what he crazy wife has been doing...well nothing today!

*How far along? 31 weeks

*Total weight gain? 25 pounds

*How big is the baby? weighs in at 3+ pounds and 18+ inches (give or take a few) and is compared to the size of a head of lettuce!

*Maternity clothes? I am officially just wearing maternity clothes. I don't have a very wide variety but enough to get me to work and out to run errands.

*Sleep? Still sleeping great. I hope that the tempur pedic will really be as great as everyone says and I hope that my back will see major improvements from the pain I feel after working 10 hour days on my feet.

*Best moment this week? We FINNNNAALLLY announced baby's name!

*Movement? I feel him all the time. Now I can't imagine not feeling him move. It is so exciting to feel him awake and moving all around. It definitely feels different now than it did 2-3 weeks ago. It doesn't just feel like a random kick or punch here or there. It seems like if he is awake he is all over the place. I absolutely love it.

*Food cravings? I guess I wish I could stop eating to ward off this weight gain..but in reality I have to eat so I am still enjoying pretty much any foods. I can finally eat italian without having a crazy heartburn attack. I still love muffins and cookies and brownies oh sweet tooth please go away!

*What I miss? Well I thought I would miss the non-prego days after seeing all my skinny adorable friends tailgating with a cocktail. Turns out I have just as much fun now as I did then and that is a great feeling. I loved seeing my friends and still had just as much fun watching everyone party.

*What am I looking forward to? Just watching the little nugget grow and praying that I stay healthy for the baby.

*Milestone? baby name picked out after 30 weeks wahoo. Can't believe it has been 10 weeks since we have known it was a boy and we just finalized a name. so happy that stress is all gone.

*Is working out harder? Well I am finally working out at 6 am again. I realized that with all this weight gain and the fact that my intensity level is way down I should be able to get myself to the gym at least 5 days a week. Therefore, I feel great after working out but getting started everytime is very hard.

*What has been unexpected? Oh man I think the swelling I experienced at the end of Saturday and Sunday. I always saw pregnant lady's swollen ankles and feet and you know everyone kind of chuckles but I never knew it was actually painful. I felt like I had glass in my legs and it was soo uncomfortable. I got to elevated them on Saturday night but on Sunday we were driving home from the Braves game I could not get comfortable and I just wanted the swelling to go down. So I guess I can welcome myself into the swelling part of pregnancy. I think it had something to do with the heat and being outside because I have felt a little more swelling the past 2 days at work but nothing compared to what I felt after being outside all day and I stand way more at work than I did this past weekend.

*Names? Well I guess I can finally type his cute little name out.

His name is Crawford Baylen Redd and I can't wait to meet him. I am still not certain where I saw Crawford and thought this is a great first name but I wrote it on a purple post it with a bunch of girls name back when I had just found out I was pregnant. I think we always secretly knew that would be the name but it seemed too easy that we both agreed early on a such a unique first name. Therefore, I decided to exhaust every other option and starting thinking that maybe Crawford was too different. But after searching the internet and playing the name game 100 times we just knew his name was going to be Crawford. The middle name came much easier. We knew we wouldn't be using any family names so it was just trying to find a more mainstream name for a middle name and liking the way it sounded with Crawford. Well we had it narrowed down to Liam or Logan and then we were watching a special on Drew Brees (the Saints quarterback) and his little son is Baylen. He was soo adorable and I just loved the way it sounded when they called his name. I looked at Brad and told him I loved it and he did too. We just had to make sure that the 2 unique names weren't going to be too much but we like it and that's all that matters. So we begin the last 10 weeks of our prego journey with little Crawford in my tummy!

*Nursery? Well I think almost everything is ready for the nursery. We did order our glider! I decided (after months of being sure that I was going to order this laser wood monogram from Little Crown Interiors) that I would instead look for painted letters for above his crib. I knew it would be fun to paint them myself but my curiousity got the best of me and I happened to find an artist on Etsy that I just fell in love with and so she will be making individual round letters that match his bedding. They are stil about 4-5 weeks from being here but I am excited to see the final product. I need to order the picture frames for above his dresser from Restoration Hardware. Brad and his boss, Chad, are going to attempt to make the diaper caddy that I found at Buy Buy Baby so that should be hilarious as well.

I am sooooooooooo excited to spend the weekend with my best friends at Chateau Elan for my very first BABY SHOWER!!! I know they are going to spoil me and I am so thankful for them and all that they have planned for me! I can't wait to post pictures and share stories from our weekend....Now on to finding dresses for the wedding weekend and upcoming showers!