I think I am starting to get that chubby look most pregnant women get in their last month or two 🙂
By the way, if you were ever curious about what I look like without make up vs. with make up on, you can compare today’s photos {correction: I do have blush on} to last week’s bump photos. I’m sure I’ll do a side by side headshot comparison once I am no longer pregnant, just for fun, because I think the difference is significant. I am a big believer in make up for girls. (P.S. Most of my bump updates are done without make up, since it’s usually first thing in the morning or on days where I don’t have to go anywhere)
STATS:
Her size: “This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds  and has passed the 17-inch mark. She’s rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. “
How far along:Â 33 WEEKS
Total weight gain: 164 lb. I am at 28 lb total weight gain right now. Not sure how much I gained this week in particular, because last week the scale was screwing up and this week we have a new scale that is showing all new (higher) numbers. I’m starting to get into the poundage that makes me NOT want to disclose my weight (hahaha), but I am trying to ignore the nagging feeling of  ” 160s? WHAT? I can’t tell anyone I weigh in the 160s” .
I am pregnant and I am supposed to gain weight! I was never afraid of gaining weight during pregnancy and I better not start getting squirmy about it now!
Sleep:Â Good solid sleep with 4-5 trips to the bathroom throughout the night. Nowadays, whenever I get up to pee, I try to imagine that soon I’ll have to get up just as often, but instead of flopping back into bed and falling asleep, I’d have to change a diaper, feed and possibly cuddle with my baby girl to get her to go back to sleep.
Maternity Clothes:Â Dresses and yoga pants mostly.
Food cravings:Â Right this moment I am craving Alden’s All Natural Vanilla Ice cream with caramel on top. Speaking of Alden’s ice cream, it is THE BEST tasting ice cream out there. We get it at Whole Foods and it’s just the perfect blend of cream and sugar (not too sweet) and of course all natural.
Food aversions:Â none
Symptoms I HAVE: Still feeling really good. There are days when I am really really tired and I figure that that’s when Alexis is growing the most. It’s starting to get hard to go up  and down stairs and we have a huge staircase (picture on the left) with bedrooms upstairs and living areas downstairs, so if I want anything done, I have to go up and down multiple times an hour. It’s also starting to get difficult to pick things up off the floor. I usually ask my husband to do it for me and you’d be amazed HOW MANY THINGS we have that end up on the floor and need to be picked up! Ugh!
Otherwise, I still don’t have consistent back pain ( only occasional if I sleep in a wrong position), or leg cramps, or any other pains. Heartburn is still there but definitely more manageable, so is light indigestion. Speaking of heartburn, I think I might have discovered a “new cure” for it, at least for me. You know the Metromint water that’s sold at Whole Foods? Well, I am a big fan and the other day I picked it up from the store and drank from it in the middle of pretty bad heartburn, the coolness instantly soothed my throat and my heartburn disappeared! I was shocked.. Then I remembered reading somewhere that peppermint is good for nausea and/or heartburn. So now that I am finishing my last bottle of Metromint, I’m trying to figure out how to make my own. All it has is water, mint and cocoa essence. If I make my own pitcher it’ll kill two birds with one stone: heartburn and will help me drink more water! Now  does anyone know if I can buy mint and cocoa essence in a liquid form?
Doctor’s Appointment: Yesterday was my doctor’s appointment. Everything looked good: blood pressure is great, heartbeat is great, measuring a few weeks behind like before, but since the ultrasound showed everything is fine, that’s not really a concern, and probably simply due to my long waist. And the biggest news for us was that Alexis is NOW HEAD DOWN AND ENGAGED! Wow! First of all, I had no idea babies could get engaged this early on, but I guess they do.
Doc said not to get my hopes up though, cuz she still has lots of room to move and flip, but it still makes me happy that she’s in the perfect position. He showed me where her butt and her feet were, which now makes total sense. I keep getting kicked in my right side while she juts out her butt on the left side when she stretches. She’s on my left  with her head in my pelvis and her legs on the right, facing sideways and slightly towards my back, kind of like in the picture. According to spinningbabies.com, LOA (left occupit anterior) is the easiest position for the start of labor. So I hope she stays that way until she’s ready to come out.
Movement: She’s still pretty active, especially with her butt. I’d be sitting minding my own business and then all of sudden my stomach would move sideways- it’d be her stretching her legs and pushing her butt out. Kind of fun actually. And for those who are wondering, no it doesn’t hurt, but it’s not exactly comfortable. We also pat her on the butt quite often, which she really likes. If she’s awake and we’re talking to her and touching her, and then suddenly stop, she instantly pushes her butt out as in “Where did you go? Pet me!”
Belly Button:Â Outie.
Gender: GIRL!
Best moment of the week:Â Finding out Alexis is head down now. I wasn’t TOO concerned about her being transverse ( I figured if she doesn’t turn and I have to do a c-section, it’s not the worst thing in the world as long as she is safe) but I can’t say it wasn’t on my mind A LOT. So this was a really good piece of news for us.
What I’m looking forward to:
This weekend. If we both concentrate, we can get a lot done on the nursery this weekend. I hope to do a big nursery update afterwards which is WAY overdue.
Also, I booked tickets for my mom to visit from Russia. She’ll be flying here Jan 11th and staying till May 23rd. She’s never stayed more than a month, because of her work, but now that she’s retired I am looking forward to having her here helping us for 4 months. YAY!
What I miss:
I guess not much at this moment! I always have pangs of jealousy when we pass the smoked salmon isle at Whole Foods, but otherwise I just want to feel like an old me.
THat will be Great to have the help for so long!! Just a question- how did you get it so she can stay so long? My friend tried to come from Sweden for 3.5 months once and she was told since she’s obviously not an American citizen (as I’m assuming your mom isn’t) she could only stay 12 weeks. And we had the same issues when my grandmother wanted to come visit for long periods of time when we were younger- she could only be in the states for 12 weeks at a time since shes not a citizen.
That’s pretty easy. Sweden is a country with a visa Waiver program, which allows them to come to US WITHOUT a visa for a 3 months period. Russian doesn’t have a visa waiver, you have to get a visa, regardless of how long you’re coming for. Typical visitor’s visa is 6 months and can be extended up to 12 months I think.
If your friend or your grandmother want to come for longer, all they have to do is apply for a visa rather than use the visa waiver program.
you pregnancy like a pro. you are so freaking stunning. YAY for being head down AND engaged!! such a prepared baby already!!!! GOOO Alexis! It’s crazy to imagine that you’re going to be a mommy in NO time!!!
Hahahahaha Pregnancy Pro 🙂 lol
I can’t believe I will be a mommy soon 🙂 And have a girl hopefully as adorable as Maia!!!!!!
Aw!!! You are so cute! I can’t get enough of looking at you, preggers! :))))
Hahahah! Thank you girl! I miss you so much! Can’t wait till August!
My babies have always turned head down and become engaged early. I’ve always been thankful not to have to worry too much! I’m glad she’s in correct position now!
Oh really? When did it happen with both of them?
You look amazing Heloooon! 🙂
It’s great that Lexi is head down now, but what does “engaged” mean in this context?
I prefer the no make up version 😉 Team natural. You’re beautiful that being said.
Oh boy.. those stairs… I feel ya.)))