Check out the left side of my belly- Alexis keeps resting her feet there- it looks funky and uneven.
STATS:
Her size: We’re a honeydew this week! Never thought that’d happen 🙂
How far along:Â 34 WEEKS
Total weight gain: 166 lb.  (+2 lbs this week, total at 30 lbs). This week I feel like I’ve exploded (or maybe it’s Alexis). She feels so much heavier just comparing to the last week and I look so much more pregnant (and not only in my belly). I know to other people it’s not as apparent, but I’ve never had such big arms and legs and even my face is totally rounding out. Gotta stop eating sweets 🙂
Sleep:Â With Alexis being really heavy now, sleep is starting to become uncomfortable. I have to wake up numerous times a night to just change positions or go to the bathroom and my body is starting to hurt after a fidgety night of sleep. But all in all, while I have good days and bad days, it’s still pretty bearable.
Maternity Clothes:Â I’ve reached the point where I don’t care much what I wear as long as it’s loose and/or comfortable with a few exceptions.
Food cravings:Â Get me off the sweet treat train!!! Please? I’ve gone into a cycle of wanting cookies, cakes, chocolate, ice cream and I need to turn that train around heading to fruitville instead.
Food aversions:Â none
Symptoms I HAVE: Â This week Alexis must have gained quite a bit of weight and possibly moved lower into my pelvis, because it feels like my belly is going to fall to the ground and certain days it feels like she’s sitting right on my pelvic bone. It’s quite an uncomfortable feeling, I gotta tell you. Some days she doesn’t press so much, so it’s hit or miss with how comfortable or sucky I feel
Aside from that, almost no symptoms- feeling decent.
Doctor’s Appointment:Â Next Thursday + strep B test
Movement: Oh the shapes my stomach takes nowadays! She loves to stick out her butt, kick me with her legs, tickle me with her hands and sometimes bump her head on my butthole 🙂 lol
Belly Button:Â Outie.
Gender: GIRL!
Best moment of the week: I guess that would be the hospital tour! It was  nice to see the very place where we’ll bring Alexis into this world ( that is if I don’t wait too long and give birth in a car lol). Hearing other babies cry made me soooo happy- it’s what Alexis is going to sound like when we first hear her- such an amazing feeling. I wasn’t too thrilled about the labor and delivery rooms- they seemed small and depressing. The postpartum rooms were much better and we’re definitely bringing an air mattress so that Andrew could rest better. I looked into another hospital in the area that has better rooms, but my OB doesn’t have privileges there so he wouldn’t be able to deliver our baby, which is out of the question. I guess, when I’m in labor, it won’t really matter how big or small the room is, as long as I am left alone to practice my relaxation and can move around if I want to.
What I’m looking forward to:
My mom coming to US on Jan 11th. That’ll be so much fun!
What I miss:
Back to sushi this week. It’s getting harder and harder to be ok with not eating things I want to eat. I miss being able to put whatever I want into my body without any concern of harm to my unborn baby.
What else?
- We finally finished our search for pediatricians. We interviewed 3 different ones ( almost 4 but at the last second realized they didn’t fit our health plan) over the last few weeks and pretty much made a decision already. It’s a smaller practice which is what we liked with a very sweet doctor.
- I received the Body Oil
 and Body Buff
 from Mama Mio
and I’m loving it. It’s the first time during pregnancy when I got to exfoliate myself and moisturize my whole body (because most products contain ingredients I’d rather not use during pregnancy), and it just felt amazing to have smooth skin again. Highly recommend both the products.
Hahahaha her little foot!!! That’s so awesome! She’s growing! I can’t wait to see her!
It’s going to be surreal! Mostly because I have blogged about her from the beginning so there’s this huge anticipation!
Wow, your baby bumps your butthole? That must feel awkward!
Hahahaha! Yeah awkward pretty much sums it up 🙂
With all the precautions you have been taking from not eating certain foods to not using certain beauty products, it’s never occurred to me to wonder whether you have considered cloth diapering or not? Cloth diapering is light years away from where it used to be and totally organic. My hubs and I have made the choice to cloth diaper our baby because we researched all the chemicals that disposables have and would rather not raise our baby with all that on his bum. Of course, a lot more went into the decision.. But the products you got from Mama Mio made me think about that.
Oh yes!!! I’ve already received my first batch of cloth diapers from different brands to see which ones I like better and fit her best. Then we’ll probably buy more from those brands specifically. I’m very excited to be cloth diapering. Glad to hear your experience has been positive!
Maternity Clothes: I’ve reached the point where I don’t care much what I wear as long as it’s loose and/or comfortable with a few exceptions.
hahaha I think a few people told you this a long time ago when you saying “pffft to maternity clothing” (that there will come a time that you dont care what you put on as long as it wasnt clingy)….
Lol And I never doubted them! I just didn’t want to succumb to maternity clothes early on ( and then later I found some maternity brands that are actually cute which is what my goal HAS been).
I don’t mind tight things- I like when my tees are tight on my stomach (stretchy tight), it’s the pants that are an issue. Believe it or not, the comfiest things I get to wear at home are non maternity.
And I still like to dress up when I go out even 34 weeks preggo 🙂
[in the nicest way possible] I think we’d all like to see a raw, unedited photo. Pregnancy isn’t about editing the bad parts, it’s about embracing every little minute detail good or bad. The photo shopping is much too obvious.
The only thing I did in this photo is smooth my skin ( face and legs). I make a point NOT to photoshop any part of my body for the bump update photos, because that would defeat the purpose of posting these photos as my body changes. I am not sure what else you’re referring to.
This photo was already soft , because the focus was off and the lighting was bad and the skin being “raw and unedited” doesn’t help me show the changes my body is going through. Believe me, I would be very happy to make myself look skinnier, because it’s no fun looking at sides sticking out and legs bigger than I’ve ever had lol
If you mean the color of the photo and lighting, well that’s just silly- it doesn’t alter me or my body- just the how bright or colorful the photo is.
You don’t look huge at all — in fact you still look the same as before you were pregnant (to me anyway), minus the bump of course! You can rest assured that you are one hot mama! 🙂 You are beautiful!
And I don’t see any obvious photo-shopping…I just see great quality photos that are clearly very well-lit and have great depth of field. I think Photoshop gets a bad rap a lot of times, it’s not like you’re using the liquify tool! Lol 😉
Thanks, Anna! I think when people see an edited photo in general ( color, light), they assume that it somehow alters your appearance or something… I am not sure. This photo isn’t of very good quality ( I messed up the focus completely but didn’t want to retake it) and I think what I had to do to brighten it up just made it look more “photoshopped” than it is.
Very fun to see the progress of moving towards a baby! I look forward to when that dear little girl is in your arms. I had my sweet son in August, doing a home birth, and yes I was getting all kinds of cravings for everything I shouldn’t have. Makes those things seem extra good now.
Thanks, Caitlin!
it’s almost unreal how close I am getting.
hey, do you have a birth story posted? I’d love to read it!
I don’t get why you complain so much about how much weight you’ve gained. I get that it’s a lot *for you,* but pregnancy weight gain is a lot for ANY pregnant woman. Packing on 30 pounds in 9 months would be a lot of weight for anyone in normal circumstances, but pregnancy weight gain is SUPPOSED to happen, it’s natural, normal, and healthy, both for you and baby Alexis. Every time you post that “OMG I gained TWO pounds this week, I’m such a fat slob!,” 99% of pregnant woman want to reach through the monitor and punch you (obviously, I mean that figuratively). I worry that with as hung up on weight and body image as you are, you are going to give your daughter a complex as she grows up. Size isn’t what matters–being active and eating right IS. A woman can eat right and be active and still carry extra weight.
I wish you an easy birth, but I hope you remember to expect the unexpected. Your plan will most likely go right out the window once you are in labor. For me, my LO decided to show up over 5 weeks early and nothing went according to plan–we got lucky that he was very healthy. Remember to do what is best for the baby, even if it means getting an epidural, not being able to move around, screaming at the top of your lungs, or having 100 nurses milling around you the whole time.
I have to comment here. Elena complains no more than any of us did while pregnant. Is it because she’s naturally thin that she’s not allowed to complain? This is HER journey, HER weight gain and HER blog.
Furthermore, there’s nothing I’ve read on this blog that hints that she is ‘hung up’ on weight and body image. She was/is a model, so of course being in that industry, she has to make sure she adheres to the standards. She enjoys eating well, exercising and living a healthy life, which is a lot more than most people can give as an example to their children.
Thanks, girl! It’s true– people forget that it is MY blog and I can post whatever my feelings are, however unpleasant they might be for other people.
” Is it because she’s naturally thin that she’s not allowed to complain? ”
JACKPOT.
Re: weight gain, one of the reasons is because I am a perfectionist when it comes to myself. I couldn’t care less about how much other women gain and I wouldn’t hold it against them. But if I know that I am “supposed to” gain 1 pound a week and I gain 2 pounds I consider that “my fault” IF I could have done better (ate better, exercised more, etc). The other reason would be the fact that I KNOW that if I were to eat less sweets that week, I’d get that 1 pound I’m supposed to gain and not two. So it’s not me “complaining” per se, but more like “reprimanding myself” for not having the strength to stay away from sweets. That being said I do not think I am a fat slob because I gained 2 lbs and I don’t think I ever said that. I AM in fact much bigger (not weight wise, but size wise, in areas other than my belly) than I have ever been, but I accept that as pregnancy weight. Could have I NOT gotten bigger arms or legs if I continued working out (i stopped at about 28 weeks for lack of time)? Heck yeah! So again I see it as my fault! It’s not my body I am hung up on, it’s not having the strength to eat fewer treats than I did in the past few weeks. I am absolutely not concerned with losing weight after pregnancy either- I know I will, I always have. It’s just that I know I can do better (could have done better).
And again, my words only apply to me and noone else. Every other pregnant woman can gain 100 lbs, as long as she’s ok with that, I couldn’t care less.
As far as my daughter, all I can give her is the tools to eat well and lead an active lifestyle. How her body works with that is out of my control.
Re: Labor, I haven’t written about my birth plan yet, but it’s pretty much as flexible as it can be. I have a goal and it’s smth I am working towards right now, but ultimately all I want is to do whatever it takes to make the experience as pleasant and not stressful for Alexis as I can. I am more concerned about HER experience, than I am about mine.
AMEN. 🙂
Also a thought just occurred to me… I think you completely misunderstand what you call “weight complaining”. There’s a section of the questionnaire that says “weight gain”. I try to write (in detail) about all my feelings and experiences of this pregnancy for myself and readers that are either going through this or will be going through this. So rather than coldly state my weight gain, I do what I try to do in any other field of the bump update: write down my feelings and changes in my weight/body. And the only normal reaction as you’re getting bigger is “oh wow, I’m getting bigger!” I can’t imagine a single woman going through this thinking “oh I’m loving these changes” unless she was severely underweight before. It’s completely natural. As natural as the weight gain itself is.
What would be wrong is depriving your baby of nutrients because you’re afraid to gain weight or not caring about how you eat.
You are looking fantastic. Also, the labor room will be the last thing on your mind, so don’t stress about it too much. I had a great labor room, and ended up spending most of my time in the bathroom! It never turns out how you planned.
I understand that! It’s so hard to imagine what your experience going to be like. The bathroom is small too hahaha
Also I wish I’d know what position I’d be comfortable laboring in- so that I could bring things to make it better.
I think you look amazing! I’m afraid to take another bump pic, I’m getting huge all over. It’s so weird, the bad stuff I use to crave I don’t really but now I crave new bad stuff, and once I start eating I can’t stop. Can’t believe your baby will be here soon.
I’m just glad that a photo only captures one angle, otherwise i might not have the courage to post lol because from some angles…. oh God! Haha
I really hate the cravings, especially because I know I can resist them but I just won’t! I keep justifying it by “oh I’m gaining weight anyways, so who cares” haha
” and sometimes bump her head on my butthole” – can’t stop laughing :)))))))
Speaking of sweets – you just wait hahahahhahaha :))))
Oh no, Helooon! I forgot!!!!! I’m trying to finish all the sweets we have and not buy more 🙂
But I don’t think I can resist torrone!
Sooooo…… do I send it or what? cuz it might arrive middle of Jan lol
I would never say no to Italian sweets from you- weight be damned! 🙂
You look faNTASTIC!!! My little gal kept her feet jammed under my right ribs and was always kicking them so the side was always popping out. Too funny. You are all baby girl!!! And lemme tell yah…I craved sushi soooooo bad it was out of control. I wanted raw fish for breakfast and I know it was because I was craving those nutrients and something tasting really fresh. I actually sneaked a piece off of my husband’s plate a few weeks before my daughter was born. I just couldn’t take it anymore!!! hahahah Good luck friend!
I had the worst cravings for sushi while I was pregnant too!! I would start drooling at the thought of a plate of salmon sushi (my favorite).
I used to tide myself over a bit and try to trick my craving by getting avocado rolls. There are also cucumber rolls, California rolls, shrimp rolls, and eel rolls… all of which are cooked. Maybe it would help make your craving not so bad.
Ohhhh, I’m trying to stay away from sushi places completely. No point in teasing myself, cuz lets admit it: vegetable sushi just doesn’t cut it. Plus I’m concerned about food contamination in uncooked foods in restaurants. So I won’t eat stuff that isn’t hot, because I’m sure hand washing is a relatively rare occurrence among some restaurant workers.
But I just can’t wait until getting sick from some food poisoning only means throwing up for a few days and not a whole “omg did I kill my baby?” emergency hahahahaha
Elena,
I find you to be so inspirational, beautiful, smart, dedicated and i know you are going to make a great mother to your beautiful daughter. Your posts have got me through some of my worst days/weeks of pregnancy (I am 17 weeks pregnant). I thank you so much for sharing your personal thoughts, experiences, morals & most importanly, for opening yourself up they way you have to people you don’t even know. It takes a lot of courage to write the things that many of us can barely speak about in today’s culture without getting criticized. Thank you for being the real you, you inspire me to be the real me regardless of who might judge me.
Wow I don’t even know what to say! Thank you so much!!!
I love the weekly updates. I’m currently 16 weeks pregnant and seeing the updates with all of your details helps me adjust with what I’m going through and with what is to come. Of course I know I’m going to gain weight with pregnancy, but it still causes me to freak a bit when I see myself gain more than I expected to on certain weeks. It helps seeing that I’m not alone in feeling this way. I hope that you keep on with your updates just as they are as I find them very helpful.
Congrats on your pregnancy!
I think it’s completely normal to react when you gain more than what you’re supposed to. In the end that’s the weight we’re going to have to take off once the baby arrives, so if we shoot to gain what’s healthy and not more, then we’re that much further ahead of the future weight loss. And it’s not like the baby benefits from that extra pound or two above what you need. I can’t imagine any pregnant woman, who’s used to being fit and thin, being happy with weight gain above the norm. That being said, I’m perfectly fine with the pound a week that I’m supposed to gain- that doesn’t bother me at all.