Pregnancy Update: Week 31

Nine weeks to go, but who's counting?  Conversations in this house seem to dominated by all things pregnancy and baby these days.  However,  this dog mom is pretty happy to announce that we finally have Buddy off all of his medications he was on from his neck injury!  He is back to taking his heart meds twice per day and a glucosamine supplement in the morning, which are his regular maintenance meds.  I can't tell you what a relief it is to see him doing so well and being able to function without a system full of medications!  At one point, he was taking gabapentin, prednisone, tramadol, and methocarbamol three times per day.  That was in addition to his vetmedin twice per day.  It took us three months, but we were able to get him over the hump and back to his normal self.  He has his old spunk back and runs around like a crazy man!  You would seriously never believe he is 12 years old.  I think back to May and how worried we were that we were going to have to say goodbye to our first furbaby.  We had some dark days when he didn't want to eat and I was hand feeding him wet food.  He is walking proof that canine cervical disc problems can resolve without surgical intervention.  I cannot discount the benefits of acupuncture either.  Between the acupuncture and the medications, we have our Buddy back.  We continue to take him for regular chiropractic adjustments every three to four months and have added in the glucosamine supplement to keep his joints healthy.   

These weeks seem to be flying by.  How is it already August?  How are we less than sixty days away from welcoming our little girl into the world?  Of course, we may still be at the over sixty mark if she decides to stay in the cooker past her due date.  This past week was pretty busy.  So busy that I don't remember most of the week!  Of course, that could also be the pregnancy brain taking over.  I continue trying to get my nightly walks in with the dogs.  We usually get a walk in four or five nights per week.  I can tell Buddy is starting to slim down from the weight he put on while he was sick.  His weight gain probably had more to do with the hot dog pieces we were hiding his meds in, but it was the only way we could get him to take some of them.  I don't know why they can't make all dog meds peanut butter flavored!  

This past Saturday, we made a trip down to the outlet mall.  It was crazy crowded with people parking in the fields.  Luckily, we were able to score a pretty nice parking spot so I didn't have to waddle too far.  We only had a few stores we wanted to shop at, so we were in and out in under two hours.  We were able to score some pretty good deals.  I hit the clearance racks at the Motherhood Maternity outlet where everything was half off the lowest price.  I was able to score some post partum items for a very good price.  On our way out of town,  Andrew wanted to stop at the winery, which was a reminder of how much I'm missing my summertime wine.  I know it will all be worth it! 

After we got back from our shopping trip on Saturday, we worked in the yard for a while.  I have been complaining for weeks that our back yard looks like a jungle.  Our main garden area had weeds growing like crazy, and it was driving me insane.  I couldn't get out there to weed because it has been so hot out.  I think the weeds finally got to Andrew too.  He was doing most of the work pulling weeds, but I was able to help a little.  I try to help where I can, but man do I feel worthless these days.  Andrew continues to be so supportive and understanding.  At least if he is judging me on my lazy days, he is keeping that to himself, which I appreciate.  He is always reminding me to take it easy and take care of my back.  He has been a huge trooper throughout this pregnancy despite have a huge pillow take over our bed, eating Chinese for a week straight early in my pregnancy, and having a less than mobile wife. 

In other pregnancy news this week, exhaustion has set in hard core.  I think I probably overdid it on Saturday because I had absolutely no energy on Sunday.  It took all I had to walk from the couch to the kitchen.  I fell asleep on the couch last night about 9:00 while watching the Olympics.  This little lady growing inside me has become quite active.  It isn't hard to count my kicks like I'm supposed to be doing during the third trimester.  I still haven't had any off the wall cravings.  Although, I will say I can't get enough dairy right now.  I drink a gallon of milk each week all on my own.  Between milk, yogurt, cottage cheese and regular cheese, I'm pretty sure I'm getting my daily allotment of dairy.

Here is the week 31 bump picture (no sweatpants in this picture either):

Coming up in week 32, we will be celebrating my goddaughter's baptism on Sunday.  I can't wait for our little girls to enjoy all sorts of fun times together over the coming years!  I'm also so thankful to have a friend doing the new mommy thing four months ahead of me.  She has been a huge help throughout my pregnancy answering all my questions and giving me tons of helpful tips!  I continue to make lists of things we need to get done before October.  We are slowly crossing things off, which makes me feel accomplished.  I have set due dates for most of the items on our list.  We have a lot of things due September 1st, which will be here before we know it.  This week we also have another check up with our midwives.  We are supposed to meet the midwife we haven't actually been able to meet yet, so we are looking forward to our appointment on Friday with her.  I have several questions I have been stockpiling since our last appointment, so I'm anxious to ask those!