32 Weeks, lots of updates

I am at the end of week 32 of pregnancy. We have less than two months until our due date. It's power hour. I'm slowly becoming more and more ready for this. I have had a lot going on in the past three weeks, so let me update you all. 

A couple weekends ago, my husband and I ran probably my last 5k for a while. It felt long, and I felt very heavy and out of shape. I kept trying to pinpoint what it was that was bringing me down (cramps, breathing, aches/pains) and I really didn't have one specific thing that was causing me to run more slowly than usual. I literally just felt out of shape-like my legs weren't in enough shape to carry my stomach. I may have left footprints in the cement with the way my feet were dragging. I'm so grateful for my husband because he stayed by my side til the end and encouraged me the whole way. I probably would have given up if he wasn't there with me. We finished the race in 29:02. I was hoping for a better time, however I'm still proud of the time we got considering how far along I am. 

31 weeks-getting ready for our 5K

Last night, we got home at about midnight from a week-long vacation to see family. I learned A LOT about my body and baby:

• Sleeping on a plane at 7 months is probably the most obnoxious thing I've encountered. Our flight left at 10pm, and my body was in spasm mode the whole time. My poor husband who felt me move and twitch throughout the 5 1/2 hour flight was a trooper. Not only was my body achy (and unable to stretch out), but I had a sinus headache, and felt incredibly nauseous while baby H kicked me from the inside all night long. It was miserable. Pretty sure I cried at one point due to body pain. Oh, and I was itchy-it felt like I had fleas to top it all off. After 3 hours of sleep, it felt great to finally be back on land and take some morning naps on my parents couch.

• I can still be in shape and take it easy at the same time. I worked out every day while home except for our last day (when a good 12 hours of it were dedicated to travel). I did three Zumba classes, ran a couple miles, swam, and spent Thurs morning walking around the Shedd then over to Millennium park. I told my husband a few times that I didn't quite reach the workout levels that I had wanted to (as I usually do in my daily routines out here) however, I also didn't have the luxury of just stopping and resting my feet whenever I wanted. I would much rather have spent my energy walking around shopping, downtown, or wherever with my family than going all out at the gym. It was definitely worth it. 

At the bean in Chicago

• Swimming is better than chocolate. Being in Alaska, we don't have hot summer days like they do back home, which means outdoor pools are nonexistent. Not only does the water feel AMAZING as a way to cool me off from the humidity, but my body felt heavenly. I felt mobile again. I could twist, roll, turn, and dive without the unattractive grunting attached. I was weightless and it was incredible. And the baby loved it. The first time we hit the water, he was happy and kicking the entire hour that I swam.  

While I was home, my mom, sister, and aunt threw me a baby shower which means that I got to see so many more friends and family than I usually get to. I am so lucky to have a good support system out there, and now baby H has a room full of adorable outfits and other goodies. The hardest part about the shower is that I felt like I barely had time to talk to anyone. Every time I sat down to say hi to someone, someone else walked in. I never get to see family so it's hard only getting 5 mins at a time with everyone! But it was such a lovely shower and I'm grateful for even the couple mins I got with my guests. 

Baby shower at Ditkas. 

Our trip back to Anchorage sucked. We had a layover in LA (LAX is the worst airport I've been in thus far) which means we had about 9 hours of flight time alone and due to LAX sucking, our hour and a half between flights turned into me being able to sit with my feet up for about 5 minutes while waiting for food before boarding. My feet were very swollen last night, so my goal this week is to make sure they get lots of elevation and to stretch my body out while resting between activities. 

Other updates during pregnancy:

I feel like I'm back in my first trimester-only fatter. Smells make me nauseas (I can't tell you how many times I almost used that barf bag on the plane or have to walk away while cooking), my body is so tired from minimal activity, I am back to being able to nap during the day, acne-everywhere, my back aches, and I have cravings only for certain foods. A good handful of foods makes me sick or have acid reflux. Unfortunately, these foods consist of anything healthy. My body tends to draw towards ice cream, anything with sugar really, and carbs, so my goal now that I'm done with vacation is to get back to clean eating and try to pump up my protein intakes while reducing sugar. Safe to say that Tums is again my new best friend. 

Other than that, things are really starting to sink in-especially since we had our baby shower. Our next big step is having the baby!!! We have settled on the name Ryan for baby H (my husbands middle name). We are still debating middle names, but now that we've named the puppy, we can't give him up. It's becoming a reality and I'm getting very excited about our next stage in life. In the mean time, I'm just organizing the nursery and making sure we're loading up on all that we'll need. I think we're getting close to being due-date ready :)

Decor I painted for the nursery