Baby #2: Week 32

Started Week 32 with another 6 am Tuesday gym session.

Kettlebell swings still feel really good, I swung the 26# KB.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to Rx the push presses, but I decided to rack the barbell (instead of adding a bunch of bonus cleans to get the bar off the floor) and went for it.  I really had to focus on keeping my core engaged and not slouching into my belly when I had the bar overhead, but I did a good job and didn't have any back pain afterwards.   I'm not doing any dubs and all the rowers were spoken for, so I did 2 miles on the bike and then did 500m on the rower when everyone was doing their second set of dubs.  I finished in 24:31.  The after party was an 8 minute workout of: 20 strict handstand push-ups (L-sit 35# barbell press), 30 dumbbell power snatches (20#), and then max strict handstand push-ups (more L-sit barbell presses), I got 15.  My triceps were sore for days!

Thursday night we had our one and only class at the birth center: First Days at Home.  The purpose of the class was to go over what's normal in the first few days for mom and baby since the birth center sends you home 4-12 hours after birth, as opposed to staying at the hospital for 2-3 days.  Most of the class was a review of stuff we already knew, but it was a great refresher and we also learned that we will be responsible for tracking and reporting certain vital signs for both me and the baby, the birth center will be in touch with us via phone about every 12 hours, and then we will receive a home visit from a nurse 48 hours after birth.

We were the only second time parents in the class and listening to all the new parent questions made me think "oh man, these couples have no idea what is about to happen to them..." LOL but also "we've done this before, we totally got this."  My mom and friends keep telling me that the second time was definitely easier just because you know what to expect and have been through all of it before.  I know this birth and baby might be super different, but I'm feeling really confident.

Even though I stayed up way too late after the class (and Dave woke me up at 4:45 getting up to pee when my alarm was going off at 5:10, ugh!), I was pumped when I saw the workout for Friday.  Last pregnancy, snatching was my jam and I actually PRed my snatch at 110# at 32 weeks! 

I hadn't done any snatches since my pelvis started bothering me at the beginning of August, but it has been feeling good (other than discomfort from a head sitting on it) and I figured I'd keep it light and stop if anything felt crappy.  No squat snatches for me these days, so I just did 2 power.  Since my max is around 100#, I did 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 75, 80, 85.  I wish I hadn't missed that one jump and went for 90, but whatever.  #85 felt smooth!

(Hit play twice)

I was able to keep this workout pretty much as prescribed.  I used a 70# barbell instead of the dumbbell deadlifts since it's already hard to get low enough for that, let alone dumbbells.  I used the 10# medicine ball for my WBs.  My slowest round was 3:13 and I busted my butt to keep the rest under that.  I was sucking wind after going hard on the rower each time.

On Saturday my mom came over to watch V while Dave and I headed into the city for the day.  I've had the itch to see a musical for a while now and I was getting pretty obsessed with the Hamilton soundtrack, but when I checked the ticket prices a few months ago the cheapest ones were around $400 per ticket!  I laughed and decided I'd see it 10 years from now whenever everyone else forgot about it.  But then a few weeks ago, I got an email saying more tickets had been released and when I checked the prices they weren't completely absurd, so I splurged.

The show was the Forrest Theater, which is beautiful inside but also super old.  I was a little worried about being uncomfortable sitting through the show since I knew the seats were extremely close together, but I was all right until the last few songs.  I was also already prepared to try and use my pregnancy to cut the bathroom line, since I had read that there were only 3 women's bathrooms on the mezzanine level (vs 16 on the lower level) and that the lines get insane to the point of people missing the beginning of the second act from being stuck in the restroom line.  But I aggressively rushed to the bathroom as soon as the first act ended and was one of the first people in line.  Win.

The show was absolutely amazing and everything I hoped it would be!  I had goosebumps and was moved to tears multiple times throughout the production.  It was such a wonderful experience and I'm so glad we went.

Afterwards we went to Sampan for their awesome happy hour specials.  We were worried it would be crowded since it was 5 pm on a Saturday, but somehow we got a seat at the bar immediately and then the single dude next to us left about 10 minutes later.  We started with the Korean BBQ beef satay and the pork potstickers.  Then we tried the kung pao chicken wings, which were amazing!  And the pork bahn mi sandwich was huge and delicious.  We ended with the pork bao buns (gimme all the crispy pork belly!), an order of crab rangoon, and another order of the beef satay, because it melted in your mouth.  Our 7 small plates and Dave's 3 drinks came to $52!

We had a lovely little date in the city.

Before we left, Dave had brought up the bins of NB and 0-3 month clothes so we could finally get the baby laundry started.  I asked my mom if she could throw in a load or two while we were gone if she had time.  When we got home, we found out my mom did ALL of the newborn and 0-3 month laundry!  We still need to launder some odds and ends (car seat covers, random blankets, etc.) but this is such a weight off of my shoulders.

On Sunday we started our day with family photos!  My roommate from college was running a day of mini sessions and I thought it would be nice to get some shots of our little family while we're still just the 3 of us and I also wanted a few maternity shots since this is my last pregnancy.  Jokes on me, because my camera loving ham of a daughter wanted nothing to do with the camera and basically threw a fit the entire time.  We tried to use any tricks we could think of and Connie said we did get some nice shots, but I was definitely disappointed that V was such a little tyrant #toddlerlife.

Who me?

We also finally built the bookshelf I bought for V's room months ago.  When it was delivered, I was worried that it might be too large for the space, but once we took it out of the box I knew it would be fine.  V immediately placed a bunch of her toys in it.  She wanted me to turn on her noise machine, and kissed all her stuff animals so they could go for their naps.

Odds & ends:

• After sleeping like crap all last week, this week was amazing.  I either slept through the night or woke up only once, and it was magical.
• My feet and ankles still aren't swollen!  My face is another story.  Womp womp.
• 4 babies from my Reddit bump group (of 1.3K people) have been born!!!!!  They are all doing well, thank God, but it's making me feel like I should probably get my birth center bag together sooner rather than later.  50 days until my due date, ahhhhhhh :)

My Pregnancy: Week 32

Friday night we had a Lift Off at CrossFit, where everyone tested their 1 rep max snatch and then clean and jerk.  When we got there I was totally surprised to find a row of diaper cakes for all the pregnant couples at the gym!  We were very generously showered with diapers, an adorable onesie, and a Babies R Us gift card.  And our friends Eric & Megan made us a really neat growth chart ruler!  Our gym is full of such awesome people, I love CFVF!

I was always planning on going at night to cheer Dave and everyone else on, but I was thinking maybe I'd lift in the morning since that's when I usually workout.  I blew it off because I wanted to sleep in, but I was having some regret thinking my body would've felt better if I had just gotten it over with.  I decided that it didn't really matter since I'm so pregnant and that I would just stop whenever anything felt uncomfortable.  But I secretly really wanted to PR my snatch.  I hit 100# pretty easily in week 29 and I was thinking 7-10# more seemed really doable.  I easily put up 100# and then 105# was still pretty easy aside from feeling a little something in my back.  Side note: I miss my lifting belt!  I wanted to put 2 little 1 pounders on for a PR at 107#, but they were all in use so I said what the heck and put 2.5# on each side figuring I could always just bail on it if it wasn't right.  But I did it!  A snatch PR at 110# at 32 weeks pregnant (only 105# in the video, didn't want my final attempt taped it was too much pressure).  I honestly still can't believe it.  Dave PRed his snatch too!

I got up to 135# on my clean and jerk, which is only 10# under my max and I honestly probably would've gone higher if I hadn't felt some pain in my left wrist between the clean and jerk.  I was really proud of my lifts and it was an awesome night!

Saturday my mom and sister were supposed to come over to do some baby prep and crafting, see the nursery, and just hang out... which turned into my entire family coming over for the day!  My parents brought over 4 lbs of bacon and a brand new toaster and we all stuffed our faces with delicious BLTs and then got to work.  The guys fixed a bed frame that had been broken for 2 years and hung all the nursery art while the ladies did some crafting and closet organizing.

I bought this beautiful decal on Etsy that I was super excited about (the quote is from Alice in Wonderland), but apparently putting it on the wall was a giant pain in the ass.  There was a lot of curse words muttered and frustration and it got to the point where I was just steering clear of the nursery.  Apparently my dad's patience was the only reason it didn't end up crumpled up in the front yard because Dave told me if I ever buy another one, he will divorce me.  On the bright side, it looks amazing!  And the felt flowers Michelle made compliment it perfectly.

So without further ado, the nursery:

I am so in love!  The gorgeous blankets were both gifts, the one on the chair is from my cousin Janet and the one on the crib was made by our friend Jenn.  And I'm pretty sure we have two more blankets on the way!  Baby Midgley is already so spoiled aka we are spoiled by having the best friends and family :)

The very last thing that needs to be done for the nursery is to craft an initial to hang over the changing table.  I searched Etsy and really liked this, but it's only 8" tall and I wanted something bigger.  So I decided to make one.  I have a big wooden letter and the fake flowers to put on it, but Dave needs to paint it!  Hopefully this weekend.  And no, her name doesn't start with a C :P  I actually slipped and said the baby's name out loud to Michelle, but she totally missed it!  Dave and I have been using the name in conversation a lot more and so it's getting a lot harder to hide it.  Later I accidentally said the letter, which she caught... so she's the only one that knows the first initial (unless she blabbed to Alex).

Otherwise the nursery is done!  I am so happy!  The last big baby task is installing the car seat bases and there's a few things left on my registry that I still want to purchase, but we are feeling super prepared.  This weekend we'll be cooking a few batches of freezer meals, continuing to organize the basement, and now that the bed frame is fixed, we can make the spare bedroom look nice again.

I've been debating doing maternity photos and sort of settled on skipping it (do I really want professional photos of myself + 50 extra pounds hanging in my living room?), but this week I put out a call for newborn photographer recommendations on facebook and my friend Megan offered to snap maternity and newborn photos for us just to build her portfolio.  She's not a professional photographer, but has a high quality camera and some really nice shots of her son and niece.  The 30 different comments on my facebook post became extremely overwhelming and most of the packages I've seen so far start at $300... which makes my head spin!  I'm still undecided, but thinking of taking Megan up on her offer!

On Tuesday I took the dog for a short walk, about 3/4 of a mile and it didn't exactly feel great.  I thought it was cool enough at 80 degrees, but by the time the walk was over I felt like a wilted flower and I was experiencing some discomfort in the bottom of my belly.  I thought I might feel crappy when I got up for the gym this morning, but I felt fine.  The workout was DT: 5 rounds of 12 deadlifts, 9 hang power cleans, and 6 push jerks.  The women's weight was 105#, so doing it at 65# felt really light.  Deadlifts are starting to get awkward with my tummy, but I made it work.  I finished in 9:21 and was just glad to get a workout out in and that everything felt good.

I had my 32 week OB appointment today as well.  It was uneventful, my stomach measured perfectly, my blood pressure was normal, and I saw my favorite doctor in the practice.  I'm officially up 50 lbs and I think my face is finally getting fat LOL.  After my appointment we went to a pediatrician meet and greet and we both liked the doctor and the practice, so that's another thing to cross off our list.

Last but not least... I was planning on missing this year's Folk Fest since the festival last year.  I figured I'd be massively pregnant or with a brand new baby, and I was right.  The festival is next weekend and it does not seem like an enjoyable place for someone that's 8 months pregnant.  I'd be hot and not able to make the slightly treacherous hike down to the creek, the hills would leave me breathless, the port-a-potty trips would be endless, sleeping on an air mattress would be garbage, and the festival would be just a little different completely sober.  But after 8 consecutive years, I am devastated to be missing it!  Our entire group opted to take the year off and we're planning a little Faux Fest gathering to fill the void, but I think if everyone had purchased their tickets and had a plan in place, I'd probably be buying a ticket and making it work.  I just have to keep reminding myself that we are saving money, saving ourselves a lot of prep and clean up work, and there's always next year!  My parents live 10 minutes down the road, so I'm picturing a little "sun chip" crawling around during the day and then Didi picking her up for the night.  But in the meantime, mild depression...