Week 33

Week 33 – Feb 4 – 10^th

Baby is the size of – The heft of a pineapple.  He is a little over 4 pounds and over 17 inches long.  His skeleton is hardening though still soft enough to fit in the birth canal.  He is losing his wrinkly skin.  I may experience Braxton Hicks soon.

How I’m feeling – Better.  The first part of the week was pure misery.  I cried several times on the way to work from the pain and when I saw someone running.  I’m very dramatic when it comes to pains when I run.  I keep worrying that I’ll never run again.  Crazy, I realize, but I hate being sidelined.  I got a massage Monday night which felt good (read painful) but the pain was just as bad when I got home.  This entire week, I’ve been resting and trying to treat this phantom pain on my own.  I’m icing, stretching, foam rolling, heating, and doing hip/glute strengthening exercises.  The Internet can be terrible sometimes b/c if you look of any symptoms you’re having, you think you’re dying.  I have self diagnosed myself with sciatica, pelvic girdle pain, glute strain and him sitting on a nerve, bone, or my bones moving preparing for birth.  Randomly on Wednesday, it lessened a bit.  I didn’t push it, but Thursday was even better.  And Friday the same although it tightened up a bit after shopping and walking in and out of stores.  I scheduled a physical therapy appointment because I needed relief.  After seeing my doctor on Thursday, he thought maybe it was a minor muscle tear but recommended I still see the PT on Friday.  On Friday, I saw the PT and after pushing on my back bones, having me do some flexibility stretches and hearing exactly what my pain was, he thought my sacroiliac joint was moving and the muscles that support my glutes, hips, and muscles are loosening due to relaxing hormones during this point of pregnancy so it’s causing pain/pressure on my iliopsoas muscle.  He recommended several stretches which I do 2x a day.  They are things like pelvic tilts, clamshell, bridge pose and squats from a seated position.  He said I can walk (yay!) outside on a flat surface only, lift weights lightly and swim as long as I don’t have any pain.  That is all great news, but I still must remind myself that I can’t push it.  He said the pain should go away after birth as those muscles tighten back up. 

He is definitely moving lower.  I feel his feet up my ribs quite frequently and am either feeling a head or butt as he’s moving.  I am getting more and more uncomfortable, but thankfully still no stretch marks and I still feel like I look pretty good for how far I am =) 

**Doctor visit 2/7/13 – This visit was relatively short once again, but I did discuss my glute pain with the doctor to see if physical therapy is truly necessary.  He suggested it might be a muscle tear and to go ahead and see the PT and see what they have to say.  I am measuring right at what I should be for 33.5 weeks.  Blood pressure was 116/64.  My weight was 166.5 so .5 pound weight gain in 2 weeks.  I am scheduled out for the rest of my pregnancy which is crazy.  I go back on February 21^st and then start my weekly visits.  Also on the 21^st, I’m heading over to the hospital to talk to the birthing nurses to discuss our birth plan, register, and get admitted. 

Activity –

Monday , Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday – REST!  My pain came and went but was pretty severe most days so walking around school is about as much as I can handle right now.

Sunday – 30 min walk – Ran for 3 min – running felt good to get my legs moving again, but awkward b/c he has definitely settled lower.  My hip/glute flared up a bit so I walked the rest of the way home.  It was more of a nagging pain so I stretched and did my exercises when I got home and it’s better. 

Weights – 15 min

**A lot of people have been asking for pics of the nursery, and it’s just not quite ready yet.  As soon as I get organized, we get more clothes, toys, etc.  And nothing is hung on the walls.  That is the last step, but hopefully this weekend when I have 4 days off of work, I can get that taken care of.  His hospital bag is almost ready and I’m making frequent trips to Babies R Us using those coupons!