The Hatz Family: Baby #3!

Poor, poor baby number...no belly pictures and no blog updates. It has just been so crazy busy between the other two kiddos and being back in school. I have no idea where the past 4 months have gone. I am now 34 (!) weeks along. And if this pregnancy has been like the others, I only have 4 weeks left. Insert me freaking out here!!

The pregnancy has been pretty good so far...I am definitely more tired but that is probably because I am older, have two kids at home, and a college student. Also, this is an incredibly busy time at work for Matt so he has been gone a lot. But we have made it through and I am officially done with school for the summer as of the first week in May! We took a Babymoon/Family of Four trip to Chicago the following week and I have been just working out and hanging out with the kids since school ended.

So in regards to this pregnancy, it has been pretty much identical to the other two with a few exceptions. Most of my pain has been in my right rib and back just like with Carter and Isla. It comes and goes so it hasn't been terrible. Some of the differences...

There was a week around the 30 week mark that my hips were just killing me! It was a really busy week at work so I didn't work out like I normally did and I could barely walk my hips hurt so bad. I never had that with my previous pregnancies but thankfully once I got back to working out and being active the pain disappears and so far hasn't returned.
I have gestational diabetes - boo! This certainly isn't the worst thing in the world and I can control it with diet. But since this is my last pregnancy and I want all the sweet things I was a little bummed by the news. Also, I found out with like 3 weeks left in school and at the time I felt like I could.not add anything else onto my plate. But so far I have survived. :)
Sleeping has not been great with this pregnancy. With the other two, I would wake up in the middle of the night but could always fall back to sleep. This time not so much. Not to mention when I was really stressed with school restless leg syndrome kicked in and it was awful! The lack of sleep has depleted my patience and, at times, made me really cranky with the kids and I hate that.
I feel huge this time around. I think I am hovering at around 30 pounds weight gain right now, which is fine but my belly has been measuring 2 weeks ahead. Doctors are not concerned but I really hope that the baby isn't too big...I had enough trouble birthing my average size babies :).

This pregnancy has gone by so fast and I can hardly believe that it is coming to an end and in some ways it makes me sad. I love feeling baby move and daydreaming about whether or not we will be welcoming a little boy or little girl into the family. Those taking bets, most people who see me guess that I am carrying a boy since my belly is low. I tend to think boy not necessarily because I am carrying low but because the shape of my belly is more like a watermelon than a basketball. Also, we have zero boy names picked out, which makes me think we will probably be needing one. Truth be told, we don't have any girl names picked out either but I seem gravitate towards girl names and have several that I like, although Matt thinks they are 'weird', but with boys I am seriously at a loss. This is a position we have been in before so the baby will have a name.

Other random notables:

The heart rate has consistently been in the 140s with the highest in the 150s and the lowest in the 130s. Carter's heart rate was in the 130s closer to the end of the pregnancy and I think Isla's was slightly higher.
So far, crossing all crossables, I haven't had any swelling in my feet. My feet had ballooned with Carter by this point and I think my feet were slightly swollen with Isla but no where near the cankle levels I had with Carter
Line of nigra has appeared and been there for awhile and my belly button seems to have finally evened out with the rest of the belly. It held on to being a 'innie' for as long as possible
I had been working out two days a week on a fairly consistent basis while I was in school. Now that I am off for the summer, I try to hit the gym 4 times a week. It is a nice way to start the day and helps my sanity. Working out while being obviously pregnant is an interesting thing...there have been two women in the past couple of weeks who have told me that they just recently found out they were pregnant. One had just found out the day before, which makes me think I am one of the first people they told. But I do like that they can see me and know that you can be active while pregnant...it's all about modifications.
Carter and Isla are pretty excited about the new baby. Isla has no idea what is coming but she does love Baby Jake and Baby Nora and likes to mother them so hopefully she is that helpful with her new sibling. Carter knows what is coming and told me, "I am not ready for all the crying." You and me both buddy! Both want a baby girl. Carter understands the fact that the baby could be a boy and I think it okay with that fact. Isla, on the other hand, cannot put her mind around the fact that the baby could be a boy. Anytime we bring it up she says, 'no, baby girl,' We shall see!