Things are getting closer and closer over here! I had Brooke a little early so I’m really wondering (hoping;) if this one will also come a few days early too!
*Real quick flashback to when I was pregnant with Brooke at 37 weeks:) With Brooke I was craving sour gummy worms big time at 37 weeks but with this pregnancy those sound awful and I’d much rather have garlic bread, pie or hot chocolate right now.
*Running is all about the run-walk method for me right now. Run a little, walk a little, feel good a lotta. Probably not too many more miles of running will happen before she comes and so I’m taking advantage of each and every one that I get until then. Turns out the key for me to not get injured is to run all of my miles at an easy pace because during this pregnancy NOTHING has hurt… my joints, bones, muscles, everything feels great.
*This made me laugh pretty hard. Still waiting on that cake Andrew;) I’m kidding. These last few weeks I’ve felt more and more like myself and I’ve been a lot nicer again ha!
*Two things about the below picture. 1. I am having more and more down-time each day. I’m not napping but my body tells me to hang out on the couch more and read and I’m loving that. As soon as I sit down my brain tells me that I NEED TO BE PRODUCTIVE AND GET THINGS DONE and then I remind myself nope, there is nothing wrong with relaxing and getting way too emotionally involved in a book for a bit before getting things done. 2. I eat a lot smaller meals right now which means I eat something about once an hour. I just can’t fit that much food into my body right now so I just have to be eating often and that is a win-win situation for me right now. Toast with almond butter and jam happen many times throughout the day.
*I had my first (that I can remember) ‘ANDREW, GO TO THE STORE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I NEED ______’ for this pregnancy. I sent him to Cinnabon to get me a cinnamon roll and it was everything I could have hoped or wished for. It was actually really fun to need something food related so bad and have the craving fulfilled. Nothing compares to the center of a cinnamon roll.
*They handed this to me at my last doctor’s appointment and it kind of caught me off guard. Sometimes I think pregnancy is a ‘going to last forever and ever’ thing and then seeing something like this brings me back to realizing that she is going to be here before we know it!
*The doc did an ultrasound at our appointment on Monday to make sure she was head down (she is). LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS AND THAT NOSE. Yep, I’m in love. He said I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced! I just wish we knew exactly what those numbers mean and how far away labor is—> my doctor’s told me those same numbers the day before I started labor with Brooke!
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In addition to my randomness about this last week of pregnancy… I’ve got 10 more random thoughts to share!
*The next few weeks Andrew has a bunch of shifts up at the hospitals in Salt Lake City. He can obviously miss those days (this is probably the only reason they would let him miss) but I’m REALLY hoping that she decides to make an appearance on one of the days he doesn’t have a shift. It’s crazy how we can plan and plan and plan as much as we want for this but really we have no control over it at all!
*I’m going to miss these little baby kicks and hiccups that I feel all day. It’s so fun to be going about my day and feel her move around but I am more excited about feeling her move around outside of me:)
*Braxton Hicks are my middle name at this moment. Aren’t those things weird? They don’t hurt at all but they leave me a little breathless. They usually happen towards the end of the day after doing the whole dinner/bedtime routine with the kids and then boom… Braxton Hicks. I remember when I started feeling my first contractions with Brooke and thinking, ‘these are WAY stronger (and super painful ha) than Braxton Hicks and I can never complain about those again.’
*I’m already dreading the idea of birth control again. I talked about here how I didn’t love the IUD so I really need to figure out something that I love SOON!
*My skin has been so much better during pregnancy than normal life and I’m just going to pray that it stays that way after having the baby ha… although, I’ll happily say goodbye to all of the huge brown shapes of randomness that have popped up ALL OVER the rest of my body!
*Did anyone else feel like the very last couple of weeks had hours added to each day? I swear things were going by so fast and now it feels like each day has 36 hours.
*Last night I am positive I was having dreams about her the entire night.
*Thank you pancakes for being a constant for me throughout this pregnancy. When nothing else sounds good, pancakes always do. For a while I only wanted Bisquick pancakes but now I use the KodiakCake pancake mix. I should have kept track of how many pancakes I have eaten over the last 37 weeks because that would be a fun fact to know.
*I’m washing my hair more than ever now. I’m being ridiculous and I’m nervous I’ll go into labor and not have a chance to wash my hair before going to the hospital so I’m staying on top of it for the first time in my life and keeping it clean always;)
*Post-pregnancy question… how often would you like baby updates on this part of the blog? Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly?
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Did you have a birth plan? Did things go according to plan or completely opposite?!
Have any random pregnancy thoughts to share with me? I would love to hear them!
Did pregnancy change your skin at all? How so?
Any good books to bring to the hospital to read while we are waiting? That is the last thing I need to pack!
69 comments
Isa
Hey Janae, I have no kids so no advice, except that you look great :)
Do you have any recommendation of runners watch for a walking/slow running person? I want to give one to my mother but with no fuss and easy to use. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
The Hungry Runner Girl
HEY ISA!! Thank you so much! Great gift idea for your mom… I would say the Garmin 10, Garmin Vivosmart or Garmin 35. My mom LOVES her fitbit (she walks a ton)! Let me know what you end up getting! Have a great evening!
Faith VanderMolen
Weekly pregnancy updates please!! Love these:)
Lauren
Can you please update us everyday!?!? I love reading about the baby and how everything is going
The Hungry Runner Girl
On the normal blog for sure I’ll include little updates but I was wondering about the super detailed ones?!? But don’t worry, you will have to hear from me daily like normal ha. I hope you are having an amazing day Lauren!
Jenny | Running On Life
My birth plan was always just to get the baby here safely. That’s really the b st thing to hope for. Whatever was going to get baby out of me safely was the best way to go. I wish I could say I had fast labors like you did with Brooke! My first was 1 week of false labor before she decided to punch me and my water broke. My second was better. No false labor but it was a long 20 hours before she was born. My last baby was 2 weeks of false labor and then I got induced for 6 hours of really intense labor…. I’m sure you wanted to know all that ;) lol!
I’ll pray that baby girl decides to at least wait until you guys are all back together!
Becca
My skin was so perfectly clear during pregnancy and breastfeeding, but as soon as I weaned the baby, it broke out again. Good motivation to keep up breastfeeding :)
I recommend you stop getting your cervix checked! It can induce pregnancy and is not usually even necessary.
Enjoy your final days of pregnancy!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Hey Becca… oh that is GREAT motivation! I hope breastfeeding helps my skin out too:) GREAT recommendation. They wanted to on Monday because of Andrew leaving and they wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t be leaving right before I go into labor or something:) Thank you SO much and I hope you are having a beautiful evening!
Marissa @ Run Riss Run
I have had a gamut of birthing experiences from a home birth (planned) to a c-section (twins). For the most part, other than the c-section, I was mostly able to stick to my birthing plan, with the help of my husband :)
I used to have the most wild dreams while pregnant! I also got terrible acne that ended up needed Acutane.
Best of luck to you!! I can’t wait to hear about your experience and about your little nugget
Lisa
Just on the subject of birth control, have you heard about the Natural Cycles app? I’m on my second month with it and love not having to take hormones via pill or iud. I am official crazy person on the pill and just a bit bleuuughh with iud.
Taking your temp every morning takes getting used to but it’s really interesting what you learn about your cycle!
Best of luck with your imminent arrival!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Yes yes and yes… I was the same way on the pill and the iud. THANK YOU for the recommendation, I’m totally going to look into this. I would love to not be using any hormones! Have a great night!
Ashlee
I do the same thing! It’s so easy, and very interesting, like you said, to learn about your body and it’s natural cycles.
Janae, you look great, and I can’t wait to see your new addition really soon!
Lisa
Daily updates ?? lol weekly would be great!
Katie
Where is your yellow sweater from?!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Hey Katie!! Here is the link… I love it!
https://www.roolee.com/outerwear/keep-tempo-cardigan-in-mustard?tap_a=6753-c39683&tap_s=19596-96bbf6
I hope you are having a great night!
Katie
Perfect! Thank you :) I am.. baking pie!! :) I hope you’re too!
Michele at Everyday Snapshot
I had no birth plan..I honestly didn’t fully know what one was. Then since she was breech, it would have been no good anyway. Since I had a c-section, I didn’t get to hold her right away. This always made me so sad, I always dreamed about that initial contact. So after clean up, recovery, etc. hours later, I got to hold her finally.
Fun fact: I went through all the classes to learn of course, but I just wanted to experience everything. Somewhere in there, I missed the big fun fact that once your water breaks, things get intense and much more quickly. I called my parents, and told them in the middle of the night and said “you’ve got plenty of time”. My husband asked if he had time for a shower (we had an hour drive to hospital), oh yeah, PLENTY of time. lol We timed the contractions in the car, and gave each other that oh no look, and I just felt the car accelerate. lol
My skin did change after pregnancy. I had great skin before, and I immediately got a dermatitis type thing afterwards. A friend of mine had the same thing happen. I’ve always wondered, if I were to have another baby, would it go away? I’m willing to find out, my husband says no, we’re done.
I pray everything goes smoothly for you and your new little baby. Cannot wait to see pic’s.
Christine
As someone who is trying to get pregnant please update at least weekly!!! Hahah I need to live vicariously and know what to expect! I’ve been following along with your pregnancy and it’s been great!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Oh good luck Christine and please keep me updated with how everything is going for you guys!
Kami
My sister is a nurse and said that like 99.9% of people who have birthing plans end up going totally opposite of what they plan. I went in with the only plan being do whatever it takes for a healthy baby and for me that was being induced, 26 hours of labor, 4 attempts to get a good epidural and a C-section later we had a beautiful healthy girl in our arms! I would do it all over again and have zero regrets! I actually just texted my husband because I am so baby hungry today for no real reason at all… I guess I just miss having a baby moving inside of me! Just enjoy every second of it, I am soooo excited to see her cute face Janae and hear her name:) I hope you post often afterwards… I love hearing EVERY little detail! Babies are the best, if it weren’t for all the practical reasons to limit the number of children I would have all.the.babies!
Alyssa
Daily updates would be ideal ;)
Diane
Weekly!!! LOVE reading the updates!!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Thanks Diane!!!
Celeste
I was due I think a day before you this time, and my little guy came 5 weeks early! Enjoy every moment of this time, but make sure your hospital bag is packed – we frantically raced around after my water broke. I do miss his little jumps but what a joy to have him home for Thanksgiving!
I will due a low dose pill for a while but ultimately I will likely use an app and fertility tracking to avoid pregnancy!
Update as often as you can, but at least monthly!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Ahhhh Celeste!! Huge huge congrats on your little baby boy! I think I might be joining you with tracking fertility/using an app. I have no desire to take any hormones! Thank you Celeste and I hope you get a great night of sleep tonight!
Lori
You must read “ The Poisonwood Bible” and Lilac Girls! Both amazing books….
The Hungry Runner Girl
THANK YOU FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS… I can’t wait!
Jessey
My only birth plan was to get a epidural! I have a very low pain tolerance. We arrived at the hospital at 5 am and I didn’t start pushing until 6 pm and pushed for 2 1/2 hours before resorting to a c-section. That 13 hours was a blur – I slept a lot (or at least tried – there was a lot of issues with the epidural pump – they needed to try 3 of them!) I can’t imagine reading through all that. But we did bring Trivial Pursuit cards – we have about 6 versions so we had fun reading them (this was 2006 – pre-Smart Phone). We also did Mad Libs and cross word puzzles.
I am so excited to hear all about her!
Erica
I don’t know why, but I always picture your special dates with each daughter being donuts with Brooke and pancakes with baby girl. Like till they go to college and beyond. ?
The Hungry Runner Girl
I love the way you think! Yep, I will definitely be doing that! Thanks Erica and I hope you are having a great night!
Lee
Do birth plans these days include supplements, like iron? Are the Drs checking your iron/ reminding you to supplement (especially now as the delivery approaches)?
I think of this like carb loading. No?
Katie
Please update us daily (weekly minimum)! I love reading about your experiences! Good luck with everything and enjoy those newborn cuddles when they come! It goes too fast
Lynn B
Weekly updates:)
Laura fulks
Hi janae – getting so close!!!! I’ve loved following you since I started running in 2014 (and got to meet you at this past utah Valley half!) and it’s just so amazing to see all that’s happened and now welcoming another sweet baby!! That ultrasound picture looks like she’s going to come with nice round kissable cheeks! :)
I would love to read baby updates weekly for the first month or two, then maybe every couple weeks or month after that. It’s amaxing how fast they grow and change!
Happy thanksgiving!!!
The Hungry Runner Girl
HELLO AGAIN LAURA!!! So good to hear from you:) Thank you for your sweet words! I LOVE that idea… weekly updates for a bit and then monthly ones! Thank you and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow!
Erin
I had a birth plan with my son and will with my baby (due 1/20/18), but it’s very loose – no interventions unless medically necessary and my husband will cut the cord and announce the sex (We are team green). Also no eye ointment, skin to skin as soon as possible and delayed cord clamping. All of that said, I had to have an episiotomy with my son (he was face up) and the cord was around his neck so they cut is quickly and had to take him over to be checked out before we could do skin to skin (he was fine). Ultimately, I want a healthy baby and for me to be as unscathed as possible ?
My skin was terrible with my son but great with this pregnancy (maybe it’s a girl??). I think my skin agrees with the climate we are living in now better though, so who knows.
Anyways, the real reason I am commenting is about birth control… have you thought about a copper IUD? They’re non hormonal and most of the women I know with them absolutely love them. My husband and I aren’t sure if we are done after this kid, so I’ll probably risk it for a bit (I didn’t go back on birth control after my son was born and didn’t get pregnant until I weaned him at a year, so I’m not TOO concerned this time), but my plan is to get one if we decide to wait a while on the 3rd kid decision. If we decide we are 2 and done, he’ll get a vasectomy.
The Hungry Runner Girl
ERIN!! Thank you for sharing your experience with me and I’m so excited to find out what you are having! That is so exciting:) Oh, my skin totally reacts to weather/climate big time too (it prefers the dry dessert vs humidity)! I have definitely thought about the copper IUD and a few of my friends that used it loved it too. Definitely an option:) Andrew will be doing the vasectomy too once we are sure we are done ! Thanks for your help and I hope you are feeling great and having an awesome night!
Emily
I don’t even have children and I love the weekly updates! Keep them coming.
Emily stone
Those chubby cheeks are adorable! Can’t wait to see how she looks when its time.
Thinking on BC after everything calms down, I’d suggest looking into Natural Family Planning. Basically its *you* knowing when you ovulate and doing what’s necessary to avoid getting pregnant (without spelling it out, I figure you know what I mean ;) It keeps you free of having to endure BC, and allows you to really know your body, not to mention your body becoming “normal” without BC in it.
I’ve been off BC for 9 years (used it for female issues), and I’ve done NFP for the 1 1/2 years we’ve been married, and use the My Cycles app (by MedHelp) to track periods and ovulation (love this app). I did injections, IUD, pills..you name it, been on a bunch, so I know how they made me feel, and personally, I’ll never ever go back to BC, because NFP is so so easy.
Kelly
Ummmm, daily baby updates? No pressure ;)
Take something funny to read or have Andrew read. Honestly I wasn’t that focused to read but when it was slow (I was induced with AROM-the midwife just broke my wage then we waited) I could read magazines or chat or watch TV.
I can’t belueve you’re 37 weeks! Way to go!
Julie
Are daily updates not an option????? I guess I can settle for weekly if that is the case ?
Amanda
You look amazing! Hoping everything goes well. I have just a few weeks left myself and I know I will miss feeling these kicks and punches by my ninja!
Kristen
Weekly updates for sure! I think I can speak for your readers that we are so excited for you! Happy thanksgiving!
Anna
I had a baby girl last week and I think for the last couple weeks I did the same thing with washing my hair! I just kept thinking this could be it :)
Andrea
Hi Janae! I would love weekly baby updates! Also, I know you hated Mirena but have you considered the ta Paraguard IUD? No hormones so it won’t make you feel crazy or anything. I’ve had it for 3 years and LOVE it. Perhaps a low-dose birth control pill would work too? I took Yaz for many years and it kept my skin really clear. I revisited it after my daughter was born and it caused me to get bad migraines, so I went off of it and got the Paraguard IUD.
Dawn
This made me want cinnamon rolls! I love the gooey center too. The only time I have craved cinnamon rolls that badly was after having my wisdom teeth pulled, while I was still dopey on drugs! Lol! My friend said she had the best skin of her life when she was pregnant! But my other friend broke out real bad :/ it’s crazy how those hormones affect you!
Kathy
I got the hormonal brown pigment spots on my cheeks while pregnant….they are still there and seem to get pretty dark in the sun/summer…oh well!!
YES- I am expecting to hear a lot about the babe on this blog!!!! ;-)
Amanda
Yay so close!!! I’m 35 weeks today and I’m officially at the “oh my gosh this is actually happening” stage haha.
So, I’m really not looking forward to the birth control question as well…. I’ve only ever done the pill before but I really hated it near the end before we started trying and I also don’t want to do an IUD for personal reasons. Ugh! We will see!
I more have preferences for my birth rather than a birth plan per say. So for instance, after my baby is born, I want him brought to my chest and have the checks done there! I’m excited and interested to see how it goes for sure ???
Random pregnancy thought: I’ve been LIVING for hot chocolate with tons of marshmallows too haha. So good!
Happy thanksgiving!! ?
Kayse
Yay, you are getting so close! My baby was late though and that is no fun so hopefully she doesn’t wait too long to meet you. My pregnancy skin was awesome and so far 6 months later it’s still pretty good. My acne is hormonal so hopefully that doesn’t come back when my cycle comes back. I have had success with non hormonal Iud. I, sure you have looked at that, I haven’t thought about it since I had it put in. I love babies and want to hear all about your little one!
Mary
My daughter came at 37 weeks! I was totally unprepared…water broke and she was here 12 hours later. We didn’t have anything packed or the carseat installed. Crazy! I was lucky to never enter the super uncomfortable stage.
I would love weekly updates!! My daughter is 11 months now and I love reading about babies and what they’re doing; really brings back sweet memories :)
Even though I am not pregnant now, I remember how it does quirky things to your body. I had congestion the last month only at night, my skin got more freckly, and my hair definitely looked better (but got darker after birth!). I also remember having mini-breakdowns and crying over the stupidest things! My poor hubby! But now we just laugh at it!! Have a wonderful day!
Emily
I’ve had endless trouble finding birth control that I could tolerate. I’m on Nuvaring now, and it’s working well. It has some of the same benefits as an IUD (very low dose, you get to leave it in for a month instead of taking a daily pill) without any of the commitment. I also go through months here and there where my body tells me it wants a bread from the nuvaring and it’s easy to take a month off and use other kinds of protection if you want to. My gynecologist thinks I’m nuts, but I do feel like hormones can build up and make me crazy for a bit and I feel like I need to take a break with them.
nk
I love the updates – weekly updates during the early newborn stage would be amazing, then tape off to bi-weekly and/or monthly as you feel!
Sara
Happy Thanksgiving Janae! I’d love to get weekly or twice-monthly post-partum updates after your little girl arrives. I’m 15 weeks pregnant with my first 2 and really love your approach to blogging about your pregnancy. I’d love to hear about how you deal with things post-baby — it feels like the best kind of preview/support, esp for this first-time momma!
My skin has gotten a little drier but this is probably also due to indoor heating since things have gotten a little chilly here. My preferred birth plan is natural delivery with an epidural for the pain but I know that with twins you can’t necessarily count on that. Preparing by keeping my muscles strong just in case, though!
Marley
Baby updates weekly!!!!
Stacey
It’s funny, I thought pregnancy went by too fast! Now that my son is here, time is still flying by :(
Have you thought about a copper IUD? It is long term like the Mirena, but contains zero hormones. Your period won’t change, but your body won’t freak out from exogenous hormones, either. I have never had one, but many of my friends like it.
Alix
Would love weekly or bi-weekly baby updates!!
I’m a Women’s Health NP and regularly prescribe birth control to my patients, so I so hope you can find one that fits your needs and you love!! Bummer that the Mirena didn’t work for you– It’s so interesting how every body reacts so different to hormones, and you can never tell how one woman will react vs. another. One suggestion you might want to consider if you still like the idea of an IUD is the Skyla… Mirena’s “little sister”, with about half the hormone as Mirena so you may be less affected by the progesterone. Downside is it’s only good for 3 years, and you’ll likely still have a light menstrual period each month.
Sarah W.
I loooove your outfits on the first two pictures. You look gorgeous!!
Carrie
We used a birthing center with no meds available and so we had to have a birth plan but nope, it did not go as planned for my first! I had her med free but I basically did not realize I was actually in labor until it was too late. Even on the drive to the birth center I had no clue how far along I was at all. We pulled into the birthing center and I could not walk in so my husband went into the birth center to get someone and I had her, standing up next to my car. I did not even push. Target jean shorts sort of saved my baby. The midwife came out, caught the rest of my baby, stripped her shirt off and wrapped it around my now 10 year old. With my second I will have to say things basically went as planned except she was almost a week late. Cramps started at 3:45, true contractions around 4:30, she made her entry at 6:45. She will be 7 tomorrow.
Allison
Would love weekly baby updates–or even more frequently!
Brandy
Weekly baby updates, please! Love your blog. Also, I’d love to hear what you decide about BC. I’m thinking of restarting the pill to help with cramping/discomfort (that seems to get longer and worse each month) during ovulation. It even makes running uncomfortable. Anyway, I’m on the fence. I would love to avoid meds, but can’t seem to tame it on my own.
Brittany
My birth plan is to not really have a plan because I feel like it will never go how you expect it. I have an idea, but not really a plan. Makes me less anxious! lol
My skin has been WORSE during pregnancy!!!
Alise Weber
I love the baby updates! Do as many as you want. I was so excited to see you were pregnant because I am also pregnant. I am at 27 weeks with my first, and I am also trying to continue running (with walk breaks and much less than usual). Thanks for posting where you bought all of your nursery stuff – I bought the same chair off amazon. I’m so excited for it to get here! I am also nervous about getting on birth control after birth as I used to just count the days, but how do you do that when your cycle is not back to normal? I’ll be curious what you find out from your readers!!
Alise
Amanda
I am so excited for you guys! I LOVE reading about your pregnancy. I’d love post-birth updates weekly or bi-weekly. I don’t have any kids yet, but I’m hoping to get pregnant in the next year or so and I know I’ll be coming back to your blog to read about your experience because it’s been so uplifting, yet real. Thank you for sharing!
Sarah
I’d love updates weekly if you’ve got the time and energy!
Ashley McBain
weekly baby posts :)
Nikki
Weekly updates would be great :)
Whitney
The uncertainty of when baby #2 would show up made me so anxious I planned on setting an induction date ASAP. Turns out, I was in labor when I went in for said appointment, so I didn’t need to. But seriously. I just couldn’t even with the not knowing.
Mrs. B
Birth plan: Epidural! I knew it was the right choice for me and it worked out in my favor. I was able to sleep on and off which really geared me up for delivery and taking care of baby post birth. Also, right after delivery I had some complications (hemorrhaging) and needed extra attention and it was beneficial to be somewhat numb.
My skin during pregnancy was epic… EPIC!!! It was really good until probably 2-3 months postpartum and then I had breakouts. My suggestion is keep some of the salicylic acid face wash on hand and a good astringent to make sure your face is super clean every night.
Funny pregnancy fact: For the first trimester, I could only eat tamales for breakfast. I would have one each morning and it was the only thing that I could stomach for whatever reason. We had tamales last night and I turned my nose up at them! My husband was like, I thought you would love these things! Those aversions and cravings are insane and REAL!
courtney
Not books, but my parents said when they went to the hospital for me, they brought comedy tapes (now you can just download ;) and it kept them and the doctors in a great mood, laughing and not so stressed. I thought that was brilliant!