35 Weeks and What Pregnancy Teaches Me

I cannot believe how close we are getting to meeting this new little one.  I think the reality of it is just now setting in because it was feeling so far away for such a long time until now.

*Cereal is happening around the clock again.  It’s just so easy and delicious that it happens multiple times a day.  I’ve also really needed a lot of mashed potatoes lately.

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*34 miles last week during my 34th week of pregnancy.

*The baby seems to still be pretty high but I am starting to feel movement lower than before which makes me think he/she must be dropping a little bit.

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*I can officially say that the baby will be here NEXT MONTH and if it listens to Andrew then possibly this month (Andrew wants a Halloween baby so bad:).

*My Braxton Hicks are happening more and more with each week.  I don’t have them when I’m running but throughout the day I am feeling them way more than I ever did with the girls’ pregnancies.

*We had another doctor’s appointment today and everything is looking great and his/her sweet profile made my day.  PS to go along with the below picture, I am SO thankful to love water again.  I hated having to force water in each day during the first 20ish weeks.

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*Sleep is going very well thankfully.  The uncomfortable stage has definitely set in so it’s tricky finding a comfortable position but once I do, I’m out fast.  I should probably start tapering down my sleep a little bit (I sleep a lot right now) to prepare myself for waking up in the middle of the night again with a baby ha.

*I just realized that I should probably get a double stroller.  We go on a lot of walks and I would love to get your recommendations (not for running… I don’t think I’ll be running with both but for just going around town).

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*My appetite is increasing with each week, hallelujah.

*Jenny shared this with me and it had me laughing so hard (and also very stressed ha… I’m so worried for some reason that this one is going to come FAST from all of the running I’ve done;)

The other day I was thinking about just the lessons this pregnancy has taught me and I thought I would share a few:

*Pregnancy teaches me that it is just like the marathon.  During the weeks of nausea and vomiting I said approximately 4593 times that this is our last and I am never doing this again.  And now that I am feeling the best I have felt since week 6 ha, I am already thinking maybe we will have another in a few years if we can;).  I already forgot about the pain ha.   During almost every marathon I have said the same thing to myself, “NEVER AGAIN” and yet I keep going back for more.  PS I am sticking to the promise I made during my ultra to never do that again though ha.

*To go along with the above sick talk… This pregnancy taught me that if I am having negative body image thoughts in the future, I need to stop and think about what happened this pregnancy.  I didn’t have one negative body image thought (or any thought about my body) during the weeks I was feeling so sick.  My focus was on survival and I didn’t have any extra time/energy to care what my body looked like.  I need to remember when those thoughts pop up in the future that I’m actually very lucky to have them at all because it means I am healthy/not sick/not thinking about just surviving and that can help me to focus on gratitude of health rather than any negative thoughts.

*As my sister says, ‘during pregnancy you are just reacting to everything your body throws out to you each day.’   It teaches me to let go of the control because you just never know what is going to happen the next day.  I might have a full agenda of plans to do with the kids and then my body says ‘nope, you are too tired.’  I may want to sleep peacefully through the night but then my body says, ‘nope, you are going to need to get up and pee 9 times tonight ha.’  I may really want to eat a burger one minute and then the next minute I can’t even handle the thought of anything but grapes.  You just have to learn to react and cope with whatever surprise comes next!

*Pregnancy teaches me that we can all do it differently and have the same reward at the end.  There is no one right way to be pregnant or to be a mother or to be a human and pregnancy teaches me that over and over again.  Everybody has different needs and wants during their pregnancies and those differences are what makes life interesting.

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What are a few things that pregnancy has taught you if you have been pregnant?

Any double stroller recommendations for me (that aren’t crazy expensive)?

Other cereal fanatics during pregnancy?  What were your goto choices?

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21 comments

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I’m also researching double strollers for when baby #2 comes in April. I think the Mockingbird double is my top choice right now, but I guess it’s fairly new so there aren’t a ton of reviews online. So maybe you should get that one so you can send me an honest review before spring ;)

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April wahoo!! How far apart in age will your two kids be? I will totally look into that one right now and would love to write a review if we get that one, I love the way you think. I hope you have a beautiful day and that you are feeling well. Thanks Tracie!

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My kids are a little older but I loved my Joovy Caboose for the baby and toddler phase! Needing a double stroller didn’t last long – less than two years? but I sold it for almost what I paid! My mom friends these days all have a Jeep stroller wagon which also looks pretty great!

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That is awesome that you were able to sell it for almost what you paid! I’m totally going to look into Joovy Caboose, thank you for sharing Laura and I hope you have a great night!

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Hey maybe try and get a used city select. They are pricey but they have so many different combinations that work well for multiple kids. Even my bigger kids will sometimes get a ride on the glider board attachment. One major con it’s a pain to fold back up and takes up a lot of space
Pro: goes over cubs like no bodies business

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Awesome! I’ll start searching for used ones, SO good to hear about the curbs/glider board. Luckily, we usually just need a stroller for walks from our house so we won’t need to pack it often. Have a great night and thanks Danielle.

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Yep, I second the city select (that’s what we have) or any tandem double! Even walking the neighborhood, it helps your alignment to push equally with both hands, vs having one side light with an infant and one side much heavier with a preschooler! I echo her thoughts, it’s a big footprint to pack up, but super worth it!! And the glider board is awesome! I bought mine used and sold it for about $75 less than I paid!

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I third the City Select! We got it when we had our second son (our boys are 21 months apart) and SO wished we had gotten that to start with as it was so much more durable and smoother to push than the Graco single stroller we had before, and obviously the options to add the second seat in various configurations and the glider board are great.

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If it helps you feel any calmer about your baby coming super fast—during my last labor (baby #6) my doc told me that her runner moms have longer labors but are crazy fast in the pushing phase! She said all that running gives us super strong pelvic floors that are good at holding the baby in until it’s go time. (My labors tend to be 12-18 hours and then I push like 3 times and voila, baby!) I also ran a 5k 4 days after baby #6 was born and dang those recoveries get SO much better every time (with baby #1 I literally couldn’t walk for the first ten days). You’re so close now!!

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Rachael, I want to give you the biggest hug right now… this made me feel so much better. You are my hero–> a 5k a few days before having baby #SIX! Wow. I hope you have a beautiful rest of your weekend and thanks for this tip, the anxiety just melted!

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I ate cheerios all day long. The thing I remember about pregnancy is really trying to take it all in. I didn’t think I would ever forget what it felt like to be pregnant, but it happens. I also remember those quiet times the baby was just dancing in my belly. I’m glad I took time to stick those moments in my brain.

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We loved our city select double … we used it for so many years and then handed it down. They hold up amazing and just glide along and make it easy to push with two especially when they get heavier! We used it until my oldest was 6 and I was still able to maneuver it no problem. I liked the side by side. I always found it easier to push.

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We have a double Bob (they ARE crazy expensive–however, you can get them used for such a good price!!!! I’m all about second hand kids stuff, so much of the “used” stuff is barely even used!). I love the double Bob, but my kids are pretty much too old for it now. :(
I’m so excited for you. You just look so happy. :)
I wasn’t big into cereal with my kids, but I am BIG INTO CEREAL DURING MARATHON TRAINING! Late night cereal snacks are legit. Have a great day!!

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I love that second bullet, Janae. I think some of us have a wired default topic our brains go to when there is not some other thing to “survive through. ”
A game changer when you recognize it, isn’t?
What a lucky baby (and kids) to have you as their MOM!

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Get a double jogger, and a nice one (like a BOB)…but get it on FB marketplace! We got a cheap one new and after a year, the front wheel broke! We got a much nicer one off of marketplace, and I wish I had just done that to start.

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We have the Uppababy Vista as a double and it’s HEAVY pushing around with a 3 year old and 4 month old so I’d actually recommend against it (it’s also pricey). If we didn’t live in NYC I probably would have gone with a double running stroller like the Thule.

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My daughter has the same mutsy you have for my granddaughter but baby #2 will be here in December so they need a double too. She will use a stroller board with the mutsy and bassinet but are also looking at the evenflo pivot xpand. It looks a lot like an uppa baby and you buy an extra seat for lots of seating combinations. It is also a reasonable price. So excited for you guys!!

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I agree with the double BOB stroller especially if you are only using it for taking walks around town (and not for going to malls or places with narrow entrances). Bigger kids can easily get themselves in and out, it pushes so easily, huge sunshield, etc. I got mine used and sold it easily on FB once I was ready to go back to a single BOB.

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It seems like this pregnancy has been so laid-back and happy for you (no small feat turning a pandemic). I think both my pregnancies were good lessons in being “nice” to myself. I tend to be so focused on achieving, or trying to everything perfectly, being pregnant was a good reminder that sometimes it’s okay to just leave the dishes for the morning, or sit and read a book for an hour instead of rushing around.
Oddly, these skills have been very helpful during the pandemic when everything can seen so overwhelming and I need to just stop and be like “it’s okay, you’re allowed to take a breath!.”
Both of my pregnancies and labors were exactly the same (like both a week late, same length of labor, and same time of birth almost to the minute, but I have a bunch of friends that didn’t make it into the hospital with their second (one of my friends had her baby IN THE CAR). It’s crazy to think about, but good thing Andrew is a nurse :-)

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When I was pregnant with my second daughter twenty seven years ago I craved Lucky Charms like crazy! I would eat two to three bowls with buttered toast. I was obsessed.

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We used a Joovy caboose for my first two, but I don’t recommend it if you want to it while the new baby is still in a car seat. (It leaves the bigger kiddo squished in the back seat.) However, once they were both seated in the seats, it did a good job. It’s simple, light, and inexpensive amd held up well. The storage bin is tough to access with both kiddos in it though. Now that we’re expecting #3, I bought a used city select and am loving it so far. The Mockingbird and Joovy Qool were the others I considered, and I think they’re all pretty comparable and pretty great.

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