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We’re at 36 weeks! Only a few more weeks until we get to meet our precious baby girl! It’s been so sweet to be able to see our little girl more frequently on ultrasounds, but boy are those expensive! On our most recent ultrasound growth scan, both the ultrasound tech and the doctor mentioned to us how much hair she already seems to have. 😅 So she already has lots in common with her older brother! Ollie also had lots of hair when he was born. And it’s incredible to me how you can already tell how similar they look even from these ultrasounds! (Similar to Ollie’s newborn photos, that is.)

Since my last update, I have had to go into my OB weekly for non-stress tests. This is where they have me sit in a recliner chair and place two monitors on my belly to listen to the baby’s heartbeat as she moves around. The goal is to see some significant jumps in her heart rate whenever she moves. They just want to ensure that she is continuing to get enough oxygen and nutrients from the placenta and that there are no significant issues from the placenta velamentous.

(See my last pregnancy update to read about the issues with my placenta.)

The non-stress tests have not always been smooth sailing - while she is often active, her heart rate hasn’t always shown the higher jumps like they have wanted to see, so the appointments have taken a bit longer than expected. The most recent non-stress test “failed” so they had to send me over for another ultrasound right away just to make sure all is well. I wasn’t too nervous about it, since we had just been to our growth scan and ultrasound the day prior and she was looking great! She just decided to be a bit stubborn and have a slower afternoon with less movement, but no issues according to the doctor at the ultrasound.

We’re now just 3 weeks away from meeting our baby girl since they want to induce me sometime in the week prior to my due date. So it looks like we will definitely have a March baby (unless labor goes super long and she shows up in April instead!).

Third Trimester Symptoms

Fatigue - I feel like I am ALWAYS tired again! Similar to my first trimester, but more uncomfortable this time around. I find that I need lots of naps throughout the week, and it often hits me at random times! It doesn’t help that I haven’t been sleeping well at night.
Restless Legs - This shows up most often at night and makes it even more difficult for me to fall asleep. I don’t remember having this issue with my son, but it is one of the most frustrating things ever!
Round Ligament Pains - This uncomfortable symptom has just started to show up recently - I often feel the stretching of my stomach muscles and every now and then, it hits with really sharp pains. I also have a very sore pelvic bone and feel that pain more and more regularly - like lightning shooting through my entire pelvic area (IYKYK).

Overall, I just generally feel more tired and uncomfortable with each passing day and am eagerly looking forward to holding this baby girl in my arms! Now I just have a few more practical things to take care of as we prepare for her arrival.

How We Are Preparing for Baby #2

With the second baby, we really have most of the “big items” already taken care of, but there are still some key items that I need to take care of to get ready for our baby girl’s arrival. I feel like mentally and emotionally I am in full-on nesting mode, but physically, i am constantly exhausted and can only do little bits at a time. What I really want right now is for someone to come and deep clean my house before this baby arrives!

Prepping the Nursery Corner in our Bedroom

Since we live in a rental house in the city, we have limited options on what we are able to do with this house, but it does have plenty of room for us to grow! It’s likely that we will switch around bedrooms sometime this summer, but for now, we’re going to keep baby girl in our bedroom with us for the first few months. Honestly, even if we had a separate nursery set up, she would likely have stayed in our room anyway, so why not start out that way! We moved my vanity desk out of this corner of our bedroom and moved the glider in, along with a lamp, side table, and our rolling cart for diapering and nursing supplies.

I still need to set up the sound machine, wash all clothes and blankets and swaddles, and stock the diaper/nursing cart with everything we will need for those late night feeding sessions! I plan on sharing a separate blog post going over everything we found essential to have with us in our little Nursery Corner of our bedroom, so keep an eye out for that post!

Prepping our Nursing and Diaper Cart

We used this same tiered-cart with our son, to keep diapering supplies and other necessities on-hand in our bedroom. Even though we had his nursery all put together with a crib and a changing table, the reality was that he slept in the bassinet in our room and was often changed on our bed with a portable changing pad and diaper supplies that we kept in our room.

So I moved the cart into our nursery corner in our bedroom, next to the glider, and bought a few new storage items to help with organization this time around. Now I just need to get the burp cloths and swaddles washed and sorted into this cart, and purchase some diapers and wipes and gather together any other supplies that I might still need on hand for baby girl. And that will include stocking up on snacks for mama during nursing sessions!

Once I have everything put together in this diaper and nursing cart, I will be sharing my essentials and favorites in another separate post on the blog, including a checklist for setting up your own diaper and nursing cart.

Prepping the Hospital Bag

One of the other main prep items that I still need to take care of in the next week or two is the hospital bag! Even though we are looking at an induction date that is a week ahead of my due date, I will still feel better if I get this hospital bag put together and ready to go well before I need it. I got this bag as a Christmas gift this year and think it is the perfect size for packing up everything I need for my hospital stay.

I definitely have a better idea of what I will actually need this time around while I am in the hospital! I’m still waiting on a few supplies to come in that I want to have with me while I’m in the hospital (most specifically some clothing items), and I also want to create a few “gift baskets” for our nurses for the labor & delivery room, as well as our post-delivery care. And I still need to finish cleaning up our infant car seat and get that installed into our car so it’s ready to go in a few weeks. But I think I should get the car washed before getting that installed!

Again, stay tuned for the blog post all about what I’m packing in my hospital bag, including a checklist to help other moms make sure they don’t miss any important items for birth!

Prepping our Toddler for Baby #2

It’s hard to know how much our 2-year-old is actually comprehending about another baby coming into our family, but he certainly seems to understand more than I expected! We chat with him often about baby sister in mommy’s belly - asking him to be careful to not jump on mommy’s belly or kick baby sister. And he is usually so super sweet and wants to give my belly kisses and say hi to his baby sister.

We have tried to be intentional about showing our toddler the ultrasound photos each time we get a new set, so he can see baby sister’s face and make a more personal connection. He also loves when we are around other babies and wants to be so sweet with them and wants mama to hold them.

Another thing that we have been intentional with is trying to already establish boundaries - especially in our bedroom and making sure that he knows that the bassinet is baby sister’s bed and it’s not for him to play with. Every little thing that we can talk about ahead of time will hopefully be helpful for him to process this new addition to our family once she is actually here and in our arms and our home!

All in all, we are SO ready for this little girl’s arrival! Just have a few practical things to take care of before she arrives in just a few weeks. With my low energy, it’s proving hard to find time to get everything taken care of, but we are trying to prioritize some weekend time and some evenings (as long as our toddler isn’t too much of a handful that night), to try and clean up a few areas of our home and finalize the list of prep items above!

final prep list for baby

☐ Wash all baby clothes, blankets, swaddles & burp cloths
☐ Sort & fold all clothes into dresser
☐ Stock up on items for the Diaper/Nursing cart
☐ Pack hospital bag
☐ Clean & install infant car seat
☐ Review baby registry & purchase any final essentials

see our baby registry