Round 2: 33 Weeks

How far along:   33 weeks

Baby Size:  A bag of microwave popcorn or a football.


Weight:  

Symptoms:   

• I'm so tired
• Back aches
• Out of breath all the time
• Hard to bend over
• I get full really easily
• Restless legs

Maternity Clothes:   I'm outgrowing some more tops

Sleep:  Over the weekend Rob let me sleep in and my fitbit told me I got 5 hours of sleep each night.  That is so rare for me.  And then there was restless legs and insomnia the last few nights.

Cravings/Food Aversions:  I was craving a mcdonalds cheeseburger the other day and had one and it was yummy!

Belly Button:  Out

Rings on or off: On

Gender:  I've been leaning toward a girl for most of this last week

Name:  Still need a girl middle name or maybe even a whole new girl name since Rob still isn't totally sure.  

Movement: This baby was quiet of Friday and really quiet on Saturday.  I was getting really nervous; I'd laid on my side, drank ice water, drank juice, pushed on my belly and wasn't really getting anything.  Then Sunday I got a little more movement and felt better. 

Stretch Marks: I haven't noticed any new ones other than the ones on my belly

Best moment:  We had maternity/family pictures on Sunday.  Our first professional pictures since Eleanor was born so I'm looking forward to them.  I loved the sneak peeks she posted that day.

Looking forward to:  Being done with work because it's getting harder and I'm sore and exhausted

Nervous about: Not working and thus being down to one income

What I miss:  Bending over/leaning forward and walking without being out of breath ten seconds later.


Labor signs: Nope

Appointments:  I had one yesterday.  I don't know what the heartrate was but I was measuring right on track at 33 weeks.  I have 5 more to go before my due date

Misc.  We ordered a new video monitor with dual cameras so we only have to have one base and it's not internet based like the dropcam so if the internet is out it will still work.

Rob is awesome and fixed the glider cushion for under $10 so now it's more comfortable. 

First Years Talk & Soothe Monitor

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I know Eleanor is still little (2 months), but I want to get into more of a routine with her at bedtime.  Usually she stays out in the living room with us, and either I go to bed first and Rob will bring her in when he goes to bed, or I stay up and she comes to bed with me (she sleeps in our room; not our bed).  Often times it's not until 11 pm and while she does snooze in her bouncer or with one of us holding her, I don't want her to get into the habit of a late bedtime.

But I also want to be able to see her and hear her, so when I was given the opportunity to try out the First Years Talk Soothe Monitor I wanted to see how it would work.  In the next month or so I'm hoping I can transition her to her crib.  Not because I want to, but she's getting to tall for her rock n play.

We have a monitor, and we do like it for the most part, but lately it's been having problems.  The sound wouldn't work at all, and when we had a ice storm around Christmas the internet went out for a few days.  The camera runs though wifi and is viewed on a iPhone/iPad app and with no internet it doesn't work. It was a feature I loved on it because it could be viewed from anywhere, but now I don't so much.  I'm a first time mom and need to see my baby, so the First Years Monitor arrived at a perfect time.

It was so easy to set up, and while I glanced through the manual I wouldn't have needed to.  I plugged in the monitor and the parent unit (the handheld part) after putting in the rechargeable battery pack that is included.   I let it charge for a little while and then took it off to play around with it.

The image is upside down but has a clip for clothes or the middle part
 of the clip actually pulls out and becomes a stand

She fell asleep during tummy time, and I let her sleep there for just a few
minutes while I switched some laundry and put away dishes, all the
while constantly peeking at her.

All that you need to do is to turn on both the monitor and the parent unit, adjust the camera to make sure you can see the baby and it's all set.

On the base of the monitor there is also a night light (which can be turned on remotely).  Eleanor likes to look at this.  You can also turn on lullabies through the parent unit to play through the monitor as well.

You can zoom in and out or direct the monitor to different directions.   One feature that I can see us having a love/hate relationship is the talk back feature.  It's either going to soothe her or distract her and make her angry.

I do like how when it detects sound the lights above the parent unit turn red (seen in the video below; I didn't let my baby cry after shooting the clip, promise!). There have been a few nights Rob and I have stayed up watching tv and I've turned the sound down low.

This monitor is easy to move around from room to room.  During the day it's in her room when she naps, and at night when she goes to bed in our room I set it up before I go to bed so I can watch her.

I am really liking this monitor and have started to use it more than the one we already owned. I love the portability of it, and the image quality is pretty good.  I can see this one coming in handy if Eleanor was somewhere else (such as a grandparents) and needed to sleep. 

Downside:  The lullabies start to drive me crazy after a few minutes on repeat, and I wish the monitor had a battery pack option (for instances such as when the power goes out.)

You can purchase the Talk & Soothe Monitor at Target for $100

Target, The First Years & Snapfish are having a special promotion through January 31 2014 as well.  If you purchase the monitor I reviewed, the crisp and clear double or single audio monitor you will receive a free photo book as well as discounts from Snapfish.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Favorite Things~ 2 month edition

1) Dropcam

I LOVE this thing.  I can watch/stalk her when she is in her crib.  The sound quality is fantastic.  She can be in her room with the door closed and I will sneeze in the living room which is down that hall and the camera will still pick it up.

The only thing I don't care for is the slight delay.  It's only a few seconds so it's not that big of a issue and would not be deal breaker at all.

2) Pandora lullaby station.  After she decided to become a night owl I knew that wasn't going to work with me so I needed to set up some sort of routine for bed.   I had a free white noise app, but I wasn't a fan because it played the lullaby one on a 30 or 60 second loop and hearing it over and over was annoying and the rain and ocean sounds made me have to use the bathroom.  So I went to pandora and found a lullaby station and it works.

3) We have this cloud b lady bug and it is part of her bedtime routine.  It helps to calm her down and distract her I think.  It projects onto the ceiling and she likes to look at the stars.

4) Skip hop play mat.

We used this a little in month one for tummy time, but now that she's a little older she can interact with the different parts a little better.

Ours was a hand me down so it didn't come with the little tummy time mat, and is missing one of the animals but it's still completely functional.  It has lots of little loops on the arms to put toys on.  We have a set of plastic links so sometimes I will hook some of the other toys she has up to it.

5) Car seat cover.
We have the one shown below.  This might not be a necessity for everyone, but living in Michigan we have some pretty cold winters so for us it is.  This was a baby shower gift and it's one of the most used ones.

6)  This is not really a thing, but a local breastfeeding support group has been a huge help this month.  If you are local to the west Michigan area you should check it out.  It's run by certified lactation consultants and is totally free.  It meets twice a week (at two different locations); I only go once, but knowing it's a resource has kept me going.   

Find out more here: Spectrum Health Breastfeeding Support Group