Wow, I can’t believe we are nearing the end of this pregnancy. The weeks have flown by, but the days seem so long. I am officially 32 weeks pregnant and we only have 8 weeks, give or take a few, before we can expect little man to make his arrival.
Speaking of little man, he officially has name! It took much longer this time around to agree on something, but we finally found the perfect name for our sweet blessing – Jace Branton Younkins. Jeff and I had gone back and forth on names for weeks and weeks. We never could land on the same page – everything he loved I hated and vice versa. It was such a different experience then we had with Layne. We knew Layne was going to be Layne from the second we found out we were pregnant. That was our girl name and we never once considered anything else.
We both liked the name Jace, but I was never 100%. I felt like I kept looking for something better until one day when my mom asked me if I had looked up the meaning of the name Jace. The name Jace means to heal. How fitting is that? The moment I realized the meaning I knew that was our name. I finally felt at peace with it. Jace is going to heal Jeff and I in ways we cannot even imagine and I just feel so thankful and ready for him to be here.
As far as a third trimester update – things have been surprisingly great! Towards the end of my second trimester I experienced about two weeks of very very intense anxiety centered around going into pre-term labor. It was pretty bad. Over the course of those two weeks, I could of sworn up and down that my water broke three times, I had gestational diabetes, I was borderline preeclampsia, and Jace was not as active as he should be. It was a rough two weeks to say the least. I am certain my anxiety stemmed from my experience of pre-term labor with Layne as well as the normal worry and concern that comes along with pregnancy.
Now I am happy to report that I am feeling much much better! Things have been pretty smooth sailing. All of my OB appointments have dropped down from every four weeks to every two weeks and will soon drop to weekly. I think being seen more regularly has also helped keep my mind at ease.
Jeff has still not been able to attend any appointments or ultrasounds at my OB’s office. He is not even able to FaceTime in, so we have had quite a few private ultrasounds this pregnancy to give Jeff and our families the opportunity to see baby Jace. Look at his little face – ugh I cannot wait to squeeze those cheeks!
27w2d
31w2d
As far as how I am feeling physically? I am definitely starting to feel the weight (literally, the weight) of the third trimester. I move so much slower now – and by move I really mean waddle. The acid reflux has been INTENSE. I have learned that mine can be managed by diet (thank goodness!), so no more spaghetti or anything acidic for me for the next 8 weeks. I feel the worse after an active day so my days of aimlessly wondering Target for no reason or painting a room just because are pretty much gone until after baby. Other then what I would consider normal end of pregnancy complaints I am doing just fine and trying to soak in these last few weeks before our world gets turned upside down in the best way possible.