Braxton Hicks Contractions, Adrenal Update, Depression | My 33 Week Pregnancy Update

Hi guys, this is Megan with the blog WilsonHomestead.com and today I'm doing my 33 week pregnancy update. So my baby center app is saying the baby is the size of a pineapple which is super cute and also super big. I cannot believe that we're on like under 10 week countdown. Like I have seven weeks left. That is insane to me. It's really starting to sink in how soon this baby could actually be here. It's just, I don't know, really crazy. Like in seven weeks, a little more, a little less, we'll have a baby in our arms. Like a real live baby and we'll have a newborn and a one-year-old and a two-year-old. And that's freaking me out a little bit that we don't have like more time. This pregnancy has just been so busy and I've just been like busy with moving and packing and dealing with the other two kids that I haven't quite, I don't know, I feel like I haven't had time to digest that we're gonna have another baby soon. Like really soon. So it's like now that we're under 10 weeks to go, it's like starting to hit me like, oh, like there's actually a baby coming on this. So that's how I've been feeling about that lately. I feel like my belly is lower now. I'll show you guys when we do the belly shot at the end of this video. But I feel like baby's dropped a little bit. Not like fully dropped into my pelvis because they still seem to be moving around pretty well. Like moving their head in different places. So I don't think they've like dropped into my pelvis like they do right before labor. But I feel like they have dropped down some because my belly seems lower. I've been having more Braxton Hicks lower in my belly. I've been having more pelvic issues. There's just, yeah. On Sunday, the baby that, I think that was the day the baby had like dropped down a little bit, was so uncomfortable all day long. Like they were, had their head smooshed against something. It was partly my bladder, partly something in my pelvis. And it was just like so insanely uncomfortable. And I was trying to do like on hands and knees, do the cat cow movements, try to get them to move. And they would just not budge. They were just like totally comfortable hanging out there. I'm like, do you have to do this now? Because it's always, I was joking with Luke that all three of our kids ganged up on me on Sunday because the baby was smooshing something and giving me so many contractions during the church service. Jimmy was being a little rolly alligator and making so much noise, I felt like. I'm sure, I'm sure it didn't disturb anyone else, but it was like a lot of work to keep him busy. And then my toddler, she is starting to do better during church, but it's still like a lot of maintenance. So I'm like, all three of them are trying to kill me. No, they did okay. I'm actually very proud of my two kids for being able to sit through the church service. So, but yes, I've been having a lot more racks and Hicks. I mentioned in my last update that they had finally started. It took them a long time to start. Normally they start at like 20 weeks for me. So this one was a bit later. It was about 30 weeks. And then now I'm 33 weeks and I have a lot of racks and Hicks contractions now. It was on the 4th of July. And I think I actually had some like real, like it was more than a Braxton Hicks. It reminded me of my prodromal labor contractions. So that would be interesting. If I start getting prodromal labor now, I'm going to end up having like a half an hour labor because with Denny, I had, what was it? Two or three weeks of prodromal labor. And then my labor with him was two hours long versus my first labor that was 24 hours long. So if I started having prodromal labor now, when I have seven weeks to go, labor is going to be like 30 minutes, which would be kind of nice. I can't complain about that. I've got my bruised spot back again. If you guys have watched my pregnancy updates from my last pregnancy, after I talked about this, that the babies, all three of my babies seem to always like fall into the same position at a certain amount of weeks where they, their head down their butts over to my left side and their feet are up here on my right side. And you just kick the same spot over and over again. Like they just really liked the one spot. I think it's something about how my uterus is shaped. They always fall into the same position, all three of them. But because they kick the same spot, it feels so bruised like on the inside. Cause it just gets so sore. And if they kick it, it's like, Oh, that feels like a bruised spot. Or if I poke it from the outside of that spot, I can feel it then too. It's like, can you move over a little bit and kick somewhere else for a while? So I shared with you guys in my last update, my 30 week update that I've been having some prenatal depression, which is caused, my midwife thinks it's being caused by adrenal fatigue. So I found this really cool test online. I will link it down below where you can answer all these questions about symptoms and everything. And it tells you if you are have adrenal fatigue or not. And I went through it and I'm actually like on the pretty like high severe side of having adrenal fatigue. So that was nice to have a little bit of a confirmation of what my midwife said that like, yes, that does really sound like adrenal fatigue. So I've been doing a bunch of research on natural things. I found this really nice lady on Instagram who also has struggled with adrenal fatigue. And so I've been like picking her brain about what she's been doing about it. So I kind of have a plan that I've been implementing lately and it seems to be helping a little bit. I think it's just going to take some time. Adrenal things just take time to heal. But a couple of these things I've been doing, I'll notice a decent difference after I take them, which I'm really excited about. So the first thing that I started doing is taking CBD oil. I get it from Young Living. They say it's for external use only, but that's because it's a big whole deal trying to go through the FDA and get it approved for internal use. But a lot of people I know take it internally. A lot of people I know take it internally while pregnant or breastfeeding. And the lady who was able to heal her adrenal fatigue naturally takes the same CBD oil. So I started taking a dropper full a day of the thousand milligram citrus CBD oil, and that seems to be very helpful. That and the next thing I'm going to talk about, they seem to make the biggest difference like right away when I take it. So I've been really happy with that. Of course, this is not medical advice. You need to do your own research if you're struggling with adrenal fatigue. Just don't just do what I'm doing. You got to do your own research when it comes to stuff like this. The second thing I've been taking is Ningxia. It's an antioxidant drink. It's made from wolfberries. It's got so many great things in it. I'll link it down below and link some different articles on why it's so great. But that seems to just like really give me a good boost of energy and mood uplifting when I drink some. So I've even been drinking, they recommend like about two ounces a day. I've been drinking more like four to six ounces a day. I'm just drinking what my body's asking for. I'll notice I'm, I'll be craving some and I'll just drink a little bit and I'll just drink what my body's like craving. And that seems to be making a big difference too. I've also had my mama's helpers been coming for three weeks now. And that is so helpful and so nice. And just having like the mental load off of having to watch the kids for, cause they're only coming one afternoon once a week right now. But even just that is so helpful. Like the first time they came, I was able to clean the bathroom by myself, like in one shot, which doesn't happen very often. But I was just like there in the bathroom. I'm like, my kids are awake and I can hear them playing happily and someone's watching them and I don't have to think about it. And I was like, it almost made me cry. It's been like just such a relief to have that little bit of help once a week is like, I'm glad I listened to my midwife and asked for some help. Cause it's, it was very needed. So normally when they come, the kids are a little shy at first, they warm up pretty fast, but I'll, I'll have them fold all my clean laundry because that's a big issue for me is that I can wash the laundry, but then it just sits there clean and never gets folded. So they've been folding all my clean laundry once a week, which is so nice. And then after that, the kids are usually warmed up to and they just like play with them and keep them busy. And they like have it totally handled. They're like very, I've been very impressed with the girls because I'll hear out here, like Sophia will ask for me and they'll be like, no, mama's busy. We're going to go do this. And they just like have it handled. And I feel confident that they're going to like not let anyone get hurt. They're going to make sure that Sophia's not getting away with stuff and all that. So that's been a huge thing for my depression is having some help. I've still been taking my pregnancy tonic that my naturopath gave me. I think I talked about that in my last update, but I've been trying to remember to take that as well as all my supplements that I'm supposed to be taking. I've been trying to be really consistent about that. I wasn't the greatest about remembering that, most is pregnancy, but I've been trying to remember now and I've been a lot better. And then my thyroid labs did come back and my naturopath had me go off of my thyroid tincture, my herbal thyroid tincture. So I guess that means my thyroid's not too high, which is good. She put me on a GTA supplement, which is another thyroid supporting supplement. So I'm taking that twice a day also. And then just trying to remember to eat something every two hours and not just coffee. I really wish coffee counted because I could drink coffee for two hours and be fine. It's hard to remember to eat food every two hours, but we're trying to get in more nutrient dense nourishing meals, more liver, more raw liver, more egg. But even if it's not something super healthy, even if it's just a piece of fruit or whatever, even if it's a cookie that I made, trying to get something in my system every two hours. And that seems like it makes a difference in my mood and my energy and all that. So I'm hopeful that all this combined will start working more and more and I'll just start feeling better. And I'm really hoping that this depression doesn't carry over into postpartum depression because that would not be fun. But it's just been very encouraging to hear other people's stories of adrenal fatigue and prenatal depression because they'll talk about feeling the exact same things that I feel, like how your heart just starts racing in the morning. The first, like when your kids waken up and your heart starts racing. And I've actually had such extreme anxiety in the morning that when Luke leaves for work, I have severe upset stomachs and diarrhea every morning because I get myself so upset about having to be home by myself all day. It's just like ridiculous. It's like the same sort of upset stomach that you get like before you have to go up on a stage and speak. Like it's nerves. It's just stupid. So that's a bad sign. This week, it's Tuesday now. Yesterday and today, I haven't had my upset stomachs in the morning. So that is a really good sign that even though Luke was gone yesterday and today, I was able to just be fine and not get myself so worked up that I had the upset stomachs. So that's a good sign. But yeah, it's just been like, it helps me feel better to know that like other people who struggle with adrenal fatigue and all that are feeling these exact same feelings about like obsessing over parenting issues and just feeling like despair and like not wanting to be alone and mean to talk things over and over and over again in circles. And yeah, so I'm not just crazy. It's all for a reason. So anyway, I think that's most of what I wanted to update you guys on. Hopefully, I'm not forgetting anything. But let's show you guys the bump now. With all this hair on the way. So here's 33 week bump. I feel like it's just lower. I don't know. I don't know if you guys can tell a difference, but I feel like a lot of weight just lower. So might just be me, one of my friends that I look lower to. Who knows? But I'm feeling pretty big. This baby's growing real well. So thank you for watching this 33 week pregnancy update. I hope you guys enjoyed. And I'm just getting really excited to meet this baby and really like, just crazy that they're going to be here so soon. So thank you for following along with this pregnancy and I will see you in my next video. Bye.