Hitting the 30-weeks+ mile markers feels much like I'm sure it'll feel when I turn 30 in roughly two years: a bit foreign and whole lot "oh-my-goodness-it's-been-how-long-already".
It's almost odd to reply now, when folks ask me, that I'm 32 weeks along or 8 months pregnant. Since most women and doctors keep track of pregnancy by week, I forget how many months those weeks translate to. We're really getting close now!
The belly has definitely gotten bigger; even my high schoolers like to take time away from their busy lives of texting and Gossip Girl to point out that I'm starting to get "huge".
For comparison, here's last month's check-in photo (28 weeks):
And this month's:
In the last 4 weeks, it's rounded out a bit, filling in the last gasp of remaining space between the top of the belly and the bottom of my sternum/ribcage/whatever body part it is up there. All I know is that I'm having a really hard time tying shoes, picking up dropped keys, and breathing after walking up a short flight of stairs.
Feeling: Besides some ridiculous mood swings and exhaustion, I'm hanging in there. As long as you keep me fed, put me in comfortable clothes, and let me take hour-long naps, things are great. Disrupt any one of those glorious activities, and I might stab you in the eye.
Physically, I'm turning into a couch potato. While I have a 5k walk scheduled for tomorrow and a Turkey Trot 5k on Turkey Day (duh!), my running and exercising days are more or less over, as discussed in this post.
Weight Gain: Almost 5 pounds gained this month, bringing the total up to 24.
Food Talk: I was worried that some of my aversions from the first trimester would return in the third, but so far, I've been lucky. That is, if lucky means chowing down on just about anything in sight. Favorites lately: sushi (no seafood, thanks!) during ladies' night out, chocolate-covered graham cracker bites from Target, cereal, string cheese, apples, bananas.
Other Fun Facts About Being 32-Weeks Pregnant:
The nursery is coming along smashingly. The big stuff's done, and now we're finishing up little craft projects and details. Updates coming soon, but for now, I'll populate the rest of this post with some fun photos of cute baby stuff for your Friday.
Like these sweet little onesies.
Besides teenagers, I've noticed that dudes also really like to point how how big I'm getting. They'll say, "Wow! You must be having a big baby!" or "Hey, looking big!" when I walk by. Seems mens' brains are wired sans filter. Thanks, Men of the World. I didn't notice that my outtie belly button was leading the rest of my whale-of-a-body down the hall or that my calves are so big now that I can't comfortably zip up my favorite fall boots.
Among other final preparations, we have still to attend a birthing class or call daycares. You know, because labor & delivery and childcare aren't so important, right? Procrastination aside, we've at least registered to attend a class on December 3, and I'll get right on those daycare visits, darn it.
Here's another photo of nursery cute, a closet filled with frog towels, a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag, and a row of brightly colored summer frocks.
Our second shower is happening this weekend. It's a couples shower at family friend's house, which basically means all the women will be upstairs cooing over miniature socks, and all the guys will be in the basement trading war stories, drinking beer, and playing pool. Things probably won't vary too much from this scene even after LBA arrives.
Some final nursery cute for the day. Who doesn't love a singing giraffe?
I feel ready to meet LBA, but I'm also nervous. Imagine starting a new job. Then imagine that there's no one there to train you. Throw sore boobs, puke, poop, and a schedule that's not really a schedule into the mix, and you'll get a taste of what I feel like right now.
Name, schnames. I'm throwing all of our choices out the window and naming the baby Regis in honor of the talk show host's retirement show today!