Happy Thoughts

A quick list of happy thoughts -

• Erin told me yesterday, "I think you've reached the cute part of pregnancy; you look like a cartoon". (I'm taking that in the best possible way.)

• Erin put her head on my chest last night and read bedtime poems to Colby. She read the Jabberwoky (she promised he wouldn't understand it anyway), The Mad Gardener's Song, Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod - maybe some others (I was really tired). Colby played gently while she talked - I felt his little fingers and toes wiggling. I could feel Erin's words vibrate through my chest so I'm sure Colby could hear her too.

• Today is exactly 30 weeks and I still feel great. I had another reflux "episode" a few nights ago (very bad - needed to change all the sheets, scrub the carpet, and empty the trash at 4am). We went out that day and bought bigger pillows though so now I'm back to sleeping great.

• Colby is head-down already - yay! The midwife pressed on my belly to feel his position. Erin put her hands under the midwife's and as they jiggled my belly in one place and then another, the midwife said, "See how when we shake his bum, the whole body shakes, but when we shake his head, it just rocks back and forth". Erin was mildly grossed-out but I thought it was pretty cool.

As of the last midwife appointment, I'd gained 7 pounds in only 3 weeks - Yikes! I'm up to 25 lbs so far. Hmmm, only 10 weeks to go but I'd prefer not to continue gaining 2+ pounds per week. I did notice a huge change in my belly size too though so it seems our little guy had a growth spurt or something.

I mentioned my crazy "heartburn" to my midwife last week. She called it reflux and I realized that was a much more accurate word for describing it. She said that reflux that bad is really unusual so I guess I'm just weird. I haven't really had any of the very common daytime heartburn problems in a long time though so I think it is a fair trade.

A few 30-week pictures.

Perspectives

Our friend Kyle read my last post and posted an entry on his blog about it. It was a little weird for me to just kind of stumble upon it a few weeks later when I happened to check his blog. That isn't the reason for this entry though - the reason I'm writing this post is because, while he didn't at all imply that I was being a whiny b*tch, he did say that it was sort of a wake up to the "realities of pregnancy". The funny thing is that I thought my post was sort of the opposite. I honestly genuinely feel like pregnancy has been SO MUCH less of a pain than I had expected.

My "What to Expect..." book says that I may be experiencing some or all of the following symptoms:

• lower abdominal achiness
• constipation
• increasingly heavy whitish vaginal discharge
• heartburn
• indigestion
• flatulence
• bloating
• occasional headaches, faintness, or dizziness
• nasal congestion and occasional nosebleeds; ear stuffiness
• pink toothbrush from bleeding gums
• leg cramps
• backache, sciatica (lower back and leg pain)
• mild swelling of the ankles and feet, occasionally of the hands and face
• varicose veins of the legs
• hemorrhoids
• itchy abdomen
• shortness of breath
• difficulty sleeping
• scattered Braxton Hicks contractions
• clumsiness (also increased risk of falling)
• colostrum leaking from enlarged breasts
• mood swings
• absent mindedness
• increasing fatigue
• overheating

Of the symptoms listed above, I really only have heartburn that has been fairly easy to control, minor back pain (worst while driving), occasional leg cramps, and some absent mindedness that may or may not actually be related to pregnancy. I feel pretty darn awesome whenever I think of how crappy I could feel.

As of my last midwife appointment, I'd gained a little over 20 pounds. I still can't get over how crazy that I carry that around 24/7 with only a little heartburn to complain about. I do hesitate to say that I LOVE being pregnant. I definitely think I'll miss some aspects of it when it is over. I'm only in the beginning of the third trimester though so I suspect things only go down hill from here. I might as well enjoy my happy pregnancy feelings while they last though.

Photos of the diapers I've been sewing. I bought the pattern from VeryBaby.com

Belly photos from 27 weeks - I hit 29 weeks on Friday. When I look at those photos I can't believe how much bigger I got in just the last 2 weeks. My belly growth really seems to be accelerating. I'll take a new set of photos at 30 weeks.