O. Baby!

Our journey to parenthood of two!

Friday, December 27, 2002

+ Friday! +
No real news today, except that I feel like I'm getting more uncomfortable by the day. I had to do the Christmas dishes yesterday (about 4 loads - no dishwasher!), and I had B-H contrax the whole darned time. Daddy came home and sat on the couch. I let him for about 30 minutes, then asked him to move so I could lie down. Today? I'm sore and I feel you so acutely I think you must've grown 4 inches overnight. Anyway, things are good, and I'm going to try to stay awake tonight to play board games with our friends Tom and Talmar. We'll just have to see how successful I am. Please cooperate with me this weekend. I promise to try to get lots of rest if you agree to stay healthy and happy - and not make me so uncomfortable. Deal?

Thursday, December 26, 2002

+ 29w0d +
Do you realize we'll be full term in 8 weeks? That's, like, just less than 2 months. Today's one of those days I don't feel as big as I should be. Yesterday I felt too big, so I guess it's a trade-off. You are a squirmy little thing in there. I don't often get the really hard kicks I used to (or maybe I'm just getting used to them?), but I feel you moving around a lot. I still wish I could see you in there and see what you're up to. I'm guessing you're really starting to run out of room. Sometimes when I'm trying to feel you kick (still up high on the right side), just touching you pushes down on my bladder on the other end of my uterus. I think you're probably head-down pretty much all the time, kind of diagonally across. You rotate around, though, just enough to keep me guessing.

Lots of people feel the tummy now, and want to see it, and I have inquiries from strangers all the time about when you're due. Most everyone says I look too small for 7 months, which I suppose is nice, but small comfort when I can't dry off my feet without getting winded like I've run a marathon. Zantac is still doing the trick with the heartburn, THANK GOD! I can tell the hb is coming earlier in the day, sometimes before lunch, but as soon as I start to sense it I pop one Zantac and it kills it for the rest of the day. What a blessing that drug is.

I still don't really have stretch marks, but that's only partly true. I'm not skinny or small, and a couple of years ago when I started to put on a few pounds, I got a couple of stretch marks on each of my hips. They're under my underwear line, so they're not usually noticeable. Well, those have gotten a little bit bigger. I don't mind at all, actually. I'd gotten used to those being there, so if that's the only place that gets them, I'll be euphoric. I don't think I'll be that lucky, but it's a nice idea.

I'm waddling. Not always, but usually. Getting up from sitting on the floor is amusing. Usually I ask for help, but if I'm feeling independent, I can accomplish it with this complex routine of rolling onto my hips, then rolling on to my knees, and stepping up. I did this once in the living room and Daddy just looked at me, incredulously, and said, "Do you have to go through that everytime you stand up?" Yes, I do. Sleeping is an increasing challenge, and I think I'm going to have to find one of those pregnancy wedges. The problem is, I roll in my sleep. I can't just sleep in one position, and I can't really have TWO wedges if I expect daddy and the Princess to sleep in bed too. I might just have to rough it out (which means you will have to, too!).

Well, there's the update. Yesterday was Christmas and we had a blast. Grandma Laurie got you a gorgeous dress we found together a couple of weeks ago. She says it's the most beautiful dress she's ever seen, and she simply had to buy it. Of course, it's so big you literally will not be able to wear it until maybe your first day of Kindergarten. But we'll keep it in a dress bag until then. You'll love it, I'm sure. Daddy gave me a digital camera, too, so I'm sure I'll take some more pictures of me, and then be able to take pictures of you to share with your family online, like your Uncle Paul who's in Kosovo right now. Stay comfy in there. I'm sending you some vitamins (since I've been bad about that lately), and you're definitely already awake!

Monday, December 23, 2002

+ Suck it up +
I finally bit the bullet and called the company that owns and operates our hospital to find out when our Childbirth and Baby Care classes are. You see, I registered for them, printed them out and promptly lost the printouts. :-) Oops. The woman on the phone was very nice, leading me to believe I'm far from the first person to have to call for their info again. Childbirth classes start 1/9/03 at 4:00 p.m.! Fun!

+ Christmas +
There's something very special about being mid-pregnancy at Christmas. I was nearly moved to tears at church yesterday. The service was beautiful and musical, and you were more active than you have been in days. You are most definitely a musical child, which thrills me to no end. Even the orchestral pieces, with no percussion or loud noises at all, had you dancing. At one point, during a nice reading about Jesus and Mary, you knocked my arm clear off of my tummy. Fortunately, I don't think the nice man next to me noticed.

Anyway, I'm not dwelling on the GTT; I'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I should have my paperwork from the Dr. in the mail today. In the meantime, I will daydream my day away and be thankful for our blessings.