Can't keep up

You'd think that with all the sitting around on my bum I do that I'd be able to blog, but darn it's hard!

I'm quickly approaching full-term, which is beyond awesome. I feel pretty good today (it varies), though my head is spinning when I think that baby girl will be here with us in less than a month!

Jamie took Emma camping a couple weeks ago (no, I did not go - I don't love to sleep on the ground and I certainly wasn't going to do it while very pregnant), and captured some great moments.

Prayers

A friend I know from my online preemie community lost her son last night.

Sam's Story

Sam was an amazing little boy and an inspiration to everyone who knew his story. If you could keep his parents and brother in your thoughts right now I would truly appreciate it, no one should feel the pain the are experiencing right now.

discomfort

How uncomfortable I feel is still difficult for me to talk about "out loud." I obviously brought this on myself and am very happy to be pregnant, especially this pregnant, that I do feel bad complaining when I know that the flip side is that I'm not pregnant right now. But I'm pretty uncomfortable.

I'd been told many times that the last 6 weeks suck and then the last 3 weeks suck even more, and I am definitely starting to feel it (6 weeks left tomorrow!!). It's HOT here. Tonight at 7pm it was still 90* and that is just too hot. This morning we hit the farmers' market at 9am to "beat the heat", and by 9:45 I was wiped. And I know it's just going to get worse. My body hurts in places that I didn't really know existed. Baby girl has decided that she loves to shove her hand in the crease between my leg and stomach, even though there isn't really room for it there and when I'm sitting that hurts. Her movements are definitely different now, it's so weird to watch her move around in there, because we can see a lot of it. My stomach is off to the side, almost under my arm and when it growls, that is really weird. Also it can only hold about an english muffin before I'm too full and food starts to come back up. My back is killing me, my feet are swelling and did I mention how hot it is?

Don't get me wrong, I am very VERY glad to still be pregnant and I will take whatever discomfort is thrown my way because I know what the alternative is, but I guess I didn't really expect to feel this way. I don't think I ever truly believed that I would still be pregnant at this point and when people talked to me about how uncomfortable things were at the end I blew them off because they were "lucky" to still be pregnant and I didn't want to hear them complain. And now it's my turn to b!tch about the end and it feels pretty good :)

And a small video of Emma telling the baby a story :)

32 weeks!!

Less than 2 months to go! For some reason 32 weeks seems very pregnant to me. I’m not sure if it’s because it was our next milestone with Emma, that obviously never was met, or if there is another reason, but 32 weeks is the real deal!
I’m feeling pretty good, sleep has become an issue because my hip and shoulder start hurting after laying on them for about 30 seconds, but there isn’t really another way to lay so I guess the pain will stick around for a while. Baby girl is definitely calmer than Emma so far, which is kind of nice and I hope continues, she moves but nothing like Emma did. Jamie and I were able to feel her heartbeat through my skin the other night which was so weird and awesome and she has the hiccups pretty frequently these days (Emma did too around that age). My appointment and ultrasound isn’t until Thursday this week, so hopefully I’ll have pictures of her to share then.
And since I haven’t shared an Emma story in a while -
Last night at the dinner table I was showing Jamie where I thought various parts of the baby were positioned. Emma asked some questions about it and so I was telling her a story about how she used to push her butt up against my belly button and wiggle it around. Then she proceeds to tell me that she used to cry in my belly because she didn't like it in there and wanted out so the reason she was wiggling her butt around was because she was trying to push her way out of my stomach so she could be free.
Jamie and I were SHOCKED! While we are very honest with her about her rocky start, we've never really made mention of her coming early (we mainly just discuss the NICU like it's a normal thing all kids need at this point) and I've never told her that mommy's body wasn't a good place for her so she had no choice but to come early (I firmly believe she realized my body was failing her and "kicked" her way out before she was in distress).
It was just so crazy to hear her verbalize things that I've thought but have never discussed with her.

30 weeks!!

This weekend was a huge milestone for me, I'm officially more pregnant than I've ever been! It was pretty emotional, I kept thinking back to what I was doing at each time of the day when Emma was born, but it feels so good to be past it. It was such a mental block for me and I really have noticed a change in my outlook since passing it.

I actually feel really good. I've been uncomfortable the last month, but I think it just took me a while to get used to the extra weight and my new center of gravity - it's different this time around since I'm standing up :) I mean I'm not running any marathons, and I definitely have aches and pains (oh my back!), but I'm getting used to it I think.

I still have a long way to go until the next milestone (7 weeks to full-term!), but I'm thankful for each and every day I'm still pregnant. And I'm beginning to feel like full-term is very realistic, not a pipe dream :) I don't know, it's just different now I guess and it feels pretty nice.

My belly is BIG, but I'll take it :)

28 weeks!!

I'm 28 weeks and still standing! I had some pain and cramping on Friday which earned me yet another trip to labor and delivery. I deliberately called before the office closed thinking I could just go in and get checked out, but my doctor wasn't there and they spoke to the midwife who was on call both times I abrupted and she suggested I head to L&D. I think I scare her a little bit. But baby was good, I wasn't having contractions and my cervix is still long and closed. I appreciate that they are cautious with me, I just wish it didn't involve the hospital every time. Their "official" response was "well, this is about as pregnant as you've ever been, so this could be how your body reacts." The next couple months should be a joy then.

Other than that I'm feeling okay. It definitely takes some time to get used to carrying around this bowling bowl in front. I can tell my body isn't loving the changes so much, my back is killing me, but I know it's better than the alternative. I'm VERY happy to still be pregnant and standing, it just huts a bit.

I feel huge, so I pulled up a picture from the same gestation with Emma to see how I was comparing and yeah, I'm quite a bit bigger!

27w with Emma on the left, #2 on the right. #2 also feels a lot lower, but you can't really tell that from the photos.

giant belly!

Emma having some fun with her sister - she's ready for her to come out and play, but we've explained she can't come out until summer is almost over. I also don't think she completely understands that baby sister won't be playing much when she's born.

Sisters

If we're sitting on the couch Emma will pull my shirt up and say "I want my baby sister."
This is how they cuddle




Baby sister goes crazy when her sister is nearby, she kicks for her much more than she will for anyone else. It's sweet how much they love each other already :)