So Very Thankful

'Thankful' takes on a whole new meaning this year. We're thankful for the opportunity to be GB's parents ... we're thankful that God chose us to be GB's parents ... we're thankful for our wonderful friends and family who have shown us so much support and love .

I'm eternally thankful for having the most amazing husband ever - I have no doubt that he'll be the most amazing dad ever.

And I'm even thankful for the increasingly painful midnight belly kicks. No matter how bad a day I might be having, those kicks do wonders to snap me back into reality. It's hard to be grumpy when GB is having her own personal dancy party in my belly.

35!

35 weeks down, 35 days left! (And my joints feel like I'm 35x35 years old [give or take 1100 years])

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I'll eventually show this blog to GB (you know, after she can read and stuff) because I think it might be a cool memento for her. So GB, know this - your dad and I cannot WAIT meet you. Hmm ... let me rephrase that. We CAN wait to meet you (because I don't want you to come early if you're not ready to come), but we're so excited we can hardly stand it.

Appointment Update

I had another appointment yesterday (11/17/08). I got tested for Group B Strep and also got checked for any progress. I hadn't made any - which is fine since I'm only 34 weeks. And based on what I've learned from our birthing class and our midwife, knowing your progress (or lack thereof) can sometimes turn out to be a mind game. My midwife said she knew someone who was dilated at 3cm for 6 weeks ... and knows someone else who had made zero progress at her weekly appointment but had her baby that night.

Lee wasn't able to make this appointment with me (something about a job commitment - what nerve!). Our midwife walked in to the exam room and was distraught (not really) over the absense of her comic relief. She recommended that I start drinking red raspberry leaf tea and taking primrose oil - so it's off to Everman's for me!

I've almost made it the point in my pregnancy where my midwife will deliver me. She delivers babies from 35 weeks until 42 weeks. I assume anything before 35 weeks or after 42 weeks would be handled by an OB. It's nice to know that she's not automatically concerned if I go past 40 weeks - I don't want to be induced just because I went a few days past my due date. Though I'm perpetually early and Lee is perpetually late, so maybe it'll average out and she'll come on her due date.

I asked her what signals I should look for that will let us know when it's time to call her. She mentioned the normal stuff (contractions every five minutes which last for one minute that I have a hard time talking or walking through, and continues for one hour). Another clue she wants me to look for is how I respond to Lee. She said that Lee seems like the type to use humor to make me feel better or to ease a stressful situation (she's right). So she said I'll know something major is happening when I find Lee to be un-funny. I told this to Lee and he was highly offended, saying that I'll never be able to find him un-funny. That if me giving birth depends on me thinking he's not funny, I'll be pregnant forever.

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Weight gain: 29.4 lbs

They Did It Again!

To put it mildly, our wedding photographers, Wes and Rae Leytham, are phenomenal. They have an uncanny ability to make two goofballs (ie: Lee and me) look amazing. They must have a special goofball-to-good-looking filter on their camera or something.

Rae shot some maternity pictures for us last week and I think they turned out great. It's nice to know their talent extends to making a pregnant goofball look good.

Here are some favorites. Click on them for a bigger version (all images © Rae Leytham Photography)

I love this shirt. (It says "Pregnancy Support Team")

He's planning on wearing it to the hospital :)

He makes me laugh ...

A little daddy-daughter bonding time

I was only slightly worried about getting run over ...

(I LOVE how this one turned out, Rae!)

The Uncomfortableness

I feel very fortunate that I've had such an uneventful pregnancy. And while it's still uneventful, at around 31 or 32 weeks I finally hit the wall, otherwise known as The Stage of Constant Uncomfortableness (I know, I know - not a word).

I had read how uncomfortable women get in the 3rd trimester, but I guess I didn't know the magnitude of it until it happened to me. I'm not in the "get this kid out of me NOW" stage, but I'm definitely feeling the effects of my body slowly getting ready for the labor and delivery part.

Sleep? Ha! I simply don't think there are enough pillows in the world to help me sleep soundly. Though if I'd stop whining for a second, I'd remember reading that waking up every few hours to go to the bathroom or to rearrange my mass of pillows is really God's way of getting me prepared to wake up every few hours to feed GB. It's pretty amazing to think of it like that. But it's hard to remember that when my hips are yelling at me.

And it's hard when I look to my right and see Lee sleeping soundly. I've had fleeting thoughts of elbowing him in the back to wake him up so he could sympathize with me, but then I think that doing it would be cruel. It doesn't stop me from thinking about doing it, though. (And don't worry - I've mentioned this to him already, so it's not like I'm having these cruel thoughts in secret).

But there's only seven (!) more weeks left. I can totally suck it up and get through this final stretch. (But sometimes I just need to whine.)

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Weight gain: 27.4 lbs

Embracing the Waddle (and other notes to myself)

When I first got pregnant, I told myself "Self, you can certainly make it nine months without adopting the dreaded 'pregnancy waddle'". I naïvely thought the extra weight I would inevitably gain wouldn’t change the way I walk (and didn’t think for a second that it’d change the way I sit!). That I could gain 25+ lbs and somehow expect to be-bop down the road like I’d always done. Ha, I say.

Hey self, listen up! If/When you get pregnant with GB#2, embrace the waddle. Because if being pregnant with GB#2 is anything like being pregnant with GB#1, your hips will hurt like crazy. And adopting the pregnancy waddle makes them hurt a little less. Yes, you may look silly. But suck it up and waddle anyway.

And another thing, self: don’t feel bad about using the handicapped bathroom stalls. Non-handicapped stalls are not pregnant woman-friendly. You practically have to stand on the toilet to open the door so it doesn’t hit your stomach. (Whose dumb idea was it that bathroom stall doors open in instead of out?)

November

November 1st ... so it's very feasible that GB will be born next month. Next month. Next. Month.

(Aaaah!)

Pictures

So I know these aren't really good 'belly' pictures, but it gives a reasonable idea as to how I look now ...

Lee and me at our friend's wedding


My good friend Nicole and me

My sneak-attack kiss