Third Trimester, Let's Do This

Here we are. 

The final weeks of pregnancy and I still can't believe this is happening. Surreal doesn't even begin to describe this whole experience.

I love being pregnant.

Sure, the 3rd trimester has brought new aches and pains and discomforts. 

Sleep is meh. Lots of tossing and turning and bathroom breaks. And rolling out of bed to do it always takes quite a bit of effort. 

There's also lots of lower back pain, especially by the end of the day. Don't worry. I've mastered the pregnancy waddle to reduce the back pain. It's pretty cute. 

Oh, and I'm refluxing all the time. Tums are my best friends. 

Ready for some TMI? I just got diagnosed with a UTI. Wahhhhh. First one in my life ever. 

And baby has definitely been stealing some of my intelligence because my brain has been foggy lately. I say some weird things and have trouble with basic math and am just a bit slower in my thoughts lately. 

Plus, baby has gotten SO strong and some of the kicks and movements hurt from time to time. 

But I love every second of it. Every single second. 

My absolute fave is how wiggly baby has become. Baby's head is super low, like basically sitting on my cervix all the time, which is awesome because if baby stays that way until birth, we won't have to stress about baby being breach at all. And since baby is basically stuck head down, I just feel a big ol' baby booty shifting from one side of my belly to the other throughout the whole day. It's adorable. 

I also feel baby hiccups at least once a day. Little thing will hiccup for 5 minutes straight sometimes! Good job using those lungs, sweet baby! 

We're currently taking a 6-week Lamaze class at the hospital where we'll deliver. And I not-so-secretly love it. The teacher is giving us all the tid bits of info we'll ever need regarding birth, which will likely be so helpful, but my favorite part is when we practice massages! And by that I mean my birth partner, AKA John, practices massaging my hands, feet, back, neck, forehead, you-name-it so we can use said massages as relaxing measures during labor. So basically, I love this class because I get pampered by my husband for 2 hours every week. Yes, please! During last week's class, we also practiced a bajillion different positions for laboring, which was also fun. Slow dancing, bouncing on a birthing ball, rocking, squatting, sitting back-to-back, more massages, hip squeezes... you name it, we practiced it. 

Oh, and we've also hired a doula to help with labor because, *gulp*, I'm going to try natural labor! I'm going to have to write a whole post on that later: what our birth plan looks like, why I'm interested in trying, reactions from various folks, what a doula does, etc. I didn't realize how much work it'd be to prepare for natural labor, but it sure involves a lot, so it deserves its own post. 

Another topic that deserves a post of its own: My friends and husband kept a super-huge secret and surprised me with a board game themed baby shower last weekend! It was so lovely. And I can't believe they pulled it off because I'm so hard to surprise! I'll definitely post pics soon. 

We've started really upping our baby item collection lately. We had a whole bunch ready to go when we were waiting for adoption, like a car seat, crib, diapers, bottles, and so on, so we've mostly got all the necessities covered. But that hasn't stopped loved ones from showering us with more. We've recently gotten our pack-n-play, lots of bath time goodies, Sophie the giraffe, baby books, and cloth diapers! And everything is in neutral colors. Lots of grays and yellows and greens for us. 

Nesting has definitely set in. It's actually been quite a challenge because (yet another topic that needs it's own post) we're moving to east Tennessee when baby is around 1 month old, so we're not going to set up much of a nursery here in Memphis. So when it comes to nesting, it basically means me trying to organize all the closets in our apartment that we've basically ignored and made into super-messes over the past 2.5 years of living here. And dreaming of finally getting to set up a nursery when we get to east Tennessee. Patience, Stephanie! 

I tend to get lots of questions from folks about my cravings these days, so in case you're curious... I basically want skittles and pancakes all the time. I've been good though, and only indulge every once in a while. Like maybe 20 skittles a day. And I just let myself dream of pancakes. John says he'll take me to iHop one of these days. I hope it's soon. :)

I also have random cravings that only last a short while. Like the other day I reeeeeally wanted a Dr. Pepper. So I got one. And then I was good. And yesterday I reeeeeaallyyyyyy wanted a shamrock shake from McD's. So I went to get one. But then they told me they don't have them anymore. Because apparently 3 days after St. Patty's day is a good time to stop selling St. Patty's day related items. I was bummed. But then I realized I could basically get an equivalent shake (AKA mint-flavored shake) at Sonic. And so I did. Craving conquered. And all was well in the world again. 

As for the belly, well... the belly grows on.

And here I am now at 32 weeks:

John's basically convinced it's a girl. And I'm basically convinced it's a boy. So that's helpful. 

We had another ultrasound earlier this week. Baby had some water on the kidneys at our 23-week ultrasound, so doc wanted to check in on it again. Baby still had a little water on the left kidney at this week's ultrasound, but it was such a mild case and likely just means that baby had a full bladder and so fluid was backed up into the kidneys. The doc also noticed my amniotic fluid levels are on the low side of normal (9 cm), so I'll be back in two weeks for another ultrasound to check in. I'm about to up my water intake like crazy and hope it makes things better. 

Baby is also still measuring pretty big. The ultrasound tech said baby is around 4 lb (+ 1 lb), and is measuring about 2 weeks ahead. Wowsa! We're gonna have a little chunker on our hands. But chunky babies are adorbs, am I right? 

At this point, I can't believe we've made it this far and at the same time, I can't believe we still have over 7 weeks left to go. 7 weeks sounds like such a short amount of time, but also like an eteerrrrrnnnnnityyyyy! I just want to be cradling this little babe in my arms and not worrying about how often baby's moving, or how much water is on baby's kidneys, or how tangled baby could be getting in the umbilical cord. But we also need every bit of these last few weeks to keep prepping for baby. And I'm still loving watching my belly grow and bonding with baby while baby's still on the inside. So again, patience, Stephanie!

Anyway, if you couldn't tell, there's a ton on my mind right now. And a ton going on in our little world. All awesome stuff, though. 

Awesome, awesome stuff. :)