And She Pondered These Things In Her Heart, Part 2

When I wrote Part 1 back in February, I fully anticipated many more pregnancy thoughts flowing out of me on a regular basis. I have been jotting down thoughts at random, but nothing that seemed particularly cohesive. That seems to be a theme in these later weeks of pregnancy: non-cohesive thought. Not all the time, but I definitely have moments of baby brain. (Yes, it’s true, baby brain does exist!) I feel more forgetful, and I have to concentrate harder on things that used to come so easily. Now that I’m in the third trimester, I’m missing that lovely second trimester energy and am generally more tired all the time.

But I’m getting ahead of myself now. Let me back up a little bit and fill you in on some of the thoughts and updates of the last couple of months.

• Around 20 weeks, I really noticed a change in my appetite. Some days my hunger level felt fairly normal, while others I felt like I could eat everything in sight. Now (30 weeks) I feel like I’m eating all the time, partly because I’m always hungry and partly because I have to eat smaller more frequent meals because the baby’s taking up all the room where my organs used to be.
• We have picked out a name for our little boy, but we’re not sharing it yet. We picked his first name pretty early on — Jeff suggested it and we both knew it was right. The more we thought about it, the more we loved it. His middle name was harder to agree on, but we’ve finally settled on that as well. I can’t wait to share it (and him) with the world!
• Baby is head down and very active. He moves all the time, and it’s been fun to observe his patterns of wakefulness and sleep. I hear those patterns that start in the womb correlate to sleeping patterns after baby is born.
• Speaking of sleep, I haven’t had trouble sleeping at all. Well, I’ve had like two nights where I’ve woken very early and can’t fall asleep again for hours, but I can’t complain. Maybe it’s just because I’m a deep sleeper, but the baby hasn’t kicked me awake yet, nor has my bladder insisted on middle of the night bathroom trips.
• Speaking of bodily needs, my bladder seemed to shrink significantly around 22 weeks. I used to get really annoyed with all my extra trips to the bathroom, but now I’m just used to it.
• Jeff came home from a business trip in March and announced that he wanted to start reading to Roo (who at the time was just beginning to hear sounds outside of me). His pick? The Chronicles of Narnia. We decided to shake things up a bit and go in chronological order, just for fun. Jeff’s been reading a chapter to us many nights before bed. I love it, and think he’s going to be a fantastic dad.
• I hadn’t heard anything much about pregnancy congestion before I noticed always being a little fuller in the nasal region. Jeff told me I’d sometimes whistle when breathing and I had to start sleeping with my mouth open just to breathe comfortably at night. It’s just one of those weird things no one told me about ahead of time.
• Mostly I love being pregnant and like this new temporary shape, but sometimes it’s still just weird to see my body this way. Sometimes I’ll catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror and do a double-take.
• I spent many hours in March and April researching and making lists of baby gear and accessories. There is a stinkin’ lot of baby stuff out there, people! I am a researcher by nature so I can’t just make arbitrary decisions. I need (okay, want) to find the best, most helpful baby things at reasonable prices. I don’t want to waste money and space on unnecessary “stuff.”
• We’re sloooowly making progress on the nursery. The old TV and TV stand are gone from the room, as well as several pieces of old furniture that have been taking up space in the basement for quite a while now. A new-to-the-U.S. Bulgarian couple (from a connection at church) got our desk, matching bookshelf, and vacuum. St. Vincent de Paul (a local Catholic charity — they have the best thrift stores!) came and took five other pieces plus two bags of old linens. An old couch is still in the room, but it’s slated to replace an even older couch in the youth room at church.
• I have to mention the moving guys from St. Vincent de Paul. They were both pretty big guys, but one was absolutely massive. He looked like he stepped right out of an action movie or used to be a strong man at the circus. He single-handedly carried our old, not-flat-screen, wide, extremely heavy TV down the stairs and down our front hill stairs. My mouth was literally hanging open watching this. Clearly this guy is in the right line of work.
• We’ve attended four of our six childbirth class sessions so far. I signed us up for the unmedicated childbirth class through the hospital early on, and then sort of wished I’d looked into Bradley classes first. However, it’s been an overall beneficial experience so far and I think we’ll be in good hands with our doula and midwife.
• I’m in the middle of writing our birth plan and researching pediatricians. Yes, this is really happening!
• Remember how Jeff gave me a 3D/4D ultrasound package for my birthday? Well, we had it done just before 29 weeks. Roo only gave us a partial view of his face; apparently he didn’t want to give up his comfy placenta pillow. It’s hard to really tell what he looks like, but it was still a fun experience.
• Just last night I felt gentle, rhythmic baby hiccups. I’d read in one of the weekly BabyCenter update emails that he could be experiencing hiccups and if so I would feel them too. That was weeks ago so I thought he just wasn’t going to get them. They are so cute though!
• I bought an exercise/birth ball to sit on for better posture and to have while laboring at home. It is soooo comfortable to sit on! When I can’t find a comfortable position, I get on the birth ball and it feels fabulous.