Weekly Pregnancy Post

Our laptop is on its last leg and isn’t letting me upload pictures so you’ll have to trust me when I tell you the belly has grown since last week. Consider this a warning that this post is likely to be incredibly long. I keep having this fear that I’m going to go into labor at any minute (yes, I know our due date is still nearly 5 weeks away) and I don’t want to miss any of the last-minute details of this pregnancy.

How Far Along: Thirty-five weeks

Pregnancy Symptoms: Swelling – especially in my feet, ankles, and lower legs. I hadn’t really noticed it until last week when my doctor pointed out that my ankles were swollen. Sure enough – that would explain the pain in my feet and legs recently. Guess it’s easy to miss when you can’t see your feet and you hide under long pants and winter boots!

Food Cravings: I had a miracle craving this week – broccoli!!! I have never ever liked or even really eaten broccoli in my entire life. Unfortunately (or fortunately when I was a kid), I didn’t have parents who forced me to eat my vegetables in order to leave the dinner table. I always try to incorporate more vegetables into my diet but I usually mask their true nutritional value with some melted cheese or something else rather unhealthy. I thought living with a vegetarian during grad school would help but here I am, still refusing to eat my vegetables. Periodically through this pregnancy I’ve wanted some veggies – mostly carrots or other crunchy veggies that can be dipped in ranch so when this urge to serve broccoli with every meal came across a few days ago, I started planning our weekly menu accordingly. Last night we had some delicious chicken and rice with steamed broccoli and I didn’t even pick out one bit of the broccoli. A miracle! I’ve also been craving spicy foods. Again, I’m usually not much of a spicy person but I found myself stocking up on spicy sauces this week to incorporate into this week’s menu. Unfortunately spicy food leads to horrible heartburn but I just can’t put the fork down!

The Belly: I got my first “you look like you’re about to pop” comment this week…from the nice old man bagging my groceries at Pick N Save, nonetheless. He must’ve been in his late 70’s and he is the most methodical, organized bagger I have ever met. He made my job of sorting and putting away groceries much later. Anyways, here I am trying to get my bottled water back into my cart when he says “Oh my goodness dear, you look like you’re about to have that baby any day!” Thank you Mr. Bagger for noticing. I assured him I still had five weeks left but he insisted the baby looked like it could come any day now. After all those months of hearing people say “You don’t even look pregnant” this was a welcomed comment because trust me, I certainly feel more pregnant than I may look. You can bet I’ll be heading to his check-out line if I ever see him again.

Nursery Progress: She has a mattress! And her room is officially baby-ready. We still have lamps and a small table to purchase and her pictures haven’t been hung but the essentials are all there – tucked away in their neat little storage spaces. I spent Saturday washing all her itsy-bitsy clothes and turning our disaster of a guest room into a functional space again by putting all her baby stuff away. It feels good to be organized and I feel better knowing that we’re less than five weeks to her due date now. I have her hospital bag all packed and a long list of things to pack in my own bag – that’s next weekend’s task. I promise some pictures when I feel like her room is truly finished.

Showering Continues: As if our two wonderful baby showers weren’t enough, the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League I am involved in at church decided to throw me a surprise baby shower at our meeting last Tuesday night. It had been a long day at work and I was still so exhausted from the weekend’s showers, I contemplated not going. Thankfully, I went or else there would’ve been a bunch of ladies eating cake and opening baby gifts without me! I was so thankful for this surprise shower and for all the beautiful gifts we got. I’m still amazed that my mom managed to keep this a surprise from me – I am certainly not a surprise person. Unfortunately because it was a surprise I didn’t have my camera on hand but trust me, the cake was beautiful and so incredibly delicious and baby girl received some of the cutest outfits from her LWML family.

Bonding: I am still so amazed at how much Dave and baby girl have bonded. The second he touches my belly and opens his mouth she responds with strong kicks and movements. He’ll have whole conversations with her and she listens and responds as if she already understands how to hold a conversation. It’s so different for me. She listens to me talk all day long and I feel her kicks constantly – I feel like my bonding with her is a slow, continuous process and I think I’ll actually feel that attachment once she is physically here. If I were to guess though I’d say she is definitely going to be a daddy’s girl and it melts my heart already.

The Name Game: Yes, we have a name picked out. No, we are not sharing it :) It’s the number one question I get these days from everyone, though. Even from complete strangers. We had a long list of baby girl names picked out and one baby boy name. I can tell you that when we found out she was a girl, Dave instantly started calling her by one of the names and hasn’t stopped since. I don’t usually call her by her name because sometimes in my mind I wonder if we’ve picked the one that will be best for her. I feel like I want to see her first before I can officially say, “Yes, that’s her name.” I will tell you that the name we picked sounds elegant and sweet and it’s nice and short for a last name like Irish.

It’s Personal: For so many months we’ve been putting all our energy and money into baby girl. I was talking with a girl friend the other day and asked if it was selfish to look forward to not being pregnant anymore so that I could have a bit of myself back. After all, this tiny human being has hijacked my body for the past nine months. First she assured me that I’d have a completely new normal, and I’m perfectly fine with that. Then she told me that it is absolutely necessary that I look forward to doing some things for myself after she’s born so that I don’t lose my sanity as a new parent. It may be weird to say but I look forward to brushing my teeth without bleeding gums and going to the dentist for a good cleaning that doesn’t hurt. I look forward to finally coloring my hair dark again and getting a fresh cut. I look forward to going to the gym and being able to exercise like before. I think I look forward to all of these things because they will make me feel good about myself again after months of not having the energy to make myself look more than just presentable. Ask any pregnant lady and they will tell you it’s difficult to feel beautiful when you’re watching the numbers on the scale continuously go up, you feel and look like you haven’t slept in days and your clothes never seem to fit or look just right. I know I won’t be ready to venture out and do any of these things for quite some time after she’s born but it’s fun to have a few things just for me to look forward to