27-28 Weeks: The Walking Punching Bag

Wowza, it has been a crazy few weeks! I feel like I am always saying that, but then again, it has been a whirlwind year. Sometimes I wish I could slow life down so I could get a handle on it. It's just whizzing by so quickly.

Weeks 25, 26, and most of 27 were a blur due to packing, then moving. We have now been living in our new home for a little over a week, and we just got our internet hooked up today. Between packing, then moving, working full time or more, waiting on the delivery of our new bed (!), and the installation of our internet/phone and a new washer, it's been rough. Poor Danny is just beat. We've slowed down our unpacking schedule a little to keep ourselves from burning out.

Photo evidence: papa is pooped.

We love our new apartment so far, besides ThunderFoot, our upstairs neighbor (aka "Thor"). Unfortunately, there is not a heck of a lot of soundproofing separating our two apartments. I guess Shrimpy will just drown them out with her siren-wail soon enough. Thankfully, we don't hear anything in our bedroom, so our sleep has been unaffected.

It is crazy to think that in 10 weeks to the day and hour, I'll have just finished up my last day of work and supper, and we'll begin the belly-watch as we wait for our little one to arrive. In 12 short weeks, our baby will probably be here!

I handed in the rough draft for my job ad today, and I am writing a job manual and prepping a training schedule. I can't even fathom that I'll be showing someone the ropes soon in order to leave for a full year! I have some anxiety about it all, but I'm trying to remember that I will probably not give a hoot once I'm at home with my baby!

Unreal. I'm pretty calm about pregnancy and prepping for the baby and delivery, but it's the whole taking the kid home part that I am a little freaked out about. They're going to give me a baby, and then I am going to be a parent. For the rest of my life. Forever. It's a weighty thing to process. It just doesn't sink in until you start to approach that day.

Good news: we got an insanely good price on a new mattress set (75% off!) so I am finally sleeping without my Fortress of Pillows. It is LOVELY.

Bad news: well, it's actually a good thing, technically. The baby has gone into Super-Attack mode. She literally kicked, punched, rolled, and pushed for about 24 hours straight yesterday. I don't think she slept or rested for longer than a few minutes at a time. No exaggeration. And now that she is a little stronger, it is getting painful and really uncomfortable! I love it and dread it at the same time. :)

Anyway, I should probably get back to the unpacking, so here are some photos for your viewing pleasure! We missed week 25 altogether due to packing up our old apartment. If you've seen week 24 or 26 pictures, you'll be able to tell that I really popped out between weeks 25-27!

Week 27: THIRD TRIMESTER! :)

Week 28!

25 & 26: Zzz's, Please!

Yup, tired. Bone tired. Dog tired. All of the tireds. All.

Before my update, I'd like to share an example of me not thinking clearly lately. I thought a huge, bone-in, not-precooked ham would take about 1.5 hours to bake. We will be dining around 9:00pm this evening as we wait for our 9.7lb ham to cook. Good gracious. Hormones and sleep deprivation have roasted the logic centers of my addled brain!

We've been packing and prepping to move with every spare minute, and that has left us pretty depleted. Besides an extremely hectic schedule, part of my exhaustion is still lack of sleep (same ol' song and dance). Shrimpy has gotten into the habit of performing the traditional All-limbs Flail Dance right when mom settles down for sleep, meaning my belly is hopping and moving all over the place (she seems to be about as graceful as her parents!) She does a protest dance every time I turn over in bed too, so sleep is interrupted a lot.

But...

I love all the movement, and I'm savouring this special time. I know that, very soon, things will get a little more cramped in there for my flail-dancer, and I won't get to see such wild movements anymore. This has been the nicest part of pregnancy, I think. Evenings and mornings with Danny, watching my belly move and change shape as Shrimpy explores her confines and performs sneak attacks on my squishy bladder and whatever other organs her tiny feet and hands can find to jab.

So, we move this Saturday. We have a few lovely friends who have volunteered to come out and give us a hand. I will try to stick to cleaning and remove my Micro-Manager hat and badge. I don't even have the energy for that now! Much to Danny's relief, I am sure. See? Old dog, new tricks. I even let him pack breakable things for this move. That's a leap in the right direction, methinks. *self back pat*

My cousin was in town this week and gave me a very thoughtful gift: a 'Townie' onesie (ha!) and a little 5 year, a-few-lines-a-day journal. I love the idea of giving it to this little baby someday when she's older and will enjoy flipping through all of the memories. Every time I receive a gift or purchase something new for the nursery, it makes it all more real. I picture her in every onesie and blanket. I can imagine her playing with each toy. It's just surreal to think that we'll be parents in just a few short weeks. Yeah, weeks! This Saturday marks my 27th week and the start of the third trimester, leaving only 13 to go!

I sent this video to my mom last week for two reasons: (1) because it was just sweet to watch this little one fight and grow (tears were shed), and (2) because, at 25 weeks, I was as far along as this mom was when her little man was born. That means that Shrimpy is right about the same size as this baby at the start of the video. I couldn't believe my eyes! Seeing that tiny, precious life on the screen was like a little peek inside my belly at our baby. Hopefully, our squishy stays inside for a lot longer yet (if she doesn't punch-kick her way out soon...!)

Sorry there haven't been many photos lately. Between the move and us being about as energetic as a pile of mashed potatoes, we haven't been taking many pictures. Hopefully we'll have a few to share after the weekend! I can envision the photo-documentation of the move: Danny next to a stack of boxes. Then an action shot of the box-mountain tipping while Danny's eyes bug out in surprise. Then Danny's legs poking out from under a pile of scattered boxes, cartoon-style...and Brandi in the background laughing (but also checking to see that Danny is still breathing).

And with that progression of brain-images, I bid you all adieu.

24 and 25: Pain and Exhaustion (and Excitement!)

The default question you are asked when you are pregnant is, "how you are feeling?" Most of the time I give a half-truth, like, "oh, I'm doing okay," but the truth is, I have felt pretty terrible these last few weeks. Since I don't want to clutter my facebook feed with how I'm really feeling ('cause who wants to know that I'm stretching and paining and itchy and aching and oozing and all the rest of it?), I am going to vent it here, in near-anonymity.

PAIN
Due to all that has been happening in our lives in the past several weeks, I've missed my physio, massage, and chiro treatments (for injuries sustained in a car accident in February) and that lack of treatment, combined with the excruciating hip pain, and the renewed/intensified ligament pain in my belly has left me in a bit of a state. Moving hurts, sitting hurts, and laying hurts. If there was an invention whereby I could just float on a soft cloud around my house and office at work, I'd totally buy it. Though with my luck, floating would hurt too, ha ha! As much as I love being pregnant, there is a little selfish part of me that just wants to sleep on my stomach for one night, dammit! Or to be able to stand up without nearly falling back down. My body just feels weak and fragile...not exactly how I imagined feeling while sustaining this beautiful life inside!

EXHAUSTION
The internet tells me that most women have this sudden burst of energy in their second trimester and that they feel almost human again. I call bullshit. At least for me. In fact, I managed to actually get more tired and as I near my third trimester, the tired just keeps increasing. Lately, I tire more easily from things that are totally normal for most people. Things like grocery shopping in the evening after work, or walking a few blocks, or doing a few loads of laundry are enough to completely sap me of energy. Like enough to want to go to bed immediately. Now that we are packing to move, I get a few boxes done and I'M done. It's incredibly frustrating to someone like myself, as I am used to pushing past my body saying "no," but now I just don't have that ability. Danny has very kindly taken on our shared part-time job by himself. I feel guilty, but intensely grateful.

EXCITEMENT
Because it's not all doom and gloom...really! I am enjoying all of the lovely parts of being pregnant. The kicking in my belly has gotten stronger and more frequent. I love it...whenever I feel a kick, I just smile to myself and savour the moment. Okay, except when the baby decides to go all ninja on my bladder, because I nearly peed my pants the first time that happened last week! She is super-strong for weighing less that two pounds! I am nearing trimester three, and I am excited about that. I can feel the changes in my body as it begins preparing for the final stages of pregnancy. Some of the changes are nice, like getting rounder, and starting to put on a little weight. Other changes, not so nice. But I won't go into those here, 'cause they're gross and my brother reads this blog!

I may have written this post just for myself, so congrats and thank you if you actually made it all the way through the good, the bad, and the ugly. In parting, here is a photo I took in week 24:

23, Going on 24

First, the big news: we're moving! We started to realize that our cute downtown apartment might not be all that functional with the addition of an infant (think tons of stairs, on-street parking, and a kitchen on the top floor). We started casually and reluctantly looking for a place a few weeks ago and ended up finding the perfect spot. Selling points: a huge backyard, a driveway, no stairs, it's bright, the kitchen/living room are connected and open-concept, it's totally renovated, and we'll be paying only a little more per month. So, come November 30, we'll be packing up a truck (hopefully with a lot of help!) and moving into our new home.

I've noticed some big changes lately. Since I first realized I was feeling kicks, the baby has been kicking all.the.time! She seems to be most active in the morning and in the evening when I'm relaxing. Alas, she has discovered my bladder and seems to enjoy kicking it with all of her one-pound might (which is a lot more than I thought possible for such a tiny shrimp!) She also put up a stink a few mornings ago when I chose a sleep position she didn't like. She went crazy, kicking and flailing all over the place!

I feel pretty good most of the time, other than being really tired. My hips are my only real complaint at this point; most nights, I wake up in agonizing pain. Not even a mountain of pillows and a stack of folded-up blankets has helped, so Danny and I will be investing in a memory foam topper to soften our old, hard, ridgy bed (a new mattress is way out of our budget!) Moving in general has become more of an effort. My waddle has certainly arrived, and I find myself taking a lot more time getting out of bed, off the couch, out of the car, etc. Thankfully, Danny helps me a lot of the time (after pausing to laugh at me).

Pregnancy, with all of its weird side effects and ups and downs and fears and joys, is really a beautiful thing, and it can make your relationship with your partner all the more sweet. I am thankful every day that I've been blessed with such a kind, supportive hubby, who has taken joy in all of the changes along with me. I'd like to point out that he already did the bulk of the housework before, and he has even cooked for me when I've been too tired or sick to do so, or worked our shared part-time job on his own on the days I just can't do it.

I'm still pretty much all belly, but I felt better today after reading an article that explained first-time moms are more likely to have a smaller belly and, if you've got a really long torso like I do, you just have more room for the baby to grow upward, so your uterus doesn't need to poke out as much. As for my weight, I don't seem to have gained any on my body (despite effort!), but my belly seems to be happily rounding out more every day, so I think both baby and I are doing a-okay. I see the doctor again on the 19th, and I don't anticipate any news to the contrary. I think I just have a hungry, growing baby...maybe she has a "fat tooth" like mama! (Instead of a sweet tooth). Funny: my ribs seem to have completely disappeared this week!

And I close with this shot from last Saturday, first day of week 23:

I can still see my feet!

22 Weeks: Things That Go Bump in the Night

We felt our little one kick on the outside of my belly for the first time early this morning. I had a pretty rough sleep, since my hips devolve into excruciating pain at night, so I was tossing and turning. I checked my alarm, and I had only 10 minutes to go before it was time to get up (6:50am...*whimper*). I ended up in a weird position and was rubbing my belly when I felt "POW!" I was startled, and kept my hand there. Sure enough, kick-kick, nudge, sliiide! I shook Danny's arm..."hey sweets, are you awake?" Snorts and shuffling and a muffled, "I am now." "I can feel the baby on the outside, wanna feel?!" And he put his hand out to be met by nada (of course). So I shifted around a bit and he tried again. This time, he got to feel two or three solid kicks. It put a smile on my face all day and my hand kept finding its way to my belly to see if I'd get lucky and feel it again.

I'm laughing at myself now, because I realized that I had been feeling strong kicks and movement for about three or four weeks, but I'd assumed it was my digestive organs in their new places. The kicks were so much stronger than the flutters and pops and tickles I'd been feeling, so I just didn't recognize them when they started. Now I know our baby is moving a lot!

It might sound weird, but I really feel more pregnant this week than before. I don't know if it's because of how tight my belly feels, or my new waddle (you should see me trying to get out of a car; it's comedy gold), or realizing there aren't many of my pre-pregnancy clothes I can wear now, but something just feels different and I like it a lot. The first few months are just so much guesswork and feeling sick, but now I feel like I can settle in and really enjoy the process.

Our good friends just had a beautiful little baby girl, and when I took her in my arms this week, I nearly started crying, because it made me think that in just a few months, it would be our turn to hold our own. Danny even took a turn and handled his first newborn-holding like a pro. It's been nice to see him get more and more excited, and offering to hold our friends' babies when we're together (there are a lot of them!) He's going to be such a good dad. I can't think about it or I cry (I cry about pretty much everything though nowadays!) Apparently impending parenthood turns people into total mush, because Danny and I are the biggest sap-bags now.

A little part of me keeps thinking, "but what if it really is a boy and we're wrong?" I guess we'll only know 100% for sure in a few months! For now, I'm dreaming of our little girl and all of the things we'll do together. It is so exciting to be building our own family!

Also...as nice as it was to feel early-morning kicks, we really need a new mattress so we can both sleep and I'll stop being in pain. Send up some prayers and happy thoughts that we will be able to get a new one! It would sure make our nights a whole lot more comfortable. :)

And Also, the Toque.

22 weeks, and things are going well other than the terrible hip pain I get at night (seriously, the "what to expect" type websites really don't do it justice). I can't really complain other than that - I think I've been fortunate to have a pretty good pregnancy so far.

I think we will get some pictures taken of us around January. I wasn't going to, but it would be nice to have a few photos as keepsakes where I don't look like I've been trampled by a herd of shoppers on Black Friday. I seriously don't know when I'm gonna get my "pregnancy glow" but it sure hasn't showed up yet!

Also, this toque. Because, seriously, just look at it:

21 Weeks: Bump Etiquette

I think my baby-bump has finally popped out enough that most people notice it. I never thought I'd be such a skinny mama, but Shrimpy has sucked the fat off these bones like crazy, though I'm eating all the time and not minding calories. Even with the doctor's reassurance, I still worry about it, because even if I gain 1lb a week now until birth, that's not the 25lb minimum that they recommend a mama gain.

Speaking of pregnant women and size, let me offer a word of advice to onlookers: we don't really like comments about our size that much, unless it's in admiration. For those of us who are struggling to keep weight on, we worry that we are not providing enough nourishment for our babies or getting enough ourselves, so comments like "are you sure you're even pregnant?" or "what belly? I look like that after supper" or "oh, not showing yet, hmm?" or "you must not be very far along," all of those are upsetting. We are already comparing ourselves to friends and other women on the internet, and feel bad mentioning we're worried because we think no other women will want to hear anything about how we're nervous about being too thin. I know people are just looking for something to say, but something like, "you look great" or "congratulations" or "when are you due?" are all easy conversation fillers.

On the flip side, I have friends who have gained more weight than anticipated, and I know they don't appreciate comments like, "wow, you're HUGE!" either. Just because we're pregnant, it doesn't mean we're not sensitive about our size. We're probably more so, because we're keenly aware that the health of our baby is directly tied to our health. And be aware that every woman carries her babies differently, so no two women will look alike at each stage of pregnancy. So just keep that in mind when talking to us hormone-riddled mamas. We need love and support more now than ever.

Okay, enough chiding. Here are my favourite pictures so far (from last night):

Mom's all dressed up for a friend's wedding! And she's wearing the
most ridiculous piece of clothing ever...maternity nylons!

Look at that handsome daddy!
Baby girl is going to be a knockout with genes like that. :)