30 Weeks! Let the countdown begin...

Wow oh wow - i'm a slacker. It's been quite a while since I posted. Time has been flying by, with the holidays, and getting huge, and traveling. Thanks to the lovely Katie for keeping me on this!

Baby has been growing well, and i'm feeling large and awkward these days. We spent the Christmas holidays on the East Coast with my parents, and had a blast. I don't believe I traveled in my third trimester the last time around, and I learned why its a bad idea. It was a 5.5 hour flight from DC to Seattle, and while I boarded the plane with normal sized feet, but the time we touched down in Seattle, they had swollen to 4 times their normal size and I  was having shooting pains up my left leg. It was incredible uncomfortable. So when a lovely TSA guard at Seatac took a look at me and said "you must be due any minute!" I may not have been as polite as I should have…

I'm now on an every 2 week schedule with my midwife, and continue to love working with her. I like several things in particular:

1. Her faith and reassurance that pregnancy and childbirth are completely normal and do not need to be treated as a disease, temporary disability, or sickness. This is something my body was made to do. 

2. Her availability to me 24-hours a day, by phone or text if I have concerns, or need reassurance, or just need to spew a little crazy. Combined with our full 1-hour appointments, its awesome. 

3. She had a baby in October, so I have the benefit of all her training, and her recent personal experience. Plus, I get to hold her sweet baby during some of my appointments. 

4. Evidence based care - she doesn't medicate, or insist on certain tests, treatments, and courses of action unless there is a proven reason for it, and always tries to heal with diet, exercise, and natural means first. 

Our student mid-wife left over the holidays to start her next 1-year internship, and instead of a new student, Kristen (our midwife) is hosting a very experienced Certified Nurse Midwife who is immigrating to the US from Iran, and needs to gain home birth experience to get her license in Washington. So I am benefiting greatly from not only Kristen's training, but Selma, who spent 30 years doing hospital births in Iran and the UAE.

We've been working to get our house de-cluttered and organized for our Abigail's arrival, and i'm a little crazy with the nesting instincts. While I know, logically, that her room doesn't NEED to be painted before she is born (she won't even use it for 6 months after!), I can't seem to relax about it. I need to get that done before my brain explodes.

While I was back east for Christmas, my mom and sisters threw me a little baby shower, and it was such fun. We live in three states, on two coasts, so getting all of us in one house is no easy feat. I got some very sweet presents for Abbey, and got to enjoy some of my little sister's wonderful cookies.

The only real problem I have been having has been my back. I lost a lot of muscle and tissue and support with the rib removal last year, and the growing weight of my belly is straining it. I often get muscle spasms when I sit for more than 20 minutes. When I discussed this with our midwife, she suggested a TENS Unit, which provides shallow, electrical nerve stimulation to the area for pain relief, and it makes such a difference! It's nice to have a choice that doesn't include pharmaceuticals.

Abbey is a very active baby, who will often stay awake for 10-12 hours at a time, moving non-stop. She recently discovered that she can kick me in the ribs. I can feel her hiccups now, which is unbelievably cute. I'm curious what her personality will be when she arrives.

Here's the latest view of my ever expanding belly:

30 weeks, not a great shot. 

WEEK 30 INTERVIEW (and changing up the topics!)

BABY’S SIZE? A cucumber

DAYS UNTIL NEXT DOC APPOINTMENT? 11

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN/LOSS? +19

MATERNITY CLOTHES? I'm out growing many of my maternity outfits now. It makes me sad…

STRETCH MARKS? No new ones so far.

SLEEP: I wake up to roll over every hour or so, but am getting some good sleep in between. 

BEST MOMENT THIS WEEK: Hitting the 30 week mark! only seven weeks till full term and 10 until she is born. I have a feeling she will come a little early (could this be wishful thinking?)

MOVEMENT: Yep, 10-12 hours straight for days on end this little one moves. You only have to look at my bump to see her little butt shaking back and forth across it. Perhaps I have a dancer on my hands.

FOOD CRAVINGS: Mexican food, smarties, canned pears are all regular loves of mine. I also love anything with cinnamon. 

ANYTHING MAKE YOU QUEASY OR SICK? Parmesan cheese tastes like barf to me right now. 

MISSING ANYTHING? I've noticed there isn't a lot of air near the ground when I bend over to put on shoes or pick something up… I also miss walking up stairs without losing my breath. 

LABOR SIGNS? Oh the braxton hicks - they hit me 4-5 times a day now, and while they don't really hurt, they are very uncomfortable, and tend to piss off the baby, so the contraction is often followed by some really vicious kicks. 

BELLY BUTTON: Pretty much non-existent.

WEDDING RINGS ON OR OFF? off. Too much swelling for that. I've switched to other, larger rings for now.   

HAPPY OR MOODY MOST OF THE TIME? Mostly happy, regularly tired.

WEEKLY SYMPTOMS: Back aches/muscle spasms, crazy nesting instincts, inability to finish thoughts coherently.