I sure miss breathing...

Being 32 weeks pregnant isn't exactly easy... add a cold to that, and it can be downright miserable. I've had this lingering congestion and cough for about a week and a half now. And there's just not much in the way of medicine that I'm allowed to take to make it go away.

The good news is that Perrin is completely unaffected by my gushing sinuses and barking cough. He's wiggling around as much as ever; his heartbeat (which I got to hear today at my prenatal appointment) is strong and steady. Glad one of us is comfortable, at least.

So now I have an aching back, a gigantic, awkward belly, a runny nose, and a cough that could wake the dead. Sooooo sexy.

That's a weird place for a stomach

I don't know if this is a normal pregnancy thing; in fact, I don't know if this is even possible... but I think my stomach has moved. Like, the actual organ has moved to a new location.

It really could just be my imagination, but I'm telling you... things feel different in there, and my stomach seems like it's about 5 or 6 inches north of where it should be. I know my insides are getting a bit crowded now that Perrin is a good 16 inches long and nearly 4 pounds. Is he perhaps kicking my organs around to make room? I really don't know. I'm not really concerned... even though it feels weird, it hasn't caused discomfort or kept me from eating. And I have to say, even if he did shove my stomach upwards, it's infinitely preferable to those moments when he plays kickball with my bladder.

How much can we cram into one month?

It's almost Christmas! Most years, the typical Christmas festivities (parties, decorating, baking, etc) are enough to keep me busy. But no, this year we're doing all of that PLUS setting up a nursery and remodeling our kitchen. Are we crazy? I'm beginning to think so.

Here's the plan: Over the next few days, Trey and I will completely unload all of our kitchen cabinets and drawers and pack everything into boxes. Then we will do demolition on the kitchen this Saturday. (Yes, we are having faith in ourselves that we can accomplish this in one day). Then, contractors will do some work for us on Monday-Wednesday of next week to take care of some plumbing and electrical issues. They will do the work flawlessly and on time with no "surprises." Then although we will be without a kitchen for over a week, we will have a holly jolly Christmas with our families, then install our new kitchen cabinets, counter top, sink and whatever else goes in a kitchen in the week between Christmas and New Year's. It will look perfect and magical and won't cost more than we're budgeting. Sound good? Yes. Sound plausible? We'll see. Just pray I don't go into labor early.

Child birthing 101

Over the weekend, Trey and I went to a child birthing class at the hospital where I'll be delivering. Aside from a rather graphic video that showed an actual c-section procedure (which I certainly could have done without), the class was pretty helpful.

All along, I've been thinking that because I'm having an epidural, I don't need to know any of those silly breathing exercises. But the nurse informed me that I won't get an epidural until I'm about 4-5 cm dilated and well into active labor... meaning I'll get to experience plenty of those painful contractions that I assumed I would get to avoid. So while I'm not jumping up and down at the news, I guess it's good that I know what to expect.

So we spent a good half hour or so learning relaxation and breathing techniques. But I kept getting confused... I never seemed to be able to remember if we were supposed to be breathing like "ha-hee" or "ha-hoo." And Trey, of course, had his own opinions of how I should be breathing, which were slightly comical but not very helpful. But I got back at him later when I decided to use his nose as my focal point. Okay, so we probably did more laughing than breathing, but that's good pain management too, right?

The downside (pregnant at Thanksgiving, part 2)

My last blog post was all about why it's so great to be pregnant at Thanksgiving. Well, now I'm writing about why it's not so great.

I went in for my monthly prenatal appointment yesterday, and the doctor informed me that I had gained 10 pounds since last month's visit. Holy cow. From July to November, I'd managed to only gain 7 pounds total. So I was actually feeling pretty smug about how well I was managing my weight gain. In fact, I was a little below where I needed to be for optimum weight gain. But that was just fine and dandy by me. And then came the holidays....

The doctor said since I'd gained so little weight earlier in my pregnancy, the ten pounds in one month was not really a big deal. But he gave me strict instructions to not allow it to happen again over Christmas. ::sigh:: I suppose the days of grazing on leftover potatoes and pie are over. I'll try to be a good girl now.