32 Weeks

In less than 8 weeks (theoretically), Caius will BE HERE! Aaaaah! I guess we'll be as ready as we can be then. It just feels like this has gone so fast! Not the first trimester. That took forevvvvverrrrrr, just counting the days until 13 weeks had passed and I was out of the "danger zone" for a miscarriage. We felt much better after that. My second trimester was pretty much through the summer, which was busy but also lazy: sleeping in, visiting friends and family, taking trips, hanging out. So that flew by in no time. Now in two months, there will be a tiny person living in our house, changing our lives forever.

This used to be my great-aunt Irene's dress in the 70's. It's a little threadbare, but very comfy. And the important thing right now is that it actually fits!

My bright red hair is all gone. :( My hairdresser had to get it pretty dark to cover up the summer dye job, but there are still red tones in it, and it'll become more red in the next few weeks after some shampoos. I like it, it's fall-ish.

At my 28 week appointment, I was measuring right at 28 weeks and my weight gain was all right. At my 30 week appointment I was measuring a smidge small (no change since the last appointment) and my weight gain was a bit under what we wanted it to be (also the same as the last appointment). Caius' heartbeat was perfect and he was (and still is) moving a lot, but we just wanted to make sure he was all right, so my midwife had us schedule an ultrasound for the following week. Matt and I weren't panicking or anything, but it was a little hard to make it through the week waiting for that ultrasound. They measured his thigh bone and around his tummy, then tried and tried for about 15 minutes to get a shot of his head. He was so far down with his chin tucked to his chest that it made it really hard to get the right angle for a measurement! Finally they did, and he was measuring exactly what he was that day: 31 weeks and 3 days. All is well, and it was nice to get to see him again. We saw little hands waving around up by his face, could see his spine and ribs, and got a printout of the shot where they measured his heartbeat. It's amazing how much he'd grown in about 10 weeks! At the 20 week ultrasound to find out the sex, you could see pretty much the whole baby with one shot from the ultrasound wand. Now you can only see a part of him at a time! (Oh, and as of yesterday, I'd gained about 5 pounds over the last two weeks, dang! But that's good because I'm more on track for weight gain now. I guess I'm growing, and Caius is growing, in spurts.)

We also may have discovered at least part of the cause of my killer back and hip pain. Caius is, or was at the time, very far down in my pelvis (head down, yay) and leaning into my left hip, which is what hurts a lot of the time. No wonder, if it's getting smushed and shoved! Goodness. At my 32 week appointment yesterday, my midwife recommended a physical therapist. I just wake up in agony, either in my lower back or hip or both, to the point that I have to hobble to the bathroom holding onto the walls. Once I've been up and moving for a while (and Caius has settled somewhere else, at least a bit), it's not so bad, but when it's bad... dang. It's bad. I think I will make a PT appointment tomorrow for as soon as I can get in. (Insurance will pay for that but not for a chiropractor or massage.)

Since I'm in such pain when I wake up, and since it's just gotten so darn uncomfortable to sleep on either side, I tried sleeping in our reclining loveseat last night. All my back and hip woes are not magically gone--I still had a few twinges today--but I do think it helped a lot. I slept straight through the night with my legs straight and my arms resting on throw pillows on either side of me, all supported. I think for the next 2 months, I might be sleeping on the loveseat, at least most nights. When I first told Matt, he was sad and said he would miss getting to sleep next to his wife! But then it dawned on him and he started smiling: "I'll have the whole bed to myself!" he said. He won't have to share it with me, Caius, the dog, my body pillow, and occasionally the cat! Way to look on the bright side, Babe!

Other than the back and hip pain, I'm feeling all right. It's uncomfortable to sit for a long time. It's uncomfortable (and sometimes a little painful) to stand for a long time. I'm not a fan of walking much, and I have to take it slow (and kind of waddle) when I do. I think from here on out, I'm just going to be... well, uncomfortable. In addition, I'm SO TIRED. Part of it is that this is the first week of school and I'm getting used to the schedule of waking up super early and being really energetic with the kids all day. But part of it is that I'm growing a person--a person who's about 17 inches long and 3.5 pounds now--and that's hard work! I can literally sleep anywhere at any time now.

A day or two ago at work I just could not keep my eyes open toward the end of my open planning period. I'd been productive, made copies, answered emails, eaten my snack, but I just couldn't stand it! I felt like I wouldn't be able to stay conscious through the last period of the day. All I wanted was to close my eyes for a few minutes. I took the little pillow I made from the back of my desk chair, put it on the table, and rested my arms on it, then lay my head on my arms. I had about 15 minutes until the kids came back for 8th period. 12 minutes later, a fly buzzing around my head woke me up so, er, I guess I dozed off a little. Then today after work, I came home, showered, had a snack, and sat down in the recliner. Again, I just needed to close my eyes for a little while. I set my phone for 15 minutes, shut my eyes, and 15 minutes later, I was awakened by the alarm. Probably 25 seconds after I'd shut my eyes, I was OUT. The nice thing is, both times I woke up pretty refreshed and feeling better. I'll take whatever rest I can get!

I sort of can't believe my belly is going to get even bigger than it already is. It needs to because the baby is still very little! He will probably at least double in weight, if not more, and likely grow a few more inches in length, too. It just seems weird to me, I guess, to see my body looking like it does. Still, I'm excited about taking maternity pictures toward the end of September when I'm huuuuuuge! Matt's just going to take our camera and tripod and photograph me up in the mountains somewhere on Color Weekend with the pretty fall leaves. I wonder what I shall wear! I wonder what will FIT me then!