31wks2days

I’m 31wks2days. (Well, I was yesterday when I actually wrote this, but anyway...) Feeling pretty good. The baby is getting bigger. He’s kicking me in the ribs fairly regularly now and I can sometimes feel which body part is which. Just now I felt a foot poking out of my abdomen. It’s funny. I’m getting bigger, too. A few days ago I was feeling so stretched and heavy, I could barely walk. All I wanted to do was lay around and be pregnant. I think my skin finally adjusted for the moment and I’m not feeling quite as stretched. My belly button isn’t totally popped out, but when I stand up, it bulges and is hyper-sensitive. I had to make a belly button protector the other day out of a belly band and a thick sock. It looked silly, but it made it more tolerable to be up and cooking and cleaning. It would freak me out if it bumped against anything. I’m still feeling pretty sensitive, but not as bad as the other day. I feel like I need more room – like my space bubble has gotten bigger. I hate pushing past people in the grocery store or in public. I want them to just see that I’m pregnant and give me a wide berth.

I’ve been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions lately, too. Not so many that I’m worried about preterm labor, but I’m definitely feeling and noticing them, whereas before, I was probably experiencing them, but not noticing. Also, all of my pregnancy and birth books say that nipple stimulation causes contractions (and can be used as a way to kickstart labor when you’re past your due date). Anyway, yesterday, I decided to test that theory and, it works! After about 30 seconds I totally had a contraction. It was fun. I guess you’re not supposed to do stuff like that if you’re likely to have preterm labor, but as far as I know, I’m not at risk. Like I said, I’ve been feeling fine and don’t have any signs or symptoms of it. A few ladies on my birth forum have been put on bedrest because of it, though. It’s pretty scary to think that my baby could actually be born any time between now and 2 weeks after my due date. Hopefully, this one will bake as long as possible.

I’m more tired and irritable these days. I’m still sleeping well at night, though, which is good. People keep telling me that toward the end I won’t be able to sleep. We’ll see. I’ve always been a good sleeper. They also keep telling me that I won’t be able to poop, but that hasn’t happened yet, either. I’m quite regular, thank you very much.

We went to our first birth class Thursday night. It was ok. It’s pretty hippy dippy. We had to draw pictures and meditate. We did some pain coping exercises, which I liked. We held ice cubes and focused on our breathing and it really helped to deal with the pain. Holding ice cubes is nothing like a contraction, of course, but the technique will come in handy. I’ve done a lot of yoga, so I’ve got the whole breathing thing down. It was really funny watching Erik “meditate”. He’s so ADD, I knew there was no way he could handle it. So, I was closing my eyes and basically meditating, like we do in yoga, but I couldn’t resist peeking at Erik and seeing what he was doing. He was slouched down in his chair, eyes wide open, with a look of utter annoyance, almost disgust on his face. He looked like he was being punished. I almost laughed out loud. Instead, I just kept meditating with a big grin on my face. Poor guy. I guess we’ll start each class with a meditation. He’s going to be sure to go to the bathroom at that part.

So, people keep asking me if I’m “ready”. What is ready? Is anyone ever ready? I mean, I need to get rid of the bird so that I can finish setting up the baby room, but the baby’s going to be sleeping in our bed, so it’s not that critical. I haven’t been overwhelmed with the nesting bug yet. I don’t know if I actually ever will. It’s not really in my nature. I wish I had one of those moms or sisters that wanted to come over and set up the room and paint and all that. I want it done, I just don’t really want to do it. I should wash all of the baby clothes that I’ve gotten and put them in size categories in the dresser, but again, don’t wanna do it. I want to put drawer liners in the drawers and finish decoupaging the outside of the drawers, but I’ve really been procrastinating on it. Ugh! I just need to buckle down and do it. I’m running out of time. I have less than 9 weeks left! Yikes! I actually just want to sit around and knit all day. I’m working on a baby kimono top and it’s with such tiny yarn and needles, that if I don’t make an exerted effort every day, the baby will be here before it’s finished. It’s in a newborn size, so I really need to get on it.

Here are some pix of the tiny hat and socks that I knit. The hat looks ridiculously small, but it's stretchy. I took a picture of it on one of Frances' stuffies. It stretches even more than that, so unless I have a baby with a huge head (pray that I don't) it will fit. It's small on purpose so it fits the first day. The socks probably won't fit 'til the baby's 3 months or so, but I didn't have a pattern for anything smaller. I threw in the picture of my huge white belly that we took at the river a week ago for those of you who may not have seen it. I'm too lazy to take a belly picture of myself.