Thank you to Brett and Liz from Siegel Thurston Photography (blog) for capturing these amazing photos of our family despite our toddler's fidgets and my high-maintenance pregnancy-ness. Getting in front of the lens was super difficult for me and you made it so easy! We will cherish these photos forever!
A Pregnancy Update: 36 Weeks
Blessings: Last week I thought my water broke, but it didn't. Penny is done with swimming lessons which means I am no longer required to sit outside, for the rest of the summer. My uterus totally dropped and I am actually feeling.... um... pretty good. Knock on wood. It's a little easier to breathe and eat, and baby girl seems to be more comfortable in there too because she's not as cage-fighter-like as she was a few weeks ago. I actually feel like my belly got smaller, although clearly it's getting bigger by the day. Who knew there could be relief in the last month of pregnancy? My husband just got home from being out of town for eight days and is being a rockstar at accommodating my nesting. And a bunch of other things I'm forgetting to mention but that I'm truly thankful for in my heart.
Complaints: I have to pee all the time, especially throughout the middle of the night. I still have food aversions, nothing really sounds good most of the time. My back still bothers me a lot on my more physical days. I am extremely clumsy, dropping things and breaking things and stubbing my toe all the time. It's so. friggin. hot. There aren't enough hours (or energy) in the day to do everything that I want to do. We still don't have a name picked out (for reals) -- we have handfuls candidates but not one that we are totally sold on (honest). I've got me some mega stretch marks on my stomach, all in the last week. That's about it for complaints. Not tooooooo bad, right?
Birth Plans: We've got a final "To Do Before Baby" list that's kind of guiding our free time and our decisions. We've met with our doula and are starting to talk about birth again. Although I've delivered there once before, we've decided to tour the hospital another time. I am hoping that this will mentally gear me up for the labor and birth I hope to have this time around, since last time I ended up having the surgery and it was all such a blur. My biggest fear right now is that I will have to have another cesarean section. Please, God, not another C section. I try not to think about it too much. We're packing our "go bags" this week.
Anticipation: My arms are getting antsy to hold the soft squishy grunting nursling that's been occupying my uterus since last winter. I'm getting really really excited to meet her. What is she going to look like? Is she going to be as feisty as she's been in my tummy? Are we going to rock at breast feeding? How big is she? What's her name? How is Penny going to respond to having her around? So much to look forward to!
No, I'm not ready. I get asked if I am [ready] at least once a day. But it's coming!!
