So.


Roughly 6.5 weeks left, give or take two, in this pregnancy. Am I feeling woefully unprepared? Eh, a bit. Honestly it's all just a little surreal. We haven't done very much to prepare. I'm doing my Hypnobabies somewhat fitfully, due to the need for sleep, but I think it is helping.

We still need to get the cosleeper back from the grandparents - Callie has been using it there, in playpen form, as her crib. We will swap a Graco playpen for that one. The spare bedroom is still a storage unit with a queen sized bed - it won't become an actual nursery for at least three months or so, until we feel the baby is ready to be in his/her own room without needing a lot of attention (or tons of feedings!) each night. Callie was a normal sleeper, not great but not terrible either, and she had a fairly painless transition to her own crib by around 4 months old. Truth be told she still didn't sleep through the night consistently until, eh, three weeks ago? We don't force it, but it's definitely a play by ear thing. She also slept BETTER and deeper in her own room and that influenced the decision to move her at that age.

If we're lucky and this one sleeps through the night by a few weeks or even a month, or doesn't seem to wake fitfully, I am NOT opposed to transitioning sooner. If it is a boy I may hold off because the risk of SIDS is elevated in boys and cosleeping lessens that risk, but we'll see. Either way, a nursery is no big hurry, and heck, Callie's STILL isn't done!

This pregnancy has been fairly free of notable complications. No sustained blood pressure issues, no totally abnormal pain other than the same stuff I had with Callie - misaligned sacrum and some diastasis issues with my pubic symphisis joint. My blood sugar was great, not even indicative of prediabetes in a non-pregnant woman (and the tolerances are much higher for pregnant women, so making the NORMAL cutoff is particularly great). This baby also feels like they've dropped in my pelvis and engaged a little bit, which is a relief since he/she was transverse the other day and it was... unpleasant. There's no reason to suspect at this point that there will be any complications at all. Granted, there was no problem with Callie at this point either, other than flipping around breech, but I am hoping things will continue as normal right into a spontaneous, predictable labor pattern.

One can hope!

I'm just puttering along this time, trying not to be anxious and to enjoy it as much as I can. The soreness makes it a LITTLE hard, but I can honestly say I am having more fun this pregnancy than with Callie's. Even with how badly her birth turned out the fear of the unknown kind of robbed me of a lot of joy, especially at the beginning and very end of hers. This time around I know what's normal and what isn't and how BRIEF this period is. I am really enjoying myself a lot, especially seeing what a great little person each baby can grow up to be. Callie and her antics enhance my enjoyment this time around - I know what I'm fighting for. I am expecting an uneventful birth this time around, and one much closer to what I wanted with Callie - fortunately for me the odds are in my favor for that!

Umm... I'm short. We know this. Being short means I measure ahead. In this case it's 3-4 weeks ahead. So while I am 33 weeks I am carrying around a 37 week belly. Great, huh? No WONDER I am sore. There's just no place for the baby to go but out. Either way, the belly is a well-established fixture and one Callie LOVES to kick at any occasion, usually while I am feeding her (I can't get close enough to get the spoon in her mouth without putting it in foot range) and changing her (while preventing her from grabbing her poop!). She's going to be in for quite a surprise when a playmate comes home and doesn't go away!

I am still only up a whopping 5 pounds this pregnancy, and at this point the baby weighs around five and a half pounds and is close to full length, around 18-20 inches long. So the baby's weight, plus the weight of the placenta and amniotic fluid - yes, I have technically LOST weight. No problems there, I wish I could lose more without compromising said baby's nutrition. But there is something awesome to be said for pushing out a baby and automatically being at or below your weight goal. Stepping on that scale after Callie was born was quite sweet indeed!

It's a bad shot, but you get the idea. I don't LOOK big but considering the shirt swims on me and my boobs are a good 44F now, the belly does stick out quite impressively compared to my taller, smaller-carrying peers.

Yay baby bellies! I have an appointment tomorrow morning and I'll update if anything significant comes about! And yes, my mirror is filthy, the lighting is bad, my shirt is wrinkled and the entire thing is blurry. There's a reason photography is NOT my hobby!