30 Weeks...

Jeff looked at me today and put his hands on my tummy and said, "Yep, you're really pregnant," which made me think of one of the first things he said when we got a positive pregnancy test, "Well, you're hormonally pregnant." It's nice to have progressed to the "really pregnant" stage, which also means the "there's no way you could possible hide it" stage; and as I look at this picture, I realize again that it's true: this little butterball is growing and becoming more like a beachball (fully inflated, of course) inside of me!

A note about this picture: Jeff took this at the park today (actually, yesterday, since it's after midnight now) where we had a picnic lunch (with subs from Subway-yum!) in honor of Mother's Day. It was a perfect way to relax on that special day, without either Mother or I needing to cook, but without being in a crowded, noisy restaurant, and all the while getting outside to enjoy a beautiful sunny day. But speaking of the sun, I need to figure out how to adjust my camera settings because a lot of the pictures we took were way too bright and washed-out. This picture, for example, was taken in the shade, but it was so light that I had to darken it considerably with Picasa...and it still looks too bright. Hmmm...what to do? I bet it actually talks about this problem in my camera manual! That means that, in about 5 years, when I get to that page, I'll know what to do to fix it! :)

Back to the pregnancy update...

I feel like a momentous turn-over has occurred, as I've crossed from the week 20s to the 30s. In all of my pregnancies, I have never gotten to week 40, so the 30s is a very exciting period for me, filled with lots of growth and anticipation and--hopefully somewhere in the late 30s--a birth!!!

Speaking of growth, I've definitely hit the stage of discovering that some of my maternity clothes just don't fit anymore. Either they're too tight and uncomfortable (a certain pair of jeans that I'm thinking of) or they're too short to cover my increasing girth (several shirts that I was hoping to get more use out of). Maybe this growth has something to do with the fact that I've been SO HUNGRY recently. I can't seem to make it from one meal to the next without a snack in between. The only thing that I don't have much of an appetite for is meat. Here's a typical dinner conversation (this really happened Friday evening)...

Jeff: Would you like me to pass you the chicken?
Me: No, thanks, I think I'll just have some frozen blueberries with milk on them instead. :)

I think I could easily become a vegetarian during this pregnancy!

As I'm typing this, I'm seeing, out of the corner of my eye, my belly changing shape as the little one within does his/her daily (hourly?) exercises. :) One thing that I haven't had to worry about is whether this baby is OK. The amount of movement I feel reassures me constantly that he/she is alive and kicking (literally) in there, and I love that!

At my appointment with the midwife last Wednesday, the baby's heartbeat was in the 140s, but it kept changing because the baby was moving. Ann, the midwife, commented on how active he/she was, and it was funny to hear him/her kicking and punching the thing she uses to listen to the heartbeat (would that be called a fetal stethoscope? I have no idea!). Along with the steady gallop of the heartbeat would come these big "galumps" as the baby moved and banged against the "thingy." :)

Other tidbits from that appointment:
~ Ann thought she could feel that the baby's head was down, and she confirmed what I guessed that the legs are probably on the right side where I feel the most movement.
~ I had only gained one pound since the previous appointment, so my weight gain to date is 18 pounds (150 to 168 pounds).
~ My blood pressure was good which it has been this whole pregnancy, unlike Tobin's pregnancy when it was a little high a time or two, alarming me but not seeming to bother anyone else.
~ I got to have the lovely rhogam shot because my blood type is negative. I've had that shot so many times, counting all the times during pregnancies and after births and after miscarriage and after early bleeding in pregnancy, etc. I used to really dread shots, but I must be used to them by now because it doesn't even phase me to get one.
~ My midwife's office is really doing a tremendous job with eliminating long wait times. The last few appointments, I have breezed in and breezed out, with hardly enough time to read a few pages of the book I always take with me.

More than in any other pregnancy, I'm able to visualize this little one inside me, and it boggles my mind. Not that I can "see" a face clearly or sense whether it's a boy or a girl or anything "magical" like that! :) But maybe because of the pregnancy ticker on this blog that is so good at reminding me of what's really going on in my womb or maybe just because I've done this a few times now, whatever the reason, I feel so aware of the fact that there's a BABY inside me, a baby that in a few months we'll be able to meet and know face to face. I look at my belly and think, "All that's separating us is a few layers of skin and muscle and--yes--fat! That's it! That's all that's between us!" That barrier seems so impenetrable right now, and really I wouldn't want to break through that layer of protection now because I know it's exactly what my baby needs to thrive. But in past pregnancies, it almost seemed like I went through pregnancy as a separate event from the actual process of getting a child. The pregnancy was one thing; and then after the birth, here was the baby and I was amazed, almost thinking, "Where did you come from???" But this time, there is much more mental connection between what's growing inside of me and the real baby that I'll someday, Lord willing, hold and clothe and bathe and sing to and nurse and rock in this glider rocking chair where I now sit. Even though I don't know the gender, I feel like I KNOW my child.

I don't think that previous paragraph makes much sense as I read over it. It makes sense in my mind though, so that's good enough for me. :)

In other news...today is the day that we head west on our vacation, although this evening we begin by heading north to a hotel by the airport so that we'll be able to catch our 5:30 AM flight tomorrow morning. We are not going to get much sleep tonight, and that's an understatement. On the very long flights tomorrow, I'll just keep repeating, "This too shall pass. This too shall pass." :) I don't know how much email/blog access I'll have (or desire) while I'm gone, but I do plan to have a few posts (just some pictures I want to share) lined up during my absence, thanks to Blogger's very cool "post options" feature. For all of you who read this, I hope you have a fantastic week, and I'll be eager to connect again when we return!!! :)