29 weeks - 203 days

Time Left: 11 weeks - 77 days

Butternut squash is a fall/winter food
How appropriate

Size of Baby:  weight = 2 1/2 lbs.
length = a little longer than 15 inches

Food comparison ---------------}


Harperville: She's still in there growing.  Her bones are starting to harden and her head is getting bigger because her super smart brain needs more space.
Sidebar - last night in childbirth class the woman showed us the circumference of a fully dilated cervix/birth canal and I am still very confused as to how the hell a person fits through there.  That can't be natural.

Movement: She moves around a lot now.  I think that I'm actually able to feel limbs now.  She's gone from quick kicks and punches to sticking arms/legs out and leaving them there for a minute.  Bryan thinks that she's trying to find a way out via my stomach.  It seems like that sometimes.  I feel most of the movement up toward my rib cage, which probably won't be good soon.  RH asked me if she's gone up under my ribs yet.  Ack!!  No, she hasn't!  Don't go up in there Harper.
I also have another movement comparison for you curious minds out there.  Ok.  Bare with me.  You know how a fish out of water flops around?  Well, think about what it would feel like if you had a small fish cupped in between your hands flopping around.  That's what she feels like moving around in there sometimes.  Weird huh?  You're welcome.


Weight Gain: starting weight = 140 lbs.  current weight = 165 lbs
total weight gain = 25 lbs.

My Body: My body hasn't done anything weird lately.  I consider that a good thing.  The only comments that I've been getting when someone asks how far along I am are along the lines of, "Oh wow!  You're so small!"  Why thank you.  No worries though, when my bump was measured two weeks ago it was actually measuring ahead one week.  I guess that moving around is becoming more difficult.  Not when I'm moving on my feet but when I'm rolling over or getting up.  I've also been getting this weird sensation in my nose.  It feels like I've been hit in the nose.  Not pain, but that feeling after the pain goes away.  It's almost like my nose is preparing for a bleed, but without the blood.  I've read that nose bleeds are common in pregnancy.  Maybe they are yet to come?  I'll consider asking the doctor at my next appointment on Thursday.


Favorite Foods:

• waffles
• clam chowder
• frozen pudding cups
• yogurt
• watermelon (stupid Harris Teeter had seeded watermelons in the seedless bin - anger)
• ice cream - can't shake the stuff!

The Nursery: We haven't done anything in the nursery this week.  Well, Bryan painted the closet shelves white but that's it.  Griffin decided to go in there and chew up most of Bryan's paint brushes (the ones he's using to paint things on the walls) so we've had the door closed.  Yesterday I went in there and hung out for a few minutes.  So crazy that there's going to be a tiny person living in there in 2 1/2 months.  The only piece of furniture that we still need is the glider.  We were surprised that we were able to arrange the furniture in a way that still makes the room feel like there's space.  I was really worried about that, not having enough room in there.

Childbirth Class (week #1): I'm actually excited for this class to start tonight.  We go two hours, once a week, for five weeks.  We're supposed to bring two pillows and a blanket.  I can only go off of what I've seen in movies.  Are we going to be practicing breathing and unconventional birthing positions?  Will we watch a birthing video?  Can I close my eyes during it?  Are they going to make us take home a mechanical baby to see if we can keep it alive?  You know, like in high school?  Will they certify us in infant/child CPR?  I think they should.  And the questions go on and on... since we go tonight I'm holding off on posting this week's update so that I can add in what we did tonight.  Kind of a bummer that we have to go from 7-9pm.  ZZzZzzZZZ.

Recap: First of all we felt very weird carrying pillows and a blanket into this class last night.  Whether you believe it or not, Bryan and I are very "keep to ourselves" when amongst strangers.  I was paranoid because our blanket, of course, had stupid Griffin hair ALL OVER IT and I didn't want anyone to see it.  Too bad everything we own has dog hair all over it so I chose the blanket with less.  Tonight's class was about preterm labor signs, pregnant lady anatomy, and relaxation techniques.
I really hate it when people talk about how you should find a pattern in your baby's movements and call immediately if you notice a change.  Makes me a little paranoid.  Compared to what other people are saying online Harper doesn't really move that much.  I don't think anyway.  Seems like she's all over the place first thing in the morning, at night, and then here and there during the day.  I feel like if I have to do 'kick counts' (when you count how many time baby kicks in a certain amount of time) we're going to fail miserably...
Pregnant lady anatomy was pretty interesting and slightly off-putting.  I actually got to see why I have trouble breathing; it's because my liver is smashed up into my lungs.  Wonderful.  Not only that but my intestines are "wherever they find a place to fit", which means that they are constantly moving locations in my body as baby moves and grows (this explains preggies have poo problems).
Before we went to class I warned Bryan that we may need to get awkward and I was right.  Teacher lady showed us how to stand up correctly so that we don't kill our lower backs and had us demonstrate for our 'birth partners'.  How fun was it doing pelvic tilts in front of Bryan's face?  Oh... super fun.  After that I had to look him in the eye and repeat "I am pregnant and I am beautiful".  Kill me now.  See, if we were at home this would have been no problem.  With friends?  No problem.  Strangers... ugh.  I can't let my dramatic, over-the-top ridiculous self out in public 75 minutes into a baby class with complete strangers.  They have judging eyes.  The awkward only got worse when we went into 'relaxation' techniques.  Just like on the movies, we had to get into comfortable positions on the floor with our birth partners.  We then had to find a focal point somewhere in the room, which made me immediately think of the scene in the movie The Back-up Plan where the woman is giving birth in a kiddie pool and Jennifer Lopez is her 'focal point'.  Bryan also kept making me laugh as usual so my focal point was all shot to hell.
Next week... labor...