weeks 29-32: squash

Baby's the size of a squash!

Baby’s energy is surging, thanks to the formation of white fat deposits beneath the skin. (Have those kicks and jabs to the ribs tipped you off yet?) Baby is also settling into sleep and waking cycles, though -- as you’ve also probably noticed -- they don’t necessarily coincide with your own. Also this month, all five senses are finally functional, and the brain and nervous system are going through major developments.

$25 well spent

We now have an officially approved car seat installed in our back seat!

I'll be the first to admit that I thought it was silly to pay good money for a "certified carseat inspector" to check the carseat. I mean, Mike and I are both reasonably intelligent people, right? We should be able to correctly install a brand new carseat with the help of the manual, right?  We certainly wouldn't be part of the 85% of people who apparently install their carseats incorrectly, right?   But all the baby books tell you it's a necessity, so I dutifully signed us up anyway for our inspection at the local fire station.

Well, color me purple, but Lieutenant S Glapa made a believer out of me!

Seriously,  it was so incredibly helpful! He showed us how to install the seat 3 ways (using LATCH, the safety belt in the base, or the safety belt in the seat itself). He showed us how to check that it's installed correctly each time.  He showed us how to install it in the middle vs the side of the backseat. He showed us how to safely adjust the seat to fit Baby.  Most importantly, he gently corrected our egregious error in our attempted use of the LATCH system.

Yep, that's right. We had the carseat installed incorrectly and unsafely.

How many PhDs does it take to install a carseat?

Ha! Trick question! No PhD, just a Lieutenant Glapa!

So if you're debating whether to spend the money for a silly little thing like a carseat safety check, I highly recommend that you bite the bullet and fork over your $25 for a little education and peace of mind.



Oh, and the best part of the whole evening? The nice Mr. Lieutenant Glapa didn't even say a word about the fact that he watched me make an illegal left turn and then drive about 20 feet on the wrong side of the road in order to pull into the fire station.

I guess we should be thankful that at least Baby will be well protected from any accidents caused by me violating the major traffic laws. Sigh.

glowing

More and more people have been telling me that I'm glowing. Or that my body "really knows how to do pregnancy." Or that I'm getting "prettier and prettier every day."

I love hearing these things. :)

But my secondary response is to freak out a bit, because the old wives tale says that "girls suck the beauty out of you." And since I'm totally neurotic, I've now become really worried that our u/s tech was wrong and we're actually having a boy.

Yes, I'm crazy. I know.

counting DOWN

I think I passed a major psychological hurdle in the past week or so: suddenly I've started counting down the weeks we have left (about 12!) rather than up through the weeks we've completed (over 27). Holy cow! Only about 12 more weeks!


So here I am this morning, lounging on the bed as I wait for my friend Ryan to call. My belly has gotten so big it's popping out of my maternity clothes!

I read somewhere that Baby probably weighs about 2# at this point, and that she will gain about 1/2# per week until birth (averaging 7.5# at birth). Crazy! Remember when I was worried that I wasn't gaining weight and that I didn't look pregnant?

medical update

I officially don't have Gestational Diabetes!!! Woo-hoo!

That is all :)

Embarrassing

I was just taking my Sunday afternoon football nap, but this time I woke myself up with my lovely pregnancy-induced snoring. Mike is lucky to be married to such a sexy beast. :)

still in the second trimester :(

Just had our week 26 doctor's appointment. It went well!

The good news:
+My belly is apparently just the right size.
+Baby's heartbeat was nice and strong in the high 140s / low 150s.
+I can now take Tums for the annoying heartburn I've been having.
+All my weird aches and, more alarmingly, pains are all apparently totally normal.


The bad news:
-I don't get the results of my gestational diabetes test until Monday.
-Even though websites seem split on when the 3rd trimester starts (usually somewhere in the 26th week, depending on the site), my doctor doesn't start counting the 3rd trimester until the END of week 27 (aka day 1 of week 28). Sigh. So two more weeks of 2nd trimester to go!








In other news, this blog post is one of the funniest things I've seen in awhile:   Porn for Pregnant Ladies (Don't worry, it's a totally safe link to click on!)



ADDENDUM:
I was confused about why there are so many different opinions about when the third trimester starts, so I found this site helpful:

The three basic ways to calculate trimesters

There are basically three ways of dividing up a pregnancy into the three trimesters; they are by: Development,   Gestation,   Conception. They give different dates for when the second trimester begins and for when the third trimester begins. Your health care provider might prefer to use the Development method, while another Midwife or Doctor may use the Gestation method. I am sure they do that just to confuse pregnant women.   by Development: This uses actual developmental stages to divide up a pregnancy. From LMP to 12 weeks the embryo develops all the major organs and becomes a fetus. From 12 weeks to 27 weeks the fetus continues developing and reaches viability. From 27 weeks on the fetus finishes development and prepares for delivery. Here the second trimester begins at 12w 0d and the third at 27w 0d. by Gestation: With this method you take the 40 weeks of gestation and divide into three equal stages. Here the second trimester begins at 13w 3d and the third at 26w 6d. by Conception: This method is where you take the 38 weeks of post conception development, divide by three, into the three equal trimesters. Here the second trimester begins at 14w 5d and the third at 27w 3d.