32 weeks

Just stopping in with a quick little bump-date. I’ve hit 32 weeks now. Cannot believe it’s just over a month until I’ll be full term.Wowza. Although, I am certainly not counting on it being just over a month until this baby is born. I’ll go late again. Mark my words. July 2nd sounds like a good day to birth a baby.

Everyone say HI BABY!

I saw my midwife today and everything is looking good. Just like at 30 weeks, baby is still head down and getting ready for the world. The heart rate was in the low 140s today. Just like Evalyn, this baby’s heart rate jumps around like ca-ra-zay. No sense in thinking about any of the wives tales with my bambinos.

Speaking of the heartbeat, Evalyn was with me at my appointment today for the first time since my very first one at 11 weeks, when she was just 14 months and completely oblivious to anything baby related. Of course, at that appointment she had no reaction to the heartbeat except that she tried to grab the doppler from the midwife. Today, however, completely different story.

As I was laying on the bed she was standing on it beside me, holding my hand. We told her we were going to listen to the baby, which of course, probably meant nothing to her. But when the midwife put the doppler on my belly and we heard the thump thump, her reaction was out of this world. She started stomping her feet, clapping her hands and squealed. She said “Oh man! Baby in der!” It was so precious. And then later in the morning, while we were playing with Auntie C, she picked up the unplugged laptop cord and started rubbing it on our bellies and saying, “Doctor yisten baby”. I know it’s a major stretch, but I see this, in a way, as her starting to develop some kind of bond with her little sister/brother. I cannot wait until we have an outside baby and they start to develop this relationship. Cannot wait. She loves babies. I just hope she loves this one just as much as the others she interacts with.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve started to feel much more comfortable again. My mad dog pelvic pain that I started feeling between 29-31 weeks seems to have eased up, likely thanks to me being more conscious of my movements and activity based on suggestions from my midwife. And let me tell you, what a relief. I was beginning to wonder how I’d survive another 2 months of that torture. Sleep has been fairly good. Some nights are better than others, but I’m definitely still getting rest. The baby’s movements are starting to get so bizarre. I equally love and hate this stage. It’s amazing to think about what s/he is doing in there, but sometimes I just want my ribs to be left alone! As far as the morning sickness? I am just resigned to throwing up for the entire pregnancy. I will go a few days being just fine and then have a morning where I have no choice but to toss my cookies. So different than with Evalyn. All along, I’ve been much less sick than I ever was with her, yet sick for so much longer through the pregnancy. Does that mean anything? Who knows.

Speaking of “mean anything”, I wonder if mother’s intuition really means anything? Because, for as absolutely certain as I have been for this entire pregnancy that I’m bringing another daughter into the world, I have been scoping out an awful lot of boy stuff lately. And? This is about the same time in my pregnancy with Evalyn that I switched from knowing she was a boy to knowing she was a girl. Just some food for thought.

I’m starting to get really excited and eager for this baby’s arrival. That’s not to say I haven’t been excited for him/her all along, but I have definitely found that this pregnancy has been so much more abstract and has felt more … distant? … than my pregnancy with Evalyn. Probably because I just don’t have the time to think about it the way I did with her. Does it mean I love this baby less or am less thrilled to be having a child? No. It just feels – different. I feel like since I’ve started to be able to sit down in the evening and watch my belly go wild and have started to think logistically about bringing this baby into our home, gathering birth supplies, getting baby stuff together, purchasing a few new things for him/her and so on, it has felt more real. And now? The anticipation is killing me. Cannot wait to love on this wee one. Cannot wait.

Soon enough.

For now, stay safe and cozy my little babe. See you soon.