82 more sleeps

The gestation timetable is very perplexing. According to one web resource I've been using, I entered the 3rd trimester at week 26. According to another, week 28 begins the big number third. In the "prepared" childbirth class, they told us that week 29 marks the turning point. La officina del doctor uses week 28 as well. So, the majoriy rules. I am officially in the 3rd trimester this week 28 of 40. Only 12 short weeks to go until the big show!

And interestingly enough, it seems that some of my 1st trimester friends are back for a visit. Friends that make me feel like falling asleep at my desk at 4:53 p.m. and then invite me to lay like broccoli for the remainder of the night. Friends that make my tumbly rumbly in the middle of the morning and afternoon, depsite the fact that I have eaten breakfast and lunch. Which may exacerbate the other lovely piece of information la officina del doctor shared with me today--I've gained 27 pounds to date. Gulp. Make that a Big Gulp. Make that a Double Gulp. On second thought, maybe I should lay off the Double Gulps.

On to happier thoughts. Little c likes to move it move it these days, which makes me very happy. My resistence to talking to the tiny one when we're on our own has officially ended. And of course, I speak babyese in our one-sided conversations. Jared may think he's in Crazytown when he hears me say something like, "I thought the gluten free blueberry waffles were yummy, didn't you? Who needs kashi? We don't, do we? Do we, baby?" while walking to the shower in the morning. Oh well, I'll probably do crazier.

86 more sleeps

Well, we are officially "prepared" for childbirth. We have a certificate that says so. I guess it would be more accurate to say that today's Prepared Childbirth class prepared us for the fact that while we may plan for things to go one way, our delivery may unfold in a completely different direction. And at the end of the road, we will still have a precious little c whether he or she makes the trip naturally, expedited by pitocin, sucked out by a vacuum, or pulled through an incision. I'll have to do some major self talk to be prepared for the use of the ginormous forceps we saw today. I mean those things are for real.

Isn't our practice baby darling?
How cute is our pretend family?

We heard a lot of complete sweetness from the video parents. Let me just say that these women are seriously more confident than I could ever imagine being. The cameras went everywhere. Jared really liked hearing the fathers talk about the joy, love and pride they felt for their newborns.

I can't express how grateful I am that I will have an amazing partner to support me during this process. If our plan comes to fruition and we are able to do the deal naturally with no epidural, Jared will play a huge role in the delivery. I was afraid this class would plant some serious seeds of doubt that we can actually deliver without it. The opposite happened. I feel more confident about the possibility than I did before. Thank you, thank you, thank you for Jared!

91 more sleeps

Pregnancy has made my normally vivid dreams even more vivid. In a lot of the dreams, I'm protecting someone I love from danger. Early on, I saved Jared from death by tiger by hacking said tiger with a machete. Yikes!

Last night I had a very vivid, but very precious dream. I had my first dream about little c. Little c was a he and I saw his sweet little face and held him. He had a very prominent nose and a teeny, tiny little body. In the dream we named him Richard. Jared and I completely adored him. The only thing that would make him stop fussing was Jared's mad swaddling skills. I can't wait until we get to put them into action in real life!

In other news from this week, Jared has been able to feel little c kick twice. Once when we were laying side by side. The tiny one kicked him right in the back. Hee hee!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

98 more sleeps

It is so good to have good friends. The lovely Mr. and Mrs. Cox, Charlie and Olivia spent their New Year's Day helping us get little C's nursery ready.

We painted the walls a sweet greenish-yellowish color called chameleon. To get a little HGTV, chameleon really makes the colors of the bedding and wood pop. And then Jeff and Jared assembled Charlie and O's crib--twice. Once outside the nursery and then again inside the nursery after it would not fit through the door while assembled. Hee hee. We also moved Charlie and O's glider into place. I love the idea that little C will sleep and rock in the same spots that Charlie and O slept and rocked. It feels like the room already has a good history before we've even begun.

Today is week 26 and little C is really moving and shaking. Sometimes the flutters are so strong they startle me. Even more startling is the fact that the little one is likely to be part of the outside world in just a bit over three months. Unbelievable!