2 months to go

As of today I am 32 weeks, 4 days pregnant. Baby C is around 3.75 pounds - I can't believe she is that big, and also can't believe that she has another 3-ish pounds to gain before she's done! I don't even want to think about how three or more pounds in my belly will feel. I already have so much pressure right above my front pelvic area (kind of where you normally feel menstrual cramps). When I stand up I have to pause a moment as Baby shifts down a little and to get used to the pressure. Lately she's been moving directly over my bladder, so even immediately after I go to the bathroom, if she moves just right, I have to squeeze because it feels like I will pee!

So far I'm still feeling good. Still dealing with swelling (see snap below), but it's not too terrible. I've heard it can be painful for some people, and so far for me it's mostly annoying that I can't wear the shoes I want, and occasionally it feels tight and a little uncomfortable.

I had a midwife appointment today, where everything checked out perfectly again - yay! Measuring right on track for 32 weeks, blood pressure remains low, and Baby's heartbeat is good and she's in a pretty good position. She's been keeping her head down but I think sometimes flipping from my left side to my right, which is fine. She loves to move all the time - she's a wild woman! When the midwife first came in, she immediately commented on how swollen my feet were, when I actually thought they were pretty ok today because I could wear real shoes.... I apparently can't even remember what my normal feet look like anymore!

I'm sleeping pretty well and my pelvic pain is there but not terrible. It's the worst at night and first thing in the morning, I think mostly from sleeping on my side with my hips stacked and not moving for long periods of time. At work I have an alarm that reminds me to get up and walk around at least once per hour, which has helped. I have noticed lately that I've been hungrier, which I'm ok with because for the most part, I had been so sick that I only ate to keep nausea away - not really even from hunger! I at least am enjoying eating some of my more normal foods like more fruits and veggies lately, so that's good. My sweet tooth is also definitely back, but I think that's to be expected!

Last weekend Caleb and I went to a birth class at the hospital. It was ok but we probably didn't need to go, as we learned most of what they taught at our first birth class with a doula. After this the only class-type things we have left are a breastfeeding class for me in August, a visit from our doula Shawna in late July (where we will learn more comfort and breathing techniques for labor), and going to learn how to properly install car seats in our cars.

Caleb kept us both entertained during birth class

I'm excited for the next couple of weeks because we have baby showers coming up! We'll have one in Creston hosted by Caleb's family, and one in Waukee hosted by my family. We are also doing a small, informal couples' shower/open house at Firetrucker Brewery in August with some friends. For work I opted to just go to lunch with my team and do gifts there, and I guess Caleb's coworkers are throwing him a shower too. I hope they make him play games so he can really experience a shower. ;)

I also bought a dresser and my mother-in-law is painting it for the nursery, and once that is done and delivered, I can hang stuff on the walls, wash and put away clothes, and really start feeling prepared (in some ways).

One last thing I thought I'd share is something I'm trying to do to prep for birth. Along with the Spinning Babies moves I shared last time to get Baby in the right position, I've been working on my Kegels and ab muscles to prepare me for pushing. The book I won at the new mom conference a while ago included instructions on something called "Push Prep," where you learn to activate and then relax your Kegels while using your transverse abdominal muscles, which are the main muscles you will use to push out the baby. It's definitely something you need to practice and go slow and "listen" to your body to get right (if I'm even doing it right). But I feel like I am better at it now than when I started, and can distinguish between what different muscles I'm activating, and hopefully with some practice my body will remember when it comes time to push! Here the author talks a little about her experience with being strong enough to push effectively by training your core muscles. If nothing else, working my core now should help during postpartum!