29 week check-in

Stealing a page from Leslie, I wanted to do the list below every few weeks to document this 3T for myself. So here goes the minutiae of my week....

How far along?: 29w1d - 3rd trimester baby!

Weight?: Up 17lbs since my first OB check. I think it's something like 22lbs since my beta, but I stopped weighing myself during the year (2009) of stimming and miscarriages, too depressing. I can tell you that right now I'm 33 lbs. over my ideal weight, which is 130 lbs and what I was pre-stim treatments. So, assuming I maybe get up to 170lbs by birth, lose 20lbs pretty quickly from the birth, I'll have another 20 lbs to work off. Ouch - but hoping nursing will help that along. I'm 5'7", so I think I disguise the extra weight pretty well, but it all seems to settle into my love handles and man, I do not want to see my muffin top from behind ;).

Maternity clothes?: Some, but not many. Don't get me wrong, my large & in charge body requires it but I've managed to buy non-maternity skirts and dresses that fit the bill. The good thing about being in the 3T in the summer is that it's pretty easy to find non-maternity drapey things. I have noticed that I prefer form-fitting tops, like tank tops, and flowy (by necessity) bottoms. When I wear a flowy top, I feel like a total tank. Anyway, I do have a couple of maternity shorts that I like, but I have to say, they give me a total wedgie! By the end of the day, they ride up so bad over the bulge of my belly, they're way wedged up my tush! And I don't even care where in public I am when I pull out the wedgie. Pregnant lady's prerogative.

Stretch marks?: Not yet!! I'm crossing my fingers and using my belly balm even though I know they say it's all genetic. I know I have alot more expanding to go, but I'm hoping that no stretch marks by month 7 is a good sign. I've seen pictures of my mom when my older sister and I were about 2 and 3 years old, and she's wearing a bikini and nary a stretch mark showing, so I'm hoping! Plus, I've been taking Vitamin E pills religiously since my beta - I read taking oral Vitamin E helps alot more than topical. Who knows...

Sleep?: Sleeping pretty well now that the AC is set up, it's really only the heat that disturbs me besides hip pain that requires me to flip a few times a night. The pillow between the legs is a life saver, definitely. I do find myself sleeping on my back alot, it's my most comfortable position. But I do get a little scared because I read that it compresses your veins and reduces the flow of oxygen to baby, so I try to turn to the side but then I wake up later in the night and there I am again on my back ;). Oh, and I do get up 3-5 times a night to pee, but what can you do?

Best moment this week?: Taking a peek at what's been purchased from my registry, heh! ;) I feel like I'm cheating but I can't help myself! My shower is July 10th and it should be pretty mellow, only @ 6-8 friends as my family is in Texas and I don't want them spending over $1000 to fly up for a shower and the only local-ish female relative on DH's side is my MIL and it would be too weird to have all friends and then one senior citizen who doesn't know anybody, so we're keeping it to just friends. Anyway, very excited to see all these friends -- the shower is in NYC and that's where all my friends are. They all offered to come up here, but I don't want to make 8 people drive 4-7 hours when it's much easier for just one person (me) to travel and I've been craving a trip to NYC anyway. I'll probably opt for Amtrak over driving though, this time.

Movement?: Most days, tons. Space is definitely getting tight and I can make out actual body parts these days. I could totally be guessing wrong, but it's definitely either an elbow, foot or skull ;). He's ALWAYS on my right side, so that side is taking a beating, but that's OK. I do have some days where he's alot more mellow and it freaks me out, but I can usually make him move at some point. I start my kick-count analysis this week, so I'll make a more concerted effort to pay attention on slow days.

Food cravings?: Ice cream, which is strange because normally I don't care for it. There's a place nearby that has a fat-free frozen yogurt (from a bin, not the dreaded fro-yo machines) of chocolate with enormous peanut butter chunks that I am in LOVE with. I try to tell myself that at least the fro-yo part is fat free ;).

What I miss?: Coffee. And soft cheeses, I miss blue cheese and feta so badly...

What I'm looking forward to?: a lovely summer (with AC!) and then a fall with a baby and maternity leave!

Emotions: Pretty even. I've never had much in the way of hormonal changes with PMS or anything - which might sound great but I'm convinced have been part of my fertility issues. But I've been pretty steady emotionally so far here - I have a feeling I'm in for a big crash post-birth though.

Other: My big project lately has been lining up all the pre-birth stuff like interviews with pediatricians and day care centers. It's a bit overwhelming but I have most things scheduled. For the pediatrician's office that we want to use, they don't do pre-interviews, which is OK because we're comfortable with the strong referrals that we've gotten from friends and a neighbors. But I'm a little concerned about their laidback policy: for the first appointment, they just said to call in when we're driving home from the hospital and the nurses will get us an appointment in the first day or two. Which is fine but the Type A in me is so not OK with just winging it after the birth. So I've devised a plan to stop by their offices in person next week, haha, under the guise of dropping off an enrollment form for their patient portal. While there, I plan to grill the front desk about any sort of pre-registration I can do before Bug is born. But I'd love it if you guys could confirm this is typical? I know most of you got to meet your docs first -- and this place does have group meet & greets in their alternate location, which we'll attend in lieu of that. But is it typical to not be able to make the first appointment until after the birth? I mean, I guess is has to be because unless you're having a scheduled c-section or induction, how would you know when to schedule? But still, Type A plus first, and likely only, baby? Not good for being laidback about this ;).