moving, moving, moving

It's a fun stage right now. {in a lot of ways.}
Mr. B is moving a LOT. In fact, sometimes I feel like he rarely stops moving. Often it's quite spazzy, sharp movements, but recently he's introduced a lot of large-scale movements. Like turning. Or stretching. Or something. I grabbed Jamie's hand today and put it on my belly and he was all, "he's going crazy in there!" and that wasn't even an extremely active moment. 
Part of me wonders, what does this mean? is he going to be hyperactive? out of control? super active and sporty? but most of me is just enjoying this reassuring movement and not really reading into it at all.
I asked the boys if they wanted to feel the baby move and Noah said, "um no. not right now." haha. 
Jude said he wanted to put his face on my belly which is hilarious and so Jude-like. Eventually he put his hand on my belly but Mr. B did not acquiesce to Jude's presence and was quite still. 
Either way, I am enjoying feeling him move although at times he can stretch out and it's quite painful. 
I will miss this feeling some day. I am trying to bottle it up so I can remember this on those days...

30

I'm thirty years old. I'm thirty weeks pregnant. With my third child.
Pretty cool.
Thought I'd do one of these nifty little pregnancy questionnaires. In case you care.


How far along? 30 weeks
Total weight gain: 10ish lbs.
Maternity clothes? Am I wearing them? Some. Mostly my regular clothes because I'm too cheap to buy anything new here. I am itching to find a couple more sundresses, though. That may be in the works this week.
Stretch marks? Probably. If the past has taught me anything, I find them after I give birth. Nothing major, though.
Sleep: Surprisingly good. Last night was a dreamy sleep except for the ridiculous birds on our roof this morning that sounded like animals in our attic. My kids of course slept in 'til 7:40 and the birds woke me up at 7am.
Best moment of the week: I'm not sure if it was the best of the whole week, but the other night I lay on the couch watching a movie and "holding" my belly. Mr. B was kicking and moving and it was a sweet thought to think that in less than 3 months I'll be holding him in my arms. Outside my belly.
Miss anything? My stretchy maternity brown culotte pants.
Movement: So.Much.Movement. Sometimes it feels like he's doing an Irish Jig inside of me. Sometimes I wonder if this is normal. Such spazzy movements.
Food cravings: Sugar. Peanut butter & chocolate.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Only when I eat 6 homemade "timbits" in a row.
Gender prediction: I'm no gypsy, but I'm pretty sure the ultrasound revealed Mr. B in all his glory. {boy.}
Labor signs: Starting to get a lot more Braxton Hicks. Achy joints.
Symptoms: Heartburn has arrived. Slight shortness of breath these days.
Belly button in or out? Out/flat
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or moody most of the time? Mostly content. I do have two little boys running around here wreaking havoc. It's good. We're cool. I cope with humour.
Looking forward to: Nesting! Organizing our bedroom and setting up the baby furniture in our room.

That's it for the most part. My next midwife appointment is July 3rd I think.
30 weeks! I feel like once I hit the 30's I'm on the home stretch. Still at least 10 more weeks, but still. Crazy!
Also? I adore these earrings. I've never seen anything like them since I bought them at the craft market back in November.

twenty9

Good gracious I feel large and ungainly.
This morning I told Jamie that I have nothing to wear. Which is a lie. I just have nothing that feels comfortable. I'm big. And I still have at least 11 more weeks to go.
Sob.
No, it's not all bad. I just have some days where I wake up and I feel huge. And achy. And tired.
We're headed out to MishMash and I'm going to treat myself to some delicious cinnamon raisin bagels.
Maybe I'll weigh myself first because "hello rolls of fat on my back."

**weight gain so far is 10lbs**

if it's not one thing, it's another

I know. I missed this week's baby bump picture. But Jamie was away. But he's home. Hooray!
I had a midwife appointment yesterday. The good news is my blood pressure has gone back down to what it was, despite it still being higher than Michele would like to see {134/85}. But still. It went down! I'm happy with that.
The other news is that when we were listening to baby B's heartbeat Michele mentioned that she had thought she heard it last time and that this time she was pretty sure that the little "blip" sound that was coming at the same time as the "whooshing" of his heartbeat is what they call an ectopic heartbeat. She quickly reassured me that it's nothing to worry about and it can happen but usually resolves itself. She wasn't entirely clear on what it was as she said she didn't know too much about it, but again reassured me that women are told not to worry about it.
Which of course means nothing to a pregnant lady.
So I googled it when I got home. There's not too much info out there except lots of other worried mommies who end up having perfectly healthy babies.
So we'll keep monitoring it and praying for healthy growth for baby B.
I can't believe I'm in my third trimester! Where has all the time gone!?
I'm getting really excited to meet this little guy and also reading lots of stories online of accidental unassisted home births. Which I probably shouldn't. But I find them less terrifying now and more fascinating.
Who knows what this delivery will be like? I just hope it's quick and we're out of the hospital ASAP.

26 weeks

After eating something that didn't sit right I haven't really felt like eating for the past day. I lay in bed for the last part of yesterday afternoon and all night feeling my stomach clench and unclench. I thought I was better but then it started again today.
Hopefully it's nothing serious and will pass on its own.
Just resting and looking forward to swimming in Jinja tomorrow until Wednesday.
My stomach looks weird because of the capris waistband pressing into my belly. Awesome.

under pressure

I met with Michele today for another appointment at the hospital. This time we brought the boys as well. It's always fun when people get to meet my kids. She said they were like two peas in a pod. In her British accent, of course. :)
The appointment went well apart from one thing. I have slightly high blood pressure. I've never had high blood pressure. In fact, I think my blood pressure may have once been on the minorly low side with one of my other pregnancies. I always heard my midwives say, "Oh lovely." or "Perfect." when they took my blood pressure before. But even from my first appointment with Michele, it was never even close to being "low". I started around 132/83 and stayed around that number, went down for my last appointment to something over 79 but today's was 134/93. Not good.
I admit I googled "high blood pressure in pregnancy" a few weeks ago - probably after my last appointment with Michele.
The good thing is that there is no trace of protein in my urine (a significant warning sign of pre-eclampsia) and I have no swelling thus far. I did have a bit of swelling in my hands with Jude and significant swelling in my feet with Noah so I'm just hoping for no swelling at all.
I'm not freaking out, but I am mildly concerned and trying to stay calm and just chill out. Part of me also wonders if I have mild white-coat syndrome or if being out on the roads here is just generally stressful for my body as I don't feel quite relaxed or myself when I'm at the hospital. It could also be that the boys were there too, although they weren't acting out our misbehaving or anything.
Either way, I would appreciate your prayers that my blood pressure comes down a bit and that nothing serious would arise from this.

**oh and I've now gained 9lbs! whew, growth spurt indeed!**

25 weeks

So I got a big surprise last night. A surprise baby shower! We had been planning for a girls spa night in for all the students on project here. It was a success - and just as it was all wrapping up, I was pulled into another room by Kelley to talk to me about something only to walk back out to the living room and all the girls were standing there with that gorgeous sign you see in the picture above with a bunch of gifts for me and le bebe. So sweet! I feel so blessed by these awesome girls.

So I'm 25 weeks and according to the fruit picture on the side bar I'm 6 months pregnant now and I'm carrying an eggplant baby! So cute.

I have another midwife appointment on Tuesday so I'll probably do a mid-week update this week as well!

24 weeks

This morning it was wet and rainy and cold and I wore jeans and a 3/4 sleeve shirt {is that what they're called?}. Then the sun came out and the shorts went on and the hair went up. 

Not much baby action to report on here. I feel him moving lots and lots and I'm just trying to get enough sleep and drink enough water and I've just come to accept that this baby will likely be another big baby. I just make 'em big. 

I bought a pair of black tights today to go underneath dresses & skirts that are a bit on the short side. They'll mostly be worn on cooler rainy days. 

And yesterday I pulled out all of the clothes my friend Irene gave {back} to me. It was cute going through all the tiny clothes that Noah and Jude both wore. 

I might acquire a baby swing depending on the swing and the price through a friend of a friend in the next few days. We'll see.

Other than that...not much else to report. Still growing. Still feeling pretty good. Can't wait to meet this little guy. 

23 weeks

So I missed last week. Sorry about that. It's been zany with all the Canadian staff & students arriving last week. But so good. I love having a full house! {As well as the ability to shut off our side of the house and go to bed when I feel tired while still allowing people to chill and have fun in our house.}

And apparently it's growth-spurt city around here! Holy moley I feel so big and my belly feels tight and a bit uncomfortable.

The whole team {Jamie, the staff and the students} left the house today before 8am so this picture had to be on a timer and then the lighting didn't turn out so hence the fancy edit. {I love PicMonkey!}

Anyway, clearly I am stalling the inevitable - working out.
The boys have their drinks, they're watching Toy Story, my workout mat and weights are out and ready to go...and I'm sitting here blogging a bump update.

I also just weighed myself although I was feeling a bit hesitant because of the growth spurt and all, but it seems I've only gained just under 4lbs. I have no idea how that's possible, but I'm not complaining.

I've been drinking a cup of coffee every day which is mostly unusual for me {I like coffee, but I'm not at the "have-to-have-my-cup-of-joe-before-you-talk-to-me" point yet}, but these days it's needed. This morning I didn't want to brew a whole pot {as it's only me, sometimes Jamie and Hannah - one of our staff - who drink it} so I made up a cup of Starbucks Via from my lovely friend Bekki who sent some over in a care package with the students. So delicious. Thanks, Bekki!

So that's that.
The wee babe is moving LOTS these days. Usually it was just in the afternoon/evening/nighttime, but lately it's been all throughout the day. Love it!

heart beat

We {Jamie came this time!} met with our midwife today and got to hear our sweet boy's heartbeat. It's always so sweet to hear the heartbeat.
I had a bunch of questions written down this time like, *gasp* circumcision {how much, procedure, who does it?} and how much it will cost to deliver here {around 2 million....shillings. ha. this is just under $1000 CAD} and when will I meet Dr. Busingye {the doctor who will likely be delivering this baby since our midwife will be going back to the UK when I'm due} and what if I had to deliver the baby at home {we got a good set of instructions for if I felt I couldn't make it in time - Jamie thinks this would be cool. I kinda do, too.} and a bunch of other things.
Phew. Having a baby in a hospital seems to add a whole other set of additional details to consider that I've never had to think about before {my biggest concern at this point is someone to watch our boys & getting to the hospital in time}!
I am sad that I won't be able to attempt a third home birth, but I'm not freaking out about it {anymore} and I'm really just feeling a peace surrounding this entire pregnancy and birth regarding all the details. God's in control and this baby, while his arrival is unknown to us, is entirely known and planned by God. I love that.