Just Popping Out to Say Hello!

Wow, long time no blog!

I just returned home to Seattle after a two and a half week vacation back home down South, and I have to confess, I enjoyed myself so much, I was simply too busy to blog :)
I so loved seeing all of the family and friends I was able to visit with, and introducing them all to my (growing) baby bump! Some of my favorite memories will be of my parents, in-laws, siblings and closest friends' first reactions to my pregnant bod and finally seeing for themselves the reality of the little life growing inside of me. I even found that I enjoyed the loving pats given to my baby bump... (well, by those who I know and love... I did not so much enjoy being grappled by strangers in the assisted living home visiting Conan's Maw Maw one day... but that is another story :)

I have much to blog about the amazing baby showers we had back home, thrown by some of the best friends a gal could ever ask for! Those deserve a post of their own and more time than I have tonight, I'm afraid. I'm excited to share photos and stories later this week!

For tonight, I just wanted to pop in ... well, pop OUT would probably be more accurate... to share some overdue bump photos, and write a few notes on how I'm feeling lately. First, the photos!

Week 29

Do I look like I mean business with my weight gloves on? :) I was just getting ready for a workout.

And bump from the side at 29 weeks...

Week 30

Gosh, I feel like you can see the tiredness written all over my face in the Week 30 photos... I'm going to have to get some rest before I take my Week 31 photos tomorrow, so you don't see what death looks like! The past week or so, this baby has drained the life out of me, ya'll. I have been so exhausted and haven't had much luck sleeping. I feel like it's a mixture of me crashing after all of the excitement of being busy, busy, busy during my vacation, and what feels like a huuuuge growth spurt between Weeks 30 and 31.

No lie, during Week 30 I could literally feel my stomach stretching throughout the week -- lots of painful twinges here and there, and my skin literally feels like it could break at the end of the evening when I've eaten a day's worth of food.

I remember when I first found out I was pregnant, I would stand in front of the mirror and puuuuuuush my stomach out as far as it would go, exhaling all of my breath. I'd imagine that's what I would look like 9 months pregnant.

Ya'll, at 7 and a half months, I am already past the point of what I imagined. I'm not really sure how my skin is going to survive this! Knock on wood, I haven't seen any stretch marks yet. For that, I'm going to thank good genes and dousing myself in Dial NutriSkin lotion throughout the day (wonderful lotion, I would definitely recommend it!). But I wonder when the first stretch mark is going to appear, because I find myself having to hold and massage the skin on my stomach at times when I can really feel it stretching to the max!

I've also noticed I'm getting winded more easily lately, and sleeping is only getting more difficult with this huge stomach of mine. Niamh does not like for me to lay on my right side at all, and she will remind me of it, if I so much as even try! She has pretty much stayed on my right side for weeks now. I can feel her push her little butt out from time to time, and I'm just sitting there looking down at my misproportioned belly in awe, as the right side towers above the left.

She also punishes me if I eat too much for her comfort (and mine). I have had to learn the hard way that I cannot eat big meals in one sitting anymore... there just isn't enough room for all that food and baby! I've got to start doing a better job of "grazing"... eating small meals more frequently... because the discomfort (and the irritated kicks from Niamh for intruding on her space) just aren't worth the extra bites. This was so hard to remember while I was home and eating so many of my favorite things! Chappy's Deli chicken salad... queso dip... oh and let's not forget the leftovers of two way-too-delicous baby shower cakes... goodness.


So I definitely feel like I'm entering the most challenging phase of this pregnancy. Tomorrow, I'm 31 weeks, and I feel big, uncomfortable, winded, sleep deprived... but then again, I can remember back to week 25ish when I started feeling big, uncomfortable, sleep deprived... and then I sort of adapted to it and felt better about it after some time. I hope that I adjust in this next week.

Can I say that the difference in my comfort on the plane ride TO Alabama at 29 weeks and FROM Alabama at 31 weeks was night and day? I was just fine at 29 weeks, perfectly comfortable, but last night on our flight back to Seattle at nearly 31 weeks... I was pretty miserable! We had a late afternoon/evening flight, so my belly was full of food (and baby) by that time of the day, and I couldn't recline my seat back far enough to feel comfortable. I couldn't imagine traveling any later than this, and probably wouldn't do it again at 31 weeks. Not a 5- hour flight, anyway.

I did make sure to squeeze in a walk/jog before both flights, though, to get the circulation going in my legs before I sat on my tail for 6 hours of travel. I'm so glad I did, or I have a feeling I would've been ten times more miserable with restless legs.

Niamh's kicks and punches are becoming stronger and stronger. Just the other day, Conan got to feel a real stunner... I swear she kicked the winning field goal or something. Her dad just looked at me like, bless your heart... this is what keeps you awake at night?!

She kicked for Mom while I was home, too! That was very exciting. I'll never forget the look on my mother's face when "her baby's baby" (as she loves to say) gave her an emphatic "hello!"

My mom is extremely proud, by the way. I believe everywhere we went together, she announced, "This is my baaaaby... toting my first grandbaby!" or "That's my first grandbaby in there!" So many times during our visit, she would just look at my tummy and shake her head: "I can't believe my baby is having a baby..."


I can't believe the next time that I see my family and friends back home, I will be a mom. I feel more ready than ever, though. Spending time with my friends, my family and Conan's family, I realized how much joy this baby girl has already brought into their lives, and I watch the excitement with which they are preparing for her arrival, and I just can't wait to bring her into this world to introduce her to all of them. It'll be the proudest moment of my life.

When I was home, I also had the pleasure of meeting two brand-new little bundles of joy. First, Conan and I spent a Saturday with our friends Jennifer and Trey, their little girl Ann Morgan, and their three-week-old precious baby boy, Jason. Jason is the first brand-new baby I have held in four years -- since my best friend Erika had her little boy, Ryan! Needless to say, I felt so out of practice and nervous when Jennifer handed Jason over to me to hold... but my nerves quickly dissolved when I held that little piece of heaven! He didn't even cry when I held him (he is such a good baby!). I am so thankful for the day I spent with Jennifer and Jason... I feel like I got a glance into a day in the life of a new mommy, and a day in the routine of caring for a newborn. Okay, so I didn't get to spend the night with them and see what it feels like to be up all hours of the night with this newborn :)... but after watching her with him throughout the day, I found myself thinking, "I can do this too." :)

Then, two nights before the end of our vacation, Conan's cousin Heather delivered her little boy, Maurice. We visited them at the hospital, and whaddayaknow? This time when I held newborn Maurice, it felt even more natural to me! I even got to feed him his little bottle, and... he didn't cry! haha. Conan and I were both looking down at him and petting his soft, fuzzy little head, and I know we were thinking the same thing: We cannot wait for our little love to finally get here.

Yes, I definitely got a dose of baby fever all over again during my trip home. While in Birmingham, I got to visit my friend Amanda and meet her sweet girl, Ava, now five months old. What a sweet age! She has some hilarious little expressions, especially when Amanda was feeding her cereal, and Ava would make this grunting noise like she was about to spit it all right back in Amanda's face. (She never did, thank goodness, but she was threatening to!) I also loved watching Ava see herself in the mirror... Oh! and I got to sneak in behind Amanda as she woke Ava up from her afternoon nap to eat... nothing is sweeter than the big o' smile on that baby girl's face when she saw her mommy peek over the edge of the crib to pick her up.

Just what I needed to get really excited about welcoming Evelyn Niamh into the world in a couple of months...

Let's just hope our all-day seminar on labor/delivery doesn't ruin it for me this Saturday! Ha ha! I'll be sure to let you know what I think about that one!

That's all for now... baby showers and more pictures later this week. Lots of love to all!

Ames