guess who?!?! just reporting in… we had a check up at the doctor and all is well with myself and the little man. i had mentioned a blog or two ago about my measurements and the importance of them coinciding with my gestational age, and that looked good today. with me being 32 weeks now, i am measuring 32 cm which is on target. knowing that the baby’s weight is a concern of our’s though, our doctor is going to do a fetal weight check at our next appointment in two weeks. they do that on an ultrasound and can tell you how much the baby weighs. this will help us figure out if the baby is going to be average size at birth or larger, and it’ll help us figure out if we should be expecting a regular delivery or a c-section. i have a feeling that he’s slightly above average, but we’ll see in two weeks.

within the last 2 weeks, i have put on 4 lbs, which the doctor was pleased with. so far that puts me at a total of 16 lbs that i’ve gained during the pregnancy. not bad. i wasn’t surprised at all to hear that i’ve put on those 4 lbs though, i have been eating like a maniac!!!! i probably eat something every 2-3 hours, whether it’s a piece of fruit or a sandwich…. or ice cream. i’m constantly hungry. my hunger even woke me up last night, though i didn’t give in to it. i had gotten up to use the bathroom and thought to myself “ohmygosh, am i going to be one of those pregnant women who is in the fridge at 2 am?!?!” but i just took a couple of tums to relieve my middle-of-the-night heart burn that has crept up on me, and left it at that.

i really can’t get over how good i’ve been feeling, though i’m getting bigger and bigger. i am genuinely in love with being pregnant, and i told my mom today that i really feel like i will miss this when it’s over. it’s so amazing to me to watch how your body serves it’s purpose while growing a child.

paul comes home next week!!!!!!!!!!! i am sooooooooooo excited. even the doctor today was giggling with me and saying “oooohhhh, this is your last appointment before paul comes home.” i just cannot wait to have him home on a day-to-day basis. though he was home for that emergency leave, when i fell last month, i feel as though i look like a different person. he leaves italy on tuesday and should hopefully be here some time on wednesday. woohoo!!!!

as soon as paul gets home though, we will be heading to atlanta by the end of next week for my baby shower that is next saturday. ha!!! welcome home paul, please drive me to atlanta. i’m really looking forward to it though. it’s somewhat non-traditional (surprise surprise) because i’m not big on showers…. we’re asking people to bring their gifts unwrapped for display. this way i can spend time actually visiting with people and enjoying their company instead of unwrapping gifts and passing them around while a room full of people watch me. anyway, we’ll just be in atlanta for the weekend since paul wants to save up as much leave time as possible for when the baby arrives.

i’m attaching a picture of the 32 week bump!!! yes, i took it myself, so it’s probably a little funny looking. but it’s something…. red just rolled his eyes at me when i asked him to take my picture, so i had no other option. bye for now!!!

i just experienced an in-law tornado this week, and it was great!!! my in-laws arrived tuesday and in a period of 24 hours they fixed paul’s car which wasn’t running, helped me out with a book shelf for the baby’s room, and did more yard work than paul and i have done in i can’t remember how long. as great as it was having so much help around the house, it was even better just to have their company for a couple of days. with paul being gone, i had gotten so accustomed to the quiet house. needless to say, red was ecstatic to have people around to play with (especially my father-in-law).

tuesday evening was definitely an awesome bonding night for the three of us with the baby. the little man was having his “power hour” around 9 o’clock and my in-laws were able to feel him a ton, which they hadn’t done yet. it was so great!!! though a few of his jabs are starting to hurt and make me wince a little bit, i can’t tell you how cool it was to see the looks on their faces when they felt their grandson moving around. my favorite moment of tuesday evening happened while my mother-in-law was feeling the baby move around. the two of us were sitting on our couch and as my father-in-law walked in the back door after taking red for an evening stroll, my mother-in-law yelled out “kent, hurry up and get in here. the baby is moving.” sure enough, my subdued father-in-law literally comes running into the living room from the kitchen at the back of the house, plops on the couch next to me and feels the baby. i was cracking up!!! you would have to know kent to know that he’s not the most demonstrative of men… which is what made that moment one that i will never forget. i completely pictured paul doing the same exact thing years and years down the road.

according to my mother-in-law, i have a very cute looking pregnant belly. that was especially nice to hear since i am feeling very large and disproportioned these days. i can’t believe that i am down to 8 weeks. aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!! i have been buying clothes for the little man, which has been a blast. he’s going to be sporting some stylish threads this summer and fall. i really just cannot wait to meet him and get to know him.

last night mr. magoo and i enjoyed a moment on the couch together, while he showed off his ninja skills yet again. i closed my eyes and cringed as he kicked me in the same exact spot he had been kicking me for nearly 15 minutes. then i looked at that spot on my far right side and realized that i saw his heel poking out of my side, giving me a second hip bone. it was the craziest looking thing i had ever seen. so i felt around it, and even tried to tickle it, amazed that his little teeny foot was right there.

anyway, neat stuff…. my next doctor’s appointment is a week from today. attached are pictures of my father-in-law “meeting” his grandson. enjoy!!!

i know, i know, wrong holiday… the other night, mom and i were on the phone talking about valentines day. she said something to the extent of “ok, so your box that we sent you should be there by thanksgiving,” (meaning valentines day of course) and so we’ve been saying “happy thanksgiving” to each other ever since. so HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!!! please pardon mom, she’s going to be a grammy soon and has a lot on her mind.

alrighty, so we are at 30 weeks and the little man and i had our check up this morning. the closer and closer we’re getting to his birthday, the more and more questions i’m coming up with for my brilliant doctor. of course now all of my questions seem to be centering around the actual labor and delivery, which is starting to freak me out just a bit. i’m having birthing dreams where the little man is just enormous. the fact that paul was 10 and a half lbs at birth is weighing heavy on my mind (no pun intended). my doctor and i got into a great discussion about c-sections and what her take on it was and that helped to ease my mind. personally, i decided that a c-section is not my battle to fight when paul and i started talking about kids. he’s a big guy, there’s no way around that. so the way i see it, as long as the baby is safe and i’m safe, then the doc needs to just do her job to the best of her ability, and if that means a c-section, then pass the scalpel.

as of now though, the little man’s measurements are looking good. my fundal height should coincide with my gestational age, which means that since i am 30 weeks along, my bump should be measuring top to bottom around 30 cm (give or take 2 cm). and of course right now that is where we are measuring, so yay for that. now apparently from week 30 on is when the baby starts packing on the pound-ige, so if there’s a time for him to start growing beyond that 2 cm. range, he’ll do it in the upcoming weeks. for example: my next appointment is in 2 weeks…. i’ll be 32 weeks along, but if i measure at 34 cm or beyond, that will be a red flag, and we’ll start having to seriously consider a c-section. make sense?

so as of now, the little duder is great… moving around like a maniac, and wanting to munch and lunch just about every 2 hours. i feel like i’m always eating, even if it’s the smallest thing, like an orange, the little man’s appetite is never satisfied these days. as for me, i’m still feeling really good, just moving a little slower these days and taking more breaks. my in-laws are popping in for an overnight visit (and possibly taking care of some lawn duty for me) so i am looking forward to that.

the latest paul update is that he will not be leaving italy until march 4th, which is kind of a bummer since it’s a week later than it was supposed to be. that would bring him back to the states on the 6th or so, which is of course the weekend that i will be in atlanta for a baby shower. ha!!!! the navy has such perfect timing.

anyway, that’s all for now. HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

ok guys, i know i just blogged on monday, but apparently i have been “nesting” ever since. thus, i thought an update was appropriate. not only have i been on a mad cleaning frenzy this week, but i managed to make some purchases as well. our little man got a mattress this week, as well as his first pair of oshkosh b’gosh jeans. i took it upon myself to scour the entire house on tuesday, but then today i decided that it wasn’t clean enough, so i febreezed all of our couch cushions and had them dry in the jacksonville sunshine. red is a little confused by my nesting-ness this week, but he’s doing his best to adjust to all of this baby stuff going on around him. he is certainly curious about all of the baby’s stuffed animals, but learning to sniff without using his teeth.

the greatest of my nesting tasks for this week was dragging the baby’s mattress in the house (which really wasn’t nearly as heavy as i thought it would be, seriously), washing all of the bedding, and then putting together what will be the little man’s nahnight. in all honesty, i had every intention of waiting until paul got back home to get the mattress and starting setting things up in the baby’s room, but…………………… well, you guys can see for yourself how that turned out. make sure to click on each picture to see it larger and check out the bedding.

tomorrow starts week 29 and i am definitely feeling large these days. i am picking red’s dog toys up off the floor with a little grunt and a funky looking squat; putting shoes on is becoming increasingly difficult; and i’m finding myself out of breath if i walk and talk at the same time. the little man seems to be getting a teensy bit cramped in his own quarters as well. i got a nice jab in the ribs this morning with a foot while i was eating my cereal, and saturday night he didn’t let me sleep at all because he couldn’t figure out how to get comfortable and calm down. he’s moving around so much and i can feel entire limbs when i start to rub my belly and get him to shift. it’s pretty unbelievable. he has hit the 3 lb mark, and while his length should be around 14-15 inches, i’m having a hard time imagining that to be true. this boy of our’s seems to be determined to grow as big as his daddy as fast as possible.

as for me, i am starting to get tired again as this third trimester kicks in full gear. i really loved the second trimester and felt so great. while i still feel very good, i can tell that my body is starting to get exhausted again. i am needing more rests and i am continually thankful that i am not teaching right now. home life is busier than i had expected it would be, but in a very good and satisfying way. i actually have time to accomplish things around the house now.

i toured the hospital where we will be delivering the little man over the weekend. st. luke’s is quite the aesthetically pleasing place to bring a baby into the world, so i am very pleased. i must admit that it felt strange though being the only “single parent” in the tour group. paul was excited to hear that the maternity suites all have hide-a-beds though, so that’s a plus.

speaking of paul, we are waiting to hear when he will be coming home for good. i’m crossing my fingers and toes that it’s the end of this month. i was talking with a friend of mine just today about wanting paul home so badly. her husband is out in italy with paul right now, and she and i compare notes constantly…. “what have you heard…. anything new on when they’re returning….” i will be sure to keep you all posted.

my next doctor’s appointment is a week from thursday, happy valentine’s day to me!