31 Weeks

I'm going to see Dr. Siefring every two weeks now. I asked him about possibly seeing other doctors in the practice for belly checks since I was waiting two hours at every appointment, and he suggested trying to schedule first thing in the morning. So I've been going at 8 a.m. and getting right in and out! It's a bit of a struggle to get us all up and dressed and fed and out the door by 7:30 but worth it to not have to wait around at the office. On the downside, I can't ever ask anyone to keep the girls for me because no one is available at 7:30, so they have to go along every time. Thankfully they are always very good, and Dr. S gets a big kick out of them.

BP was something like 122/68, Bacon's heartbeat was good though I forgot to ask what it was. My weight at the office was 165, up from 159 there the last time. Blargh!!!!! But after the last appointment I came home and weighed myself here and I was 156. This time I weighed myself at home and was 157/158. If I go by our home scale I have gained 21 or 22 lbs which seems about right. When I delivered Phoebe I weighed 172 and I was HUGE. I mean, my belly was enormous. There's no way I'm only 7 lbs away from that right now. I was about 158 when I delivered Dena and I think that's about right where I am now.

No real belly pic this week, but I was taking profile pics of the girls yesterday for a Christmas project, and when I was finished with them Phoebe wanted to take one of me. I'll only post it here, where no one else can see it!

30-ish Weeks

First, a couple of pictures.

I think this one is from around 24 weeks.

And this one from about 28 weeks.

And this is from yesterday, 30.5 weeks.

Eric and I were looking back over pictures from when I was pregnant with Phoebe, and I thought I look about the same this time, although I feel like I'm bigger. But now, I don't know ... I think I am actually bigger! I seem to compare to pics of when I was around 33 weeks with her. Good grief ... my stomach got ENORMOUS at the end of that pregnancy. I am amazed every time I look at the last belly pic. I sure hope I don't go so far past my due date this time around.

I still feel really well. I'm more uncomfortable, and sometimes have a hard time sleeping. My low back is starting to bother me a little more, though not enough (yet) to warrant a trip to Dr. Longo. I think my hips are starting to loosen because they bother me the most, after I've been sitting or laying down.

Eric has nicknamed the baby Bacon. At first it seemed so weird but now I'm used to it. Ha! Of course, I already feel the need to apologize if baby turns out to be a girl; somehow it seems okay to nickname a boy Bacon.

Bacon is very, very wiggly! I've felt movement pretty consistently from around 13 weeks, just flutters at first, but still consistent. Then they were kicks, etc., and now I think it's crowded enough in there that all Bacon can manage are some stretches and hiccups!

As for names, we are still set on Anderson Clark for a boy, and pretty set on Adele Joan for a girl. Since we've named the other two after grandmothers, I feel really compelled to continue that if we have another girl, and it makes more sense to use Joan before Virginia, since Mommom Joan is an active part of our lives and Grandma Sita isn't really. However, I don't care so much for how it sounds with Adele, but I can't come up with anything else. Adele is the first name we both have consistently liked the best -- every now and then we say, "What about ____?" and consider that for a while, but then end up crossing it off the list for one reason or another. There are other names I like better, but Eric doesn't, and we have to agree! So for now, Adele Joan it is, though I asked him to be open-minded if I deliver a girl and say, "She isn't an Adele."

And, just for the record, I think Bacon is a boy. I don't want to tell anyone what I think, because they will take it as me hoping for a boy, and I'm really not. I really truly don't care, so I try to be really careful not to say anything either way. Of course I've told Eric, and maybe Mandy, but that's it.

We've decided that it would be really fun to have the girls find out the baby's gender first, so once I deliver we'll make an announcement with stats, but no gender or name to anyone, not even local family. Then once the girls meet their new sibling, we'll let them tell! I think it will make it even more special for the girls.