Week 30

Week 30

How far along? 30 weeks
Maternity clothes? I had purchased a maternity swim suit a couple weeks ago and was all set to wear it over the weekend.  Only to find that my belly had already outgrown it. :(  I may or may not have cried.  But I sucked it up, returned the suit and got a different one.  But by then I was too tired to actually get into the pool. Oh well.  I'll try again.
Have you started to show? The Pilot superimposed this week's photo on top of one from a couple weeks ago to show me how much I've changed (like I'm not feeling every little change, hehe).  And it became pretty obvious why I get so short of breath so easily.  My belly is sitting much higher these days than it was.
Symptoms:  We went to my 30 week appointment on Monday which included an ultrasound.  My blood pressure was a little higher (still within the normal range but slightly high for me) so she's going to keep an eye on that.  I'll be seeing her every other week for the next month and then will go weekly until the baby makes his arrival. 

She said the tightness and uncomfortableness was all normal.  Again, it was basically suck it up, buttercup.  Sigh.  It might be a long couple weeks!

We did have a funny moment at the doctor's office.  Normally The Pilot is pretty quiet during the appointments but right before she started the ultrasound, he stood up and asked her if he could take a picture.  I was stunned.  One, I had no idea what he would have wanted to take a picture of in that moment and two, the fact that he jumped up pretty quickly.  She started to laugh while I laid there, clueless.  This was what was humorous and photo-worthy to The Pilot:

A prego belly covered in an ultrasound goo smiley face.  Not sure if I should be amused the my doctor has a sense of humor...or annoyed that the "joke" was on me since I couldn't actually see my belly from the angle I was laying at.  :)
Activity:  The Pilot and I walked around our neighborhood for a couple hours on Saturday (garage sales!).  It was a beautiful morning and it was nice to get some exercise.  But boy did I pay the price.  I hardly slept Saturday night and could barely get out of bed on Sunday morning because my hips were so angry.  Then I got frustrating news from the doctor on Monday.  While I sort of suspected what she told me, it was still upsetting for me to hear.  It really seems like the hip pain is just made worse by walking any measurable distance (I'm talking miles here).  There isn't anything I can magically do to make it better other than avoid anything that makes the pain worse...like walking.  Sigh.  The doctor suggested I try swimming more to keep active if I wanted.  I do have access to a pool (and now have a swim suit that fits) but it's just not the same.  I'm trying to tell myself that I can still get a great workout by running and walking in water (the pool I have access to, at my parents' house, isn't really conducive to swimming laps) and that it will feel great to feel weightless...especially in these last weeks as my weight slowly (or not so slowly) increases.  I keep reminding myself to be thankful that baby boy is doing well and I really am having a pretty uneventful and healthy pregnancy.  But the part of me that is still trying to hang onto at least a little bit of my pre-baby life is frustrated.
Best moment this week:  Baby boy got hugs from his cousins last weekend.  My 9-year-old niece always hugs me when I see her but she now hugs the belly too.  She gives "me" a hug first (sort of from the side) but then moves around in front of me and hugs my belly.  It's so cute. She rubs my belly too.  While she doesn't talk to him yet, I swear it's like she communicating with him somehow by how deliberate her belly rubs seem. My 5-year-old nephew also "hugged" the baby.  More like ran at me while I braced myself for impact and then he kind of bounced off my belly.  We're working on toning down the "violence" of his hugs. :)
Miss anything?  Triathlon season.  The tri that I did last summer was over the weekend.  It made me a little sad that I'm sitting this tri season out.  Hopefully I'll be able to get back at it.  Even though I've always considered race walking and running/shuffling distance races my "A" sport, I really have enjoyed the triathlons I've done.  I miss mixing things up.
Movement:  The doctor wants me to start counting his movements twice a day (to make sure I count 10 movements within one hour).  I'm sure this won't be a problem.  Even though he's getting bigger, he's still really wiggly in there.  The movements certainly aren't flutters anymore.  He's rearranging my internal organs some days.
Food cravings: One carton of strawberries put away...and no fewer than 6 nectarines. 
Gender:  A monster boy apparently. According to the ultrasound he's measuring in the 86th percentile.  The doctor estimated that he'll be well over 8 pounds at birth.  Say what??  So much for having a tiny baby like I was at birth (just under 6 pounds).
Looking forward to:  Slowing down.  While June is still pretty busy, I have done my best to keep July mostly free of commitments.  I knew that I probably wouldn't be up for too much by then and I'm looking forward to spending even more time with The Pilot as a family of two before our world changes completely.
Not looking forward to:  At this point I'm kind of looking forward to everything.  Being done.  Meeting our baby.  More baby showers.  Stuff like that.  I'm trying desperately to focus on those things because I'm growing more uncomfortable by the day.   I'm trying not to think about just how uncomfortable I'm most likely going to be towards the end.
Milestones:  The 30-week growth scan...to tell us he's a monster baby.  :)