32 weeks!

I've turned into a pretty sparse blogger these days - sorry about that! I am active on twitter, at least...

The last four weeks have gone really smoothly.

I had an amazing baby shower at the beginning of the month. My sister-in-law and a friend co-hosted, and we asked people for their favorite children's book to jumpstart the baby library. We got a bunch of books we know and love, and a bunch of books we're not familiar with, which is great! Every night my husband reads one to my belly. :)

Last weekend we went to the used book store (where we have tons of credit since we sold 39 boxes of books this summer) and found some more books. I found this great list a few weeks ago of classic kid's books, and we're filling in the holes. We're swimming in books now, but no complaints. Just need the furniture to arrive!

Incidentally, does anyone know which Pottery Barn white furniture finish most closely matches the Pali white furniture finish?

Last weekend we also met up with a friend who's an amazing amateur photographer, to take some maternity/couple shots. Haven't seen them yet, but am eagerly awaiting them!

We had a third trimester growth scan at the hospital on Tuesday, and everything looked great. No sign of an echogenic bowel. Our little guy was so active, when the ultrasound tech first put the probe on my belly, he pushed it off. She said she hadn't had such a strong baby!

Ob appointment was Wednesday, and was all good. My doctor suggested we research placental encapsulation (which amused me, since it's not the sort of thing doctors usually do) - he always thought it was weird and gross until a patient of his did it for her second child after having a really hard recovery from her first. And she did so well that he's now convinced it can be helpful. Next week I start the non-stress test (I'd thought I was just entering the every-two-week phase of appointments, but apparently I'm going straight to the every-week appointments.) We're still planning on an induction at 39 weeks due to my elevated inhibin and hCG levels in my second trimester bloodwork. I asked my ob about c-section risks (since inductions have a higher rate of c-section), and he says a lot of it is because of the reasons people are being induced; that those moms are more likely to have issues that mean they or the baby doesn't manage labor well. He doesn't think my c-section risk is much higher, in part because of the way they induce now, where the meds more closely mimic the natural process.

And hopefully acupuncture and massage will help get my body ready too.

The baby is still breech (frank breech, which means his feet are in front of his face) and he's facing my spine. He still has a few weeks to turn on his own, and I'll be doing acupuncture starting in about a week and a half if he hasn't moved yet. Eventually, if he's still not turned, my ob will do an external version.

Sleep is less smooth - I typically get good sleep for the first 2-5 hours, until I have to get up to pee. And then toss and turn for the rest of the night. My ob recommended magnesium, which seemed to help one night but not the other.

A little heartburn here and there, but not bad or regular.

I ended up taking antibiotics for the lingering cold/sinus infection. Still blowing my nose and coughing up gunk, but feeling better and it's interfering with my sleep less.

Happy to report our se.x life is doing well.

No Braxton Hicks contractions that I've noticed. I'm doing prenatal yoga once a week, as much for the social side as the yoga side. I had an annoying experience with one of the classes last week (I'm trying out all the various locations/instructors to see who I like best) - when I mentioned I'd be induced at 39 weeks, the instructor launched into the Henci Goer anti-medical establishment stuff. I've read The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, and while I'm generally in agreement that there is too much medical intervention for things that can be managed naturally, I'm not willing to risk a stillbirth and trust my fabulous doctor. So was really turned off by that class, despite really enjoying the social side - 6-8 woman, all due within 2-3 weeks of each other in December. But I tried a new instructor/class last night which I enjoyed, so maybe I'll switch to that one as my regular yoga class.

I am getting bigger day by day - it's kind of amazing. I'm up somewhere between 19 and 21 pounds, depending on the time of day, which I'm happy with. Everyone tells me that if they don't look at my belly I don't look pregnant (and everyone expresses surprise when I say I'm 7 months pregnant - I'm guessing that'll get worse now that I'm 8 months pregnant...)

Tomorrow we have our childbirth prep all-day class, and over the next 3 weeks we take the rest of our classes and have our pre-birth meeting with our doula. I pre-registered at the hospital (!!) and it's definitely feeling like time's flying by. 7 weeks to go!