How far along: 33 weeks completed 8/21/2012.

Weight gain: I saw the midwives on Tuesday, and have lost 2 lbs since my last visit. So back down to 147 it is (for a total pregnancy gain of 14 lbs). I’m chalking it up to the move and all the increased physical activity that has involved. They’ll only be concerned if I’ve lost weight again by my next appointment, which probably won’t happen considering I’m chowing down on an Almond Joy at this exact moment and have grand plans of following that up with a bagel spread to the heavens with cream cheese.

Clothes: Now that we’re unpacking boxes at our new place, I am again reminded of the pants and jeans that I love, can’t fit, but will soon resurrect! Provided breastfeeding sheds those pounds as much as I’ve heard . . .

Purchases: Nothing new for lil’ Alice this week.

Body: With the move, I’ve had a hard time not lifting things, and a hard time asking for help. Make that a really hard time. So I’ve lifted things probably more than I should (hence the 2 lb loss?). There have been no visible ill effects other than a backache one evening that went away after a good night’s sleep, but I know there can still be bad effects that can’t be seen right away (especially if I try to use my core muscles too much and cause them to tear), so I’ll try to be good about this.

Being physically limited makes me feel like my independence is being cramped, so I’m trying to teach myself to be okay with needing help.  It doesn’t mean I’m a weakling–it’s the smart thing to do to care for myself and my baby. I think I’ll give myself a mental prescription:

Repeat 5,000 times per day: Asking for help is smart, not weak.

Something about Americans–we really value our independence. Denyse, our Bradley Method instructor, was talking about this, and how we applaud the woman who’s out and about shopping 3 days after giving birth. But holding independence in such high esteem can also cause us to jump into things that maybe we shouldn’t. Not rest when we need to. Not respect our bodies’ need for recovery. And many times, we can end up isolating ourselves when we need to be asking for help instead.

I really took this to heart, because I see myself here. I’m the woman who wants to be out and about 3 days after birth. Whereas, maybe it’s a better idea for me to plan on 2 weeks of total down time resting, learning my new baby’s cues, wearing a robe, kicking around the house, and just focusing on Alice and my husband and myself instead of the world at large.

So that’s my plan–to take two weeks and label them “Hibernation Time” in my mind, so that I’m not tempted to try and leap about too quickly.

As for the disappearing act that I so carelessly forgot to mention last week, it works pretty darn well in the morning or on an empty stomach, but when I attempted it in this picture after eating a gigantic meal . . .

. . . not so much.

I also have a really obnoxious expression on my face in that picture. I don’t know what I was trying to convey, but please just gloss over it and move on with your day. At least that’s what I’m trying to do.

Sleep: Great! Can’t complain. Squats are still really helpful in overcoming that feeling of restlessness in my legs that hits when I lie down. I also think the physical exertion of moving has helped me sleep better. Sleep seems to be the sweetest when preceded by a day of really hard work.

Best moment(s) of the week: We did a final sweep of our old apartment Sunday evening. Before closing up shop for the last time and leaving our keys in the manager’s drop box, my husband and I both started getting tearful. We recollected with fondness what a mess the place was when we first moved in 3 years ago, and how we went about making it our home. We walked through each room and thanked God for all the blessings that we associated with it–guests, family and friends that had stayed on the futon in our 2nd bedroom, meals we shared together in the dining room, peaceful evenings on the couch resting and talking . . . Something about the ritual of thanking God for everything that came to mind for each room was really meaningful. We ended by praying for the next tenants, that God would bless them in a special way and that his Spirit would always be present and working in the space we were leaving.

And of course, there have been so many lovely moments in the new place this week–the first cup of coffee Thursday morning, the first load of laundry, the first meal I cooked (veeeery spicy stir fry), the first shower in our amazing bathroom . . . it’s all too lovely to be true.

Movement: She’s hiccuping, rolling about, and gave me such a hard punch the other day that it startled me. Any time I want, I can reach down, poke around my belly, and locate different body parts. I can’t quite identify the body parts yet, but the hard little lumps are fascinating to me. Is that her head? Or a butt? I love it.

Food cravings/aversions: I’ve really been enjoying Nescafe instant coffee! We bought some to survive on after packing up our coffee maker. And we still haven’t come across the coffee maker in our unpacking endeavors, but since I’ve grown quite friendly with this instant stuff (to my own surprise and I’m sure to the horror of any of my Spanish coffee-purist friends–sorry guys), it hasn’t bothered me that Mr. Coffee is still hiding out in a box somewhere.

Symptoms: I’m really trying to stay hydrated. Dehydration can cause some real complications with pregnancy–low amniotic fluid, labor that doesn’t progress, not to mention your digestion isn’t as great without it. So water, water, water! Gotta keep it flowing.

Emotions: Being in the new apartment, my baby-related emotions seem to have been ratcheted up 5 notches. I think that since I knew we wouldn’t be having Alice in our old place, as long as we were there, the reality of baby-time still felt distant. But now that we are physically in the place where we will bring her home, where she will learn to crawl and walk and say ‘ba,’ it’s all starting to feel imminent. Make that imminently imminent.

Other things that are making her arrival feel close are having nailed down a pediatrician and having scheduled ALL my prenatal appointments up to my due date. The end of this pregnancy business is truly in sight.

Hopes and dreams: I’ve set a deadline for myself: to be fully moved in as of September 10th. Though we’re moving things into their right places at a good clip and the house felt totally livable by Saturday evening, it’s going to take a while to finish 100%, figure out what furniture we need at Ikea, what’s needed to complete Alice’s room, where we want to hang pictures and little decorative details, etc.

In my mind, meeting this deadline will then give us about 1 month of routine, peace and time to fully delight in our surroundings before Alice joins us and things get a little . . . crazy. In a good, wonderful, but crazy way.

What I miss: Like I was talking about earlier, being able to lift anything I want! And even when I lift lightweight boxes, my belly gets in the way. How very odd that is. Sometimes I forget to account for that extra volume projecting from my front section.

What I’m looking forward to: The big Ikea trip next week! My mom, mother-in-law, husband and me are all going out there for a day of shopping. A big item we’re purchasing is a bedroom set, which I’m really excited about. As of now, we don’t have a bed frame or a dresser (our old dresser is now our linen closet in the new place), and our bedside tables are from our days as undergraduates (that pale-colored plywood that’s so . . . well . . . cheap!) and looking exactly like you would expect the remnants of dorm life to look. I always told myself that by the time we had kids, I would put some money into our bedroom to make it beautiful, for marital retreats and a restful non-child space. And whaddya know, that time has come! So by the end, I hope to have created a haven of delight where my husband and I can ‘get away’ and just rest in a peaceful and visually pleasing setting.

Husband update: He’s so happy about the new place.

In this picture he was expressing his excitement about the evening light filtering through our new porch door. Back to business! I cried. Get into profile for me!

We had our last Bradley class on Monday, and he said he’s going to miss those classes. I’m so happy we decided to do them, and so happy that he enjoyed them as much as he did! Technically we’re now, like, really prepared. Or something.

Technically.

Heh heh.

Have a great weekend everyone! We’ll be unpacking as much as possible over our weekend, and pictures are forthcoming on Monday.

How far along: 30 weeks, completed 7/31/2012.

Weight gain: I should have more regular updates in this area since my appointments are now moving to every two weeks (my next one is, in fact, Monday). That said, while I was in Wisconsin I happened to spot a scale and hopped on it: 148, so it looks like about 1 pound in the past week.

Clothes: Still rejoicing in my long maternity tanks from Target and my stash of belly-friendly dresses.

Purchases: No baby-related purchases, but I did receive absolutely lovely gifts (and cash!) from my extended family at the weekend gathering we had. Thank you Mom, Aunt Jacquie, Aunt Jessie, Aunt Paula, Aurora, June, Eleanor, Marguerite, Aunt Chula, Rachel, and whoever else I’m forgetting! Pictures are forthcoming, but my favorite gift was the quilt my sister Erica made in soft yellows and greens. It’s the most precious thing I’ve ever seen. Sniff sniff.

There’s just something about knowing that Alice is going to be born into so much love, and that my sisters will adore her no matter what, that sends me into tears when I think about it. And somehow unfolding that quilt from Erica just made this hit home for me. This little girl doesn’t even know we exist yet, and already she is so cherished by so many.

Body: I’d thought based on last week that we would be seeing the last of this trick, but my mutant ability is apparently refusing to die.

Where does she go??

It’s a mystery for the ages.

Sleep: This has been the most challenging week so far, and I can only hope it’s a fluke based on travel (which sometimes funkifies my rest cycle, especially since I didn’t have my body pillow with me). The two nights I spent in Wisconsin, I was fidgety and restless, so I ended up walking around the darkened hotel room while trying not to wake Erica, peeing about a million times, doing squats to get rid of that antsy feeling in my legs, and finally falling asleep around 3am (both times after praying for God to have mercy on me and send me into a state of oblivion).

Then I came home, and though I’ve been able to go to sleep a lot more quickly off the bat, I’ve been waking up to pee around 2:30am and not being able to fall back asleep for about an hour.

To this I saw: craorrwww.

I also almost pushed my poor husband out of the bed with my body pillow. Me and that pillow . . . we take up a lot of space. The poor guy uttered a meek “Um . . . Jenna?” around 3am on one such night, and I quickly moved things around so that he could actually sleep without the risk of falling off the edge.

Best moment(s) of the week: Spending Friday and Saturday with my sister Erica and roadtripping to Wisconsin together was divine. There is NOTHING in the world like sister time–talking and crying and talking some more, sharing hair products and hairstyling tips, grabbing McD’s for breakfast, knowing what the other is thinking before she has to say it, exchanging meaningful eye glances and knowing exactly what the other means by it, etc. Sharing Alice’s movements and body rolls with Erica was also a delight, and seeing her love for her niece that’s already so strong was an unbelievable blessing to me.

We loved our time with our extended family, and we also loved escaping both nights to a hotel that was our own space, where we could let loose, turn on the TV, and just completely chill out.

I love you, Erica!!

Let’s do this again whenever we have a chance.

Movement: Big body rolls seem to be the name of the game. She tends to do these after I lie down on my back in the evening or at night, and love watching the waves she makes on the surface of my belly. I’m also definitely feeling her hiccups–little rhythmic pops that go on for a few minutes. I think that feeling her move is one of my favorite parts of pregnancy, guys.

Food cravings/aversions: Nothing!

Symptoms: So! I had heartburn for the first time in my life. Wow–now I know why people take something for it. It hurts! It’s like a fire in your chest or something. I had it once (last Wednesday?) after lunch and also after dinner. Thankfully that’s the only time, because if it becomes the norm . . . well, ouch.

Also, exhaustion really has returned, making me crave naps that I frequently can’t take. It’s not as bad as the first trimester yet, when I was so desperate to sleep that I leaned my head on my desk at the office and said adios to the world around me. And another time, just lay down on the floor for a 30 minute nap, since there was no one around to see me.

I feel like I could get to that point soon, but we’ll see.

Emotions: Feeling loved! By my sister, my mom, by my extended family and sweet aunts and cousins–the love has just been pouring into me and little Alice.

Also, the pattern still holds: when we watch a birth video at the Bradley class, I invariably cry when the baby pops out, no matter how slimy or covered in white goo. It is just so moving, you guys.

Our pastor and his wife (Tom and Traci) has us over for brunch on Sunday along with two other couple friends of ours who are having their babies this month–possibly within the next week or two. Tom and Traci gave us tons of good advice about sleep training and nursing, and it was great to be able to ask questions, hear specific stories about what worked and didn’t work for them, hear the concerns the other couples had, and just generally talk baby stuff with friends who are about to embark on the same journey we are. Our church has truly become our family here in Chicago.

Hopes and dreams: At this point, I’m dreaming of cooler weather . . . because the idea of having a baby strapped to my sweaty chest as I navigate public transit in 100 degree heat seems like a nightmarish sweat bath. By October this weather foolishness should all be over, right?

What I miss: At this point, routine. This summer has been so crazy with band stuff, family stuff, church stuff, social stuff, photography stuff, birthing classes, preparation for moving, etc. And it’s been great! But I’m so ready for the stability and predictability of the fall. Once we move to our new apartment, I’m going to find that groove and just settle into it. It’s going to be awesome. I can do chaos . . . but I thrive on routine with some occasional chaos loosely sprinkled in.

What I’m looking forward to: Getting a temp in place at my job to cover me during my maternity leave (which reminds me I still need to share with you guys about my work situation). I can’t wait until all of that is settled and I’m training the right person–I feel like then I can start to emotionally let go of work and refocus that energy on my impending motherhood and all the (lovely) demands that will come with it.

Husband update: I’ve been writing this post with a pretty joyful and happy heart, but I have to say that when I just got to the line “husband update,” my face broke into a full-fledged smile.

He makes me smile, guys.

In fact, I can’t stop.

I get to have a baby with my best friend!

And my best friend happens to be the kindest man I’ve ever met. He is so committed to loving me well, to being vulnerable even when it’s hard, to serving me by taking care of my physical needs (going to the grocery alone when I’m tired; packing for our move to save my body the strain of bending and twisting; taking care of a million little household chores). And he’s also the most fun person to hang out with.

Somehow, when I was 18 and had a terrible hairdo and was socially awkward and had bacne, this crazy kid from LaPorte, Indiana showed up and fell in love with me. And then the “crazy kid” actually turned out to be a godly man with the strongest and most tender heart I could have imagined.

And I say “somehow,” but it is so clearly the hand of God that gave him to me, and intertwined our hearts over the years into what we have now–this unity of spirit that just blows me away.

Aahhhh. Anyway, enough mush for today–go forth and have a great end of the week, all y’all!