23 November 2011

The Belly Report :: 33 Weeks Pregnant

Less than 50 days until the due date. What?!

I know today's post is coming to you later than usual. We had a midwife appointment scheduled for first thing this morning, but it got rescheduled at the last minute since she was attending a birth (it's always something!!). After that, I had two other back-to-back appointments scheduled and just got home not all that long ago. So, suffice it to say we didn't have time to take the usual belly shot this morning -- which means today's belly photo is coming to you from the restroom at Target. Heh. I wish I was kidding!! When we get a shot with the "real" camera, I'll replace it. For someone who loves photography, posting a shot like this is just a tad embarrassing. ;o)

33 weeks pregnant
33 weeks pregnant.

I have to say, I think I'm hitting this stage of pregnancy at the perfect time. Just at that place when many women start to feel like the due date is decades rather than days away (and just when I'm at that stage where my feet and ankles look like they belong to a fat Hobbit about 30 seconds after they hit the floor in the morning), we're hitting holiday time. I'm hoping that the inevitable feeling of speed that the holidays bring to our days combined with the relative slowness of these final weeks of pregnancy will at least average out enough to feel like baby girl arrives in "no time at all!"

Hey. A pregnant lady can dream, can't she?

Mom's eye view
Speaking of dreaming, I washed a load of baby girl clothes last night. It was the most beautiful load of laundry I've ever seen. And since her feet were dancing around at the top of my belly last night, I tried to imagine what some cute little socks would look like on those cute little feet -- after I nom-nommed on them, of course!! And yeah ... that is seriously what my view of the belly is all the time. It really just sticks right out there.

In other news, we found a pediatrician!! James couldn't come because of his work schedule, but I went to a new parent night on Monday night at a nearby pediatrician's office. The doctor had an approachable, easygoing, and personable manner, and he has a lactation consultant on staff to boot (something specific I was looking for). I think I spoke with her for nearly an hour. He returns after hours parent calls within 30 minutes (something confirmed by multiple parent reviews independent of his website), and as an office, they're really big on educating parents with evidence-based research which personally, I find refreshing. There are a multitude of voices out there with the "best" ideas of how to parent and care for children, and I love that instead of offering up an opinion or regurgitating the latest hoopla out there, they're pointing parents to the scientific research and recommending that they base their decisions on that. Love it!

I'm spending some time these days with my nose in the massive volume of Dr. Sears' Baby Book. I'm just a few chapters in, but am really digging the common sense (also research-based) approach. It's a bonus that as James and I discuss these things, we find that we are in agreement on how we want to care for our daughter and any other children we have. We certainly have come to parenthood with some of our own ideas and while we know there's not a "one-size-fits all" approach to parenting, it's good for us to read books like this to get discussions going, to get a good idea of what to prepare ourselves for, and to find about things that maybe we haven't thought of ourselves. Like every other parent out there, I know we will find our stride and figure things out for ourselves just like every other parent has to!

Oh. And in other great news, the sunroom is FINISHED!! I am so in love with this space and can't wait to sit in there rocking our baby girl. Here's a peek of our progress ...

unpacking leftovers
August 2011 (and it pretty much stayed this way for awhile!!)

Sunroom
Early November 2011

And this is now ...

sunroom
The sliding glass doors open from the back of our living room.
sunroom
sunroom
The window you see looks into our kitchen.

This space has definitely become a haven for me. I love spending time in there in the mornings praying, being quiet, or just reading. It is such a peaceful space and lends itself well to quietness and calm. I just can't wait to rock and nurse a baby girl in there.

That's about all for now, I guess. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!! May you all be surrounded by the ones you love and find much for which to be grateful this season.

(And for those of you Black Friday shoppers, best of luck to you!! May you score some too-good-to-be-true deals and not get trampled or break any bones in the process. I will think of you after I've slept in until 10, enjoyed a pumpkin scone in my pajamas, and sipped on a hot mug of Teeccino). :o)

Happy Thanksgiving!!