36 weeks

Here we are at a little over eight months, just one week from technically full-term.


(Nice hair. Man, do I need a haircut.)

My shirts are getting awfully short at this point. I don't really feel ready for labor in a few weeks, but there have been a few twinges that suggest it's going to happen. At my checkup Tuesday the midwife remarked, "You were having a Braxton Hicks contraction while I was helping you lie down." I didn't feel a thing, but it's good to know I'm actually having them, I guess. The checkup went well: I finally met the third midwife of the three who might be attending me, my blood pressure is slightly higher than normal for me but not actually high, and L.E.O. is still all systems go. Now to get through the next two to six weeks.

32 weeks

Here we are at seven and a half (approximately) months, and I am definitely looking pregnant.



(Sorry for the blurriness. Blame Eric.)

Apparently I look pregnant enough now that strangers don't hesitate to identify me as such. I went to Joann yesterday to get fabric to make L.E.O.'s quilt and "bumper," and the clerk looked at my selections and said, "Is this a quilt for the new little one?" Later, I went to Andersons for fruit and cheese and a basil plant (since none of the seeds I planted came up) and slipped on a raspberry in the produce section and fell flat on the floor. There was this horrified collective gasp by the people around me; a couple of people rushed to help me up, and a woman walked up to say "Are you here with anyone? Did you slip, or did you faint?" (I fell on my side, and L.E.O. didn't seem to be hurt. In fact she seemed to have slept through the entire thing. Before long she was bouncing around as usual. Apparently she thinks the way to get out of me is by punching a hole through, like a chick in an egg.)

28 weeks

I am now officially in my third trimester and officially into maternity clothes. (This happens to be one of two tank tops I already had that are long enough to cover maternity pants for the moment.) I bought a few things, and Mom gave me some, and so did Carol, so I think I'll be set, at least for a while (and if all else fails, I have a loose dress or two). Someone at work told me I was awfully small for someone in her third trimester. Apparently twenty-two pounds don't show as much as you'd think, at least not on me.

L.E.O. is getting very squirmy these days. You'd think she'd realize her happy womb-without-a-view days are numbered and enjoy them, but apparently no. Or maybe she wants to bug me as much as possible while I can't get at her to do anything about it.

24 weeks

Here's me at 24 weeks:


It's definitely starting to be a belly at this point--though still not an unambiguously pregnant one. I tried out a maternity top on my business trip and it worked out very well, but the maternity pants still don't feel like they're going to stay up.

My low blood pressure (which is completely normal at this stage, I understand) tripped me up a little on the trip--I arrived at the airport and met Michelle, the person I was traveling with; she was standing by the gate so I did too. Before long I started getting woozy and there were no chairs around, so I squatted beside my bags. Michelle, naturally, got concerned; I tried to tell her everything was fine, but I couldn't manage to stand back up for more than a few seconds, so she sweet-talked our way onto the plane early and took my bags and walked me to my seat and forced me to take her water. I recovered pretty quickly once I was sitting but had a headache the rest of the day, so she was probably right to be concerned. I thanked her repeatedly and didn't object when she wanted to know whether we knew the sex and what the name would be and how long we'd been trying and so forth. It wasn't a bad price to pay.

Yesterday we visited our friends Courtney and Ryan and got a big bag of baby stuff, a bunch of clothes and a bathtub and announcements and some pacifier tethers (and pacifiers, but I'd rather just buy new ones). And my Aunt Karolyn and Jaime and Bev all sent me things, and Eric's sister and brother-in-law Angie and Matt gave us a swing they'd gotten a good deal on, so we've now got a nice stash of baby stuff in what we're now calling the nurserary (since the books haven't been moved out yet). At this rate, we should be in good shape by the time L.E.O. puts in her appearance--which is starting to feel terrifyingly soon, even though we've got 16 weeks left.

Halfway there

This was not the picture I meant, but since I've had to put away my old pants, we decided it was time to start thinking about bump pictures again. So here's me at twenty weeks:


There's a bit of a change if you compare it to the baseline, but so far I just look like I need to do some sit-ups. At least when I'm wearing my regular clothes--Mom sent some maternity clothes that pretty much scream "look at me, I'm pregnant!" so if I start feeling insecure about my disappearing waist I could always walk around in those.

Twelve weeks and counting

Here I am at twelve weeks:


We'll call that a baseline, since I've gained no weight and my pants still fit (though the tighter ones with inelastic bands are uncomfortable). Onward into the second trimester.