Adventures in Pregnancy: 30 Weeks
19 May 2014
When I was making this collage, I thought the image on the left was from about 19 weeks. I cannot believe how much I (we!) have grown in 6 weeks. And I know I have a long way to go. Bring on the muumuus!
We had our first childbirth class this past week, and it was awesome. We love our teacher and all the great info we are getting. It’s definitely exhausting, though, just in a sheer informational sense (each class is 2.5 hours long). I think Tuesday nights will be early bedtime nights for me for quite a while.
In exciting news, my cousin had her sweet baby boy this weekend! Our boys will be just a few months apart, and I can’t wait for them to be little buddies, just the way my cousin and I always were (we are almost the same age). Seeing those precious pictures of him just melted my heart. And it made me even more thrilled that we’ll be meeting our baby in a few months.
We had our 30 weeks appointment last week, and everything sounded great. I was, however, rather alarmed at how much weight I had gained in only 2 weeks: 5 pounds! I weighed myself when I got home, and our scale showed the same number as the doctor’s. But then I remembered that the weight from 2 weeks ago was taken in the morning, while this one was taken in the late afternoon. I weighed myself the next morning and was happy to find that I was 3 pounds lighter than the afternoon before, putting me right back in the normal range of weight gain. I should say, though, that I have not been worried about my weight up to this point and have not been weighing myself at home. I eat healthily and exercise, so there’s no real cause for alarm. My only concern is that extra weight gain can result in a larger baby, which, yikes, would make birth harder. That’s the only reason I’m weighing myself to make sure I’m more or less on track. That said, so much of pregnancy weight gain can be due to water retention, and all you can really do about that is avoid salt, which I mostly do. So, anyway, that was a very long way to say: I freaked out! But then everything was okay.
I continue to be amazed by my total lack of interest in dessert. Chocolate? No thanks, I’d prefer an avocado. And I’d take fruit over ice cream. Really cold fruit. It has been hot here lately (90s-100s), and even though I’m drinking a ton of water, I think my cravings for things like melons has to do with my thirst. I am *so happy* that this has coincided with summer fruit season because I am basically in cold cherry heaven!
Physically, I am still feeling good. I have to get up a few more times in the night now, and walking is a little bit more difficult, but I am still quite comfortable and grateful for that. I did have one serious bout of nausea this past week that left me reeling, wondering how on earth I managed to live through feeling that way all the time for three months. Here’s hoping I get a break on the next pregnancy!
In baby prep news, we have ordered the rest of the big items! Now we just need to work on our registry and get the furniture moved. And well, there are a million other little things, but it feels good to have the big ones taken care of. Hillary and I are going to work on baby shower invitations this week, and that will be excellent because we’re going to make them together.
I am continuing to treasure these last weekends just the two of us, but already looking forward to all the fun things we’ll be able to do with the baby when he’s a little bit bigger. This weekend Eric and I caught the end of a Tour of California stage right in downtown Pasadena, and it was awesome. We saw the final sprints and were also just generally amazed by the speed. Eric keeps up with bike racing, and I have learned a lot about it alongside him, so it was extra cool to see some familiar faces. Also, it makes me laugh that our hats are casting a shadow on our teeth!
Saturday night we made dinner together, and we haven’t done that in the longest time (ahem, mostly because I am way too hungry to eat dinner at a normal hour). Eric turned on one of our favorite albums and we danced around each other in the kitchen, chopping and stirring and smiling and marveling at our great good fortune in finding each other. I realized that this was actually an imagining of a happy marriage I’d had as a child: cooking and smiling and dancing through the kitchen together. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but I don’t know if a sweeter, more compassionate, and more considerate person than Eric has ever been born. I just love him to pieces. And I am so, so grateful. I have heard it said that the best thing can do for your children is to love your spouse. Well, little baby, we’ve got that one taken care of!

May 19, 2014 @ 09:48:40
Hearing about you and Eric makes me smile. I’m glad you guys have found each other. I think you guys will be wonderful parents!
Also, I had to laugh about your 5 pound weight gain over two weeks…only because I probably would have been happy with an ONLY 5 pound gain. Lol. It’s good to hear you’re right on track though! (I may still be losing “baby weight” right now and Luna’s almost two. Haha.)
May 19, 2014 @ 22:36:58
Aw, thank you! I know you and Mr. 246 are the same way. You guys are so sweet! I know, the weight gain thing is such a crazy roller coaster ride. I really sort of wish that instead of imposing these guidelines, they would just say, “Everybody do your best and don’t sweat it.” So much of it is just beyond our control! I haven’t even thought at all about losing the baby weight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still around 2 years from now!
May 24, 2014 @ 11:12:49
I paid no attention to guidelines after halfway through my first pregnancy. Food was just too good, and there is no reason why the pounds won’t come off later.
May 26, 2014 @ 22:36:44
Food IS so good! I just devoured my dinner leftovers and a bunch of cantaloupe…and if I had anymore left, I would eat it too! I’m really worried about it anymore–I have to eat when I’m hungry! Or else someone kicks me:)