31 Weeks

This last week was the first time a complete stranger remarked on my belly. I was wary of him at first since he was singing to himself (here in Portland, talking to yourself is a sure sign of The Crazies) but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he was very polite and nice. He asked if I “knew what it was” (boy) and how far along I was (7 months) and was like, “In two months you’re going to be a mama! Congratulations!” He asked if we had any names and I said no and he laughed.

Because, no, we still don’t really have any names. We’re not revealing them beforehand anyway, but the plan is to have a shortlist to bring into the hospital so we can meet him before we name him. Problem is, we don’t really even have a shortlist. And now one of the names I liked (that Daniel was lukewarm on) just got axed because the nickname sounds terrible and singsong-y with Riley, which makes me sad but lets Daniel off the hook.

Sometimes I hate the news

Sorry, Baby. As if I didn’t have enough things to worry about. My baby may have Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, stroke and/or heart disease because I couldn’t limit myself to only gaining 10lbs while pregnant!

Even better:

“If there ever was a maternal hex, obesity might be it,” said Dr. Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the journal, “and as it turns out, even after the weight comes off, the biggest loser isn’t a mother, but her child.”

MATERNAL HEX. Could they BE any more sensationalist? Good grief. And then ending it by saying the damage is already done, so even if you DO lose the weight your baby is already at risk.

*sigh*

Hospital Prep

I think I found a going-home outfit for Baby! It’s a white onesie with gray, blue, and green rocketships and UFOs on it, plus a little green and white striped zip-up hoodie with a blue rocketship embroidery on the front, and then little gray sweatpants. I got it in “newborn” size so I’m hoping it fits and I’m planning on bringing a similarly-colored 0-3 size onesie just in case he’s huge.

I haven’t started a hospital bag yet but I’m thinking about it. I can’t stand packing early because I feel like in the meantime, I need the stuff that the bag is supposed to contain, but I’m making a mental list of things I should include. This is, of course, based mostly off lists I’ve found on the internet.

Maternity Leave

I’ve started to get things in motion for when I’m on maternity leave from work. If everything goes according to plan, my last day should be April 9 and I will return July 6 (which is a four day week!). I get six weeks disability pay (60% of my salary, pre-tax), two weeks PTO from the company (THANK YOU), two weeks of my own PTO, and then the rest is unpaid time off.

This leaves me with two more weeks of PTO (luckily, I rolled over one from last year) to use throughout the rest of the year for daycare emergencies/closures, sick time, vacations, and anything else that comes up. I was really leery of using all my PTO in one go so I think this plan works out nicely for me.

Baby and Me

The internet tells me Baby should be about 16 inches tall and around three and a half pounds. I’d estimate him at closer to four, mostly based on the ultrasound a couple of weeks ago saying he was already 3.5lbs. He’s having loads of fun stretching, rolling over, and occasionally kicking me in a rib. I can sometimes tell when he’s about to kick, because he’ll stre-e-e-tch, pause for a moment, and then BAM! I had a dream the other day that I knew where his feet were and I was tickling his toes – I woke up smiling.

Baby’s lungs are maturing and apparently he often has his eyes open when he’s awake. Creepy!

As for me, I’ve had a couple of Braxton-Hicks contractions (I think?) and walking tends to fatigue me pretty easily. I think my belly pokes out far enough that my back/legs are having a hard time adjusting to the shift in my center of gravity, and they have to work extra-hard to keep me upright and mobile. I’m still doing yoga once a week which helps, and I’m usually pretty conscious of my posture and know not to overly arch my back to make up for it. Still sucks though.

I’ve also had a bit of sciatic pain on my right-side top-of-butt which is unpleasant. It’s not debilitating, thank goodness, but it is uncomfortable. I’m getting better at remembering to pee before I leave work instead of realizing I need to go on my way home when I can’t do anything about it. Progress!

Also, chocolate basically sounds good all the time.

File Under: General, Pregnancy

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