*30 Weeks*

Wow, I only have TEN weeks left!

Where did the time go? Seriously?

Finals are over for me on Thursday but I needed a break from prepping for them.

Since my last few posts, my feet have been swelling to GINORMOUS sizes. I mean it. They look like someone blew up a surgical glove, complete with popped-out toes. I have to keep them elevated most of the day or they get so tight I'm afraid they'll explode. 

Another weird symptom is losing most of the circulation in the right side of my body. It's the worst at night and I've woken up more than once crying because the pain was so bad. Luckily my husband is amazing and since the 4 a.m. blessing he gave me two weeks ago, the pain hasn't been as bad.
Now it's just a numbing sensation in my hand that goes away if I hold my arm at a downward angle. It's super awesome.
I'm going to Park City with the girls to celebrate the end of Finals Week and I am SO excited to hit all the baby clothes stores!
Hopefully the snow isn't too crazy, since my feet are so swollen I can't wear anything but big flip-flops!

No Touchie

I love the fact that my belly is getting firmer and more babyful. It makes me feel totally legit, which it should, since I've only got 11 weeks left.

However, just because my belly is becoming more pronounced does not mean it's suddenly up for grabs.

I was reading an article and a mother-to-be said, "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't make my body public property!"

AGREED.

I'm not a very touchie-feely person to begin with. I hug my siblings and parents and Mike, and maybe even those friends who initiate it, but I don't like hugging and I never have.

This also means that I don't like being touched in general, so please...ward off the temptation to slap a hand to my gut. If you don't, I will remove it for you.

I get that you're excited for me. Thanks, I'm really excited too!

Just wait until Chloe is here, because wouldn't you rather hold a cute baby than my extremely stretch-marked stomach? 

My Ring

I have no problem admitting that I thought for several minutes about how to title this post. 

The Ring (scary movie)

I wish I COULD put a ring on it (Beyonce's "Single Ladies")

The one ring to rule them all (LOTR)

Yeah, none of them sounded quite right. So, here we are.

See this?

This is my wedding ring. I love it. 

For our two year anniversary, Mike got the main diamond upgraded. While I have loved it all along, I love it even more now. 

It's even pretty from the side. *sigh*

Well, a certain little girl doesn't think I should wear it. She thinks I should get it cleaned and put it away until after she's born.

I tend to agree. 

My hands are starting to swell and so I can't wear my rings, either wedding or musical CTR. It makes me so sad! I mean, I have a gorgeous ring. Seriously. As awful as it sounds, when people compliment it, I often say, "I know, right?" instead of, "Oh thanks, but yours is pretty too..." 

My ring is awesome and I know it. Bam. 

Until I can wear it again, however, I got a replacement:

$6 from Claire's, and lots of people think it's real. :)

I miss my old ring, but at least I have a replacement that looks relatively real, albeit way too huge for a poor college student. Oh well. I just want people to recognize I'm married after they stare open-mouthed at my stomach like they've never seen pregnancy before.

By the way, thanks for that, people.

It sure makes me feel less fat and less bloated and less ugly.

Well, dear ring, until we meet again, I will stare at you every night before I go to bed. 

I miss you already.

SUPER weird dream!

I woke up this morning at seven a.m. and could not go back to sleep. 

SEVEN a.m., people. 

I am the girl who sleeps in until nine and is still exhausted all the time. 

So anyways, the reason I couldn't go back to sleep is because my dream was so weird that I was wide awake, wondering how the heck any part of the dream would have popped up.

DREAM:

I'm in a hospital bed in a dark room. I can make out a lamp next to me, so I flip it on. I'm completely alone and the room is unfamiliar. I get up to look around when I realize that oh, I'm not pregnant anymore! 

I start to panic when I hear crying in a room across from mine. 

I go inside and there is my baby--except for the fact that he's almost two and is my sister's sister-in-law's son, Tanner--lying in a crib.

Apparently I had given birth and had no recollection of it.  

Just then I get a phone call from Mike.

"Hi honey, sorry I'm not home. I wanted to give you time to adjust to the fact that the doctor was wrong, we had a boy! I hope you can take back all the girl stuff we got. Oh yeah, and we need to name him."

Um, okay?!

I then take Tanner--I don't remember what I named him in the dream...it may or may not have been a masculine form of Chloe (what would that even be?)--to the docks in my red convertible, because apparently there is an ocean in Spanish Fork.

We spend the day feeding seagulls and then I wake up.

Yeah, WHAT?

Oh pregnancy, thank you for making life interesting, albeit weird.

Big Mama

Remember how I talked about how if I gained more than 20-25 pounds then I would know that Hostess had something to do with it?

That day has come.

Last night, after eating a delectable meal at Chef's Table--including, of course, Chocolate Lava Cake--Mike decided to weigh himself. After he complained about being the heaviest he's ever been, I weighed myself too.

Well, the husband is not the only one tipping the scales!

I can't even describe how I felt after reading the number. I have never been even close to this weight before now! I was doing well with exercising before my back started going out, only gaining 1-2 pounds a week.

When I found out I was pregnant, I researched the amount of weight gain that would be acceptable for my current weight/height, and it came out to be 15-25 pounds.

Well, five more pounds and I'm at my limit and I'm only TWENTY-SEVEN WEEKS!
AHHH!
I'm hoping I can lose ten pounds when school gets out, because I won't have to pack a lunch full of treats to get me through the day. Plus, I plan on going for walks when the weather stops PMSing. As my friend Elisha B. Facebooked today, "Somebody give Mother Nature some Midol and chocolate, please!"
Okay.
I have an ideal weight in mind by the time Chloe comes. A weight that will be acceptable to me, because as Mike keeps pointing out, I'm supposed to be gaining some weight.
But tell me this:
What woman is okay with gaining weight, whether or not there's a little person kicking around inside her?

Where does the time go?

I have one more week until I am in my third trimester.

I know, right?!

I am getting super huge. Super huge. My stretch marks must be having a constant party and are inviting as many friends as they can...this is not okay, but what can I do? I'm just so cordial.

Other than my feet swelling to massive proportions and my back occasionally reminding me that it doesn't love this whole baby situation, I am feeling pretty good. 

I am loving my glider (thanks again, Alyse!) and I spend most of my time in it when I'm home. Reading, homeworking, Dancing with the Stars, etc. My glider is my best friend.

Well, I am trying to stay calm and not get too stressed with the end of the semester almost upon me. I only have TWO WEEKS before Finals...ahhh!!!

I think Chloe can feel it, because she's been letting me sleep longer and not get up so much to go to the bathroom. Thanks, chick. I appreciate it.

Well, until next time when I am simultaneously loving and complaining about pregnancy, have a good day!

All Puffed Up

My feet have begun to swell!

I took my socks off last week and I was pretty shocked at how puffy they were.

 Try not to notice the ugliness of my feet, just focus on the ugly puffiness. ;)

Mike has been on my case to keep my feet up whenever I can, and I think it's really sweet that he's so concerned. He is going to be such a good daddy!

If he can take care of me and my feet, Chloe's one lucky girl!

Ouch!

I got my prenatal labs done today. It was a lot less traumatic than getting my blood drawn when I was seven weeks along...I got my paperwork filled out, my insurance card copied, and then I took everything to the lab. I handed everything to the girl behind the counter and she told me to sit down in the pink chair through the door. Seriously less than five minutes later I was out.

The phlebotomist was nice but I could feel every twitch and poke and prod of the needle...it hurt.

Last time I didn't feel the needle go in or out, and that was with the lady who kept screwing up on everyone else. No good.

I have to go back in awhile to get my blood sugar levels taken and I am not excited. It's been a few hours and my arm still has that pinched, achy feeling.

I don't love needles.