30 - 40 (almost 41) weeks

In between assuring people that I would, in fact, let them know when my baby was born (family was relentless and, quite frankly, irritating with all the calls asking if I'd "had that baby yet"), getting the nursery ready, and general nesting, I dropped the ball on weekly posts which I'm kind of upset about since it would've been nice to be able to look back on tham as it already seems like an eternity since I was pregnant!

So here goes, weeks 30 through 40, and almost 41!  Everyone I know, including my doctor was certain this baby was going to come early - everyone but Chris.  He'd been talking about taking a beach trip as a sort of last hurrah with just the two of us, but because I was terrified of going into labor several hours from home and either having the baby in another city or laboring for several hours in the car on the way home, we stuck pretty close by.  About two weeks before my due date, we decided to take a weekend trip to Greensboro, NC since it's only 2 hours south.  Then we came home and waited... and waited and waited and waited.

The nursery, it turns out, was completed in plenty of time, I craved sugar more than ever the further along I got in my pregnancy, I never once had a stranger rub my belly (so the warnings were moot), I never did experience the dreaded morning sickness - all in all, my pregnancy was absolutely amazing and I wish it could've lasted longer!

29 weeks (and a few pros and cons).

I'm in the middle of my 29th week and still loving being pregnant.  I don't want to say I wish it would never end because I do want to meet my baby, obviously, and finally find out if I have a son or a daughter (a James or a Lucy), but pregnancy has been good to me.

At 29 weeks, I've learned about some pros and cons of being pregnant in public.

Pros:
- Random people (who, I imagine, would otherwise pay you no mind) flash you and your bump genuine smiles.
- Strangers wish you a Happy Mother's Day (and it makes me want to bear hug them, but that might get weird).
- Strangers in close proximity congratulate you and ask when you're due.  That makes my day every. Single. Time.
- People are more helpful (as in holding doors, reaching things, etc.).
- You can have a belly and feel absolutely beautiful in fitted clothing without even thinking about trying to suck it it (not that you could anyway).

Cons:
- Way too many people call the baby "It."  Have you seen It?  I'm not having one of those.
- Apparently, you can't have any emotions about anything, otherwise you're hormonal (much like not being pregnant and having anything you might possibly feel be blamed on the fact that you're on your period, even if you're not on your period).
- People feel it's their right, nay, their duty, to tell you that your belly is huge and you'll never make it anywhere near your due date.  My belly is 34.5" around, thank you very much.
- If you tell people how great you feel, instead of being met with the same positivity, you will be told to "just wait until (fill in the blank with something negative)," or about how awful labor is and you just wait, or "that's only because you haven't had (insert super awful pregnancy symptom)."  If pregnancy is such a beautiful thing, how come so many woman have so many pessimistic thoughts?
- You're warned about how many strangers will touch your belly, but in my experience, NO ONE touches my belly, and I want them to because I'm JUST SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS BABY!

26 and 27 weeks.

Though not shocking considering all the priorities on my to-do list that must be crossed off before Baby arrives, I've gotten behind on my weekly updates (which, really only bothers me since it seems an easy enough task).  As far as pregnancy goes, the only thing that's really changed is my energy level; much to my dismay, and following right along with typical third trimester pregnancy symptoms published everywhere that discusses pregnancy, this sudden onset fatigue has me feeling like I'm back in the first trimester, and no amount of sleep seems to re-energize me!

26 weeks:

- Our first baby shower!  Chris' aunts Amy and Anne were sweet enough to throw us a shower for friends, family, and anyone else we wanted to invite.
- My mom drove up from Florida to attend the shower and to spend time with Chris and I and her first grandchild.
- At this point I didn't have any pregnancy symptoms, and aside from my belly, you'd never guess I was growing a tiny human!

27 weeks:

- When my mom left Virginia, she headed to Pennsylvania (her family is there), then came back to Virginia for a few days before heading home to Florida.  This segment was much more relaxed since there wasn't a baby shower.
- Baby was lazy for at least half of this week and it was awful!
- My total weight gain as of this week was 15 pounds, putting me one pound less than the most I've ever weighed.  As it turns out, healthy eating really IS a good idea!

Being that today is Mother's Day, it has me thinking a lot about being a mom (not that the subject is ever bumped from first place in my mind) and what all it entails, not just in the beginning, and not just during the good times.  And those thoughts make me appreciate all the more the fact that we didn't start a family in our early 20's (or as everyone else likes to call it, "the right time") as I think we're better, calmer people and more capable parents-to-be at this stage in our lives.  I can't wait.