Pregnancy

I'm now 32 weeks along, or seven months, for those of you who aren't familiar with the forty-week countdown.

This is my third pregnancy*, and it's been the roughest yet. Pregnancy #1 was a blast; I felt fantastic, I loved it, I could have stayed pregnant forever. Pregnancy #2 was rough, though I think it was mainly rough because we were living in a big unfurnished house, and there was no place to sit down except for our bed. (All our stuff was in storage while we were having the house rewired, replastered, etc., etc.) This one, though... ugh. It's been hot, and that's been hard. But mainly, my body has changed with the previous pregnancies, so this little guy is sitting a lot lower and causing me a good bit of discomfort. And the contractions! I start having fairly big contractions after merely climbing a flight of stairs. Or sometimes, just walking from one room to the next.

The good news is that I feel pretty good, apart from the back pain and the contractions. (Did I forget to mention the back pain? Man, it's a doozie.) And the girls are enjoying the pregnancy. Caroline loves praying for her brother, and Lucy gets a kick out of the fact that my belly button has begun sticking out. She likes to compare our belly buttons these days.

I was worried that I might deliver past my due date, which would not be ideal, since Bob's scheduled to be out of town for two weeks starting just a couple days after my due date. Not being there for the delivery is NOT an option. But with all these contractions at this point in the pregnancy, I'm inclined to think I probably won't deliver late. Let's hope not, anyway.

Anyway, this little guy is looking healthy. His heartbeat is strong, he's very active, especially after about 11pm, and he gets the hiccups all the time. (I feel slightly guilty that I delighted in all of Caroline's prenatal hiccups, and I find his annoying. The novelty has worn off, I guess.) I think we've settled on his name, which won't be revealed until he makes his appearance. I can't wait to meet him!

*This is actually my fourth pregnancy, though it's the third I've carried this far. I miscarried a baby at 10 weeks, shortly before I got pregnant with Caroline.