30 Weeks

Thirty weeks seems like a big milestone.  Ten weeks remain!  The countdown begins!  It's weird to think that just a little less than 10 weeks ago is when we went to DC.  That doesn't seem that long ago at all, so just that much (and a little more) left.

Jack seems to stay in a similar position and has for a couple of weeks.  I can tell by his movements.  He often pushes off of my left hip with a hand or foot and then, at the same time, a large part of his body (his head or bottom, I think) pushes at the top, right side of my belly.  This way, he is moving across my belly diagonally, which is always quite interesting.

At 30 weeks, our Jack could survive on the outside with medical assistance--this has been the case for a few weeks.  While there is no history of pre-term labor in my family to my knowledge (our babies always seem to be late), it brings me a bit of peace to know how far we have come.

I have a doctor's appointment next week, and I haven't heard back about my glucose tolerance test from a couple of weeks ago.  "No news is good news," they said.  I guess that means I passed, which means no gestational diabetes (yay!) and no follow-up three-hour test (double yay!).  I can't say how relieved I am about both of those things.

Eliot is all about his baby brother.  He's always trying to climb all over me to talk to Jack, rub my tummy, kiss Jack, and so on.  It's so precious, but I try to remind him that he can't exactly sit on my stomach or put too much weight on me for very long.  Eliot also occasionally likes to growl like a dinosaur at Jack.  Just as I try to savor this time with Jack on the inside as I anticipate loving him on the outside, I'm trying to soak up this special relationship that Eliot has with Jack in my belly.

As time goes on, I am worrying less and less about Eliot adjusting to the new baby.  He loves babies and already shows love for his Jack.  My friend Stephanie visited recently with her husband and their almost-ten-month-old baby boy, Azriel.  Eliot loved playing with Azriel and asked each morning to "go upstairs.  Baby!  Check it out!"  Of course, Eliot did have some "mine" moments, but it didn't take too much to encourage him to share.  And he only tackled Azriel once over their three-day visit....  I know Eliot and Jack will have their conflicts, but I think Eliot is at a good place as far as welcoming his baby brother goes.

Allow me to whine a little.  Just a little.  I try not to complain, but I suppose it is acceptable every few weeks.  I've entered that uncomfortable place, and, yes, I am aware that it is "only going to get worse," so just go ahead and save yourself the trouble of feeling the need to point that out.  It has grown more difficult to breathe, especially when laying down, like someone is pushing my lungs (because, hey, he is!).  At night, my legs and hips ache horribly, which keeps me up, but some adjustments with pillows have helped enough to get by.  Oddly enough, my heartburn has decreased.  I used to think that I was carrying low, but lately Jack seems to be rising up up up, a clear explanation for a lot of my discomforts.  Chris says that this pregnancy seems to be a little more difficult for me.  It has in some ways, yet I keep in mind that I am chasing a toddler this time--and the weather is nice now whereas last time it was growing closer to winter.

My friend Liz made this adorable fox hat for Jack.  She also made Eliot a couple of hats when he was born, so I'm excited for Jack to have a special Liz-made hat too.  Isn't it so cute?

I think I've lost a couple of pounds over the past couple of weeks, which is kind of weird; however, I'm not really concerned.  I've been more active with the warmer weather, and I eat when I'm hungry.  I have Luna bars stashed in my nightstand for when I wake up starving at 4:00 am.  And I can tell that Jack is continuing to grow.

I try to remember what was going on last time at 30 weeks....  I was painting the tree mural in Eliot's room.  The nursery was almost together.  I had already had my shower.  We were a few weeks from Thanksgiving.  In my memory, all of that (and what quickly followed) felt like the end of my pregnancy with Eliot.  I'm sure it will go just as quickly this time.  Ten weeks left, I keep telling myself.  Soon we'll be down to single digits.