31 Weeks

The above pic is of me at 30 weeks with baby girl.  Overall I am hugely thankful that this pregnancy has gone so much better for me than Bailey's did.  My back pain has for the most part been isolated to end of the day tired and soreness and hasn't been out of the realm of normal for my stage of pregnancy.  I will say that at ~27 weeks I had two nights of some pretty painful and scary contractions/pain that worried me quite a bit.  The contractions started out as a tightening of my abdomen and then pain would circle around to my lower back and then went into my groin area.  The first night I was able to get them to calm down by drinking a few big glasses of water and laying down, but the second night, I couldn't get them to stop.  I was in quite a lot of pain and was having trouble walking.  After calling George to come home and chatting with my Dr. and taking some Tylenol and laying down, I was able to get the intense pain to stop but had a lot of cramping on and off throughout the rest of the night.  The next morning I went into see my Dr and all the tests came back normal, thankfully confirming that I wasn't having preterm labor.  After that I was pretty crampy for the rest of the day and then had a lot of trouble with my back/hip for the following two weeks.  I saw my usual body worker and physical therapist and was able to get relief and have been much more comfortable since then.  I'm not sure what caused the cycle but have tried to be more conscious about taking it slower and drinking more water and thankfully haven't had a repeat episode.

Something that I want to be sure to remember about this pregnancy is how sweet Ainsley and Bailey have each been in their own ways about their new baby sister.  Ainsley is determined that this baby girl is going to be named Lucy, I think after our wonderful former nanny who still watches them for datenights and some overnights.  Ainsley has even started telling people that this is the baby's name when I'm not around.  I have had people come up to me after the fact assuming that her name is Lucy!  Ha!  I hope Ainsley isn't too disappointed when her name is actually something else.  :)  Also, a few weeks ago Ainsley was patient enough to hold her hands on my belly and feel the baby move for the first time.  She said, "Oh, you mean that bumping?  That bumping and bouncing is the baby moving?"  Sweet girl.  She was so excited. 

Obviously for Bailey the level of understanding has been slower but I do think he understands that there is a baby in my tummy.  He often point to my tummy and says baby or wants to rub or kiss my tummy especially now that it is so prominent all the time.  He loves to play this little game where he sits on my lap and says "Shush, baby night-night" in a whisper.  And then he makes an "Ahhhh" monster noise and laughs and says "Baby awake!"  It cracks him up and he repeats the game over and over and over.  It's pretty cute now, but I might not find it so sweet when he is trying to wakeup our newborn.

My only other recent complaints are the almost constant heartburn and pregnancy insomnia.  I had heartburn with both Ainsley and Bailey but the insomnia is new.  I know that is just part of this journey but it is so frustrating to wake up in the middle of the night around 3/3:30 and not be able to fall for 2+ hours.  I fall asleep right away in the evening but then if I don't take a Tylenol PM, without fail I wake up in the middle of the night, wide awake.  So annoying because sleep is so precious to me these days!!

Still, this pregnancy is such a blessing and I am surprised and so, so thankful to still be feeling as good as I am especially considering how much pain and discomfort my back has caused me these past two years.  It just feels unbelievable to me and I'm so excited to be bringing another baby girl into our family.  A few weeks ago I had my first real dream about her where she wasn't just a concept but an actual little baby.  It was so vivid and has stayed with me since.  I just already love her so.