30 weeks!

Little miss squirmy is now 30 weeks old! Or negative 10-12 weeks, depending on your viewpoint. She is about 3 pounds heavy and 16 inches long. She flutters near my hipbone and tickles me, kicks at night, and often drags what I think is her fist along my side. Every day is a day closer to meeting her and we just can't wait!  

I am feeling ok and will be better once I get around to going to the chiropractor.  Childbirth classes are great- only one left! Today we were the misfits of the class though. It was an exercise at the end of class when we practiced different birthing positions with our husbands while we were in 'eyes-open' hypnosis. I tried sitting on the floor with Gabe supporting me and it just was so uncomfortable. He kept leaning back thinking it's better for me, but really it killed my back and made me feel like I was falling, or hurting him. I whispered that to him and he leaned close to say 'what' and his 2 day old beard tickled. We shuffled quietly over to a real chair to practice and he said 'relax, peace, release' too quick and was staring at me. I told him very quietly to stop staring (meanwhile in the darkened room three other couples were breathing deeply and guiding each other peacefully). He explained he liked staring at me, and I started giggling at his earnestness and it was all over. Gabe then started messing up the cues "re-peace.... pe-lax..." and I just couldn't laugh silently any longer.  Oops. Our instructor was nice and said laughter can be a great thing during the birthing process. She did point out to the husbands, however, that there will be a point in the birthing time where even the funniest joke won't be appreciated.  Remember that Gabe!

Our class was 3 hours long and I peed 4 times and stopped on the way home to pee again. I'm not sure it can get much worse than that. 

I am swelling up because I guess I've hit blimp phase, and though I've toughed it out for weeks it is now officially time to take off the wedding rings. Underneath is nearly permanently imprinted, as well as raw and red. I'm going to try just taking them off at night and see if that is good enough. 

Nesting update: We received our crib, mattress and bedding and it's all officially set up in the baby's room!  It looks so cozy. Gabe and I also refinished a dresser and put away some of her clothes. I'll post pics of those this week. Our epic quest for a mom-mobile has also ended!  We trekked two hours west for the elusive vehicle and purchased it Thursday. Gabe has since been obsessed with learning every detail of a 2000 Saab 9-5. I'm pretty sure he could take it apart and fix it back together at this point. Pics of that to come this week as well. 

For now here is this week's belly picture: