Week 30

I've complained before about how it's so hard to find maternity clothing (not a lot available in stores to try on - it's mostly online.)  Well add to this joyous reality - a maternity photoshoot.  Photos (for most ladies) at their heaviest weight, and perhaps their least attractive feeling, so you really just want to find some pretty clothes which will flatter you and your belly without making you look like a behemoth wearing a tent.  AND you really can't go try on that many outfits in person at the mall so if you're like me - you start ordering stuff online AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT!!

SHOPPING!!!

Unless you are highly self-disciplined and organized (I tend to be this way to an annoying level some might call "anal retentive") I'm not sure I would recommend this, but as of this writing I have perhaps $600-worth of clothing in my possession which will need to be returned to some online store or other.  And this is AFTER I already returned $1000 worth of clothes I ordered off asos.com.  Man, I was sweating a little as I threw those return packages into the bin at the local USPS and worried about them getting lost.  So after shopping at asos.com, Motherhood online, Macy's online and LOFT online (because none of the local stores had the sizes/colors I was looking for), and buying probably 30-40 pieces of clothing (different colors, different sizes), I came away with 2 dresses that fit, were the style I was looking for and will work overall (even maybe to be reused for a baby shower.)  OMG what an exhausting exercise.  I don't know that I would recommend it.  But I'm READY for my photoshoot and feeling very confident that I'll look halfway decent - so there is a lot of comfort in that.

Yes, yes, you are allowed to call me bat-shit crazy nuts.  I'm really not that high-maintenance of a person, I promise.  I just have to work REALLY hard to look good... :-/

How far along: 30 weeks, 2 days
What did baby do this week: Baby is the size of cucumber (ok, hold the phone here - in whose world is a cucumber larger than a head of lettuce?  I'm onto you, pregnancy apps and websites!!!  You're just pulling this stuff out of your butt each week!)  I'm going to rephrase that to say a LARGE, likely English cucumber - those tend to be much longer, so maybe somehow the baby is roughly the length of a large English cucumber?  Around 16" from head to heel and close to 3 pounds.  Baby is very conscious of its environment as all of its senses are working.  I also read that Baby is strong enough to grasp a finger at this point - how cute!!
Total weight gain: 24 pounds (which is still down .2 pounds from week 28 which is awesome!)
Symptoms: I do believe that the annoying symptoms are starting to catch up to me.  For the past month or so, in my weekly yoga class, I've noticed a tightness in my left butt-cheek/leg and I also sometimes notice it when I'm out walking in the evenings.  It suddenly dawned on me that I'm pretty sure this is sciatic nerve pain!  This is very common during pregnancy because as the baby gets bigger they can press on this nerve which runs from your back, through each side of your butt and down each leg to your feet.  Fortunately I'm mostly just noticing it on my left side and it's not that bad - more annoying than anything.   However, I've also noticed something very odd for the past month or maybe more: faint numbness on my heels.  I did a little Googling tonight and it SEEMS to be related to the sciatica.  I'll check in with my doctor on that next week.  I do have some ever so slight edema (swelling/water retention) in my ankles and just a bit along the top of my feet - also worse on the left side.  So I'm wondering if the numbness has anything to do with that.  But my online "research" seems to point to the sciatic nerve.  And that makes a lot of sense - if it's painful in my butt/hamstring, it's probably affecting other points along its path too.  Joyous.
Queasy or Sick: Nope
Sleep: For the first time in a very long time I got up twice in the night to use the bathroom a few days ago…Oh boy I wonder if this means we're back to getting up multiple times a night again?
Best moment this week: Working on the nursery!  Furniture was delivered last week so I've been filling in the gaps with curtains, pillows, bedding, etc.  We've been getting hand-me-downs and those registry gifts which started arriving last week are slowly finding places to live in the nursery.  It's SO HARD to believe a little baby will sleep in this room some day.  But it'll be here before we know it!
Hardest part of the week: Feeling like all those “symptoms” I mentioned up above are catching up with me.  I feel like I had so few things to complain about the first 2/3rds of my pregnancy - but I had this feeling the third trimester would start to get more uncomfortable and here it starts!

Looking forward to: Our maternity photoshoot this weekend!  I was so happy to find a photographer who does GREAT newborn photography and she offered a deal on a maternity package once you book her for newborn.  It'll will be mostly outdoor photos but she'll also be coming to our house to take a few in the nursery and some other spots.
Movement: More and more all the time.  I love feeling Baby move - but sometimes the kicks/punches (esp those hits to the bladder) seriously make my eyes bug out of my head!  Movements are still mostly along the middle part of my belly - like if I was to draw a line along the sides of my belly from where my belly button is - and lower.  No jabs to the ribs yet.  And I definitely notice the most movements on my right side so I wonder if baby is still transverse like they were in our last ultrasound...and kicking little legs and feet on the right side of my belly?
Food cravings: I'm really not a big chocolate person (said no woman ever.)  But no seriously, I'm not.  However I really have been finding myself craving rich, dense, moist chocolate cake with thick chocolate frosting.  OMG - having just typed that I might need to go out and find a piece of cake and splurge for ONCE!  But I'll refrain since I think some splurging will be happening at my baby showers...  My OB actually told me that they give out chocolate cake in the hospital to all the new moms.  Plus a sandwich with tons of bread!  That'll probably be the worst chocolate cake I've ever eaten and yet it will taste like the best!  #&%^@*$ gestational diabetes!!!!!
Happy or moody: Happy for the most part.  Feeling well prepared so I'm not anxious or nervous - YET.
Labor signs: No
Maternity clothes: Um, see my opening paragraphs...do I even need this category anymore?
Belly button in or out: In
Wedding rings on or off: On but nowhere near as loose as it usually is.
Stretch marks: No - whew!
Learnings from the week: I've been reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth which is a VERY interesting perspective if you are used to thinking about childbirth strictly happening in a hospital.  I am a fairly conservative person - try to be healthy but I don't go overboard eating organic or buying natural/green products.  We recycle, but I probably put the wrong things in the bin...  Before picking this book up, I was pretty sure I'd be asking the hospital for an epidural as I was checking in, but this book has really made me think about what I want to do and why - not necessarily changing my mind, but helped to open it a little.  The book is a bit "natural" or even "hippie" - but it is well worth reading.  It puts a very interesting spin on labor and delivery and the power a woman has over her body just by going into childbirth with an open and unafraid attitude.  It also talks about the stages of labor and really at the end of the day has made me think about what I'd LIKE my birth experience to be like.  We all know these plans often change quickly in the heat of the moment - but I'll still be so glad to have read the book.
Final Thoughts:  We took a breastfeeding class at the local hospital last night.  This is the second class Hubby and I have taken (Newborn Care was a few weeks back and Childbirth is two weeks away.)  I have to say that the breastfeeding class was WELL WORTH the time and I think we both took a lot more learnings away from it than we did the Newborn Care class.  Or maybe we just didn't know very much about breastfeeding (um yah - that is definitely true for Hubby) compared to taking care of babies.  If you are at all interested in breastfeeding your baby I'd highly recommend looking for a class at your hospital or even reaching out to your local La Leche League for tips/pointers.  Breastfeeding is very important to me and I'd definitely rather start learning about it now rather than when I'm in the hospital about to take my little one home.  This book was suggested to us at the class, and while I haven't yet gotten it I thought I'd still throw it out there to you.