30 Weeks

30 weeks...here we are!

And that means that the countdown just hit 9 weeks, 6 days!!!

9 WEEKS!!!!

I'm still feeling good! I have gained a little over 20 pounds so far this pregnancy. I try to stay active for as much as my back will allow. I am noticing that some of those pounds are showing up in my legs and buttocks...why does that not surprise me?! :)

I had a couple of "firsts" this week.

I finally decided to start taking advantage of parking spots reserved for pregnant women.

I used to avoid them because I always thought that there would be someone in more discomfort than me who would need it more. But I've decided enough with that hooeyness! Besides, there's only 2 places in town that even have this kind of parking - Babies R Us and the hospital on post, but at the hospital, you have to be 36 weeks AND have a permit.

And I also did Ava's first load of laundry!

And then I did another load, and another, and another, and another, and another...

And then, it finally happened.

I used Ava for a table!

Those are lemon oreos, in case you were wondering. Very delicious!

Of course, I have to talk about food now...

I haven't really had what I would classify as cravings - you know, the kind where you literally have to stop what you are doing to find that food - but I definitely have food "preferences". Now that I am nearing the end of my pregnancy (um, what?!) I have summarized my most popular food choices:

Ovaltine. 

Lay's potato chips. 

Soft-serve ice cream with a mix-in. (Sonic Blasts, mostly, and the occasional Mcflurry or Blizzard) I am patiently awaiting the return of the Rolo McFlurry: the best! They add in extra caramel drizzle!

Cinnamon-sugar toast.

Steamed broccoli.

Juicy apples.

And I am still waiting for the watermelon prices to drop. I'm planning on eating a lot of it!

I mean really...I could eat anything. It's safe to say all my aversions are long gone. I am a pregnant woman who is always glad to eat! I am wondering if taste buds can change during pregnancy. Everything I eat tastes so good to me, even if it is a food I have had 1,000 times before! Maybe it's due to the heightened sense of smell?!

I took a video of Ava and her crazy kicks. This is the right side of my belly where all the activity was. I think she was trying to straighten her leg or something - I wasn't quick enough to catch her biggest movement on video, but she made my belly stick out way farther than what's in this video! The video is posted below this photo:

(I am hoping you all can see these videos...the one from last week could not be viewed from a mobile device.)

For the most part, I don't feel very big. In fact, I kind of forget how big I actually am until I look at my belly from the side in the mirror! I am used to just looking down at my belly, so it's harder to see the "basketballness" of my belly.

Last week, I took my 29 week belly shot in the afternoon. The next morning, I was getting dressed to go for a walk, and I couldn't believe how much different my belly looked! Check it out in this photo I took:

This picture blows my mind! I look completely different! I'm pretty sure this girl has been changing her position a lot here lately, and this photo is the proof! Of course, I'm not wearing the same outfit so it's hard to make an exact comparison, but these photos look like they were taken from entirely different trimesters!

I feel like these weekly comparison photos aren't the best way to document my belly growth because her position really determines how big I look. Some weeks I look huge, and some weeks I look small. I look back on some of my weekly photos (especially last week's photo where I look really small for 29 weeks) and think, "that's not how I looked this week!"

I am beginning to think that she changes positions at night when I'm laying down. I sleep mostly on my left side. Occasionally I wake up and I'm on my back. It's funny - sleeping on my back has only been comfortable to me since the day I found out I was pregnant! I never slept on my back before now! I obviously try not to lay on my back, but sometimes it just happens. I will try sleeping on my right if I am unable to get comfortable or can't fall asleep. When I get up for the day, she has to re-orient herself to her go-to position: head to the left of my belly button and legs on my right side (and here lately I've been feeling her feet a lot higher up by my ribs).

Ava was extremely active on Monday. I usually feel lots of movement on my right side because that is where her legs are. On this particular day, all those movements I usually feel were happening on my left side. She moved all day long. The next day, she hardly moved at all and it was almost worrying me until I sat down to do some fetal counts and was reassured by her movements back on the right side. I'm thinking she got herself flipped around and spent all day trying to get back.

Ava got lost!

Tuesday must have been her recovery day, tired from the effort it took to flip back!

Now her movements are more consistent again. :)

The other night I felt her drop down or back or something... I was laying in bed and suddenly I could feel this "rush" of pressure release in my stomach, like my organs suddenly had more room! It was a very bizarre feeling, but I was glad for it because usually at the end of the day is when I am most uncomfortable, and her movement created that shift which made me feel a whole lot better!

There are only 2 more months (roughly) until her due date!! I just can't believe it! I have found myself suddenly thinking about delivery and post-delivery. It is such a crazy thing to daydream about because we have no idea how things will be until we are in the thick of it!

But I can't wait!!!

I would like to end this post with a bit of humor.

I was going through my baby boxes, and I found some real treasures.

Hair from my first haircut.

Teeth that I knocked out when I was 3 years old.

An ultrasound image from 2 months before I was born (a very, very poor image...technology sure has come a long way!).

And then...there were these:

MATERNITY CLOTHES FROM 1985!!!

Treasures indeed!