joys and woes of pregnancy

it's interesting what comments a pregnant belly can provoke from complete strangers. like they're suddenly your best friend and can say anything. granted these conversations weren't with complete strangers, but still... these both happened last night at the gym.

conversation #1:

stranger: "dang girl, look at you! you look like you have a basketball in there."

me: "yeah, i'm seriously growing by the day."

stranger: "so when are you due, the end of this month right?"

me: "no actually not until the end of next month." (but thanks for reminding me, sir.)

conversation #2:

stranger: "how are you doing hilary? you look so great, you're like a little bullet. you're all baby, and nowhere else."

me: "oh you're so sweet, i'm doing good. how are you?"

stranger: "i'm doing good. you are not carrying in your breasts at all are you? it's all in your belly. when i was pregnant, i carried so much in my breasts. but you didn't get much there did you?"

me: (probably red in the face and wanting to say, gee thanks, i never noticed i was flat!) "oh, haha! yep i was hoping to get more up top with pregnancy, but i guess not. maybe when i breast feed!"

anyway, just thought i'd share the humor. i've pretty much come to terms that people just say whatever they want when you're pregnant and you better get used to it. don't worry, i didn't take it to heart.

here's a progression of the ever growing belly:

24 weeks

28.5 weeks

32 weeks (i'm now almost 34 weeks)

here are some things that i have experienced with pregnancy over the past month or so and some fun facts about our sweet little dame that will be here very soon.

• she gets the hiccups almost daily, sometimes multiple times a day.
• she moves like crazy lately which is so fun to feel and watch my stomach move!
• she's our little chub. :) at my 28 week appointment they predicted she was around 2 lbs 13 oz which put her in the 75th - 90th percentile and me a week to a week 1/2 earlier in my pregnancy.
• that same appointment we had a 3d ultrasound and we could see that she had pouty lips, chubby cheeks like her momma and her grandpa clark's chin. :) it is adorable and i love it.
• she likes to kick her mommy in the ribs lately.
• this one has started to fade with the recent uncomfortableness (is that a word?) but when the opportunity presents itself (which is most every day these days), i get 9 - 11 hours of sleep night after night. i'm a tired girl.
• this one's also started to subside, but a few weeks ago i was craving orange juice like crazy.
• a couple constants in this entire pregnancy have been vivid and interesting dreams... and nose bleeds just about every time i blow my nose.
• over christmas break, two significant things happened that i had never experienced before in my life: 1) never knew before what this even felt like, but heart burn became my best friend - let me correct myself, TUMS became my best friend and 2) my rectus abdominis muscles separated and it weirded me out when i noticed it one day. sayonara ab exercises... 'til we meet again.
• i now tell my classes at gold's how to do abs rather than show them.
• my heart burn really only peaked at christmas and was a temporary thing and then BAM - a few nights ago it was back. basically i'm learning what foods i cannot eat and pizza is one of them.
• i often get a tingling/numb feeling directly beneath the center of my ribs/sternum.
• i almost passed out at church a few weeks ago... very suddenly a horrible sensation came over my entire body, i felt dizzy, had blurred vision, clouded hearing, then proceeded to feel hot all over my entire body and sweat profusely. a few minutes later i was fine... we concluded that i was sitting for too long and had probably compressed a blood vessel slowing the blood flow to my brain. moral of that story: don't sit for an extended period of time and lay down on the floor if it happens again.
• fiber one has become another one of my new best friends...
• sometimes i feel like i can't breathe. i prop myself up when i sleep, but sometimes it's not even when i'm laying down and it freaks me out... i've read that it is due to 1) pregnant women have more blood pumping and therefore need more oxygen with each breath and 2) the baby is pushing up on everything making it indeed harder to breathe.
• i can't help but envy people who have a waist line and wonder if i'll ever have one again...

here are some of the pictures from our 3d ultrasound. :)

this one's my favorite and show's her skeen chin so well. :)

and this is what we did for our fhe activity the other night:

last night i started to wash her clothes and get some things ready, which got me so excited. :) i am also finally getting so close to making a decision on fabric for bedding and her furniture should be here soon, yay! we are getting so anxious to meet this baby!!