30 Weeks and Counting Down!

30 Weeks Pregnant

I can't believe next week I'll be counting down single digits! The pregnancy has gone by so fast. I have been truly enjoying being pregnant, but as I get bigger, it has gotten more difficult to move around....especially at work. Unfortunately, I am unable to fully perform my job description anymore. Well, at least the lifting and carrying more than 25 pounds! It is also getting harder to bend over and am a much slower walker. Today, I needed help getting a patient back into bed. Pre-pregnancy, I wouldn't of need any help and had enough strength to lift legs into bed....not anymore, unless they weigh less than me. I should be fortunate that I lasted this long. My co-worker, who is only 24 weeks, will most likely be going on disability early May. She is having a lot of lower back pain and has been using the rehab aide to do all the physical work. I am lucky that I have had no back pain, maybe an occasional ache, and am able to do most of the physical aspects of my job.

I am going to try to make it to 34 weeks before I ask my doctor to put me on disability. I see her at the end of April and will see how I feel until then. Today was a difficult day and if I saw her, I would tell her to sign the papers and I'd be on maternity leave early. But after resting and eating, I'm feeling less grumpy and well-rested after having hard day at work. If my body is holding up well by the 34th week, I'll definitely work until the 36th week. I'm pretty sure I'll stop working by then....well, if I don't go into labor by then!!

I am glad that we're living in California where I can get compensated for pregnancy-related disability and having time off to bond with the baby.

Speaking of the baby....oh man, is he an active little boy! Or at least I can feel him a lot LOT more. It feels so weird now because I can feel elbows or feet or a butt!! He does a lot of shifting around as well as giving me kicks. A lot of rolling motion along with jabs. Baby boy really loves the right side of my belly as it's really hard on that side. He likes to curl on my my right side, right under my rib cage. Chuck and I like to lightly poke/push on him because he likes to push back. It's so entertaining.

We're constantly preparing for the little baby. Unfortunately, we're not unpacking much of anything as we're planning to move sometime soon...either right before or after he's here. If he comes early, I'll have to get a few things out and ready for his arrival. Luckily, our stroller comes with a bassinet and we're going to use that for sleeping quarters until we can set up the crib. Just park it by our bed, put the brakes on and have him sleep in it. I love our UPPAbaby Vista stroller. It's so functional and rides really smoothly. We also have a card seat adapter, thanks to our lovely friend Hitomi, and our car seat clicks into place in lieu of the seat and bassinet.

We're almost done buying for baby except for a few things that can wait until we move into another place. But it's so difficult to resist the urge to buy!!! I like going onto www.babysteals.com and www.mamabargains.com as they have pretty good deals. Today, I just had to buy this changing pad to go with my ERGObaby carrier:

I have a changing pad that came with our diaper bag, but may not want to carry a diaper bag around if we use this carrier. It was 1/2-off, so I bit the bullet and bought it. Don't you just love it!

I can't wait until we get a bigger place because right now 1/4 of our living space is full of baby stuff!

How Far Along: 30 weeks and only 10 more to go :)
Total Weight Gain: 26 lbs. and hopefully only 9 more lbs. to gain!
Maternity Clothes: Definitely...my shirts are getting stretched out more and more.
Sleep: Sleeping well at least 6 1/2 - 7 hours and getting up just once to pee.
Best Moment of the Week: Feeling baby boy's elbow or foot or butt!! What a cutie pie.

Movement: A lot of jabbing, shifting and rolling around motions. He likes to push back when we push on him.
Food Craving: Everything.
Food Aversions: None!
Morning Sickness: At times, but it passes in the morning.
Gender: It's a boy!
Labor Signs: Not for 10 weeks, + or - 1 weeks.
Belly Button: I'm trying to poke out!
What I Miss: Deli meat.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Not working!!!! And to get a much bigger belly so people aren't so surprised that I'm 7, almost 8 months pregnant. Guess I'm small for being 30 weeks. But really, I've gained 26 pounds!
Weekly Wisdom: It's okay to ask for help. Don't be superwoman and do everything yourself...at least at work. At home, I have no qualms having Chuck help me:)
Milestones: Making it to the 30th week!!!!!!!