PPPP

i've always admired people who compete in the pole, pedal, paddle in bend. i remember watching at the finish line at drake park when my kindergarten PE teacher was a competitor.

today we instituted a christmas eve tradition (can you call something a tradition on the first go round?): a sunset ski followed by bowls of grandma's delicious clam chowder. brandon nailed her chowder recipe and it was an incredibly comforting meal after our short ski up at happy jack. 

i am thrilled i could squeeze my feet into my ski boots (compression socks were required) and get my body in motion on the day before my due date. (i did have to wear brandon's snow clothes, as none of mine currently fit.)

as we were returning to the parking lot after our ski, i realized that over the course of my pregnancy i did my own version of the pole, pedal, paddle race. i just stretched it out over many months while carrying a whole extra person. that counts for something right? the pregnancy pole pedal paddle!

always wanting what you can't have

the biggest want i have this year for christmas is to meet this little one occupying the greater portion of my abdomen. but it looks like that wish is very unlikely to be fulfilled, given the lack of signs of labor.

the other thing i want is to go for a ski.

i have been incredibly lucky this pregnancy, with being able to keep moving freely and the absence of limitations. were it not for the snow storm in early december and the subsequent sub-zero temps (resulting in perma-crusty, slippery roads and sidewalks), i know i could have ridden my bike to work up until my last day. but the roads are still an icy mess and my concerns about wrecking my bike kept me playing it safe, so i haven't been getting my usual exercise.

i keep hearing/reading that walking is one of the best ways to get labor going. can i just say that sounds dreadful right now? i don't walk these days: i waddle. slowly and cautiously. so the idea of walking the multiple miles i would likely need to get labor going sounds like torture.

but a ski, that sounds nice and peaceful. i know it would be difficult and likely awkward, but it would mean i was up among the trees, slushing through the snow, watching my crazy mongrel of a dog bound around joyfully. this sounds far more up my ally than being drug around the park with said dog whining with discontent that there are squirrels in HIS park, while i waddle along in shame.

(i must admit that the idea of going for a ski also calls to me, perhaps, in part, because i hope the gliding motion will jostle baby o. into developing an evacuation plan.)

but my ski plans have been thwarted by my edematous hobbit feet.

i knew pregnancy wouldn't be glamorous and that parts of my body would change, but i did not expect that my feet would look like they belong to a morbidly obese person nor that they would pulse with discomfort. some days, my toes look like they are going to pop. my feet ache with each step i take right now; all this water-weight does not equate to walking on pillows of air, as my friend mia optimistically hoped. and i currently have two pairs of shoes i can tolerate wearing, so that really limits my wardrobe and comfort options. the other downside to these distended feet: they won't fit into my ski boots. sigh. so i sit here on the couch, with my feet up, hoping for relief and wanting to beg santa for three things this year:

• to go for a ski.
• to have my ankles back.
• to hold my healthy, kicking baby girl to my chest.

for the record, i would be content with only getting one of those wishes, but you have to give st. nick some options. hopefully he knows the thing i want the most!

t minus 10 weeks

how far along: 30+ weeks

total weight gain/loss: 25 lbs

maternity clothes: currently i am working on some painting projects for our kitchen remodel, so i am spending the day in painting clothes, which means my belly is hanging out the bottom of my shirt. i'm sure i have paint on my belly, but i can't see it so i'll pretend it isn't there!

stretch marks: still none, but i feel my skin on my stomach crying "mercy" so i think it is just a matter of time.

sleep: a few rough nights earlier this week, but the last two nights have been solid and i have a whole different lease on life!

best moment this week: when our friend's daughter, anjali, was able to feel the baby's movements and was so excited to "touch the baby."

food cravings: apple cider!

gender: female.

what i miss: not having a laundry list of things that i need to do every night. between the last stage of our kitchen remodel, my grading (for 4 classes!), and projects for the nursery, i wonder how i will get all this stuff done.

milestones: brandon and i completed "birthing class" this past weekend down in fort collins. it was incredibly helpful for both of us and initiated conversation that otherwise might not have come up. in addition, we squeezed in one last camping trip for the year, which is also likely the last camping trip with just the two of us. 

studying, studying, studying. oh, and baby o too!

shouldn't i be done with studying considering i've been out of school for two years? one would think. but this road to become a licensed clinical social worker involves some fortitude (and time and money and brains). i sit for my licensure exam at the end of the month, which will be the final hurdle in my journey to getting those "LCSW" initials behind my name and becoming a legitimate social worker. 

i just spent the last 2 hours taking a practice exam intended to simulate the real deal. it was brutal and i felt completely incompetent the entire time i was taking the test, all 170 questions. in the end, i passed the practice test by a pretty big buffer. hopefully i can maintain a similar score on my actual exam and put this stage of life behind me and those letters behind my name.

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in other news, baby o is doing well. we heard his/her heartbeat this past week and it is right on target. my nausea has almost entirely subsided, with brief bouts here and there, but nothing horrible like i had in the first trimester. my friend brittany (and others, i'm sure) have documented their pregnancies well with the questions below, so i decided to do the same, mostly for the sake of our families and so i stand a chance of remembering the details of this little one's hatching process.

how far along: 17 weeks

total weight gain/loss: 3 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, 9 pounds from my first-trimester-sick-all-the-time weight. 

maternity clothes: mostly maternity bottoms and regular skirts, with non-maternity shirts.

stretch marks: none. (yet.)

sleep: dependent on my half-tab of unisom. brandon was trying to get my to wean myself off of it, suggesting i was dependent, but the nurse midwife said unisom was harmless to take throughout the pregnancy, so i shot brandon the "see!" look and continued popping those little blue pills of sleep salvation.

best moment this week: laying in the grass in our backyard and feeling a few little baby movements for the first time.

movement: i think that's what i'm feeling in there. it is strange to think that for the rest of the pregnancy i will feel this baby moving.

food cravings: (gf) bagels and cream cheese and just about every fruit under the sun.

gender: we don't yet know, but are scheduled to find out august 5. most guesses from friends and family have been pro-boy. 

what i miss: feeling comfortable in my clothes without having to perpetually pull, tug, and rearrange.

milestones: i finally feel good about a contender in the girl name arena. we've been settled on the name if this is a bambino since the first few weeks of the pregnancy, but names for a bambina have been trickier.

15 weeks in oregon.
on our 8 year anniversary too.

18 weeks in wyoming.

one thing i noticed coming back from our road trip to lower elevations, is that my belly seemed to stick out a lot more at 3200 feet than it has since we returned to 7200 feet. among the many benefits of living well over a mile above sea level is that the atmospheric pressure here seems to act as free SPANX, which everyone can appreciate.