My pregnancy thus far -- the downs + ups

This post will be a bit different in style + scope than my previous reports on my pregnancy. For many of you it won't be particularly suprprising, because posts like this are more and more common.

I'm mostly thinking about my grandmas, one of whom has been living on this earth for almost a century! She has seen + lived through + done so much! (But she may not be used to pregnancy photos that include stretch marks...probably unthinkable when she was pregnant with her children!)

Luckily (at least, I think so :) ) it's thinkable now. There are all sorts of posts about "body positivity" -- loving + embracing your body however it looks, including the signs that your body stretched to house + nourish + protect a tiny human (or has grown quickly or just done other things!).

There're also versions called "body neutrality" or being "body affirming" which I like, which talk about embracing your body (its shape, limitations + capabilities), yes, but also acknowledging that you may not love your body every day -- and that's okay.

Either way the idea is not to despise your body + how it looks, but to feel comfortable in it und unhindered in doing what you want + need to do + not being hung up on outward appearances. So, that being said, Grandmas, you can just scroll past the stretch mark photos :) -- or maybe just skip to the 'normal' pregnancy photos in general, because this post talks about more than just stretch marks as 'side effects' of being pregnant.

normal, sucked in, pushed out -- either way, undeniably pregnant :)

My pregnancy has been astonishingly pleasant so far -- very little in the way of complaints -- for which I am so grateful! Some women definitely have things much more difficult + I admire their endurance. But some things had to come around eventually, right? I do, after all, only have a month to go (!!!).

So now acid reflux comes more frequently...(my pink + blue "elephant" (it used to have a fuzzy grey pillow case, but that was too hot for summer) now adorns the top of my bed with several other pillows for elevated sleeping) + sometimes I need to chew acid-reflux-tablets in the middle of the night.

Of course things like going up stairs and getting up (always roll to one side first) are more difficult + (not) fitting through narrow spaces and the like are becoming the norm.

I'm trying to emotionally accept the stretch marks on my lower tummy (not sure how long they've been there..I can't see them! My husband discovered their existence only a few days ago :) At least now I don't have to worry about getting them, because I've already got some! The pressure's off! ;) And we still like to rub my belly with belly oil :) (Stretch marks, which can be acquired for all sorts of reasons, are definitely a feature in a lot of body positivity campaigns.)

That's a lot of round belly! (+ an itchy mosquito bite front and center.. :-P ) The stretch marks look kinda like hands helping to hold our tiny human :)

Theta's kicks + punches are getting stronger, which is occasionally less-than-pleasant for me -- even though it's mostly still just funny to feel + see my stomach bulging + rippling, seemingly of its own accord. F also likes to communicate with Theta by poking back + forth with it :)

I more frequently get cramps and painful twinges in my thighs, while walking or just sitting or standing (!). (I think from pinched nerves? or just being pregnant...). I also sometimes get lower back pain (such as when we vacuumed out the car and I did too much bending over + not enough sitting while vacuuming...), but thankfully not very often.

My nightly trots-to-the-toilet or two are more often 'or two' and when I return to bed Theta has plenty to say --er, kick -- about the matter :). Luckily I still manage to fall asleep again (even if it sometimes takes a while).

My ankles have started to expand (not yet painful, but they're not so dainty as they once were :) ) And add to that record high temperatures in Kiel...it all makes for one hot, round mama! (I felt like I wanted to melt/fall asleep in the waiting room at the gynacologist's this week...and the feeling of melting continues...I am so grateful for our fan. (And can hardly live without it, waking or sleeping!))

Here I'm in the 35. SSW

Luckily we've been able to go swimming + I've taken a long cool bath (+ read through a book about the gentle birth or "Birth without Violence" by Frédérick Leboyer, who's a doctor who wrote in poetic prose).

We've packed my hospital bag, we've got a baby bed that attaches to ours, we rigged a cool changing table set up (mostly out of things we already owned :) ) + the onesies and other clothes are in the drawers.

one of those cheap-o IKEA tables became the base + a plastic basin the frame (can you tell we like IKEA?) then there's part of a camping mat that has already seen all sorts of uses in our apartment.. hooray for cheap + creative solutions!

We're trying to be ready, and yet...it's a bit funky to consider that we could have a tiny human in our arms in a week or two -- or in 6 -- depending on when Theta wants to come! As F's thesis advisor said, "In our thoroughly planned + controllable society, having children is the last real adventure" :). Here's to the new adventure -- that will change our lives forever!

(That last bit, about changing our lives forever is both exhilerating -- + terrifying. But we're trying to embrace that too. Tips in this regard are welcome :) )

37. SSW; Yup, definitely moved beyond basketball stage. At this point I'm a ball of baby belly with a head, arms + legs. Isn't it wonderful?