Appetite, reset!

Now, it could be totally unrelated, but I think the food poisoning may have actually re-set some sort of hormonal balance in my body… since I’ve been better I’ve finally started having the appetite that I’ve been looking forward to having all pregnancy!!!

Also, the baby has already dropped quite a bit, so my stomach appears to have more room than it has had in the past couple of months, which I’m sure is helping, too.

So here’s to pigging out (on healthy food mostly, I swear) and building B’s brain and fat stores! According to the people who are supposed to know, B is probably as long as it’ll get, and is now just finishing up building organs (mostly that huge brain) and plumping up with fat so that it doesn’t look like a wrinkly 100-year-old when it’s born.

B is just getting more and more active. The other night at bed it was SO active I had to have M come and do a laying on of hands and use his magic baby-soothing voice to help the little one calm down (which thankfully worked). It felt like B was having an epileptic seizure!

I’ve now had a couple of baby dreams finally, but they’re about parts of the baby recognizably pushing out through my tummy (well not through, but underneath the skin with enough force to be really confident about which part it is if you know what I mean). And I mean really pushing out… like sticking out feet from my tummy. They’ve been a bit horrific to be honest. Luckily they’ve been short.

Still absolutely no dreams or gut feelings about gender. Friends and fam are still taking bets — right now boy and girl predictions are about even. BD has instructed me to take a picture of myself sticking my tongue out. Looking at the tongue is how he apparently has made 15 correct predictions in the past. Go fig. He’s on the opposite coast of the country, so a picture will have to do. Of course, if he ends up being wrong, he can blame it on the fact that the picture must not have been a representative likeness. 😉

Did I already mention that since we’re now in the 3rd trimester, I see our CNM every two weeks? I guess it’s necessary because they need to keep an eye out for complications like preeclampsia, but I wonder if it’s really necessary? Not that I don’t mind saying hi to the midwives (there are actually three at the practice I use), they’re all really great ladies. It just seems like overkill. I’m sure I won’t think that though if they find something on one of these routine visits — then I’ll be super thankful for that overkill!

B got spoiled six ways to Sunday a couple of weekends ago. MM and a girlfriend from Philly threw the best baby shower ever! I’m always weirded out a bit by having parties which focus primarily on me… I’m sort of anti-social. But for this I just kept reminding myself that it was all about B, and that helped me to stay relaxed and really enjoy myself. I was overwhelmed (in the very good way) by everyone’s presence, kindness, and amazing generosity. I got to visit with everyone a bit, and many of them were people I don’t get to see very often, so it was quite lovely.

All of B’s loot is spread out on a table in our living room since B’s room still is in no shape whatsoever to start having baby stuff stored in it. M is doing some electrical work still in that room, and once that’s done then we can start trying to put the rest of it together. I’m resisting the temptation to get cute but ridiculously expensive furniture. It’s just going to get all beat up anyway over the next few years. Thankfully, while I want to decorate the room, I’m not feeling the urge to have to keep up with the Joneses — I won’t have a Pottery Barn picture-worthy nursery (from a furniture standpoint), and that’s perfectly fine with me! But I really do have to prioritize on what’s important, because even going half-hog instead of whole-hog on nursery furniture can turn into a costly proposition.

Oh yeah, Christmas! We had a lovely Christmas, and I took advantage of imaginary-people-gift-giving perogative and gave M a gift from B. 😉 Since the shower wasn’t co-ed, M hadn’t had an opportunity to open any baby gifts. Also, while B did get a couple of outfits which had “mommy” on them in some context, none had “daddy”. So I found a couple of cute (and wow cheap!) onesies from a good brand that say “Big deal like my daddy” and “My daddy is out of this world”. It was surprisingly difficult to find gender-neutral stuff with “daddy”! Almost everything that had “daddy” on it was a sports theme like “Daddy’s little slugger”, or a gender theme like “Daddy’s little man.” Now, while a little girl B could certainly end up being a slugger, I think an outfit like that would certainly cause unnecessary confusion for anyone meeting B on the street. A baby girl can get away with wearing blue now, and a boy can get away with wearing pink… but this was pushing it (never mind that we’re not into baseball). Now, get B a little hockey jersey and I’d be all over that!! 🙂 Of course, around here, both boys and girls play ice hockey when young, so it just wouldn’t be a problem.

As I mentioned before, B is hanging out lower than before, and while that’s great news for my stomach and lungs, it’s back to wow-I’ve-never-had-to-pee-so-much-in-my-life-ville for my bladder. And the books that predict that one gets more tired in the 3rd trimester are absolutely correct! I’m back to yawning and napping, and I’m sleeping so heavily in the night that even with the bladder pressure I’m only up generally 2-3 times a night instead of 4-5 to visit the bathroom.

Speaking of napping… there’s a couch that is seriously calling my name just now. Bye!