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We went to the doctor on Monday, and everything looks good so far! No weight gain this week (kind of hard to eat a lot at this stage in the game). Baby’s heartrate was 157, and she was very wiggly. I get the impression she does not like the little doppler heart rate monitor.

I asked the doctor a million questions about labor with the the second baby because everyone keeps saying you deliver faster the second time around. I am terrified of not having the opportunity to get an epidural. I don’t care what people out there say about natural birth, blah blah blah. I have a pretty high pain tolerance (so many doctors have told me), and I would like to skip a little bit of birthing pain if at all possible. Haven’t we, as women, suffered enough over our lifetimes with morning sickness, cramps, migraines, not being able to take medicine during pregnancy, etc.? I’m ok with a little break here and there ;).

The doctor has an ultrasound scheduled for next week (on my birthday!) to see how big Baby Franza is and to make sure everything looks ok.

This baby is spinning in my body like a Tasmanian devil. My goodness. There must be more room to spin inside my body this pregnancy as compared to the first time. My stomach looks like a horror movie, twisting and turning about. At times, she smashes her head into my bladder, and it sends a shooting pain through my pelvis. Wee!

The spinning like a maniac seems to be reserved for certain times of the day, specifically 7am-7:30am and 8pm-10pm. I try to remember that it’s a good sign. Think positively through the dagger elbows slicing my insides up!

We had a doctor’s appointment, and baby’s heartbeat was 155. No weight gain this week. No strep B.

We are in that period of weekly doctor appointments now so it seems like we are always at the doctor. On November 14th (my birthday), we will have an ultrasound to see if baby is looking good for delivery soon. That’s a fun birthday treat–the ultrasound, not the talk of labor!

 

Last weekend our families threw us a lovely baby shower at the local golf club. It was a very nice day, slightly cool but nice and sunny. We had just thrown my dad’s surprise 60th birthday party the day before so many people were still in town and came to the shower, too.

I was a little nervous about the shower being overwhelming or having a million people, but it was just right! The theme was foxes for Baby Franza, and my dad had made little fox cookies that everyone adored. I didn’t get to eat much, but I am told that the food was delicious. The cheese was pretty tasty :).

After we chatted with guests for a while, both Peter and I opened gifts. It was so nice that people bought Emma little gifts to get her excited about being a big sister. I had been trying to remember to buy her a big sister book, but luckily Emma got a few. She really enjoys reading them and seeing what things a big sister does. Also, I now have a few adorable matching sister outfits that I will definitely be using for photo opportunities!

We got many diapers; it’s GREAT! The baby’s closet is filled with them, and that is just the best thing ever.

Now we are just trying to wrap up loose ends in the baby’s room to try to get everything together. My energy level is quickly fading so doing small things feels like running a marathon. I’m hoping to pretty much have the room wrapped up this weekend, and then maybe I will take some pictures and upload them here.

 

Today marks 32 weeks and 5 days, which means there are approximately 50 days left until Baby Franza’s arrival. There is something good and also overwhelming about that.

#1 The good part is that I will feel more like a human again in about 50 days–minus the sleep. I am extremely exhausted lately, and it is definitely from the pregnancy insomnia that is happening right now. I feel like I just toss and turn all night. I also keep waking up on my back…which feels amazing to sleep like that, but pregnant ladies are not supposed to sleep on their back. Flipping over in the middle of the night is quite the hassle, but Peter is a good sport about me grabbing onto him as a lever to hoist myself over. What a nice guy 🙂 I’m pretty much dead once 8pm hits. It’s a miracle if I can make it through a TV show at night. I find that it takes about 3 days to actually make it through a television show lately.

My pelvis is pretty sore right about now so I’m trying to distract myself from pain by walking around stores and window shopping. It is nice to walk around a store at my own pace and just browse through each aisle.

#2 The overwhelming part about things is just feeling like I have to wrap up projects at work and possibly train a temp; this idea sounds like a nightmare to me, and I dread the idea of it. I also have to clean the house one of these days but see point #1. The days are much shorter when you are exhausted.

The idea of having maternity leave during the fall/winter actually sounds pretty good though. Here are some highlights:

• Not having to drive to work at 8am in the dark
• Not having to drive home at 5pm in the dark
• Being able to plan Emma’s birthday party
• Being able to have a little cupcake party for Emma at her school during the week of Christmas
• Being home during the holidays
• Having Peter work from home during this leave which means I might actually be able to shower and brush my teeth
• Actually being able to celebrate Christmas this time versus last time
• Being able to walk around the block during the month of November/December before it gets too cold
• Hoping that most people take lots of time off at work during this season so I don’t miss much at work