Pregnant productivity

Yesterday I finally did some research into pediatricians, and I think we've selected the practice we want to go with once Piglet is born. I called them to ask some questions recommended by my midwives, plus a few of my own questions, and the receptionist was great and well-informed and answered all the questions to my satisfaction. This particular practice also offers what they call "prenatal visits," where small groups of expecting parents come to the office for a tour and information session, so we'll do one of those in a month or so, just to be sure. But the practice sounds great and the doctors all come highly recommended, so hopefully we are all set with that one.

Also, we signed up for a baby safety class at a local hospital, to learn infant CPR and basic first aid, along with a few other simple things that are good to know when there's going to be a new baby around the house. That combined with the fact that I have three prenatal appointments with the midwives and one ultrasound scheduled in the next two months makes it feel like things are starting to get really busy around here.

We also scheduled a maternity shoot with a fantastic local photographer for December. We'll do it when I'm about 35 weeks, which I'm hoping will be the magic window where I look quite pregnant but don't run much risk of going into labor before the shoot. We're thinking we'll do it out at Red Rocks, which should be a lovely, if chilly, setting for some photos with a real Colorado feel to them.

And, we are all registered for a 12-week Bradley childbirth class, which starts later this month. I am super excited for this--the instructor gets rave reviews, the class was surprisingly affordable, and we're hoping to meet some nice couples who are expecting a baby close to when we are. For the first class, we were instructed to bring two pillows, which sounds adorably quaint, and we are both really looking forward to it.

I'm 25 weeks today, and starting to reach the point where things are getting a little uncomfortable. So far I feel incredibly lucky with how easy this pregnancy has been--other than the month of morning sickness, I've actually felt quite good and had very few problems and discomforts. I've definitely had the stereotypically lovely second trimester, with lots of energy and very few issues, and I'm still feeling pretty good.

However, I am starting to feel large. My belly just feels full, and it's sort of difficult to comprehend how much bigger I'm going to get in the next 3.5 months. It's no longer comfortable for me to lie on my back or on my belly, even a little bit--the only way I can lie without discomfort is perfectly straight on my side, which is the recommended position at this point in pregnancy, but it's frustrating that I can't lean even a tiny bit toward my belly or my back without feeling uncomfortable. I'm also at the point where I grunt involuntarily when I get up or shift positions, and I have to use my arms to get myself off the couch. The peeing is getting out of control. And, I think I've felt a few minor Braxton Hicks contractions--every now and then, mostly at night, my belly briefly feels tight and crampy, and then it goes away again.

All of these are minor grievances, really--I haven't had much back pain, I have no sciatica issues and have so far not encountered the dreaded jimmy leg, I'm still sleeping fine other than waking up to pee, I have no itchy rashes, and so on. I know that some of this stuff is probably looming just around the corner for me, but so far I haven't experienced them, and for that I'm quite grateful.

I'm also starting to feel a bit nesty--it frustrates me that we haven't started putting the nursery together, and we have no dresser or bookshelf so I can't organize the clothes and books and toys we've collected. They're all in bags and boxes in the nursery closet right now, and while that's fine, I'm starting to get that urge to make it all pretty and organized and maybe even itemize things in a spreadsheet. I don't know if that counts as nesting, but it's certainly something that I don't normally feel compelled to do, so let's blame it on that, shall we?

In the meantime, since the nursery is on hold until we invest in some furniture, I've been satisfying myself with scheduling everything else. Hence all the plans and research. And I'm feeling very accomplished with the results. Which is helping me avoid making a bunch of expensive furniture purchases that I really shouldn't be making. Let's call that a win.