Lovebug updates - 28 weeks, 4 days

It's been awhile since we've put much on the blog about the baby, so here's the latest and greatest in babyland. I'm happy to share that our lovebug is doing great, as healthy and active as ever. He (& I) are getting bigger every week and it's exciting to be able to feel him all the time. His kicks and dances are so strong they actually wake me up at night. I am adjusting to my body changing and really enjoying swimming a lot as it's the one time I can just float and not have to carry around all this weight out in front of me. The baby loves swimming too and tends to gently sway more and kick less when I'm in the water.

One of the not-so-smart things I've found myself inevitably doing during pregnancy is comparing and assigning meaning between my experience being pregnant and what other pregnant ladies are going through. I think a lot of women do it, and sometimes you start to worry if you're not feeling the baby as much as they are, or not having the same symptoms, etc. (Honestly, I often find myself feeling much better than people expect and don't often relate to the usual complaints of pregnancy. I think I've just been very lucky to have an easy time with it. I also try to remember that this is all quite temporary and well worth the discomforts.) I think every body and every baby is so different that it's pretty much useless to spend energy comparing notes. That said, until recently I've been reading and hearing a lot about Braxton Hicks contractions (false or practice labor) and wondering why it wasn't happening to me. I was sort of feeling left in the dust...until last night when I had what I believe was my first real contraction. I got pretty excited and woke Adam up to tell him about it even though it was 4 a.m. Finally I could understand what everyone was talking about! Basically, my belly felt like a balloon that was being blown up until it was so big and tight that it couldn't get any harder or bigger. Then, about a minute or two later, it slowly went away. It wasn't painful, just odd. Pretty interesting.

In other news, it's been excruciatingly hot here lately with temperatures in the 90s almost every day. We're doing our best to stay cool but I'm really longing for some rain...or clouds...or just a cool day. Last weekend the house was super hot so we drove up the Historical Columbia Hwy to see some waterfalls and find some cold water. It's awesome after living in San Jose to be out of the city and in the middle of paradise in only 20 minutes. We hiked up LaTourell Falls and Horsetail Falls and didn't end up swimming a lot but got a little wet under the falls. I am a pretty embarassing hiking partner as I can't really climb very fast and get pretty short of breath. Adam was super patient and went the same speed as me, not caring when lots of people would pass us. He's a nice guy like that. We had a fun day and didn't stop to take any pictures, but here are some internet photos of where we ventured to. It really is this pretty.

Trail to Horsetail Falls

This water is way colder than it looks.


Here are a couple of photos of our nursery-in-progress. The crib was generously given to us by good friends, the dresser is a craigslist purchase and the rocking chair is a gift from my dad. We're not sure if the room is going to be super matchy, but we liked this rocket ship bedding set and might add some other items to have a "Fly Me To the Moon" nursery theme. :)


Birthing ball, box of boy shoes from a friend, baby gate, and Goodnight Moon. Just some essentials.

Note a few tiny items already hanging in the closet - fun stuff. I love sitting in the new chair and am planning on spending lots of time in this spot.

Yours truly at just before 29 weeks. Cruisin' right along.

I told the Mr. I wanted to put up a picture of him also, for good measure, and this is what I got.