Alexa Update

A little pregnancy update for those interested...

I'm almost 32 weeks pregnant - did I just say that? It sounds totally crazy to say out loud! I feel big but not huge. When I go through growth spurts I definitely feel it though, as I have trouble breathing and am more uncomfortable walking, etc. This last week I've been feeling better in general so I think I got used to the latest spurt, which had lasted about 3 weeks and made me feel miserable.

I still throw up...every...single...morning. Actually I think there have been maybe 5 mornings throughout the whole pregnancy that I didn't throw up. So I guess it's 99% of the time. :) I'm used to it but tired of it. I hate waking up and first thing feeling awful. I am totally looking forward to not having this sickness anymore - it's been 26 weeks straight! How insane?!

I can't complain though. To be honest, aside from morning sickness, I've had a pretty textbook pregnancy thus far. No complications whatsoever (knock on wood). I feel really fortunate that way. So, there isn't too much to report!

We are about 95% done with the nursery. I'll post a pic when it's complete. It's very pink with flowers and butterflies. :) I was excited to get very girly this time since before with the twins all had to be gender neutral. All we have left to do is hang letters on the wall with her name, move some stuff out of her closet to my office, and hang the valance.

We did a 4D ultrasound (picture above). We didn't get super pictures because her knee was in front of her face almost the whole time. No front pictures at all, but we did get a few cute profile shots. The one above is my favorite. It was really cool to actually see that she is a real baby though, given that we've only had 2 other ultrasounds and they were long ago! After so many IF treatments and struggles, I still find it very hard to believe that a full-on baby can be created the natural way. How on earth does a baby develop from an egg and sperm randomly floating about as opposed to a perfect lab-created embryo placed where it should go?! So weird. But there she was, a beautifully developed little girl who grew without lab help. We could see her moving quite a bit but I didn't feel much of it. Even now at 32 weeks I don't feel a lot of movement. I think the anterior placenta impacts that a lot.

Other than that, we are going on a hospital tour Monday, I have a breastfeeding class Tuesday, I need to finish the hospital bag and we are ready. Despite my general feelings of thinking breastfeeding is gross (just to be honest), I'm going to give it a shot. I know it would be great for the baby, and much cheaper (and no bottle washing!). I also like the idea of feeling like I experienced the full "natural cycle" of getting pregnant the old fashioned way and then breastfed. Even though I highly doubt it's something I'll enjoy, I figure that I shouldn't just assume that and at least try. I will definitely pump too though - there is no way I want to be the only person feeding her! Nope, Bryan needs his share of night time feedings too. :)

I have found some peace with the whole birthing process. I've spent a lot of weeks obsessing about it and being scared but the closer I get the more I'm accepting that whatever will come will come. Alexa is transverse and I have a pretty good feeling it will be a c section. But either way, I now believe that I will *probably* live through it. A few weeks ago I would have told you there was a 50% chance I was going to die during child birth. Now THAT is progress. :)