31 weeks

I know I say this every month, but I can't believe another month has come and gone. Only 9 more weeks and we get to find out what the bean is!

We're feeling pretty good about our 'baby preparedness' at this point. The nursery is all done with the exception of some putting up some knick-knacky things and filling in some small spaces, so that's a huge relief. It'll still feel empty until we get all the stuff to fill it with in the next few weeks. We're pretty happy with it, and we've gotten multiple comments on the stripes on the walls...thank you to my anal-retentive husband who spent a good 3.5 hours just taping off for the stripes with his level. I'm pretty sure they're nice and straight Chris...can we get on with the painting now?? We've also been told by many people to start stocking up on the essentials so it's not such a hit to the wallet all at once. We bought our first box of diapers from Costco a few weeks ago and Chris was a little surprised by the price...I told him that they're practically half the price at Costco than they are anywhere else so be happy about that! Oh he's going to be in for it with the cost of 'stuff' isn't he?

We've started to receive a few of the larger items we'll use which is pretty exciting. It's like there's really going to be a baby now that we're actually getting everything ready! Chris is practicing his stroller skills pretty regularly now too. We got the infant seat/carrier and stroller frame from to-be Grandma Kruger a few weeks ago, and every once in a while Chris just comes wheeling the stroller out of the baby room to, a-hem, 'make sure it's working properly'. Ha! It's pretty funny to see him just rolling around the house with it.

We're also getting ready to attend a couple of baby showers in the next couple weeks and I'm pretty sure he's more excited than I am to try out all the new things. Maybe I should sit them out and let him be the guest of honor so he can open everything!

As far as Krugie goes, everything is moving along as it should be. I don't need to get another ultrasound for now, but may need to towards the end so they can guess at the size. The heartbeat is nice and strong, and we actually get to listen to it at home now which is pretty cool. Chris has an old stethoscope so he likes to listen to it beating along at night. He/she is still rolling around constantly and the kicks are getting much stronger now. I'll feel a nice jab to my ribs and then a second later a good kick to my bladder. It's just having a grand old time in there!

How I look: Bigger...imagine that:). I'm pretty much cycling through my small collection of sundresses, skirts, and gaucho pants for the summer since all are nice and stretchy. I'm carrying everything really low so anything stretchy is my friend. I've gained 21 lbs. at this point which is nicely in the range that I'm supposed to be gaining. At this point it's mostly in my belly and hips which is awesome. I haven't seen any of it in my face (according to me at least!)yet so that's a postive. Luckily, I haven't started swelling anywhere yet either.

How I feel: Well...honestly, I've been better. At this point, I'd take the extra weight and puffiness if it would take the pain away from my stomach. I guess I've been hit with one of those painful pregnancies that I've heard about. About a month ago it started to get really painful by the end of the day when I get home...very heavy, constant pressure and constant sharp pain all around my stomach. It only goes away when I lay down and gravity stops pulling. I even started with the Braxton Hicks contractions a couple weeks ago too, which are not very comfortable. I got really scared when I noticed them sometimes happening multiple times in an hour. I went back to the doc to make sure things were ok and from my very lengthy description of what's been happening, and an exam of course, all I get is "everything is fine down there, but some people experience much more pain than others..all you can really do is lay down and rest". Well, I can't very well 'rest' during the day at work, so I now deal with it as best I can at work and then lay down all night long once I get home. I feel like I'm getting nothing done at night but I can't walk around without hunching over to try to minimize the pain. I even lay angled backwards so gravity pulls things towards my chest more, and that relieves it right away...maybe I can lay upside down at work all day so I don't feel it?? If this is how it feels now, I'm scared of how it's going to feel the last couple weeks with the extra added weight I'll have then! I was telling my chiropractor about it today and he said his wife went through the same thing with one of their kids. Every thing he said about her is exactly what's been happening to me. He said by the end she didn't do anything but lay down all day and just to get out of the house, she'd go shopping and use the electronic scooter carts since it hurt to walk far into the store. I don't want to be a scooter user!!

Because of this little issue, I've now resorted to wearing the dreaded Pregnancy Belt(thank you Jen!). It's a really lovely, pretty, thick elastic and velcro belt that straps around your hips and under the belly to support everything (imagine the guys at Lowe's and the black back supports they all wear). No, it does not fit nicely under form fitting shirts so I'm trying to wear things where the bulk won't show through. Since I've been wearing it, though it's only been a few days, it's helping just enough to keep me from having to hunch over when I walk. It kind of compresses and lifts everything so hopefully having this will let me get some of my day-to-day stuff done after work!

Here are some pictures of the baby's room since a lot of you have been asking to see what it looks like! We did all the painting way back in May. Until next time....