More belly, less hair

I'm 33.5 weeks pregnant today and baby is about the size of a pineapple.  Just as I guessed, at my 32 week check-up I was told I was measuring two weeks behind, and that was after a lot of pushing and jiggling by the midwife to get the baby into a better position.  She is head-down now, but on a diagonal.  Which makes "measuring" a challenge, and also makes for some weird in-utero sensations - like a lot of activity in my right love-handle.  :)  Despite barely measuring 30 weeks, my midwife said I was right on track for weight gain.  But she also said my glucose test results actually came back on the low side and encouraged me to eat me small meals throughout the day to keep my sugar levels up.  Ugh, it sounds so easy, this whole "eating more" thing but I tell you it's not!  And I'm also finding I'm not as hungry anymore as I used to be.  I attribute that to Baby Girl deflating my poor little stomach.

Anyway, despite the dreary check-up, my belly is still getting bigger.  Thirty-nine and one half inches around to be exact.  In fact, it's officially big enough that Jude can hide under it.  Which would explain why I've been tripping over him so much lately.  He's my "mama's boy", and he loves to shadow me all around the house.  But I just don't see him down there anymore!

Peek-a-boo, there he is!

Other than the occasional leg cramp, sore back and intermittent heartburn, oh and swollen ankles when I stand in heels at graduations or weddings all day, this pregnancy is going really, really well.  I don't want to say easy, but compared to what I hear from others, I guess that's how I have it.  Even if it does make me feel a bit guilty.  Like today, I met another mama of two boys at our church's picnic.  She's due with a third boy about a month after me and is having her most difficult pregnancy yet.  So when she asks me how I'm feeling, well it just doesn't feel right to say "Oh fantastic, I hardly know I'm carrying a baby!"  Instead, I try to throw in something like "Good, but tired, especially from chasing two little boys," or "So much better now that the morning sickness is over!" or "Well I'd be sleeping great if Jude wasn't teething right now!"  But the truth is, I don't take it for granted, because having an easy pregnancy really is a HUGE blessing when you have two other toddlers.  It is certainly something I regularly thank God for!

But now, for the real point of this post.  While I may have more of a belly these days, I now have less hair.  We were in Pennsylvania the other weekend and I made a last minute phone call to my hairdresser to see if she could squeeze me in for a quick cut.  With the new baby on the way, I explained to her that I didn't know when I'd be getting out of the house again, so "let's go pretty short."  But still long enough to pull back, I added.  She must have been feeling especially sympathetic to my upcoming position because with a few snips of her shears she ensured that I would be able to go without at trim for quite some time.  Presenting, the shortest haircut I've ever had:

33 weeks, and yes I still have two legs, it just doesn't look like it in this picture!

I just wanted to explain that so ya'll wouldn't think I went out and got the hormonal mom-cut.  I didn't intend to lose that much hair.  But what's been done is done.  And it's not too, too bad.  I cannot pull it back though.  At least, not without a two extra clips holding it all up, but thanks to my pre-natal vitamins, it hopefully won't be long before we reach that point. 

And that's where we are, 4-9 weeks to go!  And that realization has kicked me into gear with the whole "get ready for baby" thing.  Jack was away at "Grandy Camp" last week (more on that in the next post!) and Jon was traveling for work.  So I was able to get a little start on Project Nursery.  It's coming along nicely, and thanks to my recent introduction to Pinterest, I've got plenty of ideas to carry me through the home stretch!  Stay tuned for more on that as well!