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At 32 weeks, It’s starting to feel like my boy is running out of space in my belly. Perhaps he’s been growing faster than my body can stretch or perhaps that’s just what it feels like as he gets tighter and tighter in there until my due date. I can tell his head is down where it’s supposed to be a lot of the time now, which means it’s getting easier to tell where his arms, bum and legs are located, especially when he’s moving. Which is often. It’s neat to look down at my belly and almost be able to visualize the little guy. His nursery is all ready. His coming home outfit is ready and his diaper bag is packed for the hospital. His clothes are washed and waiting in his dresser. Diapers, wipes, bibs, burp cloths are all stocked. We are ready for him. Of course, there will be more nesting to be done in the next 8 weeks… I’d love to have a stockpile of frozen meals and I’m hoping for the inspiration to clean out the pantry. I started packing my own suitcase for the hospital and then realized most of what I need I’ll have to throw in at the last minute (clothes I’m still wearing every week, toiletries, chargers for electronics, snacks, etc.) In a few weeks I’ll wash the infant car seat cover and install it in our van. In some ways, I’m so ready to not be pregnant anymore, and in other ways, it feels like I’ve been pregnant for so long that I can’t imagine not being pregnant. It will be a strange feeling to not be physically connect to my son anymore. More than anything, I’m excited to see and hold my son in my arms, to kiss his little face, and to share him with the rest of my family.

Oh man… it’s been 3.5 weeks since I’ve updated my blog. I used to post daily. Now I’m not even sure where to begin again. The past several weeks have been packed full—busy work deadlines, a spontaneous roadie trip on the tour bus with Jason to Texas, my baby shower and visit from out of town family, a weekend retreat in Atlanta with my foster/adoptive mom friends, the reopening of my Etsy shop and my first wedding invitation order in ages, and most of all—growing a baby is tiring! This space has been nudged down the priority list and that makes me sad. I’m back with a 28 Week update on my little Froggie…but thing is, I’m actually 30 weeks now. I did manage to get my 28 week photos so the growth progression here is accurate:

At 30 weeks I’m feeling…big. My face is getting rounder. Ok, everything is getting rounder. It takes a lot of effort to roll from one side to the other when I’m sleeping, I have to pee every 30 minutes and my back and legs take the brunt of the struggle with aches and cramps (depending on whether I’m standing/walking a lot or sitting a lot). I waddle.

That will be the extent of my complaining. Mostly, it’s awesome. I’m still enjoying food a lot but have to keep the quantity down since my stomach is getting smaller. My baby boy is growing bigger everyday, strong and healthy. Everything has checked out perfectly at my prenatal visits, which just increased to biweekly, including a passed gestational diabetes test last week. My boy moves around a ton and I still think it’s the most fascinating thing ever. He’s mostly still at night, just shifting when I shift. During the day he has several long periods of sleep and several active periods. He hiccups regularly and ever since I read that you can tell where the baby’s head is based on where you feel the hiccups, that’s been a new game we play. He’s starting to move his head down into the position where he’ll be waiting until delivery but he also spends a fair amount of time traverse, too. (That’s lying horizontally across my belly.) I love to interact with him. It’s funny to imagine a baby out of the womb that you just keep poking and pushing on, waiting for him to push back. But while he’s on the inside, that’s the only affectionate touch we get. I love my little son so much already. I’m very excited for his birth and getting to hold him, kiss his little face and rubbing my cheek against his soft hair.

We get asked regularly about his name. I think I’ve already explained that we’re not telling until he’s born but that’s also because we’re not telling until we decide and we probably won’t decide until he’s born. I think we have agreed on a top 3 but it’s too soon to say. I’ve resorted to the fluffy, cuddly nickname of Sonny Bunny when I speak to him.

Ali still refers to him as Donut everyday. If she wants to call her little brother Donut for the rest of his life, it’s fine by me. I’m really excited to see how Ali interacts with him. She hasn’t shown the slightest hint of jealousy, even with the influx of baby gifts, the appointments, and the way it’s limited my interactions with her (when I’m too tired to play or my back is too sore to pick her up). She’s been such a gentle and loving big sister already. She talks to him and rubs my belly. Every night she thanks God for Baby Donut. We talk a lot about what to expect. She’s eager to teach him how to talk and how to play with toys and how to eat real food. I’ve warned her that at first all we need to teach him is that he’s loved by giving him lots of hugs and kisses and meeting his needs with milk and fresh diaper changes. She’s excited to help with feeding and changing too. We had a gift return credit at Target last night so I asked Ali to help me pick out something for baby brother. She picked this hoodie sweatshirt. Then she spotted some purple pants she liked for herself. We were looking through the girls t-shirts and I spotted one with a big glittery donut on it that I just couldn’t resist. She (ok, we all) love donuts around here. I think we should definitely celebrate his birth and their first meeting with a box of Dunkin Donuts. Blueberry cake for me, please.

68 days til my due date! But who’s counting?