33 weeks

I feel like I should preface this blogpost by saying that I'm still very excited about Nora and the upcoming birth of my firstborn daughter. I'm a writer, so when I strive to document details in an honest way, sometimes they're not pretty. :-)

On Tuesday, I am 33 weeks pregnant, presumably with around 7 to go.

This baby weighs over 4 pounds now — and I feel every bit of that on my sciatic nerve and bladder. I'm starting to develop a noticeable waddle. My husband has to lift me out of chairs. I have to make sure while I'm eating 24 hours a day that I'm completely upright — otherwise my uterus falls onto my stomach and makes me nauseous.

Nora is still more active than I think any other baby has ever been in utero. When I describe her jabs as sometimes painful (and always constant), I mean they can be PAINFUL. Like take out your liver and ribs painful. Jonathan finally believes me, he's seen her in action.

I don't sleep the best, especially in the early morning hours. I'm wondering now when to make the transition to sleeping upright in a chair (at which time I'll probably also make the transition to Depends).

Oxygen is about as hard to come by as sleep these days. Nora's pressing on my lungs and I walk around sounding like I'm having a perpetual asthma attack. When she drops, I hear that will help alleviate the pressure on my lungs some, but then there's the bladder issue again...

Labor occupies the majority of my thoughts now. There are so many decisions — and, yet, ironically, there's so little control over the birth process. We have a birth class all day Saturday, so I'm interested to see what we'll learn and if it'll change my mind about anything in my birth plan. I'm just ready to get this show on the road and meet my little girl/get my own body back!!!

Me & Nora: 33 weeks