33 Weeks: Mama's First Cankles

All in all, things are relatively the same as last week.

This weekend was rough. On Saturday, we spent much of the day outside at my sister-in-law's house. We spent about five hours total in the car driving to and from that family visit, and when we got home in the evening, I spent somewhere between 3-4 hours on my feet in the kitchen, working on a cake.

At the end of the night, my back was killing me and my feet hurt. When I looked down at them, I was shocked at their appearance; I had my first-ever set of cankles!! My feet and toes were so fat I didn't even recognize them as my own. They weren't the most swollen feet I've ever seen or anything (in fact, the swelling would probably be considered relatively mild), but suddenly going from having hardly any swelling problems to having big, swollen feet was quite the shocker.

On Sunday, I spent way too many hours on my feet again, as it was my brother's fiancee's bridal shower and as one of the bridesmaids/hosts, it required more time on my feet than it did sitting down. It was nice, a success, and a good time was had by all, but OHMYGOD I was hurting by the end of it. My feet were swollen again, killing me, and my back--ouch. At one point later that day, I put my sneakers on and they were SO TIGHT. I would look down at my feet and just start laughing because I couldn't believe they were mine. It's a very weird feeling to not recognize your own feet.

I spent the majority of the remainder of my Sunday laid up on the couch with my feet propped up, but even Monday morning, I still felt like I had been hit by a truck. I guess I'm just starting to feel the effects of carrying around an extra 20+ pounds. I don't think my body is cut out for this!

Speaking of extra weight, let's check out my belly pic for the week, shall we?

33 Weeks Pregnant

I did end up retiring my engagement/wedding rings from everyday wear yesterday. They still fit, but with the swelling I had over the weekend and the increase in tightness of the rings, I just don't want to chance it anymore. They're usually relatively loose on me, and now that they're feeling kind of tight--it's time to take them off. I did buy a cheapie substitute to get me through. :)

The baby's movement has been cracking me up this week. The slow stretches and pulls are so amazing to watch and feel, and every once in a while, he/she will kick me repeatedly in the same spot--strong kicks that occur three or four times in a row. I can feel him/her getting stronger and it's kind of awe-inspiring. The other night, I was lying in bed and I suddenly saw a small bump appear on my belly, through my shirt. I pressed on it with my fingers and it was hard. By the time I lifted up my shirt to inspect it more closely, it had disappeared and that area of my belly was soft again. But I'm pretty damn sure that lump was a foot!

I've also started feeling baby hiccups on a daily basis now. On Saturday morning, I pulled out the doppler to listen to the babe's heartbeat. While I was listening, I was hearing this little sound that kept coming through over the heartbeat. After a few seconds, I realized that my stomach would move ever so slightly at the exact same time I heard the unidentified noises. It was then that I realized--I was listening to the baby's hiccups! Now, they seem so obvious every time the baby has them... I don't know whether the baby has suddenly grown big enough for me to feel them more prominently, or if I've just been oblivious up until now. Because prior to Saturday, I had only felt them once (a few weeks back), but now, like I said--I feel them every day! It's pretty cute.

We continue to pick up little things here and there for the baby. We're working on finishing things up in the nursery, building up our cloth diaper stash and supplies, and last weekend, we purchased "going home" outfits--one for a boy and one for a girl. :) It's fun to go into the nursery and look at all of the little things.

We have our second (and last) baby shower on Saturday, so we're looking forward to that. Once we get through that, we'll buy whatever else we still need, then I should be able to take and share some preliminary nursery pics! (The final ones won't be ready until after the baby is born, as we are holding out on a few things until whether we know it's a boy or a girl.)

Oh! And one of the most exciting things about this week is that we're officially in August. We woke up on Sunday morning and said, "Hey! Now we can say we're having a baby 'next month!'" A pretty big milestone, I'd say. :) We have a relatively busy month, too, so I'm sure it'll help keep things moving along for us. I cannot wait to meet this baby!