Chubby: 31 Weeks

How far along: 31.1

How big is baby: The size of a Pineapple

Sleep: Still not quite there yet. The heartburn has been keeping me from going to sleep and then I wake up to pee a few times. Lincoln has also been a ridiculously early riser from his previous wake times and I have trouble staying awake during nap time.

Clothes: I’m still in love with the Mossimo tank tops from Target. And the Liz Lang Maternity ones I wear too. I was a little p.o.’ed by my white tank top that I used for my block photos this week, but whatever. Can’t be perfect. I think I have about 300 pictures trying to get perfect by myself.

Food cravings/aversions: Heartburn is HORRIBLE. The worst part is trying to convince myself to drink enough water because anything and everything creates more acid. So, I caved. I bought Zantac yesterday… I still like salads and I’ve even been putting BROCCOLI on them. Go me. *SELF FIVE*

Symptoms: My poor toes cramp together a lot. It looks like my foot is deformed. The waterworks have also made their reappearance. Pee and tears. But mostly tears. I was crying for NO reason yesterday just holding Lincoln in a towel after his bath. He looks at me like “oh, no” and he thinks about crying too.

Gender: Last night at Target I was in the checkout line with a happy but SQUIRRELY Lincoln in my harms and when I pushed the cart past me the clerk saw my belly and remarked, “OH! And you’re expecting AGAIN!” I said, “yup, they’ll be almost exactly two years apart.” Her response was, “And you’re having another boy?” But it really wasn’t as much a question as an assumption of the obvious. I’m about to start just saying, “yup.” Because that’s what everyone says and it’s more of a hassle to say, “We don’t know, we kept it a surprise.” because people just don’t understand that unless you can have a conversation about it. Point BOY for the week.

Make your vote in a comment below or on Facebook – click “like” on the photo you think Chubby is, Benjamin or Emilyn, for the public poll as part of Gender Games Part III coming up in a few weeks!!

Movement: Goes in waves. I’m noticing lopsidedness and Chubby moves when I roll over at night too. It’s like Chubby has to equalize. I've definitely gotten kicked in a few not-so-nice places too. Don't you also love the funny shape of my belly in the pictures? Chubby must have been very up and down to square out my belly like that. 

Belly Button: Pretty much out. Lincoln likes to try to push it in and say “wo hoo” like the Pillsbury doughboy.

Signs of Labor: The Braxton hicks are starting up pretty noticeably…mostly as a response to Lincoln nursing. He can’t just have one boob, he has to have “two boobs” and the nipple stimulation of both sides makes my belly rock hard. They also happen on their own occasionally but not to same intensity.

Best moment of the week: Making Lincoln a rosary during a wonderfully peaceful, quiet 2-hour nap time where he slept in his crib and I sat in bed.

What I’m looking forward to: Spending as much quality time with Lincoln as I can. I’m still feeling a little overwhelmed that I’m going to have “two kids under two” (for like a second). Part of me feels guilty for having them so close together and then the other part of me (Joe) says he’d have had them closer if it had worked that way and IF there’s a baby 3 would like them to be less than 2 years apart! WOAH.

What I miss: My energy and mobility. Getting up and down off the floor and moving around/over/under things with Lincoln is already taxing. I’m slow, awkward, and I get short of breath easily. He asks me to “sit here” and I don’t fit or it’s hard to get to and I feel bad.

Next appt: 24 July! My LAST appointment here in Florida.

Calling for prayers for a fellow mother, Dwija, from House Unseen. Life Unscripted. As her family mourns the loss of their boy, Nicholas Robert, at 21 weeks 3 days gestation after prolonged premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) for 7 weeks. I admire her strength in giving her boy all the chance he had at life despite the statistics of a sad outcome.