30 Weeks

30 weeks people...30 WEEKS! This means I am well into my third trimester AND 75% the way through growing this baby. Crazy! I don't know what scares me the most, the thought of the birth or the thought of not knowing what to do with this little human once it is born.

On the pregnancy side of things, I am doing quite well. Haven't gained too much weight and so far have been able to keep the stretch marks at bay...though I hear they really like to show up at the end! I don't haven't any crazy cravings and actually try to eat healthy given that this baby is eating what I am eating. I have had some swelling of my feet, but wearing compression socks to work seems to keep that down to a minimum...and I look totally cool in them! Actually, they just look like normal socks that are super tight and go up to my knees. I was actually concerned that I might not be gaining enough weight in the pregnancy (people at my work swear my arms are getting smaller and I am looking skinnier in my face). I asked my midwife about it, but she wasn't concerned at all. She basically said there is a reason they don't weigh pregnant women over here (but of course, I keep track of it at home!) and that is because they become obsessed with the weight...oops, I guess I was put in my place! She said I look fine and the baby is fine, so I shouldn't worry.

For those of you that know me well, what I am about to say will come as a shock to you. I have always thought I wanted to have an elective c-section when I had children...less fuss and much easier. Most of my friends had them and liked them. But, that wasn't an option over here in the UK. Well, the more research I seem to do, the more hippie I seem to become about childbirth. I don't want an epidural (I know, can you believe it), but I do hear most women break down and get one. But, I am thinking of checking myself into the midwife led unit at the hospital, which doesn't offer epidurals...if I go into the doctor led unit, I could get one. My reasons for not wanting one are that the rate of assisted birth (forceps and vacuum) are much higher and so are emergency c-sections. Plus, there are the negative side effects that just freak me out. Besides an epidural, there are drugs over here used in childbirth not used in America and two of them I am totally against...both of them are injections that help with the pain but affect the breathing of the baby if given too close to birth. What seems to be positive over here is that you can have laughing gas during labor. Some women swear by it, others say it doesn't work at all...once I have my verdict though, I will let you know!

As far as the baby goes, I am constantly told how "active" it is whenever I am at my check ups, so I am assuming it will be like me! ha, ha. It is currently weighing in around the 2 1/2 - 3 pound mark. It doesn't like to cooperate and let others feel it move, so only Ian and one friend have felt it move...now that I think about it, they are the only two to have touched my stomach anyway. We got the crib and changing table delivered and set up last week. That is really pretty much all we have for the baby. There are no sheets, blankets or anything, but we still have time to get all that...I think.

Only two and a half more weeks until my maternity leave begins! I already have a list a mile long of things I need to do during that time and when the baby arrives. Hopefully I actually can stay awake long enough to accomplish some of it!