30 weeks!

Yikes, time is flying! Ten weeks until our due date! I've read that pregnancies carrying a female fetus tend to last longer than "male pregnancies". Although from a clinical view, premie girls tend to adapt to extrauterine life better than premie boys. Sounds pretty backwards, eh?

We spent the weekend in Jax for our nephew's 2nd birthday. It's amazing, even in the three weeks since we last saw him, he's speaking more words and even more clearly. I went from being "Eh-eh" to "Eh Eemee" for "Aunt Amy". That kid's good! Aaron is still "Ee-ee", but he's trying. Saying "Uncle Aaron" is a lot of vowels in one title!

Our little girl is expressing herself a lot more, too. Especially at about 3-5 am, when it my bladder becomes a punching bag. I can usually count on her to keep me awake for about an hour after I've emptied her punching bag. I think she waits for it to fill up and empty a second time before letting me rest again.

I feel large. Yes, I'm carrying a small human in my abdomen, I realize that tends to make a person large. But wow. I went to stick my nose out the window this afternoon and my stomach reached the shutters before my nose did:
I had a few handfuls of salty sunflower seeds on the drive home from Jax, so this is what my bloated face looks like:
And here's our update for 30 weeks:
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)
 

Oh, and here's what babycenter.com has to say about what's happening to my body, which pretty much sums up how I've been feeling lately:

You may be feeling a little tired these days, especially if you're having trouble sleeping. You might also feel clumsier than normal, which is perfectly understandable. Not only are you heavier, but the concentration of weight in your pregnant belly causes a shift in your center of gravity. Plus, thanks to hormonal changes, your ligaments are more lax, so your joints are looser, which may also contribute to your balance being a bit off. Also, this relaxation of your ligaments can actually cause your feet to spread permanently, so you may have to invest in some new shoes in a bigger size.

Buying new shoes sounds nice, but I don't have a paycheck yet. It's been over two weeks since I signed my PRN contract and still no phone call. I called the HR folks on wednesday to ask how my packet is coming along, and I got a "you'll be hearing from us later this week" line. At this point, it looks like I'll only have enough time to orient to the hospital before I deliver and go on maternity leave for 6 weeks! That's what they get for taking so long! Not that I don't mind staying at home, but hello...I applied back in November!

As always, thanks for checking in!