Week 33

It turns out "33 weeks pregnant" and "cocktail party" are not mutually exclusive phrases.

Caleb's weighing in at about 4 pounds this week and should be about 17 inches long. His skeleton is hardening and he's just packing on pounds for the next few weeks in preparation for his debut in January.

I've perfected the art of the pregnancy waddle and am getting increasingly less graceful as the days wear on. My knack for bumping into things with my belly is improving, but Caleb doesn't seem to mind too much. In fact, he seems to be doing quite well throwing parties and punches in my uterus! He continues to be extremely active, and it's fun to watch my belly take on a life of its own once in a while when he decides to start doing calisthenics in there.

The nursery is coming along slowly but surely...it's a lot more challenging to complete these home improvement tasks with a 15-month-old running around! Please pray that our hearts, and Abby's, would be prepared for Caleb's arrival in a few weeks and that God would teach us how to parent this precious son He's giving us!

Week 32

After a holiday hiatus, I'm back and bigger than ever! Coming in at just over 38 inches around (about a half inch bigger than I was with my first pregnancy at this point) and 22 pounds heavier than I started (just a pound lighter than my total weight gain in round one), I'm thrilled to be at week 32 and counting down the last two months of waiting on Caleb!

First, a huge thanks to everyone who prayed for relief from the sciatic nerve pain I'd been dealing with. Your prayers have been answered! The doctors gave us little hope of relief, but Caleb managed to ignore them and shift out of the position that was causing so much pain. I've been pain-free for over two weeks now, and it's made a world of difference!

The shift in position is a surprising one considering how big our little guy is getting. He probably weighs over three and a half pounds by now and is almost 17 inches long. That's a lot of baby in this little belly! I'm adding about a pound a week to my gross tonnage at this point and about half of that is going to Caleb, meaning he could more than double his weight before his birthday. His little body is complete with toenails and fingernails now, and whatever hair he's going to burst into the world with is probably already in place on his head.

Our most recent doctor's visit confirmed that he's still in his head down position, a good place to be at this point in the pregnancy. His movements tell me that he's laying on his side with his body on the left side of my belly and his tiny butt up under my sternum, which means my right side gets a fairly good daily beating as he continues to use the inside of my uterus as a punching bag.

Our eight-week countdown kick off found Justin hard at work with power tools cutting and hanging chair rail in what will soon be our little boy's nursery. Please pray that we would find time for all the preparations required for a new baby over these brief last two months and that our hearts would be prepared as well to welcome the newest member of the family of fish into our lives!