No surprises

It's been a crazy holiday.  No surprises, eh?  I wanted to get everything done before Christmas Eve, but my worn-out body took over.  I can't even say I've been doing anything strenuous.  But when I'm staying up all hours attempting to put together this 1000-piece murder mystery puzzle, PLUS I'm carrying a baby around, then yeah, I tend to get tired quicker.

Christmas Eve was the worst as I spent most of the day cleaning, doing laundry, and baking--and then I had to finish wrapping presents.  Thankfully, I got most of the presents done ahead of time, so I was NOT up until 3:30 in the morning like last year!  I was only up until 1:30.  It wouldn't have been that late, but I spent the last 45 minutes or so in the bathtub trying to ease away the fatigue of the day.  I was just plain WIPED.

Yes, about a week ago, the third trimester decided to kick in (slightly early compared to SOME pregnancy calendars).  The baby started making big waves with her movements--with knees and elbows poking out.  The girls have been fascinated to watch and feel the baby do all these somersaults in their mom's belly.  My son is kinda like his father--sorta amazed, but mostly weirded out about it (there is no "honey, can I feel your tummy?" around here, and I'm fine with that--I mean, it IS kind of weird!).  

Anyway, in addition to the tummy gymnastics, I've also been getting the lovely joint pain and more frequent bathroom breaks.  The bathroom breaks aren't too annoying yet.  The joint pain is.  The day after Christmas I could barely walk because my right hip hurt so badly.  I tried not to make a big deal out of it.  We went out to spend some Christmas gift cards and cash, and the kids couldn't help but notice my limp.  After every inquiry, I would just tell them that it's just my hip, and it's nothing to worry about.  After the second store, DH subtly said that he would drop the girls and I back off to the house while he and DS finished their shopping.  Later, when I was trying to get comfortable on my couch, I just couldn't do it plus watch the movie we had on.  So, I asked DS if he wanted to trade couches with me.  It took a gentle reminder from DH to get him to do it.  "Um, son, when Mom wants to switch places with you, then you DO it."  DH takes care of me in his own quiet ways.

I went in for another tummy check yesterday and got my results back from my glucose test.  No gestational diabetes, but...I'm slightly anemic.  No surprises.  I get that way every pregnancy.  I did try to prevent it this time by taking prenatal vitamins that included the iron from the beginning, but frankly, that whole second trimester, I just kept forgetting to take them.  The doctor mentioned that the vitamins with the iron already there aren't very helpful anyway as the calcium in them counters the body's ability to absorb the iron.  *sigh*  But...I have to take them both anyway, so, what? take them at different times?  And remember not to take the iron pill with the calcium?  I'm having enough problems remembering to take the one vitamin--with food!--how am I supposed to remember THAT? 

Anyway, my BP and tummy are fine.  I think I gained another two pounds.  I'm not sure if I'm recording all the weight correctly here, but I have now gained a total of 20 pounds.  Gee...and I've only got a whole trimester to go?!  Well, I usually don't gain much the last trimester, so maybe if I lay off these darn Christmas cookies and fudge, I won't end up a huge balloon.

I took the kids and two of their friends to the Y today to get out of the house (and get them--and me--off their new DSs).  So, this is now the second time I've actually worn the $20 maternity bathing suit.  I still mostly like the way the suit fits, but now that my belly is two months bigger than the last time I wore it, I noticed that the top part is not really hugging it right, and the suit kept trying to ride up on me.  I finally started tucking the top piece into the bottom.  If I hadn't seen a very similar pattern on one of the dear old ladies doing the water aerobics, I would probably like the style of the suit just a smidgen better!

Now that the holidays are (mostly) over, and I'm in my third trimester, the hubs and I have to get some serious work into getting the house ready for baby.  It would be nice to at least have a place to store all those baby clothes I got at my shower, as the bags and boxes cluttering up my bedroom are making it difficult to get around in there (at least it's a little easier now that the Christmas gifts are no longer in there!).  At least DH has been taking time this week to attempt to figure out the plumbing problem which is preventing the dishwasher and the downstairs toilet from draining properly.  It looks as if an actual professional will have to be called--really not looking forward to that.  But, once the plumbing is fixed (and I'm not longer doing dishes by hand), THEN we can get to work on a room for baby....