Hiccups

Another mom-to-be from the prenatal class told me that her baby has been hiccuping a lot and I had to ask what that felt like. After she described it, it finally, it dawned on me: those times when I thought the baby was tapping out a very even Morse code on my belly, I think those are hiccups. Kinda neat now that I know what that is.

I have a bit of a sore spot on the belly button because everything is stretched to the max. I am feeling really heavy and my belly button is almost turned inside out now. The other change is that I am also getting up to pee quite a bit in the middle of the night (about four times). My bladder is very, very squashed these days.

I'm also getting really tired just like I was during the first trimester. Let's just say I really need the weekends to relax. At the end of the week, I am just completely wiped.

Baby has daddy's chin

Another ultrasound yesterday and we got more details about baby. Heartbeat is 133 beats a minute, weight is between four and five pounds and gestational age is 33 1/2 weeks, which means baby is a little on the big side of average for 32 weeks. Or, who knows... maybe we got fertilization date wrong and baby is actually 33 weeks this week, which would mean that baby is right on target for size.

Baby has now turned upside down where she/he will stay until birth day. Yesterday, during the ultrasound, baby was facing mommy's right hip and kicking mommy's right ribs.

The coolest was the chin. Definitely daddy's chin. We can tell because daddy has a pointed chin and mommy has a flat, squarish one.

I am a cartoon

I am getting and feeling really huge. I know the books say that the third trimester is the time when the baby does most of the growing, but I didn't quite believe it until now.

My food aversions are starting up again. Nothing tastes right. Not even milk these days. Sigh. Oh well. I guess it's not about me. Despite the lack of appetite for food or drink, somehow, I keep putting on the pounds. It's quite incredible.

My energy level depends a lot on the baby's position. When baby is sideways, I feel pretty good and can walk forever. When the baby is in an up and down position, I get this pressure on my pelvis that hinders my walking and the only way to propel myself forward is to support my belly with one or both hands and waddle on.

I was getting dressed one morning last week and I had on my black maternity pants that reached just above my navel. I also had on a shirt that was not a maternity shirt so it covered up my chest but left the other half of my watermelon belly exposed. My husband said I had Homer Simpson's body. Between that and my Princess Fiona feet (I have a lot of swelling so my feet look like ogre feet), I really am turning into a cartoon.