The Middle Chapters

I somehow convinced myself that I wouldn't get them, the swollen ankles, the super tireds. But, there here. The ankles go up and down. Yesterday was the first day that my feet felt like sausages stuffed into my shoes. This is the second week of the super tireds. My brain goes blank by 5:00 and all I want to do is be horizontal. I don't think I've stayed up past 8:00 since some time last week.

I had a great weekend! Beyond my wildest expectations. My mom and her best friend P were wonderful company. We did a shopping death march, but found wonderful things. The baby nook got painted (by them and DH) and my baby shower was great fun. I've always wanted my mom and P to visit together. Combined, they enjoy things more and worry less and are lots of fun. Childhood stories become entertaining anecdotes when discussed with them instead of the unhappy memories that some of them were. It was great to be surrounded by friends at the shower and celebrate the coming of the baby.

We had a growth check ultrasound on Tuesday. I'm just over 30 weeks. Baby girl is big. She estimated as weighing 3 lbs. 13 oz. All her measurements are 1-2 weeks ahead. According to the doctor, this doesn't mean that she'll come early, but that she'll likely be big - 8 1/2 lbs. - at term. We saw her profile and face, but the photos we got to take home are hard to figure out. She looks so much more like a baby, its just a wonderful thing. I'm still a reasonable size, which is just luck as far as I can figure. I've gained 18 lbs - at 161 lbs. now.

We still can't decide on a name. The leaders for first names are: Madeline, Margaret and Annabelle. But, we still don't feel strongly about any of them. In theory, we want a name that is recognizable, but not too common. Emily got tossed because of its popularity. I'm starting to hear that Madeline may be more popular than we thought. I love the idea of naming baby girl after D's mom, but he thinks it would be too strange to have a mom and daughter with the same name. So far, we can't find a nickname for his mom's name that he likes - there are at least two that I think would be great. I'm hoping that eventually something will just seem right. I hope that happens before she goes to college.