28 week OB appt

Wednesday morning I went in for my penultimate OB appointment here in Denver. Everything is coming along fine. I'm measuring exactly where I'm supposed to, I'm not swelling or cramping, any contractions are blatantly related to exertion (by which I mean going for walks, which is ridiculous but what can I say) and dissipate with rest, the kid is consistently active, and I gained three pounds since last time. She said if I gain a pound a week for the next 12 weeks I'll be weighing in at the low end of perfectly normal with a total weight gain of 25 pounds; they set the range at 25-35.
The only thing I have left to hear about is the results of the gestational diabetes and anemia tests, which should happen early next week. I'm confident all is well and will update when I find out.
So far, so good.

Heat

I have never, ever been this sensitive to ambient heat, ever, at all. Whoever coined the phrase "bun in the oven" did not choose their words at random. Denver has decided to grace us with 80+ degree weather over the last few days and I find myself cowering in the underground levels of our lair, a cold wet washcloth lasting only minutes on the back of my neck, daydreaming about slurpees and swimming pools (both of which are attainable if I'm willing to brave the heat to get to them). It's also so very dry here, no matter how much water I drink the relief seems to dissipate so quickly that I'm -- dare I say it -- looking forward to the humidity in Connecticut, where at least I won't have to work quite so hard to hydrate.
In a month or so when I write an entire entry about bloating and sweating and frizzing, I'm sure I'll rue those words. But right now, with this wriggling radiator strapped around my belly, a little airborne water sounds just fine to me.

I'll tell you what doesn't suck

This morning Steve woke up before I did and decided to read a few chapters in a book a friend got us entitled " Pregnancy Sucks: For Men." Pithy title aside, it is meant to take the flowery prose out of pregnancy books and replace it with cold hard realism, in this case for dads. Each chapter describes what he can expect to be feeling, what he can expect to be dealing with by virtue of what I'm dealing with, various tips about how to prepare for the baby, and of course what the baby's up to in there month to month. One thing that I like about these books is that pretty much every single one so far has been written by someone (or by a man married to someone) whose pregnancy has been about 75% worse than my own. Such information serves the dual purpose of making me feel good and reminding my husband how easy he really does have it. :)
I don't know WHAT this book did for him -- maybe it was the sheer power of normalizing our situation or helping him feel more prepared or involved or maybe he did see how easy he has it -- but the man came downstairs an hour later and asked me if I wanted a foot rub. Then later he asked me if there was anything he needed to be buying for me, pregnancy-wise. (I did allow him to buy me a new pair of sandals.) He volunteered to go grocery shopping and the first thing he asked me is if we needed any ice cream. When I got home from that stupid walk pale and panting, he filled up a glass of water for me without being asked and then he ran right out and got me that slurpee.
If they sell a book entitled "The First 3 Years of Child-Rearing Sucks: For Men," you know I'll be the first in line to get it!

The stupidest thing I have done so far...

...was decide to walk over to DU and back to pick up a paper. Today. In 90 degree heat. With the dog. While 7 months pregnant.
I had no idea that such a mundane task -- a 20 minute walk -- would devour my body of all energy reserves, to the point where I felt woozy for the last 5 minutes of the walk. We didn't walk far. We didn't walk fast. There was a pleasantly strong breeze for the duration. The terrain was flat. I was wearing a hat. And yet by the time I got back to our block I was practically euphoric with fatigue.
I happened to catch Steve just as he was about to leave for the grocery store. And for only the second time in seven months of pregnancy I asked him to go out and buy me something -- a slurpee. A nice red non-caffeinated slurpee from the 7-11 100 feet from our house, full of ice and coldness and more ice.
He got back with it 5 minutes ago, and it is already 7/8ths gone, and tastes like manna from heaven.
Wow. Lesson learned.

Bump photo part trois

Behold the reverence which the canines bestow upon me!
Also, behold the pregnancy-jeans complete with full-sized "bump panel" (the navy blue fabric gathered at the top of the jeans) which are OH. SO. FLATTERING.
(Aw, it's not the jeans' fault, I am past the point of clothing being terribly flattering these days.)
Please note at the bottom of this post there is a tag labeled "bump." If you click on it you will see the other bump photo posts I've created and can compare and contrast. :)

More fun with gender

According to my supervisor, this chart (mouse over for link) has been accurate for all the people she's known who have been pregnant, with only one exception. It's based on mother's age at the time of birth and the month in which the baby was conceived.
My own evaluation of it has it right for me, my brother, and Pete & Allie's baby Sophia, but not right for Steve...hmmm.
In any case, its prediction (I'll be 31, and we conceived in November) is that Acorn is a girl!

26.5 weeks

Sorry to be MIA since early April; I guess it feels like not a whole lot has changed. Acorn continues to do the can-can pretty much daily, which I'm getting used to and still feel with some amusement. Acorn's strength has clearly increased because Steve has finally been able to feel him/her consistently, at one point even growing wide-eyed when the kid gave him a good, solid, undeniable karate chop. Steve being able to feel it has been one of the more gratifying moments.
I think I mentioned to some of you that at the ultrasound we found out that I have an "anterior placenta," which simply means that instead of attaching to the back wall of my uterus it attached to the front. This doesn't cause any harm, but because the placenta is a cushiony mass of nutrients and tissue, it did make it harder for Steve to feel Acorn moving from the outside, and may have been why it took me a while too. (The placenta should not be confused with the amniotic sac, which is what the baby is actually "in"; the placenta is attached to it but does not itself surround the baby.)
And at one point I was watching tv and was able to see my belly moving from the outside...which to be honest is kind of creepy! We're not talking seeing hand or foot imprints or anything, but it is indeed very odd to have my belly, which is pretty solidly a belly these days*, twitch erratically before my very eyes. I'm still waiting for the dog to notice. :)
In the next week or so I will do the gestational diabetes test, which I'm hopeful will come out negative, and be able to put that concern to rest (or address it, if need be, but after all my caution and concern around sugar, I just want to know).
And then I'll graduate with an MSW and be able to truly focus on my own health, well being, emotions, and planning planning, planning.
And then in late June I will go for my last appointment in Denver at 32 weeks, after which my mom and I will drive the Subaru on over to CT, where I will start new (YAY!!!!) health insurance courtesy of my new employers and will begin going to the OB more frequently for checkups. Steve will hopefully be shortly to follow.
And as of 36 to 37 weeks, this baby can show up any darn time it wants. But no sooner. Y'got that, Acorn??**
Oh but that does remind me, now is about the time in my pregnancy where my body tests out the occasional Braxton-Hicks contraction, and boy are those bizarre. A painless but noticeable tightening of the uterus. I think of them as practice runs for my body, and they are so far easily mitigated by lying down and drinking extra water. I only wish ALL of my impending labor could be as easy!

*I know I'm overdue for more recent belly bump photos. We'll post some soon.
**I am willfully unconcerned about pre-term labor; between my mom and aunt carrying past their due date and a study done on upper-middle class Caucasian women in CT that literally statistically shows they usually go at least a week over their due date, I'm feeling pretty calm and collected.