Thank you all for the hugs and suggestions about the couch. I have consulted the guru (ie, my dad) and he has confirmed with me that it is not going to be as simple as taking off a doorframe. He shot down my idea of taking out the window… as he put it, “It’s not the aluminum-framed kind where you can just pop out some screws.” The windows are original to the house (50’s), wood frame, not going to budge. The front door isn’t the issue, it’s the foyer, the couch is too big to stand on end in the foyer, and the issue is the wall in the way preventing the couch from coming into the house – couch can’t bend 90 degrees – which has plumbing in it and may even be a load-bearing wall (lovely, right?). All the other doors leading to the living room are 4″ smaller than the front door (which the couch can *barely* squeeze through, tipped at a precise angle, and squashed like hell). In short: we’re fucked.

(And of course my dad was like, “Make sure mice don’t get to your couch while it’s in the garage,” and I’m all, “I DIDN’T NEED ANOTHER THING TO WORRY ABOUT NOW!” Thanks dad.)

Enough about the couch. Let’s move on to the baby. Far less frustrating.

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Heartburn has unfortunately just become a part of life. Not BAD heartburn, though. When Den says, “I have heartburn,” he usually says it like he’s ready to keel over dead at any minute, so I can only surmise that what I have isn’t BAD heartburn. It’s not pleasant, but it’s not horrible either. It’s just that every time I bend over to pick something up or put something down (which happens frequently at work when I’m putting down food for everyone) I get burning in my throat. Blech.

Speaking of bending over… that’s getting more difficult as well. I can do it, and I do frequently without really thinking about it, but doing so moves that basketball that I carry so effortlessly out front right up into my ribs. Which is unpleasant, just so you know. And damn if it still doesn’t catch me off-guard every time. I always end up making a face and straightening back up, then rubbing said basketball. You should have seen me at work today. I was gagging and making faces every time I picked up or put down a food bowl, LOL.

The funny thing is that because my uterus and the kiddo are a little lopsided – they hang out on my right side – is that it affects half of my body more than the other half. I can put my left sock on without issue. My right sock usually squashes something and I end up having to rest my leg sideways to get my sock on.

I continue to get those weird “heavy” sensations while I’m at work. For some reason being there and being on my feet moving around seem to turn him a certain way. It makes me have to pee frequently while working. But hey, at least I know how to turn him, right? lol

I can certainly feel that he’s getting bigger. It’s really weird how it was all about the size of my uterus before… I could feel it growing. I knew it was there, but it wasn’t active or anything. There were some love taps from the baby, which were separate events. And now… goodness… now I can feel body parts, and he’s constantly moving. It’s no longer this inanimate blob I’m carrying around, it’s a wiggly, live baby who is growing bigger every day. It’s quite the mental shift.

I get tickles down at my cervix. Not usually bad enough to make me jump, just… tickles. Weird weird feeling, that. Very low. But yup… most of his kicks and punches or whatever are up high… heading for my ribs now. Not quite there yet most days, thank goodness.

But oh the movement! My belly is always rolling now. Sometimes it’s just a hard spot that I can feel with my hands… sometimes my whole belly rolls from side to side as he moves about. Sometimes he’s kicking and pushing in all directions at once. I sometimes have to just stop what I’m doing and massage a spot. People (husband, co-worker) look at me like, “What’s wrong?” and I just mutter, “Kid’s on my bladder,” or, “Baby’s pressing on my ribs,” or whatever it is at that moment. He especially likes to push against my belly button. Weird. (But much better than dropping down and squeezing my bladder.)

::

I’m heading towards 30 weeks pregnant. Some people are like, “YAY, the hope stretch!” I’m more like, “OMFG nothing’s done AGGHHHH!!!” *run around like a chicken with no head* Okay, maybe I’m exagerating slightly. Haven’t broken out in a cold sweat yet. But still, the 30 week mark seems a little scary. Okay a lot scary. I don’t know why, but suddenly 30-something is countdown mode. I do NOT feel ready for 30 weeks. I have to keep reminding myself that 30 weeks means 4 more weeks until 34 weeks and another 4 until 38 weeks. That’s 2 whole months. It’s not as scary as it sounds. Right?

Gears are finally turning on the basement project. The menfolk seem very confident that they can get a ton of it done in one weekend. Color me skeptical, but it is not something I will have much – if any – involvement in, so I’ll just leave it up to them. I’m going to be helping with the baby’s room – I’ll probably do much of the painting myself – but the basement is all Den. (If I get too involved I’ll want to, you know, put my 2 cents in on the wall color and stuff. Den doesn’t want that!) The only thing I am doing is running the cabling for our home network down there. (There are *some* benefits to having taken 4 years of computer information systems in college. I actually can find some practical use out of the networking classes I hated!) Someday the entire house will be wired, that will be nice. One room at a time.

I’m really trying to just relax and let things go until after the baby shower – after we know what we need to buy yet – but it’s really hard. I still have this intense need to organize baby stuff. Whether it’s lists online (registries!) or baby clothes or whatever… I need to ORGANIZE it. Categorize it, label it, put it in bins, count it off, list it out five different ways…. for some reason doing these things makes me feel like I’m organizing for baby. I guess nesting comes in all shapes and sizes. Mine’s just a little more obsessive than mopping the floors.

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Well baby is still awake, but mama’s got to get some sleep. I have a chiro appointment in the morning, then some grocery shopping to do – I’m out of milk and bananas, damnit!