The Bump

Here are 6 months of belly pictures!

10 weeks (end of September 2010). Normal belly.

13 weeks (Mid October 2010).

16 weeks (beginning of November 2010).

20 weeks (End of November 2010).

21 weeks (December 2010). Aaah, now that's a real bump!

29 weeks (end of January 2011). That's my favorite bump picture so far.

31 weeks (Beginning of February 2011). Um, that's me barely awake with too much make up on. Yikes!

That Third Trimester Thing

People, I am a tiiiired woman again! Long gone are the glow and energy of the second trimester. Acne is back, and with it -though unrelated- an irrepressible will to sleep all the time. it doesn't help that I get up once or twice every night to visit that one room and that I have a hard time falling back asleep. Fortunately, I haven't yet been afflicted with the other typical 3rd trimester symptoms (back pain, heartburn, swollen ankles). I still have 8 weeks to go, so I'm expecting the situation to be a bit more complicated by the day.

One excellent thing that comes with the 3rd trimester? The baby is grown, which means he doesn't have room to roam that much, which means I feel him all the time. I love it. I love knowing he's alive (well, yes!) and kicking. I think I will actually go through quite a bit of separation sadness when I give birth as I enjoy every minute he's inside my belly. Oh well, meeting him should make this sadness pass fast.

The next few weeks are busy with visitors (Joe's brother Jon last weekend, a good friend of ours we met in Bordeaux in 2001 this weekend, then Joe's best friend Bryan in mid-March) and labor/breastfeeding/newborn care classes the first 3 weeks of March. I feel that I'm in a weird zone where time flies by and seems to go very slowly at the same time. I'm just trying to enjoy it all while it lasts!

Priorities

After several weeks of questioning, talking to a bunch of different people, and soul searching, Joe has decided to take a break from school this quarter and next. The U is very flexible with students, and for $35 he's able to be registered for the quarter even though he's not taking any classes. Better yet, they gave us the tuition money back even though he dropped classes 2 weeks after the official deadline.

That was not an easy decision. Work has been more than stressful for him and of course grad school is really difficult in terms of content and expectations. Right now, he wants to focus on his family, and selfishly I think it's the right decision to make. I hope he will find the strength to go back to school this summer, even if he only takes one class -I am guessing going back to a grueling schedule after 2 quarters off is not easy, above all when at the end of that period you have a new baby boy at home.

We're 10 weeks away from my due date and I am so happy he's here and has time to focus on his health and on us (that would be the baby+me unit). We'll figure things out as they come along -that includes everything from being new parents and going back to school to our careers and where we want to live. For now, we're taking it one day at a time and enjoy spending one-on-one time together.