Pregnant with Hooper at 29 weeks:

And, pregnant now at 29 weeks:

Willy and I are fairly certain we have decided on a name. You can read about our previous struggles with chosing a name here. With a mutually agreed upon name under our belts, this pregnancy has my full permission to proceed forward. I feel like giving that little guy a tap on the butt while muttering, “hurry on now, hurry on“.

I’ve been having quite a bit of round ligament pain. I remember the sharp pains in my lower abdomen from my first pregnancy but feel they are more frequent and more intense this time around. I’m sure lifting a toddler up and down all day doesn’t help the muscles and ligaments. I’m also noticing a faint pregnancy line forming down the center of my abdomen, which I also had the first time around. I’m peeing more, getting up sometimes three or four times a night. And ever since I got off the plane from Maui I’ve noticed some swelling in my legs. I don’t recall having any swelling with Hooper, so this is new this time around. I’m trying to keep my feet up as much as possible and drink more water… which, of course, inevitably leads to more peeing. It’s a vicious cycle, this pregnancy thing. Otherwise, the weeks are steadily moving and all is good at my midwives appointments, which are every two weeks now.

On the mental front, because lets face it- pregnancy affects us just as much mentally as it does physically, I’ve been feeling a mix of conflicting emotions. With every kick and wiggle I feel a rush of excitement and urgency. I want to meet this baby now. On the other hand, I think about how wonderful things are at the moment. Willy and I both have some degree of freedom. We have evenings together, just the two of us, while Hooper sleeps. We have mornings that start at 7 or 8 or even 9 when Hooper wakes. Because I’m no longer breast feeding, we can leave Hooper for longer periods of time. I’ve enjoyed afternoons by myself at flea markets without any guilt. We’re at such a good place and part of me grieves the fact that all this will be turned upside down when the new baby arrives. I assume these are normal feelings and feel no shame in being honest about them. Our family is going to grow and expand soon enough and with that comes a period of adaptation. We will adapt and all will be well. Would love to hear from other mom’s who have also experienced these emotions…