I haven't been very good about blogging this pregnancy, even though I have been diligent at taking pictures and writing my "Dear Baby" letters. But I thought that 35 weeks was probably a good time to hop in and write about a few things that are on my mind.
(Picture on left: 32 weeks. Picture on right: 35 weeks)
Pregnancy is amazing. It really is. I mean, it's crazy and uncomfortable and exhausting. But it's also incredible and beautiful and so so amazing. Although one can never be sure - we think that this is our last pregnancy and so I've been really soaking each stage in and have just been filled with so much gratitude that my body handles pregnancy so well and that I have the privilege of carrying this little girl until she is ready to come into the world. It's a special time, this time when it's just me and her. Pretty soon she'll be here and she will be surrounded by people that love her, but right now she makes me laugh when I lay in a position that's clearly uncomfortable to her and she lets me know. She makes me cry when I am filled with so much gratitude for her as I feel her stretching and moving.
We've decided on a name, we're pretty sure. I'm actually really non-committal with most things in life and have a hard time committing to something even one minute before I absolutely have to. But if I'm being honest, even though I've spent extensive time looking through baby name list, compiling my own lists, and talking about different names, from the very day we found out that she was a girl - I think I knew that her name was going to be Lucy Holland. That's the name that we first said when we got into the car after her ultrasound and it's basically stuck. I actually really wanted her name to be Holland. (I will go into all the reasons why Holland is such a meaningful name to me in a later post, but it's filled with so much hope and symbolism and love and I really pushed for a while to have that be her first name.) David always really liked Lucy and so for a while, those were our two top contenders. But even when I was pushing so hard for Holland, I think I knew that her name would end up being Lucy Holland. David later said that he's glad that I pushed so hard for that, because without that maybe we wouldn't have used Holland as a middle name but it really cemented her first and middle names. As soon as Caleb started calling her "Baby Oo-see", it pretty much sealed the deal. Even so, this is definitely the earliest that we've ever decided on a name and definitely the most open we've been about it with other people.
I've been really low on iron and have had a hard time keeping my hemoglobin levels high enough. I'm taking a supplement and trying to eat iron-rich foods (which looks mostly like iron-fortified foods because naturally iron-rich foods are super unappealing to me). My doctor almost sent me to the hospital for an iron IV, which I didn't even know that they did, but in the end they just upped my iron supplement. I hope that I can get and keep my iron levels up and that it doesn't interfere with my (or Baby Girl's) recovery.
I haven't had many cravings this pregnancy, mostly no food has sounded appetizing, even though it tastes fine when I'm eating it. But the other day David told me that I only had a couple more weeks of using pregnancy cravings as an excuse so if I wanted something I should tell him and he'd stop and get it for me. Even with that prompting, I couldn't think of anything to ask for! But I think I'll cash in when I'm nursing because I think my nursing cravings are more intense than pregnancy cravings! They are certainly just as hormonal and probably more desperate nutrition/calorie wise.
I asked David if he had anything to say about this pregnancy and he said "Just that we are excited for baby girl to come. You have done so much and carried yourself so well with very little complaint." That's nice of him to say, and I hope that it's true.
Just a little over a month until this sweet little sister arrives and we are so so excited!
Also, a fun note - my best friend Ashley Cooper and I are due just one day apart! We both find it highly amusing. I'm grateful for the support and friendship she always offers me. She said it best in a recent Instagram post: "Sometimes, you get to be pregnant with your best friend... for the third time! (We have babies three weeks apart and babies five weeks apart, but these ones are due only a day apart!) We’re currently 33 weeks along, and when my appointment today ended up with me being sent to the hospital for monitoring, Shantel was willing to take the kids for hours with almost no notice. Our schedules have reduced most of our communication to Marco Polo for months, and it was so good to visit with her in person again!"
We do communicate mostly through Marco Polo (video message app), but I love this friend so dearly and I'm grateful to be doing this pregnancy thing with her... again!
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