Third Trimester

I realize this post might be a little premature, but you never know when the third trimester will end, and as soon as it does, I will have more exciting things to post about.  So with the risk of this trimester lasting a few more weeks, I'm going to go ahead and post my third trimester reflections as of April 4th:

• Hannah has been such a sweetie and a good helper to me.  She is compassionate if I'm not feeling well and offers to put lotion on my feet nearly every night.  I could see her being a nurse someday!
• Jacob LOVES my belly.  He simply cannot pass by it without kissing my belly and talking to the baby.  He has conversations with her, where he talks for her in a little baby voice, usually saying "goo goo."
• My favorite part is feeling and seeing the baby move.  I really should video record the way my belly dances around; it's crazy!  
• It's fun when she has the hiccups.  It's also a good indicator of her position!

The hardest parts have been:

• Heartburn
• Contractions
• Having trouble sleeping/rolling over in bed
• Having people constantly analyzing my size, whether they think I'm big or small, I just don't want to talk about it.
• Four days and three nights in the hospital 
• Worrying about Aleah being breech.  They identified this at 33.5 weeks.  I think she flipped back around 34.5, but it wasn't confirmed by ultrasound until 35.5, so this was a worry for me!
• Because of my history, I feel like the relentless questioning started way earlier for me.  "You're still pregnant?"  "Are you having contractions?" etc.... Ahh, it's starting to drive me insane.  I'm only 38 weeks; this is normal! 

We were playing with balloons one night at church, and the kids put them in their shirts to be like me!

There have been a couple of times that I had enough contractions in the night, I thought this "could be it," but so far, it hasn't been.  This makes me reflect on my history and realize why I might be a bit paranoid:

8/23/08 8:15 a.m. I call my mom from the Carle Hospital delivery room and say something like, "Absolutely nothing is happening.  This could go on all day...." (And no, I had no drugs.)

8/23/08 8:51 a.m. I'm holding Hannah in my arms.

11/8/10 1:45 a.m.  I wake up at home and tell Josh, "I don't know, maybe we should go to the hospital.  I don't know.  I don't want to be sent home.  I don't want to go if I'm not really in labor.  I don't know.  I guess maybe we should just go!?"

11/8/10 4:48 a.m.  I'm at Provena Covenant in Champaign holding Jacob in my arms.

You see why contractions are so confusing to me?  Because apparently I don't know if I'm in labor until I'm holding a baby in my arms.  And you apparently have more contractions with each pregnancy, which makes this all extra confusing to me!  I just hope we make it to the hospital in time!