Welcome to the Third Trimester!

I'm taking another day off from 30 Days of Me to groan a little. It's happy groaning, because I'm thrilled to be pregnant, but it's groaning nonetheless.

Right now, I'm 29 weeks and 4 days; almost 3 weeks ago, I started my third trimester. On Friday of week 27, I felt my first Braxton-Hicks contractions (basically practice contractions). At 28 weeks and 5 days, I had my own little victory party when I discovered that I will probably be able to nurse with little to no problems (I don't wanna go too TMI here, but I was just REALLY excited, and still am!). During the last few weeks, I've found that I'm swelling quite a bit, especially in my hands; and that I tire out much faster than at any other point in my pregnancy (the first trimester doesn't count because I was so sick all I did was sleep and vomit). My belly aches, my back hurts, and I don't think my wedding ring will be coming off any time soon, unless HubbyButt pulls it off in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and not as swollen.

I've also been having these really odd dreams; they're not scary, just ... weird! Like, the other night I dreamed that a bunch of the hooligan kids out where I work all brought their bikes and skateboards into the store I work in and basically turned the place into a stunt park, and I couldn't do anything because I was too swollen to chase them around and get them out of the store, so I just sat in the office and watched this swarm of teenagers come in and wreck the store on the security screens!

I've also been really, really emotional lately! HubbyButt and I saw Toy Story 3 today, and I cried every time Andy's mom came on screen. HubbyButt admitted to crying at the end (I won't give the ending away in case there are people that haven't seen that NEED to!), but I cried the whole time! Every time I talk to my mom (who lives twelve hours away and therefore can't see my growing belly and feel Princess move inside of me), I cry! I manage to not cry when I'm talking to her, but as soon as the call ends, the tears start. Heck, I cried when I bought Princess her first diaper yesterday (we're cloth diapering and Babies R Us has single covers on clearance)! I'm just very very overwhelmed by everything going on around and in me lately; I don't know how long I can keep this up without having a serious break-down!

I know it's only going to get more intense before it gets better, and I am so grateful to God for enabling me to get pregnant and have this experience, as much of a roller coaster as it has been. From losing 25 pounds in the first month after finding out I was pregnant thanks to hyperemisis gravidarum to crying at cartoons, this has been a wonderful journey, and I can't wait to meet Princess in just about ten weeks!