Third Trimester


21
Jun 10

The Belly at 32 Weeks + Heartbeat Sounds

The weeks keep flying by. This week we’re really starting to work on nursery organization and decoration, but nothing to report on that front just yet. Instead, some new belly photos and an audio recording of the baby’s heartbeat!

Belly at 32 Weeks

This weekend I was at a party and another pregnant person said, "How far along are you? You look like you're due any minute now." I said, "Only 32 weeks." She said, "Oh." Then it was awkward for a second.

Belly Close-Up

A closer view. Because sometimes it's hard to really appreciate the proportions from afar.

The heartbeat sounds, below, were recorded via our Sonoline B Fetal Prenatal Doppler, which has been a really great tool to have around for the last several months. It was super cheap on Amazon (relative to other products in this space), and well worth the investment as far as we’re concerned.

Click here to listen to baby’s heartbeat from 6/21/10


4
Jun 10

It’s Already the Third Trimester

And I can’t believe it has gone by this quickly!

I’m at 29 weeks now, just about as big as a house, and August 15th is right around the corner. We’ve also been awfully busy lately (isn’t everyone?) so there’s a lot to catch you up on. I’ll do most of it with photos:

29.5 weeks

I can literally put a bowl of ice cream on my belly and it won't fall off. Unless baby kicks it.

ice cream

The aforementioned ice cream.

Belly at 29.5 weeks

From the front, so that you can appreciate the full impact. Some people have pregnant bellies that look like basketballs. I have more of a giant inflatable beach ball. And by 40 weeks I'm pretty sure it'll be like an extra-large yoga ball. The kind you can sit on and use as a chair.

hypnobirthing book

I know, I know. All this new age hippie nonsense about hypnobirthing is ridiculous. Plus that baby photo on the front of the book is CREEPY. But listen, the book says, "normal birthing does not have to involve pain." Outrageous, but as someone facing the birthing process, there's something very appealing about that statement. I'm choosing to believe it.

stuart little

Because baby gets to hear my voice all day long, we started doing a little evening storytime to get him used to the sound of Eric's voice. Before we go to bed, Eric reads a chapter from Stuart Little to my belly. We're pretty sure baby enjoys it as much as we do.

And that’s pretty much the update on baby/pregnancy stuff. I’m still feeling pretty good with the exception of the giant hippopotamus feet that I get every evening. I thought about showing you a picture of that, but it’s really too freakish and terrible to show on the internet.

In non-pregnancy news, a couple of other things happened to family Harding in the past few months:

  • I graduated from Georgetown Public Policy Institute with a Master of Public Policy degree. After 3 years, all I really learned is that I don’t actually want a career in public policy. Massive amounts of tuition money well-spent.
  • I started a new job. My new firm has a policy against blogging about it by name, but it’s this totally awesome political advocacy communications firm in Georgetown. They only work with Democrats and progressive non-profits, so there’s a really good cause behind 100% of the client work we take on. Plus, they have great benefits and are a wonderful environment. The biggest proof of that: they hired me at 6 months pregnant. I am heading up project management for their digital group, which is fun so far.

You may wonder how in the world I’ve managed to keep it together with so much going on. The answer:

eric on the couch

The cutest, kindest, most patient husband in the world.

Eric has been such a great partner throughout this pregnancy, picking up extra chores around the house, cooking dinner most nights, rubbing my poor swollen feet and bringing me ice cream when I need it (which is rather frequently). I’m so lucky!