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I am thirty one weeks and two days pregnant today. Even from last week I feel rounder and thicker and more “pregnant”, for lack of a better word.

I am not sleeping too well these days, in part because our days are growing longer and the early morning sunshine wakes me far before the alarm actually does, and in part because my back has been getting more and more painful (yay for sciatic nerve pressing!), so when I turn over in the middle of the night, the pain in my back wakes me up.

My eating is a bit erratic, and it’s grumpy-making enough that I don’t want to document it. Blah. My blood sugar is rising a little, and honestly, I can control it better if I ate better at lunchtime.

Otherwise, fanfuckingtastic. I love feeling the baby move inside me. Someone asked me recently what it was like, and it’s like a ten foot tall person in a six inch space. If I sit for awhile at my computer at work, or if I lie down on my side in bed, he flips and turns and jams a leg or arm up into my left ribcage (always my left side), and I push him down to sit comfortably. Once, he kicked me so hard in my ribcage that my left boob bobbled. Crazy kid.

***

I was chatting with some of my girlfriends about what it means to be a hippie, and that, combined with a comment Carrie left in my last entry (about how to clean a penis. Hee. Carrie, are you now psyched to know that in my mind you’re connected with penis cleaning??!), leads me to the following. I thought I’d note how we’re planning on approaching some basics of early parenthood. I reserve the right to change my mind, because I am nothing if but a last-minute planner, but this is what we’ve got in mind heading into this journey. Feel free to comment on it, but also know that for every decision we’ve made, we’ve read both sides of the argument and are aware of the pros and cons. Feel free to ask any questions too, because sometimes I don’t make much sense. My brain has flown out of the window lately.

Circumcision: No. All of the reasons against it are pretty much where I am (Josh is less adamant about it, but is willing to go along with me in this area) - ow, ow, ow. We’ll teach our son how to clean himself appropriately and keep himself safe, and if he wants to get circumsized in the future, we’ll support it.

Breastfeeding: Yes. Josh is very, very much in favor of this. He grew up in a breastfeeding environment. I didn’t, so getting me 100% on board has been a challenge - I’ve never been completely against it, but I’m a lot more apprehensive and anxious about my body’s ability to do so successfully than Josh is. I love that he’s so supportive. And I have two breast pumps. Come on, boobs!

Cloth Diapering: Yes. We’re hiring a service, and again, this is an area where Josh is very much in favor. In analyzing it for us, even with hiring a service to clean the diapers, it’s coming out a good deal cheaper in the long run for us. The environmental issues are a wash (ha!) mostly; we’re keeping things out of landfills, but whether you can compare the gas used to get the diapers to us to the landfill-filling is beyond my small brain right now.

Co-Sleeping: No. We’re sharing a room together, and for us, that will suffice.

Hm. I think that’s it. I think in my mind it was a lot more comprehensive than it looks on paper, but maybe that’s because I think far too much for my own good.

***

Nesting. I have not done any of this; rather, Josh has kicked his own ass getting this place together. He is now doing all of the cooking and cleaning (God, I love this man) and if you know anything about his cooking, you’ll know just right then and there how very lucky I am. He vacuumed the entire apartment the other day, cleaned out the cupboards and the refrigerator, and last night at 2AM when I got up to go to the bathroom, I saw him on his hands and knees, washing the baseboard in the bathroom.

I am so damned lucky. And spoiled. (Very spoiled; we had the most delicious squid and orange & onion salsa burritos tonight for dinner!)

***

So, 31 weeks. 6 til full term. Maternity leave is making me weep. That’s a post for another day when just thinking about it doesn’t send my blood pressure through the roof. Tomorrow, we have the second part of the Caring for Newborns class we’re taking, and Friday is when we go in for another ultrasound to see how large the alien is evolving into.