Bugabug: 26 weeks

Holy crap, how am I in my 3rd trimester already?! I feel like I just peed on a stick last week. Crazy how fast this pregnancy is going by. I used this photo for our moving announcement, so it was actually 25 weeks just for the record. I did our moving announcement via email this time because I was too lazy to get cards printed, and I forgot to use the blind copy feature. I have to vent for a second that I hate when people reply to all in mass emails. Don't they realize how annoying it is? Sorry to all my friends who received stupid emails from my uncle! I will definitely not forget to BCC if I send out anything in the future.

Weeks pregnant: 26
Total weight gain +23 (eek!)
Total waist gain: ?? Sorry–I'm at a coffee shop and don't have my tape measure with me.
Baby size: hothouse cucumber

Physical: Ok, whatever I said about not feeling creaky or sore last pregnancy post is no longer true. I have lots of soreness and aching deep in my lower pelvis. I feel like this baby is pushing on my cervix and is going to fall out any minute. I remember feeling this way with Penny for the last few weeks, but apparently it is normal to feel this way earlier in subsequent pregnancies. Awesome. Every time I stand up or roll over or walk, I feel so sore. I'm also having some sleep issues again. I wake up at 5am every day and sometimes fall back asleep. Sometimes not. I guess that could be worse, as I'm not really tired during the day. Although, sometimes I do fall asleep if I lay down with Penny for her nap.

Emotional: I'm feeling really good emotionally. Still excited about having another girl. I'm also relieved that Penny is doing so much better. We've had a stream of visitors, which she just adores, and now I think she's starting to adjust to this new normal. It is funny to see her get so excited to have company–she totally gets that from me, a born extrovert and hostess! We had a huge breakthrough at the gym childcare this morning. I had been telling her for the last 2 weeks that if she could be brave and not cry in the gym, we could go to Trader Joe's afterwards to get a soft pretzel. I know, go ahead and judge. It's fine. But I just knew that if she could get over this hump, she would start to love going to the childcare–it's a really fantastic place. Normally, she just cries the whole time she's in there, and then as soon as I show up to get her, she stops immediately and we would have a conversation along these lines:
P: Time to go.
E: How was it?
P: I had fun. Time to go.
E: What did you do?
P: I cried. I screamed.
But I could tell she was really more mad than upset/scared/traumatized because of the way she would be totally fine as soon as I walked back in the door. If she was really upset, she wouldn't calm down that fast. Anyway, this morning I reminded her about our TJ's deal, and she cried when we walked in the door, but when I went to pick her up, she was playing and laughing with other kids! The babysitters said she cried for like 2 minutes and then started doing art projects. I wouldn't say we're out of the woods yet, but we are definitely moving in the right direction. And you bet your ass that kid got a soft pretzel AND an organic lollipop–only her second one ever. Fingers crossed it continues because I need my yoga time, and it's really hard to get in the yoga zone when my mind is in the nursery worrying about my peanut. Our new babysitter is also working out really well–Penny loves her. AND we found a church we like with a great nursery that Penny likes. Gosh, it sounds like all I do is put her in childcare. I swear, I spend lots and lots of time with her! This just happens to be the area we've had breakthroughs on lately! The only tough thing is that I still haven't really made many friends here yet. It's been a little tough to get to moms meetups with all the company we've had and with trying to be consistent with going to the gym in order to get Penny adjusted there. But I am trying to make that a priority, and I'm really hoping to meet some more "crunchy" moms. I love having mom friends who also cloth diaper and use gentle parenting techniques, etc, because I love to learn from other moms and get ideas and tips on all kinds of topics. I have a couple of leads on meeting crunchy mamas, but the groups where I think I'll find them only meet once/month. I missed the September meetings, but I'm definitely going to make the October ones, especially since I have a babysitter I can call now if Josh is working late or out of town. This needs to be a high priority this month, as I'm someone who really needs to have people around and friends to talk with.

Nursing/Boobs: Weaned. Check. I think the last time I posted on this topic, we were on day 2, and we haven't nursed since, so I'd say we're officially weaned. Ahh, such a relief. I really can't say that I feel any remorse over it. I am completely at peace with what I was able to do for Penny on that front, and I am so glad to have successfully weaned peacefully and gently. And I am so excited to be wearing regular bras again and giving the girls a 3-month hiatus while we gear up for round 2. I need to read this book before baby comes and set a plan for having a better supply this time around. I might meet with an LC for some tips.

Baby prep: I started getting the baby clothes organized and sorted. I had them stored in bins roughly by size, but I knew there were some items in the wrong bins. I've gone through 0-12 months so far, and I have everything organized by size, type of garment, and season, so it will be super easy to pull out exactly what I need. It was weird to go through the clothes because it seemed like Penny was just wearing many of these things. I just have one more bin to do of the 12-18 mo clothes. I also got my newborn diapers organized. I will be using preemie prefolds and covers (mostly Thirsties x-small) and a few all-in-ones. From my research, the prefolds and covers seemed to be the way to go for the newborn stage. I thought about doing a newborn rental of AIOs, but I just couldn't justify the cost when I could get an entire newborn stash of prefolds for like $15 and already had the covers. I found some cute homemade AIOs for $2 apiece at a consignment sale and scooped up 6 of them. I figured it was worth the $12 gamble if they worked, and if not I could definitely use them as fitteds under the covers I have.