32 weeks

Today is the last day of my 32nd week of pregnancy. I'm going in for my ob appointment this afternoon, and I am looking forward to hearing Bear's heartbeat again.

I'm told Bear weighs 4 lbs now, has a hippocampus for memory formation (though for how long these memories last, no one knows), is making more judicious movements with its little feet and arms... well, that may be true, I just got kicked in the rib.

Speaking of rib pain. Oh my gosh. This weekend I pulled a muscle reaching to get a glass of water (not even picking it up, mind you, just reaching a tiny bit) and could hardly move the rest of saturday and most of sunday. Luckily I had already cleared out my little white desk and cleaned it for its new purpose as a changing table, so I felt like I'd made progress. On what, you say? Nesting. This past Saturday I also finally made a master list of all the things that are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY* we finish before the baby arrives. Sunday I watched J clean out the closet in the den, giving extremely helpful suggestions from the floor and making more lists of storage containers we must acquire to tame the clutter that remains after recycling old computer parts and papers.

Had a super awesome idea for storing extra media cables: magazine holders. In practice, it is amazing, space efficient, and handsome. Post on that later.

*Nesting is totally a thing. I am fascinated and maybe a little bit disturbed by how determinedly my brain is focused on preparing for the arrival of Bear. I have always been a clutterbug, despite my love of hygienic spaces, and have never before minded a stack of papers here or there (or everywhere). So long as I was sure the food prep surfaces were disinfected and my laundry was clean, I didn't care if anything was put away in its home (because maybe that chair is its home?). I am not neat. But now that I am in my last trimester, I am obsessed both with cleanliness AND with organization.

Also to note: in my 31st week we painted our room (which we'll be sharing with Bear) and now it feels like forever ago. I will have to post pictures of my pregnant self up on a ladder freaking out the neighbors and my parents. For the record: we used zero VOC paint by Behr (for Bear!), which was very low odor while wet, and within 24 hours it smelled like nothing. And looked. Amazing.