32 Weeks / 8 Weeks To Go!

I've had a few OB appointments since the last entry. Overall this pregnancy seems to be very healthy and easy so far with only a few major side effects such as nausea, weight gain, mild swelling, and the painful expansion of my ribs.
The weight gain: The doctor is very concerned with my rapid weight gain. I have now gained 40 lbs! To some it's not very noticable. I suppose this is because my weight gain has always been pretty evenly distributed.

The doctor's main concern is that the baby is measuring bigger by about a 1/2 lb and he wants to make sure that I will be able to naturally deliver her. The doctor does not seem to be 100% certain that it is due to the weight gain because he followed that remark with that I might just be carrying a big baby.I really hope she is not huge when she's ready to be born and especialy that I won't need a C-section. I was doing so well and then I got to the 6 month mark and all of the sudden I was craving chocolate and chocolate chip cookies! This has gotten a little better since, but I still have a pretty good appetite for chocolate unfortunately! On top of that I really should have exercised daily even if it was a 1/2 hour walking on the treadmill or the eliptical. I really don't have an excuse since Josh provided me with our own home gym! I am just too tired and want to relax when I get home. My next pregnancy will be different. We plan on trying again when our little one is around 9 months as long as I have lost the weight by then (I want to start as healthy and in shape as possible). I figure I will already be exercising and just tone the intensity down as I go into the next pregnancy and continue throughout.
Swelling: I am experiencing some mild swelling in my lower legs when I'm at work. Even though I get up periodically to copy or fax something, all the sitting at my desk causes the swelling. At home where I have my legs up I have none. I may need to look into buying some sort of a foot rest for under my desk in order to keep my legs raised.
Painful ribs: In the beginning I had some periodic pain in my lower back, but now it seems to be mainly my ribs on my right side where her feet are. Every time my baby bump grows I seem to have the pain. I have been told that ribs expand to make room for the baby in women with short torsos. Ugh!

The good news: The doctor confirmed that the baby is head down (phew). I have known that for a few weeks now because she hiccups practically every day and I feel them very low in my pelvis and her kicks and movements are further up. I am really hoping she is ready to be born at 37 weeks. Yes, I'm ready to get this over with and see and hold her, but also to prevent her from gaining even more weight at that time.

I still cannot believe I'm carrying a real human inside me and that Josh and I soon will be real adults as parents! I don't think I will ever get over the "surrealness" of parenthood... My theory on parenthood is that one of the reasons why God allows it is to teach us first hand about the love and devotion of a parent to a child (as His relationship with us His children) and accountability of your Christian faith. Josh and I both have grown immensely in our faith since we moved to Missouri. Last year specially was huge with me getting baptized and then immediately experiencing God's power in answering prayers to someone (me) who finally and officially announced Him as king over everything. I still have a long road, but the difference already is incredible. Last week Josh did something that brought tears to my eyes and lit a huge fire in my heart. We went to our favorite chinese buffet. He had waited for me to get back to our table (we usually wait for each other before we start eating) and he looked at me and as he reached for my hand and I extended mine to him, he asked if we should pray! I'm getting emotional just writing this! I have seen others do this and have always admired them for the public display of our faith, but never expected my husband (who is supposed to be the spiritual leader in our household) to suggest this and if I ever hoped for it then I'm sure I thought it would be much later in life. Josh said a quick prayer of thanks and for the rest of the week I couldn't stop thanking the Lord for that moment.

O, so, we thought that we were set on her name (Aubrey Nicole), but I started having doubts when I started actually hearing that name when people referred to her by it and it sounded odd out loud. I voiced my concern to Josh and he expressed that he always liked the name Allana. So, I suggested that we wait to officially decide on her name until after her birth when we get to actually see her. Her middle name would still be Nicole. We Shall see...