Well, today Brennan is three weeks old. We celebrated this morning by my going to the doctor for a checkup. Of course my first question was when can I start working out and playing volleyball again, and unfortunately she said nothing but walking for another 3 weeks

But I have the adorable little Brennan to keep me company till then! Below are some adorable pictures that Bruce took when he and Linda visited last weekend. He (Brennan, not Bruce) is plumping up nicely and even getting some little thigh rolls. At his two week appointment he had gained more than a pound since the previous week!

Dan is back at work so we are working out a routine for the baby and us to maintain our sanity. We’re actually doing really well so far, and for parents of a 3 week old are surprisingly well rested (knock on wood). Brennan has had a few fussy nights where he doesn’t want to get to sleep, but in general he is still a very, very good baby. We feel very lucky, and it’s hard to believe he’s only been here for 3 weeks!

It’s official, we are in week 30! It could be less than 10 weeks before we meet our little one, which is both exhilarating and frightening. We’re starting to check some of the big things off our pre-baby list, including our birthing class which finished last night. As I mentioned before it was pretty out there, but it did make us feel really, really, really good about the location where we’ll be having the baby. The nurses seem fantastic, the birth suites are amazing, and we’re confident that as long as we’re prepared the birth will go great.

Check out those baggy eyes! Can you tell sleep is getting challenging?

On a less baby-related note, my work has slowed down A TON in the past month or so, leaving me with a lot more spare time during the week than I usually have. I’m trying to use the time well by doing baby prep and getting my volleyball website up to speed, but it’s very strange to have to expend so much effort to fill enough hours in the day/week.

On the other hand, the free time has proven to be a blessing in a big way because it’s giving me enough time to workout daily and get plenty of rest. As you can see from the picture both of those things are becoming more and more crucial as I’m getting bigger and bigger.

Walking and yoga are my best friends right now, and I can’t imagine how pregnant women made it through 40 weeks without regular exercise and stretching!

In other news, Dan’s softball league is winding down, and while he is doing great at 3rd base his team has yet to win a game. They do have a good time though, and they will be signing up for the right league for the fall season (they are in the competitive league this time instead of the rec league), and I’m sure they’ll bring home a lot of wins next season.

As July winds down we’ve got a night of camping planned with our friends up in Estes park, and my family is coming for a week at the end of the month to help us build a new front porch. (This is all assuming that Boulder doesn’t get washed away in the next week by the torrential downpours that we’re having every afternoon.) Lots of exciting events coming up, with the hope that I’ll be able to participate in them all with my burgeoning belly!

For those of you keeping score at home, the baby is now the size of a bunch of cauliflower, but moves around a whole lot more.

As of Sunday we will officially enter the third trimester, and it’s starting to feel very real and a little bit more scary (at least for those of us contemplating birth in a few weeks).

Part of the third trimester “stuff” is that we’ve started our birthing class. We chose the one recommended by our midwives, called “Magical Beginnings.” It’s based on a Deepak Chopra book, which I suppose should have tipped us off, but we were not prepared for how hippy it is.

We spend a decent part of the classes doing visualization and/or meditation exercises. These are cool, but aren’t quite what this somewhat analytic, information-driven couple was expecting. We’ve still got two more classes to go, so maybe there will be a little more practical advice and a little less guided deep breathing.

It’s interesting to see the other couples in the class too. We are the farthest away from our due date, with one couple’s due date only a few days after the class ends. I mentioned to the midwife at our last visit that my bump seems to be as big as some of these women’s who are due a month or more before me, and she said it’s because I’m so short. It really is surprising how different builds impact how women carry their babies, and I’m pretty sure short chicks get a raw deal.

Anyway, for the most part the pregnancy continues to roll along without too many issues. Dan is hard at work sanding and staining all the new furniture that we got second hand for the baby’s room, and I think it’s going to look AMAZING when it’s done. The only problem is that it’s hard to fit sanding into an already busy summer schedule, so hopefully we will have finished pieces before we have a baby.

I had my first really bad day of back pain on Tuesday and ended up spending the better part of Wednesday trying to figure out how to make it go away. After yoga, a bath and a nap I was feeling almost back to normal, and it appears that not stretching after my Monday water aerobics created some very tight muscles that were making their displeasure known. So there is a lot of yoga and stretching in my future!

This weekend we’re getting together with another couple who are due a month after us to make a huge amount of gnocchi and ravioli to freeze for after the babies come, which will be one more thing off our massive “To Do Before Baby” list. It’s great having another couple so close to our date to hang out with, although I think the guys get sick of us girls talking about nothing but pregnancy the whole time.

Finally, I’m getting one last trip to Texas in before I’m too enormous to get on a plane. I can’t wait to see the family next week, but the prospect of 100+ temperatures is not enticing. I’m sure it will be worth it to see the looks on everyone’s faces when they feel the baby kick!