Week 28: Overdue Musings and Art Update

Things have been busy, so I wasn't able to get it together enough to post last week. My most recent appointment with my midwife was a week and a half ago, and everything was right on target - my rate of weight gain, the measurement of my belly, and Odin's heartbeat were all perfect. Now, at 28 weeks pregnant, the weight gain is starting to show in my face, which is a bummer, but I really should just be grateful I went this long without my face blowing up like a balloon. Usually if I gain any weight at all, the first place it is noticeable is in my face, and unfortunately there's no disguising that.

The countdown is on - 12 more weeks before baby Odin is born. 12 more weeks of carrying around extra weight and bumping into things with my belly. I have to say, there are some pregnancy-related things I am looking forward to getting rid of, like back and sciatic pain, but I have really enjoyed pregnancy up to this point. I know I haven't hit the difficult/uncomfortable part yet and that it'll get worse before I give birth, but it has been a wonderful experience to see and feel Odin moving in my belly and to know that I'm protecting and caring for him until he is born. Plus, the whole pregnancy process is still so fascinating to me; it's bizarre and amazing.

While the nursery is still in a state of disarray, here's a look at the five canvases I painted to hang in there. As I said before, I am not very artistic at all, but I thought it would be fun to make some art for the nursery, just as a personal touch. I wanted something colorful but also simple, since my art skills are so lacking. I decided to pick up some cheap 8" x 10" canvases and paint background colors on them, then trace silhouettes of animals on them and paint them in different colors. It was pretty simple, but it took a bit of time since I had to go so slowly when painting the animals.

Here are the canvases with their colorful backgrounds (and a strategic photo-bomb by Oliver):

And here they are with the animals painted on them:

Not perfect, but the best I could do. Also, if you look closely in the upper right-hand corner, you'll notice a second photo-bomb, this time by Murphy.

There is nothing detailed about these animals, they are just the silhouettes, but I thought they'd be cute and add some color to the nursery. Matt thinks that because I deliberately painted the animals colors that they're not in real life that Odin will grow up thinking that elephants are green and giraffes are purple, etc., but I have faith that Odin will be able to figure it out.

New belly photo coming soon!

26 Weeks and Counting

I'm just checking in here; I am working on another post but it won't be ready for another couple of days. So in the meantime, here's a brief update for week 26.

Matt and I still haven't come up with a middle name for Odin. Honestly, we haven't even discussed it lately. Our calendars have been pretty full and I guess it's just not at the top of the priority list. But I'm sure we'll come up with something before the baby is born.

The nursery hasn't been painted yet; I still need to get all the stuff out of the room so we can paint the walls and then clean the floors. I've gone through some of the stuff in there (there are a lot of old papers in that room that can be recycled or shredded, so I wanted to go through those things and get rid of as much as possible), but there are still a number of boxes and small storage bins that need to be moved out.

A week ago I started the last class I'll take before I give birth. It's an 8-week class, so it will end just after Thanksgiving. While I am happy about knocking out another 3 credits before Odin comes, I am certainly not thrilled about having to manage school work while also trying to get things in order at home, not to mention getting ready for the holidays.

Speaking of getting things in order at home - I have just over a month before my baby shower happens AT MY HOUSE. That means there are a ton of things I want to get done before then, like small projects and a thorough cleaning, but also because there are likely to be enough people in attendance that I need to make my basement look decent as well as the main floor of the house (we're going to have to make it a two-story party!). This might not sound like a big deal, but my house is only one floor and the basement, so there is nowhere to store extra stuff that I might want to move out of the way. The house won't look perfect regardless of how much time I have to get it together, but I'll do the best I can to make it comfortable for guests - I hope they'll cut me some slack.

Odin has been very active the past few weeks, often making my stomach jump noticeably. Feeling him move is one of the few things I will really miss about being pregnant. It's just such an awesome experience.

As for me, I'm doing well except for near-constant back pain. It doesn't seem to matter what shoes I wear, how I sit, how often I stretch and move, it just hurts. And the pain wakes me up in the middle of the night, too, but that's not a huge deal since I usually have to get up to pee anyway. My belly is still looking the same as it did a couple weeks ago, so I'm not planning to do another belly photo until next week.

Coming soon will be a post about the five small, simple paintings I'm working on for the nursery. They are my very humble attempt at putting some personal art in Odin's room.