8 (!!!) Month Bump

I feel like I say this every month but I seriously can't believe I'm 8 months pregnant! EIGHT! Doesn't that sound so very pregnant?!

Beyond sounding so very pregnant, it also means looking so very pregnant. I can't believe that 1. little bean is thought of as pretty small for 32 weeks old, given how big I feel and 2. that she's going to be cooking in there for TWO MORE MONTHS!!! How?! How in the world is it possible my stomach will stretch two more months worth?! Its getting much harder to pretend that getting her out will be no big deal. I miss a few weeks ago when I really, truly believed that would be the case.

I'm definitely feeling eight months pregnant these days. My belly is contracting all the time which can  be quite uncomfortable. And I'm definitely feeling lower back pain like I've never felt before. And don't even get me started on acid reflux - I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night feeling like the baby is trying to claw her way out through my esophagus.

Still, despite all of that, I'm counting myself lucky. These symptoms come and go so that they typically feel fleeting. And I'm still really enjoying this ride. I love having my girl around all the time, so much so that I worry I'll miss her when she's on the outside! Theres nothing in the world like feeling her flip around and get comfortable and kick her little feet (although sometimes she kicks me so hard I literally yell "ow!"). I like to pat her little feet and bum sometimes, its so cool that I'm starting to be able to know by touch whats what in there.

These days I'm cycling between wanting this time to last forever and being so excited to meet her that it feels impossible to have to wait another 8ish weeks. Depending where I'm at on that continuum I'm either crying with excitement and happiness or crying out of fear. Oh yeah theres a lot of crying happening again. Although I realized that it tends to happen when I've waited too long to eat. As such, planning meal times has become an essential part of my daily functioning- I really can't stand when I get all weepy.

I'm also continuing to slow down and needing more periods of rest than ever before. Today was such a beautiful day I figured it'd be a good idea to take Charlie for a walk to the park. Well between me and my big belly and Charlie and his senior age, the two of us were a real sight. He was panting away and lagging behind while I was gripping my back and waddling along. We both collapsed into exhausted heaps as soon as we walked back in the door. The walk was probably no more than 20 minutes...

Oh the other advancement that happened this week: I had to take out my belly button ring. I didn't think I would mind all that much but I was mistaken. My belly button just looks so wrong without it. It doesn't help that my innie is working its way to an outie but its more than that. I just feel like it looks so clinical, or like a baby's belly button. Check out the picture evidence after the jump:

I was googling "when to take out your belly button ring during pregnancy" (because in pregnancy, it turns out, I need google to answer every single one of my questions) and boy are people ever mean on discussion boards! Instead of getting an actual answer, I mostly read crazy people's extremely judgmental opinions on the matter (example: "it doesn't matter if the doctor says its okay, do you want to be a trashy mother?") - I seriously have to remember this when baby is here and I find myself, in a very fragile, sleep-deprived state googling answers to my desperate questions...

Anyway heres another pic of my bare belly cuz why not.

Alright thats it for this month's bump update. I'm off to catch some Zs as a long day of packing lies ahead of us tomorrow. That's right, packing AGAIN. Sigh. At this point, we are professionals.