Only About 9 Weeks to go...

At 31 weeks, Brinda Baby is now close to his birth height but still needs to pack on about 3-5 lbs of baby fat. Braxton-Hicks contractions are a possibility from here on out but I have not experienced them yet. His brain is still developing along with his immune system. He is now definitely crowding my lungs more! I am still doing my weightlifting workouts but I definitely need more rest time during them to catch my breath. The hormones have been affecting my ankles too...I have noticed on my walks that my ankles (more the left than the right) get very tired so that they don't want to work to pick up my feet! I have to make sure I stretch them really well to get through my walks or I have also had to stop during my walks and stretch them out. One of the women attached to our boat is a massage therapist and she came to my house this past week. It was a glorious massage - especially for my back and feet!!

I am still napping when I feel the need but I have found I need to be careful with how long I nap! There have been days when my nap lasted 2 hours and then I have trouble going to sleep at night. Cute animal of the week is the small clawed otter.  The baby is about the same size as the otter not including the tail.

As you can see here, the belly continues to get bigger!! I know I have 9 weeks left but my stomach feels like it's already stretched out as much as it will go!

I finally received my breast pump as well! Tricare completely covers a breast pump and a bunch of accessories that come with it, so along with the pump itself, I received a package of storage bags, a bottle set and nursing pads. About six weeks after the baby is born, Tricare will also allow you to order more supplies (like storage bags and nursing pads) to replenish your supply. I am very grateful for that!

The other good news for this past week is that I finally heard from Carlton!!! We hadn't had any contact since the day before Thanksgiving when the boat left. They were able to do a stop in Japan, so we were able to videochat which was great! So nice to be able to talk to my hubby after so long! They should be home relatively soon which is great! I am definitely looking forward to having him home for awhile!

XOXO
Jen