29 Days and Counting

The ticker shows 29 days til Little Levi/Little Lia's due date and I knew we were due for an update. Lots has been happening on many different fronts so I'm going to do a bullet list to make sure I remember them all! As a reminder, we have our 36-week ultrasound tomorrow morning. At this appointment, we'll see if the moxibustion or something has worked to make the babe flip into the vertex position. Additionally, we'll take another look at the eyes to see if they still look cataract-free. Immediately following the u/s, we have a checkup with the doctor; at this time, if the baby is still breech, we'll be scheduled for a c-section in my 39th week. Wish us luck! Markus is traveling to DC immediately after the appointment, so we won't be able to scan the pictures for a few days.

In non-baby related news, here's what's been happening:
*Markus ran in the Broad Street Run this weekend and finished faster than he expected. He hasn't been able to train as much as he'd like because of his busy work schedule, so he was even more thrilled when he finished the 10-mile race in 68 minutes and 55 seconds. I was so proud of him! I got a few pictures of him running on Broad Street and hopped on the subway to catch him near the end of the race at the navy yard. He picked up speed, so he ran by earlier than I expected so I only caught his side and back. What an impressive finish (838th overall) for my man. Our friend James ran this weekend, too. James finished - get ready for this - 55th overall - in a race with 15,882 people. He's super fast...
*Markus' brother Lukas graduates this weekend - cum laude!! He has shown wonderful talent as an artist, and was rewarded during the senior art exhibit at West Chester. All of the seniors prepare an exhibit and Lukas was awarded the 2nd prize for best in show! We will see his exhibit after graduation this weekend. If you know anyone looking for a good graphic designer to join their organization, this talented young man will be on the job market soon. :-)
*Our good friend Becky leaves this weekend for a six-week trip to Indonesia to study with a yoga guru. She is currently a favorite biology professor of many students at St. Joe's and upon her return, will be a yoga student and yoga instructor extraordinaire. I will miss her during the time she's away, but admire her sense of adventure and curiosity that drive her to travel in pursuit of learning. She did a six week trip to India last year and had many fascinating experiences, stories and photographs. I can't wait to see what happens in Indonesia!
*My sister Lindsay is continuing with her massage studies. I've been so impressed at how much she's learned - and retained - since she began this program in late March. Her self-confidence has increased, she's proving to herself that she's a smarter woman than she thought she was, and she's doing something that seems perfectly suited to her personality and interests. I'm so proud of her and happy for her! In June, she will be able to perform Swedish Massage on clients. If you're in need of a massage Lindsay is your woman!
*We had the house painted and decided to have our basement floor ripped up and install tile instead. It was a pretty spontaneous decision (we had considered doing this before, but held off when I got pregnant) and will be started this week, I believe. We're doing to remove all of the hardwood flooring and install a multi-colored slate tile in its place. Well, we won't, but our contractor will! Stay tuned for pictures in the coming weeks. Trying to get ready for baby in so many ways...

Now for the baby updates:
*We continued the moxibustion. At this point, I can't tell if the baby has flipped or if it's just grown. It had previously been only on the right side of my body, but now I feel it over on the left, too. I guess we'll see tomorrow.
*The baby's started to drop a little. As a result, my bladder has increased pressure on it. I used to wake up every 2 hours at night to pee. Now I sleep for 2 hours, then wake up every hour after that. Good times! I'll be ready for baby-related sleep deprivation, I guess...
*The rings are off. I started swelling about 2-3 weeks ago. I'm not a person who swells, so it was strange to feel like I have sausage fingers and feet. I've been trying to elevate my legs at night but it doesn't help a whole lot. I still figure I'm lucky that I made it this far into my pregnancy without much swelling!
*I've been experiencing indigestion like never before! Again, this is something that's not a part of my normal life, so indigestion/heartburn/acid reflux is new to me. I think I have acid reflux the most - I have this awful burning sensation just below my throat. I figured it's a sign that I probably should've put my fork down a few bites earlier at dinner...piggy me. :-) So, I just drink some Pepto and/or eat some Tums and find relief pretty easily.
*We picked up the diaper bag last week. I love it! When I post some pictures later this week, I'll put a picture of the diaper bag in there. We now have all of our supplies except nursing bras (I had to wait until week 36 to buy those) and a pouch for the baby.
*In the next week or two, I'll launder all of the baby clothing and linens and pack the hospital bag. Since we'll have a much better idea of c-section vs. natural birth tomorrow, I decided to wait to pack the bag.
*Names - here are our finalists. Of course, these may always change at the last minute, but here's what we're thinking.

Boy
Rhoan Andreas (Rhoan rhymes with groan or phone, one syllable)

Girl
Willa Lewis
Lia Noelle

Markus tells me I shouldn't write a book or I'll lose people. Hopefully I didn't lose you with this lengthy post! Thanks for checking in, and we'll report back later this week with the breech update.