Bump Watch: 30 Weeks

Thirty weeks! Three quarters of the way through this pregnancy! (Assuming, of course, that Eggi decides to come on time...)

This week's milestone is a kind of sad one, and one that you might be able to spot upon close examination of the bump watch photo above.

Did you notice it? Can you tell what's different about me this week? (Besides, of course, the obvious ever-growing baby bump...)

Here's a hint:


That's right, my hands and feet have started swelling a little this week -- and it's gotten to the point where I can no longer comfortably wear my wedding rings. :( Last Wednesday, at my 29-week appointment, the doctor asked if I had experienced any swelling yet. I blithely told him no. He then proceeded to warn us that if I started having any swelling in my hands, I should take off any rings immediately (and put them in a safe place -- he told us a story about a patient who called him asking if she had by chance told him where she put her wedding ring after she took it off on his advice!).

I'm pretty sure he jinxed me. [Ed. note: David wants me to make it clear that we don't actually believe in jinxing.] On Thursday night, when I took my socks off, there was a distinct line where my socks had ended, above which my legs were puffy. Then on Saturday night, it was a little painful to take off my rings at night. Sunday morning at church, I realized that my watch was tighter than I usually like it to be. And finally, Sunday night, after a painful struggle with my rings, I had to conclude that it would be better to keep them off than to have them cut off my sausage fingers down the road...

I'm still wearing them, though, on a chain around my neck. Like so!


After having worn them every day for three and a half years, I can't imagine not having my wedding rings on me in some way... But I suppose this is just one of those pregnancy rites of passage. Something to do with generating and circulating enough blood and fluids for two...

In other news, Eggi continues to grow stronger every day! Here's the weekly blurb from BabyCenter.com on his development this week --

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Well. "Normal" adult vision is 20/20. Mine averages around 20/300, and I think David's visual acuity is somewhere in that neighborhood as well... So we can totally relate to how strange and blurry the world looks to newborns!

Can't wait to meet our cute little bleary-eyed cabbage!