You know what? It’s hot outside. It’s so hot outside that even inside I’m hot. Even inside the car with the air conditioning on, I’m hot.

Last time I was pregnant in the fall and winter and spring. I wanted cookies and sugar. This time it’s hot. All I want is ice cream and lemonade and ginger ale. Because it’s hot.

Went today for a follow up ultrasound and had some good news – Zora’s fluid is up (from 8 to 10!) and size estimates show she’s in the 44th percentile and probably weighs about 5.3lbs. Although it’s not a BIG baby, it’s a great number for fluid and a good growth jump from last time. The lemonade and ice cream must be helping.

The Nurse Practitioner told me I’d had a difficult pregnancy last time and that at this point everything looked “normal” and I should probably do my best not to stress about it. I laughed, but it was good to hear.

Zora is definitely spending her time moving around in her space. I feel no need to stop and “count the kicks” as she regularly stops ME from what I’m doing to stretch out or stand differently and see if giving her more space helps. I think she’s rearranging furniture most evenings when I’m getting ready to settle in to bed. Oof.

We talked today about what a contraction actually FEELS like (she mentioned that when you have one, your stomach gets tight and you can’t feel the baby move) and I found myself reassured that I am not having contractions although I am being shoved on a very regular basis internally. There have been moments when I’ve thought “geeze!” and wondered if that’s what it was. Nope, just a wild animal taking up space in my body.

Driving to the doctors appointment today I was reminded for the first time of driving to the C Section appointment last time with Ember. It occurred to me that soon we will drive that same road on the way to meet our daughter and become a family of four for the first time. Things are VERY close to being VERY different for us all forever. It’s exciting and terrifying and fills me with of lots of FEELINGS.

After the ultrasound (where she stubbornly refused to smile for a photo), I sat next to photos of tiny tiny new babies and remembered what it was like to hold Ember for the first time and be in the hospital with her. It was scary then especially with Ember’s trip to the NICU, but I still look back and remember how tiny and sweet and perfect she was. Of course, she still IS but now she’s her own little person with ideas and plans and commands for us.

On one hand, it’s all gone by so fast that I can’t believe we may be only a few weeks from this new baby arriving – on the other hand, I’m just about ready not to be pregnant anymore. Because listen, it’s hot outside.