Baby makes three...

From the front: Not pregnant

From the side: Whoa belly!!

Please excuse the smirk on my face in the first photo as I was mid-chip!

Well - we are now in the third trimester! We had a midwife appointment this week and the baby's heartbeat was a steady 140. I think s/he was sleeping at the time as it didn't change at all. The midwife guessed the baby was in the head-down position although it's still a little hard to tell. But that's good - I want baby to get comfy with its head down, not its feet or any other part of its anatomy. I try to visualise it being head-down a lot.

The midwife also said it felt like a relatively small baby. I'm hoping it takes after me size-wise (six and a half pounds even though I was two weeks late), and not after Julian (I came across his birth certificate recently and noted that he was well over eight pounds even though he was two weeks early!) A happy medium would be alright as well. Then again, some people say it's not the size of the baby, but just the size of its head that matters.

The past few weeks have been the best so far of my pregnancy - I get lots of little kicks and jumps throughout the day, but I'm feeling pretty good energy-wise. My only new symptom is a bit of insomnia - very strange for me as I am a heavy sleeper. The only person who falls asleep more quickly than I do is my husband! My midwife recommended calcium/magnesium and/or hot milk before bed as it is apparently a relaxant. That treatment does seem to have helped.

I haven't really had any strange food cravings since my first trimester, though I do indulge a little more in ice cream. I decided not to do the gestational diabetes test, since the research that I came across shows that the test is highly inaccurate (one study showed 50-70% of women who "fail" the first time pass the second time) and since the benefits of treatment are unproven (as well, there may be disadvantages in being treated as higher-risk). (Yay for my UBC library card continuing to work during the summer - I can access all the medical databases/journals.) However, I am still trying to keep to healthy diet and to avoid lots of high sugar foods (other than ice cream!) I got a good info sheet on it and it was surprising what foods raise glucose levels - things like old potatoes and carrots do. But cherries are fine - which is awesome because there are lots of delicious BC cherries in the stores. I also try to exercise every day, although my exercise these days is usually just a 15-minute walk around the neighbourhood.

Anyway seems like the baby is awake right now as I am getting some serious punches... but I'd better get back to my studies.