33 weeks

It looks like "pregnancy brain" returned this week, along with the continuing increased fatigue and appetite. One of the first symptoms I had (besides a stuffy nose, which is still around too) was that I started having troubles talking, with not being able to find the right words or getting distracted and not being able to finish sentences. Luckily that went away pretty quickly, but just in the last week, it seems my memory has taken a hit. I forgot my work phone number several times (leading to odd voicemails where I tried to leave my number and then ended with "...yeah. Just call me back."), forgot what store I always park at at the mall (and I always park at the same one so I don't forget where I left my car - that could have been disastrous), etc.

The baby has also had the hiccups a couple of more times, and for longer than the first time. Ryan was able to feel it for one of the episodes too, which was cool. The baby is continuing to kick and punch and do whatever it is exactly that it's doing in there. Every day I hope I feel a lot of movement, and every day the baby doesn't disappoint :) Ryan has also gotten more chances to "commune" with the baby (as I like to call it), which basically means he pokes at my belly and the baby pushes back, or he is able to move a protruding limb (which feels so weird to me, but I suspect that's part of the fun of it...).

We also met with our pediatrician on Monday, which went well. The meeting was more of a formality on our part, since I had seen this practice recommended a few different places and it's close to our house, so we just wanted to make sure the gut feeling was good and that at least the doctor we met with seemed reasonable. Both of those things checked out just fine, so we were able to cross "select a pediatrician" off the list :)

I also went to a La Leche League meeting, as our childbirth instructor strongly recommended we do before we actually give birth (the thought being that we'd be more likely to ask for help when we're overwhelmed with a newborn if we knew where the meeting was, who would be there, etc.). I was a nervous wreck, but everyone was very nice and welcoming and I ended up staying for nearly three hours - Ryan was impressed that there was enough breastfeeding stuff to talk about for that long, but we covered a lot of other ground too (sleeping, babywearing, etc.). Good stuff, and I'm looking forward to attending the meetings regularly once the baby gets here.