29 weeks: The Ups and Downs

I am still really enjoying being pregnant. I have already bonded with my baby that is growing inside of me and I feel like I have a little buddy with me every minute of every day. I love feeling the baby’s movements (which now make my belly visibly move and shake) and I get an overwhelming sense of happiness each time Adam talks to my belly.
Pregnancy hormones have not made me irritable (seriously--you can ask Adam), and Adam and I are more in love than we have ever been (and I didn’t think that it could get any better ☺). Sharing this experience with him and making plans for the future that will soon include our son or daughter is the best thing that has ever happened to me. These days it seems that there is rarely anything that can shake my happiness.
Notice I said “rarely”, not “never”…
There are a some things that I don’t love about being pregnant right now and they are all related to work. One of my dislikes is teaching in Temecula where the weather is blazing hot. I really can’t blame my pregnancy for this. In my opinion, the weather there is hard to bear whether you are pregnant or not. Having yard duty and leading PE for a class of first graders in that heat is enough to make anyone cry (and for the record, I have only cried about it once).
Another thing that is starting to get to me is my back pain. Adam gives me massages every day as soon as he walks in the door, but at the end of my work day, before I get home to him, I often wonder if I will be able to get up again the following morning at 5 am to spend my day getting up and down off of the floor. I spend a lot of my day crouching or sitting “criss-cross apple-sauce” (“Indian style”) with the kids on the floor and my poor aching back is suffering. I just got a referral to a chiropractor and recently read that seeing a chiropractor while pregnant not only gets your back, hips, and pelvis in alignment for a more comfortable pregnancy, but also a more comfortable birth. I am definitely going to make an appointment in the near future.
I am also suffering from a cold that I have had for almost a month and cannot get rid of! It should be no surprise to me that I am sniffling when every kid in my class is coughing and sneezing all over me or picking their nose and hugging me. I am slathering them in hand sanitizer all day, but it doesn't seem to be enough to keep the germs off of me.
But, as I said, overall I am still REALLY enjoying being pregnant. I am also REALLY looking forward to fall and winter weather this year. It is almost November--shouldn't fall weather be here already??

Here is a recent picture of my growing belly:


Here is a picture of my cousins and I. We are all pregnant at the same time! Catt is 4 months, I am 7 months, and Nicole is 8 1/2 months.