31 Weeks

First, last week's photo:

30 Weeks

(Side note: Mamas, you know that one pregnant photo where you suddenly realize that you've gained weight in your face, too? Yep, that was this photo for me. Such a lovely feeling, isn't it?)

And now yesterday, at 31 weeks:

This tree that James took us to (on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam) was huge:

This was right by the Aloha 'Aina Park, which we checked out after someone was done running around (and through!) the tree.

In front of (but technically behind) the missing man formation memorial.

Off toward the water to explore!

Today we got to check in on baby again, at our second-to-last out-of-home appointment with our midwife. We decided to drive to North Shore for this appointment (we usually go to her office in downtown Honolulu) to enjoy some pre-bedrest fun on another part of the island. After breakfast, we went to Haleiwa Beach Park to check things out. At first we just saw several surfers and many, many spectators (which was fun to watch), but no one swimming. After watching for awhile, a fellow active duty dad came over and told us where we could find a great place to swim around the corner. Not only was the water nice and calm, but there were dozens of turtles swimming all around, and several more basking in the sun on the beach! It was so crazy to be so close to them... Just amazing!

He finally decided it was okay to take the water route to the other side, after not wanting to go in at first.

Getting splashed, just one wave before the ocean tried to knock him over!

Time to head back to Daddy...

And back to check out the turtles one more time!

After James took this photo, AJ and I realized that there were numbers etched into this turtle's shell; he's # 748, if I remember right.

After our beach fun, we went over to Dr. Lori's for our afternoon appointment. Blood pressure is still good, and baby's heart rate was fluxuating between 125 and 140 bpm. Baby was head down, and Dr. Lori even showed me how to feel baby's head and back, which was so incredible! Baby's growth wasn't quite what we were hoping for though, since my belly was only measuring about 25-26 cm, but our midwife could feel that baby's definitely bigger than last time, so it's just something to keep an eye on. (That, and eat even more protein - specifically for breakfast and for lunch, rest more, and keep an eye on my water intake.) So, we'll go back to her office downtown in three weeks just for a quick check on baby's growth, and then Dr. Lori will be coming to our house for the rest of our appointments.

Looking back at the pregnancy journal I kept with AJ, I was measuring small then, too. Just before 36 weeks we were sent in for an ultrasound to check his growth, where they told us he was actually pretty big; he ended up being absolutely average at seven pounds on the dot. So, that's a little reminder to us to trust God and trust my body - and baby's - and everything will work out the way God intends. (With a little bit of heavy protein intake on the side.)