32 Weeks and counting!

So, we're getting close to being in the homestretch. Lots has happened in the past two months, but I'll start with a more recent picture. I'm actually looking like a pregnant person now and not just like someone who ate too many pizzas (although I probably fall into that category as well). I've already gained 30 pounds and I still have two months to go.

The past few months, since my last posting, a few things have happened: (1) PUPPP, which has to be one of the most miserable side-effects of pregnancy; (2) the Minnesota winter hit in full force; (3) the holidays and a baby shower, and (4) the nursery.

PUPPP
Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP)

The literal translation of this is Itchy Rash of Raised Red Spots and Large Areas of Raised Red Spots that Have Appeared Because You Have a Bun in the Oven.

PUPPP is a rash that is insanely itchy, hits somewhere between 1 in 100 and 1 in 250 women, and has no cure other than delivery. Most women get it when they are carrying multiples and it usually appears only in the last few weeks of the typical 40-week pregnancy, and some women are even induced by their doctors early to ease the suffering. I was one of the unlucky ones to get it much earlier that the usual week 35 onset and had a raging case at 27 weeks. Thankfully, it has subsided considerably since its peak around Christmas, but it is still annoying and the itching can make it difficult to sleep. I guess in a way, this is training for when there is something else causing me to get very little sleep? Luckily, PUPPP doesn't harm the baby at all, so it's mostly just an annoyance.

The Minnesota Winter
We have had a few brutal weeks up here, and a temperature of 10 degrees in the positive actually feels like a mild day. After a few recent days when the only double digits we saw were negative, a slight warm-up this coming week with temps in the high 20s will be a welcome change! I thought I was going to need a new coat, but my long down coat from last year has been enough to keep me toasty. The only problem is that it's getting harder to snap closed as my girth increases, and I'm afraid that a few more pounds are going to preclude my wearing that coat and I'll have to figure something else out. There is something people call the "Minnesota Hunch," referring to how Minnesotans carry their shoulders hunched up and over when it is -10 with a -30 wind chill during the winter months. Combine this with the "Pregnant Lady Waddle" I'm working on and you can imagine how I look when I'm walking around in St. Paul.

The Holidays and a Shower (not a snow shower, although there was one of those the day of the Baby Shower...)
Tom and I edged out most of the monster Christmas snowstorm that hit the midwest, but after a smooth drive through Wisconsin, we hit the storm from Chicago (snowflakes as big as frisbees) to Indiana (ice and wind) to Michigan (ice and snow and spinouts, oh my!). Once we survived the white-knuckle driving, we enjoyed some time with friends and family and had a great holiday. Then, on the Sunday after Christmas, my sister-in-law Kathleen and her mom Marcia and sister Sara hosted a baby shower. It was incredibly fun and full of family and friends, great food and many laughs. I didn't take the pictures at the shower, but I hope to get some soon from those who did and will post a few.

The Nursery
The nursery is still a work in progress, but we have transformed it from storage room into the beginnings of a nursery. This was accomplished by Tom moving all of the boxes that were up there down into our den. So now the den is also the storage room. We still need a glider, but this weekend, we knocked out a few other biggies, including a stroller. We got so many adorable items for the baby and nursery at the shower, and we are getting closer to feeling prepared (at least in terms of things to have on hand when we bring baby home). Tom's sister Shellie has also been AWESOME with hand-me-down clothes and baby equipment to borrow.

Never Too Young to Say "Go Blue"
My mom and sister Sarah gave us another present before we left Michigan to come back: a Michigan onesie. We'll likely receive a Wisconsin Badger and/or a Green Bay Packers baby outfit from the Olson side of the family, but the Maize and Blue were first on the scene, so I'm afraid the first school- or team-affiliated picture will have to be for Michigan. The whole Michigan/Wisconsin thing reminds me of when Tom and I were walking on the lakeshore path in Milwaukee the day of the Michigan/Wisconsin football game. He was wearing his Wisconsin t-shirt and I was wearing my Michigan sweatshirt. More than one passerby commented that they didn't want to be at our dinner table that evening.