Mrs. Nicholas...your big baby belly is blocking the whiteboard!

At just over 34 weeks now, my baby belly has grown quite large.  Jase actually said to me today, "I don't think you realize the size of that tummy you're pushing around in front of you."  It's funny, but that's exactly what it feels like...I'm working hard to push (and sometimes drag) my belly around!  Everything has gotten a little more challenging as of late.  Walking, rolling over, sitting up, you name it.  My belly has just gotten so big.  To show me just how bulbous my belly has gotten, Jase took a few pictures for me ( and for your giggling enjoyment)...

 

So, as our little baby continues to grow, my belly continues to grow larger and larger every day.  With the start of my 34th week, some "wonderful" memories of my first trimester have returned to haunt me...I am once again in the bathroom ALL the time, I'm having trouble getting comfortable at night so my sleep is suffering, and my back is once again aching to no end.  Is it crazy that with all of this discomfort, I am still enjoying every minute of my pregnancy?  Our little baby continues to kick on an hourly basis and has even fallen into routine times from 9-10am, 1-2pm, 5-6pm, and 8-10pm.  I find myslef looking forward to these times when the baby rolls, twists and kicks to make its presence known.

We've been hard at work finalizing some details before Baby arrives...the most recent one is hunting down just the right person to take care of our little one once I return to work.  I will be taking a 12 week leave of absence from school, but after that 12 weeks, I'll have to return to finish out the school year before spending my summer with Baby.  That means we 'll have to find someone to watch the baby for 6-8 weeks while I finish out the school year (not an easy task to find daycare for such a short period of time).  We will be putting the baby in daycare once the 2010-2011 school year begins, so we're really looking for a caregiver for both of these timeframes.  We've visited several different places, both large corporate centers and in-home daycare providers, but haven't found just the right one yet. 

I guess I'm really just struggling with the idea of having to put our child in daycare at all.  The idea that someone else will be spending more time with my child than me just makes me feel plain old icky.  What I would really love is to just be a stay-at-home mom until my kids are all of school age, but I just don't think that we'll ever be able to afford such a luxury.  It's just hard to swallow the idea of paying someone (or someplace) $700/month to do something you don't really want done for you anyway!  Nonetheless, the hunt continues for the "right" place.  We have yet another tour/interview this weekend, and I'm hoping that with all of the good recommendations this in-home provider has gotten, this is finally "the one."