Hello 3rd trimester!

Today I start my 3rd trimester and I can't believe we're already here!  The weeks have been passing so fast.  I feel my days all run together with all this reading and preparing.  I'm so consumed because I want to learn so much and prepare as best I can.  Not having any experience taking care of a newborn, I've had lots to learn. 
Though it seems like time has flown by, I must admit that my body is feeling every bit of being in the 3rd trimester!  My energy level has been going down and I'm much more tired at the end of each day.  And on top of that, my back aches are becoming pretty painful and extremely uncomfortable.  It started back in June when I flew home to KY to see my family and I was hoping it was just from the flight, but unfortunately it's due to the belly not the plane.  It is now a daily occurrence and the only way to make it go away is to lay down on my left side, shifting the weight of my belly off of my back.  This of course doesn't help me at all when working all day and sitting/standing.  I've become an old lady with a heating pad on while working at my desk!  The heat doesn't eliminate the pain but it helps ease it.  I've also noticed swollen feet and ankles the past two days.  I'm going to have to keep an eye on this as this is the only time I've noticed any swelling. 
I don't want to complain too much because I've been pretty lucky throughout this pregnancy and haven't had any other issues.  I can handle some back pain.  Things could definitely be worse.

Also with being 28 weeks, I've been experiencing some "nesting".  I've cleaned out all cabinets in the kitchen to throw out things we don't use and reorganize, I bought storage tubs & totes for nearly every closet in the house to get more organized and have had Todd make several trips to the Humane Society & Goodwill for donations and have cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more.   We painted the nursery an adorable shade of blue, setup his crib with the bedding, moved in his dresser and set it up as the changing table, and organized his closet.  I find the most relaxing thing for me is shopping for my little guy and getting his nursery ready.  I get this sense of happiness and pure joy and it just makes me feel so calm and relaxed.  Dangerous I know...for my wallet! 

I'm looking forward to my baby shower tomorrow at work, our upcoming tour of Labor & Delivery at St. Joseph's Candler hospital, and our childbirth classes at the end of August.  We completed our first child care class last week, infant CPR.  It was a refresher course for me since I had to be renewed every 2 years while lifeguarding at UK, but it was the first for Todd.  We definitely feel more confident should our child ever get choked or god forbid anything else tragic happen.

We still have lots to do between now and October but every day I feel more and more prepared and ready for this new little addition. :)

20 weeks on the left & 26 weeks on the right.

(Oops!  Been busy and skipped a few weeks...or 5!)