I'm back with better hips and new shoes!

It's been over a week since I've written, much to my dismay, but my life has been a bit chaotic these days. I am now in the countdown to maternity leave (2.5 weeks to go!) which means I've been SWAMPED at work trying to tie up all loose ends. Additionally and best of all, last Saturday was my baby shower and all of my beautiful sisters were here visiting me, including my 2 thirteen year old nieces!! Needless to say, we had such a fun weekend of bonding and being together. Don't think any of us wanted it to end :) The baby shower was everything I hoped it would be - a wonderful afternoon of great conversation and even better company. The atmosphere couldn't have been more beautiful, the food was delicious, and the gifts were so incredibly special. Here are a few pics of the day:

Not a great picture of me talking, but you can see the big belly!

In other news...I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to a personal trainer! My hip/butt pain is almost gone thanks to Lee and the workout/stretching regimen that he designed for me. Every night I do about 4 exercises and 5 stretches and OMG, it's helped so so much. If any of you prego ladies out there get the same kind of pain, please contact me so I can have Lee walk you through the workout. It gives me instant relief every night.

Last week it became official that the only shoes I can fit my feet into are my sneakers and flip flops. My (again) wonderful husband decided to buy me new shoes for my birthday (so sweet) and picked out the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. They are called PG Lite and are actually orthopedic shoes meant to give the utmost support possible, also contributing to my healing hip. Not sure what PG stands for, but we've been calling them Preggers Lite and I think every pregnant woman needs to have a pair! You can buy them anywhere, including AMAZON and they come in many colors. We picked out black patent leather for me and did I mention that they're a WHOLE size larger than I normally wear?:

My hands are still bothering me and I've found out that I actually have carpal tunnel now in both of them. From my research, I've learned that this is a common occurrence among pregnant women from the swelling and pressure on the nerves in the hands. I have been wearing hand braces at work and especially to bed which is when most of the pain occurs. This is an extremely annoying problem, but something I'm much more happy to deal with than hip/back/butt pain. Here is an article about pregnancy carpal tunnel:

Carpal Tunnel during pregnancy