34 weeks

Look at me, actually doing my weekly update on Thursday! As I mentioned yesterday in my post, I didn't go to class or teach yesterday because I was so nauseous. Even though I had to do some catch up on class notes, I actually was able to get a lot of things done at home yesterday evening and my homework went by really quickly today. Yay for an hour-ish of free time. Today is a rainy, cold Thursday therefore as soon as I got home I changed out of my skinny jeans and boots and into my comfy pink sweatpants. Please excuse the obnoxious color combo :)

 

How far along? 34 weeks. I bought half and half yesterday that expires on my due date. Crazy!

Total weight gain: 22 pounds

Updates on baby: (Thanks to BabyCenter) Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Note: When I was born I weight 4 pounds, 10 oz and was 18 inches long... meaning she is about as big as I was when I was born! I know that all these weights and lengths are averages and since I was such a small baby it is likely that she is also smaller than normal. However, just thinking that there is anything close to a full size baby in there is nuts.

Maternity Clothes: I think this is the last week I will update you on this one because not much really changes. Clearly, they are pretty much all I wear lately unless I am at home sporting sweatpants and a T-shirt of David's. I miss having a lot of variety in my wardrobe and I am starting to get a little nervous about what I will wear after I have the baby. But, those are silly things to worry about now.

Symptoms/Body Changes: Well, as you can probably tell by the pictures my belly is ginormous! I know... people tell me I am not that big. But I feel huge. Actually, just my belly feels huge. By the end of the day it just feels very heavy and tight and it looks so different lately too since my belly button has popped out and I have started to see a faint dark line running down the center of it. This past week was the first week that people really started commenting on the size of my belly. Today I got a, "Your body is really starting to change its shape".  When I walk around now everyone smiles at me and I know it is because it looks like I literally stuffed a basketball up my shirt. I really am not self conscious about it though.. I mean, I know that your belly has to get really big toward the end because there is a full baby in it! But I think that the fact that it continues to grow and grow really surprises most other people.

Other than the huge belly things are pretty normal I guess.  Aches, pains, no sleep... you get it. My nausea was intense yesterday so I may have to talk to my doctor about what I can do to control it a little better for these last few weeks. Sometimes I feel guilty that I have had to stay on Zofran during my whole pregnancy because I know that it isn't normal. But anytime that I don't take it the nausea and vomiting just come back full force. It could be that things would be different now; that I could actually keep enough food down to function. And if I had the luxury of just kind of hanging out at home these last few weeks of pregnancy I think I would consider toughing it out and taking the risk of feeling queasy 24/7. But the fact of the matter is that I can't do that. I have classes to take, a job to do, a Master's exam to pass and a paper to write all (hopefully) before our little one arrives. So I am just trusting that what feels best for my body is also best for baby.

Exercise: I am kind of drawing a blank... but I think that it was good! On Sunday I walked about 2 miles with my parents while they were in town. On Monday I did nothing but Topology homework, but on Tuesday and Wednesday I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took 2.5-3 mile walks each day. This evening I am doing prenatal pilates and on Saturday I plan to lift weights. In general I am still not meeting my goals but I feel like I am staying relatively active given my schedule and fatigue.

Movement: She is tumbling as I type, as usual. I am starting to notice her being still for longer periods of time now, but when she gets going it is no joke. I love it but it is starting to get to the point where I want to actually see her and hold her... I want to watch her move in front of my eyes not just beneath my skin. David and I talk about how we pre-miss her sometimes. We have this feeling of missing her even though we haven't officially met her yet. It is kind of crazy. And all of her movement just makes me want here here more!

Cravings/Aversions: Oh goodness... my sweet cravings are for real. Having chocolate milk and granola bars around helps since I know these are healthier alternatives to brownies and doughnuts. However, when I do allow myself a real sweet treat it tastes sooo good. I also have been drinking milk like crazy which I never, ever used to do. This week I have packed cheese and crackers a few days for lunch and been grossed out by the cheese, but other times it is fine. I am definitely getting more picky, but there are still days when things taste really good, so I try to enjoy eating on those days.

Getting ready for baby: We are definitely in an awkward time... I am starting to get anxious about getting ready for her because I know we are only about 6 weeks away. But honestly I think that over the next 2 weeks I need to focus more on school for one last stretch. In the next two weeks I have my Master's Oral Exam to pass, another round of proctoring and grading for my Calculus class, and a Topology midterm of my own. However, once all that is over it will pretty much be Thanksgiving and then I can really turn my attention to  washing newborn onesies and installing car seats. Here is to praying she doesn't come early!

What I miss: Taking baths... it used to be such a relaxing and comfortable thing for me. However now it is just uncomfortable. Even though the warmth feels nice on my sore ribs it is hard to sit in such a way that my back doesn't hurt. I think our bathtub is both more shallow and shorter than normal (i.e. it is tiny like everything else in our apartment). As soon as it gets cold outside I start to want a bath each night, but lately it has just been more of a hassle than a nice treat.

What I am looking forward to: David and I have our last baby shower this weekend!! I am really looking forward to spending time with his side of our family and I always look forward to trips to NKY too. Tomorrow night I am actually getting a much needed pedicure with my sister in law and I am really excited about it. I have a gift card, which is awesome, but I think that even if I didn't I would consider trying to squeeze it out of our budget because at this point there is no way I could paint my toenails. I can barely put my shoes on...

That is all for the update! After this baby shower I hope to post some pictures from all of my wonderful showers that I have had, so be on the lookout for those. Sometimes I feel lame that all of my posts these days are about pregnancy and baby things, but I realized that it is probably because throughout most of the day I am focused on school and work so when I sit down to write and reflect I think it is natural to focus more of that time on the baby and this amazing journey. I just hope you don't get sick of all the baby talk. 

Something that I wanted to do this week was compare pictures because the first weekly picture that I took was at week 14. So... here is week 14, 24, and 34 side by side. Amazing the difference 10 weeks can make!