34 weeks

Time is rushing past now. I think the fact that I feel like we still have a bunch of stuff to do house-wise before the baby comes is what makes me feel like time is passing too quickly!

Baby
Baby supposedly now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long, about as big as cantaloupe. His or her fat layer, which will help regulate the body temperature once  born — is filling  out. Baby's central nervous system is maturing and his or her lungs are continuing to mature as well. Babycenter.com tells me that if I was nervous about preterm labor (I'm not, I have yet to feel a Braxton-Hicks contraction), babies born after 34 weeks do very well. While this is great, I would like baby to bake for at least a few more weeks, preferably until at least 38/39 weeks!


Me
One of the most noticeable changes this week has been in the baby's movements. They are definitely stronger now. On Sunday night I was sitting in bed reading while Charlie showered. When he was done, I told him to come look- you could see my belly moving all over the place. It was really cool and also kind of "sci-fi-ish".

I think I will look back at this week and deem it the week I started to become uncomfortable. Normal things just aren't as easy as they used to be. Standing for long periods of time, bending over, walking quickly, getting up from a sitting position...all more difficult. And putting my shoes on? Forget about it. This now takes about 5 mins between having to bend over to pick them up, taking breaks to breathe while bending over, etc. Luckily, it's summer and flip flop season. No tying or bending required.

This past week we had another midwife appointment. During the appointment, the midwife, Margie, was having a hard time feeling if the baby was head down. Since she couldn't feel and this is the time when it's necessary for baby to be head down (they'll prescribe exercises, etc if baby is not head down), she had me get a quick ultrasound to confirm. YEAH! The ultrasound did confirm that yes, Baby is in fact, head down. Double YEAH! The only slight bummer is that Baby was hanging out "sunny side up", meaning face towards my front. This isn't technically a problem for labor but the ideal position for the Baby to be in is facing my back. If Baby remains face front, it often means a more painful labor complete with lots of back labor. My friend Anne dealt with this during her first birth and assures me it isn't something I want to experience. Not that I really need much convincing. So the ultrasound tech told me to lay on my right side often and I've already looked up some positions and exercises to help get Baby into the correct position. At this point, there is still a good bit of time for Baby to re-position his or her self. Though it is highly unlikely that he or she will turn breech once they are settled head down in the pelvis. And believe me, Baby is settled in my pelvis.

Preparing for Baby
This week, my friends Anna, Melanie and Shelley threw a baby shower in Virginia for me. Anna hosted it at her house and while I plan to write a more detailed post about it when I get the pictures from her, it was great! We received more necessary items for Baby C and I got to eat my weight in yogurt, fruit, doughnut holes, cake pops and mini quiches. Score!

After the shower, Charlie and I drove down to a baby furniture store and pick out our glider. We are SO excited about this piece of furniture. I realize this sounds lame but hear me out. We (I) had decided to get an upholstered glider- the kind that looks like a piece of furniture that belongs other places besides a nursery. The main reason was so that we can keep this piece for a long time and have in a family room or den after our babies are done being nursed and rocked (sniff!). The one we chose is so comfortable. I didn't really want to get out of it at the store. It's a recliner versus the kind with an ottoman because the nursery is a small room and an ottoman is an extra 150-200 bucks. We picked a dark gray fabric that has light circles on it, hopefully it will look good in the room! And hopefully it arrives before the baby does- they said it should take about 6 weeks but could take up to 8. From the time we ordered it...I was due in 7. We shall see. :)

Charlie breaking open our "wish jar"
(a gift from Kristin and Nate when we
moved into our house) to add the $ to
our glider fund.

We also attended a breastfeeding class this week. The class was helpful, answered a number of my questions and helped us became familiar with the lactation center at our hospital. Breastfeeding is super important to me, so I wanted us to be as prepared as possible. Charlie didn't really understand why he had to go to the class but I was glad he did so that he is informed as well and can do his best to help with the process.

Week 34
Symptoms: I'm hot. Pretty much all the time. This is so weird for me, I'm usually always cold. Also, butt cramps and round ligament pain when walking for a while. Yes, this is as attractive as it sounds.

Loads of baby wash done: 2. How do you fold clothes that are so small?!

Weight: Up 26 lbs.

Steal of the week: Was at Sears returning a pair of rain boots I had ordered from Lands End (sadly they were too tall- kept hitting my knees). As I was leaving I saw a tower filled with baby clearance items. One was the booster seat I had put on our registry. It retails for $30 at Babies R Us. Sears had it on clearance for $10! Score! I left on a Bargain Hunters High. (as an aside, I didn't even know Sears sold baby stuff, other than clothes..)