34 Weeks

How far along? 34 weeks, 1 day **6 weeks to go!!!**

How big is baby? His unofficial fruit size is a butternut squash. (Isn’t squash a vegetable?)

Total weight gain: 20 pounds, which the doctor said was fine. I was slightly hoping he’d say a few Chick-fil-A milkshakes would be a good idea…

Stretch marks? Not yet.

Exercise? We thought about going for a walk on Halloween to see the trick-or-treaters.

Sleep: Getting into and out of bed is now a major endeavor. And rolling over in bed? Yikes. It’s now harder to get comfortable, but once I get settled I’m ok and still managing to get a fairly decent night’s sleep. Happy about that!

(For the record, we are up to six pillows in the bed, four of which are mine.)

Movement: Definitely feeling him move around more and more as he is running out of room. Mostly squirms and wiggles, though he has taken a liking to my ribs. Not kicking them, thank goodness, but he sure will wedge himself up there as much as he can.

Food Oddities: Food aversions are as strong as ever – I keep seeing pictures of Thanksgiving turkeys and they make me want to gag. I have more of a penchant for sweets than I’ve ever had in my life, though usually a few bites is enough to satisfy the craving. I also like salty chips, French fries and buttered noodles. I may or may not occasionally dip my finger in the Kosher salt bowl just because I want a taste of salt. And I will eat absolutely anything pumpkin-flavored that I can get my hands on. (Though that’s not really a departure from normal…)

Water and fluids in general are my absolute biggest challenge. I make myself drink at least 64 oz a day (four Tervis tumblers). I aim for 80 ounces, but normally don’t reach that goal. I’ve tried every trick and novelty I can think of, but trying to force water into me when I don’t want it elicits a gag reflex and makes me feel sick to my stomach.

Symptoms: Well I’m midway through the third trimester. So how are things going overall?

As I’ve mentioned the past couple weeks, I’ve been dealing with some uncomfortableness, shortness of breath and tiredness. However, at this point these symptoms are far more manageable than all the symptoms I dealt with second trimester. I’m a happier camper overall as a result.

Heartburn and constipation are frequent visitors (though not a huge deal), and I’ve learned the hard way to eat small meals. I munch whenever I’m hungry, and that seems to be working out well.

I can still see my feet and can usually bend over to pick something up. I can still get down on and up from the floor, though the process of doing so is highly comical and anything but graceful. I can’t tie my shoes anymore. I move slowly and it takes me longer than usual to do simple tasks…and I’ve learned to be ok with that. I’ve gotten stuck on the couch more times than I care to admit. Getting ready for work in the morning is absolutely exhausting.

My circulation issues continue and my legs are very unsteady without my support hose on. Being able to push a shopping cart is critical when running errands…I don’t last long in a store without that extra support. By this point I’ve learned to deal with it and it’s just something that’s “there.”

Emotionally, I’m very excited for baby boy’s arrival and eager to be done with this pregnancy. It hasn’t been the easiest pregnancy, but I know that some women have it much, much worse, so I do my best to keep it all in perspective. Admittedly, that’s not always easy to do when it’s a nice day and I want to go for a hike or I’m relegated to the couch again when I’d rather be doing something productive. I’m generally in a pretty good mood…exception being if I get overtired. I haven’t experienced very many mood swings nor burst into tears over something minor.

What people are saying:

This past week I got my first, “How much longer do you have?” comment instead of the usual, “When’s the baby due?” I love my growing belly and the nice comments I get from complete strangers.

I’ve gotten lots of comments from my coworkers about how much bigger my belly has gotten! Also heard frequently are comments that I haven’t gotten bigger anywhere except my belly. (Glad my enlarged butt is apparently only obvious to me…)

Sweet Moments: I received one of my favorite emails ever from Mike this week…I was laughing so hard!

My email to Mike:
Please. Stop. Wedging. Yourself. In. Mommy’s. Ribs.

Mike’s reply email: Keep.Wedging.Yourself.In.Mommy’s.Ribs.Because.We.Don’t.Want.You.To.Come.Out.Just.Yet.

Hang.On.For.Dear.Life!

Make room for baby: Nothing this week, though we have started more seriously considering the idea of moving when our lease is up (renting not buying). We have an area in mind that we’re going to take a look at this weekend.

We can certainly make the apartment work for the first year, but Mike is very concerned about the stairs (3 flights) and also getting the baby to the car in all forms of weather. I think it is so sweet how protective he already is over baby boy.

Miss Anything? Being able to hop into and out of bed with ease.

Looking forward to: Being done with the iron supplements! They are:

• A pain to time properly
• Too big to swallow without jelly
• You have to sit in an upright and locked position for 30 minutes afterward
• And (totally TMI…) they make you burp and it tastes like meatloaf

Worst moment this week: None!

Best moment this week: Nothing monumental to report…I’m just enjoying watching my belly grow and feeling baby boy wiggling and squirming inside.