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34 weeks


Week: 34
Baby length:
17.75 inches
Baby weight:
4.75 lbs. - the weight of a cantaloupe
Bump size:
40.75 inches
Weight: +30 pounds (+1.5 lbs. from last week)
Cravings:
Powdered donuts

I've been doing such a good job of not buying "crap" that I should be eating. Until this week...

I had a moment of weakness when I passed the bag of the mini powdered donuts at the grocery store.

I happened to be on the phone with my BFF who is 39 weeks pregnant and asked her advice. I've been craving them, should I give in and get them?

Yes, she said. And since I always do what she says (including dying my hair extremely dark brown/almost black my senior year of college), I did.

And I've been enjoying them ever since. I'm happy to say they aren't gone yet and that whenever I eat them, I do stick to the serving size. Does that count for anything?

Baby Movements

The baby is putting pressure on some sort of nerve down by my bladder. Sometimes when I'm walking or bending over, I get a really sharp, shooting pain. It's not really that fun.

The days of feeling around my stomach to find where the baby is are over. It's pretty much everywhere and obviously running out of room in there.

It's becoming a little less active lately, though, which sometimes makes me nervous so if I haven't felt it move in a while, I push on it (very gently, of course) until I feel it move. It might be mean but it makes me feel better. :)

Maternity Lessons

My favorite pregnancy comment of the week happened when I walked into the faculty lounge at work and a coworker burst into laughter, clearing laughing at me.

When I asked him what was so funny he replied, "you just keep getting bigger and bigger. We're going to have to tie you down to make sure you don't float away."

He then added, "it's cute" as an attempt to make me feel better I'm guessing. 

But to be honest, I really don't let these comments bug me. I know people aren't coming from a mean place when they say them and I find it more funny and interesting than anything. 

It is crazy to me, though, the things people say to pregnant women. Clearly they underestimate the power of these crazy pregnancy hormones. 

I also got a lot of, "are you sure you didn't swallow a basketball?" comments. 

We had our third birthing class. I was there alone for the first two hours (Pat was home tending to a water leak problem in our basement - more on that later). 

We watched a video of a Cesarian birth, got to see all the tools they may or may not have to use during labor and delivery (including forceps - yikes!) and then practiced our breathing techniques at the end. Pat made it to class in time for this. 

Although I did better this week than last week, I did laugh once while practicing the breathing. There is honestly nothing funny about it except that the room is quiet and I know I shouldn't be laughing so therefore I do.

I couldn't help but laugh when the instructor was going over the scrubs that dads have to wear during c-sections. The colors vary, she explained, and sometimes men get stuck with white scrubs which are very see-through. 

It definitely wouldn't be the first time Pat has worn white, see-through pants. Remember this story?

Symptoms

The strangest symptom this week is the weird thing going on with my lips. Some days they get really chapped and burn really bad.

On Saturday I just assumed maybe they got sunburned (even though no other part of my body did). When I woke up on Sunday morning and saw myself in the mirror, my lips were HUGE and swollen. It seriously looked like a lip job gone bad or like I had received a shot of Novocaine in each lip.

The swelling went down and by the next day, they were back to normal. Today they are really chapped and sore again. It's so weird.

I'm definitely starting to waddle. I always assumed the waddle would happen because you get so big that it's hard to walk. But I now know it has nothing to do with your size and everything to do with your joints relaxing and your tailbone hurting. So yeah, I waddle when I walk now.

Speaking of walking, although I still try to go for a walk with Grady when I can, I am definitely slowing down. If my tailbone isn't hurting then I'm getting that sharp, shooting pain down by the bladder that I mentioned or I'm feeling like I'm going to pee my pants. All of these things cause me to walk with a little less pep in my step.

I'm definitely experiencing more of the Braxton Hicks or fake contractions this week. Some of them were accompanied by cramping which got me wondering - how will I know the difference between cramping and contractions.

Here is the answer I got: cramps are more uncomfortable and contractions are more painful. I thought this was helpful information.

Another good back week! I can only think of one or two days when it was really bugging me. I'll take it! 

Weight Gain

I've hit the 30 pound mark. Not proud of it but somehow the blow was easier than the 20 pound mark was. Go figure. Now I need to keep it to only five pounds more gained and then the doctor will be happy because that was his goal and I will be happy because he is happy.

Powdered donuts and zucchini bread are not going to help the cause.

 Nursery

I spent a lot of time in the nursery this weekend organizing all of our shower goodies and making it look like a room again instead of a storage space. Mission accomplished!

I also got all of the baby's clothes and blankets washed and put away and even started packing the diaper bag for the hospital. Just like I over pack for myself, it seems like I'm already over packing for the baby, too. Probably need to take a few items out of there but I'm new at this!

I am convinced that Pat is nesting too. He was super motivated this weekend to get things put together for the baby. And I am not complaining about it.

We put together the high chair, pack 'n play, swing, bouncer and rock 'n play (traveling bassinet).

All we need to do now is get things up on the wall and the nursery will be done-zo. So exciting!

I don't want to post pictures until the room is completely done and that might be a few more weeks because my mom and my sister are both providing most of the wall art. Pictures coming soon, I promise!

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