34 weeks

How Far Along: 34 weeks, 2 days

Size of the Baby: Cantaloupe, 17.75 inches, 4.75 lbs
Weight gain/loss: Appointment Thursday, but I can tell that I'm gaining.
Sleep:  I'm so tired, but not sleeping well at all. I wake up more often to go to the restroom and even more often than that because I'm just not comfortable. And I can't seem to stay awake for long periods of time - I just wake up every couple hours for no reason at all. I could use a good night's sleep, but I think those days are over.
Best Moment of the Week: My dad came to visit last week and that was really fun. He's seen me since I've been pregnant, but I was only 7 weeks then and wasn't showing any symptoms. He got to feel the baby moving a little bit and we had a nice time chatting and hanging out. Oh, and we finally picked out names (pending looking at the baby and going "oh no, that doesn't fit at all!) and we're both pretty excited about that. I think Hans is actually more stoked than I am about it. And no, we're not sharing just yet because we don't want to hear how you don't like them or what's wrong with them.

Movement: This hurts. The movement is still pretty constant and just plain hurts. A lot. It's to the point where I feel like the baby has bruised the muscles in my mid-section - the whole thing is tender to the touch and every movement feels like kicking a bruise. Hiccups have gotten a lot more frequent and I think I feel them pretty much at least once a day, sometimes more. There's a lot of movement going on in my ribcage and that's no party either.
Symptoms: I am so swollen it's ridiculous. I went pretty far without this symptom so I guess I can't complain, but I'm making up for it now. My legs, ankles and face look huge. Awesome. Lots of heartburn, lots of shortness of breath, some back pain. All very normal things for this stage.
Food Cravings: So thirsty. I can't get enough to drink. I just want water all the time. I did really want some vanilla bean Bluebell this weekend and that was glorious. I wanted eggs on Friday (go figure) but we were out. It was a sad day.
Gender: :)
Belly Button in or out: Same
Anything making you queasy or sick: Actually, I've been doing better this week! (knock on wood...)
Labor Signs: Do Braxton Hicks count? Turns out, I HAVE been having a few of these... but they don't hurt and compared to the painful movements going on, I barely notice them. My stomach just gets hard as a rock for about 30 seconds. I had a big one in home depot one night last week and scared the pants off a high school-age employee. It wasn't hurting me, it just made me double over and grab onto a shelf for support - my stomach was locked up too tight to stand up straight. I stayed like that for 30 seconds or so, breathing through it while it passed, then I was up and walking around like nothing happened. I'm sure the poor boy was very confused and convinced that this lady was going to drop a kid in the middle of the store!
Wedding ring on or off: On.... but I'm not sure for much longer :-\
What I miss: My ankles.
What I am looking forward to: My baby shower is Saturday and I'm so excited!! The wonderful ladies throwing it for me showed me some of the plans this weekend and it's going to be so cute - they're doing such an amazing job and I'm so grateful to have such good friends. My godparents are driving in from Houston for the shower and I can't wait to see them :)
Nursery: Made some progress! I just finished a penant banner for the wall (post soon!) and I also have just two more frames to make and then I'll be ready to hang the frame gallery on the wall.
Emotions: Pretty freaked out. I didn't do so well at our first birthing class. I've always avoided the actually birthing videos - I don't do great with graphic imagery or blood. But they showed one in class last week - the actually here's-a-close-up-of-a-baby-coming-out variety - and I almost passed out. It was pretty horrible and after watching it, I fail to understand how our species continues to exist. Everything's becoming very, very real and I'm acutely aware that in about six weeks, I have to do this. There's got to be another way...
Stupid things I have done: Yesterday on my lunch break I made muffins. And then went back to work. And then couldn't remember if I turned off the oven.... Thanks, Jess, for checking for me!! (it was off... if you're wondering...)