34 Weeks: What's New...

Due date: November 21st (6 weeks away) - my sister-in-law kindly mentioned she had her first 4 1/2 weeks early - I cannot imagine that, let's hope Lil Mango stays inside for at least another 4 weeks....

Weight gain: 2 pounds - back on track! - (16 pounds total pregnancy). I read that in the next week I should gain 2-4 pounds, yes pounds, of new blood to prepare for giving birth. That is unreal.

Baby developments:  Lil Mango is now the size of a honeydew - he weighs 4 3/4 pounds and is 18 inches long. His fat layers, which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born, are filling him out and making him rounder. His skin is smoother than ever. He now uritnates about one pint per day....weird!

I read something today (there is a trend with all of this reading!) that makes me feel good about the next few weeks - if Lil Mango were born now, he would not only be able to make an efficient transition from the womb to the outside, but he would also be able to resist disease. Babies born 34-37 weeks generally do as well as full term babies. That is definitely reassuring should this little guy decide to come early, though not as early as Sicily (see above)!

Cravings: Apples, bananas, Blueberry Morning cereal and a new find: Twix Ice Cream bars. These bad boys are amazingly good - if you are a fan of Twix candy bars, then I definitely recommend you check these out!

Aversions: nothing new to note.

Symptoms: shortness of breath has been the main culprit...this little guy takes up a ton of room in my belly and definitely impacts my breathing. I huff & puff ALL the time these days.

Slight heartburn, but I haven't pinpointed what exactly is the cause - Tums help get rid of it.

Sleep: has been ok. I'm getting more uncomfortable and it's harder to get to sleep than normal. I've been going to bed later this week than normal for me, but I haven't woken up once in the middle of the night to pee in the last five nights! Granted, when I wake up around 5:30am-6:30am or so, I'm bursting. However, a little uninterrupted sleep....I can get used to that.

I miss: my waist....I was uploading pictures from this weekend on a computer I don't use often and noticed some old belly shots. It wasn't the greatest waist ever, but dang, I miss it!

An actual waist....hard to remember what that was like

I am looking forward to: baby shower #2 in a couple weeks. One, because it will be a great mix of family, friends and people from work. The second is Shauna will be bringing Lil Mango's car seat, rocking chair and bedding. I can't wait to finalize everything in the nursery!

I'm spazzing about: the due date and how close we actually are! It's a great mix of excitement and nervousness.

Best moment this week: there were quite a few! We had our first baby shower in Emerson (thanks to my sisters) and Nick's dad's Hall of Fame weekend in Wayne. We are so fortunate to bring this little guy into the world with such an amazing group of family and friends to look out for him.

With my beautiful sisters (aka the Hostesses)

Movement: he has been moving like crazy, but never when someone wants to feel him! I haven't quite figured out how to make him move around and really don't want to nudge and push him too much to try to make him move! He has been residing on my right side primarily and I often feel what I think is his little booty or head pushing out towards my side.

Milestones: 8 1/2 months along...coming up on our 9th and final month in two weeks. Wow!

It's a...: baby boy

Exercise: hmmm....well, not so good. It's not that I haven't been active, but I only got to a couple of walks with Maya this week and there was definitely no running.

Diet: has been ok as well, as long as you don't count the sweets I gorged myself with at the baby shower. They planned all of my favorite desserts in one place....that isn't good for a girl like me who has NO willpower!

Goals for the upcoming week: I need to follow up on a couple leads for a nanny. I would love to get that finalized - it would be a big relief. Nick and I have the hospital tour tomorrow night, which will be nice to get out of the way as well.

Oh, and I suppose I need to clean up the nursery and put these great gifts away....I sort of dumped them in there after I got home last night and haven't had much time to get in there today.

Look at this messy nursery!

Belly shot:

34 week belly bump