34 Weeks

Seems crazy to be done with our 34th week of pregnancy. People are now telling me I look like I could pop! Ha ha! That is funny. They also started telling me all their labor/delivery stories and that has been interesting. Everyone seems to want to tell me their story. Most of them involve babies coming early and that is scary!! So in that spirit, I've been trying to get everything ready in case this baby does come early! I've been organizing all the clothes and things we got for the baby. I've been trying to get the bag packed for the hospital (just in case). I've even been working on transitioning my projects at work in case I go early! Its craziness!!

Steve and I have also been taking care of any last minute stuff we need to do for the baby. This week we interviewed a pediatrician, Dr. McKinney. Steve was supposed to go with me but of course he had to work, so I went alone. Steve had actually recommended Dr. McKinney from when he worked on the answer line at Children's Hospital. Steve said this doctor was always very nice and hands-on with his patients. He also said the nurses spoke highly of him so we thought we would start there. Well we ended there too because he is great! I really liked him! He was very soft spoken, gentle and really caring. He has been in practice for 25 years!! He was very sweet and answered all of my questions. The things I liked the most about him was that he was talking about how he wants to have a partnership with us and that he wants us to feel comfortable as parents and ask any and all questions we have. He said he wants us all to learn together including himself. I thought that was really nice. The office also has Saturday hours and same day sick visits. They even stay late if they have more sick kids to see that day! I thought that was amazing. So anyways, we found our pediatrician! Yay! Dr. McKinney is associated with St. Luke's, where we are delivering, so that is very convenient. It feels really good to get that checked off our "to do" list!

Another fun thing I did this week was attend a La Leche League meeting with my friend, Tiffany. That was very interesting. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was just a bunch of mom's discussing their questions, concerns and sharing advice. It was really great. I felt like I learned a lot but also gained a lot of confidence just listening to their struggles and how they overcame them and now their babies are nursing great! It was also really nice to see how supportive they are of each other, and the moms offered me tons and tons of advice and support. I was really glad I went!

This week the baby is still getting bigger and bigger. They say he is gaining about a half pound a week at this point. Maybe that's why people keep telling me I look bigger!! The baby is gaining weight in the form of protective fat layers that will help him regulate his body temperture outside the womb. His lungs and central nervous system are continuing to mature as well. Our baby is looking something like this:

Exciting Moment of the Week: There were lots of exciting things this week. Getting to meet with the pediatrician was pretty exciting. It may sound lame but being able to talk to him and feel comfortable and get all my questions answered is a huge relief. Another exciting thing was dividing up my programs at work. That really makes my maternity leave seem soon!

What I am Missing this Week: My sanity seems to be missing sometimes this week. I am going between feeling completely overwhelmed at everything I still have to do before the baby comes to super excited to meet him. I have had times where I wanted to cry and times when I'm so happy. Its a crazy feeling!

Symptoms this Week: Not too many symptoms going on now. The having to pee every 5 minutes has really increased as far as severity. Its not like you can put it off and wait anymore now that I have a huge baby in my belly. Its a feeling like I have to go...right now!! ha ha!

Obsessions this Week: For a few weeks now but especially this week I have been absolutely obsessed with the baby's clothes. It has really been stressing me out trying to figure out what sizes to get, what season, what kind of layette, how many, etc, etc, etc. It seems like there is so much to figure out and its all guessing! Its driving me crazy. This week we got a ton of awesome hand me downs from Julie and Jake and I spent hours organizing and reorganizing them. It was such a blessing to get them though and we really appreciate it!

Message to our Baby: Baby, you are getting so big in there and its crazy to think you could really come anytime now. We are not ready for you just yet and you have some more growing to do so stay in there as long as you can!