34 Weeks, March 6-12, 2011

Milestones: If the baby were born now, he shouldn't have any serious health consequences (especially since he's weighing big). I had my first Braxton Hicks contractions this week. For those of you who don't know, these are contractions that you get when you are not in labor. There are a lot of ways to distinguish them from real contractions, so I'm not worried. I had one and then a couple days later I had a second one. I looked them up online and they were described as "hugs" and I asked my friend Rachel and she said "a tightening." Of course, I experienced them like the WORST flu stomach cramp you have ever had, lasting for 40 seconds. I am so glad that I decided on an epidural (if I don't end up having a c-section anyway). Too bad they don't have a home kit because I would definitely stick that big needle in myself on the way to the hospital.

We had our 34-week sonogram this week. I was more excited about another sonogram on Thursday than I was about my birthday on Wednesday. Fun thing I learned at the sonogram: the baby is no longer breach! He is head down but hasn't dropped yet. Sonogram technician says he really shouldn't flip anymore. Famous last words.

Also, the baby is 6 pounds and 10 ounces, give or take. Based on that and other measurements, the baby is measuring over two weeks ahead of schedule. My adjusted due date (which no one told me about, but I saw on the sonogram screen) is April 1, instead of April 17. Let's see if it has any bearing on reality. My mom wants it to be April 14, her anniversary with my dad, but she's actually predicting April 18, the full moon. My guess would be April 3-12 somewhere. We also scheduled a c-section on April 20 if the baby hasn't come on his own by then because he would probably be 10-12 pounds by then, so there's officially a deadline now.

Another fun sonogram tidbit I learned was that the baby's femur is measuring long. I'm excited that he has a hope of being taller than I am. Sadly, the baby was covering his face during the sonogram, so we didn't get any good pictures this time.

What I miss the most: Sleeping through the night and sleeping without waking up in pain.
Craving: Plain flavors of ice cream. Stuff in it is kind of annoying. And this is not a craving, but we got our girl scout cookies this week! Samoa and the thin mint ones. The peanut butter ones would have been good too; alas, we didn't get those. Tums for acid reflux.
Anti-craving: WATER (gives me acid reflux).
Symptoms: Very bad sleeping, very bad acid reflux, my ankles are swelling up, and it's hard to fight back when drinking water hurts. Itchiness all over (possibly hormonal, but especially itchiness on my belly.
Baby-size: Cantaloupe
Weight gain: Over 35, so I don't want to reveal anymore. Who decided this was a good question anyway?


Roger and Lina came over for dinner on Saturday night, even though Roger was a little afraid that I had posted moodiness as a big symptom last week. I was fine, though. Eating at restaurants is getting harder and harder because the belly keeps me far from the table and leaning forward is uncomfortable, but somehow I never notice when I'm eating sushi. I forgot to get a picture of them visiting, but we had a nice time, and after dinner Lina and I had TV night while Roger and Kevin went to some tournament games in Madison Square Garden.

So because I have no other pictures from this week and because my birthday/34 week + 3 days picture really freaked people out with my hugeness, I am posting another one from the same day with the dress moved so you can see the belly shape. It doesn't look any smaller, but it gives you a different perspective on how big I am.

My birthday, 34 weeks + 3 days