34 Weeks

34 Weeks! Has it really just been 7 days since I was 33 Weeks? Time has started going S-L-O-W-L-Y! My boss the other day said, “When are you due?” I told him and he replied, “Man, that baby will never come out!” He is the father of 5 so is well aware how a pregnant woman feels at this point! While I know the next 6 weeks will go by more quickly than I anticipate (and I still have so much to do before he comes!)… the weeks seem to drag on and on. Up until this point time has flown by. Now I just can’t wait to meet my little guy on the outside!

The belly seems to grow every single day. I am much more uncomfortable now than I was even one week ago. Once I get settled in bed and fall asleep, I don’t think I move at all during the night. I don’t think I have much of a choice. My body is very exhausted and the belly is so heavy. It’s difficult to get comfortable to read or eat or… do pretty much anything. Since I have such a short torso there is zero space around the belly. It goes straight from hips to belly to breasts. Double uncomfortable. Baby has gotten used to kicking both my bladder and ribs. At least he’s a strong little guy!

Dreams: I have begun dreaming about birth, the baby, and life after baby. In one of my dreams my dad was holding Jackson in this hammock thing. He had to check his pager and wasn’t paying attention to Jackson. I watched in slow motion as Jackson fell off the hammock and onto the ground! As he was hitting the ground a layer of fluffy snow appeared so he was cushioned and not hurt at all. But I was one angry momma! In another dream, I was showing my friend, Kristin, all of Jackson’s things. We were going through his clothes and I noticed that I had a lot of dresses and girly clothes! I figured I would just put them away for our first baby girl… but then realized I only had about 10 boy outfits! That’s not good! In another dream, I was in the hospital (which doubled as the LUO call center) after birth. I woke up and my mom and sister were there holding Jackson. I held him and he was beautiful! Perfect! I was confused though, why was I waking up? Apparently my labor and delivery was so traumatic that I had blocked it from my memory. I had needed an epidural but that didn’t help much. As soon as the baby was delivered I passed out. Thankfully, he was completely healthy. As I held my baby I realized that the LUO office was being reorganized (what’s new) and we walked around seeing where all the departments would be. Matt had to go back to work so he was not there, which was sad.

Milestones: Colostrum is coming in. Getting ready for lots of feeding time to come! Horrible calf and foot cramps. I can generally stop them quickly after they begin… but sometimes it’s not convenient. When I’m working an event for instance. I plan to begin stretching my legs every day, maybe twice a day to help. Plus that should help come delivery time! My hips have also been aching more. My dad says they’re probably shifting to prepare for childbirth. I suppose that’s good news. Thankfully, since I’ve been stretching more so those pains have been lessening as well. My nesting instinct is also kicking in! This is good news since we need to finish reorganizing the guest room, the nursery, and clean the house before baby comes!

The baby has begun reacting to Matt and I! That is so exciting! He reacts/ squirms when Matt begins reading to him. Adorable. When I notice him kicking I push against his kicks and he pushes back! Sometimes I’ll push against the opposite side of my belly to see if I can get him to squirm. He happily obliges. I began singing to him and he began squirming right away. He is getting familiar with our voices and hopefully that will help calm him once he is here. I love forming bonds with our baby already!

Tuesday I drove down the NC for a quick overnight work trip. Twice that night I woke up afraid my water was beginning to break! Definite false alarms. I must have been dreaming about birth. Still, it was quite alarming! Possibly going into labor when I’m 4 hours away from home? Not ideal. I was trying to figure out if I should drive home or just get a cab to be safe. That poor cab driver!

Earlier this week I thought I would be excited to go back to work. I’m really hoping I can work part time in the office, part time at home. Working full time at home would be too good to be true! I began thinking of how nice it would be to continue to contribute to my family income, have a reason to look nice every day, and maintain my work relationships. I reserved the right to change my mind, however. Well… I am flip flopping! I just want to be able to stay home and coo at my baby love! We’ll see what happens over maternity leave and with the whole Army situation.

I have my last baby shower this Saturday. So excited to celebrate with my Lynchburg friends! Unfortunately, many of them had prior plans (or moved away recently), but I am so thankful for all my friends and Jackson’s future aunties. Sunday I will be attending a baby shower for one of my dear friends, Lauren. Babies, babies galore! She is 7 weeks behind me and due in late May.

Hopefully I will not be lazy this weekend and will get a lot accomplished in cleaning the house! Come next week, I’ll be content with baby coming at any time!

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