Thirty Three Weeks

Another week gone by...so much to do...and sometimes I feel like so little done! But that's not really true this week...I've tried to take it easy as much as possible, but as any expectant mother knows when you get down to the last few weeks (I'm in SINGLE digits, people!) there is never enough time.

I'm not really sure that posting what babycenter.com says is really accurate anymore...what do you think? I guess that I'll go ahead and include it this week and then after my appt on Thursday we'll know more about my ever-changing due date.

So, with that in mind, here's what babycenter.com has to say about this week...this week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (pick up a pineapple)and has passed the 17 inch mark in length. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening (which I can attest to, as his kicks have a LOT more punch than they used to!). The bones in his skull aren't fused together yet, which allows them to move and slightly overlap each other, which makes it easier on him as he travels through the birth canal (which will be sooner rather than later).

source

Like I said, some of that doesn't really jive with Jax right now...I mean, the doctor told us last week that she would guess that he's already at 5 pounds in weight and since his little bones are measuring at 34 weeks last week, then he's probably well over the 17" mark too. But that's all good to know, I suppose.

This week has been harder on me, and WAY more exciting. On Sunday night, I started cramping...nothing to really worry about, just maybe some early labor signs. Then on either Monday or Tuesday I started having small, preliminary contractions...maybe what you would call Braxton Hicks pains? They never last more than 30 seconds to a minute in length and are gone within two hours of starting, so they're nothing too serious. But the really exciting news is that baby boy has DROPPED about two-three inches in the past week. He's riding REALLY low, which is both exciting and exaperating for me all at the same time. It's good to know that he's moving into position, but much harder for me to get around.

I feel like I'm moving along at a snail's pace most days, and Brent has to slow WAY down to walk beside me now. I'm relieved that the pressure is off of my lungs/diaphragm (I can breathe again!), but now it's all on my bladder and lower back. You trade one thing for another, I suppose. Here's some weekly belly shots to show you how large I feel like I'm getting... And yes, that's one of Brent's T-shirts that I'm sporting...I've outgrown all of mine!

So with all of these things happening, both of us are anticipating an early arrival. I know that boys are different than girls, and I have had to keep reminding myself of that fact several times this week. What I mean is that Jenna didn't drop until DAYS before I delivered her...so when I noticed (and some of my co-workers mentioned to me) how low Jax was now riding, I have to admit to having several moments of panic. Taking deep breaths was easier, but didn't really seem to help all that much...

Luckily for me, I've been able to talk with several other women who carried both a boy and a girl and all were quick to reassure me that their boys dropped a LOT earlier than the girls did. Whew!

And since we can both see the signs starting, we've been working in overdrive (yes, I know that goes against doctor's orders!) to get the nursery ready. Brent was a sweetheart and got our whole bedroom painted in two days! We need to figure out the trim color and then we'll get started on that as well. In addition to the painting, we've cleaned out that entire area and cleaned it top to bottom and made some purchases this week for the nursery. I promise a post will come on that soon! And most exciting for me was that Jenna and I put Jax's crib together (which was her old crib) today and it's standing there with the mattress in it, waiting for the dryer to finish drying the last load of bedding stuff so that we can make it. It's really all starting to come together...

But I'm pooped. I've been meaning to write this post since Friday night, and just didn't have the time or more honestly, the energy, to get around to it. I'm literally exhausted each night...and all day, but who's counting? That's how these last few weeks are supposed to be, right? Right. And there's so many other things going on down there that I haven't even begun to talk about...but that's also normal these last few weeks, just makes it all that much more exhausting! It won't be long now...so exciting...and SO scary all at the same time!