Pregnancy Post: Week 34

First, remember that we've got our "Ask Us Anything" window open! You can see below for details, but basically, we want you to ask either of us (Justin or Meredith) anything you're curious about, and we promise to answer honestly! Whether pregnancy or plumbing related, ask away! Moving on...


So, I thought 'hey, for this week's picture, I should wear the same outfit that I wore at 24 weeks and compare the bump growth over the 10-week period'. Yeah, I couldn't even get the same pants on, but I did manage to sausage-squeeze my belly into the same shirt. And really, all I can do is laugh. I remember feeling huge at 24 weeks--now, I just hope that I can get back there post-partum!

Basically, here's what's up:

-The lizard now weighs in at about 4.5 pounds, which equals about the size of a cantaloupe. Basically, she's still just cooking away and working on developing her lungs. I've read that at this point, the chances of survival, should the baby be born now, are extremely high. However, her brain would only be 2/3 the size of what it would be at 40 weeks, which would leave her at an increased risk of fetal death or learning disabilities later in life. So, as uncomfortable as I am right now, she needs to keep cooking.

-Even though the gender is up in the air, for some reason, I'm still defaulting to refer to the little one as "she". Really, I have no more intuition either way, and honestly, I don't even care. A healthy baby is far more important.

-Over the weekend, I ripped out the one gender-neutral baby blanket that I had knitted and decided to start over. Yeah, I'm crazy, and it probably won't be finished in time. Whateves. I didn't like the old blanket and wouldn't have used it anyway.

-I only sleep for 3 hours each night unless I take Benadryl before bed. Which I finally did last night. And it was bliss. If I don't take Benadryl, the lack of sleep makes me increasingly emotional. Earlier this week, I was already sobbing by 5:30am. Why? Because Justin had forgotten to replace a roll of toilet paper, forgot to actually turn off his alarm (which caused it to go off again and wake me up), and drank the last of the orange juice. Poor Justin...he is putting up with a lot of crazy right now!

-In order to get out of bed, I have to rock back and forth several times first in order to gain enough momentum to propel myself out of bed. It's super sexy.

-My abdomen is pretty much hard all the time. I'm not sure if that's Braxton Hicks contractions, or what. I also am feeling a LOT of pressure on my cervix. I don't think my doctor does internals until 36 weeks, but it will be interesting to see if all that pressure has resulted in any dilation.

-Anxiety is through the roof. I've ordered the new Max Lucado book, which I'm hoping helps. But honestly, I am terrified of labor, delivery, AND recovery.