35 weeks 5 days

Yesterday was one month from our due date! Yay!!  Lil' Snoke will be arriving soon!

Being pregnant for this last month has been quite interesting.  I experience "prelabor" (as of a week from now, will be considered "labor") signs nearly daily.  At this point I pretty much just ignore them (although I might try to alleviate them) and assume they're going to go away.  Because they always do.  And if I called the doctor every time I felt them, I'd be calling twice a day.  I think that'd be a bit much.

For an example of what these "prelabor" signs look like, on Tuesday morning as I was getting out of the shower, I suddenly felt "menstrual" cramps and then my lower back tensed up and started hurting.  I proceeded to have wave after wave of back pain.  I thought to myself, Hmmm...this is definitely not normal.  However, when is my body normal?  I'd read and heard enough to know that it could develop into back labor, so I laid down on the couch on my left side with a heating pad against my back and then emailed my work office to let them know I'd be working from home.  Sure enough, within about an hour the majority of the pain had subsided.  (I ended up staying home all day just to be safe and also due to Maggie ingesting a gallon of what appeared to be cooking oil from the neighbors' garage, but that's a whole other story.)  So once again, just chilling out and dealing with the "prelabor" sign on my own appeared to be most beneficial and efficient.

At any rate, lil Besido is still growing like crazy (I now measure 42 1/2 inches at my belly button but seem to be staying steady at about 30 lbs of weight gain) and has developed quite his own personality.  One thing that is very obvious is that he likes having his personal space.  He does not like things pressing against my abdomen.  This would include my desk, my arm, or my coffee cup.  Today in our staff meeting, I sat with my cup of tea on the top of my belly and giggled as I watched it go up and down, up and down, up and down.  He was pushing really hard with his foot directly into the bottom of the cup, so it continuously raised and lowered, raised and lowered.  About an hour prior to that, he had kicked the edge of the desk I was leaning against so hard that it made me burst out with an "ouch!".  He really is good with his feet.  Maybe he's following in his daddy's soccer footsteps. :)

Another cute characteristic we've noticed is that Krewson seems to love Dave's voice.  It used to be somewhat disappointing, because Krew would be moving around and I'd tell Dave, so Dave would get down near my belly to talk to him and feel him move.  But as soon as Dave started speaking, Krewson would stop moving.  Almost every time.  And of course this was sad for Dave, because he wanted to feel his son wriggling around.  Over time, however, it's become a blessing, because we discovered that we could use it to our advantage.  Now, whenever Krew is kicking too much and I'm having trouble getting comfortable or falling asleep, Dave gets close to my belly and talks to him.  And within 30 seconds the movement usually stops and Krew settles down.  It's pretty amazing, and so sweet.  If that would just continue after Krew is born, our lives would be set!  Easy parenting, here we come. ;)

Alright, here's the weekly pic:


35 1/2 weeks

And check out this great use I found for my belly!! It's a shelf to hold my water bottle directly at the level of my mouth, so I can sip as I desire while I work.  Quite ingenious, if you ask me. :)



And here is the weekly update from all the pregnancy emails and sites I subscribe to:

Your baby should weigh between 5 to 6.75 lbs and be 17.5 to 20.5 inches long.  (Based on last week's ultrasound, I'm assuming he's over 6 lbs now.)

Your baby is continuing to put on about an ounce a day in weight. 

His gums are firm with ridges that look somewhat like teeth, though his actual pearly whites won't start breaking through until he's between three months and a year old.

Your baby's skull isn't the only soft structure in his or her little body. Most of your baby's bones and cartilage are quite soft as well (they'll harden over the first few years of life) — allowing for an easier journey as your baby squeezes through the birth canal at delivery.

Most of his systems (from circulatory to musculoskeletal) are ready for prime time.

There should be a sufficient amount of surfactant in your little one's lungs for them to work well on their own now.

By the time the baby is born, the fully developed placenta covers 15–30 percent of the space inside the uterus and will weigh 5½ pounds! The placental tissue itself weighs a mere pound and a half, but it takes 4 pounds of blood to keep it functional.

Your baby needs to eat even when you’d rather not. Several small meals a day are still best at this point for most women.

You're doing the full-term pregnancy waddle, the result of hormone-triggered loosening and softening of your connective tissue. This is your body's way of getting ready to squeeze a big baby out of a small space. Unfortunately, those loose joints can lead to some pretty serious hip and pelvic pain — but hang in there!

You’ll notice more fluctuations in your energy level this month. Fatigue is experienced by most pregnant women, but this month, you may find that fatigue alternates with periods of extra energy. Use your energy bursts wisely doing things you absolutely need to do and preparing for the birth and time after birth. Don’t overdo it, though! You might need to conserve some of that energy for later.

One last thing to mention: I had another great baby shower this past weekend. I will share pics from it soon. :)