35 Weeks

How far along? 35 Weeks and 3 Days
Baby is the size of a(n): Coconut (how is this bigger than butternut squash?)
Maternity Clothes? No change-pants yes, shirts both.
Sleep: Pretty good for me. Not so great for Peter. ;) My nasal passages have been pretty tight for most of the pregnancy, and my attempt to breathe at night is keeping poor Peter up!
Best moment of the week: The holidays!! Since no airline would let me on a plane after this weekend, and Dr.'s orders included avoiding planes for the final 2 months, we were home bound for the holidays. Unfortunately this means our home in Virginia, not home to Seattle. My parents came out to join us for Christmas this year, and Hillary's mom Amy came out too. Best moment of the week would have to be on Christmas. I made some yummy monkey bread from scratch for breakfast, which unfortunately left some gooey topping on the bottom of the oven. Feeling a bit pooped after standing most of the morning, I left dinner preparations to Peter. This was his first attempt at being head chef, and he did an excellent job. However...the gooey cinnamon topping had other plans for him. Most of the meal cooked slow and low. However the final 30 minutes or so he was trying to roast some veggies at a higher temp. Hot oven plus spilled sugary topping makes for a lot of smoke! The smoke alarms started going off, the dogs started barking, and chaos ensued. Thankfully we were able to air most of the apartment out, and calm the puppies down. Lesson learned, don't forget about the spill in the oven before cooking. :)
Worst moment of the week: Still getting a bit beat up by this baby! I had a few more days of sharp pains in my upper right quadrant, kind of like a muscle being pulled out of my body. Thankfully that has gone away again.
Missing the most: Being in Seattle for the holidays. It was a strange year. I loved having my parents out here and having them meet Hillary's mom too, but I did miss some of the traditions of the northwest. Going downtown shopping with my mom, seeing more family at holiday meals, and spending time with Peter's parents to name a few.
Cravings: Milk, milk, and more MILK!
Wedding rings on or off? Old anniversary ring is staying on. Missing my normal rings. :(
Belly button in or out? Still very, very, very flat.
Looking forward to: Our 36 week appointment this week! I am excited to make sure she is still positioned correctly and see how things are going. My plans to get ready for baby didn't really pan out last week, so I will hopefully make some progress this week. Also looking forward to toasting to the new year. Happy New Year everyone!

34 Weeks

**Shout out to Swings! Anyone in Alexandria, VA should check this place out for some good coffee, and to say hi to Andy! Second, to save me from taking this pic in the cold, got an assist from Ben and he took this from behind the bar. Thanks Ben!

How far along? 34 Weeks and 6 Days
Baby is the size of a(n): Butternut Squash
Maternity Clothes? No change-pants yes, shorts both.
Sleep: Pretty good for the most part. I wake up occasionally, and proceed to panic about my belly button status. :)
Best moment of the week: We had out 34 week check up. It has been a while since Peter has been able to come to an appointment with me, so it was pretty neat for him to see how much has changed. Heartbeat sounds great, and baby started wiggling as soon as the Doppler hit my belly. Also, good news is that baby appears to be occiput anterior! Keeping my fingers crossed she stays that way for the next few weeks!
Another great moment capped off the week-dress shopping with Hillary! We went to a few wedding dress boutiques in Georgetown, and she said yes to the dress!! Super exciting to get to share in this experience with her, and I know the dress will look stunning when the big day finally comes.
Worst moment of the week: Tuesday I woke up with a really sharp pain, and it continued most of the day. It felt like a massive bruise that kept getting stabbed every time the baby moved. No fun! Dr. said nothing to worry about, but it definitely cramped my style. In the words of my co-worker, I was not my "usual bubbly self." Baby Beeb is starting to get a bit rude towards me, throwing some punches so hard it makes me double over. Maybe she is anxious to see the outside world...
Missing the most: My memory has gotten worse! We dropped Lacey off at the groomer before my appointment this week. When we came home, I kept calling for her. Peter thought I was joking, until he saw how worried I was. Oops, she was still at the groomer. I am also missing being able to take my boots off. Touching my toes is no problem (thanks yoga!) but crossing over my body and down to pull off shoes has become a bit awkward. Sorry Peter, looks like you are stuck on shoe duty for the next 5 weeks. ;)
Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary. Usual Holiday treats! My wonderful father in law makes the BEST cookies, and was sweet enough to send us a big box full of all the usual holidays treats we get at home.
Wedding rings on or off? Old anniversary ring is staying on. Missing my normal rings. :(
Belly button in or out? Currently very, very, very flat. Hanging on by a thread. Peter thinks it will pop any day now. On the bright side, the tenderness has subsided!
Looking forward to: Having most of the next two weeks off! I am ready for a break from work, and I am starting to nest a bit too. Realizing that we might not have 5 weeks left has put me into overdrive! All I hear about now are stories from women around me that gave birth 3 weeks early, unplanned. Like, their water just broke and it was go time. We are definitely not ready to bring home a baby today, so my goal is to make us a little more prepared over the next two weeks that I am home. Also, my parents are coming to visit for the holidays! It is strange to not be home in Seattle this week, but I am so excited to share the holidays with them here. Merry Christmas everyone!

33 Weeks

How far along? 33 Weeks and 6 Days
Baby is the size of a(n): Durian (Who makes this stuff up??)
Maternity Clothes? Pants yes. Hanging on to the few regular blouses that have worked, but they will soon be staying in the closet for a while. Looks like I will be cycling through my few maternity sweaters each week. I am starting to kind of be "over it." With a week left in the office before the holidays, and planning on working from home towards the end, I don't think I will be investing in any more maternity clothes.
Sleep: Baby woke me up in the middle of the night this week acting like she was trying to claw her way out! Other than that, sleep is thankfully OK.
Best moment of the week: Nothing spectacular happened this week, but I am trying to appreciate all of the small things too. I can tell baby is getting pretty cramped in there, because she is moving and poking out all over the place! Its pretty neat to be able to identify where she is at by feeling discrete body parts. I am constantly in awe that I have a growing human inside of me! She had the hiccups this week, which has been pretty common for the last few months. Now, instead of little bubble feelings, her hiccups reverberate throughout my whole abdomen, and Peter could feel her little body parts thumping with each hiccup. So cute!
Worst moment of the week: Monday I had to work from home due to some last minute work needed on our water heater. What I should have put together was that this meant no water for the day, which means no bathroom. Thank goodness for the gym upstairs!
Missing the most: My memory. I guess this pregnancy brain thing really exists. I keep forgetting what level I parked on and have to triple check every time I leave to make sure I have my phone and wallet. I even forget why I walked in a room sometimes. Yikes! Also, not feeling breathless. I have started to get the lungs being squished sensation I had read so much about. I find myself frequently out of breath if I talk too much on a call at work, or slouch too much. My co-worker commented this week that every few breathes I sit up really straight and inhale deeply, like I was hypoxic.
Cravings: Nothing at the moment!
Wedding rings on or off? Old anniversary ring is staying on. Missing my normal rings. :(
Belly button in or out? According to Peter, this has become a hot topic in our household. Status is currently very flat and tender. I have never thought about a body part this much in my entire life. Sometimes Peter catches me staring off and he chuckles because he knows I am thinking about it! If I wake up in the middle of the night, the first thing I think about it "what is happening with my belly button!?" Before I sound too insane, it's not just the fact that on my body the belly button has always been meant to stay in, so this would be a strange change. The real issue is that my body's struggle to figure out if it's in or out has made it very tender and uncomfortable. I am curious to see what happens over the next few weeks!
Looking forward to: So many fun things this week! Peter will officially be done with finals after Sunday. Wrapping presents, celebrating the upcoming holidays, pampering myself (pre-natal massage, getting my hair did), and DRESS SHOPPING with Hillary on Saturday. We have not done a ton of wedding preparation for her yet, so I am super excited to share in this experience.

32 Weeks

How far along? 32 Weeks and 7 Days (so we missed by a day, close enough!)
Baby is the size of a(n): Squash
Maternity Clothes? Pants yes, shirts still a mix of both.
Sleep: OK
Best moment of the week: Technically this is in week 33, but since I am a bit late in writing I will count it in this post. The best moment would be finishing our birth class today. We did the Bradley Method, which has had it's pros and cons (consider Peter is in medical school, and Bradley focuses on natural birth). It was pretty neat to reflect on what we have learned about the birth process, and ourselves. Each Sunday for the last 10 weeks has been full of great discourse when we come home, whether it was agreeing with the material in class or being frustrated, it got us talking about what we really want. 10 weeks was a long time, but we are both so glad we had this experience and have a much better understanding as a couple of what we want out for our birth.
Worst moment of the week: Fortunately nothing to report here!
Missing the most: Getting ready to fly home. Usually this time of the year I am so excited to be getting on a plane in a week or so, and figuring out what gifts we can have shipped where so we don't have to travel with them. Kind of strange to not be going home this year, but we know in just a few weeks we will get the best gift of all!
Cravings: If you asked Peter, he would probably say milk. I consumed nearly a half gallon of milk in less than 24 hours this week! I attribute it more to the amount of goodies being consumed (oops!) but I do probably gulp down more than your average person. What can I say, it is so refreshing!
Wedding rings on or off? Sadly I made the switch this week. I have not have any real problems with swelling, but occasionally it was getting tight. I have heard too many horror stories about women needing to get their rings cut off after suddenly swelling up, so I am sticking with the anniversary ring that is a bit roomier.
Belly button in or out? I am starting to second guess my assessment of previous weeks being "flat." This is definitely flat now!
Looking forward to: Peter finishing the semester this week! It will be nice to have him home more over the holiday break. Especially since I seem to have started the nesting phase. I suddenly began hanging pictures that have not been up for the 7 months that we have lived here, and getting the urge to rearrange things. I have a long list of things to prep, and can't wait for Peter to share in the fun! :)