Week 34

My week has been almost fully centered on the financial markets. It’s been stressful, frustrating and mind-numbing. My own personal life is a little more stressful as well, but that’s just because I have a ton of commitments over the next 3 weeks. I think all of this has possibly had an adverse effect on the baby. On Wednesday the baby seemed very sluggish. I was concerned, but not overly so because I was still feeling it move. Yesterday when I woke up the baby was not moving with me, which is not normal at all. So I called the midwives and they recommended that I have breakfast and then count the movements over and hour. The baby moved 5 times in 40 minutes, but I still wasn’t feeling better about the situation because the movements still felt sluggish. So Eric and I went to the Birth Center and I was hooked up to a fetal monitor for about an hour. Everything is fine. And by last night the baby was acting more like itself. So who knows? Maybe the baby was extra tired. Maybe it was telling me I need to slow down, de-stress and take it easy. Maybe it’s going through a growth spurt and the space finally became way too tight. All I know is that the baby was up with me today, moving and kicking up a storm and I am much happier feeling it all.

Overall, most of my anxiety over the baby and becoming a mother has subsided for the most part. Eric has been a huge part of my calming down process. He has been so cool this whole time. I know he’s excited and probably going through his own set of worries, but he allows me to freak out a little and then brings me back to earth. Also, I think he is the one that is actually doing the nesting. Eric has always done 80-85% of the household cleaning. In the last month of my pregnancy he has bumped that up to almost 100%. He has been an absolute dream. He also deals so well with my daily complaining now that so many things hurt all the time. He massages my back and feet, most of the time without having to be asked to do so. And he is very patient. I don’t know how I would have survived the last week without him being there. I’m not trying to get too gushy, but he really has been a rock and I want to acknowledge just how wonderful he has been. I know that I’m going to be fine and the baby is going to be fine because he is there for us and that makes me very calm inside.

There isn’t much to talk about this week, so let’s get to the fun stuff. The baby’s senses are continuing to develop. If I talk to the baby it can hear me. Its whole world is full of sounds now. It can hear my stomach growling, my lungs breathing and my heart beating. The baby’s skin has turned from red to pink and it has started preparing for life outside the womb by storing iron in its liver. The baby stretches to about 12 inches from crown to rump and it weighs in at about 4 ½ pounds. If it continues to grow at this rate I will have an 8 pound baby. We’ll see what happens. I’m hoping for something in the 6 pound range! Below are the weekly renderings.