35 weeks

Jeremy played photographer for me today, so we could get a little more of me than normal into the belly shots for this week.

Here's what is going on with Noah this week according to babycenter.com;

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few. From here on out, you'll start seeing your practitioner every week.

As for me, I'm doing good, especially considering how pregnant I am.  I have been super fortunate to have an easy pregnancy.  I can hardly remember the nausea from the first 13 weeks anymore, and everything is going so well that I shouldn't be scared to do this all again... assuming that I am able to endure labor and delivery.  I'm still sleeping through the night, just with frequent potty breaks.  I feel good overall and am still exercising well.  The little bit of back pain that I was having a few weeks ago has disappeared, and I've maybe had heartburn a total of 3 or 4 times.  The main downside is that I feel as big as a house, and tend to have trouble heaving myself to roll over in bed, or to get out of bed.  Bending over and doing tasks like securing strappy sandals is getting continually more difficult, but my hubby has been wonderfully helpful.  One night this week I hopped out of bed at 3 am screaming in pain from a calf cramp and I think I startled Jeremy into thinking that labor was starting... I guess pregnant women my size shouldn't suprisingly scream in pain without expecting people around to get nervous!

Now that my baby showers are over we are mostly ready for Noah's arrival.  I still have a little bit of straightening, washing, and purchasing to do, but we are almost there.  By the end of this weekend I'm hoping to have purchased the final necessities, have done the remaining baby linen and clothing laundry, and be pretty much ready.  This past weekend I packed the diaper bag and hospital bag so they are both ready to go.  We still have to figure out some car seat drama with one of our cars (apparently the car is older and isn't set up for car seats the way that newer cars are), but hopefully that will be resolved soon.  This weekend I'm also hoping to get a Sam's Club shopping trip in and do a little freezer cooking to have a few meals stockpiled in our freezer for the post-delivery days.  Everything is coming together nicely.

Shannon