Week 33

How far along: 33 weeks – began September 11, 2017.

Size of Baby: Cauliflower blossom (19 inches, 5 pounds)

Milestones: BB is getting so close to being the size he'll be at full-term (which is 37 weeks, only four short weeks away!). He'll keep putting on about a half a pound a week until he reaches his birth weight. His eyes are almost always open when he's awake now (although I imagine the view can't be too interesting), and his bones are still a little soft, so they need more time to harden.

Best Moment This Week: Leif kindly built the majority of our baby furniture and spent some time further optimizing our space for all of BB's things. Now, I just need to arrange everything and put the few decorations that we have up! I still haven't received the final word from work, but it's sounding like my schedule will be working 30 hours a week (22 hours in the office and eight hours from home), so even though it's not ideal, I'm grateful that they were willing to meet me in the middle. BB will be at daycare those 22 hours, but luckily, I can clock out to nurse him throughout the day as my schedule allows. This schedule will be reevaluated after a year and I may go back to a regular schedule depending on how things go... but that's way down the line. I also got to attend a Mom's Night Out hosted by CR Mom's Blog, which was pretty fun. I talked to a lot of local mother/child-related businesses, listened to a helpful panel of experts answer common questions, and won a really nice car seat cover... one of the only items we were still missing!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Counting down the weeks until BB will be here! We have a few more prenatal classes scheduled, including Safety First, CPR, Medicated Birthing Options, When the Unexpected Happens, and a couple others. Our Labor and Birth Skills class went well, I learned a lot of ways to try managing pain without medication (it's hard to say if they'll be super effective, but good to know at least to help me stay calm) and learned about the different stages of labor. And, of course, we watched some footage of a few women giving birth! I was worried that this class would make me more anxious, but the way it was presented makes me feel better prepared and comfortable. St. Luke's provides a lot of tools to help make labor smoother too - aromatherapy, a jacuzzi-style tub, positioners, yoga balls, heating and cooling pads, and even comfort animals! I know that just having Leif there will make the biggest difference though, I can always count on him to make me laugh. 

What I Miss The Most: Still missing my pre-gestational diabetes diet a bit, but I've been able to branch out and eat a cookie and found a relatively low carb ice cream that I can have a cup of. I tested high a couple times this week, but it was due to not having time to take a long enough walk after eating. I've found that with dinner especially, I have to walk at a pretty good pace for at least 30-40 minutes. I feel like I'm getting into much better shape, though, and I'm hoping this will pay off with an easier labor! 

Symptoms: My belly is starting to feel stretched to the max! My skin has been really itchy on and off and even though I got away with not developing stretchmarks the whole pregnancy, they're finally starting to come in. However, stretchmarks are just one of the badges of motherhood, so they don't bother me too much. Many people are shocked that I still have about seven weeks to go since I'm popping out so much, but I'm guessing my frame just makes the bump look dramatic since BB is measuring normally. I haven't had too many other symptoms besides some occasional shortness of breath and rib pain.

Cravings: Loved the cup of ice cream I had the other day! Still eating a lot of meat and veggies, nut butters, cheese and crackers, and fruit.