34 weeks with Baby #3!

 I totally meant to write about this last week but I didn't, so I'm a little late on this one!! Oh well!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

How your life's changing:

By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable.

Now's the time to slow down and save up your energy for labor day (and beyond). If you've been sitting or lying down for a long time, don't jump up too quickly. Blood can pool in your feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in your blood pressure when you get up that can make you feel dizzy.

If you notice itchy red bumps or welts on your belly and possibly your thighs and buttocks as well, you may have a condition called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP for short).

Up to one percent of pregnant women develop PUPPP, which is harmless but can be quite uncomfortable. See your practitioner so she can make sure it's not a more serious problem, provide treatment to make you more comfortable, and refer you to a dermatologist if necessary. Also be sure to call her if you feel intense itchiness all over your body, even if you don't have a rash. It could signal a liver problem.


34 weeks! I made it through school!!!! YAY!!! That was one of my biggest fears. I was afraid of bed rest or pre term labor or something that would prevent me from finishing this semester of school, but now I'm done! Woohoo! 

34 weeks and doing fine. I'm still contracting pretty much daily but never regularly and never really painfully. I'm convinced that I'll go early but my sister thought that with her second and she went into labor just a few days before her due date so who knows. That actually happened to my sister in law too...so shoot. They are probably right. I'll probably be close to my due date. 

Since I really want to VBAC, my doc scheduled my c-section for the morning of my actual due date. That way I get as good of a chance as I can get to go into labor on my own. So if I don't go early, this baby will come on October 4th in the morning. 

A Thursday would be nice. That way I'm in the hospital over the weekend. I hated having the majority of my stay during the week because you get so bored. I told Nick to go to work, which I'll do again and everyone else works. So you just sit by yourself. Having the rest of Thursday to recover and Friday morning would be nice, and then having the weekend where people can visit would be awesome. 

I feel like I'm really ready to have this baby but our house is not. I work a lot this week but plan to really get cracking on baby stuff around the house at the end of the week and Labor Day Weekend. Hopefully we can get the room started (I'll TRY and remember to take before and after pictures!) and start cleaning and putting away baby clothes. That will make this more real. 

I've been preparing mentally for awhile to have 3 kids and have Nick and I outnumbered but I've been so busy between school and work that I haven't REALLY thought about it. Getting clothes put away and packing my hospital bag (shoot! Gotta do that too!) will make this more real...

Only 6 weeks to go at the most!!! Happy 34 Weeks Baby #3! I can't wait to find out if you are my sweet baby girl or my sweet baby boy! (I'm still thinking you are a girl and Daddy is still sure you are a boy...can't wait to find out who is right!).