Week 34

Dear Ellison,
You are 34 weeks old now! You're probably weighing in at 4.75 pounds and are measuring around 18 inches from head to heel.  Your fat layers are filling you out making you rounder and your skin smoother than ever.  Your central nervous system and lungs are continuing to mature.  You are now able to react to and recognize simple songs, so we should really start practicing our lullabies!  You're also already peeing about a pint a day!  Here are the little details of the week...

How Far Along? Thirty Four Weeks...42 days to go!

Weight Gain? I think we're still around 28-29 pounds, but we'll see what the scale in the MD office says this week.
Sleep?  Still up at least 3-4 times to run to the bathroom and switch positions.  My hips have been hurting a good bit from laying on them and my bones do a lot of creaking and cracking when I climb out of bed!  But, when I am asleep I'm sleeping pretty hard.  I don't really have any trouble falling asleep, and I'm not being kept awake by heartburn or reflux, so I'll pick my battles wisely!

Miss Anything? Being able to see my feet.  This would also include being able to tie my own shoes and paint my own toenails!  Oh well...just a good excuse for me to go have a nice pedicure.  :-)

Movement?  Yep.  I don't know what she's doing in there....but sometimes I'll feel her way over in my right kidney and way over on the left at the same time!  It's like she's strectched out sideways like she's chilling in a hammock.  She's super active, but so far hasn't woken me up at night.  Wishful thinking for a good sleeper?  :-)
Food Cravings? Still wanting fruit and veggies.  I bought the most delicious ice cream the other day and have thouroughly enjoyed an ice cream cone for dessert a few nights.  If you haven't tried Edy's Slow Churned Frozen Yogurt Caramel Praline Crunch...run, don't walk, to the store and get you some.  Divine.

Any Aversions? Yep...still eggs and big chunks of chicken.

Gender? It's a GIRL ~ Ellison Gray.

Symptoms?  Possibly some actual contractions?  Maybe not.  I mean...how am I supposed to really know what they feel like!? I've just felt tightening/crampy/pressure down low in my pelvis.  Nothing major and nothing lasting a significant amount of time or coming very often at all.  Maybe just getting in some practice?

Best Moment this Week? We had the most wonderful, productive, relaxing three day weekend!  The nursery is pretty much complete, I started on baby laundry, our new washer and dryer came in, and we even had some time to be completely lazy one day.  It was lovely.  I really feel like Ellison could come on anytime and we'd be ready for her.  What a relief!  There were times that I never felt like we were going to get to the end of our to do list.  While we've still got a few things to check off, I feel super accomplished at this point!

Looking Forward To...  We have our 34 week OB appointment this week.  We get to have another ultrasound (yay!) to check Ellison's position and see if she's decided to flip around yet.  We are so pumped to get to see her again.  Our last ultrasound was at 22 weeks, so she's going to be so much bigger now!  It will also give us a chance to see about how big she really is at this point.

We're also having a baby shower here in Charlotte this weekend.  I am so excited to see so many of our friends and family and am so thankful that so many people are able to come together to celebrate Miss Ellison.  We'll also be having a cookout at our house later that evening to continue celebrating with some of our friends and family.  I remember when this shower was scheduled and I thought it was so far away!  I can't believe it's here already!!