Bumpdate: Week 34

I have to admit, after Week 33's woe-is-me week, I wasn't looking forward to this past week too much. James had a lot of post-work activities going on, and with Sammy's recent bout with grumpiness, I was worried that I'd be collapsing in a mentally- and physically-exhausted heap each night. But - that didn't end up being the case! Instead, I got in some great workouts, generally felt pretty good, and really ended up appreciating a little extra one-on-one time with my little boy. Oddly enough, the week seemed to fly by.

It's really a shame that I haven't made the time to do a Sammy is xx months update, as every day lately, I can't get over how much he is growing into such a big boy. The biggest change as of late is his talking. He is now repeating every other word we say (making me into a much more conscious driver), pointing things out and saying the correct words for said things (without me prompting him), and has very strong opinions about whether he wants to do something or not. Anyway, observing all these changes going on with him has made me really stop and appreciate the moment, and stop willing this pregnancy to move on by.

Also contributing to my (for the moment) sense of calm - checking things off the ol' to do list! We've made a lot of progress on Sammy's big boy room, meaning I'm one step closer to tackling Baby Sister's room. I added more items to my Amazon subscribe and save program, including Baby Sister's diaper order. (Gah! We now have to buy multiple boxes of diapers each month??) I actually started sort of packing a hospital bag (meaning I threw some new pajamas and shower products into a tote). We made some decisions regarding some house projects that will cause us much less stress. And - by not cooking meals - I've managed to maintain a relatively clean home! (Who knew there are actually some upsides to not totally providing for my family?)

With all that said, let's get into some of the details regarding this pregnancy. As we approach week 35, Baby Sister is now the size of a large cantaloupe. Haven't we already visited the melon food group size pairing, you might be asking? Yes, but now we've gone from honeydew status to large cantaloupe status. A very important difference, obvi.

This week my WTE app tells me that I'm likely to be experiencing a more frequent need to go to the bathroom, as Baby's head is down and on my bladder. And without going into detail, I'll just say, yes, I concur. (It also doesn't help that I am obsessed with my new straw water bottle, which has made drinking water a million times easier and more appealing.)

Baby Sister is now about 20 inches and five and a half pounds. She'll keep adding on weight over the next five weeks - at a rapid pace, apparently. (Which I hope is true, as I've mentioned it before - we love some fatty babies in our family.)

Total weight gained: I'll find out for sure at my doctor's appointment later this week, but I think I'm officially at the 25 pound mark. And honestly, I feel okay about this. As I've said before, I'm about on track to match the weight I gained when pregnant with Sammy. Also, I'm super happy to report that my legs are just as strong - if not stronger - than they were throughout all my running last year, thanks to all the swimming and biking I've been doing. So let's just pretend that some of this weight gain is from the muscle I've been maintaining / accruing.

Belly / movement: I can definitely tell that Baby Sister is running out of room in my stomach. Though my belly remains large (one kind observer in the pool locker room said to me this week, "You look pretty large to not be delivering until May!"), Baby's movement has been less, but still significant. I continue to be able to identify actual body parts that are jabbing me. And when I roll over in bed, I can actually feel her rolling to the correlating side of my stomach. I'm also noticing the bottom of my stomach is looking a bit rounder these days, and my belly button is at this weird half-in / half-out stage. Thank goodness for layering tanks!

Symptoms: Still no Braxton Hicks this week, but I'm pretty sure that Baby is slowly moving down a bit. By Sunday, my pelvic area pain was back in full force, and as I gracefully told my family and James, my "sitting bones" (did anyone else's elementary school music teacher ever use this phrase??) were also in a good deal of pain. I'm also pretty sure that I'm waddling.

Sleep: This week I was on a wake-up-at-4 a.m.-and-then-fall-back-asleep-at-5 a.m. schedule. That's fun.

Food cravings / aversions: Candy, candy, fruit, and candy. And one day after an early morning swim, I simply could not stop eating the entire day! Morning swims are great in theory, but then leave me exhausted and starving the entire remainder of the day.

Best moment of the week: Like I said, I really enjoyed having a little extra time with my Sammy-kins this week. Though I'm usually more than happy to turn over / share the parenting reigns with James when he gets home from work, I forget how much I enjoy doing the good night routine with him in its entirety.

Plus, I swam 1,000 yards straight during two swims. That was an awesome feeling of accomplishment. Which leads me to....

Workout: With our schedules this week, I saw a bit more time on my trainer than the pool. However, I am officially too big to ride my bike like a normal person, and even after researching ways to raise my handlebars, I've done my last few rides in almost a completely upright position. Which is fine, but not necessarily my preference. Especially as I feel like I'm no longer able to ride as long as I could now that I'm in this position. I should probably just drag my hybrid bike in and hook that up to the trainer, as it's way more comfortable, but I just don't want to.

But back to more exciting news - I swam 1,000 yards straight - twice! Again, to most swimmers that isn't much, but considering that at the beginning of this pregnancy I could barely swim 25 stinking yards without hyperventilating - it's a big deal to me! On top of that, my Sunday evening swim topped out at 1600 yards total - 50 away from a (swimmer's) mile! (Why, oh WHY didn't I just swim one more lap?)

I don't want to jinx anything, but I have a couple exciting swims planned for this week. Now I just hope I can follow through!

• Monday: Biked 10 miles at 18.33 mph
• Tuesday: Biked 10 miles at 18.33 mph (yes, at the exact same speed as the previous day)
• Wednesday: Rest day
• Thursday: Swam 1200 yards
• Friday: Biked 10 miles at 17.7 mph
• Saturday: Rest day
• Sunday: Swam 1600 yards

What I'm looking forward to: This week, I'm looking forward to two specific things, as well as one kind of general thing. Thursday is kind of a big day as I have a doctor's appointment, and at this point, any news is good news to me. Then that evening, oh, I'm only going to see one of my idols with my mom and sisters. NBD.

Also, I'm at the point in this pregnancy where I'm beginning to get anxious about how my labor with Baby Sister will start. (We won't even get into how the actual labor will go.) When I went into labor with Sammy, it could not have been better planned. It was a Friday evening, James had just mowed the lawn (which, to this day, gives us a weird sense of satisfaction - who wants to come home with a newborn to an overgrown lawn??), my entire family had plenty of time to make it to the hospital, and both our families had the whole weekend to visit with us and Baby Sammy. There was no water breaking (but lots of pain) - everything was just easy and ... clean.

But what about this time? Will my water actually break? Will I go into labor in the middle of the night? Will I wake up and have greasy and messy hair, and be forced to go to the hospital that way? (Yes, these are the things I think about.) Will James be at work or in a meeting and unreachable when I go into labor? Will Baby Sister come early, or will she come late? Will we have to drive to the hospital in rush hour traffic?

My biggest concern, however  (which I believe my family is well aware of), is what we're going to do with Sammy when I go into labor. Will we have time to drop him off with my parents or sister? Will he cry when we leave him? Will I cry when we leave him? (Considering I tear up just thinking about this, I'm going to answer that with a big fat yes.)

I know there's no point in stressing out over the unknown, but as we get closer and closer to my due date, these are the thoughts that cross my mind. It's a little unnerving ... but also exciting!