Pregnancy Tracker - 34 weeks

34 weeks?  Where did the time go??!!  In 5 weeks, we will be holding our little girl.  Eeeeeee!!!!  It still seems very unreal to me, even though everything is coming together.  We got in the dresser, so her bedroom is that much more complete now.  The baby shower is next weekend, so I'm excited to see all of the new things she gets.  Nothing like spoiling a baby!

I'm fairly certain she has flipped, and is now head-down (normal positioning).  I had to stay home from work on Monday because I was dealing with so much nausea from all the movement of her flipping.  I guess we'll confirm at my next doctor appointment if my suspicions are true. 

I'm still feeling incredibly cramped for room - naturally.  The last month or so is the absolute worst.  Standing up or lying down are about the only positions that are comfortable to me.  Sitting is the worst - extremely painful.  Unfortunately, I sit all day at my job.  So that doesn't help.  By the time I'm ready to go home for the day, my ribs and back are on fire from the pain.  And trust me, the Tylenol does nothing......doesn't even dull the pain.  :(  I just look forward to the hospital stay, when I get the good drugs.  ;)  I'm also experiencing extremely painful groin pain - which I'm told is the (TMI alert) spreading process.  Basically the birth canal getting ready for delivery......which drives me nuts since I don't be delivering the baby that way.  But my body doesn't know that, so it goes through the normal prep.  The normal prep, though, is excruciating.  I don't remember having this pain with Carter.  Chalk that up to pregnancy amnesia.  ;)

Here's what babycenter.com says about the pregnancy at 34 weeks:

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.

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.