34 Weeks

I suppose it’s high time for another baby update. This little boy is not so little anymore! As of today, he’s the size of a cantaloupe (about 4.75 pounds) and almost 18 inches long! He’s starting to put on some fat, and if he were born now, chances are very good that he would be just fine. I can’t believe it! He’ll be full term in just a few weeks. Time really has flown by!
Maybe all moms think this when a person is in their belly, but I could swear this kid is abnormally strong for his size. Some of his movements literally cause me pain! He’s been moving so much lately, so you’d think I’d be more used to it, but when I see my entire belly moving back and forth, it still kind of feels like I’m playing host to an alien. You can kind of see for yourself in this video, although it's low quality and my dark shirt makes it harder to tell:

The latest pregnancy aches and pains include heartburn and reflux every night at bedtime without fail, so Tums have become part of my nightly ritual. I also have occasional sciatica and other weird nerve pains, which have been keeping me on my toes (or off them). The headaches also continue to persist, but other than that I can’t complain too much! I have yet to swell up or anything crazy, so I still feel pretty lucky.

I’ve been surprised to hear multiple people comment on how small I look in the past 2 weeks or so, because until this point I had constantly been hearing about how huge I was. I think my belly just got really big really fast, and now it’s finally normalized. I had to go up to Cal Berkeley a few weeks ago to take a midterm, and for the first time I couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious as I walked around the campus and realized that unlike at BYU, these kids were probably not very used to seeing pregnant girls walking around with backpacks on, so they stared a little more than usual. Haha.

I’m still in awe at how quickly time is winding down! It’s causing me to freak out a little as I think about how unprepared we still are in terms of baby supplies we have yet to acquire. We’re moving apartments in 3 weeks, so I’ve been trying to wait until we’re in our new place before ordering a crib, diapers, and everything in between, because there’s just no space to store it at our current place. But waiting so long is kinda stressing me out.

Regardless, I just can’t stop thinking about the magical moment when we’ll finally get to meet this little angel! I really can’t wait. And no, the poor little guy still doesn’t have a name…help! Apparently naming a human is kind of a big deal…