Week 33

I don't know if anyone else realized this, but I kind of post my weeks backwards. I mean, I post my weekly picture at the beginning of the week, and my blog posts have been the same. But, that means I'm recounting the LAST week, which would be the week before. uhhh, does that make sense? Like, my post for "Week 32" was about the previous week, which would have been week 31.

Whatever...I think I've been doing that the whole time, so I'm going to continue.

This week:
-Went to the hospital in Manning and got all pre-registered and took a tour! It was pretty exciting, although this hospital is SOOO small compared to Henry (where I would have birthed in GA). That's not necessarily a bad thing, except I feel like everyone on the whole L&D floor will be able to hear me giving birth! lol The nurse showed us a L&D room and a recovery room. She said they try to keep you in the L&D room for recovery (and the duration of your stay) if they have room. I'm REALLY hoping they will have the room, because those recovery rooms are TINY! Like, not even a place for Sean to sleep small. yikes! Another thing we found out is they actually don't have a lactation consultant like we thought they did. However, one of our midwives wives (the midwife is Tom) is a lactation consultant in Sumter, and the nurse thought he may be able to hook us up (not really sure what she meant, since we will be in Manning? but I hope she's right). One thing I really did like about the L&D floor was the waiting room area and nursery. They are, of course, small, but the nursery is pretty cute, and they seem to keep it open for visitors to see (and there's a huge window). Unlike Henry, where the nursery was all closed off with blinds and even seeing the baby you were there to see was a challenge. Anyway.....I expect lots of visitors to come gawk at my little girl! ;)


-We had our 32 week appointment. It was scheduled for 4:00 and we were in and out by 3:55. lol We saw Dr. Tollison, who is the second doctor at our practice (the others are midwives) and is known to be a really good surgeon. He's not really the most talkative guy though. Basically, I didn't have any questions, he didn't have any comments, I looked good, the baby sounded great, so we were good to go! He did comment on my lack of stretch marks though :) Thank you very much. But I still have 8 weeks to go....hoping they stay away. Although, my belly button is REALLY starting to stretch.

-My belly button is looking more and more deformed and stretched out. Unfortunately, the holes from my piercing (that I thought was pretty much closed up even before pregnancy) is not dark red and stretched out...and it ITCHES!

-Heartburn. Every night.

-I have had a little bit of increased energy. I've also been sleeping a good bit.

-I have a million projects (okay, like 10) for the nursery, but I'm trying to ignore them all until I finish this school term (NEXT WEEK!!!). They include: two shelves, a piggy bank, painting a hook rack (thingy), decorating a lamp shade, a bulletin board, picture frames, letters, and finding a lamp base and dresser. Is that ALL?! :)

-At my doctors appointment, I was informed that my weight actually leveled out. I'm not gaining 3 lbs a week like I thought!! :) Actually, I've discovered that our scale at home is NINE pounds off. lol oops! Now we know. I have gained a total of 26 pounds.

-I pretty much only wear leggings or sweat pants these days. Jeans just aren't comfortable anymore.

-I got most of my Thank You cards made, addressed and sent out this week! All of the ones from the baby shower anyway. Now I just need to work on the rest. I actually enjoyed making them, and they are all pretty much different.

-Okay, Annabelle is getting much much stronger. She is really starting to hurt when she kicks/flails/dances around! But, when she doesn't move for several hours I get worried, so I can't complain too much. At least I know she's active/healthy! I can't wait for her to get here!!! But, definitely need the next 7 weeks to get ready. AH! SEVEN WEEKS!


Update from babycenter.com:
This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.