Week 35

Check it out, 35 weeks along and 35 days to go, wahoo!
I made it, 35 weeks was the next big milestone for me and I can't believe I'm here. Wow. 2 more weeks and Bria will be considered full term, 5 more weeks until my due date.

My co-workers had a shower for me at work yesterday and it was a lot of fun. It made me feel very loved to have so many people there and excited for our new arrival. We got tons of great stuff and I had a blast showing it all to Brian last night. I do have some pictures so I'll try and upload those this weekend. The big item was the Rainforest Jumperoo:


I registered for this at Target but I recently got an email saying they weren't going to be carrying it anymore so I should go and find something else, I was bummed. So you can imagine my surprise when I opened this yesterday! Apparently they purchased it before Target ran out and I'm so glad they did. It came from the whole Contract & Procurement department. We also got lots of clothes, blankets, binkies, diaper rash cream, and more clothes! This little girl has a full wardrobe, let me tell you. That closet is full and she better enjoy it now because it won't always be like that. ;) Anyway, I'm so grateful to my co-workers for all the wonderful gifts and I can't wait to use them, not too much longer now.


Symptoms

Insomnia. Well, I don't think I would say it's that extreme, but I'm definitely not sleeping very well. It takes at least an hour and a half, usually 2 hours to get to sleep. That doesn't include the time I spend reading in bed to try and make myself sleepy enough to go to bed. Usually as I'm starting to wind down and may be about to enter dreamland, I have to go to the bathroom, so I start the whole process over again. My 3 trips to the bathroom in the night wake me up since getting out of bed is a huge task, as is switching sides. I think I shake the whole bed whenever I move, luckily Brian has gotten use to that and usually sleeps right through it.

More frequent urination. I am definitely taking more trips to the bathroom and I know that will only get worse. As our childbirth instructor told us, towards the end our bladder is flattened to a pancake and we'll be going to the bathroom every 1/2 hour. Brian was in shock.

Food. I was definitely hungry this week, I packed healthy snacks for work but found myself very hungry every 2 hours so I ran out of snacks fast. I swear that half our grocery bill is just snack food. But I've always loved snacks so no big surprise there. My favorite foods right now are:

• Cereal-big surprise! I have been enjoying Lucky Charms, Honey Nut Cheerios, Granola, and Chex.

• Yogurt & Granola-Oh man I am loving this, I've always enjoyed this combination together, but I am in heaven when I eat it now. So. Good.

• Banana Pudding-still love banana snack packs, yum.

• Granola bars-Nature Valley granola bars are still doing it for me, they are like my dessert for lunch.

• Izzy's Pizza-I LOVE their crust, yum. I dip it in ranch and I have a little party in my mouth, mmmm.
  

• Grapes

• Apples

• Chocolate-That is in the 5 food groups right? ;)

• Tootsie rolls

Heartburn. So that's what heartburn is. This week I started feeling mild heartburn at night, I wasn't sure what it was at first since I've never had it. But when I laid down to go to bed I got this burning sensation in my chest that would rise up to my throat like a wave. It was icky. But I know some women have very severe heartburn so I'm not complaining. Not that it was a fun feeling, but I would classify it more as uncomfortable than painful at this point. I do have a couple more weeks though so it may get worse (crossing my fingers is doesn't).

Here is my list from a few weeks ago (the ones in gray are done):

1. Verify the pediatrician is covered by Brian's insurance-Done, she is!
2. Call pediatrician-Done, although we don't do anything until we actually have Bria in the hospital, at which point we just tell them who our pediatrician is.
3. Find a list of what to pack for the hospital-Done
4. Pack hospital bag-In progress (probably will be until we actually leave for the hospital)
5. Create a phone list for people to call when I go into labor-done
6. Iron out details for when I go into labor
7. Pick coming home outfit for Bria (this will probably wait until after the baby showers)
8. Clean and organize house-In progress (always, this is broken down into more detail below)

and I've added a few new items:

9. Wash bottles and teething rings
10. Call Maternity Coordinator to go over birth plan and get a hospital tour-In progress, we are playing phone tag
11. Pre-register
12. Get MJ's bag ready
13. Check to see if insurance pays for some of breast pump
14. Organize little table in computer room
15. Organize kitchen
16. Organize downstairs closet
17. Organize upstairs hall closet-Done

I'm feeling better about my list now that I've actually completed some of them, plus it feels good to have it laid out in front of me so I can see what there is left to do. The only thing that is stressing me out is the travel system. I have dreams about it, in fact I just had one last night: we were headed to the hospital to have little Bria but we had not gotten the travel system yet so we didn't have a car seat. That is really the only thing left that we HAVE to have before Bria comes so that is probably why it's on my mind. The one we registered for at Babies R Us is on sale until the 19th so I am tempted to go buy it, we'll see. By the way, I like Target and all but they have crap for travel systems. Seriously. Even online they have a very small selection, especially in the brands that I want: Chicco or Graco.

Anyway, that is about all I have for this week. Tomorrow my sister is doing a little maternity photo session for me and I'm really excited, so I'll be posting those pictures sometime in the future.


Baby:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.