34 weeks

I can hardly believe that there are only 6 weeks left until we meet our little girl!!
I just had a look at my calendar & we actually found out at 4 weeks - so soon after conception - that she had nuzzled into the right spot to grow and develop into a little person. It seems like a lifetime & a blink ago!

We are very busy preparing our house for the move in less than 2 weeks time... We had some prospective tenants come and look at our current house again today but we're not sure whether he will take it -- Sore back and all, I managed to get the bedroom & most other things tidied for the viewing...there was so much to do that I ended up huffing & puffing till Geoff got home & sorted out the kitchen (he's great at kitchen!) & the deck to make the place as enticing as we possibly could. Really holding thumbs he takes it. Double rent won't be fun.

We've been talking about how we will organise the outside space, and most importantly garden-wise, a space for our chicken coop at the new house... We've had it since December (my Christmas present) but have not got chickens yet with the going to Argentina & the decision to move etc. I'm so looking forward to us having our own, completely free-range eggs! :)

I'm so looking forward to putting things in their places in the new house! Especially getting the nursery ready for the big day!


I had a midwife appointment today with Sandy & all is well. She recons our baby is 'regular size' (not HUGE as I have had a bit of fear she may be) - so hopefully she's inherited Geoff's family's fine-boned-ness instead of my heavy bones! Sandy also confirmed my suspicion that she has shifted from her back curling along my left side - now she has her back to the right which feels very odd and different. It was a little bit sore & very strange feeling when she made the shift (which is why I suspected the shift)...

Geoff dreamed  that he was assisting me in labour... I've mostly been dreaming very wacky things involving lots of sea and beach and water (as well as riding things like sharks & bicycles on the water(!!) ). I've also had labour and birth dreams - some involving not being able to find Geoff / Sandy to be there, but they all seem to work out in the end or evolve into something more wacky - like lots of Chinese people playing volleyball naked on Fish Hoek beach!! :)

We have a scan next week with Dr.Nel - I am so looking forward to seeing our little kicker one last time 'inside' before we meet her on her birthday! 

Babycenter update:

Your baby now weighs about 2.15kg and is almost 46cm 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.

How your life's changing:

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.

Hungry Hungry

My same-time preggo friend (around the same amount of weeks as pregnant as I am), Eloise, described the feeling of nausea really well: She said it feels like when you're so hungry that you feel that empty, nauseous feeling in the pit of your stomach > and that is really how it feels - I'm so 'hungry', all the time. It just never goes away. Food helps temporarily: if I can decide on something that I actually want to eat.

Most food I can't even think about eating.. and I've totally gone of anything that tastes too strong. So breakfast today was plain yogurt, an apple & some almonds. By 11.30am I was ravenous so I had a slice of pumpkin seed rye with cottage cheese & one with honey.

...and then sleep!
Eloise has a job in an office so she has to go in every day. I don't know how she does it - I never used to sleep during the day & now it is impossible not to.

I'm so exhausted all the time. I actually had quite a good sleep today. I dreamed that we were on an airplane and there were 7 engines. The engines started failing & suddenly someone realised that the engines working were directly linked to our baby feeling happy...so I ran to [him/her] and started rubbing [his/her] tummy. I remember marveling at how comfortable & natural I was with our child... and then I got onto the table (there was a wood & marble kitchen table on the plane) and sat with my legs up on it with the baby lying on the table between my legs. As I rubbed baby's tummy, [he/she] giggled & I remember feeling as though the plane was saved.

How is one supposed to get motivated to drive for 18 minutes over a mountain pass to get to the gym to do exercise when one just feels like sleeping???

Yesterday I skipped ahead to the birth part of What to Expect. I suppose I have to find out about that at some point. I found a bit that says that "how you wear your pubic hair for the birth is entirely up to you" > I think this is hilarious. Geoff was looking forward to the shaving. I also read about delivering one's baby yourself. They make it sound so easy -- there's a few steps to follow and hey presto: baby is born! (sounds to me like a much more cost-effective solution than all the palaver of doing it the responsible way with midwife & doctors & the hospital stuff on hand).

Tomorrow is our first scan. I can't wait to see squid's (yes-that's our temporary name) heartbeat :)