pregnancy update: week 33

I skipped a week of updates because the Christmas holiday took everything out of me. I'm still recovering. But now, I'm back on track and ready to face these last few days of the year and the last few weeks of pregnancy head on.

This marks 33 weeks of pregnancy for me. Again, just like in my pregnancy update: week 31, I decided to condense the most important info from a few major sites so we wouldn't have to all go looking for information in a million different places. So here we goooo!!

Baby's Development -
From Babycenter.com:

• baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (about that of a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark
•  rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and skeleton is hardening
•  bones in skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier to fit through the birth canal

From WhatToExpect.com:

• still gaining weight at about half a pound a week
• could grow up to an inch this week
• amniotic-fluid level has maxed out
• antibodies are being passed from you to your little one as she continues to develop her own fetal immune system

From I-Am-Pregnant.com:

• with the exception of crying, your baby is capable of doing everything that a newborn baby will do
• baby sleeps a lot of the time
• when your baby is awake, she is listening, feeling and learning
• baby will probably have settled into the birth position by now and your caregiver can most likely tell which way your baby is presenting
• if baby were to be born now, the lungs would probably be strong enough to function properly, but baby may still need extra care from specially trained doctors and nurses
• baby's eyes open during alert times and close during sleep
• eye color is usually blue, regardless of the permanent color as pigmentation is not fully developed

Mother's Development -
From Babycenter.com:

• you may find yourself waddling
• finding an easy position to sit in — let alone sleep — is becoming more of a challenge
• you may be feeling some achiness and even numbness in your fingers, wrists, and hands

 From WhatToExpect.com:

• third-trimester insomnia strikes about three-quarters of pregnant women
• third-trimester fatigue can sometimes trigger headaches
• if your belly is aching when you change positions or get up suddenly, you could be suffering from round ligament pain
• pregnancy hormones can make nails grow faster but can also cause them to become brittle
• your belly button may have popped out by now
• may experience shortness of breath because of your growing belly
• a bigger belly means a shift in your center of gravity and that can spell clumsiness
• forgetfulness may be present, and studies show that women who are pregnant with girls tend to experience this more
• braxton-hicks contractions may continue up until actual labor

From I-Am-Pregnant.com

• most women experience an increased urge to urinate
• your uterus has actually grown 500 times throughout your pregnancy
• red blood cell production catches up with the production of plasma and physiological anemia may begin to fade at this time

For me, I think mostly everything is true. My biggest complaints this week are peeing 300 times a day, 3 times a night, and this awful heartburn. But, I was reading online and a natural remedy for heartburn is chewing gum. They say the increased saliva production from chewing gum helps neutralize acid, and last night, it totally worked for me! I was so happy.

When I went to the doctor last week, he said the baby is sideways again, not head down like the week before, so a c-section could still be on the table. He also mentioned trying to turn the baby himself but I don't even want to get into that mode of thinking until we confirm next week with another ultrasound. If she hasn't moved by that point, we will discuss options.

I have this weird feeling that something is going to happen soon. I have been having a lot of cramps and some consistent contractions lately. I wouldn't be surprised to find I was dilated if he decides to do an exam. I have been in a lot more pain, of course, because I'm getting bigger and bigger. The hardest thing to do in the world is just to GET UP from a sitting or laying position. Once I'm up, it only hurts for a few minutes, but the actual process of getting up hurts like hell. Rolling over in bed is traumatic sometimes, if I am not paying attention to every small movement I make. And standing or walking too much? Forget it! I know I need to keep moving a little, but yesterday I made dinner and I was standing for probably two hours in the kitchen. My stomach was hard as a rock for an hour after and I could barely enjoy my dinner because everything was hurting so much.

I know, its all complaining. I can't help it. I'm miserable. BUT, we are looking forward to a new baby. We still find it hard to believe that another unique combination of us is going to be born in the next month or so, and how it is going to feel fitting her into our family. We can't wait.

So, that's it for now. I think my next post might be on baby names, that should be fun. Good luck to all the pregnant mamas reading this, and I hope things go smoothly from here on out. Try to rest, I'll be wishing I could!