Picture actually taken around 34 weeks by my friend Cio Alvarado. More maternity pictures here!

Symptoms: I step outside and I feel like I swell to twice my size. In reality, I think my hands are slightly swollen all the time, my feet and legs swell when it’s hot, and same with my face. The carpal tunnel syndrome persists, and I have constant pain and numbness in both hands but especially the right one. Working with needles probably isn’t the best thing for me to be doing right now, considering I stabbed myself in the finger with one at work yesterday. (It was clean!) My ribs still cause me pain almost all the time, and now I have previously-unknown pieces of cartilage sticking out. Yay!

Medical Stuff: So far I’ve gained 33 pounds, which is fine, but I was sure hoping I’d be one of those girls who only gained like 20-25 pounds. Oh, well. I just can’t get rid of this anemia, which adds to my utter exhaustion. The plan is to check my blood counts after delivery and possibly see a hematologist at that time. I see my doctor every week now, and at this point my cervix is still closed, which is good. I had a quick ultrasound which determined that Meredith is head down (very happy about that since I have an arcuate uterus that gives me a higher chance of breech birth), however she’s facing up and we want her to face down. So everyone pray that she turns, okay?

Movement: Sometimes I look at my stomach when she moves and I just laugh. It’s such a strange thing. I love that I can actually determine body parts now, like when she kicks her little foot out I know what it is. So ready to hold her!

Clothes: Well I only have two pairs of scrub pants that still fit me, so I’ve been doing a lot of laundry. Haven’t bought any more maternity clothes and I don’t think I will. Only a few more weeks to go, I can make do! However, it’s not unusual for my pants to sag and my shirt to ride up, leaving the bottom of my belly exposed. At this point I really couldn’t care less.

Preparation: I have one more baby shower this weekend, and then after a couple more purchases with our gift cards, we should be all set on gear. Starting today (I have the day off so my mom is coming to help out) the plan is to get the nursery organized. This weekend I also want to pack a hospital bag, install the car seat, and finalize our plan for when I go into labor, like who will do what. Still to do: make post-baby budget, watch The Business of Being Born with David, have the house cleaned (I have a LivingSocial coupon for this), and start on my maternity leave paperwork.

Also: I’ve barely had any baby dreams this whole pregnancy, but they are becoming pretty frequent now. The most interesting one so far was where Meredith just sort of emerged and separated from my belly, like a cell undergoing mitosis. It was kind of creepy/cool. Lately people like to comment on how high I’m carrying her, which is somewhat disheartening. I’m ready for her to drop! Not only will that mean we’re getting closer, but hopefully it’ll also take some pressure off my ribs. My doctor told me she ideally wants me to deliver around 39 weeks, so once that point hits I’m going to try every natural thing possible to get labor going. That’s less than three weeks away!