Bump Watch: 34 Weeks

This week, Eggi has continued his regimen of asserting his strength and independence in the womb -- no matter how nicely or how sternly I ask, he continues to wallop me in the bladder and the ribs just as he pleases... We're going to have to work on obedience once he's outside in the real world. :)

So here's me at 34 weeks, 3 days!


My "huge" maternity shirts and pants are now starting to fit me just right... And I hear that the last month of pregnancy is when the baby really puts on weight... Here's hoping my clothes stay comfy throughout the home stretch!

And here's what BabyCenter.com has to say about this week:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which he'll need to regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his 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.

Oh man -- now the weekly updates are starting to include reassurances about how the baby will be just fine if born right now... I suppose that's comforting, but we really hope Eggi will stay inside and keep developing for the full five and a half weeks left until his due date!

Speaking of delivery, though -- we've got our all-day childbirth boot camp tomorrow (assuming the major snow storms that are forecast for this weekend don't result in cancellations). I guess this is where we'll learn all about labor and delivery, which is both an exciting and a really really scary prospect... We're really chugging along on all the pre-delivery checklists now!