34 weeks

I feel like a beached whale these days.  A whale that can no longer tie or untie her own shoes.  I made the mistake of weighing myself this morning.  I think I look OK until I see pictures (I can't believe I'm forcing myself to post these every week... maybe one day in the future I'll be grateful?) or catch a glimpse of my lovely stretch marks in the mirror.

Let's not even discuss the weight gain.  I'm seriously considering not weighing myself this next appointment and telling them to just make educated guesses from now on.  If my blood pressure, protein/sugar checks, and fundal height are OK then why do we even need to know?  Trust me when I say that I am not being one of those whiney, self-conscious, "OH MY GOD I GAINED 25 POUNDS!!!!" women.  I'm already way past what my mom and sister gained in all of their pregnancies.  Way past the "normal, healthy weight gain."  And I don't want to hear about what I "should be" doing, either.  I'm doing what I can.  I'm just over this weight thing.  I don't even eat a lot (anymore), so all the gain is baby.

Speaking of the baby... E's favorite time of day is when I get home from work.  I feel squirms and pokes while I'm at the office, but once I get home and am sitting around talking to Scott and listening to music, he/she gets really excited.  It's so cool to think about how this little fully-formed person is in there listening to us and reacting.

We set up the pack and play (SO CUTE!) and haven't had any problems with Toby trying to get into it, so that's good.  I would take/post pictures, but they're kind of sad: pack and play shoved up against our bed with little room to walk around it, other crap scattered all over the place.  People keep asking what the "theme" is for our "nursery" and I have to remind them that we have no nursery because we have no space.  We have started looking for somewhere to move.  It would be nice to find a place before E is here, and have that ready to go in October, but I'm not counting on it.  Not sure I even want to move that soon, but we'll see how I feel.

Work is going well!  No complaints there.  At least that's something. ;)  I just hope I can make it until I go into labor, because I hate to use what little of my leave I have before then.  I should get the final word on my maternity plan soon (so far so good.)

I know I shouldn't complain so much.  I am healthy and besides trying to get used to this foreign body, I feel pretty good.  A lot of aches and pains but nothing that hinders me from everyday life.  I know not everyone is so lucky.

So, now for the dreaded belly shot.  Please note the important part: the painting on the left!  My mom did that for my birthday and it just came in the mail. :)  It's from a photo I took of my brother last time I was in Pittsburgh.  Here's a close-up of the painting.  I am so excited to have my own piece of her artwork on my wall!

And from the front (my belly looks lopsided to me):