33 Weeks

This week my mom said to me that I only have to go about 4 more weeks and I'll be considered full-term. It's amazing to me that I can still be caught off guard by different ways of saying that.

Let's see. Where to start?

My doctor's appointment was probably the main event of the week. Everything looked great, and my doctor didn't seem concerned about anything at all. Blood pressure was 110/62 (lower than it was at 6 weeks) and weight gain was 28 1/2 pounds. The baby is head down now, which is a good feeling. (She must be pretty low, too, because he couldn't tell for sure that she was in that position until he examined my cervix.) We've been promoted, too - our next appointment is in two weeks instead of a month. That's a milestone!

I've had a lot of pressure, which I know is very normal. Not particularly fun, but very normal (and sure to get worse before it gets better).

The itch is still here. It looks better, I'm told, and really isn't quite as bad as it was. I'm using lots of creams and hydrocortisone, which seems to work the best. My doctor told me to take 3 benadryl a day for relief, and that may have worked.....or I may have just been in such a deep sleep that I didn't care. He gave me a referral to a dermatologist, too, and a prescription for a steroid cream that I got filled but haven't used yet (and may not, since I read the leaflet enclosed with it about side effects and stuff).

My joints are popping. Even joints I didn't know I had are popping.

I'm hot. My hands are sweaty and not cold for the first time in years.

She's moving around a lot, and gets the hiccups just about once a day. Poor thing! One night this week I was in the recliner and she was moving so much and so enthusiastically that I could neither breathe nor, well, move. She was all up in my rib cage and moving so powerfully that I was constantly saying, "Oof." (That seems to be a major part of my vocabulary now.) I love it, in a weird sort of way!

I really still feel good. I feel a lot better than I would have expected to feel at this point, so I am definitely not complaining. We're getting more and more excited and very, very eager to meet this little person!