34 weeks!

Marination Time: 34 weeks. Goal.  In other news, I have completed 224 days of being pregnant, and completed 8 months.  I am officially NINE months pregnant.  (I'm still a bit lost as to how another 6 weeks equals a month- these gynecological calendars are nuts.)

Fruit/Size of the week:  My calendar countdown says he's staying at the pineapple size for the week...I think he's bigger than that.  See comments below.

Maternity Clothes: I think next week I will just take this one off the list.  I mean seriously....I couldn't think about wearing anything normal with this belly out in front of me.

Movement:  Well, he moved down.  Or at least everyone is telling me he dropped this week. I have noticed being able to breathe a bit better.  Also, the coughing fits are way less frequent, so this could be the case!  He is still head down and his hiccups are really low, but nothing unusual since last week.

Cravings: Ice cream ;-) and raisin nut bran cereal.  I'm living up the gluten thing while I still can!

Annoyances: (Just to clarify, not complaints yet, but annoyances.  Really, I just want to look back and think, "I made it through 34 weeks without this stuff....I can make it 5 more!")
New fun third trimester symptoms include:

• Greasy hair and skin.  Ugh.  I swear I feel like I'm 15 again.  Double ugh.
•  I am waking up each morning at 4am wide awake and unable to fall back to sleep.  The weird thing is that I'm not tired during the day.  For an 8-hour a night or more girl, this is really strange!
• Sensory overload - loud voices, lots of noises, visual stimulation, etc have been overwhelming this week.  Weird...what do you think band will do to me next week?
• Dizziness - this is always random.  I'm not sure if its my growing belly on major arteries or if its blood sugar related
• Higher blood pressure after I eat, usually in the mornings after my cereal.  I have had really low pressures (110/60) this entire pregnancy.  However, after I eat it goes up to 140/80-90. 
• My belly is heavy.  Its hard to turn at night and when I stand, the weight just is uncomfortable.
• Tired.  Just tired.  Things that usually weren't an issue just wear me out. 

Belly Button:  I still don't think it will pop.  However, my friends the stretch marks made out like bunnies this week.  I am not kidding when I say I went from 4 to 40 marks in the past 3 days.  They are all on the lower side of my belly and make me think that this kid went through a growth spurt this week (I think he's bigger than a pineapple, but what do I know)

Highlights: My shower was this past Sunday.  I am waiting on photos from friends before I do a blog post on it, but it was so lovely.  Also, being released from bed rest and getting to see all my friends and colleagues at work has been great.  We got our crib mattress and some other necessities in from our shower this week, so I'm feeling really prepared ;-)

Blessings!