49 days and counting...

my freaking phone just ate my photos. and now i'm wearing tracky daks and i can't be bothered putting nice clothes on again. and NO i will never ever post a photo of me in track pants on the interwebs, so don't even think it. i'll have to take some tomorrow

You are now 33 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 34.

Your baby weighs about 2.1kg (2,100 grams or 4 lbs 10 oz) and measures about 45 cm in length (17.75 inches).

Your baby is now fully formed physically and has a firm grasp reflex. They can also determine the difference between sweet and sour tastes. Premature babies born as early as 33 weeks have been observed to suck harder on a teat dipped in glucose. However, even unborn babies can detect subtle changes in the flavour of the amniotic fluid they float in. It is believed this fluid acts as a 'flavour bridge' to their mother's breast milk. Breast milk changes flavour depending on what the mother eats (such as sugar, garlic or curry) and so does the amniotic fluid. Observations of unborn babies have demonstrated that they swallow more frequently when surrounded by sweet tastes and swallow less fluid if it tastes bitter or sour.

Physical signs: Frequent urination. As your growing baby increases in weight, your uterus starts to put more pressure on your bladder, making you pass urine more frequently. This may worsen or improve once your baby's head engages or be made worse if your pelvic floor muscle is weakened (pelvic floor exercises are explained below).

Peeing every hour on the hour pretty much.

But I’m deliberately drinking a lot of water anyway, so this is probably contributing. Amniotic fluid level peak at around this time, so maybe that’s why I’m so thirsty! Drinking about 2-4L a day (mostly water-I know, I normally hate the stuff!-weird) no bladder weakness for me, I have pelvic floor muscles of STEEL.

Carpal tunnel. Some women experience feelings of numbness, 'pins and needles' or stiff painful hands - a condition known Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. This is caused by fluid accumulating in the wrists, placing pressure on the median nerve, which moves the muscles in the wrist and hand. Carpal tunnel also makes it difficult to grasp objects. Nup.

Emotional reactions As your pregnancy advances, anxieties and fears may occupy your mind. Nup.

You may look at women with babies and think "How am I physically going to get from being pregnant to being a mother?" Nup.

Or you may wonder how you will deal with labour pain or with parenting a child (or another child, if this is not your first). Nup.

Perhaps you have a mother or sister who has experienced difficult births and find it hard to imagine yours could be different. Nup.

Or you could be concerned about feeling out of control once you go to hospital. Nup. As far as they’re concerned, they can do what I TELL THEM to do, not the other way around.

It is important to recognise and share your concerns. Suppressing your true feelings could mean unresolved issues materialising at an inconvenient time (like when you are trying to push your baby out!) If you find talking with family and friends and/or your caregiver is not enough, perhaps seek professional counselling to help you work with your concerns. Wah wah wah. i don't do this shite.

Other considerations

Your baby's position. Most babies assume a head down position by this time (if not already there). Just came back from ob’s appt, and kid is head down, yay! A few babies remain in a breech position. Women having twins often find that one baby is head down, while their sibling is breech. Your caregiver feels for your baby's head during your pregnancy visits and should now be able to detect which side of your belly their back is laying on (right or left). Back seems to move from left to right a bit, but mostly on the left, back against my belly, with the feet kicking up under my right ribs. A LOT. Your baby can still move frequently from one side of your belly to the other. At this stage, it does not really matter if your baby's back is anterior (towards your front) or posterior (towards your back).

You may start to notice that your baby's movements are changing to be more stretches and squirms, as they grow larger and there is comparatively less room to move. No. still kicking the shit out of my ribs and punching me on the inside of my girls bits. Fun.

If you feel concerned about how often your baby is moving, it is important to tell your caregiver. They may suggest using a kick chart. The little monkey moves all the time, with big big moves at 9.30pm every night.

Birth preparations Large babies. Being told your unborn baby looks big can immediately undermine your confidence to give birth. Such suggestions often come from caregivers, friends or relatives making judgements about the size of your belly. In some cases this could lead to considerations about being induced early (so that the baby won't be as large), or having a caesarean operation. Most women produce babies that their bodies are able to give birth to. The predicted weight of unborn babies can be frequently overestimated. Haven’t had this from any professional, but every I meet says “you look so big” or “are you sure it’s not twins???” which is ridiculous, because I’ve had 2 scans showing 1 baby. It’s in the 82% for size, so I’m expecting an 8 to 8.5lb baby (plus you normally have babies of similar size to your own birth weight, not your male partner’s)

I figure people are so used to seeing pregnant women get fat, that they’re not quite aure about me since I only look like I’ve put on 5kg of fat, and the rest is all baby bump. (I weighed myself at 20wks and had put on 14kgs, but I haven’t weighed since) but all the ‘weight’ is baby + amniotic fluid + boobs + 40% more blood +uterus+placenta etc…. so I don’t really care about the actual kgs I put on, as long I still look/feel fit, then I’m happy. Plus I’ll need some fat stores for breast feeding anyways.

Down to 3 days left of work-feck yeah! then i can rest, slep, and sew like a mad woman!!! i still have about 10-15 nappies to make, plus a playmat or two, some bibs, some toys for the pram, and a few more bits and pieces.

Plus i want to make a nightie for me for hospital as well. I've tried shopping for one, but they're all hidiously gag-inducingly twee. apparently pregnant (or fat) women only want to wear pastels and big ugly arse sacks with twee cutsey characters on them. i mean huh? wtf? where are the pretty and cute and dare i say it a little sexeh ones? (not all out raunch/porn, i'm not after crotchless panties and faux leather with fur trim or anything) i managed to find ONE nightie in kmart that was black with small white spots, but i'd like a second as well, since birth is such an, ahem, fluid filled time. i want a back up in case i need to wash one. so i'll either buy a dress and just wear it as a nightie, or make one.

le sigh.

photos next time, i promise...

xCherry