Nora Kay Love ~ 34 Weeks

Plugging along with another week down...I honestly can't decide if the time is flying by or dragging on...either way, 6 weeks from now I'll have a baby girl in my arms! 

How far along: 34 Weeks!!

How big is baby: Cantaloupe; 4.75 lb

Gender: My sweet baby girl, Nora Kay!

Weight gain/loss: I honestly feel like I've stopped gaining weight anywhere except for my big ole' belly...which I consider a good thing.  My face is still a little round, but as you can tell from the photos below, it's not nearly as round as the first time around. 

Sleep: It's truly hit or miss.  I can always fall asleep just fine, but some nights I seem to have a bit of insomnia around the 2-4 am mark.  I always manage to fall back asleep, but it's those nights that I also wake up early, like around 5:30am and can't go back to sleep.    

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: I've been really trying to watch my sodium intake to avoid any access water retention...which was certainly a problem last time around.  I'm not really craving anything specific, but I know all the Halloween candy, followed by my annual cookie exchange, followed by Thanksgiving will be rough!  And we might have stopped by a donut shop this morning for breakfast...but I've made it this far so I can indulge right?!?

Movement: Yesterday at work I think she literally must have been doing some sort of hip-hop routine in my belly...which makes no sense since I had Christian worship music playing on my computer.  This girl moves ALL. THE. TIME.  But I'm not complaining, for the most part those kicks, jabs, and full body rolls are just a sweet reminder of how close we are getting to actually meeting her! 

What I'm loving: The nursery!  & my sweet Elyse.  The nursery is pretty much finished and is more than ready for a little baby girl to occupy the space.  You can see nursery reveal pictures in yesterday's post.  And can I just brag a moment on my first born daughter?  She is truly the light of my life and while I know there will be plenty of room to love another daughter, I've just been overwhelmed recently with the fact that God blessed me with a daughter like Elyse.  She truly is going to be a great big sister, and a huge help to this momma.  I love her with every bone in my body and I'm really trying to soak up these last few weeks with her. 

Symptoms: Thanks to a forced, relaxing weekend my ankles have actually stayed ankles and not CANKLES!  Woohoo!  I've still got the frequent bathroom breaks, round face, and really round belly but the heartburn & Braxton Hicks have also subsided quite a bit.  I still get uncomfortable fairly easy and I'm having to take a break during my morning routine because I just get worn out.  However, these are all pretty minor things that I can deal with.  

What I'm looking forward to:  Some down time.  But I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to get it.  I'm trying to be much more intentional about not over-planning our schedule because that's when I get worn out and exhausted.  I'm also really looking forward to Halloween on Friday...that is if we can get Elyse to actually WEAR her costume.  Right now she's protesting, but Hubby and I have big plans of implementing bribery!  ha! 

 

Best moment of the week: Maternity photos were truly a lot of fun.  Elyse cooperated pretty much NOT, but we got some great shots and I'm excited to share them soon.  While maternity photos are definitely an optional thing, I'm so glad that we chose to do them again.  They remind me that I really do look beautiful during this process and it's a great reminder of what amazing things the human body can do.  Babies truly are such a miracle of life!   

 

 

And just for fun...here's a comparison shot of me at 34w with Elyse.  I actually think I look a LOT better this time around!