O   M   G everyone!!!! 32 weeks! 8 to go! This is getting CRAZY. I can’t actually believe it, still. I guess I thought that before the time came I would get used to the idea, but I haven’t! hehe.

So, baby O now weighs 3.75 pounds (as  much as a large jicama) and is roughly 16.7 inches long. That is BIG! These final weeks involve some rapid weight gain for me, but half of it goes straight to the baby. I’m supposed to gain 1 pound per week, and he gets half of it. So he should gain 4 pounds over the remaining weeks (or 1/3 to half of his birth weight, whatever that ends up to be). He could have hair now, if he will have hair, but my bet is that he doesn’t!

My blood volume has increased by 40 or 50 %, which can cause shortness of breath, and it has. I feel like I can’t breathe almost all the time. This has been going on for some time, but it definitely feels worse lately. From this week’s Baby Center update: “Your expanding uterus shifts your center of gravity and stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, changing your posture and putting a strain on your back. Hormonal changes in pregnancy loosen your joints and the ligaments that attach your pelvic bones to your spine. This can make you feel less stable and cause pain when you walk, stand, sit for long periods, roll over in bed, get out of a low chair or the tub, bend, or lift things.” I can certainly attest to the back pain! It has gotten really intense in the last couple of weeks. I also may have injured a spot in my mid- to upper- back, which hurts pretty intensely when I’m sitting upright or standing…I find myself rubbing that spot until it hurts even more. My hips and lower back are hurting and just generally feeling “off” as well. It isn’t as fun to walk and getting up from a seated position or from squatting is a lot harder, probably just from the extra weight I’m carrying. My calves have started getting cramped up in the night, and the hip and back pain make sleeping pretty uncomfortable as well. While that may have sounded like a lot of complaining, I promise it’s not! So little time left, and so few complaints! I am content with these things. I know a lot of women who are miserable and can’t stand being pregnant anymore at this point…but I am good. I don’t want time to fly by! I want my time! haha. Stay tuned for pictures of the finished nursery!