Week 33 - 7 weeks to go!

Countdown: 13 days till my 22nd birthday, 17 days till my baby shower, 44 days till baby Michael arrives!

How far along: 33 weeks 4 days
Total weight gain: At my Dr. appt last week I had gained 2 lbs! So now I’m at 15 lb total weight gain. My next appt is this coming Tuesday so we’ll see if I’ve packed on any more lbs after this weekend in DC. Gahhh

Maternity clothes?: Yup!

Stretch marks?: I’m still safe and still slathering on lotion and oil to keep those bad boys away.  
Belly button, in or out?: Out. I’ve gotten used to seeing it through my clothes..
Sleep: Sleep has been way better lately, although now I’m back home and the silly cats sit outside my room meowing until I get up and go feed them and let them out…at 5am.  I don’t think there is any hope of me getting perfect sleep before baby arrives.
Cravings: Nothing weird as of right now, who knows if something will come up randomly later.
Showing yet?: More than ever although everyone tells me (even people I don’t know) that I’m “really small” for 8 months pregnant. From the way Michael kicks me, he sure doesn’t seem small.
Happy or Moody?: Happy! I am so looking forward to my baby shower and baby Michael’s arrival. And this weekend the Laura’s will be in town!

Movement: Constant. The other night I was laying on my side and he kicked me so hard that I jumped up. It wasn’t painful but it really caught me by surprise!
Best moment this week: Spending time with Michael’s dad’s side of the family and seeing Laura, Jules and Fanny in DC! It was nice getting out of New York for a few days and being back down in DC/VA. I absolutely love it down there.  I wish I could transport my family and friends there so I could be surrounded by the most important people in my life in one of the best places in the US.
Things I miss: Being able to sit up without rolling over first…I feel like a whale. 
Gender: BOY!
Looking forward to: This weekend, my birthday, baby shower, Michael’s arrival!
Due Date: August 11^th

I’m super late in updating for week 33, but I got back into New York yesterday so I decided to just relax for the night and take up blogging today. Pregnancy symptom wise, the back pain I’ve been experiencing has been getting worse and worse to the point where sitting, standing and walking are all pretty painful. I went for a massage on Monday to try to ease the pain, but it didn’t really end up helping all that much. I also seem to get stressed a lot easier which I’ll attribute to the all my raging hormones along with some other factors. I think that traveling down to DC/VA proved to be a bit much for me since I was up to something pretty much every day. I’m happy now to just be home and able to relax in my own bed with my little kitties here to keep me company! The end of the weekend before I left proved to be especially stressful for me and I was having some pretty intense Braxton Hicks contractions to the point where I was convinced I was possibly going into labor. Thankfully that was not the case, but the contractions didn’t really stop until this morning. 

Along with the contractions, Michael was moving around like crazy; I think he could tell I was under a lot of stress. Hopefully now because I’m more relaxed, he will also calm down a bit. The rash that I had on my arm got really really bad to the point where I called my doctor, but I slathered it in calomine lotion twice a day with a cold water treatment and it eventually dried up. However, I think that I finally found the root cause – cat dander. The rash dried up after I stopped handling the cats and when I was in DC, and this morning it reappeared after I had picked up the cats a few times to cuddle them. I looked it up online and apparently it’s possible to develop weird allergies when pregnant. Sad because I love my cats! 

Overall, I had a pretty good trip down to DC/VA. On the Friday that I was there, I made a Babies R Us trip with Chris (Grandma Mimi!) which is where I am registered. I am so excited as her baby shower gift to me is the stroller that I am completely obsessed with! Now I am just waiting for it to arrive at my house - UPS better hurry up because I cannot wait to put it together. I posted a picture of it once before  I think, but here it is again. 

While we were there we also found the most adorable wall art that we decided would look absolutely perfect in Michael's nursery! We both saw it and immediately knew that we had to get it. And sure enough it will look perfect on the wall by the dresser. Just waiting for my Dad to get home to help me put it up on the wall. I also happen to have a little stuffed elephant from Carter's that my friend Ariel had given to me a little while ago as a gift for Michael that matches perfectly as he is blue with brown ears as well. I think that little elephants are just so cute on baby clothes, toys and decorations. The matching swing and bouncer that I have have little elephants along with the pack and play and they are adorable! 

This weekend the Lauras are coming to New York and we'll be spending the weekend in the city doing touristy things...cant wait! In the meantime, I think I'm just going to be cleaning the house and sorting baby clothes as I was given yet another bag of clothes for Michael! This baby is so blessed. He pretty much has everything he could possibly need and I'm sure that after the shower, I'll have more than enough for him! I really cannot wait for my little prince to arrive. 

How your baby’s growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (a pineapple)and has passed the 17 inch mark. He’s rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren’t fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. These bones don’t entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.