Well, I’ve decided to stop with the weekly length updates, because at this point it really varies from baby to baby! But on average, our Baby weighs about 5 lbs and could be as long as 20 inches at this point. Weight will continue to increase, but length won’t change too much from here on out. Our little guy or girl now closes his/her eyes to sleep and opens them when awake. Baby Kiel’s fingernails are now at the tips of his/her fingers. I’m already nervous about having to trim those tiny nails!

How far along: 34 weeks
Gender: Still a mystery! 🙂 You can go vote here if you’d like!
Weight gain: 18 lbs… 2 lbs in one week?! What?!
Symptoms: A newer one that has been bothering me is a feeling of acid in my chest when I switch sides during the night while sleeping. It’s fairly minor, and it either goes away pretty quickly or I just fall right back to sleep! I’ve also had the occasional lightheaded feeling once in awhile. Trying to keep up on my water intake to help deal with that. Other than those, some back pain here and there and a headache once in awhile. Constipation is back too… lovely.
Maternity clothes: Definitely!
Stretch marks: Not yet
Belly button in or out: Still in!
Sleep: Not too bad most nights. My biggest issue is getting myself to actually GO to bed! Once I’m in bed, I feel tired, but I have a hard time making myself get there.
Best moment this week: Doing some baking! I planned on making something with apples from our apple-picking excursion, but I also needed to get rid of some over-ripe bananas and zucchini. So I made banana zucchini muffins and caramel apple cupcakes. Both turned out delicious! I will post recipes soon for those who want them.
Miss anything: Wearing shoes and rings! When I first put my shoes on, my toes are SO pinched. I don’t know if my feet are swelling or if they’re widening, which is apparently a pregnant lady issue. This is definitely a downside to being pregnant in fall — I really feel like I’m going to get funny looks if I go out in public wearing flip-flops right now. And my ring goes on fine in the morning, but it will not budge in the evening when I try to take it off! I had to soap up my hands to make my finger slippery enough to wriggle that bad boy off the other night.
Movement: All the time! Still getting 10+ kicks/movement in 10 minutes when I do my “kick count.” I like to pat what I assume is the baby’s butt when it’s pushing out. 🙂
Cravings: Lemonade and carbs. I really just want to eat pizza and pasta all the time.
Looking forward to: Our appointment next week. I’m not really worried about our little guy or girl, but I still want to know that everything is going well in there. We have our consent class at our next appointment too — things are really getting real!

Baby Kiel is now the length of the week-by-week whiteboard we have been using! The short end of it anyway. 🙂 He or she is about 17.25″ long from head to heel and weighs about 4.25 lbs. My amniotic fluid level is at its maximum at this week, while Baby Kiel will keep growing and growing. Our little one has his/her own immune system now, although it’s still developing. Not that I’m expecting an early arrival, but we will be full-term by the end of this month — can you believe it?!

How far along: 33 weeks
Gender: Still a mystery! 🙂 You can go vote here if you’d like! Looks like the votes are getting closer to 50/50…
Weight gain: 16 lbs
Symptoms: Nausea has occasionally been creeping up again. Noooo! I think I had some pregnancy-induced carsickness too. I’ve never actually gotten sick from car rides, but I did this week, yuck. I’m just glad we pulled over in time. Other than that, backaches some days, a few nasty headaches, and general discomfort. Some of you think the baby is starting to drop, but I feel like he/she is still up in my ribcage most of the time. And it’s not very comfortable…
Maternity clothes: Definitely
Stretch marks: Not yet
Belly button in or out: Still in!
Sleep: Depends on the night. Sometimes it takes me awhile to get to sleep, even though I’m tired. Andrew came to bed at 4:30am one night (he’s on swing shift), which woke me up. And then I was wide awake for awhile and couldn’t get back to sleep. I’ve definitely been a night owl lately!
Best moment(s) this week: Apple picking on Sunday! It was a beautiful day (a little on the warm side), and we got quite a few apples and pears at an orchard about an hour north of our house. I really wasn’t feeling great that day (driving up there was when I threw up), but it was really good to get out of the house and so something fun. Plus the apples are delicious! I have some recipes to try out, and hopefully I can get them on the blog if they turn out to be yummy.
My other best moment was our BBQ Baby Shower! Details and photos to come… I wanted to post this before I had them all edited. 🙂
Miss anything: Having energy — I get pooped out after doing nothing!
Movement: All the time! Andrew calls him/her our Little Alien Baby, haha. We’re both pretty fascinated watching/feeling the baby move in my belly! And we’re always saying, “What is it DOING in there?!” Our little one is always active in the evenings and when I’m trying to fall asleep.
Cravings: Lemonade… I could drink glass after glass of it!
Looking forward to: Our next appointment… I want to know how things are going in there!

Baby Bump at 33 weeks and 2 days: