Weeks 34-35

Baby is the size of a Honeydew Melon

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds . Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete. He'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

My goodness, this pregnancy is on warp speed! I could swear it was just last week that I handed Thor the chia seed and told him it was the size of our baby, and now there are only 23 days left till the big day - how did that happen?!?! A few big things have taken place in the last 2 weeks so let's dig in.

Week 34 started with a growth ultrasound at the doctors office. The great news was that our lil Love Bug is growing like a champ! Already weighing about 5lbs and 9oz and measuring in the 67th percentile she is on her way to being a lil chunky monkey. The midwifes estimated that she would be "in the low 8's" at birth so we will have to wait and see... I know it can all vary greatly. The not so fantastic news is that she is still snuggled up in her breech position. Due to some medical factors such as the shape of my uterus, their is not much chance at this point she would turn head-down on her own. The midwives suggested that at our next appointment we meet with Dr. Woods to discuss an External Cephalic Version, a hospital procedure to manually rotate the baby using pressure on the outside of my stomach. In the case that he either advised against the procedure or it did not work, Dr. Woods would perform our C-Section. 
Even though we had to wait for nearly 2 weeks for this appointment, Ill cut right to the chase for you here. Dr. Woods was very clear with us that he did not feel this was an ideal situation for the Version technique. He was willing to try it if we wanted, but put our odds of success at less than 50/50. While a Version is a relatively safe procedure, like any medical intervention it does come with some risks and Thor and I has already discussed that if the doctor was not confident in our chance of success, then we would opt out of the procedure. The next step was to talk to Dr. Woods about scheduling the c-section, which we did for the later half of week 39.
I would be lying to myself, and to you reader, if I pretended like I was not disappointed about not being able to have a "natural" birth. It feels as though part of the motherhood experience has been taken away. As I type that I know how silly that is, that mothers come in all forms - from birth in the woods to c-sections to adoptions and surrogacy and so forth. How a child enters the world does not make a mother - that is created in the quite moments of embrace, the tears at a sick childs' bedside, the joy of watching your child laugh, the sleepless nights of worry, and the look of trust that child gives as they place their hand in yours. I'll give myself a day or two to wallow in my disappointment that it is not the birth that I envisioned or dreamed about, and then I will pull on my big girl panties, aka Mother Knickers, and embrace our story, our beginning and my role to continue to be the best advocate I can for our daughter no matter what the circumstance. Just a note that Thor has of course handled all of this just great! He is so supportive of me when I have to wrap my mind around a change in plans but has had this unwavering faith from the beginning that our daughter is doing exactly what our daughter needs to be doing and we just need to take our cues from her because she knows better than we do. I can already tell that Dad and Daughter duo is gonna be inseparable and it warms my heart to no end.

Thor and I did celebrate our 1 year anniversary on August 29. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at The Boathouse on Hayden Lake, which is the lake where we took our vows. It has been such a crazy year, starting with the wedding day itself, to learning we were pregnant and to Thor making a big transition with his career, and I am so proud of how we handle the joyful times and the stressful times together, as a team and support system for one another. I have so many questions and uncertainties of what our lives will look like as we head into new territory as parents, but I can say undoubtedly that I can not fathom doing this with anyone other than Thor.

Baby Girls room is nearly ready!! We just need to finish hanging a couple of pictures (hopefully this weekend) and then I can post an official nursery tour on the next blog post! I have started washing all blankets, 0-3 clothing and so forth and I have so much more fun doing baby laundry that I do doing my own!! I spend quite a bit of time in her nursery, reading books in the rocking chair or organizing drawers and shelves - I hope she enjoys the room as much as I do!

I've also started to meal planning for those first weeks home from the hospital. So far I've only made a Lentil, Potato and Carrot soup and some Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins to store in the freezer, but I will get to work on some more meals in the coming weeks! Would any readers be interested in my sharing the recipes for what I prep?

Since Im wearing the same dress, check out that growth!!!! No wonder my body aches!!! hehehe