Week 34 / Little Olive Update

Today is a very good day! Ben and I had a scan this morning to check on that pesky placenta of mine, to gauge it's position. At my last scan it was found that my placenta was lying very low ('placenta previa' they call it), so I was asked to come in closer to baby's birth day and see if it had grown away from baby's exit. Thankfully, it has, which has ruled us out of having an early caesarean section! Can't believe that the next time I see bub, it'll be on the outside.

Baby was doing lots of practising 'breathing' in the scan; we watched its' little diaphragm moving up and down. It also had its' arm up to its' mouth and was enjoying wiggling around, which made some measurements a bit tricky. When checking how far the placenta was from baby's exit, Little Olive's noggin was mostly in the way. It's head is tucked down so firmly that even some rather forceful pokes and prods from the hospital staff would not get baby to move! But there were enough signs to show that baby was all cleared for take off, and we were so thrilled with that.

I'm starting to think more about D-day, which isn't far away now (just 6 weeks!). I'll be getting in the mindset for it, stocking up on dates, and hoping that baby stays where it is in the LOA position. Judging by how stubborn bubs was at the scan today, I'd say they're quite content where they are! I'm also starting to restrict the work projects that are coming in at the moment.


How far along?
34 weeks.

Symptoms
Pelvis pain as per last week, heartburn, and so emotional (it's embarrassing!). Babies make me teary. I used to enjoy the show One Born Every Minute, but now I can't even get through the intro without crying (haha!). Starting to swell a bit around the hands and feet... wedding rings have had to come off. Also, my tummy feels a wee bit numb and sometimes itchy due to the skin stretching.

Maternity clothes
Just the usual! 

Stretch marks
Can't tell if I have a couple of small ones, or if they're veins.

Sleep
2am wake-ups are still on the agenda, and I'll usually wake up another 1–2 times per night. Sometimes I wake up for no reason, other times it's because of leg cramps (yes, they've been back this week), needing the loo, or tummy tightenings called Braxton Hicks.

Best moment this week
I had a catch-up with some of my fellow mums-due-in-March friends on Sunday, we had churros for brunch! I really like this group of ladies, it's cool going through everything with them. Also, Ben and I had a bit of a rearranging day at home, playing the furniture puzzle in our wee apartment.

Worst moment this week
Speaking of our apartment, we had a bit of a fright. While the owner of our apartment is fine with us having a dog, apparently the building owner is not... and so there have been strata meetings between the other apartment owners to decree whether dogs should be allowed or not. Really sucky timing! I'm feeling more confident that we should be allowed to stay, but at the time I was feeling pretty annoyed... finding a pet-friendly apartment that meets our requirements can be tricky, and moving house near baby's due date is far from ideal. It's not like we have family here that we can just bunk with for a while as we find a new home. So fingers crossed nothing more comes of this apartment debacle!

Movement
Still head down, curling around my left side. I think we are going to have a very hiccupy baby.

Food cravings
Nothing much. Heartburn kills my appetite sometimes, so trying to have early dinners.

Anything making you feel sick or queasy?
Not this week.

Gender
No clue. Even at our scan today it's hard to know what you're looking at, so we couldn't even peek if we wanted to!

Belly button in or out?
Still hanging in there, pretty stretched!

Happy or moody?
Happy!

Looking forward to...
The weekend; we have our first HypnoBirthing class on Saturday evening.

This week's tune:
A bit of a dance track, but this week's tune is deadmau5's Not Exactly. Ben and I used to listen to this when we'd be working away in our office, in our old flat on Manukau Rd. Kind of nostalgic to think we were laying the bricks for getting where we are today. At the time Ben was dreaming about living and working at some cool place overseas, and look at what we're doing now! Pretty amazing times.

Here's a photo Ben took of me on the weekend as we walked Juno around our local park, Rushcutter's Bay. It's such a stunning place to stroll!