32 weeks and a Wedding

From Babycenter.com:
"By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

How your life's changing:
To accommodate you and your baby's growing needs, your blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since you got pregnant. With your uterus pushing up near your diaphragm and crowding your stomach, the consequences may be shortness of breath and heartburn. To help relieve your discomfort, try sleeping propped up with pillows and eating smaller meals more often.

You may have lower-back pain as your pregnancy advances. If you do, let your caregiver know right away, particularly if you haven't had back pain before, since it can be a sign of preterm labor.

Assuming it's not preterm labor that's ailing you, you can probably blame your growing uterus and hormonal changes for your aching back. 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."

From PregnancyWeekly.com:
"Your baby is 18.9 inches long from head to toe and weighs almost 4 pounds. He or she will gain weight more quickly now and will probably double in weight between now and his or her birth. Just like a newborn, your baby sleeps a lot of the time. He or she even experiences rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the period of sleep when we dream!"

Now that Erin's wedding is over, I feel like the next few weeks are going to FLY by. And I am now realizing (again) how much I have left to do! We are in the process of remodeling our hall bath - the tile is being grouted today and then it is done! Thank goodness. Still waiting on the furniture, but we did buy a glider last week from Siegels - not in that fabric though, in a more grey-blue-tealish color block chenille. Im looking forward to rocking my Bennett in that chair very soon!!! :)

I still have to finish his bedding - Im almost done with the dust ruffle and now have to attack the bumper....It actually didnt take me too long to do the dust ruffle, but it left me with a pinched nerve in my back after sitting in a straight back wooden dining room chair for several hours - I know i know....I should know better than that, and now I will be using my office chair while sewing! Ive also been looking for some artwork to go in his room, but of course I still suffer from the same lingering disease that makes me want to MAKE everything instead of buy it...why do I have to make everything more difficult than it actually is??? Like I really need something else to 'add to my list' before Bennett is born. We shall see how that project goes.

On to the wedding: FANTASTIC! I wish I had some pictures to post, but I hardly took any as the photographer was everywhere we were and she handled all the pictures. I am waiting for her to post them on her website, and then I will update the blog with some. Everything was beautiful, including the bride, and I really had a blast. The best I felt all night was when we were dancing - standing and talking and even sitting down just were not very comfortable, but once I hit the dance floor and "danced" (I use that term loosely - I dont know if what I was doing at 32 weeks pregnant can really be categorized as "dancing") I felt the best Ive felt in a long time! It was so good to see all the family and friends who traveled so far to come - it meant a lot to all of us. Now Erin and Ben are lounging in Cabo San Lucas at La Palmilla and I am writhing with jealousy. I know they are having a blast and (if they are anything like Stephen and me) are probably looking at each other every 5 minutes and saying "You are my HUSBAND/WIFE!" Love it!