The Home Stretch

So today I am 34 weeks. Babyfit.com says:

Your Baby This Week A bouncing bundle of joy at 5 pounds (2.5 kg) and nearly 20 inches (51 cm), your baby's organs are almost fully matured with the exception of the lungs, which will continue to develop almost until birth. Though you can't see your baby, her skin is turning from red to pink. While her fingernails are fully formed, the toenails still need more time to grow. Some babies will even have a full head of hair by this point.

Aw, she's pink. She matches her clothes :). And I can attest to the five-pound thing. It's pretty obvious where she is (on my right side) and when she moves (generally, right when I'm trying to go to sleep).

We're at the point where the big stuff is done. The crib is together


and we have a nice comfy chair


and we have breathed a sigh of relief because we now officially have a place to put her when she arrives. We've got some stuff to hang on the walls, and a bookshelf that is ready to paint, and that can happen this weekend. And then there's nothing left to do except wait. We're starting to take care of the business as well--we've found a daycare that looks to be just about perfect (it's right on campus and about a 5-minute walk from my office). We'll get on the waiting list as soon as she's born, and chances are good that we'll get into that. It's time to complete the FMLA paperwork so that I have a job to return to when my maternity leave is up. I'm setting up my office so that my assistant and my director can do what needs doing while I'm out without too much interruption to the workload. Stuff like that. It's weird to finally be at this point, where we're suddenly hurrying to get everything lined up. It's gone by pretty quickly.

And here's what I look like today...


Maternity clothes aren't exactly flattering, but you get the general idea. She's still pretty high up, and I think she's still pointed in the wrong direction. There's time for her to remedy that. I go back to the OB after Thanksgiving, and then weekly from there on out. Next perinatalogist appointment is the week after that. This is when the docs start figuring out whether anything is starting to happen and how ready everybody is to move out.