34 Weeks

Holy smokes, less than 6 weeks to go! I can’t believe it’s finally here. It’s such a strange thing when you’ve been anticipating something for so long and it seems so far in the future, and then it finally arrives. I just can’t believe that in a few short weeks we will be taking this tiny infant girl home with us from the hospital and she will be our very own and she’ll be with us 24/7. I’ve loved other’s children for so long and have such a great love for my nephew and nieces, that I can’t even imagine the amount of love I’ll have for my very own daughter. Okay okay, let’s not get emotional.

Pregnancy. It’s such a funny thing, I’ve decided. It seems like everywhere I go, people like to stare. And 99% of the time, I can’t read what’s going through their mind. Are you judging me? What exactly are you thinking? Am I too fat? Am I too young? WHAT? What is it?? I really don’t mind if people stare at my belly. But if we make eye contact, it’s okay to smile back at me. Sometimes I am so tempted to be like, “WHAT? What are you staring at?” It also irks me slightly when people exclaim, “But you’re so tiny!” I never know how to respond to that… Thank you? I’m sorry? Because most of the time, they don’t say it in a complimentary way, the say it very accusingly. It’s like when people comment on how tall you are. Yes. Yes I am. And people aren’t as kind and considerate to pregnant ladies as I thought. Maybe people are just oblivious, which is usually the case. But some people, on the other hand, are very kind and love to strike up conversation. Like the man in the elevator who turned to me and said, “About 7 months?” He was right. Or the lady in the store who stopped me and Nathan to see if we had a newborn photographer because her daughter is a pro, and then proceeded to talk to us for about 20 min all about tips and tricks with giving birth.

I’m also getting a little worn out with the attention. Especially at church. Everyone is so nice and caring and it’s all very sweet. But it just wears me out. Everyone asks the same questions and I can hardly walk from one end to the other without being bombarded by small talk and questions. I don’t even have to get up from my seat and I’m bombarded. I really am grateful that people are so kind and care, but sometimes I just don’t feel like being overly social. Fun fact: Between July and January, there are NINE other girls in my ward that are expecting. WHAT? In little ol’ Castro Valley? It’s true. There must be something in the water.

I’m also beginning to lose my patience with my patients. I have many patients who either arrive late or have to leave early and act like this appointment is such an inconvenience to them, they like to open their mouth to the size of a penny and I can’t see anything, open wide but then slowly close and I have to constantly tell them to open… open…. open…. or have extremely strong chin/cheek muscles and can’t/won’t relax so I can’t see their teeth. Do you want me to help you? If not, you can leave I really don’t care. Before being pregnant and uncomfortable, it wouldn’t bother me as much and I was very kind and forgiving and would let things go. But now, I just can’t handle it. My fuse is very short. If you don’t want me to clean your teeth or I’m an inconvenience to your hectic schedule, then I won’t save your life by cleaning your teeth.

Other things going on this far in pregnancy:
-She has hiccups nearly every day. I love it.
-I have pretty bad heartburn regularly. It hasn’t really been an issue up until the last few weeks. It will wake me up in the middle of the night, or just come up randomly throughout the day. I always carry tums with me. But sometimes they just don’t do the trick.
-She likes to put pressure on my bladder.
-The muscles and skin on my tummy feel so stretched out.
-I am having a difficult time finding a comfortable position when I sleep. And every time I need to turn over, it’s such a process and it wakes me up and then I realize that I have to pee. No more good night’s sleep here on out.

Here’s my 34 week selfie shot 🙂