Chipmunk Cheeks: Week 33

Cotton is so crazy active these days that it really does look like there's something trying to crawl out of my belly! I used to notice a trend in awake/asleep times, but now I'm not so sure about any particular pattern. If I had to pick one time of day when Cotton feels most active at this point, I'd have to choose morning. In the evenings he/she likes to wedge his/her legs directly under my ribs, making me squirm and grimace.

Our ultrasound guesstimated Cotton to be growing in the 62nd percentile in measurements, weighing over 4 pounds already. I look at babies weighing 4-5 pounds at work and think, "There's no possible way something that big is growing inside of me right now." But then I see a picture of myself and think, "Wow, I don't feel small by any means, but I'm way bigger than I think I am."......and then I watch the video (don't worry, I have more clothes on in that clip than you think......or do I???....I'll guess you'll never really know for sure) of how my belly looks when Cotton moves around.........and I can kinda start to believe that it's real. 

Patrick and I are both getting superbly curious about the gender and what Cotton will look like. Every week the anticipation grows a little stronger. Cotton must now prefer to remain a mystery though, because he/she refused to let us see his/her face during the ultrasound!! We were desperately hoping to get a good face shot to compare ultrasounds again, but even though the little booger was moving around all over the place, kicking the tech's ultrasound wand and all, he/she never budged those little fists from in front of his/her face. The best picture we could get was a half blacked out screen shot (because bones show up black on ultrasound), with half a profile of a really chubby chipmunk cheek.

My hands, feet, and legs are starting to get "puffy". I wouldn't call it edema yet, but I can definitely feel and see a difference. I've been drinking lots of lime water and consuming as much protein as I can, to try and offset the symptom, but all I really want is jalapeno poppers with ranch followed by ice-cream. 

No one ever talks about how weird it is when you can no longer see certain parts of your own body (and I'm not referring to my feet). It's straight up, crazy sauce bizarre, and even though I've been trying to adjust to this madness for a few weeks, I still can't get used to the concept. There, I talked about it.

Doctor's appointments are getting more frequent!! We are going every 2 weeks now, and soon to be every week. I finally had the heart to heart with Dr. B about our "birthing preferences", and after a good discussion, have a great amount of relief knowing he is now on board and on the same page.