29 Weeks is a LONG time.

29 weeks is 203 days.
Or 4,872 hours.
Or 292,320 minutes.
Or a whole bunch of seconds.

And I'm 29 weeks pregnant today.

Bugbear has only existed in some form for 27 of them, of course, but I'm not going to re-do that math. It's still a long time.

How pregnant are you?  Way pregnant. Pregnant enough to really, really miss my cheekbones. I'd post a picture, but that would just be depressing.

Relate this pregnancy to objects we tend to eat or other everyday things.  Grab a yard stick. Find the 16" mark. Imagine that as a fetus. That's pretty much as close as I can get to an everyday object that's roughly Bugbear's size (probably 15-17") right now. There just aren't many foods that are 16" long. And comparing him/her to the size of our dog

just seems odd. Bugbear is getting very close to his/her length (height?) at birth, and once s/he hits that, developmental energy will go to packing on the pounds in fat and muscle. The average 29 week old fetus is around three pounds (roughly the weight of a three-pound free weight), so we can expect Bugbear's weight to fall somewhere between double and triple that when s/he is born.

Tell me some random stuff about the Bugbear.  I can't find much to say! It's like all the websites and books that I regularly consult have run out of trivia and interesting ways to describe what's happening right now. Things seem to boil down to "baby is still kinda hairy, covered in vernix, and growing. Baby is gaining weight, is moving a lot, you're gaining weight, if you went into labor right now baby would probably survive with some NICU time, and here is a laundry list of scary conditions that are highly unlikely, but we need to fill up space. The end." 

Tell me how you feel physically. It depends on the day. I'm tense, and stressed, and that's showing up in my shoulders. Some days it hurts to work out, some days it hurts to not work out. Sometimes I'm killer death thirsty and hungry, sometimes I'm so tired of constantly eating and drinking that I think I'd rather pass out than have to keep doing both all the time. Sometimes I'm so happy that I can eat whatever I want that I just smile while scrounging for snacks.

I'm unable to sleep through the night. I'm up at least once, usually twice, sometimes three times, to pee, and it's become impossible for me to roll over without waking up and flipping myself over with concerted effort. Fortunately, I'm able to stretch those times across an eight or nine hour stretch, so it isn't bad. But especially after three consecutive nights of dozing in two-hour blocks, I fantasize about going to sleep and then waking up and having it be morning.

Bugbear has also decided that the lung xylophone is great fun. It isn't. S/he is pretty cooperative about moving out of the way when I'm focusing on breathing exercises, though, which gives me at least a few minutes a day where I can catch my breath.

What are you craving? Nothing, really. If it sounds or tastes good, then I eat it. If it doesn't, then I don't. I've now gained 18 pounds over the course of this pregnancy, so it seems like that sort of intuitive eating is working well for me.

Are you crazy emotional? Thankfully, not this week. I've taken the time to do a good deal of writing and exploring what I'm thinking and feeling, and it seems like those things have helped me to focus my thoughts and really figure out what's bothering me and how I need to go about adjusting that. It's not easy, but it's necessary, and I do appreciate that I'm less likely to burst into tears at random moments or require all my concentration and energy to avoid yelling.

Anything else? I've taken the time to make the first of the baby gear I'll be sewing for Bugbear (and for the record, finding a way to use a rotary cutter with a giant belleh is extremely difficult)--a blanket, and some teeny sleep sacks that are too cute for words. Once I get pictures taken, I'll be excited to share those!