34 weeks.

How pregnant are you? 34 weeks! That's also pregnant enough that if (and this is an IF we are NOT hoping for!) Bugbear were born next week, we would most likely be able to take him/her home from the hospital as if /she were full term. That's also pregnant enough that the countdown to November is around 40 days. That's a lot of sleeps if you're 3 and waiting until Christmas. That is not a lot of sleeps if you're a full time student, homemaker, partner, and crazy enough to be making your own baby bedding. And I am not 3. 

Relate this pregnancy to objects we tend to eat or other everyday things.   Bugbear is around the size of a cantaloupe or honeydew melon, or possibly the height of an American Girl doll, could weigh around an average of 5 pounds, and may well be 20" long. Of course, s/he may be just under 4 pounds and 16" and still be considered perfectly average, so we're not putting too much stock in averages or ultrasound measurements. There's a chance s/he could take after me and be wee. There's a chance s/he could take after the rest of my family, and most of Michael's family, and not be wee. And either way, we have to wait until s/he is born to actually find out, so I guess it's good I like surprises.

Tell me some random stuff about the Bugbear.   It's another week where growing is the major job. The vernix is pretty much gone, but remains in his/her little armpits and behind his/her knees. If Bugbear is a boy, his testicles are beginning their final descent, and if he ever reads this, he will probably not speak to me for a week for divulging this information. Even if Bugbear has no testes, s/he is still putting on fat, which makes his/her skin smoother and will be useful for the outside world. His/her lungs are also developing, and from the hiccups s/he's getting regularly, his/her diaphragm is working away as well.

Tell me how you feel physically.  Huge. And I know I've said that before. But my body's ability to just keep getting bigger astounds me. I can't imagine what it would be like if I had a proportional torso instead of being long-waisted, because Bugbear has decided that under my ribs is the best place in the whole wide world to live, and even so, s/he still manages to take up a LOT of space and squish all my other bits too.  I'm also noticing swelling in my hands; they still don't look like it, but I'm pretty sure that my ring finger is a 4.5 or 5 now instead of a 3.5. Since "be able to wear rings throughout pregnancy" is no longer possible, my new goal is to avoid cankles. And I'm hoping that goes much better than the ring one.

What are you craving? Zucchini bread. Are you surprised? I'm not. But my mom brought me zucchini this weekend, so I'm totally going to have this magical stuff soon. And then I will be seriously happy. And milk. Which goes tremendously well with zucchini bread.
 
Are you crazy emotional? Often. This is the middle of two insanely busy weeks, where I'm booked at least four hours a day with stuff that has to get done. The pace is relentless, and so I'm tired, which makes me more likely to cry at anything. Like everything that still needs to get done but we can't really get other people to do for us...

Anything else?  We have a lot that still needs to get done on the practical end of stuff (like figuring out what goes to the hospital with us besides car seat, birthing ball, and lip balm, and then packing said stuff).

The shower that Carol and Lori threw us was wonderful, and we are grateful beyond words to the loving and generous people who were there to show Bugbear just how welcome s/he is to the world. And now we need to figure out what we still need to get, and then get those things, so we're hitting the fabulous-terrifying-OMG-what-have-we-done?!? world of BuyBuyBaby and BabiesRUs this weekend to do that sort of thing.

And we need to start washing and prepping diapers.

And I need someone who's an expert in early medieval Christian history to take over my online class participation, and someone else who is an expert in United Methodist Worship practice and theory to take over my quiz and presentation for that class.  I'll let you prep diapers when you're finished...