34 weeks

*The baby is now ... 5 pounds. Cantaloupe!

*How I'm feeling: It's official: I'm uncomfortable. If you look to the right, I think you can see why. Mike says my bump is starting to look like a warhead. I glared at him when he said it and then realized he was right.

*Physical differences from last week: I'm huge. Hugehugehuge!

*What's been on my mind: Besides the fact that I'm huge? Well, let's see. I have a book that gives me a weekly update on how the baby is growing, and this week it said that babies born at 34 weeks statistically are just as healthy in the long-term as babies that are born at full-term. If I had him today, he might have to stay in the hospital for a few extra days, but in all likelihood, he would be completely healthy. It makes me tear up just thinking about it!

Also, my friend Kristin had her baby - a beautiful girl named Elle - on Saturday! It seems like Kris and I have been pregnant forever, so to finally see pictures of the little cutie sort of blows my mind (and dang, "cute" doesn't even begin to do her justice). What also blows my mind: I became pregnant very soon after Kris did... so I think it stands to reason that I'll be giving birth very soon, too. Oh my.

*What I'm looking forward to: There's not a whole lot left to do before we meet our little Rhino. We've got an infant CPR class in a couple of weeks, and my co-workers will be throwing me a baby shower sometime this month. And we're rearranging some stuff in the living room because we're in the process of buying a new TV and TV stand. But really, we're pretty much set... the pack 'n play is waiting in the bedroom, the dresser is mounted to the wall (and the changing pad is mounted to the dresser), the bottles are sterilized, the clothes are washed. So I'm just looking forward to meeting this baby now!

I'm also really trying to enjoy the last few weeks where we're just a family of two. It won't be just the two of us again for, oh, about the next 20+ years (unless, as Mike says, we decide to throw our kids out when they turn 13 years old). So I'm letting myself sleep in when I feel like it, and my plan is to spend the next few weeks seeing a lot of movies, eating out whenever we feel like it, and celebrating the end of our alone time together with some O'Douls!

*Other random thoughts: I've started putting stuff aside to be packed for the hospital. I made a trip to Target on Sunday to stock up on travel-sized toiletries for my stay and a couple other odds and ends that I needed. I am, of course, totally over-packing. I realize that I'm doing it, but I can't help myself. I don't know what I'm going to need! I don't know how big Ryan is going to be and what will fit him and what won't! I don't want to be the only mom who didn't think to bring a burp cloth or a hat! I know the hospital will have anything I really need. But I want him to have his own stuff, the stuff family and friends have been spoiling him with for months (and what if he spits up on something?! You have to have 2 - or 4 - of everything!). So anyway. We might need to take the big suitcase.

By the way... it's probably not too likely... but it's entirely possible that I could have this baby THIS MONTH.