Progress pics & pregnancy updates...@ 32-weeks!

How Far Along? 32-weeks. 5-weeks to "full term" and 8-weeks to "full 40-week pregnancy". Doc said I could go anywhere from week 38 - 39 so there's a chance baby will arrive at the end of October or much earlier in November. I would rather she wait until the week of her due date though.

Size of Baby? Between 17 & 19 inches long (almost at her full length!). For comparison, baby is now about the size of Mexican yam (jicama) and weighs about 4-pounds! I am up 18-lbs for this pregnancy. It would have been 20-lbs but I lost 2-lbs from all the walking we did in Italy. My OB is OK with my weight gain and said I likely will put on another 5-lbs before all is said and done.

Maternity Clothes? Fully in them now but I am still able to alternate maternity clothes and pre-pregnancy clothes. So far, I can still fit into some pre-pregnancy items.

Stretch Marks? Yes! And some skin discoloration around my body. I keep looking at it and am not thrilled about it. I am PRAYING it goes away as soon as the baby arrives.

Sleep? I read that by now, she knows the difference between night and day. I am not so sure that is true because she moves ALL THE TIME!!! Sometimes, it is so much it is hard for me to fall asleep. The other issue is that I get up to pee at least 3-times each night. Falling back asleep after is no easy feat.

Food Cravings? No real cravings. Although, this week, I had some moo-shu chicken from the Chinese restaurant down the street. I enjoyed it so much, I had it for dinner and 3-lunches so far. YUM!!!

What I Miss: Still my regular size feet! They are swollen constantly and sometimes they hurt! I miss my shoes...they no longer fit. I miss being able to sleep for at least 3-4 hours before having to get up at night to use the restroom. I miss being able to get off the couch without assistance from J. I miss being able to get up and go without breathing heavily.

What I'm Looking Forward To:  Maternity photo shoot on the 21st. Getting my hair done on the 28th. Baby shower on the 29th, my family coming into town for the shower. Getting a break from using the DC metro system while on maternity leave.

Symptoms? Nothing new/too crazy this week. I just feel a lot more tired. If tiredness was an Olympic sport, I'd have a gold medal cause I am THAT tired!

Movement? YES! LOTS AND LOTS of movements.   

Belly Button In or Out? Still in but it has taken on a different shape. I don't think it'll pop but I think it'll stretch a little more. For now, I am fine with that.  

Labor Signs? Braxton Hicks!!! My uterus is definitely practicing for when the time comes!

Best Moment of the Week? Getting the news that the baby is now head down. Yay!!! I know she could move again but the doctor doesn't anticipate that happening. Plus she thinks I'll likely have the baby anywhere from week 38 - 39. She has said they won't let me go past week 41. That's no later than Nov. 15th.

Weekly Wisdom: Breath...life happens...or as my molecular biology professor in college used to say "sh*t happens!"

Pictures? This is from last week. Week 31.

Italy - Part 3 of 3...Rome finale!

Here's my final installment of pics from Rome. As you can see, we had such a great time there! The pics from Florence aren't as many because that was more the romantic part of our babymoon. Rome was more the sightseeing part.

Enjoy!

Walking towards the Colosseum.

Up close and personal!

 Inside the Colosseum. The first time I visited, I thought the same thing..."this looks NOTHING like what you see on TV!"

J & I. Please ignore the oily face. It was hot (or rather I was ALWAYS hot!)

More close of pics of what it looks like on the grounds of the Colosseum. Apparently, they used to be able to flood the bottom for boat matches. Not sure how that worked out but interesting...those boats musta been really really small!!!

J & who else? Albie of course!

  Someone was kind enough to take a picture of both of us. Gosh...I said head shots only!!! I musta not said it right in Italian. Oh well...beggars can't be choosers!

That's more like it. Thanks J for listening to my instructions. There I am with Albie. He looks semi-happier today.

There were A TON of folks who came to take pics of their special day. I took pictures of each couple we saw. This was couple #1.

 Couple #2.

Couple #3. This lady had the whole 80s Madonna thing going for her.

Front of her dress...couple #3

The arches by the Colosseum.

Runaway bride? I was wondering about that but I think she was just trying to climb up the hill. Why her new hubby decided to just let her go instead of helping is beyond me. Couple #4.

 The entire time we were in Rome, we kept seeing the building with the horses atop it. We didn't know what the building was until we got on a bus on our way back to our hotel. Its the museum for fallen soldiers.

We're walking and J thought it'd be funny to pretend to jump off a cliff. Of course I would have gone after him...ummm...after I called out for help of course :-).

J at La Bocca della Verita` also known as the Mouth of Truth. There was a LONG line of folks waiting to take pictures with their hands inside the mouth. Why? I do not know but I did the same thing in 2007 and here I was again. Probably should have read up on that one :-).

And there I am doing the same thing. Lord only knows how many hands had been in there :-).

And there we are. They said "only one picture please". But I figured since J & I both made individual "donations" as requested, it earned us an extra pic :-).

 This is the front view of the museum for fallen soldiers. The picture doesn't do it justice.

View from the top of the museum. Yes, I walked up the stairs all the way to the top. I was OUT OF BREATHE!!!

Inside the basilica at the back of the museum.

Yeah...that's gold you see there around the church.

And that's gold threading around the pillars.

Finally on our way back to the hotel. This was a fake Colosseum. Or perhaps the prototype? Not sure at all.

I will share pictures from Florence sometime this weekend!

That's it from Rome...Arrivederci!

Italy - Part 2 of 3...Rome!

Why do the weekends go by so fast? Even though I telework on Mondays, I feel like I need an extra day to recover from the weekend. The sad part is that I didn't really do much at all.

But enough of that...Here are some more pictures from our time in Rome. And yes, more pictures of J & Albie.

On our way to the Vatican.

Yes...I have a thing for the signs. I just love how easy it was to find places without it feeling like I was on a scavenger hunt!

Inside the Vatican museum.

I thought this was quite interesting. I think its a god of fertility or something. That's A LOT of eggs!

This picture doesn't do it justice. The art was just magnificent!

How many of you saw Mission Impossible? This is a view of one of the scenes where Tom Cruise went into the Vatican. I believe a scene from the DaVinci Code with Tom Hanks was also filmed here as well.

Can't remember what this building is called.

In front of the museum. It was a little cloudy but that lasted for like half an hour and then the sun came out again.

OK...I know this isn't entirely true BUT I told J that this is the bust of a black roman. He thought it was funny :-).

I had to take a picture next to my kin-folk :-).

When in Rome?...Since the Vatican is considered its only country, we just HAD to mail something from there so that we can say we visited 2 Countries :-).

While waiting to get into St. Peter's Basilica, this family just cut in front of us. And to make matters worse, they kept looking back at us to see if we would say something. How rude!

St. Peter's Basilica!

This post wouldn't be complete without ANOTHER picture of Albie and J! This pic was taken from the front of the Basilica.

Inside the Basilica. J said Albie was feeling ignored by me so I was forced to take a picture with him. I don't think Albie likes me :-).

"Upon this rock I will build my church". If you remember that line from the Bible and also from the movie The DaVinci Code, you'll know the reference here. The bones of St. Peter are supposedly here.

Yes...even Albie wanted to find out why everyone was looking down.

J touching the feet of St. Peter. The Basilica was just so amazing, I couldn't capture it all.

Outside St. Peter's Basilica. Next to the Rotunda. There was a little bi-racial girl there who kept calling me "mommy." Freaked me out a bit. I just smiled at her and her mom apologized saying she calls every black woman mommy since her mom is black.

Had to take a picture of yet another couple who had just gotten married. I will post more pics from our visit to the Colosseum. There was A TON of couples there. This couple were on the Spanish steps. We went back there on day 2.

Santa Maria Maggeiori. We went there late so we couldn't get inside. I needed my daily nap afterall :-).

Until next time. Arrivederci!