Pregnancy: 34 weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain: 14 kgs (30.86lbs) but I did weigh myself at night rather then first thing in the morning before I've eaten or had anything to drink....
Baby size (head to butt): 30cm (11.81in)
Baby size (head to foot): 45cm (17.71in)
Baby weight: 2.1kgs (4.6lbs)

34 weeks. Wow, not long now! Good thing too because I just keep getting bigger! I can't believe I have gained 30 pounds! If I sit too long, my back starts to ache, if I stand or walk for more then about 2 minutes, my feet swell. If I lie down (on my side of course, wouldn't want to cut off blood flow to Mushi) too long, my hips hurt. Lucky for me, my couch seems to be quite comfortable for long term sitting (with me sideways, taking up the entire couch, with my legs extended). Some chairs/benches/couches make me ache in 1 minute flat. The very worst culprit: the pews at church. Luckily we only have 6 more weeks until I can be comfortable in the pews once again. After lunchtime, I will have reflux for the rest of the day and half the night as well. I suppose this is not surprising considering that my stomach is now smushed way up, and I'm pretty sure is sitting nearly level with my boobs. It doesn't seem to hold much anymore either, and I can never finish my dinner. When you look at this depiction of a 34 week baby, you can understand why:
Ok, that little copy and paste thing didn't seem to work... I'll put it on the side with all the other photos. Sometimes cheeky little Mushi likes to kick me in the actual stomach, which really doesn't bode well in the reflux department.

I think when Mushi gets older, he/she will really like to play games with us. Already, Mushi plays games with Daddy while Mommy is sleeping at night. Aaron told me that when he comes to bed, he puts his hand on my belly and then Mushi will kick him and have a good old time for ages. How I can sleep through all of this, I'm not sure, but do. Mushi also likes to play the "poke my limb" game. He sticks out a limb (not sure which one, it's really hard to tell!) so we can feel it from the outside, then we push it, he takes it away, and then returns it in another spot where we poke it again (and repeat). Sometimes I think it's an elbow, sometimes a foot, but as I said, really hard to tell!

plate. Anyone who knows me well will be quite shocked/flabbergasted/amazed at something I did this week. I, Sheri Thomson, tried beef. That's right, you read that correctly. It's very hard to argue with Aaron's logic. He said to me "aren't roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes some of your favourite foods?" Why yes, they are, I really like them (we had them this week, prompting this little discussion). "And you used to always say you hated them until you tried them a couple of years ago." Uh oh, I see where this is going.... "So if you thought you hated potatoes and sweet potatoes because you didn't like them when you were little, then you tried them and loved them, then maybe you will like beef if you try it." Slam dunk, how can I disagree with that?? We made an agreement that next time we went to Bento-ya (a good excuse to go there really), he would get the teriyaki beef and me the chicken (because that is what I get every time we go there because I have never tasted such good teriyaki in all of my life), and I will try some of the beef. Nervousness rising.... Also, in exchange for trying the beef, Aaron would buy me some gelato (mmm...). The day in question came all too soon and I found myself with a bit of beef staring at me from between my chopsticks. "Keep an open mind," Aaron said "you're not going to like it if you convince yourself you won't before you try it." Ok, open mind. He decided to mark this fateful day with a photo of me about to eat the beef. Ok, just go for it (I know these thoughts should be in italics, but you know what? I just can't be bothered). I put scary beef in my mouth and started chewing. That's right, I didn't just swallow it, I actually chewed it (not like when I started eating peas...put some in, swallow whole, wash down with water, repeat). At first, I was pleasantly surprised. I quickly realised though, that the pleasant surprise was just the teriyaki sauce coating the beef. Once I got past that, I really didn't like the beef. I did swallow though, so that in itself is an accomplishment. Now we know I definitely do not like beef. Not because I tried it when I was like 2 and didn't like it then, but because I actually tried it in adulthood. It's been about 24 years since I last tried beef, and sorry beef, I still don't like you. You can moo on someone elsesGelato, here I come!!!!!!!!!!

Disturbingly, I saw what Aaron would look like pregnant this week. The men were encouraged to try on the "sympathy belly" at our antenatal class. I asked the teacher how much the belly weighs, and she said it would be fairly heavy as it represents a nearly full term baby. We were all curious after that, so she went off to find the exact amount in the brochure or manual. "8 kilos," she said. We all laughed. That is a lot less then any one of us has gained. Later they showed us a video of babies bonding with their parents. Even when they are newborns, they will look into your eyes for a couple of minutes. It was so cute! I keep finding myself getting cluckier by the day. I suppose it's all the hormones.

we went again (after Aaron picked me up in We have decided that we need to either get rid of the computer, or tv to make room for a small home gym to keep us fit and healthy. First we thought maybe we would get rid of the tv, get a tv tuner card for the computer, and get rid of the tv and stand (or keep both, but get a small computer desk to put in our room). Off to IKEA we went. We looked at some computer desks, but then realised that we probably should have measured the proposed desk area before purchasing. After navigating the maze filled to the brim with crazy shoppers that is IKEA, we went home. Next we decided that we would get a big tv with the same resolution as Aaron's monitor so he can still play games on it by plugging it into his computer, but we can still use it as a tv. Off to IKEAParramatta as I had a girlie night with The Jess and Romana. It took us about 20 minutes to find each other in Parramatta. Would have been easier except the Church Street mall cuts Church street in two and I was confused as to which side Aaron and the car were on...). We picked out a nice compact tv stand that would leave lots of room for our future exercise bike and weights, as well as a little dresser for Mushi. Completing the maze once more, we finally found ourselves at the self service pick up point (for those of you who have not yet ventured to IKEA, you find what you want from the displays, write down the aisle and row number, then go to the giant warehouse and pick out the boxes yourself). First up, new tv unit. Out of stock. That's ok, let's get Mushi's dresser. Out of stock. We must have good taste. Another fruitless trip to IKEA. Lucky though, Aaron got the new big tv later that day and I don't think it would have fit on the stand we chose. Apparently we didn't learn our lesson about measuring from our first trip. We did at least get a very cheap breakfast, mine was $2.00 and Aaron's $2.50. I think maybe the eggs were made from powder, but I suppose that is to be expected for such a cheap meal.

Later that day, I went to Equip, a Christian women's convention/conference at Darling Harbour. I have never seen so many women in my entire life. I went to the elective on Hospitality, which I found quite good. After, they had an afternoon tea, but no food. Mel, Katherine and I decided we were quite hungry, so, tea mugs in hand, 10 minutes until the main talk, name badges on, we set out to the shopping centre food court. We found a Macca's (McDonald's for you non aussies), and finally, we could satisfy our tummies. I'm sure people thought we were quite strange walking around the shopping centre with non disposable tea mugs. The talk started with, well, I'm not quite sure what you call it really, maybe dramatic reading? There was someone reading for each character in the book of Esther. There was also a narrator, who I think, should have a career in movie trailer voice overs. He was just that good. The talk was very good also. The only problem was I couldn't get comfortable. Even though the chairs were nice and cushy, no matter how I sat, some part of me would be very uncomfortable, usually my back. I'm just getting too big and awkward I think! I suppose traipsing around Parramatta as well as IKEA earlier that day didn't help things. I'm still not sure why, but as we were coming out of the conference, there were fireworks going off in the harbour. Some from stationary platforms (or something) out in the water, and others off the back of 2 jetskis. It wasn't a holiday or anything, but we were complaining, everyone loves fireworks! We ate dinner at Wagamama, where, of course, I got the teriyaki. Not as good as Bento-ya though. As I said no one beats the teriyaki at Bento-ya. Embarrassingly, my nose decided it was a good time to start dripping blood. At least we had all finished our meals by that time. Nothing to see her folks, just pregnant woman nose bleed! By the time I got home, I think my legs were about to fall off. For the first time, the feet swelling went past my feet, and all the way up to my knees. I think I walked around way too much that day.

Tomorrow I have my last ultrasound to see if my placenta has nicely moved itself up. I hope so, otherwise I will need a scheduled Cesarean! I am looking forward to seeing Mushi again though. Hopefully they won't accidentally tell me Mushi's sex. I'll have to tell them when I first arrive that we don't want to know.