31 weeks... Weekly update

How many weeks today:  Today, I am 31 weeks +5 days.
Baby is the size of: FOUR navel oranges! We had an ultrasound at 31 weeks exactly, and Corbin's estimated weight is about 4 pounds 6 ounces, and he is a long baby, with no guess on his length. Only a couple of short months until we find out! :-)
Total weight gain/loss: I gained a few pounds after our trip up north, but I am back down a little... I think. I might be about +12-15 pounds total?
Maternity clothes: Still in love with them, still embracing my big baby bump.
Cravings: Sweets this last week. I want chocolate and ice cream. And I got it. Aversions: Still not enjoying brushing my teeth. My stomach seems so squished and in the wrong spot, so my appetite is not AS great as it used to be, but nothing grosses me out.
Mood: Super happy and excited for February, as always. I feel very much at peace with the way our lives are going. I know this is going to sound awful and probably sound like I am bragging or think very highly of myself, but here goes. Yep, I'm going to write it anyway: I feel super lucky! WE are lucky. We are so loved and so fortunate for everything that has happened so far, and so so so lucky and loved by the people in our lives. I can't stress enough how EASY this pregnancy has been, how healthy it has been, how afraid we were before each milestone (and still are for his birth), how great it is that we are both employed with good benefits, how nice it is to get in to one of the best OBGYNs in the area and after that, how great it is that Corbin is in the system for the top pediatrician. How LOVED we feel when my family or Conner's family talk about "when Corbin comes", or buy him an outfit or baby gift. How great it feels to hear people talk about life with a baby.... a wedding next year, but with a baby there. A trip to Vegas, but bringing the baby. Corbin getting to know his cousins via Skype accounts. Baby shower plans, gifts being purchased for a little boy that we don't even know yet.... it's amazing! Feeling so much safer and confident driving a big Astro van instead of my Focus, knowing that the car has been taken care of and will be reliable for us as a family and have plenty of room for baby gear. We are lucky. We are surrounded by so much love, and I love it.
Physical symptoms: 31 weeks, just like 29 and 30 weeks, is still rough. Still easy enough, still healthy, but holy cow is this kid getting big! The pressure in all of those wonderful "lower parts" is insane sometimes. I'll just come out and say it. My hoo-hoo hurts. My hips hurt, my lower back hurts sometimes, my sciatic nerve sometimes hurts, my cervix hurts, the front low-end of my uterus feels heavy and painful sometimes. I say "sometimes" because it is rare that all of these are hurting at the same time. Up high, Corbin has learned to stretch out..... it's almost cute, because he doesn't KICK.... he just extends a leg, nestles it into my rib cage, and then I feel a slight burn. Like heartburn or something, or....I dunno... it just burns a little right at the bottom of my rib cage. If I rub it downward, he usually curls back up and gets his giant feet out of there. The only time this is NOT cute is when I'm asleep... I lay flat, and almost always end up on my back, and I have woken up many times gasping for air. I shoot out of bed gasping for air. GASPING. When Corbin stretches out, I get this claustrophobic feeling that I am suffocating. Other symptoms have seemed to disappear.... no major issues, just symptoms related to carrying the weight of our child. :-) Oh yes, and I have to pee every hour, it seems like. Maybe every two hours is more accurate. Depending on Corbin's position, sometimes I don't even know if I have to pee or do something more. Too much info? Hey, it's pregnancy.
Miss anything: I miss sleeping through the night.
Showing yet: Oh yes.
Labor signs: Pressure, cramping... nothing alarming yet. All pretty normal.
Baby movement: He had about a week of minimal movement, just tiny wiggles from what I am assuming are his hands down low, and now he is quite the mover again. In the middle, we get to see all kinds of crazy limbs poking out... most likely his knees. They feel like knees, and a little booty. I can almost tell how he is laying at any given time. He responds when I push on my belly, and he is VERY active when I lay down. I'm thinking of getting it on video in the near future.
Wedding rings on or off: No swelling here... at least not yet. Rings are on, and they spin a little.
Items purchased for baby this week: I was at Home Goods, and on one of their display tables were a bunch of gift baskets, all Christmas themed, and right in the middle were a few ROBOT cookie jars, that were packaged with jelly beans in them. How perfect.... we are working on a robot-themed nursery, and Corbin's dad happens to LOVE jelly beans.
How is Daddy doing: He gets a little freaked out by my belly movements now, and that cracks me up. It freaks both of us out, actually.... but it's still awesome and fun for us. Daddy has been sick this last week, and then I caught the cold, but we are both on the mend, and we are both looking forward to a quick-but-fun Christmas and New Year, and then a short countdown until Corbin arrives. Every week, it's as though Conner gets a little bit more into the idea of "holy cow, I'm going to be a dad!" He comes home from work telling me about a guy at work who was talking to him about how great it is to be a father. He gets so excited after a long weekend with our nephews and how happy he is to be adding to the brood.. it's mind-blowing to see old pictures of the boys and how much they have grown up and how much fun they are to play with, converse with.... Conner is stoked!
Favorite moment this week: For 31 weeks, I will say my favorite time was the entire time we were in Washington. It was so so so much fun and we did a lot, and it was a little exhausting, but I wouldn't change any of that. We saw so many loved ones and the next time we will be up there, we will be taking our baby boy.... what a trip!
Looking forward to: Christmas.... New Year's Eve.....counting down the weeks!