35 Weeks: Strangers and the Belly.

So! It's the fiiiiiinal countdown!!! (I hope you imagined me singing that, all hugely pregnant, with like a hairbrush for a microphone or something.) We are now officially 4 weeks and 3 days from baby girl's due date--basically a MONTH away. Woo hoo!!!

I must be pretty ginormous, because strangers are starting to behave... well, strangely around me. In the past week and a half I have had:

• A stranger touch my belly and tell me I looked great (my first ever belly-touch-by-a-stranger in all three pregnancies!)
• An old-ish woman (60-something) at the grocery store offer to "explain" to me how to "keep that from happening again." Meaning pregnancy. Uh, yeah. Way to embarrass your generation, ma'am.
• An old man insist on unloading my grocery cart for me at checkout. So sweet!

I've honestly never had so much stranger-action before. I can't tell if its because I am really big or because I now have 2 kiddos to (literally) cart around with said overlarge stomach. Either way, I've got four weeks of this entertainment left before old ladies start reminding me to put socks on my infant again. :) (My babies do not keep their socks on, but no over 40 seems to understand.)

It is a pretty impressive bump, isn't it? There is just nowhere for her to go but straight out! Most of my maternity shirts can't hide it anymore, so I've started wearing dresses as tunics for the extra coverage. (Steve hugged me and laughed heartily when I told him this shirt used to be a dress.) And today it was cool enough to wear jeans! But I am wondering if my layered autumn attire added poundage to my weigh-in at the doctor's office today... I am getting perilously close to catching Steve, which I have never done before.

And speaking of the doctor's office, the visit today went great. More peeing in cups (I swear I have peed in more than 12--maybe I lost count somewhere), a Strep B test (ugh), and the first cervix check of the third trimester! (No dilation yet--which is good!) My blood pressure is good, and baby's growth is "on track" according to the doctor I saw today, though he could not reassure me as to exactly how large she might be, just that she is following her growth curve. He did say I "have a proven pelvis," which... Is not something I ever really want to talk about. Haha. Oh! And her head is down! Good job, baby!

We have a scan set up in two weeks to see baby girl again and check her size so we can finally discuss whether she can come naturally, or if we need to consider induction/c-section. It will be so nice to just know one way or another. I suspect that she is smaller than her brother was, mostly because I'm not in pain like I was carrying him! :)

Here are the stats:

Weeks pregnant (for visit): 35 wks 4 days

Pre-pregnancy weight: 113 lbs

Current weight: 147 lbs

Net weight gain: 34 lbs

Doctor visits: 12

Ultrasounds: 2

Cups peed in: 11

Blood draws: 4.5

Baby's heartrate: 165 bpm

Baby girl's produce size: Honeydew Melon (@ 35 weeks)