Week 31: Big Brain Growth!

Week 31 brings some important growth: more growth with regards to the connections in little Baby G's brain! He's now able to use all 5 of his senses, including being able to track light and process information he hears from the outside of the womb. He's also having longer stretches of sleep (hopefully learning this technique quickly to help us after his birth!!) and I have noticed there are more defined patterns of his movement and his resting periods. In terms of his size, he is a little over 18 inches long and over 3 pounds, with a projected 3-5 more pounds to gain till his B-day (birth day :) ).

As for the mom-to-be, I'm noticing things getting a bit more cramped as far as room in the belly goes. When I work out I notice that there's less space to take real deep breaths but I will say I've been dedicated to working out regularly which has really helped me feel like my muscles are staying loose. The other not so fun symptom lately has been major leg cramps, though. For some reason they always strike in the middle of the night and cause stabbing pain in my calves and hamstrings. Poor Tom must think I'm being attacked since I wake up a little less than quiet from the pain!

I'm feeling both a mixture of great anticipation and excitement to meet our little guy and also a big amount of anxiety about not feeling ready yet. I can't wait to see if he has hair on his head, what his personality and temperament is like, and of course lots of cuddling to do. But I haven't packed my hospital bag, we have no diapers, we have no car seat, etc. So luckily nothing thus far has shown any indication that he's going to come early so that gives us plenty of time to "nest" and prepare for his arrival! I know it'll all get done but anyone who knows me knows that I love to prepare things WAY in advance, so I'm working on balancing that with reality.

Below you'll see the last 3 weeks belly pics. Thanks for following along with the blog everyone!