Its getting a little cramped in there!

I am now 33.5 weeks along in my pregnancy. I have started growing quite rapidly ... to the point where if someone doesn't see me for a few days they notice a difference in the size of my belly. While I have started growing rapidly, my weight gain has slowed down. I was gaining 2+ pounds a week for a little while --- I am assuming it was while James was going through his growth spurt --- but I am back to gaining just a pound or so per week. I believe my total weight gain is now around 26 pounds  :)   I will post a picture on Thursday.

So I don't know if James has just been more active lately or if I am just feeling it more because he is bigger and stronger. Watching my stomach move and be deformed at times can be a little freaky, but entertaining for sure. Though a lot of his movements are uncomfortable and sometimes painful where before they were barely noticeable or just a tickle. He spends a lot of time kicking or pushing against my ribs and also pushing on and punching my bladder. There is nothing like walking out of the bathroom only to feel like I need to go back in.

When he is at his most active, it seriously looks like he is trying to get out. If he continues to get stronger, I'm afraid he will push out through my skin just to get more space. Josh doesnt think that he will wait until April because my body will only allow for so much growing and James will get fed up of trying to fit in there. He will, after all, be full term in 2.5 weeks (36 weeks), so being born any time after that is fair game. And to be completely honest, I will be okay if he wants to come out a little before his due date because I am becoming tired of the continious discomfort (lower pelvis, ribs, upper back, lower back, hips etc etc etc). Our friend Heather thinks he will be here on March 17th because he is Irish after all, but our friend Shelly wants him to wait until his due date of April 16th because that's her birthday  :)   So we shall see.

If I had to pick a date, I would pick March 21st because that is my grandfather's birthday  <3   But as we know ... he will come out whenever he is ready to. I just really hope that it is on or before April 16th!

First little bump in the road (Part One).

And may I say, hopefully the only bump in the road! Yesterday was quite a day for me and baby, here is what happened:

I was driving back home from LAX after dropping Josh off for his Ebar days in Cabo San Lucas. Traffic was pretty awful on the 405 south. It was stop and go all the way ... mostly stop. I was just relaxing, listening to the radio and looking forward to getting home. About half way home, we had picked up speed a little bit but seeing red lights ahead of me I put my foot back on the break. I came to a full and complete stop behind the Toyota. I always glance in my rear view mirror to see that the person behind me has also slowed down and stopped, but that wasn't the case in this situation.

What I saw in my mirror was a little Honda coming up behind me at around 35-40mph and a lady sitting behind the wheel with a panicked look on her face. I braced myself. When she hit me it felt like everything went into slow motion. I stepped on the break extra hard as my head and shoulders rocked forward and the seat belt hugged me tight. But she hit me hard enough to move me a few feet into the car in front of me, rocking me back and forth for what felt like forever.

Once that part was over, all 3 of us pulled over to exchange information. The lady from the Honda behind me was very apologetic, admitting fault to the two of us. She said her flip flip got caught under the break peddle stopping her from breaking. Last time I heard, it's illegal to drive in flip flops for this exact reason. So she will be paying for damages on both cars.

We all then got back into our cars and moved on. I had planned to go home and just rest until work. But I found myself talking to the baby, telling him or her that it was going to be okay. I was feeling a little discomfort where the seat belt had hugged my hips (where the baby is), so I knew my day was far from over.