34 Weeks: Under Pressure

The fact that I have made it to 34 weeks does not seem quite as monumental as that fact that I only have 6 weeks left.  6 weeks!  I feel like I have just come to terms with the idea of being pregnant and now it is time to start coming to terms with the idea of no longer being pregnant and being a real live mother instead.   Sometimes I feel that is the way my life works.  I work so hard to become comfortable with a situation I am in, go through all the tears and prayers and craziness, and then bam!  I finally realize I've come to accept and be comfortable with where I am because I see it changing and start to freak out a little.  I will definitely be glad once our girl is here and I'm holding her in my arms instead of feeling her kicks and punches from the inside, but I think I'm going to miss this a little too.  I'm also starting to get a little nervous about the whole birthing thing, which I know is ridiculous because it is what my body was made to do, but I still can't help it.  I ordered my first birthing book from Barnes & Noble, which was sort of a mistake.  Literally every person they show giving birth is completely naked.  Seriously, this book has more boobs than a National Geographic tribal special.  So lesson learned:  do not buy birthing books without looking through them in the store first.  I still have not decided what kind of birth I want to have.  The more I think about it, the more conflicted I feel.  How am I supposed to make a decision about an experience I've never been through before?  I can't say if I will be able to handle the pain or not because I have never felt anything like it.  So my plan is to basically do what feels right in the moment and listen to my body.  Maybe that sounds crazy, but oh well!  Women did this thing with no plan for thousands of years.  Certainly I can do it now in a hospital surrounded by doctors and nurses.
The good news is that I've been so busy that I haven't really had much time to worry about it.  In the last week and a half, I've had maternity pictures taken, two baby showers, done some Christmas shopping, had jury duty, chaperoned a youth dance and begun organizing the nursery, which is now covered in presents once again.  Oh well!  I will catch up with my to do list eventually, I hope! I'm going to try and do individual posts about some of those things but who knows when.  Tonight we have the youth Christmas party, Thursday we are cleaning the church, Friday is the ward Christmas party and Saturday is Thompson Family Christmas!  Don't you just love the holidays?!
Health wise, I'm doing really well which is a blessing for sure.  Lydia Jane is a super squirmer these days and the other day I even felt her foot or hand!  It was so cool but also weird.  I have felt her movements for a couple of months and my belly is in constant motion from her some days but that was the first time I actually felt her.  The best thing was that Cory was able to feel it too.  His response was "There is definitely an alien in there!" ha! Also, I've started to feel a little cramped.  I guess it is about time.  I can't bend over without feeling like my lungs are being flattened so I've started asking Cory to do a lot more for me.  Luckily, he is super awesome about helping me!  This girl definitely loves her personal space.  I can't even rest my arms on my belly without getting a nudge like "Excuse me, but this space belongs to me!"  AND she has started getting hiccups which is so weird.  My stomach will give a little shake every few seconds for five minutes or so and I get so distracted by it.  I try and shake my belly to scare her, but as far as I can tell, that doesn't work. :)