34 weeks - 3 weeks until full-term, 6 weeks to go!

How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

How your life's changing: By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable. Now's the time to slow down and save up your energy for labor day (and beyond). If you've been sitting or lying down for a long time, don't jump up too quickly. Blood can pool in your feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in your blood pressure when you get up that can make you feel dizzy.

If you notice itchy red bumps or welts on your belly and possibly your thighs and buttocks as well, you may have a condition called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP for short). Up to one percent of pregnant women develop PUPPP, which is harmless but can be quite uncomfortable. See your practitioner so she can make sure it's not a more serious problem, provide treatment to make you more comfortable, and refer you to a dermatologist if necessary. Also be sure to call her if you feel intense itchiness all over your body, even if you don't have a rash. It could signal a liver problem.

How I'm doing: I was just commenting to Scott the other day that I'm starting to feel as tired as I did at the beginning of this pregnancy. I'm tired in the mornings even when I feel like I got a good night's sleep. I feel pretty lucky in that I think I'm still sleeping pretty well. I think I sleep in one position (on my left side) all night long almost without changing positions so I wake up a little sore. But I feel lucky that I'm still sleeping mostly through the night. If I do wake up, I always have to go to the bathroom, but needing to go doesn't wake me up. It is getting harder and harder to get into the right position in bed and to change positions. Not too much longer to go though.

Pregnancy is 40 weeks long but babies are considered full-term at 37 weeks. So I only have three more weeks until I'm considered full-term and only 6 weeks until my due date. It's going to get here very fast. I'm officially considered "disabled" two weeks before my due date; although some people have been treating me like I'm disabled for much longer than that! So that means I can start my leave on or around April 15th. Tax day will be a happy occasion this year. I'm excited to get to that point so I can start putting my nesting to good use. Now when I'm home I'm too tired to nest; instead I just think about all the things I want to do. Only about a month left of work. Which is good because I'm hot all the time, I'm running out of clothes that are work-appropriate and still fit, and none of my shoes fit and are comfortable anymore (I had to buy two new pairs a week ago).