Clem in Time: 34 Weeks: P Terry's and Africa

Along: 34 weeks

Size of baby: Noah is the size of an average cantaloupe. He now weighs about 4.7lbs, and measures about 18 inches top to toe (which is a total gain of 0.5lbs and an entire inch in one week!) Noah’s hearing is now almost fully developed. He can hear all the laughter and noise I make (poor guy). Matt and I have decided that I need to learn how to tone down my voice. I have inherited this trait from both my mom and my dad. The Boysen’s (not Daniel-he’s good a voice monitoring-but Tammy, Jim, and I) have no concept of how loud we talk. Anyways, Noah’s lungs are now fully developed, meaning that if Noah were born today, he would have very few, if any, problems breathing for him/herself. This little nugget would now have a 98% chance of survival if born today. More exciting news- there are now just 42 days till our estimated due date!

Weight gain: 24 pounds! They told me to gain weight, and I did just that. I gained 5 pounds in three weeks. I may have gone a little overboard, but I’m sure it will even out. I have been working to gain weight- eating a lot. It really hasn’t’ been too tough of work. I just don’t say no to food. I think now I’m going to seek more of a balance.

Maternity Clothes: I wear maternity pants and a variety of type of tops. The poison ivy is mostly gone (PRAISE THE LORD), so I’m back to normal work pants! Wednesday was the last day of steroids and I only have a slight itch on two spots on my legs.

Gender: A little boy named Noah!

Movement: Yes. I went to the doctor today (Friday), she looked at me and said- wow, you have quite the active one. He is a crazy kid!

Sleep: It’s been great. Benadryl has still been something I take at nights if I feel the itch is going to be a problem, so I know that has helped. I didn’t take it last night and slept 8 hours. It was wonderful. Everywhere I go I have women tell me to sleep as much as possible now- I’ll never sleep again once he comes. I am going to try to do just that.

What I miss: I miss being able to bend over normally and reach my toes. I also miss not feeling full all the time- don’t’ worry, I’ve still been eating-hence the weight gain. I just always feel full!

Cravings: Chocolate milk- I could drink it by the gallon

Symptoms: Feeling full, peeing 29,000 times a day, leg cramps, the usual

Best Moment This Week: Matt and I took a date night to P Terry’s on Thursday. It was awesome. We talked about all of our memories from Africa and just had amazing fellowship. The food was wonderful and the company was even better. I highly recommend the burgers there- so fresh! Anyways, the most laughs came from reminiscing about Tyler and Ndola, the town where we helped out at a medical mission. All the kids thought Tyler looked like a professional wrestler named John Sena or something. They would wrestle him day in and day out. Tyler was exhausted by the end of our 4 day Ndola excursion (as were all the rest of us) and was ready to head back to Lusaka. All 16 of us on the trip got together and decided to convince Tyler he would have to wrestle with the kids an extra day- change of plans, we’d be in Ndola for 5 days. We would be headed back to the medical mission. This took art and mastery, and it was hilarious watching his reaction to the thought of having to get beat up (kids jumping, pulling, biting, hitting, tugging on him) once again. I think he finally figured out we were all lying to him as we were on the bus praying for our safety home to Lusaka. We held the joke on for about 3 or 4 hours as our “breakfast was ready.” It was a priceless moment and Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed reliving it on Thursday night! Hope y’all have a wonderful weekend. If you are in Austin, good luck surviving the ACL crowds!

We can't wait to go back someday and take Noah! :) Here is a small glimpse of what Matt and I were reflecting back on.