Third Time Around: Third Trimester Update & Gender Prediction

So I can't seem to sit down and get any posts typed out.  Perhaps because typing over my big belly is becoming uncomfortable, or possibly because every time I sit down the baby gets really active rolling around making crazy movements.  And I get a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions whenever I sit down and relax.  So it's not exactly relaxing.

Maybe I'm just not really ready to face the birth of this child.  As excited as I am to meet this one, I'm not really ready for to have my third c-section.  Or recover from it.  With two boys and a house full of stairs.  And I know as soon as this one comes life is going to speed up as summer disappears and school starts for the boys.  And if this ends up being my last pregnancy, I'm not really ready for it to end.  Though, at the same time, I'm anxious to have my body back and be able to get around easily again.  I'm basically full of contradictory feelings.  But, with at most 19 days left of this pregnancy, here's where we are at:

Differences:  Everyone asks if this baby feels any different, trying to help them guess if it's a boy or girl.  I feel pretty much the same, with a few differences.  I'm not noticing nearly as much swelling this time, I could probably even keep my rings on most days.  I've got barely any heartburn, while I had a lot for Theo, and a little for Eli (making me a firm believer in the "hair" wives' tail).  I have felt like my joints and muscles aren't doing as well this time, I feel like I pull a different muscle every time I get up.  Blaming this on age I guess, since I was in better shape when I got pregnant this time.  I've gained a bit more than I did with the boys, but I also started at a lot less weight too.

Food:  I still NEED something sugary every day, but I'm definitely wanting to eat lots of small meals throughout the day rather than large ones, as I'm out of room in there.  I'd eat a baked potato with sour cream every day if I could.  And bread.  I'm craving fresher foods now too though, strawberries and corn-on-the-cob and tomatoes and salads, rather than all the fried stuff I really wanted last trimester.  It's helpful that all the summer produce is cheap and tempting right now. 

Big Brothers:  The boys are starting to count down to this baby.  They love to say good-morning and good-night to it each day.  Elijah spends a lot of time cuddling up "skin-to-skin" with my belly and even Theodore has been patient enough to feel all the kicks now that they are so obvious.  Theodore has picked "Rhino-charge" for the middle name.  Which, is the only option we have right now for boys.  I just can't focus on thinking of a boy name, though I've got a couple girl names in mind (mostly family names).  Not knowing the gender is really making it easy to procrastinate on this whole name thing.

Speaking of which:  I thought it would be fun to list out some of the wives' tales gender prediction methods and see where we are at.

Morning Sickness:  BOY

Cravings:  GIRL

Chinese Calendar:  BOY

Baby's Heartbeat:  BOY

Daddy's Weight:  BOY

Sleeping Side:  GIRL

Carrying:  GIRL

And, here are my weekly photos.  27 Weeks to 37!

And based on the predictions, feel free to send me some boy name ideas, we just may take them!  Theodore and Elijah are both "three syllable names with two syllable nicknames that do not change the spelling at all," but that's not a hard and fast rule I want for all my kids.  Just happened to work with the first two.