To Be 28 Weeks Pregnant

Welcome to the 3rd Trimester!

Wow, time is going by really fast. I can't believe I am 2/3 finished with my pregnancy. It seems like just yesterday I was keeping a secret from the world and had no belly to show for my pregnancy either. Fast forward, and here we are, 7 months pregnant. In just 2 1/2 short months, I will have a newborn and now be labled a "mother of 2".

This week was my last of monthly visits to the OB. I now go down to visits every 2 weeks. Things are really getting close. I have 2 full months of work left before I go into the final countdown mode. Scary. My big boss asked me when I was due, and I just said October. Of course, she then pried to be more specific, so I said "middle but I will probably go a little early as I did with Joshua". She then said, "Don't count on it. I was 2 weeks late with my second". Ugh. I have mentally checked myself out of work after October 1st, so I want everyone to know that. I don't want to say the "23rd" and then have work think that I will be there through most of October too. This has been an awful work year, and I just want it to be over and take a much needed break.

My 28 week OB appointment went well on Wednesday. I drank the glucose drink prior to arrival, and they took blood exactly one hour after I drank the juice. The juice tasted like fruit punch, and it didn't really taste that bad. (I remember drinking an orange flavored drink with Joshua for the test, and it didn't taste so good). They told me that the results would take about a week, and they would only call me if the results didn't come out good. I hate that. I would prefer to get a call either way. I had an ultrasound at this appointment too. The sonographer was a little surprised that I was having an ultrasound, but the doctor ordered it, and she said it would be fine. She was just a little worried as the reason for it and whether insurance would cover it. The baby's heartbeat was at 151 and sounded strong. When I got the ultrasound I was measuring 27 weeks and 1 day, and according to my due date, I was 27 weeks and 5 days. That is not really a big deal. When I got measured from the doctor with the tape measure, I measured 28 weeks. He said I was growing fine, and I am not going to have a huge baby. My husband and I are not huge, and it would make sense for us to have smaller babies. After all, Joshua was born at 6 lbs 1 oz and 19 inches and the average baby is 7 lbs 7oz and 21 inches. To me my belly looks big, but it also looks "compact" and I don't seem huge. I definitely have a big pregnant belly, but I am not carrying far out in front like a basketball, and coupled with my smaller size, it may give off a smaller appearance. I feel that I am carrying similar to how I carried with Joshua. If only I took better pregnancy pictures with him. The ones I took to show how far along I was at the time was not so flattering. This time, I started to take pictures wearing the same outfit at around 23 weeks to show the progression.

To Be 27 Weeks Pregnant

I am finally not too small for my maternity clothes.

My belly now fills out all of those maternity shirts with the ties in the back. (I remember thinking about that at 22 weeks and how those shirts were still pretty big on me. Not anymore.) I am fully into all of the maternity clothes and am looking bigger and bigger each week. They say that your belly grows a 1/2 inch each week. That just seems like a lot to me. If that is the case, I still have a lot of growing to do.

I have been having stomach pains on and off all week. It is more like pressure that doesn't go away and you kind of feel like you are full all the time. I called the doctor when I got off the train at the end of the day. (It was 4:45pm). The office closes at 5:00pm so I figured that I would be able to just talk to one of the doctors. The answering service picks up. Ugh, not what I was looking for. Although, it was 4:45pm and not 4:45am, so I guess they probably weren't that irritated. Someone calls me back (not a doctor) and tells me to go to the emergency room. Uh, not exactly what I had in mind. I was hoping for a quick phone conversation with one of the doctors who would tell me to take some Tums and rest for the remainder of the night. I guess the person who called me back was in the office, because the next thing I remember is one of the doctors from the practice on the phone with me. She, Dr. Tran, said that it is a GI issue and not a baby issue and I should take some Pepto Bismol, eat some bland food and monitor the feeling over the next few days. If it doesn't improve to set an appointment to come in. We had pizza planned for dinner that night. If I don't put the crushed red pepper on it, does that count as bland?

To Be 26 Weeks Pregnant

Big.

I finally look at my belly and notice a big belly. (Although, my cousin saw me on Sunday and said I was tiny). I definitely look bigger or smaller depending on what I am wearing.

I am also starting to get anxious to get this baby out of me. Keith's cousin had their baby about a week ago, and it made me anxious to want to finish up with the pregnancy as well. Since my belly looks big to me, it makes me feel that I am furthur along.

I am starting to feel Braxton Hicks contractions. They are really annoying. My upper abdomen tightens for about a minute and I feel pressure. Unfortunately, these contractions aren' going to go away. I should probably pay attention to them to make sure they aren't that frequent.

To Be 25 Weeks Pregnant

Different.



They say that every person's pregnancy experience is difference and no two pregnancies are alike. They say that pregnancies are diffrerent whether you are carrying a boy or girl. They even say that you will experience pregnancies differently for each pregnancy you go through. I was tying to think of that myself and figure out how this pregnancy is different than when I was pregnant with Joshua. I definitely think there are similarities, but there are differences as well. I wish I kept a blog or journal and could refer back to those, but unfortunately I only had about 3 entries into a journal. You would think that for the first pregnancy I would be better, but I wasn't. That is just like they say that you take a million pictures of your first baby and then when the second baby comes around you hardly take any. Hopefully, that isn't the case.

With Joshua I had no morning sickness. With this pregnancy, I did have morning sickness. I had elevated amniotic fluid with Joshua and so far as of my 20 week sonogram, the amniotic fluid level is normal. (Of course that could change). My fingers also swelled a lot earlier with Joshua's pregnancy than this pregnancy. That is not to say that my fingers won't swell, but by now with Joshua's pregnancy, I was growing out of my rings. With this pregnancy, my rings are still ok. I also didn't have many cravings with my last pregnancy. With this pregnancy, cravings come often. I also think I am more emotional with this pregnancy. I know I was a little bit emotional last time, but I feel it is much more extremem this time. (Should I admit that when I heard "Beat It" on the radio the day after Michael Jackson died, I cried. I wasn't even a huge MJ fan). With my last pregnancy, I broke out like a teenager. Can you say eww back acne? This time, pretty much clear.

To Be 24 Weeks Pregnant

It really took awhile for my belly to really take shape. For me to "grow". Now, I have the belly, and it is getting bigger every day. It is a real belly now and not just a small bump. I don't think I have the "is she?" or "isn't she?" look from strangers. I have the "when are you due"?

I had my 24 week appointment this week. Everything is looking good, my weight, the growth of the baby, etc... My next appointment is 28 weeks, and then the wind down begins. Wow, that was fast. I feel like it is flying by. The first trimester went so so slow. Now, I blink and am getting close to the 3rd trimester. Where did the time go? At my appointment, my doctor was even talking about the rest of the pregnancy and how things play out. So scary. I am ready for the end of the pregnancy. But, it is mainly because I need a work break.