28 Weeks...Later

My oh my! As of week 28, we hit the third trimester mark! We are now in the home stretch! Yay! I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has flown by! When you hear that you have to grow this little baby for 9 whole months, it sounds like forever, but in reality, the time feels so short in comparison to all the work and preparation you have to do before your little one arrives.

Our week began with me having to go for my glucose tolerance test which checks to see if I'm likely to have gestational diabetes which happens to many pregnant women. I had totally forgotten about this test until I looked at my calendar and saw an upcoming prenatal checkup with my doctor. I then recalled that at this checkup we were to discuss the outcome of my glucose test...oops! I frantically called my doctor's nurse informing her of my "little" mistake and she told me she'd fax my paperwork to the clinic and for me to go and do the test the next morning. Now, this test isn't your everyday-blood-work kind of test. This test involved me drinking (quickly, I might add) a liquid loaded with sugar and then sitting in the waiting room for an hour as the sugar coursed through my veins. After the hour is over, you then go and have some blood taken to see how your system handled the sugar overload. Well, I am not usually a sugar person as I've said before...especially not at 9 in the morning. To make me drink a whole bottle of liquid that tasted like a combination of very fizzy orange pop and the old McDonald's orange drink in under 5 minutes is just cruel! I quickly became this gassy, dizzy and nauseated woman who couldn't focus on the small text in her book she had smartly remembered to bring for the long wait. Now Muppet on the other hand was doing cartwheels and jumping jacks because of the sugar rush. I swear, that baby is growing some very sweet milk teeth. I still haven't heard the results, but I hope I did okay, because if I failed, I have to do the next test which is 3 hours long... Boo!

The next day I went for my prenatal with my family doctor. I was feeling pretty good about going until the nurse asked me to step on the scale. I just about fell off when I saw how much I weighed! "Impossible!" I exclaimed. I had not been eating that much more than usual! Now, I knew my tummy had gotten pretty big as even pulling on my socks in the morning was a bit of a obstacle, but this was crazy! When my doctor saw my weight, she asked if I have noticed any swelling, but I'm a bit of a round girl, so I don't usually notice anything like that, so I said no. Later on, she decided to check my ankles and to my amazement, they were indeed quite swollen! She asked me to take off my rings and when I tried, they remained stuck to my fingers. I was super bloated!

Apparently, I am retaining fluid which is why I gained so much weight. That made me feel a little better...but now I feel like the Marshmallow Man. Another thing I need to watch is my iron intake, as I'm getting a little anemic which is common in the third trimester. It's a good thing I love Shreddies! (I prefer the square to the diamond shaped ones personally). ;) Oh, and for those keeping track, the baby's heart rate was 140.

The next day I got to go to another prenatal, but this time it was with my obstetrician at the hospital! We were very nervous to meet her, as I was scared our personalities would clash, but she quickly set that fear aside with her hilarious sarcasm and sassy attitude. She yawned at how boring I was (no history of broken bones or surgeries) and awarded me the DN Award- Disgustingly Normal Award. We also met a medical student who talked to us about my medical history and then did a little exam to see how bad my edema (swelling) was and to check out the position of the baby. Muppet is currently in the vertex position (head down, bum up) and is hanging on on the right side. It's fun to know where it is exactly now so we can comfort it with back rubs when it's tired and little pats on the butt when it's acting up. ;) Apparently it's also low which is why I've been getting so much pressure and pain in places I shall not name. I hope it doesn't think it's coming out early! At this appointment we got our birth plan to fill out (which I am so excited to go through with Chris) and Muppet's heart rate was 153. 

At 28 weeks, Muppet is the size of a chinese cabbage! Aw, I have my own little Cabbage Patch Baby! Maybe it will have my nose and look like a Cabbage Patch doll all it's life too! ;) Muppet is always busy do stretches and jabs (usually around my belly button) which have become quite intense at times. There are moments it can take my breath away as those little punches can really take you by surprise! I started using an app on my iPhone to record kicks and movement and that has been quite fun. I am supposed to do it in the morning and at night and get at least 10 movements in 2 hours. Well, Muppet often does 10 in the matter of seconds. Using the kick counter, I have also been able to record Muppet's hiccups which are happening quite frequently and are usually spaced 2 seconds apart from each other. They tickle too! :)

 I am really feeling the weight of the baby now and have started noticing how difficult it is to even do the simplest tasks, like getting out of bed or picking up something I dropped on the floor. Even sitting on my bed to do my makeup is a pain because I can't slouch over as there is this big "bump" in the way! :) I have also noticed that I am becoming tired really easily these days and sometimes have a difficult time breathing. The other day while I was sorting laundry, I became really dizzy and nauseated and felt I couldn't breathe. I began to gag which Chris heard upstairs. He started yelling my name, but I couldn't hear him or respond so when he finally found me, he was a little upset because he had been so concerned. I was alright of course, I think I just overexerted myself and maybe had a bit of an anxiety attack or something. I'm having a hard time remembering to rest, but like my doctor said, "If you are sitting, you might as well be lying down". I need to slow down and take it easy...but just try telling that to my brain! All it wants to do is clean, make food to freeze, work on the nursery and shop for baby things! How does one rest when the mind wants to nest?

I thought I'd add this bonus picture of Chris and Neko using my new Peanut Shell baby sling which is in the pattern 'Time For Tea'. Neko loves it to pieces and falls asleep in it while you carry her around the house. I think the baby likes it too because Neko purrs while she sleeps, which I imagine is very soothing to Muppet. :)




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