Tuesday, April 9, 2013

28 weeks - Well hello, third trimester!

I cannot BELIEVE we've hit the third trimester mark, and Paul's and my "big" milestone, without incident. OMG. I have to make today's post quick, because, as I will reveal below, some of my second trimester head-fogginess has caught up to me, and um, I'm behind in some important stuff!

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How Far Along: 28 weeks today. E2 should be about 2 1/4  pounds (the heft of a Chinese cabbage), and 14.8 inches crown to heel, or the length of an eggplant.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm frankly unsure. According to my OB's office yesterday, I had lost 2 pounds in the previous two weeks, which would put me at a net of 20 pounds for the pregnancy so far. Dr. M. was actually happy about that. But when I weighed myself this morning (because I forgot to yesterday), my scale indicates I've GAINED another pound, which would put me at 23 pounds so far. I'll be weighed again at Dr. C.'s office on Thursday for my MFM appointment, so we'll see what that one says. :)

Maternity Clothes: Yep.

Movement: This was a slightly quieter week. I think E2 must be growing a lot. There were a few times when my belly got lopsided, and today I think he was shoving his butt out around my belly button (I know he was head down because I could feel his hiccups down near my girly bits). Those types of movements give me Braxton Hicks-like sensations, which always freaks me out a little bit.

Sleep: Not good this past week. The dog, my darling Foxhoud, Honey, has been waking me up 2-3 times per night lately. I have no idea why. She's never done this before. One night she had to pee, and then 15 minutes later wanted out to poop. A couple of times she's wanted out to sleep in the living room (she probably does need a new doggy bed in our room as it's old, but still...I can't let her out without getting up to put the cat food up because she'll hoover that down before she goes back to sleep). Last night she whined, stretched and shook (making her collar tags jangle together), and then scratched her nails on our door to go out (her latest trick). I got up, opened the door, headed down the hall in the dark, got to the sliding door at the other end of the house, and she wasn't freaking there. I turned lights on during my backtracking...not in the living room, not in the kitchen. Oh, for God's sake, she was on her own damned doggy bed in our room! She'd gotten up, asked to go out, and then laid back down while she watched my pregnant ass lumber down the hall, half asleep! SO not ok. I got her up and made her go outside, where she did pee. Dummy.

Gender: A baby brother for Aliya and Bennett.

Symptoms: Stuffy nose (allergies and lingering cold don't help), aches and pains in my pelvis and lower back, occasional nausea (like today...not a fan!), feeling like the skin on my stomach is going to split wide open (despite twice-daily applications of Palmer's Cocoa Butter), a belly of ever-changing shape. Exhaustion.

Cravings: None.

Belly Button In or Out: Still mostly in, but starting to turn inside out at the top. That would explain the few days of sharp pains around my belly button during the last week!

Freak-out of the Week: None. Too tired to freak out.

Looking Forward To: Our growth scan on Thursday (I can't wait to see E2 again - it's been 8 weeks! - and to see how big he is now), and then our next milestone, 32 weeks (Dr. M.'s minimum goal for us).

Next Appointment: Thursday, April 11th for the growth scan and MFM follow up.

Miscellaneous: This week's OB appointment was good. Baby's heart rate was 155 (he was moving), my cervix is still long and closed (and a bit longer than last time at 4.5 cm), and my fundal height was back to normal (exactly 27 cm, or 27 weeks). However...my BP crept up a bit (130/78). Sierra, Dr. M.'s medical assistant, blamed it on the fact that she'd just made me chug the cupful of nasty tropical punch-flavored glucose stuff for my glucose challenge test (no test results back yet, fingers crossed I pass!). Still, Dr. M. wants me to check with Dr. C. about possibly seeing Dr. E., UW's prenatal hypertension expert. He's the one I didn't want to see during our IVF cycle...but now enough time has passed that if I need to, I will. Dr. C. thought my blood pressure could become an issue in the third trimester, and if it's going to, it's probably best to treat it rather than watching and waiting, hoping it doesn't impact E2's growth or the health of either of us.

While I mentally chew on all that (!), it's coming to my (cobwebby) attention that my fuzzy brained, second trimester self overlooked a few things. I hold a position in a non-profit organization and am responsible for sending out annual dues notifications. I just mailed out the final reminders over the weekend...and started getting, "Hey, I already paid!" e-mails and voicemails. Well, shit. Sure enough. I record-keep in two different areas, and while I mostly did well keeping track, there's clearly a couple of weeks in there where, well, not so much. So, hasty replies ensued, apologizies all over, self-doubting whether I can be effective as a new mommy, let alone a fatigued pregnant woman. Ack. And then there are our taxes. We use a CPA company because our farm taxes are very complicated and stress me out. For some reason, I could not pull myself together. Most everything was ready to go except for a couple of things (like mileage records) I needed to compile and print...and where did the time go? It dawned on me that April 15th is like, Monday, and that's the deadline for the IRS...not the deadline for the CPA! ACK! Having never filed an extension before, I was also surprised to learn (when I thankfully called the CPA today) that requesting an extension involves more than just mailing in a form! So, I am now off to finish those last details so I can dump everything off with the accountants tomorrow, in hopes that they can do enough of a cursory review to submit an extension by Monday. Yikes, man. This pregnancy brain + fatigue thing is no joke. Now I'm wondering where else I've messed up!


The belly at 28 weeks. E2 feels low today.

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful belly! I feel like you just went from 16-28 weeks pregnant in a blink! :) Yay!

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  2. Looking good. Damn dog, oh but so lovable!

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  3. You look so great. Man, your comment about your tummy feeling lopsided brought back such vivid memories for me. I can totally emphathize with the dog situation (except I would roll over and poke the husband until HE got up... unless I was getting up to pee anyway). Pregnancy brain is no joke, but you're doing fine. Your body and brain are just focusing on the priority: growing this baby.

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  4. Yay! I am so glad you made it to this huge milestone. I know 28 weeks was such a huge relief to me. It made me lighter and more excited to know my baby would have a good shot from here out. Oh how I miss my belly. Cherish it while you can.

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  5. You're looking fab! I sure am excited you're progressing so well. Fingers crossed in that BP and glucose reading.

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  6. I feel like your pregnancy is flying! You look great! Yay, for 28 weeks the big third trimester!!!!!

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  7. 28 weeks is a big damn deal my friend! I'm so happy for this milestone. I feel like things have been flying, but I know it's day by day. E2 makes for a good lookin' bump! Xxxooo

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