She Reads In The Dark

27 and (bonus!) 28 weeks!

14 Aug 2011 3 Comments

by jhking in Uncategorized Tags: 2nd trimester, 3rd trimester, Family Fun, Me, pregnancy, Working Out

Since I was out of town last week when I would normally post the weekly update, you get both weeks 27 and 28 rolled into one this time.  You’re welcome.

Here we go!

What’s going on this week (27):

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She’s sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby’s brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don’t bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

What’s going on this week (28):

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She’s also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

My Update:

Due Date: November 4, 2011 – as of today, 82 days to go!  (Wow. That sounds…short.)  Also, we’ve now entered the 3rd trimester!

Weight Gain: +15 lbs from pre-preg weight.

Symptoms:  My belly really has made some impressive leaps and bounds in the last few weeks.  It shocks me when I catch a side glimpse of myself in the mirror…but I still love the way I look!  With the bigger size, comes a more noticeable ‘waddle,’ as they call it.  My feet are turning out as I walk and my goodness, it just feels so much better that way!

Cravings/Aversions:  Lisa and Meredith were right – the ice chewing/crunching is seriously addictive.  That’s what I want all the time.  A cold drink with crushed ice for constant chewing.  I know it’s bad for my teeth, and outside of pregnancy I don’t usually do it, so I’m not beating myself up for it for these few months, when it makes me so happy right now!

Sleep:  Not bad…I’m waking up about 2 times a night to pee, on average, which is annoying, but I was expecting it, so it’s bearable.  Plus, I am really lucky to have the ability to fall right back asleep with almost no effort, so it doesn’t seem to disrupt me too much, overall.  However, the maneuvering from one side to the other in bed is getting to be more and more challenging as the belly gets bigger and bigger.  It involves some heavy breathing and usually a pause in the midst of all the shifting to sort of catch my breath, before settling back down.  That part I could do without, if we’re being completely honest.  And, seriously, I would really, really love to sleep on my stomach.  Sometimes in the middle of the night, while I’m doing my flopping around from right to left and back again, I glare at Scott for a minute, when he is peacefully sacked out flat on his stomach.

I am loving:  My last ‘baby-free’ trip to see my parents was great!  Mom and I did lots of shopping, and we all did lots of eating.  And even squeezed in a short beach day.  The flights were nice and easy, and I met another pregnant girl in the Houston airport during my layover and we walked and talked together for a bit.  All in all, a good success.

I miss:  Mom and Dad.  The beach.  Sleeping on my stomach.  I think that about covers it.

Movement:  Excellent!  The trip to Jacksonville seemed to be the trigger time for more constant and active movement.  He seems to go to town with the kicking  the most when I lay down in bed at night, or when Scott and I settle in to watch a movie or TV.

Nursery progress:  No change since the last update, what with me being out of town and all.  Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, I’ll get the nail holes in the walls spackled and covered and we can move on from there.

Exercise: Since I am home now when Scott gets home from work each day, we’ve gone out walking around the neighborhood some of the evenings, which I love…last night we went a bit farther than normal, and I think it might have been too much.  I took a couple of sit-down breaks during the walk when I felt like I needed too, but after we were back home my hips and back were aching, and it felt like a  little sciatica might have been kicking in.  I feel better today, if just a little tired, so I think it’s just a matter of getting used to how this extra weight feels on my body and keeping on exercising so I can build up my strength.

Looking forward to: Oddly enough, my GTT (glucose tolerance test) on Monday morning.  Most OB/GYNs have pregnant ladies come into the office, drink this super sugary glucose drink concoction and then wait for a hour and draw their blood to check for gestational diabetes.  My midwives, however, are the most awesome people ever, and they disagree with this method, as it can tend to give inaccurate results, and feel that a much more realistic testing method is to have me eat a big breakfast of (and she listed all this stuff specifically, so you’d better believe I was taking very careful notes since I am a rule-follower): pancakes (with syrup!), a glass of juice, eggs, potatoes of some sort, toast and a breakfast meat (sausage/bacon, etc).  Um…YES, PLEASE!  Then 2 hours from the time I finish eating, I have my appointment for them to draw my blood to see how my body handles all those sugars.  As you can well imagine, Scott was very put-off by the fact that he would just have to go in late to work that day in order to go out and have a huge breakfast with me.  It’s for my health!  And the baby’s heath!  For science! Pregnancy is hard on the dudes, I tell ya.  🙂

Belly Shot:

OK – two weeks worth of belly, just for you guys!

27 weeks

I don't know why I look so smug.

28 weeks