Prego Journal: Week 28

How far along:  28 weeks...Third Trimester!! 

How big is baby:  Head of Cauliflower.  Brain wave activity indicates sleep cycles and dreaming. He is almost 16 inches long! Coughing and breathing skills are being practiced in the womb.  His lungs have reached a critical point of maturity where if he was to be born early he'd have an excellent prognosis.  

Total weight gain: +13 on Monday morning (+2 pounds from last Friday...thank you Thanksgiving).   

Maternity clothes:  Oh my goodness!!!  My amazing mother in law (Nina) surprised me with some new maternity clothes.  I wore them all this week.  It's perfect timing too, because my sister in law went through much of her pregnancy during the summer so most of her clothes are for warmer weather.  Now I have some winter maternity clothes :)     

Sleep: Well, it's been a weird week for that since I haven't had work.  The typical pattern has been fall asleep on the couch, wake up to go to the bathroom, transfer to the bed, wake up at 6:30am-7am to go to the bathroom, try to go back to sleep, give up around 8am and get up.  Although one day I went back to bed around 9 and stayed there until 11.  It was nice. 

Best moment(s) of the week: 

Thanksgiving and spending time in Houston!

1) We got to see all of Jason's siblings and his dad and Kathie on Wednesday night for a delicious gumbo meal.  We also had a surprise visit from his cousin.

2) On Thursday we got to spend Thanksgiving with the Garcia's, Nina, his aunt and cousin (who is also one of my oldest friends from A&M).  It was great to see everyone! 

3) The Texans won!  I'm officially a Houston Texans fan...sorry Dallas. Jerry Jones has never been my cup of tea. 

4) The Aggies won! WHOOP!

5) The Fightin' Irish won!   

Food cravings: I've been craving veggies this week.  I could go for a nice salad.  I've given up on ever having one of those intense "I need this now" kind of cravings

Food aversions: well, sweets.  But also, one that I've forgotten to mention is milk.  I think I might have some kind of gestational lactose intolerance.  I realize that's not really a thing.  But lately milk has made me feel icky.  This makes my usual love for cereal difficult as almond milk is now too sweet for me.  I will greatly enjoy eating cereal again once these weird aversions go away. 

Symptoms: Back pain has been pretty bad this week. Temperature regulation has still been a little weird. I get cramps in m legs every now and then.  I make funny noises when I'm trying to stand up from low positions and I burp a lot.  I am so thirsty all the time. 

Movement:  He was a little jumping bean this week.  All sorts of big kicks, twists, and hiccups. Also, Nina got to feel him!!   

What I’m looking forward to:  I think I'm going to try and register this next weekend with my sister in law for baby gifts.  Also, I may try to convince her we should use the vet clinic's ultrasound machine to see the little man, because I miss his face.             

What I miss: Back to missing sushi.  

Next appt: Nov 26th. (Tuesday) I get to do my gestational diabetes test..woohoo?

Workout/Fitness: Walks with weights, one jog, my own version (what my pregnancy brain could bring to memory) of the Jackie workout video a few times 

Prego Journal Week 27

Look I'm a day earlier than usual on this one!  Technically I won't be finished with week 27 until tomorrow, but I've got some free time and want to make sure not to miss a week again.

How far along:  27 weeks

Not the normal "official" nursery pic, but it will do

How big is baby:  Cucumber. He is about 15 inches long from head to foot!  That's so big! If it's quiet and dad places his ear on my belly he may be able to hear the heartbeat (we have not tried this yet).  Taste buds are developed and the immune system is rapidly developing. 

Total weight gain: +11.4 lbs. I expect this number to jump significantly after Thanksgiving :) 

Maternity clothes:  I want new clothes. But I'll be patient and wait until after Baby A is here.    

Sleep: This week I was ready to go to bed by about 8:00 each night.  Jason has been so sweet and coming to bed early with me, which I really appreciate because I know he hasn't gotten to play his games in awhile. 

Best moment(s) of the week: 

I had a pretty good week at internship this week.  I'm a little bummed because just as I feel like I'm making a difference and building rapport with the clients I'm also having to start prepping for my leaving.  I guess that's the nature of internships.

I'm also looking forward to going to my friend's son's bday party tomorrow! 

Food cravings: Nothing in particular 

Food aversions: sah-wheats 

Symptoms: I think I may have become more impatient.  My belly has a sharp tightening every once in awhile if a turn funny and on Tuesday night it started doing a weird cramping thing, possibly braxton hicks, but I think it's a week or two early for that.  I'm very sensitive to temperatures.  I get hot easily and cold easily, there's simply no pleasing a pregnant woman.    

Movement:  He was a little less active this week :(  But, still definitely getting stronger.  During my counseling session on Tuesday evening he started speed bag style punching and it was so distracting!  But also adorable.  

What I’m looking forward to:  THANKSGIVING WEEK!  We're going to Houston and are going to get to see Jason's family, including his aunt and his brothers/sister in law, whom we haven't seen in a very long time.           

What I miss: Still missing good workouts.  I also miss waking up and thinking "wow that was such a comfortable night's sleep" 

Next appt: Nov 26th.

Workout/Fitness: I went on a few walks, but not nearly as many as I should have.  I also did the Jackie workout video a couple of times, with modifications to keep everyone safe.    

Pregnancy thought of the week:

My drive to work each morning varies between 30-60 minutes.  Therefore, I have lots of time to think to myself.  During one of these drives I started to think about my Meemaw, who passed away a few years ago.  I do this a lot during the holidays.  She was the epitome of the holidays for me.   I had a similar moment just before our wedding.  I became intensely saddened by the thought of having our wedding without her there.  Wearing her boots on the wedding day was such a special thing for me to be able to do simply to have her with me.  Anyways, I again started to become sad thinking about how our little baby boy would never get to meet her.  She was the best grandmother; so loving, generous, and fun.  Not to mention, an incredible example of a faithful servant of Christ.  But then I started to re-frame my thoughts. I reminded myself that while little man wouldn't get to meet Meemaw, he would get to meet his Mimi, my mom, who reminds me so much of my Meemaw.  Someone who just overflows with love for her family members.  On top of this, he will have Jason's parents too!  Who also have a never ending supply of love for us.  These thoughts made me quite happy.  I needn't worry.  We've got one lucky son!   

Prego Journal: Weeks 25 &26

I apologize to the two or three readers who may have actually noticed I missed a week :-/  I had intended on making up for this by including a few pictures of the growing belly as well as a double post this week.  Unfortunately, we left our camera with all the baby bump pictures at my Papa Joe's house.  I will still post about last week and this week to make it a complete update :) 

How far along:  26 weeks! Technically, 26.6 weeks is 2/3 of the way through, even thought the third trimester doesn't "medically" start until week 28. 
*Update* I've added pictures:

How big is baby:  Eggplant.  Over the past two weeks little man's skin started to get a pink color and the lungs are continuing to mature. His little nostrils are also opening up and he's starting to practice breathing.  His eyes are also beginning to open.  Also brain wave activity is going wild; baby can start recognizing and responding to noises. 

Total weight gain: +11 lbs...My doctor gave me a look when my weight hadn't gone up since my last appointment.  But, there are two scales in his office and I'm fairly confident one of them says you weigh more than you actually do...I used that scale the last time, and this time I got to use the scale that makes you feel good about yourself :)  I let him know not to worry, as I am eating plenty of food.  Just ask our grocery bill. 

Maternity clothes:  I've had the urge to go out and buy some new maternity clothes just because I miss shopping...but I'm doing my best to not give in.   

Sleep: I was bad about going to sleep late the past two weeks.  And I've been going into my internship site early a lot, so sleep hasn't been plentiful.           

Best moment(s) of the week: 

There have been a few:

1) Last monday one of my best friends came over and we carved pumpkins   It is the best to get to see her.  We're kind of the same person. 

2) Last Wednesday night the family came over to our house for Halloween.  It was a bit of a bummer because husband was on call and didn't get to be there to wear his hulk mask with me in my batman mask.  But it was still fun to see my sweet niece in her cute little costume. 

3) Last Saturday we went over to sister and bro in law's house for a football saturday.  We had such a good time.  I love them so much!

4) Last Sunday, on the way out of Mass Jason and I stopped in the court yard at our church in the Mary grotto and said some prayers together.  We've sat before Mary requesting her intercessions the day we got engaged, the day we got married, and here we were getting ready to have a baby!

5) I've had my second successful job placement at work, and I'm really excited about it.  I love what I'm doing.  

6) I had another Dr.'s appointment.  Everything is still on track, although my pelvic bone to top of uterus measurement indicates Iggy is growing a little fast.  I need him to slow down because I've had a number of requests that he arrives a little late. 

7) On Saturday I went to breakfast and on a wonderful walk with one of my dearest friends.  She is such a great person and time spent with her is like a re-energizer for my soul.  Later you'll see me complain a little about walks, but this does not apply to walks with friends.   

8) ummm the Aggies beat Alabama!!! WHOOP! 

Food cravings: Still enjoying scrambled eggs quite a bit, other than that, still nothing out of the ordinary 

Food aversions: I'm going to let you fill in the blank here. 

Symptoms: I had a pregnancy "no filter" moment this week, involving questioning an innocent UNT student's work ethic, so that was fun.  I've had a few sharp pulls/side pains when I turn certain ways or try to tighten certain muscles.  

Movement:  I can't get over Jason's reactions whenever Iggy has a big kick.  He's just so excited for his little man to be here.  He has had some pretty epic kicks here lately. 

What I’m looking forward to:  It's a little early, but graduation.  I am really starting to get excited about having January off before the arrival!         

What I miss: I really really miss intense workouts.  I keep trying to convince myself that these walks and leg lifts, and pregnancy pilates are fulfilling my desire to workout, but they simply aren't.  I miss doing insanity!   

Next appt: Nov 26th.

Workout/Fitness: See above...walks, leg lifts, pregnancy Pilates   I've looked up a few videos on youtube, but I'm usually disappointed by how ridiculously easy they are.  I mean come on, I know I can do more than just step tap.  At least pretend to challenge me.  If anyone has any recommendations please leave them in the comment section!