Pregnancy: 28 Weeks

I'll be honest, I am still in shock I have made it this far. Every time I talk about the baby I have to preface it with, "Well, since I'm just starting to realize this baby this might actually happen..." I have been in a bit of denial so much so that we have not done a thing to get ready, except prenatal appointments. I have friends who are not as far along as I am who are, "putting the final touches on the nursery" and we haven't even decided what we are going to do with the nursery yet. I did finally take some steps to start cleaning out the room, but it is still a total mess. I do, however, feel such a sense of relief that I have made it to the third trimester. Knowing that if something were to happen, chances are very good she could survive have made this so much more real. I know that there are still things that could go wrong, but I feel like our chances are so much better now and it has been a nice sense of comfort for me.

I haven't been sick lately! At about 23 weeks I stopped feeling nauseous all the time, but still had to be very careful about my eating, and about 24 weeks was the last time I actually got sick. It has been so nice!

When the nausea left, the aches and pains started. They are so much better than being sick, so I can't complain but man, it makes me feel like an old lady. At first it was growing pains so I had cramping at the top and bottom of where the uterus is. Now it is hip pain. If someone wants to tell me how to relieve or prevent this dang hip pain I would be eternally grateful. Stretching relieves the pain and feel so good, for about 5 minutes, then it returns. Again, the pain is so much more tolerable that I will definitely take this over worrying about puking all day.

Also right around the time I stopped getting sick, I started feeling the baby move. That has to be the coolest feeling ever. At first it kind of feels like little bubbles popping, and now as she is growing and running out of room it feels more like little jabs and kicks. I don't see her move from the outside very often, but every once in a while I will see my belly moving around and it is really freaky.

I've also just in the last month started to have revelations about the fact that pretty soon there is going to be a baby that cries, and needs to be fed and diapers changed and TC and I are going to be completely responsible for all of that. No getting tired of it and handing her back to someone. No knowing that we get to give her back in a couple of hours when the real parents return. It is all on us.

It is also strange knowing that there is this little girl that is going to exist. She is going to need help with her homework, she is going to need to learn to drive, she is going to go off to college, she is going to need help planning a wedding. That girl is inside of my being right now. There is a human being growing inside of me. How weird is that?

Within the last couple of weeks I have finally started to look pregnant and not just like I was eating more than normal. I still ask TC if I look pregnant or fat, and while his answer should be both, the answer is now always, "definitely pregnant." Because I started off so big, I am not supposed to gain much weight at all, and so far I have been on track with that. I lost 10 pounds in the beginning, and since then have gained somewhere between 6-8 of that back. Unfortunately, that has all been in the last month and no matter how much you are prepared to accept it, it is still shocking and disappointing. Due to the quick weight gain, I have started to exercise more, in the way of water aerobics (which is totally dorky but awesome) and walking which is hard and TC basically has to make me do it but it has been very good for me. I've also told myself every day that I will absolutely stop eating sweets today but that is yet to happen.

Another thing people always ask, cravings and aversions. I don't feel like I have any real cravings. There was an episode where I HAD to have some apple chips. I went to five different stores to find them. In the end, after I finally had some, I didn't really like them and threw them away, so I don't think that counts. I do really like to have a glass of chocolate milk every morning, which is new for me but I'm not sure that that counts as a craving.

The aversions list is much longer. Chicken, which is funny because I was able to eat it at first but it made my stomach upset, that turned into not eating it, which turned into the the thought of it making me sick, which turned into not being able to even touch it. Also on the list: garlic, onions, peppers, fake sugar and I also try to avoid things that are going to hurt my heart burn like caffeine, spicy foods and tomatoes.

I guess that is enough random information for now. I can't think of any other non-important updates. I will leave you will a couple of belly bump pictures. The first one is from 27 weeks and I would ask that you please excuse the dirty mirror. That is my brother's bathroom so you can blame the nastiness on him. The second one is from today (28 weeks) and I thinks shows how quickly things change. I also took the liberty of cleaning his mirror for him this time so the picture wouldn't be quite so disgusting.