Pregnancy Update: Week 28

How far along?  28 Weeks

Baby size?  Eggplant (although I feel like he is so much larger than this!)

Baby progress?  He's still packing on the fat (and muscle) which means he's getting rid of his wrinkly skin!  His lungs are mature, which means, God forbid, but if he came early, he could probably survive!!!  That is definitely comforting to know.  But I hope he cooks for at least another 9 weeks (although I want to meet him NOW!).  But they say if he's born today, he has a 95% chance of survival (he's still need medical assistance to breath but he could do it!).  We did it, Little Man!!!
He's also now able to control his own body temperature, which is a sign he's getting closer and closer to being able to sustain himself.  His adrenal glands are now secreting androgen, which will signal my body to begin lactation when he arrives.  He's still practicing his breathing (as well as coughing and dreaming during his REM sleep! That is crazy to me!)  This week I also felt his hiccups for the first time.  Talk about adorable!

Weight gain?  I'm up 2 pounds from last week, putting me at 18 pounds now!

Stretch marks?  Nope!  I hear it's more hereditary than anything.  No idea if this is actually true.  My mom said she got a few, but not many.  Although she did get more on her boobs than her belly.  But thus far, I have none anywhere.  And I hope it stays that way.

Sleep?   It's hit or miss.  My most difficult part is falling asleep.  Once I'm asleep, I usually sleep really well.  I'll wake up to pee, but 90% of the time I'm able to fall back asleep within 15 minutes.  There are those nights though, where I'm up for another 2 hours before I can fall back asleep.  The hardest part is just when I lay down and try to initially fall asleep.  I cannot seem to shut my brain off.  My job is beyond overwhelming and I can't seem to not stress out over it and it keeps me awake.  

Symptoms?  
-  Acid reflux!  Story time!!!  This past week, I had the grossest thing happen.  Now remember, I suffer from chronic acid reflux because I no longer have a sphincter at the bottom of my esophagus.  Acid is always just chilling all the way up to the back of up my throat and I'm always in pain and discomfort.  After 9 years, I'm used to it.  But pregnancy has brought it to a new level.  I'm finding myself throwing up multiple times a week, just from the acid reflux.  Okay, so that was a long tangent.  Back to my story.  The other day, I was in the bathroom when I bent over to pick something up off the floor and bile just came pouring out of my mouth on the floor.  No gagging, coughing, etc.  No warning.  It literally just poured out of me like a pitcher.  It wasn't a lot, maybe 2 tablespoons but still so incredibly gross.  Never, ever have I had that happen!!!!!!  Thank goodness I was on tile for an easy clean up but OMGosh! how disgusting.  I guess I literally am like a pitcher now with how my body is.  There's nothing to keep it in and down.  Lesson learned.  From now on, squat and keep your chin UP to prevent the pouring of bile.
-  Hip pain.  It's bad.  It's more so in my back but goodness it's awful!   I cannot get any relief and I'm in tears often.  Nick tries to massage me but it's moreso the joint and bone pain so it doesn't help much.  I think it's time for a chiro!
-  Back pain.  The hip pain is worse, but my upper back is killing me from my scoliosis and lack of lifting to strength those muscles and alleviate the pain.

Baby brain.  Wow oh wow!  It's getting bad.  I still have chemo brain (which is nowhere near as bad as it was my year of treatment and the year following but it's still there) and now add in baby brain?  I am sorry for those I laughed at and doubted when they talked about it.  This week?  I walked out of my building after work and forgot what car was mine.  There were maybe 15 cars in our parking lot and I didn't know which one was mine.  Not as in, I couldn't see it.  Not as in there are three silver Accords and I didn't know which one was mine.  I seriously stood there, looking at all the cars and thinking, "I have no idea which car is mine.  What color is my car again?"  I kept envisioning our SUV, but couldn't remember what my car looked like!  Then I saw my Mizzou license plate frame and it was so clear to me.  And then I walked to my car wondering if I was developing early onset Alzheimer's.  

Belly Button In or Out?  It's definitely making its way to try to pop out.  It's still in but I'd say in two week, it'll be close to flush with my belly :( I didn't think this would happen because I had a DEEP belly button.  Or I thought if it did, it wouldn't be until the very, very, very end.  But nope, here I am at 28 weeks and it's soon to be flush with my belly!!!!

Cravings?   Fries.  I'm loving french fries right now.  

Movement?  It's slowing down, which I think is due to him starting to get cramped and running out of room.  Mama isn't a big girl so he doesn't have a lot of room anymore.  But I do feel him often throughout the day, which is great because I love his movements (now that I'm able to sleep through them).  But it also sucks because when he's not active, I start to worry that something is wrong.  I just need to remember as the weeks pass, his movements aren't going to be all the time like they have been since week 16.

Workouts & Activity?    I'm more active but not on a workout routine.  Just my everyday activity.  Just like the previous update, I've learned how to deal with my heart and lack of stamina and know when to take my break and rest a little.  

How are you feeling?  Great!!  I feel so good now!!!

Last week I had been feeling really low and although it's only been one week of my restricted work schedule (I only clocked 45 hours this week!!!!), I feel a lot better.  I'm doing my best to try to not let things get to me, which is hard.  I know this is all vague, but I promise a post about my job and why this is so hard is coming.  But last week, I was in a bad place.  Things have gotten much better since that last post.  Thank goodness!  I haven't been in to see a therapist so I'm thankful things are better without that.  

Best moment this week?  There are two.
The first is that I felt Baby Obie's hiccups!!!!  It was a very rhythmic movement and it was the most adorable thing ever!!!  I woke Nick up to feel because I was so excited.  However, he doesn't remember it at all :(  But I do and although I'm sure it sucked for Little Man, I loved it!!!
The second best moment this week was ringing in week 28 with a Cardinals game!!!  We rung in the third trimester by taking Baby Obie to his first baseball game!  We drove about 3 hours south to Cape Canaveral to watch the Cardinals play the Nationals.  I wore the shirt I wore when I told Nick I was pregnant, although I actually fill it out now, and so many people complimented it.  It's nice to know I'm finally obviously pregnant.  We had such a great time at the game and it makes me so excited to share our love of the Cardinals with him once he's here; taking him to games, watching the games in our living room, teaching his cheers and seeing him in his Cardinals gear.  

Worst moment this week?   I had a freak out over how big my belly is.  When I look in a mirror, it seems huge to me.  And in certain photos, it looks ginormous.  I'm all belly, which is great, except I'm not too sure where and how I will continue to grow over the next 12 weeks.  I know my belly can grow more, but can it really grow THAT much more?!  I feel like by 40 weeks I won't even be able to touch the front of my belly.  And that's just not cute!  
Some days my belly and I feel and look huge and then other days, like the one below, I feel like I look like a 12 year that shoved a basketball under her shirt and is running around pretending she's pregnant.

What do you miss?  My clothes.  I'm very limited in what I can wear.  It wouldn't be a huge issue if I didn't work.  But having to dress professionally when nothing fits is difficult.  I really don't want to drop money on clothes I'll only wear for 12 more weeks so I'm pretty much just wearing the same six outfits over and over.  Thankfully, I work with 3 other pregnant woman and two others who JUST had babies, so they understand the struggle and the judgement is nonexistent.  (yes, there is obviously something in the water at my office.)

Things that suck?   Shoes.  There are no professional shoes that offer support and comfort.  By the time I get home from work, my feet are throbbing.  Sadly, propping them up and resting all night isn't enough.  I wake up in the morning and they're still in pain; just to do it all over again :(And the lack of support and being on them all day doesn't help my back at all.

Things that don't suck?  Bedtime story time.  It's my favorite part of my day.  Nick and I climb in bed each night and read to Baby Obie.  Reading is very important to me; maybe that's from my job in college and my years post-college as a teacher.  I want his nighttime routine to include story time, so we decided to start it now.  It also gives Nick some bonding time with him each day.  Little Man hears my voice all day long but Nick and I are only home and awake together maybe 2 hours a day so he doesn't hear Nick often (especially because Nick isn't a talker so when we are home together, I'm still doing most of the talking).  This gives Nick the opportunity to talk to him, read to him, bond with him, and allow Baby Obie to get to hear his voice every single night.  I just love this time. It warms my heart and often brings tears to my eyes to listen to Nick talk to and read to his son.  

Looking forward to?   Getting some color on this pale, giant belly!!  The weather is starting to finally warm up and I plan to spend more time outside, soaking up some vitamin D and getting some color on this body (don't worry, I always use at LEAST an SPF 30 anytime I'm in the sun).  And I'm just happy to have warm weather.  It makes me happy and productive.