28 Weeks!!

Hellooooo third trimester, and hellooooo OB appointments every 2 weeks now! WOAH!

The Belly: ...does NOT have stretch marks :) I was all worried over a few veins, thankfully. That's not to say I won't get them, but I'm keeping 2 different brands of belly butter in business right now, so I really hope to stave them off for as long as possible. I don't have a picture of 28 weeks right now because I left my camera at a friend's house in Monticello. Oops. This weekend, perhaps. I can tell you that my belly is measuring about 2 weeks small, even though it feels ginormous to me. Take that for what it's worth.

Physically: I am definitely pregnant, is all I can say. Sleeping is not really all that great, my hands and feet are swelling after any sort of outdoor exercise, I'm getting tired all the time, and my co-worker said I'm "walking different." I clarified to make sure I am not yet waddling, and she confirmed that it's not a waddle, just "different." Oh well. It will happen inevitably.

Weight: 145 by my scale, 146 by Carle's. The midwife said she'd like me to gain at least 20 pounds by the time baby is born, which I think I will have no problem doing, since I'm at 16-17 already. It feels crazy to gain this much weight. A group of women in an email group I'm part of have been talking about body image during and after pregnancy lately, and it's interesting to hear perspectives. It's sad that we've been so hammered by our culture to have this perfect body image that is impossible to achieve. I notice myself questioning if I look okay more now than before I was pregnant, and I hope that I don't pass on stupid superficial worries like that to my kids. 

Food Aversons: Heavy, rich things.

Food Cravings: Anything COLD!!

Feeling: Good, overall. There are moments where I just want to cry, but I am chalking those up to hormones. I really do love being pregnant. It's so neat to have this little person always with me, hanging out :) I am also feeling so much love for this little person already. I know I posted much earlier in my pregnancy that I wasn't getting that "I love my baby already!" feeling, but I definitely have it now! I can't wait to meet this little person, but I know I will also miss having him/her inside, and this intimate relationship we already have.

I'm also feeling more and more nervous about actually having the baby. I have such a pathetic pain tolerance, so I'm really hoping I can ramp it up a bit for the big day, otherwise I fear I may be screaming for an epidural before I even realize it. 

Baby: Baby's heart-rate was measuring in the high 130s at my appointment yesterday, and is head-down. I'm pretty sure it's been head down most of the time, because I can pretty easily feel the butt sticking out of my belly in various places. The baby is still moving around like crazy most of the time, which is very cool! Man, life is such a miracle, isn't it?!

Other: Our house is still for sale. But, that's okay. All in God's timing. Right? Right?! Right. We're making plans now to change the office into an office/nursery, and I'm drawing up plans where the furniture will go to make sure it will all fit (it looks like it will). We're so excited to be getting the furniture that I had in my room growing up, that was also my great-grandma's. It's beautiful! We're hoping to go up to my parent's house soon and pick it up. We're also in the process of really cleaning out the basement and garage to make more organized storage space, since we'll really need it with all the baby stuff and OUR stuff which we no longer have room for. So, that's fun. 

I can't believe how close we're getting!