28 Weeks and Counting

I stole, er, borrowed this survey-type blog entry from another BLM. It's my lazy way of doing an update. (^_~)

How Far Along: 28 weeks and 5 days. Third trimester, here we go, TLB!

Maternity Clothes: I bought two full-panel maternity jeans at the thrift store. I think those were $5 each! Yeah! I didn't want to spend more money on these jeans or even new maternity clothes. This time around I refuse to buy clothes designed specifically for pregnant women. I also refuse to go back to Mother.hood Ma.ternity. During my second trimester, I went there to get a simple Belly Band and it was an ordeal. The girl at the counter asked me if I want to be in their system, I said no. But when she swiped my card, my info came up and an unwanted conversation ensued. It was a frustrating and infuriating experience all at the same time. Now I started getting formula and other baby-related junk mail all over again! Argh!

So I decided to find another store to get clothes, not maternity ones, but those that would fit me as my belly grows. So I got slouch-type tops from For.e.ver 21. Ah, those youth-fashionista-inspired clothes worked so good, they would accommodate my growing belly very well. Plus, I could use them again. I love hitting two birds in one stone sometimes. 

Movement: Dave and I are enjoying TLB's movements and the lumps he makes on my belly. I've been feeling them since early second trimester (maybe because Ms. Placenta in posterior and low lying). Dave has the same privilege. I have been doing kick counts as early as 25th week although TLB has no clear schedule yet. But starting 27th week, he gets active around 10pm and so I do my kick counts then. Lately, though, he is becoming a little trickster. Everytime I get the counter to do the kick counts, oh wow, he takes his time doing 10 movements!

He usually gets his movements done between the 2 minute and 5 minute mark. But sometimes, he takes his time and we finish between 10 and 15 minutes. I'm not worried but the thing is, before I whip up the counter, he would be moving around so much so I try to catch that time. But man, as soon as I get the timer ready, he gets 'quiet'. So now, I do two kick counts - one in the evening and one early morning.

During the early mornings around 7 to 10am, he moves around a lot, too. I'm surprised where he finds the energy really. I'll be sleeping and then feeling some sort of tugging and shaking in my belly and it's TLB. Most of the time, we play push-back-feedback. When he kicks, I push back where he kicked and he pushes back as feedback. It's quite fun. Oh how he kicks so hard sometimes. It's like he's playing soccer in my belly. Or maybe he's punching with his little fists. Dave find all these entertaining. He also plays the push-back-feedback with TLB.

There is also another fascinating thing that happens with my belly. When I'm lying down and TLB is on his sleeping phase, he tends to lean on the walls of my stomach, creating uneven protrusions and hard lumps. We sometimes try to figure out which body part is causing the lumps - "This must be his head, it's hard and solid. Or it must be his butt. This tiny round thing we feel must be his fist or it could be one of his knees."

This phenomenon and his movements have given us much fun bonding times with TLB. I'm sure as he grows bigger and space become cramped in my womb, he'll be making little movements. So we try to enjoy every moment of his active movements as much as we can.

Sleep: I would trade one bathroom break per night for a chance to comfortably sleep without pubic bone and sciatica pain. I've been sleeping on the C-shaped maternity pillow since my first trimester. I also used a small pillow and a wedge placed under my pelvis to give me comfort. But man, it doesn't work all the time. I tried to sleep on my left side but it seems to aggravate my pubic bone pain. It's like my pelvis gets mis-aligned when I curl and un-curl my legs. *sigh*

The same happens when I'm on my right side. So I sleep on my back with legs outstretched and with the small pillow and wedge under my pelvis. It helps but my sciatica acts up in turn. Plus, I get worried that the vein on my back is getting compressed and TLB is not getting enough oxygen. Argh! It seems that no matter what position I do, it has consequences I don't like. Maybe I should sleep sitting down or maybe hang myself upside down like a bat?!?

Good thing, I had a chiropractor appointment today. We did the initial consultation and evaluation and would go over a treatment plan this Wednesday.  I hope she can help me with both my pubic bone and sciatica pains.

Gender: A little brother for Kai. We haven't thought of a first name for TLB yet. We have a middle name agreed upon - it's Dave's family name. As for the first name, we are dragging our feet on that one.

Symptoms: Aside from pubic bone and sciatica pains, I'm also experiencing a little bit of constipation. Thank goodness, a regimen of yogurt and snacking on dried prunes and Jamba Juice's Chunky Strawberry Smoothie with granola and slice bananas works.

Cravings: Hot chocolate. It's probably because the rainy weather has started here in our neck of the woods. It's my go-to comfort drink lately.

Belly Button In or Out: It has always been out ever since I gave birth to Kai. It was an in before I got pregnant with him but it popped out and stayed out. Now it looks like a push button and Dave sometimes teased me about it. He would usually say: "Hmm...let's see, push button here and release baby." Yes, my husband gets a few belly laughs at my expense. Heh.

Best Moment this week: Being able to get the hang of TLB's movement patterns. Hopefully, they will become a bit more predictable and consistent as we plow through the trimester. Also, being able to determine whether he's having hiccups or not. With Kai's pregnancy, I wasn't able to really know whether he was hiccuping or not. So yay for small achievements like this.

Freak-out of the week: Nothing really serious but I've been worried about pre-term labor. I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions and sometimes it can be uncomfortable. So I've been hyper-vigilant of symptoms whether the ones I'm feeling have a pattern. Or is that just pubic bone pain or something else like pelvic or back pain? How painful is it? Am I bleeding again? *sigh* I'm still staying vigilant and observant about it.

Also, there's one time TLB wasn't moving during his usual schedule or his movements have become slower, so I was definitely anxious. But it turned out he was just in sleeping phase because when I drank cold milk and laid down on my side, he moved a bunch. Paranoia averted. For now.

What I miss: I miss the excitement of looking forward to the third trimester. I think I'm not doing enough to prepare for TLB's arrival except for the really, really necessary stuffs that needed to be thought of and prepared for ahead of time. Right now, I'm just taking everything in one week at a time.

What I am looking forward to: We have our ultrasound on our next OB appointment. We would finally see TLB again on screen and get to know if he's growing normally. We'll also check on Ms. Placenta, amniotic fluid level and cord placement.

Other than this, we have a short road trip that I'm also looking forward to in two weeks. We didn't have a babymoon with TLB because I'm worried that an out-of-state trip would be bad for me. But Dave and I figured a short trip in a bed-and-breakfast would be a wonderful way to connect with TLB and feel like we're traveling as a family. OB said no strenuous activity during this trip, so we'll just eat and vegetate. Heh.

Next Appointment: February 27th. Ultrasound appointment to check if Ms. Placenta has moved up and away from my cervix. The finding of this u/s would determine how my OB and I would go about delivering TLB. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Something Else: I passed the 3-hour gestational diabetes test. Yay! I've got a few more test to hurdle in this trimester but hopefully, they won't result in anything serious. I'm anxious to start early monitoring, which my OB is scheduled to do starting 32 weeks. I haven't asked her yet if I need to see a perinatologist or MFM for additional tests or check-ups. I'll most likely ask about this on February 27th. For the meantime, I shall distract myself until the next OB appointment.