As I post this in my 28th week, nearing the big 29, it almost seems crazy that the start of 27 weeks was 2 weeks ago. I know I say this every week but this whole thing is really starting to fly by...and honestly? It is sort of starting to freak me out how fast time is going.
Week 27 shot #1.
Week 27, shot #2.
And week 26 for comparison. The bump looks about the same, it's just moving up.
How I'm feeling?
I'm sort over saying I feel large. Given.
I think this week was a big growth spurt week for the little turbo. We spent some time gardening the back yard but I swear, about every hour, it was all I could do to stay awake. The second I sat down, I was asleep. It was like I had that sleep disorder where you just fall asleep and can't help it. I literally could have slept 24 hours straight, I'm pretty sure of it. I have NEVER in my life slept for 9 hours at night and then the following day been able to sleep multiple times. Insane.
I also had some weird stomach thing this week... my stomach was just off. I have no idea why. I didn't eat anything abnormal, it was just, well, off...without going into the disgusting details. Perhaps due to the growth? I have no idea. Oh yeah, and gas in pregnancy? AWFUL. Sometimes quite hilarious because there is really nothing you can do about it (gross, I know) but when you can tell that everything is just sort of squished in there and you have a pocket of air that won't come out? It pretty much sucks.
And on the note of bodily functions? We are back to PEE MADNESS. Meaning, I pee all the time. I typically wake up at least once, if not twice a night to pee. I miss the second trimester of this not happening! Sadly, I think it's only going to get worse from here on out.
I've also continued to have some hip pain, which I'm told is totally normal as your hips continue to expand and prepare for labor. It's just sort of annoying as I've really had to pace myself and slow down... IE: no more running, walking I'm usually good at about an hour (and not much longer), etc. Oh yeah, and I learned that I should probably not still be wearing high heels. If I wear them to work and try to walk later, my toes get all pissed off. It hasn't stopped me yet.... I KNOW. Every is telling me not to wear them but, well, I'm a terrible listener I guess. Or just stubborn. And maybe doomed if this kid inherits these qualities from me.
Despite the sort of bitching and complaining of the above, I actually feel pretty darn good. My moods seem to have been relatively stable and I feel, for the most part, "normal" in spite of some small aches and pains and lots of hugeness.
How I'm changing?
My hair is out of control!! I am glad it finally got the pregnancy memo but WOW, I had no idea it would get this thick. In addition to that, I had NO idea my boobs would grow MORE. I mean, I thought post baby they definitely would but they seriously just grew more. It is just incredible. I am easily pushing a DD now which is just insanity.
My belly button is also on a serious mission to become an outtie. So much so that I gave up my belly button ring this week. I was going to keep it in but get a "pregnancy" ring but I decided that was pretty lame and I didn't really care. It was a nice ride for the 12 years I had it in, but it was time to go. My stomach is going to be in hiding for a (long) while post-pregnancy anyway so the ring was sort of a lost cause once I made that realization.
What I'm eating?
A lot of protein. I decided that due to the obvious growth spurt, I needed to eat more protein- both for the baby and for my energy. So, low carbs, lots of lean protein and lots of veggies. (and for part of the week, I was eating as bland as possible to keep my stomach from revolting).
Weight I'm gaining?
Still at 140... I'm stagnant here. Cool!
How I'm sleeping?
Great, except for the whole getting up to pee thing. Oh yeah, and once this week the baby got hiccups and woke me up. That was pretty cute.
What's the baby doing?
-The baby is 14.5 inches, or the size of a head of cauliflower (WOAH) and about 2 pounds
-Again, the baby just continues to grow- the lungs and immune system are continuing to develop for life outside the womb.
-The baby should be sleeping and waking at regular intervals and opening/closing his eyes (which were previously fused together).
-Hiccups are common now (no kidding!)
-Basically from here on out, everything is developed, the baby is just growing and preparing for the outside world.
What we are doing to prepare for the baby?
-We continue to do our weekly baby class. This week we covered transition (the time when you are dilated from 8cm-10cm, some say the hardest part of labor) as well as interventions that may be medically necessary and what exactly they mean. I had a working knowledge of all of these things but it was good reiteration to learn them again and to try to get an idea of what to expect. And also? YIKES.We also did a game where we had about 20 cards. They had front and back sides and you had to put the side up that would describe your ideal labor (things like "natural birth vs hospital birth" or "midwife vs doctor", etc). Basically every turn you had to get rid of 3 cards until you were down to the last three which were basically what really mattered to you in labor. Ours were this:
It's pretty telling of what REALLY matters when it comes down to it at the end of the day. If we had to end up with just one, of course it would have been healthy mom and baby and that is truly all that matters.
-We also signed up for a CPR/baby safety class with two of our good friends who also are pregnant right now.
Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)
As I've been going through the baby classes and learning some new things, re-learning old things, I've come to the realization that all of this "learning" about how labor "should" be, should really be taken with a grain of salt as every labor is different. It's easy to get freaked out about what could go bad, or to jade yourself into thinking you're a rockstar and will have an incredibly good birth experience. But really, until you live through your own, you don't know what will happen and regardless of HOW it happens, it is still your own to live and to tell about. So, good to have a general idea of what to expect to be prepared but the best thing to do to be prepared is to be relaxed and able to go with the flow of whatever labor throws at you, knowing that at the end of it all, the only thing that DOES matter is having a healthy baby and being healthy yourself. My goal over the next few weeks is continuing to find that peace inside of me which will lead to me being as relaxed as possible when this baby decides to be born and really getting in tune with my body so that it works with the baby as he makes his grand entrance into this world. And the rest of the details, we will just leave to fate to write the birth story for us...
