Week by Week: Week 28

Our Baby (a.k.a. Lil' Feisty):

• Has doubled in weight in the last four weeks. 
• Is getting fatter and fatter each day, meaning that wrinkly skin is smoothing out. 
• Technically could weight between 1.5 to 2.5 pounds. I keep measuring large, so I'm going with 2.5 pounds at this point. 
• Is almost 15 inches long! Holy cow. 
• Is pretty much ready to go--anatomically. Feisty just needs the next 12 weeks to fatten up and strengthen up (especially in the brain and respiratory system).
• Might be smoothing out in the skin department, but Feisty is getting plenty of wrinkles in the brain department. That brain is now beginning to grow and develop complexity. 

I (traditionally): 

• Am starting to get comments about how I've "popped" due to that quickly growing baby. 
• Will start suffering from sleepless nights from here on out. 
• Already have colostrum in my breasts--ready to go for that baby. 
• Will begin feeling more and more Braxton Hicks contractions (or surges, as they're called in HypnoBirthing) as time goes on. 
• Will begin feeling more and more out of breath as Feisty crowds my lungs and diaphragm. 
• Feel more aches and pains each week. 
• Need to be on the lookout for. . . leaky boobs? Yeesh. 
• Should be on the lookout for UTI's, especially since the normal symptoms (frequent peeing and the constant urge to go) are pretty much par for the course when you're pregnant. 

I (actually): 

• Haven't gotten comments about popping, but I'm clearly getting steadily bigger. I'm still putting on about a pound a week, and I shudder at the thought of what 12 more pounds will do to my short frame. 
• Have actually managed to only wake up once a night for the last week. And that was only to answer an urgent plea from my bladder. 
• Haven't felt any Braxton Hicks in the last few weeks. 
• Definitely know the out of breath feeling. Last night I could have sworn Feisty was using my rib cage as monkey bars. 
• Have no, ahem, boob leakage, to mention as of right now. 
• Am now freaked out that I could get a UTI and not know about it. Thanks, pregnancy literature. 

My next appointment with my midwife is tomorrow morning. It feels weird to go in on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday. From here on out, I'll be going in every two weeks. 

Last night I attended a workshop on baby wearing put on by my local chapter of Baby Wearing International (BWI). By local, I mean Fargo, but thankfully one of the leaders of that group lives in my town and she put on the workshop for us. Since I'm new to the whole concept and practice of baby wearing, it was really helpful to learn about the many different option. And, WOW, are there ever a lot of options. Some families are happy to have just one carrier or wrap, but then there are some who really fall down the rabbit hole. Our instructor said it's like women and shoes. Some women have one pair they love and that's it. Other women just love collection beautiful shoes and picking the perfect pair for every occasion. I am guessing I'll be a one-wrap kind of woman (since I'm a one-pair-of-shoes kind of woman), but you never know!

Feisty is definitely bigger and bolder in those movements now. That stinker spent most of the weekend tap-dancing on my cervix. Yep. My cervix. Or something very near to it (I'm not actually sure how medically accurate it is to say that the baby can touch the cervix). Either way, it's the weirdest feeling in the world. A REALLY weird feeling. I'm used to all the rolling and kicking and punching in my belly, but those low down knocks on the door are enough to make me jump.

Freak-Out Moments:

Well, I had another chafing episode this last weekend. Sigh. Heat. Sweat. No fabric separating my thighs (wearing a dress). Bad combination. It's not overly common, but it's not really talked about. I had to browse some pregnancy message boards to hear how other women coped with the issue (which, by the way, I talk about at length in my week 26 post if you want more specifics). I'm just here to say that it's a real thing that real pregnant women deal with. Thankfully the heat broke and it feels much better up here. It's only 60 degrees up here! In the middle of August! Crazy. 

Feisty took longer than normal to wake up on Sunday morning. Long enough that I began to be seriously worried. I decided to lay down in bed and not move until I felt something. Seconds after I settled in there was a little flutter. Then a bigger flutter. Then the low down mashing began and lasted until a few hours after church. But that's OK. I'm just glad Feisty woke up. 

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That's all for this week!