Pregnancy Update 28 Weeks

Another week in the life of the preggo and everything has been going really well.  If you think about it, I can technically go into labour any time after 37 weeks….that’s like less than 9 weeks away…which means we could have a baby at home in less than 9 weeks…how surreal is that!?!

Clint and I went to an all day birthing and parenting class at the hospital on Saturday where we got to meet a whole bunch of other preggo peeps. It was run by a midwife and we were both kind of expecting to not get a lot out of it, especially Clint seeming he has been through the birth of Mackenzee before. But it was actually quite interesting and we did learn a lot. The midwife wanted to take the fear out of us about the pain and duration of labour, saying that a standard labour goes for 10-12 hours. She talked about how you don’t actually lay down in stirrups to deliver any more, it’s all about letting gravity help. But then when she got to talking about pain relief, she had us all freaked out about the consequences of using epidural for both mum and baby. She even showed us forceps and videos of women giving birth. By the end of the day I think we were all a little mortified and I was saying to Clint that I don’t know if I want to go through the birth and maybe the baby can just stay inside me forever!

I also officially lost my belly button this week…well, it’s clearly flat as a tack!  The belly has become increasingly itchy and tight and from what the books and websites say, I can expect to start seeing stretch marks (hopefully that bio oil use has kicked in!!). My boobs look like they are getting smaller…mayb it’s just because my tummy keeps growing and making them look like that.

 

How big is the baby: This week bub is 38 cm long from head to toe (15 inches) and approximately 1,200 grams (1.2 kg) in weight (2lbs 10 oz).  Apparently she is the size of an egg-plant. Yesterday, I put a 1kg packet of rice and a 200g pack of nuts under Clint’s shirt so he could get an idea of how much the baby weighs at the moment.  Then I piled him up with a few more kilos of other packets and said “here’s the amnio fluid, placenta, boobs and fat I have put on since I have been pregnant”. I call it sharing the experience with him

Sickness: Feeling on top of the world this week. A bit of a congested nose at night-time but apparently that is part of pregnancy. I’m a bit scared to get another leg cramp like I did last week as the ache from it stuck around for days.

Movement: There continues to be lot’s of movement going on. Some of you may be horrified to hear me say this as it isn’t very maternal of me but when she gets the moves really happening it does creep me out a little. It’s like being on a roller coaster with your tummy turning over and over again. But having said that, the movement is reassuring that she is doing alright in there. She seems very responsive to Clint’s touch as well. He will often put his arm around me at night and touch my tummy and she immediately starts moving…which makes me wake up and then I have to go pee and then I can’t get back to sleep…which leads me to…

Sleep: I have generally been sleeping like a rock this week, which is really unlike me as I am a light sleeper. There was only one night where I got up at 2.30am and couldn’t get back to sleep again so I just watched a few movies until the morning came. I am finding it harder to get comfortable to sleep as I can only lay on my sides and after being on one side for too long my hip starts to ache so I have to turn. I feel kinda like a chicken on a rotisserie!

Cravings: No cravings and not feeling like any food in particular. I am still enjoying my daily bowl of healthy cereal I some times have for lunch and strawberries when I wake up at night.

What did you buy this week: I’m sorry to say that I fell back into the old habit this week and bought a few things while I was at Ikea. Just some frames to make the artwork for bub’s room and some more coat hangers for all the clothes we have been buying her. Clint also bought an electric bottle warmer and newborn bottle kit as well.

Highlight of the Week: Yesterday we had some time to kill so decided to start setting up bub’s room. We put her clothes away, made her beds up (cot and bassinet). It was really nice to go through all the stuff we have been accumulating all these months. Clint thinks bub has enough shoes to challenge Imelda Marcos!  He got a real kick out of it as well and I am glad we did it together as it’s an experience we can share. It’s hard for the guys at this stage as everything is happening to us chicks and we can’t really share the experience with them the same way we are going through it. That’s why I try to involve Clint in as much as I can.  Anyway, I am glad to finally have the room pretty much set up…just a few little bits to do and we’re done. I’ll post some pics later this week so you can check out our handy work.

What we’re looking forward to: Getting the downstairs bathroom finished as this will be bub’s bathroom. We’ve pretty much got everything we need except for the new tub and shower screen. Hopefully we can start gutting it this week

Have fun!