Adventures in Pregnancy: 28 Weeks

And we’re back from Hawaii and firmly planted in the third trimester! At least once a day Eric marvels at my belly, and I do too. The baby is around 2 pounds now, so today I told Eric he was going to get at least three times bigger, and his eyes turned into saucers. It was hilarious and awesome.

We had the most glorious time on Maui (the pictures, the stories–they will be coming atcha this week), and I was happy to recover from my cold fairly quickly. I really felt very good for most of the trip, with the exception of one night when the heartburn was killing me. Tums are my best friend, but I can’t take them after I’ve taken my iron supplement because the calcium blocks absorption. I was splayed on the couch of our condo rental looking miserable when Eric came and put his arms around me. “Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked. When I told him that he couldn’t and thanked him for his concern, he just smiled and said, “I want to be supportive. You are working very hard for our family.” Swoon. I am grateful for him about 72 times a day.

But back to the belly…it is expanding! I am down to a very small pile of pre-pregnancy clothes that I can still fit into, and my oversize pj shirts are no longer oversize at all. They feel like spandex! So, bigger sleepwear for me. And I think some combing of the thrift store is in order. My favorite one usually has good maternity stuff.

In other news, I cannot believe I am still saying this, but I am even hungrier than I was last week! Last night I got up to eat something at 2am and 6am and was completely ravenous again by 9am. And 11am. And so on. I think you can set your watch by my hunger pangs–every two hours. All of this is probably great preparation for the nights when I’ll be feeding our sweet baby instead of myself. (But…I think I might actually be turning INTO a baby, since my favorite activities are currently eating and sleeping!)

We had our 28-week appointment this weekend, and everything looks great! He did some break dancing in response to the loud Doppler machine, and it was kind of hard for the doctor to hear his heartbeat because he wouldn’t be still. We have an active baby on our hands! We’ll be seeing the doctor every two weeks now, which feels like a milestone. More on this tomorrow when I talk about May goals, but baby prep is officially switching into high gear. And that is going to be lots of fun!

I am really savoring these weeks when I still feel very comfortable. My hands still fall asleep when I lie down, and my leg cramps are really becoming frequent, and there is heartburn every night, but all of this is nothing compared to the first trimester, and probably nothing compared to the discomfort of the last few weeks of pregnancy. Every day that I can still comfortably walk and sleep feels like a gift. And so does this sweet baby.