28 weeks

And just like that I am in my 3rd trimester! How did this happen? It seems like just yesterday I was freaking out about the plus sign on that tiny stick and now I am due in less than 12 weeks. Time goes by so quickly…

How far along: 28 weeks.

Total weight gained: 15 pounds.

Updates on Baby: (Thanks so BabyCenter) By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She’s also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Maternity Clothes: This is an obvious yes by now. I tried to wear one of my old T-shirts on Friday (they used to be so big on me!), and it kept riding up and my belly would be hanging out of the bottom a bit before I knew it. Whoops! I had a sweatshirt on but it is crazy how uncomfortable even my T-shirts are now. Tomorrow I will clean out my drawers once again and transfer my old wardrobe back to the storage closet and replace it with some more hand-me-down maternity stuff.

Symptoms/Body Changes: I definitely had some swelling issues this week… in my feet, ankles, and legs after standing for too long. This week was a really hard week at school with my classes and especially my teaching duties. Proctoring an exam on Tuesday required me to stand for about 3 hours straight, from 7-10 pm, a time when I am usually conscious of elevating my feet. On Wednesday we graded for 11 hours… straight, and it was so, so hard on my back and ribs. The small aches and pains that I have had for a while were just amplified by my lack of rest and the high demands that I put on my body this week. It was discouraging and obviously made me nervous about how my growing preggo body will handle these situations in the future. But I can’t worry about that now. I just have to trust that when another hard week comes I will get through it like I got through this one! I am continuing to feel uncomfortable in general because she is just getting so much bigger! I wake up with sore ribs most mornings and by the end of class my tailbone is usually numb due to the way she has been sitting lately. But, as I told my mom a few minutes ago, it definitely beats getting sick all the time! I can take these symptoms :)

Exercise: My week was insane.. see above. But once Wednesday was over, it did calm down…  a little bit. So on Thursday I was able to walk 4 miles with my pup, on Friday morning I did Yoga, and this morning I spent the beautiful fall morning walking 4 miles with my sister. This coming week I need to lift some weights!!

Movement: She moves like CRAZY! She is at the point now where she moves for longer periods of time and then will rest for longer periods of time. Something that has been fun this week is that she normally wakes up with me every morning. It used to be she would be still until I ate my bowl of cereal or even after I had finished my first class. But now I feel like as soon as I open my eyes in the morning and roll over she starts dancing around. It is fun to just lay there for a little bit with my girl before I start the day :)

Cravings: Warm hot drinks… which means coffee. I haven’t kicked my caffeine habit because I really, really enjoy my 6 oz cup of coffee in the morning (and now that I drink half decaf/half caffeinated every morning I really don’t feel guilty about the small amount of caffeine). But now that there are pumpkin spice lattes being advertised everywhere it is hard to not want that afternoon latte kick as well. I have kept this under control and have only had 1 decaf pumpkin spice latte but I want them all the time. Other than warm drinks I don’t really want to eat anything. My appetite left as quickly as it came. I hope it returns soon!

Aversions: Nothing in particular has grossed me out this week. I started wearing scented deodorant this week because my unscented kind ran out and it didn’t bother me at all! (It’s the little joys). Certain smells from when I was really sick I still can’t stand, but I am glad that my sense of smell in general isn’t as strong.

What I miss: I miss being generally comfortable while I stand up and sit down. I miss sleeping really well. I miss working on math without overwhelming emotions of frustration.

What I am looking forward to: Tonight I am looking forward to tomorrow. This weekend has been really good for David and I. We got to stay in Lexington and just kind of do… nothing. Today we did a good amount of homework but we have decided that on Sundays we are really going to try to take a Sabbath. So no homework and no planning our day out until it is full. Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day here in Lexington so I am excited to wake up, go to church, have Life Group and then maybe go to the dog park, bake some pumpkin bread and hang around the house. I am looking forward to relaxing!

That is all for the weekly update. Hopefully tomorrow during my relaxing day I will also feel inspired to blog about our Pittsburgh trip last weekend. Stay posted, and goodnight!