28 Weeks

Baby:
She is a mover! She is now about 2-1/2 pounds and around 16 inches long. Since week 17, she has increased her weight 10x. Her brain is growing and getting those weird squiggly things and her body is also filling out.

Mom:
It has been an eventful week on the pregnancy front. For starters, we are officially in our last trimester! Some sources say 27 weeks is the last trimester, but by 28 weeks they are all in agreement. That means we are 1/3 of the way to welcoming our new little girl into our world.

I was a little nervous on Thursday night... I was afraid we might be welcoming her much earlier than expected. While laying in bed reading a magazine, our cat - KC - jumped on my stomach, right above my belly button. OUCH!!! After I had composed myself, I started having contractions... They weren't really painful - just a lot of tightening throughout my entire middle! Oh no - what did the kitty do? We read all the books we had, searched the Internet, and eventually I fell asleep. I woke up around 5 AM again with those contractions and almost woke Adam up too, but after eating a bowl of cereal they subsided and I went back to bed around 6:15 for a little nap.

Since then I've noticed my "bump" is a few inches lower and wider. The nurse thought maybe she flipped sideways which seemed to make sense considering where I was feeling movement and kicks/punches. Over the past few days she has moved from the left to the right and I suspect she is in some sort of fetal position but am not sure which end is up. Heck, for all I know it is ever changing...

The contractions were officially diagnosed as Braxton Hicks contractions and they have subsided in intensity, but are still occurring daily. I've been told it is normal (even though it seems early to me) and is nothing to worry about unless they become more intense and close together. Fortunately neither of those are happening. :) *I spoke too soon... In the past hour, I've had almost 10 contractions. They are however getting further apart not closer together and she is moving in strange ways. I'm not having any other scary symptoms so I'm praying she just moves a certain way that triggers the Braxton Hicks for me. I'll continue to push fluids and rest for the next hour. No news is good news!*

Dad:
We are ready for the baby to get here. Come to think of it, we don't have the nursery done yet. We still need to get a car seat and stroller. We have some clothes, but not enough for the multiple changes. Still need to buy diapers, baby wipes, bottles, and stuff we don't even know about yet. Then there's toys and stuff to keep the baby happy. Hmmm, we still need to take that childbirth class, too. Don't want to get an F in that class, otherwise you can't have your baby. I'm not done with my PhD, so not ready there. I guess the baby probably isn't ready yet either....still needs a few weeks to cook.

But we are ready! We are ready for Sarah to start feeling better and not worrying so much. We are ready for the smiling little face. We are ready for the coos and giggles. We are ready for a little hand to wrap around our finger. We are ready for the first time the baby recognizes us. We are ready for the first steps and first words. We are ready to hold and love our first little child. We are ready to wake up in the middle of the night to feed and change a stinky diaper. . . . .Well, I guess a few things can wait.