28 Weeks Later

Finally in my third trimester! Woot! Woot!

I can't decide whether it feels like this pregnancy is going by fast or slow. I look back and recall finding out I was pregnant and being in total disbelief. At 8 weeks we got to see the little zygote floating around which made it a bit more real, but it was still just a blob. 4 weeks after that it was like there was a real baby in that ultrasound, with arms and legs and a button nose. Then there was the first kick and getting all the normal test results back. And lastly waiting for my baby bump to become noticeable. Waiting for all those milestones seemed like forever at the time, but now I'm nearly at the end and wondering where all the time went.

In my 28th week there is no doubt that I have a big round belly. Random people have no problem asking me when I'm due or what the gender is. It's really refreshing since I feel like I've been showing since 16 weeks, but it was that stage where people are like "baby bump?" or "too much lunch?". At around 20 weeks I had to buy maternity clothes and at 24 weeks there was no doubt that I was showing. Now I can't even wear any of my old tee shirts unless I want to sport the round belly, which isn't my bag.

I'm also starting to feel contractions more and more. I've been feeling them since about 18 weeks, but wasn't sure what they were. I told one of my doctors I was feeling "pelvic pressure" and he assured me these were light Braxton Hicks contractions. Now I actually feel a tightening of my abdomen like muscle strain, but without the pain. It's great that they don't hurt and it's so exciting to feel the pregnancy progress but it's also pretty distracting.

I feel them the most when I walk in the morning and to get rid of the contractions you're supposed to change positions, but that's hard when you're at mile 3 of a 4 mile walk. I got a little worried this morning because I had 3 during my walk and then a few when I got home, one of which got pretty intense. It didn't hurt so much as leave me breathless. I figured I'd wait it out since I see the doctor on Wednesday, unless they got closer than 15 minutes apart. After I had half an hour of rest they pretty much stopped and I've only had 1 small one since.

So everything is progressing normally and I'm feeling pretty good still. I really just need to start planning my baby shower and working on the baby's room. I also have quite a few friends that are pregnant right now and the most recent one is finding out her baby's gender today. I'm waiting with bated breath to find out. You can check out her fantastic blog here.

And here's a photo of me and some of my pregnant friends.