The Third

This week, I reached 28 weeks gestation and officially moved into the third trimester -- all while remaining upright and as active as ever! Physically, I feel very good. In fact, much of the time I don't even feel pregnant.

I'm moving a bit slower, particularly after walking for long stretches, and sometimes I feel like I have to focus to keep the waddle to a minimum. I'm not walking slowly or waddling because the baby is all that big or heavy, but rather because she's been consistently positioned on the left side, causing sciatic nerve pain and muscle tightness there. So far, the pain is no big deal -- not debilitating or anything -- but it is inconvenient and makes the 17P Hydroxyprogesterone injections I take often really painful. Every other week, I prepare for the home health care nurse's visit by wrapping my backside in a heating pad. Fortunately, I only have eight more injections to go, four of them on my left side. We'll try injecting there once more, and if it's still too painful, I'll take the rest of my injections on the right.

I'm still having some food aversions, and really only crave Starburst Fruit Chews (most recently supplied by my friend, Jenny), which I allow myself to eat in a limited amount. In addition, I have some hip pain and arm numbness when I sleep and for a while after I get up in the morning.

Other than those very minimal complaints, this pregnancy has been a much lovelier experience than I ever dreamed. I'm not having any contractions to speak of -- only minimal irritability right around the time the injections are due -- and my cervix remains stable, measuring around the same length all this time. I passed the gestational diabetes screen on the first attempt. I am not in the hospital, I am not on bedrest, and I have no official restrictions to be mindful of. This is all such a new experience, I feel like I wake up in a new world every morning -- a world full of new mercies.

I had a sonogram today, and the baby is still measuring two weeks ahead. She appears to weigh about 3lbs. 6oz. and is the size of a baby at 30 weeks gestation. My due date will not change since early sonos were spot on with regards to measurement and dating, but her growth rate may influence how my uterus behaves in the long run and when we decide to deliver.

My MFM would like to do a amniocentesis at 36 weeks to check lung development, possibly having me deliver then if the baby's lungs are mature. My OB/GYN would like to deliver me no earlier than 39 weeks (unless medically necessary). I'd like to go until 38 weeks and be done with it all. I stop taking 17P injections at 36 weeks, and statistically, women who are prone to preterm labor (like me) begin contracting a week or so after the injections cease. Knowing that, I think delivery at 37 1/2 to 38 weeks is a fair estimate. Only time and bunch of doctor's appointments will tell.

As for our little one, she looked so cute on today's scan! She looks more like a fat little baby with familiar features and less like a stranger on a TV screen. Today, we were able to see she has James' Filipino nose and my chubby cheeks. She has a puff of wispy hair on top (which absolutely comes from James since all of the babies on my side of the family are bald for their first two years) -- we just wonder if it will be Asian black or blond like my baby hair. This little one looks just like her sister in utero. We're so curious about her and extremely anxious to meet her in person!

Not too soon, baby -- not too soon.

(Baby Facing Forward, Tummy on Left, Face on Right, Hand Up Top by Cheek)