Week 28

How far along: 28 weeks – began September 11, 2017.

Size of Baby: Coconut (16 inches long, 3 pounds)

Milestones: Officially made it to the third trimester! BB's wrinkles are starting to disappear as he continues to put on fat to help him regulate his body temperature. He's also developing millions of neurons in his brain and spends his time blinking, sleeping, practicing breathing, and making more coordinated movements. I distinctly felt him have the hiccups many times this week so that means his repository system is functioning well! 

Best Moment This Week: The 28 week ultrasound went really well, everything looked perfect! He's three pounds, landing him in the 67th percentile, and he's growing right on schedule. I was grateful to hear that my placenta has shifted out of the way, so I won't have to worry about that as a possible complication. During the ultrasound, he was bottom-side-up, so it was hard to tell what we were looking at most of the time. The sonographer managed to get some shots of his face from an extreme angle, but BB didn't make it easy! He was holding his fists in front of his face, so the sonographer had to nudge him a bunch to get him to cooperate, and he started gasping in protest. I can already tell he has a big personality! There were a couple moments when his eyes were open and he looked incredibly mad that he was being spied on. Combined with his chubby cheeks, it was a pretty comical juxtaposition.

What I’m Looking Forward To: My friends and I had a final planning meeting for my baby shower a few days ago and I'm so excited to celebrate with everyone. The hosts have really gone above and beyond to make the day really special and I'm so thankful to everyone involved.

What I Miss The Most: The ultrasound part of my 28 week appointment went well, but I also found out that I failed my initial glucose test and am low on iron (requiring me to take a supplement). Additionally, I got my DTaP shot which is recommended for all pregnant women to protect the baby from whooping cough, and ended up getting pretty sick from experiencing all three events in one day. It was the first time I've thrown up in months and I felt completely wiped out over the next two days, but fortunately, I feel back to normal now. However, I have to take the three hour glucose test this Tuesday, meaning I have to consume twice as much sugar and have my blood drawn every hour. With any luck, I'll pass this one, but if I don't, then my diet will look very different for the rest of the pregnancy. We'll see what happens, but either way, I just want to do what's best for BB!

Symptoms: Rib pain has continued to persist, but it's a little better now that I stretch more every day. I've been feeling a little more emotional off and on and get hit with debilitating round ligament pain from time to time, but nothing terrible. BB is definitely putting on more muscle since his kicks wind me sometimes, and Leif was even shocked the couple of times he's felt them lately. He's reacting more to light and sound now, but his favorite is still me putting my hand on my belly. 

Cravings: Even though I'm still craving the same old junk food, I have to be more careful from now on! I'm trying to incorporate more salads and low-carb snacks like popcorn into my diet. I know that sometimes gestational diabetes has more to do with genetics than diet/lifestyle, but I still want to do as much as I can to help improve my blood sugar levels. I just need to make sure I still get all of the calories and fat I need to maintain proper weight gain!