Pregnancy Update: 28 Weeks

Third trimester!

I'm working in the NICU right now and it's kind of crazy to look around and see babies that are only as developed as my baby in the isolettes all around me. In a way it's a relief, because most of them born this far along do pretty well, but it's a long difficult NICU course and I find myself walking around holding my belly praying he stays in there until he's due. 

Bump: In this week's photo I'm wearing a Stitch Fix dress. (Last Stitch Fix review here.)

1. How far along are you? 

28 weeks

2. How big is baby? 

An eggplant or a coconut. It's been the same 1.5-2.5 pound range for several weeks on my apps. I'm sure he's getting bigger and as usual, now coconut sounds really good. 

[Source]

3. Total weight gain/loss

I had my 28 week appointment last week and had gained 3 pounds in the past 4 weeks. That's a total gain of 12 pounds. Just for fun, here's some photos side by side comparing those 4 weeks:

 

 I talked last week about how I thought it would be a lot more gain than that because my belly feels huge (I mean, not end-of-pregnancy huge, but much bigger than 24 weeks.) I guess realistically though, maybe it is only 3 pounds. I've been sick lately and doing less exercise, so I don't really feel like I've been doing everything I wanted to in order to keep weight gain healthy, but my body seems to know what it's doing for the moment.

4. Purchases

Nothing this week! We haven't made any baby purchases yet but we are starting to get some hand-me-downs and gifts, so that's nice since we have nothing for a baby. Plenty more on all of that probably in a month or 2 as we start actually doing some baby shopping. 

These were passed on from my friend Betsy who just had a gorgeous girl - her baby was too big for them from the start [they're newborn size but kind of tiny] so we'll see if they fit our little one. Otherwise I'll pass them on to my next pregnant friend.

5. Sleep

I recovered from my last cold and was doing pretty well with sleep (for a whole 5 days!), and then caught another illness starting on Thursday, so I'm back in the guest bed as of last night. I'm hoping once I get over this one I'll be well for a while, especially since I won't really be interacting with lots of kids with colds anymore...until October? Is that right? I'm pretty sure that's right. 

6. Symptoms

Again, I have another cold. The cough/sore throat/congestion is overshadowing any classic pregnancy symptoms, but I still consider them pregnancy symptoms related to my lowered immune reserves. I don't usually catch things back to back like that. I'm not saying it's totally my baby's fault, but it's kind of my baby's fault. As usual as long as he's healthy I'll take whatever symptoms come along. I say that now but the infamous aches and pains of the later third trimester haven't started yet. 

7. Rings on or off?

The rings were off this week but they still fit. I don't wear them in the NICU as that's the policy to protect the babies from any germs they might carry. They're back on for the weekend though.

8. Belly button in or out?

Still in.

9. Food cravings

My doctor confirmed that my hematocrit was fine and my gestational diabetes screen was negative, so there's no new restrictions or changes to my diet. This week I've been craving popsicles and smoothies. Most mornings I've been making some blend of frozen banana, soy milk, protein powder and other fruit. Planning a dedicated smoothie post soon.

10. Fitness

I did a couple mornings of gentle yoga this week, but it was a low exercise week again, and I skipped my yoga class this weekend because I think I might be contagious, and I thought all the coughing would probably be disruptive. Earlier in the week I was barely recovered from my first cold, and the transition to my new rotation meant being at work an hour earlier, so I had a hard time making it a priority over my sleep in the morning. I still walked Luna every day, but that was it.

11. Feelings and Mood

Mostly I'm feeling pretty good. I'm trying to make the most of my time in the NICU and pick up procedures where I can, but there's a fair amount of down time in between deliveries and admits. (I'm on a resuscitation rotation, not regular NICU, so I don't have patients I'm rounding on or primarily responsible for day to day.) I've been getting a lot of studying done which always makes me feel a little more positive. I'd feel better without this cold but hopefully it clears fast.

12. Pregnancy Perks

Sometimes people give me chairs. I'm talking particularly about work. Frequently if there's more than one parent or family member and other kids in the exam room for a visit, someone is sitting on the physician stool - there are usually 2 patient chairs in the room, plus the exam table. Lots of people kind of realize the stool is a nice place for me to sit, and I think in pregnancy people seem to reshuffle to actually give me the stool more.

It's not a big deal for me to stand for the visit, but the stool is nice for a few reasons: 

1. I can examine a kid more easily on the parent's lap, and for the younger ones that's often nicer because then they're less scared about it.

2. Studies indicate greater patient satisfaction and a perception that I've spent longer on the visit if I sit down: read about it here. I always sit if I can, even if I don't really feel like I need to. 

3. The stool makes it easier to keep my body language open when I'm jotting things down on the chart, because I'm not leaning over the counter.

I don't mind all the family being seated - I like people to be comfortable and I know sometimes it's a long wait. I only feel like it's kind of silly when there are enough chairs and someone chooses to take up the other patient chair with a bag or something, forcing the other parent to sit on my chair and me to stand. There's an easy solution to that. Your bag does not need a chair. 

...maybe I am moody this week.

Anyway, chairs. They're nice.

13. Best moment this week

We started a registry! As I mentioned above we haven't made any baby purchases yet but I have a very sweet friend from church who offered to host a baby shower for me, so we've started to put a few things on a registry. If we get a few smaller things from the shower that will be nice, and we'll put our bigger items on there as well so we can use the completion discount afterward. We picked Amazon and Target. We did the Target one in-store and it was kind of fun walking around with the scanner gun - haven't had an occasion to do that since our wedding.

And that's 28 weeks - and the start of the third trimester.

Thanks for reading, see you soon.