Life as of Now: Week 28

How far along: 28 weeks
Gender: still a SuRpRiSe - annnnnd I'm back to thinking 99% BOY! I asked the doctor this week if he knew any wives tales that were accurate... He told me according to the studies the most accurate prediction of gender is mother's intuition... SO I will be so embarrassed if I'm wrong... But will be so happy when I'm holding a healthy baby in my arms - regardless of gender!
Weight gain: 11 lbs - it's starting to come on fast... These cravings are getting harder & harder to resist!!! And I eat WAY more than I should! :/
Next Appointment: 10/24/2014
Last Appointment: well... we had 2 appointments this week... this first was unplanned
10/13
Sunday night when I sat down to do my kick counts I felt like the baby wasn't kicking as "strong" as it had been. I had no problem feeling the kicks, and it kicked as often as it should - it just wasn't as strong so it bothered me. Then Monday morning I felt the same way - it was moving - but it didn't feel like strong movements. Once again, paranoia set in & I texted my nurse, who told me she would talk to the doctor, but he was in the OR for another hour & a half. I listened to the baby's heartbeat - which was fine. Then I called my mom and just started sobbing - the kind of sobbing that you can hardly speak a word that is understandable. She told me I needed to let the nurse know how upset I was, because words in a text come across very different than how I was sounding on the phone. I felt crazy admitting how upset I was, but I let her know. She reassured me that feeling movement was excellent & asked me if I wanted to go ahead and go to L&D, but I told her I didn't really want to do that & told her I knew it was probably just my crazy brain. Once again, the sane part of me knew that the baby was ok in that moment - I felt it moving & heard it's heartbeat - but I was scared out of my mind! About 45 minutes after I initially texted her, she told me he wanted to do an ultrasound & a non-stress test. I called Brady and we went to the doctor. It's so strange - but as soon as I knew I was going to be seen, my fears were immediately put at ease. Long story short - baby was fine, movements were perfect, and we still have a healthy (but breech) baby! We also discovered that it's quite flexible and was positioned with its feet over its head! We talked to the doctor after the tests and I explained what precipitated this "freak out". I told him that I worked the weekend so I didn't keep up with my kick counts quite like I should have - which I got in a little bit of trouble for - but I knew the baby was moving & listened to it with my doppler, so didn't think too much of it until Sunday when I did sit down to do them & they felt weaker. Once again he reassured me that everything was "perfect" & also told me that baby's movements will start slowing down. We decided it was probably a good idea to go ahead and schedule me for weekly visits from now on - just to help me to have peace of mind. I felt so stupid because I knew I was over-reacting, but I also knew I wouldn't feel better until I knew for sure that my baby was still safe inside of me!

{At the end of my pregnancy with Sloan her movements slowed down significantly. I reported it to my doctor at the time, and at my last appointment he did an ultrasound and she was perfectly fine. So when she was born and the doctor who delivered her - my doctor now - guessed that she probably passed away the day after that last appointment - 3 days prior to her birth - I was surprised. I knew her movements slowed down, but the ultrasound at that last appointment reassured me that she was ok, even though she wasn't moving nearly as much. The day I went into labor I knew I didn't feel much movement, and when Brady came home around lunch time I even told him I was scared because I didn't feel anything that day. I remember texting a friend to ask if her babies stopped moving as much at the end, because I was assuming {hoping} that it was normal and that my baby was just running out of room. She told me that they did, so again, I was reassured. I also remember right before I lost my mucus plug feeling something - probably a contraction or her little body shifting in the fluid with my movement - and feeling at ease thinking I felt her move. So when this baby's movements felt weaker, I immediately freaked out and thought the worst. Even though I knew movement was good, in my mind it wasn't its usual kind of movements, so something must be wrong... and it scared me to death! As foolish as I felt knowing that I was probably overreacting - it's ok that I did, because I would rather be safe than sorry any day over going through losing another baby...}

10/16 - scheduled appt:

It was a short - but good {& light} - appt! Baby is still great! My belly is still measuring about a week ahead of schedule... Which makes me happy! Heartrate was 146-158 and movements feel "normal" again! ANNNND... drumroll please... we are OFFICIALLY scheduled for a c-section!!! (which I'm ok with at this point) I asked him if he would consider trying to flip the baby if it didn't flip on its own, but he told me no because of my history & meds. I asked if a c-section would be more risky because of the meds & some of my "problems", but he reassured me that it wasn't & reminded me to let him worry about those things! If baby does happen to flip, we will induce that day instead. Either way is more than fine with me - as long as at the end of the process I have a living, healthy baby in my arms!

Maternity Clothes: eh... a shirt or 2 this week
Exercise: yep! :) Every day this week!

Stretch marks: not yet!
Belly button in or out: half in - half out
Sleep: I think I jinxed myself because I've been interrupted again this week with needing to empty my bladder in the middle of the night!
What I miss: sounds weird - but I'm starting to miss seeing the results of workouts & good dietary decisions ---> which has probably been a contributing factor to the AWFUL dietary decisions I've made this week!!!
What I'm loving: this GROWING belly! {somewhat of a contradictory statement to the above - I know!} but I def feel like this belly has come out of nowhere this week!!
Movement: Baby = yes :) ME = steadily getting harder & harder to get in & out of things... like vehicles, restaurant booths, etc
Cravings: pizza, Manuel's cheese enchiladas, cookies, cupcakes, Blue Bell tin roof ice cream!!!
Queasy or sick: Nope!!
Favorite moment this week: being reassured [twice] that my baby is still ok! & getting this baby's birthday officially scheduled!!
Looking forward to: getting this baby here!

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Sunday when I was talking to Brady & my mom I told them that I was excited that we were going to get to decorate Sloan's grave later that day - and then almost immediately realized how strange that statement sounded. That's never something that at 27 years old I would have ever thought I would get "excited" about... far from the norm of what most mom's my age get to get excited about. Not throwing a pity party for myself here - I know so many others fight much harder battles on a daily basis that I could never even imagine - but the reality of that one little statement that I said with such ease & such excitement really made me stop, think, and realize how different my reality truly is from most people I know. BUT I was so happy with how it turned out! It always bothers me when the weeds & grass start to grow through the flowers that we put on her grave & the ants bother me even more after a good rain, but I hate to not put flowers on it just to allow the grass to grow. So, Brady got some stone & gravel to outline her grave to try to help that problem. I wasn't too sure about the gravel he brought because I wanted smaller rocks to go on the inside - but decided those wouldn't be that visible anyway & at this point I just wanted it fixed! I played site manager while Brady did the work - as usual - and I was so pleased with how everything came together! By the time we left I couldn't stop saying how happy it made me & thanking Brady for everything he did - and always does!