How far along: 28 weeks! According to BabyCentre.ca, this is the beginning of the third trimester. The home stretch!
Baby size: Lil’ Ziggy weighs about 2.3 lbs and is about 14.8 inches long from head to toe.
Belly: WOW. I didn’t realize just how much more I was sticking out until now, uploading this week’s pictures and comparing to last week’s. It’s amazing how much it can change in such a short amount of time! Granted, my sweater is a little bulkier and it’s the end of the day, so I’ve had my three squares plus goodies from my office cookie-swap. I’m wondering if Lil’ Ziggy has shifted again and changed the shape of the whole thing. That means the wee one is getting not so wee!
Sleep: Still same issues as before… can only stay asleep if I’m on my back, but I’m not supposed to be on my back, so I’m trying my best to stay on my side and get used to it. I doubt I ever will.
Clothes: Are in the dirty laundry. This weekend was so hectic that I haven’t been able to take care of some domestic duties. I keep thinking that I’ll have time to clean the house when the baby comes and I’m on maternity leave. Then I laugh. Oh how I laugh.
Movement: Zig’s been moving around a lot this week, but decided to hide behind my anterior placenta for a little while and worried the crap out of me. More on that below!
Food aversions: None really. If anything, I’ve been a little sensitive to texture during the pregnancy. So it doesn’t take much cooking for vegetables to be “overcooked” for me. I still eat them but I try to err on the side of undercooked, even raw if I can get away with it. Poor Chris isn’t a fan of raw carrots but he’s a trooper and eats them anyway.
Food cravings: Still none really. Christmas goodies abound in my office, and I’m pretty sure that takes care of any cravings I may have.
What I miss: Not having a stiff back when I get up from lying down. It doesn’t take much to walk it off, but it’s annoying nonetheless. But really, if the worst symptoms during this pregnancy is heartburn and general stiffness, I could probably do it 10 more times. Now to convince Chris!
Preparing for birth: I met with my Doula, Brittany, last week for our first big one-on-one session. We got to know each other and we get along very well. We chatted about some of my preferences for the birth, what I know about my options, and we discussed creating a more in-depth birth plan over the next month with Chris. As well-versed as I am in some of the more common birth topics and issues, I still have a lot of research to do to make sure we create a firm but flexible plan.
Check out the difference between this week’s photo and last week’s. Crazy!
I mentioned briefly above that Lil’ Ziggy has been moving around quite a bit this week, which has been amazing. I love watching my belly bump out and make funny shapes while the wee one dances.
On Tuesday, though, the movements suddenly stopped.
For HOURS, I sat and watched my belly, waiting for something to happen. I poked and prodded, and pretty much nothing. Now I’m sure I felt something here and there, but it was slight, and quiet.
And I panicked. I called Alberta Health Link, and the nurse on the other end recommended I head to the hospital to get checked out.
So off we went to the hospital. Now I believe this is the third time that Chris has taken me to the hospital since I moved here four years ago. The first was when I messed up my ankle while playing soccer, the second was for a delightful mid-night mystery pain in my stomach that has never occurred again since. This time, I was almost sure I was overreacting, but just wanted some peace of mind, even just to hear the heartbeat for a little while and be sure that everything was okay.
When we got to the hospital, the main doors had been closed for the night, so Chris dropped me off at the Emergency Room and went to park the car. Thankfully it seemed like a quiet night, and the very nice nurse got me checked in right away. She could tell that I was incredibly worried, and immediately put her hand on mine and told me I would be taken care of. We were sent up to the maternity ward where another very kind nurse asked me some questions about how I was feeling, and got me into a bed.
And this is when I knew that Lil’ Ziggy is destined to be a troublemaker.
Pretty much as soon as the nurse had hooked me up to the monitor, Zig figured out he was in trouble, and started kicking and dancing like crazy. Maybe it’s because I was laying on my back? UGH what a little performer, as if he couldn’t have done that sometime earlier that day and calmed me down a bit!
I felt a little sheepish, and told the nurse that Zig definitely wasn’t doing that earlier in the day, that he was being very quiet, hence my worry. The nurse seemed very understanding, though, and I guess it’s a fairly common occurrence for them. I wondered aloud if Zig’s quietness was due to my anterior placenta, as for the last several weeks the majority of the movement has been on the left side of my belly. The nurse told me it was entirely possible that the baby had moved to the centre, and was kicking where I wouldn’t feel it as much.
So with a welcome sigh of relief, we went home with a worksheet on which I can record the baby’s movements throughout the day. I was informed that the general rule is six movements in two hours. If the activity drops below that, to come in and have it checked out. Thankfully since then Lil’ Ziggy has moved to the left again and I am being delightfully beaten from the inside all day long.
Much kudos to the nurses and staff at Northern Lights Regional Health Centre, though. As disappointed as I am with the state of maternal care resources here in Fort McMurray, I must say that the nurses who keep the whole thing going are absolutely amazing. Not once was I treated like a nuisance or a waste of their time. They were calming and reassuring to me, and that makes me feel much better about actually giving birth there in March.
Hopefully this week is less eventful! I could use a non-eventful week.
Monica
I think you look absolutely beautiful