Week 28 Pregnancy Update

Howdy, folks!

As usual, we're nearing the 29-week mark as I write my 28-week update, so I'll have to hurry up to get this published on time! Who knew that I would have such a hard time posting pregnancy updates every four weeks?

In the big news...

We have hit the third trimester! Hurray! We're really in the home stretch!

It is my experience that pregnancy crawls through week 20, and then races by till the end. Before week 20, it's a matter of watching the seconds tick by ever... so... slowly. But after week 20, it becomes, "Ack! No! Slow down! I have so much to do!"

That's pretty much the state of things around here.

So here we go:

Pregnancy Health Update

Both baby and I are progressing exactly according to textbook measurements. No known issues of any kind, and all appointments have gone swimmingly.

Weeks 20-24 were a huge improvement in my nausea and energy levels, and weeks 25-27 were similarly another big improvement. The 20's are just a time of great improvement for me!

Third trimester aches and pains (and the good ol' pregnancy waddle!) are once again with us, but I'm definitely not complaining - anything is better than nausea!

Speaking of nausea! I am feeling anywhere from "moderately yucky" to "almost normal." Not bad, eh? I am still nauseated almost all of the time, but my nausea levels are often low enough for me to ignore completely, and they're almost always "comfortable" - if there's such a thing as being "comfortably nauseated."

Getting ready for baby:

• Afterpains tincture - ordered! Hurray!
• Calcium-Magnesium supplement (also for afterpain prevention) - starting this week!
• Supplements for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) prevention - alfalfa tablets (for Vitamin K) and Floradix (for iron) - in the process of getting these started!  
• My birth supplies are gathered, sanitized, bagged in plastic, and ready to go!
• The only thing left to do (beside finishing the spring cleaning) is to order my birth kit! 

A note on blood draws:

My pregnancies are usually needle-free, but thanks to various persons-who-shall-not-be-named in the state health department becoming a pain in the neck lately, I had to get several blood tests. (Thanks a bunch, guys.)

That was the BAD news. But the GOOD news was that Phoenix now has a brand-new technology whereby many standard blood tests can be done by finger-poke instead of the big-horrible-needle bit that can put me under the table faster than anything else. Local friends, if you're interested, check out Theranos for your blood work - good stuff!

Of course, I still did a good bit of inward panicking. However, I did make it out of the office without hitting the floor (always good), and discomfort was minimal.

The hilarious part was that my bottled-up panic decided to burst the bonds of my self-restraint some time later - in the middle of the night, as a matter of fact. I woke up at 2:00 a.m. totally stressed out about blood work: "Ack! Yuck! Ew! No! This is so disgusting!! Aaaaahhhhh!!!" I've never had a delayed reaction like that, and it was hilarious. In retrospect, at least.

Let's just say that needles (of any kind) and I don't mix well. Or rather, at all.

A later note:

The results of my blood test (CBC) were extremely good! Apparently the dessicated liver pills I've been taking for the past sixteen-odd weeks have really helped! Hurray!


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Pregnancy What's-Going-On-Around-Here Update


Baby Names

Can you believe it? We still don't have baby names! We need to get moving!

Speaking of moving...

This past weekend we took a two-night trip north to visit DH's family. This is the first trip that we have made since this baby made his presence known, and I was thrilled that I was able to pull it off. Trips are stressful! A month ago I would not have been able to manage this.

While there, we managed to pull off our once-a-year blackberry picking trip. Our total take was very low - we were a bit late in the season - but it's still my all-time favorite activity and my all-time favorite fruit. You may remember that blackberries were the one thing that sidetracked me from completing an entire year carb-free (only one week away from the finish line!). It's worth it.

This year, being pregnant and even more susceptible to nausea, I did my best to practice restraint. Sort of.

Actually, I did pretty well, all things considered, but I did indulge twice: (1) about one-third cup of blackberry cobbler, and (2) about a quarter cup of ice cream (on different days). Lesson learned - again - sugar is still evil. Very evil. Nausea levels increased each time.

But the cobbler was soooo delicious.

My mother-in-law is truly the best cook in the world. 

The kids had a great time swimming and indulging in forbidden-at-home activities (namely, television and junk food):

Meanwhile, on the home education front...

• We are now done with one third of our school year. Wow, it's flown! Now to try to cram in another third before the little one makes his appearance. Can we make it? It all depends on how soon this little chap decides to join us! But the race is on!

• About five YEARS after I should have started this, I have finally (after much prayer, blood, sweat, tears, etc.) managed to pull together chore charts and a chore system for the 8yo. Chores are so much work - for ME! Goodness! I'll post soon and share the journey we've been on with chore systems.
  
• Okay, actually, in my defense, I actually started this process several years ago - it's just that now is the first time I feel that we're finally getting somewhere. But wow, is it hard!

• I have made a mid-year decision to add composition to our daily to-do list for the 8yo. He does the composing, I write it down. We'll see how this goes. 

• I am trying a trial program of eliminating our morning snack time. (Heresy!) But seriously, our mornings are so incredibly busy. Lately it's felt like I'm cleaning up breakfast in order to serve snack, and cleaning up snack in order to serve lunch. Pure exhaustion (and more mess!) on top of an already-busy schedule. So far, getting rid of morning snack has worked very well. It's less work for me, the children don't seem to notice, AND (best of all!) they are eating lunch much more enthusiastically (and with less pickiness). All around WIN!

"Spring" Cleaning

I am now two months into my "spring" cleaning project, working 30 minutes (sometimes more) per day (all days but Sunday). I estimate that I have about a month left before I finish.

Who knew this could take so long?

However, it's lovely to have things cleaner - even little things that I can't see!

Speaking of which, I finally got our couches cleaned! Yes! After meaning to do so for at least four years! And guess what?

They look just as bad as they did before we got them cleaned!

The technician who came to do our cleaning said that the basic cleaning (covered by our Groupon) would do some good, but that to truly resuscitate our couches we would have to add in an extra $250 "deep cleaning" fee. Um..... no.

So I take comfort in the fact that our couches *are* cleaner, even though they look just as awful as ever. That's just life with toddlers (especially one of whom who is a professional mess-maker).

Now onto the carpets!

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And there you have it!

Life around here is insanely busy, but it's a good busy (though far too stressful at times). I find that I don't ever feel that I've "arrived" as a mother or homemaker or home educator - it's a constant (and usually steep) learning experience that involves mastering one step and then tackling the next. It never stops. I don't think it ever will.

But that's a good thing. And it certainly keeps me humble.

Have a wonderful week, dear friends! 

I'll leave you with this picture from the archives - DH at a much younger age. Local friends, do you even recognize him?