moving right along

28+ weeks

Honestly, where does the time go? It's almost been an entire month since my last post, and I feel it's only been days.

Well, here I am again in all my pregnancy glory - just over 28 weeks. I can NOT believe how much I've my baby boy has grown in the last 8 weeks. It's becoming obvious to everyone else, too, because I can't even count the comments I've gotten in the last couple of weeks about how much I've "popped." There's been several of the "you're getting HUGE!" comments flying around already, and all I can think, is "if you think this is huge, just give me a couple more months!" I do get huge, that I can attest to, but I guess it's only expected when I'm just under 5' 3" and have a very short torso.

Overall, I am feeling really good right now, though I'm just starting to experience the aches and pains that indicate I'm in my final stretch. This week at my appointment I get to take the glucose test and drink my favorite drink of all time. Given my history, I'm not at all worried about the results, as I'm sure they'll be fine.

As of now, my doctor and I have talked about the following options. If you know my history with my previous pregnancies, you know that I tend to start the "laboring process" around 35 weeks. The 9th (or is it 10th?? I never understand that!) month of my pregnancy tends to be very uncomfortable as I slowly, but continually,contract, dilate, and efface over the course of the last few weeks. Amazingly, my body and my baby still hold out until they are fully cooked (39 weeks or so) despite that they are literally almost falling out of me.

Let me give you an example from Chloe's pregnancy: At my last check-up, when I was 39 weeks, she was literally so low (and had been for weeks) that my doctor said he could tell she had hair (yikes!), and, to top it off, I was 100% effaced and 4 centimeters dilated. No wonder I was SO uncomfortable! Needless to say, he scheduled me to have my water broken two days from my appointment to avoid me having the baby at home. Chloe had a different plan, though (don't they always), and came on her own that very night (in the hospital - thank God!). Total of 2 hours of labor - that's including pushing, and it would've been 45 minutes shorter, but we had to wait for the doctor to get there so he could break my water. Waiting at 10 cm for 45 minutes to start pushing was not one of my most memorable moments!

Anyway, given my history and the fact that labors tend to be quicker in subseqent pregnancies, my doctor and I have agreed that I should have a scheduled "water break" (with hopefully no pitocin, as long as I'm progressing like previous pregnancies) the last week of December. That's assuming baby doesn't come sooner...

I personally think he might....come sooner, that is. I'm already carrying him SO low, like I can feel his hiccups vibrating my pelvic bone. That might be TMI (too much information), but I wanted to give you an idea of how low he already is. He's also head down and has been for a while (again, the hiccups give it away), and considering he has little to no space to move around (poor little guy), he might just end up staying there until he's ready to come.

He also seems big (let's hope he stays around 8lbs or less!!), filling up my ENTIRE mid-section where I'm already getting kicked in the ribs a little bit. Nothing too painful yet, just a little something to let me know he's there. :)

I love this little guy to bits and pieces and can't wait to meet him. He seems so sweet, gentle and laid back, only giving me nice little nudges and pokes. Reminds me a lot of my pregnancy with Britten, and she turned out to be the easiest baby in the world. Time will tell I guess, and whether he's colicky and high needs, or a cuddler and low maintanence, I'll love him just the same!