28 Weeks

A neighbor asked me the other day, "So you're 28 weeks?" I corrected her and said, "No, just 26." Later that night I looked at the calendar and saw she was right, I was wrong. When I was pregnant with Clara I could tell you at any time how far along I was - to the day. Just goes to show it all changes 3rd time around.

So technically, I'm 28 weeks and 4 days. I look unmistakably pregnant now. A month ago, I'd mention it here or there out in town and people looked shocked and embarrassed they hadn't noticed on their own. I thought it was pretty obvious then, but wasn't at all offended no one seemed to notice. However, I don't know if it's the belly or the 'pregnancy waddle' that has replaced my normal walk, but no one's missing it now. I occasionally get some minor swelling at this point in my ankles. Not much -- in fact, sometimes I wonder if it's swelling, weight gain, or just my mind playing tricks on me because it's that slight. My leg joints ache and I get leg cramps fairly often. Pregnancy simply doesn't agree with my body, but I'm happy to go through it all this one last time. Really, I can't complain if these are my worst symptoms at this point. Thankfully the summer heat hasn't hit yet, I think we're actually in the low to mid '70's today. My exhaustion seems to have subsided some and the nausea is still long gone. Surprisingly enough, I'm still able to sleep on my tummy, though I fear that won't last much longer. It's still usually pretty comfortable for me, but sometimes the baby takes objection and kicks until I move onto my side. Just within the last week the baby seems to have started moving a good deal more, and not in the fun 'Aww, how magical!' kind of way; more in the 'That feels weird, please stop kicking me' way in which you can see my belly going into convulsions with each of the baby's movements.

My next routine doctor's appointment is on Friday the 12th, but this Monday, the 8th, is when I get to go meet the little guy in 4D -- so exciting!!!!! I also get to go do the routine test for pregnancy diabetes this week. Many women dread that one, because they don't like the taste of that orange soda drink they make you take. I don't mind it's flavor though, and I look forward to taking along a book and having some quiet time to myself while I have to wait that hour to get my blood drawn - the inlaws will be here to watch the kids!

So here I am at 28 weeks. I've gained about 21lbs so far, so I don't think I'm on the small side anymore!

Once again, Jonathan wanted Clara to take a pic of his 'baby belly' too. He finally has begun to talk about his 'baby brother', and share in some of the excitement, but I know he still doesn't understand. The other day in Target, he told me he had a baby in his belly and later that day he and Clara took turns sticking a stuffed animal under their shirts to prove it. He's more attentive to babies when we see them around town and has even stopped pleading with me to 'Give it back!' when I hold the neighbor's new baby. There may be hope -- though I think he's still going to have the biggest adjustment.

My main man!

The photo shoot quickly shifted to super hero poses -- here's Spiderman...

...and Superman...

Not to be outdone, Clara passed the camera off so she could get in a princess pose! Clara's excited as ever about being a big sister again. My only concern with her is that she'll try to help too much. For example trying to pick the baby up or feeding the baby when I'm in the shower. We've already begun talks with both kids about things that can and cannot be done either at all, or without parental supervision. I look forward to letting Clara help more this time around, as she's excited about the prospect, but I think she one of those kids that may easily start to belive she's 'mommy #2', so hopefully we'll find the right balance.

I started to pull out Clara's old clothes and separate out Jonathan's for the baby. I have kept pretty much all of the kids clothes from day one and just stored them in those big 45 gallon Rubbermaid containers. After separating the boys clothes out from girls clothes, I found that I had 3 of those containers full of Clara's old clothes and only one of Jonathan's! Looking at Clara's old clothes got me emotional, thinking about how little she was and how cute those things were on her, how fast she's grown, places and times she wore certain outfits. I didn't expect to cry, but I did. Chris kinda laughed at me in an understanding sort of way and offered to try again and maybe end up with another girl (that part was sarcasm, I'm sure). We're both content stopping at 3, neither of us really has a desire to go for 4 kids and I know that we have no need for Clara's old clothes anymore. I always thought women were foolish when they cried over giving away old baby items, maybe that's just because I haven't really had to get rid of anything yet...it's just not as easy as you may think when it's your memories you're letting go of.