Week 28: Chinese Cabbage (weight)

Wow … 28 weeks … that’s 7 months. Holy cow!!! It’s moving along all so quickly I can barely believe it. I kept thinking we’d have so much time for everything but the time is flying by!! As normal … everything from www.babycenter.com …

How your baby's growing:By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

How your life's changing:You're in the home stretch! The third and final trimester starts this week. If you're like most women, you'll gain about 11 pounds this trimester.

At this point, you'll likely visit your doctor or midwife every two weeks. Then, at 36 weeks, you'll switch to weekly visits. Depending on your risk factors, your practitioner may recommend repeating blood tests for HIV and syphilis now, as well as doing cultures for chlamydia and gonorrhea, to be certain of your status before delivery. Also, if your glucose screening test result was high and you haven't yet had follow-up testing, you'll soon be given the 3-hour glucose tolerance test. And if the blood work done at your first prenatal visit showed that you're Rh negative, you'll get an injection of Rh immunoglobulin to prevent your body from developing antibodies that could attack your baby's blood. (If your baby is Rh positive, you'll receive another shot of Rh immunoglobulin after you give birth.)

Around this time, some women feel an unpleasant "creepy-crawly" sensation in their lower legs and an irresistible urge to move them while trying to relax or sleep. If this sensation is at least temporarily relieved when you move, you may have what's known as restless legs syndrome (RLS). No one knows for sure what causes RLS, but it's relatively common among expectant mothers. Try stretching or massaging your legs, and cut down on caffeine, which can make the symptoms worse. Ask your caregiver if you should try iron supplements, which can sometimes relieve RLS.Sleep easier.

3 Questions About Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a complex disorder that affects 3 to 8 percent of pregnant women. A woman is diagnosed with preeclampsia if she has high blood pressure and protein in her urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Most women who get preeclampsia develop a mild version near their due date, and they and their babies do fine with proper care. But when preeclampsia is severe, it can affect many organs and cause serious or even life-threatening problems. The only way to get better is to deliver the baby.

Q1. What are the symptoms of preeclampsia?
Preeclampsia can come on suddenly, so it's very important to be aware of the symptoms. Call your midwife or doctor right away if you notice any of these warning signs:
Swelling in your face or puffiness around your eyes, more than slight swelling of your hands, or excessive or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles.

• Rapid weight gain — more than 4 pounds in a week.

• Severe or persistent headache

• Vision changes, including double vision, blurred vision, seeing spots or flashing lights, sensitivity to light, or temporary loss of vision

• Intense pain or tenderness in your upper abdomen

• Nausea and vomiting
Preeclampsia can occur without any obvious symptoms, particularly in the early stages, and some symptoms may seem like normal pregnancy complaints. So you might not know you have the condition until it's discovered at a routine prenatal visit. This is one of the reasons it's so important not to miss your appointments.

Q2.What puts me at high risk for preeclampsia?
It's more common to get preeclampsia for the first time during a first pregnancy. However, once you've had preeclampsia, you're more likely to develop it again in later pregnancies. Other risk factors include:
• Having chronic hypertension

• Having certain blood clotting disorders, diabetes, kidney disease, or an autoimmune disease like lupus

• Having a close relative (a mother, sister, grandmother, or aunt, for example) who had preeclampsia

• Being obese (having a body mass index of 30 or more)

• Carrying two or more babies• Being younger than 20 or older than 40

Q3.Is there any way I can avoid getting preeclampsia?

No one knows for sure how to prevent preeclampsia, although there's a lot of research going on in this area. A number of studies have looked into whether taking extra calcium, vitamins, or a low dose of aspirin can help, but the results have been mixed. For now, the best thing you can do is get good prenatal care and keep all your prenatal appointments. At each visit your healthcare provider will check your blood pressure and test your urine for protein. It's also important to be aware of the warning signs of preeclampsia so that you can alert your caregiver and get treated as soon as possible.For more information on pregnancy complications, see BabyCenter's comprehensive pregnancy complications area.

This Week's Activity:Choose a doctor for your baby. Get names of pediatricians or family practitioners from friends, co-workers, neighbors, or your pregnancy caregiver. Make sure the doctor accepts your health insurance, keeps hours that work with your schedule, and has an office that's convenient for you. If you can, schedule face-to-face interviews with your top candidates. If it seems too early to be thinking about this, consider that your baby will have his first doctor's visit shortly after birth.

As for me …

• I really hope I don’t gain another 11 pounds throughout this trimester although if he continues to grow as he has I know I will. I’m amazed at how much I’ve already gained. Although I *KNOW* that I still look like me just with a big bump so I definitely count my blessings. But I’ve never seen the scale get so high. And I don’t really want to be weighing the same as Mike when he has 7 inches of height on me!!


• My next appointment is scheduled next week (Tues April 6th) and then I’ll be going every two weeks. \


• My glucose screening test came back great so need to schedule additional … although it wasn’t all too terrible. Drink sugary stuff … wait an hour … get blood drawn. Getting blood drawn was never a big deal before and isn’t especially now that I’ve done it more for the pregnancy. Just don’t give me the kid at the student clinic in college again that made my blood spurt!!\


• I already have a bit of RLS on my own so this isn’t new and thankfully for the time being has subsided a bit. Or I’m getting more used to it and dealing better. The worst part is that when it’s bad … it feels like my WHOLE body has it and that is really uncomfortable. Ask Mike … poor guy gets frustrated because he doesn’t know how to help me and I must look terrible.


• So far I’ve been in the clear … good BP (blood pressure) and no protein in my urine samples. So for the moment I’m in the clear for preexlampsia. But the swelling on my feet has us all keeping a watchful eye. Of course if anything changes … I’ll keep you all posted.

A Pediatrician for baby C – well this is a bit of a predicament.

• Mike just found out that PwC will be dropping Kaiser coverage as of July 1st. Fortunately … my due date with Kaiser is June 17th so there’s NO WAY they’ll let me go til then without inducing labor. So baby C will be born at a Kaiser. However, that leaves us with having to find a pediatrician to satisfy the requirement through the current insurance provider and researching for another one with the new insurance provider we choose to go with.


• Although … we have a new medical facility RIGHT by us that takes the new insurance we’re looking into. And my friend Nicole has found a pediatrician she LOVES for Kaitlyn. She’s looking into whether or not she’s accepting new patience so we’ll see. Just makes the task of finding a pediatrician interesting.


• Or even an OB for me for post-delivery follow ups. Ugh … I almost forgot about that one too … sheesh.

• We got 2 of the 3 pieces of his furniture and worked VERY diligently on his room this weekend. It’s all coming together and is even more exciting!! Got his closet cleaned out and moved some other stuff around to make room … at one point it looked like our house threw up but I managed to have it all reeled in and organized that we got it situated. Poor Mike came home from Lowe’s and ordering the blackout shade for the nursery to see the mass chaos I’d created. But I was able to walk him through it all and showed that it really did make sense and would be all re-organized prior to bed time. AND IT WAS!!! We got so much accomplished yesterday … we’re so proud. Especially since with our schedules it was really the only day to get it done for a while!!!

Baby is kicking and squirming more and more and more. We had our first “creep out” moment on Thursday night (3/25) after my parents left our place. He always gets SUPER active from about 10:30pm-12am. We tend to listen to the news in the background and watch my tummy “bump”. Well on Thursday night … he pushed out and around with his arm or head. I could see my stomach move instead of just bump. It felt SOOOOOOO weird and looked FREAKY!!!!!!!!!! Mike couldn’t see the same movement I could because of his angle but he could see how far out he pushed on me. He did it to me again Friday day and night. He was SUPER active all day Friday. Not sure what was different. But it was neat … now he’s done this several times to me. I can feel but haven’t caught it by site since that first time.

I love that he’s learning a new movement … before it was just out and now it’s around … so proud!!! We hope everyone is doing well …