Pregnancy update: 28 weeks

I haven't taken any belly shots since I was 20 weeks along. Today I rigged up an elaborate tower with the camera on top and asked Zari to push the button.

Here's me 28 weeks with Dio...

27 weeks with Zari:

30 weeks with Zari:

 

How much bigger will I get this time???

This pregnancy's theme is "get things done." I've nearly finished Dio's birth quilt. I machine quilted most of the squares; the rest will need hand quilting because of the designs. I definitely plan to have it finished and hanging up before the next baby comes.

We've also decided to entirely renovate our downstairs bathroom. Demolition begins in mid-December, and we HAVE to get it finished quickly. A) because I have to pee in the middle of the night and it's a long, long trek all the way across the house and up a very steep staircase to our other bathroom, and B) because, after all, I'm having a baby in February and won't be able to work on it after the baby is born. I'm really excited about the renovation. Right now it's a cramped, poorly designed room with ugly, cheap fixtures and no tub at all, just a shower. I drew up plans that make a much larger, open space with an oversize whirlpool tub plus a shower, sink, and toilet and higher ceilings (our bathroom's ceilings were dropped to 8', but they could go back up to the original 10' height). All without moving any walls, except for a small bumpout into our master bedroom for the sink. I bought a jacuzzi tub on Craiglist (exactly the size & style I was looking for, 72"x42") for $100, including a nice faucet. Because we saved so much on the tub, we decided to hire a plumber to help us get the bathroom done faster. We'll do everything else ourselves, with some help from my dad.

I read a lot of pregnancy/birth/breastfeeding books during my other pregnancies, but this time around I haven't read any, except ones I'm reviewing. I have practically memorized all of the birth books I own, so it's just not as interesting reading them again for the fourth or fifth time.

I've been leaving this baby alone more than my other pregnancies. (Or should I say neglecting?) Because I had such a hard time locating heart tones earlier on, I stopped trying for a while. Two days ago, I listened again and found the heartbeat quickly and easily. I guess the baby is big enough now that it can't hide any longer! I'm not going to worry about the baby's position until at least 34 weeks or later; I had too much self-inflicted stress when I was pregnant with Dio over whether he was breech or transverse.

I had about 2 months of fairly decent sleep, but now my hips are starting to ache more and more at night. It's not the pelvis or joints, just a muscle/pressure point ache on the outside of my hip/leg from sleeping on my side. The last few hours of sleep are really fitful, because both sides ache equally bad by that point and I can only stay on one side for a few minutes at a time. What I really need is a mattress or mattress topper with a bowl-shaped hole right where my hips go...I've seen inflatable maternity mattresses that do this, but never anything designed for a real bed.

I'm just reaching that threshhold where, instead of the birth seeming far off in the future, it's coming up almost too quickly. Am I ready for another baby? Another labor and birth?