28 Weeks

How Far Along? 28 and 1/2 weeks
Total Weight Gain/Loss: +17ish
Baby Related Purchases: Lucy got her own Easter basket from my parents (er…the Easter Bunny…) at the lake house this weekend. But Jason and I ate all her candy already haha. She also got a little stuffed animal kitten that we will put in her nursery.
Stretch marks: Don’t think so
Sleep: I never know what to expect, I either sleep fine, or wake up a fair amount. However, sleep is still going pretty well overall for me. I need to start going to sleep earlier – that’s my problem!
Movement: I feel her kick and move around more and more – the movements are stronger too, I’m starting to be able to imagine what painful kicking might be like.
What I miss: Running! I can’t wait to run really fast (or fast by my standards…) outside again. Right now, I just don’t feel comfortable doing so, plus I get side cramps a lot easier now, so I’m pretty sure that would happen the moment I started running.
Cravings: I don’t think I’ve written yet that I eat TONS of popcorn. It is a great snack for when I get hungry at work in the afternoons and need something salty.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! Thankful for this!
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Still backaches, can’t get comfortable as easily – especially on the couch at night. It is starting to get hard to bend over…weird!
Belly Button In or Out? I like how another blogger put it – it’s not “In” or “Out”, it just is.
Happy or Moody most of the time: I loved how I got to enjoy two four-day work weeks over the past two weeks (one for my sister’s wedding, and one for Good Friday – the week of Masters).
Worries: Haven’t really worried about much this week! Yay!
Best moments this week: Last week was the Masters here in Augusta! We were really lucky to rent our house out for Masters from Wednesday-Sunday. On the Sunday after my sister’s wedding, I drove back home for a week of work, while Jason stayed in Atlanta for interviews. On Monday night, I was exhausted and didn’t manage to do any cleaning to get ready for our house guests. That left only one night – Tuesday to do TONS of cleaning. Thanks for my procrastination I had the most productive evening of my life. On the way home from work, I stopped at Kroger, got groceries for all the snack foods and toiletries for our renters. When I got home I made dinner, swept the deck, wiped our table clean from pollen, cleaned both bathrooms, did about 100 loads of laundry, folded about a 100 loads of laundry (all our clothes had to be clean and folded away, and all the beds had to have fresh sheets on them), swept/swiffered the entire house, packed my clothes for the next 5 days, put away all of our personal photos, packed away my jewelry, our mail, and the list goes on and on! To make it worse, there was this crazy downpour of rain – so I had to put off a lot of things until the morning (putting out the trash, etc.) The morning was even crazier, with all the last minute packing, making sure everything looked perfect, getting all the keys hidden etc. It was super exhausting and during this process I promised myself that I would reward myself somehow and buy something “fun” with our Masters money.

On Wednesday after work, I headed to the food court for dinner, then bought a few maternity clothes (shorts, black dress pants). Then, I headed over to Michael and Angelyn’s where I crashed for the night – the location of my last photo-op.

On Thursday, I got the experience of a lifetime – I got to go to the Masters! It was a really fun surprise. There was an extra ticket from someone at work, so Stephanie and me went together in the afternoon. From a first glance, I felt like I was in Disneyland – with the entry gate, all the perfectly manicured lawns, walkways, nice buildings, etc. Then I got to be like 3 feet away from Tiger Woods a few times! We also followed some other people who were “leading” at the time – but since it was the first day of competition, all those people ended up losing pretty badly… I even got to eat some food, which I had heard lots about, although I did opt for a Grilled Chicken Ceasar Wrap – only 3 bucks! over the traditional Pimento Cheese sandwich. The craziest part of the day was the gift shop! People were spending an arm and a leg in there for Masters propaganda. I ended up caving and bought something things for gifts – and got Jason and early graduation present – his first Masters polo! When we were done, we walked out to the Fresh Market parking lot, which we figured was a “perfect” place to park – only to find huge signs everywhere warning about “Police Enforcement/No Parking” – I felt my stomach sink as I raced to the car to make sure it was still there, didn’t have an obscene ticket on it – or a boot. Praise Jesus – who answered my prayer then and there – the police spared me and I didn’t even have a ticket!

After the Masters, I dropped Stephanie off and drove to the lake house to meet up with my family, Jason and Samia to enjoy some burgers. That night we just hung out and talked. On Friday, it was kinda cold and cloudy the whole day, so the whole crew went to the outlet malls and Walmart together – it’s quite a trek out there from the lake house. We got Jason a few new polos and looked at (but didn’t buy) tons of cute clothes at the Carter’s Outlet – def. heading back there later! I think we also went on a walk that day. We watched Secret Church that night as our own Satellite Church – which was super awesome. If you have never watched Secret Church – I encourage you to watch the free recordings here – I always learn a ton and am very inspired by the teachings of David Platt. Plus, it was very fitting to learn about suffering for Christ on Good Friday.

On Saturday, it was sunny and warm and we enjoyed another walk, some time in the boat out on the lake, fishing, etc. Jason and I even got to enjoy a kayak ride together. We then went to Johnny’s for live music – our family tradition – it was fun, although this time, the music was so loud we could barely hear each other! We came back, had some ice cream and the adults got to hang out and talk about Jason’s job prospects, our future plans, etc. until bedtime.

On Sunday morning (when I was 28 weeks pregnant exactly), Jason drove back to Augusta to teach Sunday School. I decided to stay back and spend the morning with my family. I helped out by making Sweet Potato Biscuits, Honey Butter, and Scalloped Potatoes – all with my little sis. We also had salmon, green beans, and strawberries. Even though the kids insisted on talking about how gross the salmon was the entire lunch – it was still very delicious! Before I left, we hid eggs for an egg hunt – S and L went absolutely nuts about this and were literally sprinting around the huge yard. They found all 65 eggs in like 5-10 minutes! Then I headed back to Augusta for another week.

Looking forward to: July 1st! or whenever the due date is. Prior to that though, I’m looking forward to Jason’s graduation in early May!

Size of Baby: This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She’s sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby’s brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don’t bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

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