28 Weeks

Yesterday, I was 28 weeks pregnant. Yesterday, I officially hit my third trimester. I am mind-boggled when I consider how fast this pregnancy has progressed. It's unfathomable. In just 12 weeks, just 12 weeks (that's not much time at all), we will either be holding our baby girl or getting ready to meet her soon. I think everyone in this house is very excited to meet #5, but we are all also a bit nervous. Change is hard. A new baby is hard work. Everyone will be affected.

The children seem to love #5 already. Isabelle and Jeremiah especially love to hug my belly and kiss my belly and talk to her. To say Isabelle is excited to have a baby sister would be something of an understatement. She has big plans for helping me with her.

This past weekend, I finished cleaning out my office, which used to be Gabriel and Jeremiah's nurseries. I met the contractor on Tuesday to discuss some improvements to the room. He will begin the first week of October installing wainscoting, chair rail and new crown molding in the room, in addition to hanging my window fixtures and painting the room. I am very excited to have the opportunity to decorate a little baby girl's nursery for the first time. With the twins, we went with yellow and they shared a yellow room until we separated them when they were getting ready to enter kindergarten. Jeremiah and Gabriel both had blue nurseries and then moved into a green room. This room will be all girl and I am very excited about it. Isabelle is too.

As for me, I am feeling pretty good these days. I did not get my second trimester energy burst until well into my second trimester. I would argue that it never really came at all, given the heat of the summer. In fact, I was pretty exhausted most of the summer. Now, I seem to have some more energy, at least for the time being. So, I am using that energy to get as much done around the house as I can. I am a bit swollen. My pubic bone hurts quite a bit on many days. Sometimes, if I have been standing a lot or walking a lot, I feel like I am just going to split in two. The pain can be excruciating. But it's only temporary.

#5 is moving around quite a bit and it's always fun to feel the baby move inside me. It's one of my favorite parts of being pregnant.

Last week, I talked to my OB about delivery. She said that when I have contractions 6-8 minutes apart, I should come to the hospital right away especially since this is my fourth delivery and we live 45 minutes away on a good day. I reminded her that #4 came out in one push. She also said she could offer me induction at 39 weeks, but not before and I again expressed my sincere desire to avoid an induction. She suggested we wait until we get closer and see how I am "progressing" down there. 39 Weeks will put me right at Thanksgiving and that is really not an ideal time to be having a baby.

Twelve weeks. One trimester. And a sweet baby girl to love and snuggle with all winter long!