28w3d

First, if you have an opinion on cord blood banking, please go comment on my last post.

It is still surreal to me to think I'm in my 29th week. It is starting to feel like this will really happen and I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, that doesn't mean I will stop complaining anytime soon!

We had a busy weekend (at least for us these days). Yesterday my mom came over and helped me sort through all of the clothes we've gotten, take tags off and sort. B then washed all of the clothes, sheets and towels and we put everything away in the nursery. It's just amazing how much stuff we've gotten! My mom also lined the cabinet/drawers in the bathroom that separates the nursery from the third bedroom upstairs. It is something I've been meaning to do since we moved in 2 years ago. I lined all of the cabinets/drawers in the kitchen, guest bathroom and master bathroom right away. For some reason I stopped at the other bathroom upstairs. This feels like one more step towards accepting/admitting that we are actually going to USE the nursery soon! Today my mom went shopping with me to buy a couple of bras and pajama pants. Shopping is exhausting for me, so it's nice to have someone to grab different sizes for me (especially since I have no idea what size I am in anything these days). I also got through most of the rest of the thank-you notes for gifts we got at the shower and over the last week.

My one last task for tonight is to finish filling out my mail-in ballot. I've filled out some of it (all of the state and local initiatives), but need to finish.

On the pregnancy front, the BH contractions (if that's what they are) have been steadily increasing. Although the pattern is more sporadic during the day while I'm at work and then almost constant at night once I get home and relax. This pattern really doesn't sound like pre-term labor, but I'm paranoid. I called the OB office on Friday to ask about monitoring. The nurse spoke with the doctor and told me to take a bath at night, push fluids and to come in on Monday for a fetal fibronectin test. This is a test for pre-term labor. From what I've read, it isn't all that reliable. But whatever, I'll take it for now. When I go in on Monday, I'm thinking of requesting to move to weekly appointments because the contractions are just making me really nervous.

One new development this week is that I now have stretch marks. They are around my belly button (or what used to be my belly button) and they are oh so hot. The ultrasound tech last Monday commented on how great my skin was and that it was great that I have no stretch marks. Uh, yeah. She spoke too soon. Other than that, just dealing with the same pelvic and back pain and I'm STILL waiting for the pregnancy acne to go away. I guess the idea that it would go away in the 2nd trimester was wishful thinking.

There was a development on the work front last week, but I can't say anything yet as there are some people who read this who travel in the same work circles and nothing has been announced yet. One more week and I should be able to share. Also, in one more week, our dress code at work changes so that we can wear jeans any day of the week instead of just on Fridays. Not all that exciting for me considering my maternity jeans aren't that comfortable and I can seem to find any that will stay up (even with se.cret fit belly). It will be nice once I'm back to my normal clothes. Five more weeks of work until I can relax and hand over the reigns (actually 4.5 because of Thanksgiving). This week is going to be hard though because it is full of meetings. Plus, the person I rely on the most will be out of the country this week. It is for work and this person is going in my place because I can't travel.

That's it for now. Below are new belly pix from yesterday (I've included one straight on-if you click on it you can probably see the lovely stretch marks) and a couple of ultrasound pix from last Monday. This time Apple was easier to see and Banana was hiding from the camera.