Third Trimester!!

We've of course been so grateful to God all along for the blessing of this healthy pregnancy, but today we're extra excited and thankful to begin the third trimester!  It's hard to believe we'll get to meet our little girl in just 12 weeks or so!  According to our last ultrasound, she's about 2.5 pounds and 14 inches long.  I can tell she's growing by how far she can reach across my abdomen now! I'll get a solid punch-kick combo on my left and right sides simultaneously sometimes. She can't quite reach up to my rib cage yet, but I can tell she's working on it.  She probably thinks it's a jungle gym. :)

 

She'll add more height during the next few weeks, but mostly she'll be gaining that cute baby fat.  We're praying for a nice, chubby, full-term baby!  Our ultrasounds have shown that she has one dilated kidney, but otherwise she looks very healthy, and we're asking God to heal her kidney before she's even born.  They can't tell what's causing it to be dilated, so she'll most likely be seen by a pediatric urologist very shortly after birth.  We'd appreciate your prayers for her healing. 

 

I've continued to feel really well, although bending over to tie my shoes and getting up from our couch are becoming monumental tasks!  I'm definitely going to buy a non-slip mat for our tub as soon as possible since I'm a little worried about losing the battle with my shifting center of gravity.  Other than just feeling more awkward, I've thankfully had very few of the typical pregnancy complaints.  I have started to occasionally wake up around 3 a.m., unable to go back to sleep for a few hours - I hear that can become more common during the third trimester. My first line of defense for discomfort or sleeplessness at night is to support my body with yet another extra pillow, so poor Dan is probably going to be pushed to the floor by my mountain of pillows before our due date comes around. :)  But I've been exercising with our recumbent bike, elliptical machine, and prenatal yoga videos, and I really think it helps to keep me feeling good during the days and sleeping well at night. 

 

Within the next few weeks, we'll start taking childbirth classes - that should be an adventure.  I've been reading the Labor and Delivery chapter in "What to Expect When You're Expecting," to mentally prepare myself for the topics they'll cover.  In the midst of the exhausting and gory details, they have tips for the coach/spouse that make me laugh out loud.  I'm not sure if they meant those sections to be comic relief, but I find all the caveats hilarious.  There's a list of about two dozen ways Dan can help as a coach during labor, and they all say something like "Remind her to use her breathing techniques, unless she finds it annoying." "Rub her back or hold her hand, unless she tells you to stop touching her." I wonder if they'll have me act like a wounded and angry wild animal during childbirth class so Dan will be ready. I'll keep you posted. :)

 

Here's a picture of baby girl and I at 28 weeks!  I'm expecting to grow a ton during the last 12!