Bodily Fluids

And the nosebleeds have begun. I don't remember having crazy nosebleeds with E, but I probably did. It's pretty annoying, especially when I'm driving in the car, between site visits and I don't have any tissues, so when I get to a school I have to immediately go wash the blood from my hands before I go to a classroom to meet with a teacher.

And then this morning, as I was snuggling with Paul, I felt a drip on my arm. And then I felt another. When I wiped it with my other hand, it was sticky. Yep, I'm leaking colostrum. Of course, today marks week 30, so I have 6 more weeks until I'm considered "term," 10 weeks until my due date, and 12 weeks until they want to slice me open and rip the kid out. While I can't remember when my boobs started leaking with E, I do remember having to pull out the boob pads while I was still pregnant.

The kid is getting big. He's big and strong enough to make my entire belly move when he kicks and moves. E finds it hysterical. She loves to sit on my lap, put cream (she calls it "peam") on my belly and watch L kick. She shrieks with laughter, saying "Baby L-L is kicking!" Of course, she goes a little overboard with the cream. She puts so much on me that even when I take a shower afterwards, I can't get it all off. She also likes to cram it into my belly button. In order to get it out, I have to squeeze all around it and push it out like it's a zit. It's pretty disgusting.

I didn't pass my glucose screening, so I have to take the 3 hour test next Saturday. Ugh. That sucks. However, I have good news, too!

I have insurance through work that will cover my delivery at Meridian Park! I don't have to go to a Providence hospital after all! I'm very happy about that! I guess I can deal with the bloody nose and leaking boobs. That's really nothing compared to some of the stories I've heard from St. V's.

Week 28 Glucose Screening

I have been dreading this glucose screening ever since I got pregnant. The shit they give you to drink is so completely foul, and with my last pregnancy, I failed, so I had to go in for a three-hour test. That means I had to drink three of those nasty, foul drinks. I should know in a week if I have to go through that ordeal again.

I took E with me to the appointment. I told her we were going to listen to L's heartbeat. When I went in to give my urine sample, I told E that I had to leave it so they could make sure that L was OK. So then, whenever the nurse and midwife did anything (temperature, BP, pulse, doppler, etc.), E asked "Is Baby L-L OK?" It was so precious.

When Paul came home from work, I had E announce the good news. "Daddy! Baby L-L OK!" She was very proud to be able to relay that little bit of information.

I was very proud to relay this little bit of information: I've gained only 10 pounds so far in my pregnancy. That's good news, since I was already 30 pounds overweight, and 10 pounds heavier than I was when I got pregnant with E. Hopefully when I lose the baby weight, I'll keep it off this time.

28 Weeks

Back to baby #2. I'm 28 weeks pregnant today. I have officially entered my third trimester. I have 12 weeks to go! Yippie! Unfortunately, this also marks the phase where I become bigger than a house, can't fit into any of my shoes, can no longer walk at a reasonable pace, get heartburn for no apparent reason, and have to drink that nasty sugar drink for the gestational diabetes test. Blech!

Monday is the day. When I did it in my last pregnancy, I tested positive the first time, and had to take the day-long test. I cried and cried when I found out. I thought I had done something wrong and I had ruined my child. Luckily, it turned out that I didn't have it, and everything was fine. But pregnancy hormones being what they are, I couldn't help myself. I hope I pass the test on the first try this time. I hated having to drink that nasty, thick, syrupy stuff. And with this pregnancy, I'm not even into sugar like I was with E, so it'll be even worse.

Hmmm...what else is going on? Oh, I have heartburn. I have it so bad that the other night, I woke up with nose burn. Seriously. I had acid all the way up my esophagus and into my nose. The only upside to that is that I'm also getting sick, so I was able to breathe through one of my nostrils that night because the acid ate away at the thick mucus in my nose. But I'm now sleeping sitting in a semi-upright position, with pillows all around. I don't remember having to do this so soon with E. I haven't begun to notice the 3am trains yet, so I guess that's a plus. Perhaps I'm just so freaking exhausted from work and dealing with a toddler that I can't be bothered with waking up to the trains.

Another interesting note is that when I wake up, and L moves around, I go back to sleep pretty quickly. That never happened with E. When she danced in my belly, I could not get back to sleep. After she was born, I missed the feeling, so I wonder if having it again is so comforting that it's putting me back to sleep. Whatever the reason, I'm loving it! Go, L, Go!