28 Weeks Pregnant

Another day late, but it was my Mum's birthday yesterday so we had the day off together. She came with me in the morning to my appointment with the midwife, which went very well.

I had the usual checks done and everything was fine. I also had 2 vials of blood taken for tests to see if I am aneamic, and I also asked if she could double-check my blood type after the mix-up with my notes. She measured my tummy from my pelvic bone to just under my ribs, and I measured at 29cms, which is apparently 1cm over my dates but that that's fine. She said baby is lying with its head under my belly button, back up against my right hand side, and legs under my ribs. We also got to hear baby's heartbeat, which I think sounded like horses. My Mum thinks it sounds like the start-up music on her Tom Tom!

The midwife informed me I have been booked in to give birth at a new part of the hospital, which is a Midwife Led Unit, and a lot more like a home-from-home. They have a portable birthing pool, and they normally don't have more than two women in there at a time. As long as I carry on being a low-risk pregnancy, that is where I will go. I'm very pleased - they are much more open about the way in which YOU want to give birth - if you want to be squatting, standing etc, they will support your decision. I can't have an epidural if I go in there, but I'd quite like to see if I can get through it without.

I told the midwife that I liked the idea of a water birth, and she said that if I did, not to get into the water until I was at least 3cms dilated because otherwise it could slow down the contractions.

Last time I saw a midwife I was told that from this stage I would have to come in for weekly checks, but either I heard it wrong, or she was mistaken, because I don't have to go back for another 3 weeks.

On the house-front, a roofer *should* have been looking at the roof yesterday, once we have that and get that to the mortgage people, we are ready to go! Apparently the seller's solicitor has been chasing to exchange!

Here's what Babycentre says about week 28... "Your baby now weighs about 2.5 to 3 pounds/ 1.1 to 1.3 kilograms and measures 10.5 inches/ 26 centimetres from crown to rump (15.5 inches/ 39 centimetres from top to toe). Her eyes open and close, she sleeps and wakes at regular intervals and she may suck a finger or thumb.

Sweet dreams, little baby! Some experts believe that babies begin to dream by the 28th week. What do they dream about? No one knows for certain but the brain is active this week as well. The characteristic grooves on the brain's surface start to appear and more brain tissue develops.

Chalk up any rhythmic movement you may be feeling to a case of the hiccups, which are common this week and throughout the pregnancy. Your baby has them but is breathing in amniotic fluid rather than air. A paper bag can't cure her hiccups, obviously, but an episode usually lasts only momentarily. The sensation for you may be strange but not unpleasant.
Since your uterus is now up near your rib cage, you may now find yourself short of breath if you haven't already. Starting now and continuing through the last three months of pregnancy, you may be plagued by leg cramps, haemorrhoids, varicose veins and an itchy abdomen. Are pregnancy discomforts getting you down? Try some natural remedies to perk you up.

If you were found to be Rh-negative earlier in pregnancy, you'll probably be tested for Rh antibodies this week or next and have an anti-D injection to combat the incompatibility. You may be offered a repeat injection at 36 weeks."

Bump pics to come over the weekend.