Celebrating Week 28!

How far along? 28 weeks, 4 days.
Total weight gain/loss: + 21 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Yep. You know it has to be a maternity dress when you take a 2 hour nap in it. Nothing else can be that comfy!
Sleep: Really good. Wow, I’m so thankful for that!
Best moment this week: Going to Disney on Ice with Granny and my girls. There just isn’t anything that makes me as happy as watching them be so happy.

Movement: Yeah – all over the place.

Food cravings: None, really. But Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes are back. And they are good.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Papa John’s pizza.
Have you started to show yet: Yep.

Gender Predictions: It’s a boy!

Labor Signs: A few more contractions this week. Enough to make me a little nervous, but also not enough to make me do anything except drink some water and ask for a foot rub. 🙂
Belly Button in or out? IN
Wedding rings on or off? They have officially made the switch. It’s been 9 months since my rings were on my left hand!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Really good except for the “birth plan talk” night.
Weekly Wisdom: Christmas Tree cakes help everything look better in the world.

Milestones: Kyle is over 1 pound! This is a HUGE deal – There are several medical intervention options that aren’t even really options until he hits a certain weight…so seeing him grow 5 ounces in 2 weeks was fantastic news.

Exercise: Nope. But I really want to. Maybe I’ll get some walks in this week.

Weekly Prayer Request: We have to make a decision about what hospital we’ll deliver in this week. One hospital provides an incredible NICU, but none of the doctors I’ve seen so far can deliver there. The other hospital has just what we need, but isn’t equipped to handle NICU baby cases. BUT, we could have the exact birth experience and doctors we wanted. It’s just a big decision at this point. There will most likely be another hospital visit coming up as well as a few more meetings with doctors to help us make the best decision.

Hey there, little guy!

I was SO happy to see you again this week – you’re getting bigger! And you’re moving all over the place these days. You’re definitely starting to make me feel pregnant. I had to ROLL out of bed after a nap this afternoon! I hope your first Thanksgiving was happy for you like it was for us. We opted not to cook – something about being on my feet all day – and even though it pretty much killed me not to be cooking with your sister, it was nice to not have to do any dishes after dinner was over. 😉

I am thankful that you are still with us. Kami was thankful for breakfast. Chloe was thankful she got to go to Disney on Ice with Granny. And Daddy was thankful for all of us. Together. I’m guessing if you could talk you’d say you were thankful for that big piece of pumpkin pie I ate for dessert.

We decided on your birth plan this week. That was the hardest conversation your dad and I have ever had. Ever. But we did it. And we feel at total peace about our decisions. We still have one big decision to make though. Which hospital gets to have you inside their walls. It’s such a complicated decision! But we keep trusting that God will order our steps. He won’t let us mess up.

This whole situation is so strangely numbing at times. I glanced at my google history to find something the other day, and I was kinda shocked at what I saw. “Christmas tree chocolate cookies” (for Kami – she really wants to make some.); followed by “trisomy 18 birth plans”; followed by “funeral services for infants”. All in about 6 minutes’ time. And kinda without even really thinking about it. Like, this was just what any other pregnant mom does. Plan a birth; plan a funeral; find a cookie recipe.

Sometimes I just hold my stomach and wish I could fix you. Make you better. Sometimes, I don’t even want to talk to you – for fear that I’ll fall even more in love. Usually in those times, though, you give me a good kick in the gut. Literally. And I get over my own selfishness and open my heart again. I can’t ignore the many doctors who keep saying that you shouldn’t be here. But you are. And that they don’t know what to do with you – because they’ve never seen a baby this severe last this long. And I can’t ignore you. Partly because as I fall asleep you’re practicing your drop kicks. But also because you’ve grown so much bigger than one pound, 2 ounces, in my heart. In all of our hearts.

I can plan all I want. I think it’s how I cope. But, I can’t promise anything will happen like I’ve planned at this point. I can promise you, that you will never be forgotten. And the lessons you have helped me learn about my God will never be forgotten.

That’s why I was thankful for you this Thanksgiving.

I’ll get to see you again this week. But until then, know that I love you, and I always will.

XOXO,

Mom