28 Weeks

So this week started off with some news that surprised me a little. I was speaking to Jane from HR and we were discussing my maternity leave and the two weeks of vacation time I've got left. Officially, my last day of work will be June 4. I'll use my vacation first then start my maternity leave. There's only one caveat...there's a two week "waiting period". So to put it simply, I'm entitled to 52 weeks of mat leave but only 50 of those weeks are paid. And to top it off, I've still got to pay into my benefits if I want to continue being covered. Not exactly the ideal situation but I suppose Paul & I will find a way to work around it.

On the up side of things, I now have a doula. Paul & I interviewed a few of them and found it really hard to make a decision. They all seemed like amazing women who have so much knowledge and are so giving of themselves. But in the end, we chose Jody from Timeless Birth. She made us feel very comfortable and her philosophy on birth was the most like our own. And of course our dogs loved her! We've got our first meeting in a couple weeks and I'm really looking forward to reviewing my birth plan with her.

Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten...I'm in the home stretch! My third trimester started this week and time seems to be flying. Paul is still working on the closet and the bathroom still needs to be done. Not to mention the baby room is still an office. I'm really going to have to get organized if I want to get things done before my lil' bean arrives. If only I wasn't a procrastinator.

As for being in the third trimester, I'm really starting to feel the extra weight. It's not too bad yet but tying my shoes and getting out of bed or off the couch isn't as easy as it was before. I also find myself catching my breath more often. I can't talk as long as I used to and yawning also takes my breath away. My lil' bean is taking over! The other thing I think is happening is hiccups. I'm not completely sure but I've started to feel rhythmic movements that only last a few moments. From what I can tell this most likely is hiccups.

Over the last few months Paul & I have debated on trying cloth diapers. Statistics tell us that a child usually goes through $1500 worth of disposable diapers in the first two years. Cloth diapering will only cost between $150 - 500 depending on which diapers you decide on. After weeks of research I found Babywear Boutique. This store is owned & operated by Steph, a mom of three, about 15 minutes from my house. Since no one I know is cloth diapering, I decided to make an appointment with Steph to ask the questions I had and to find out what each kind of diaper was like. Paul & I spent an hour with her and we really enjoyed learning all about cloth diapers. What surprised me the most was not how easy it all seems but how much Paul was into it. He has always said that he would support my decision to cloth diaper but it wasn't until we were surrounded by them that I actually believed he would do this and not think it was a big mistake.

Well, at 28 weeks my lil' bean is a little bigger than 14.5 inches and weighs about the same as a chinese cabbage. He is still adding fat to his little body, about 2 - 3% body fat and his muscle tone is increasing. He can also blink his eyes now, which have lashes on the lids. His eyesight is still developing though but he can probably see light that filters into the womb. His bone marrow is building red blood cells and the adrenal glands are producing the hormones androgen and estrogen. These hormones will send a signal to stimulate my hormones in order to trigger milk production.