Funkhouser Update: Week 28

Officially in the third trimester and not quite sure how to feel about it. Part of me can't wait until the pregnancy part is over, but a bigger part of me is FREAKING OUT that when the pregnancy part is over I will have two kids. What the hell am I going to do with two kids?? Funks continues to ace his echo cardiograms and the next one isn't until Week 30.

I thought I was going to get a bit of a reprieve in the doctor's appointment department, but not so. I have a growth ultrasound next week. See, back at the 20 week anatomy scan the technician noted that Funk's long bones-ie, the humerus and femur-were slightly longer than normal for a fetus his age. It is usually the opposite that is cause for concern (short arm and leg bones can be a soft marker for a chromosomal problem), and once my OB heard how tall BVZ is she assured us that Funkhouser is just going to be tall. But, in an abundance of caution they are going to measure everything again just to see where he's at. It is kind of ironic because one of the complications with my autoimmune condition is that the baby can be "growth restricted" or too small. Clearly I have no problem growing babies that are too small.

Starting at Week 30 I will start weekly NST's (or non-stress tests). I have never had one before, but it my understanding that I will spend about 30 minutes hooked up to the monitors so that Funk's heart rate can be evaluated. My OB moved "D-Day" to February 25. That could change based on how it all goes down these next two months, but for now, that's where we are at.

I have started having some itchiness at night, especially in just the past few days. It is hard to know if it is just normal skin stretching stuff or a bigger cause for concern. I saw my OB today and she is all over it and wants me to start on anti-histamines if I feel I need some relief. I am not there just quite yet. My biggest skin issue, even outside of pregnancy, is that I produce an insane amount of histamine. If I scratch my skin even slightly I will break out in a crop of hives, so the key is to never, ever, ever itch. That's much easier said than done. Ice packs are my very best friend and BVZ keeps me well stocked in them. I find if I can ice the itch away, it is tolerable.

Norah is really, really, really into her brother these days. She hugs and kisses my belly and says cute stuff like, "I love my brother." She also whacks my belly and says, "I am ready for Funky to be born!" I am off from work the week after Christmas and it is game on as far as potty training goes. We plan to use Funkhouser to our advantage as much as possible in that arena. Tonight she didn't want to sit on the potty before her bath and we told her that she had to show Funky how a "big kid pees on the potty." She gladly plopped down and did her business and said, "Funky, watch me!"

We are also starting the room transition (the baby will take Norah's room and Norah will move into the spare bedroom). It is getting painted this weekend and hopefully her new furniture (which cost a small fortune-geez) will arrive soon thereafter. We want Norah to have a solid 8 weeks in her new room before he gets here.

I think that's it for now. I am not doing the meme, because this was ridiculously long already.