28 weeks today!

I thought I was already in the 3rd trimester, but apparently I'm just sliding into it now. Whatever. What's a number, really? I'll go by belly size. And since Ling Ling has just now taken a shining to sitting on it and resting her head between my boobs, I'll take it as a sign that the belly is now big enough to be granted "Third Trimester" status.

I'm tired. I'm really really tired. It hits me out of the blue and I have to nap RIGHT THEN. I really noticed it after Donald's b-day party Saturday night. Like I said, I could hardly move off the couch the next day until 7:30pm. It was awesome to let myself rest, but boring as hell. So I grabbed the laptop and started to create the baby registry. A bit of a small wish list, pretty straight forward (thermometers, nursing pads, Bumbo, yada yada) (Anyone have thoughts on the Bumbo? Is it worth it do ya think?) Researching monitors to add to it later today. Donald laughs and says that shopping is my form of nesting. Lord knows cleaning the house isn’t!
The little guy has been kicking like mad since Friday night. And moving around so much. His little butt sticks out beside my belly button and my stomach rolls like a beluga. It’s hilarous! When it gets more pronounced, I’m going to video it. Stay tuned for that one!

28 weeks. Here’s what’s up with him:

He’s 15.75 inches and over 2.5 lbs! That’s HUGE. No friggin’ wonder I can feel him down by my pelvis and then over to my side. Crazy. He’s growing eyelashes and if he has hair, it’s growing longer right now.

And the mom?

She’s shopping! I have an ongoing list of things to buy, and am set to do it over the Christmas holidays. I want to have everything ready (or as ready as I can be) by early January so I can just relax and enjoy the remaining weeks of having my little guy safely inside of me. As my friend Nicola told me after Ruby was born (it actually quite terrified me!)... to paraphrase: “To think you’re so worried for the 9 months of carrying your baby and want to keep her safe and do everything right.... and then you have her and she’s OUT and it’s total panic time.“

!!

I’ve got my list going of Things for Mom and Things for Baby. For mom it’s stuff like Lasinoh (by week 32!) and ingredients to make my own baby wipes (a January purchase), bath supplies for the little guy like gentle shampoos and wash (looking into natural stuff...), receiving blankies, face cloths, a couple of towels with cute hoods, socks for him, I have tonnes of clothes for him, but have to go through again to make sure I have enough of each, order the cloth diaper service, prepare my hospital bag... all that stuff. What fun! Nicola is a great source of reference for those things not to forget, and so is my friend Lexie. She’s fired off a list of things to me. Anyone want a copy, just email or leave a comment with your email address.

That’s about it for today... must get back to work. A couple of housekeeping items:

1. Great to see a bunch of you on Twitter now! It’s a fantastic way to briefly keep in touch and network with people world wide. I’ve gotten some great advice from people via their tweets and conversations, and I even landed a client on Twitter. It’s a fantastic social media tool.

2. I’ve changed the chat option from Gmail to Skype. Skype is by far superior. For all my friends and relatives at home in the Maritimes, I highly suggest you download it (it’s a free service) and we can keep in touch after the baby comes - by video call even! Or you can simply chat with me if it shows that I’m currently online. My skype name is Scratchpad1.

I’ll leave you with a picture of the birthday party on Saturday night. This is all the grandchildren with us, except for a few. Be warned, I take up half of the frame with my ever-widening belly....