28 Weeks Pregnant

Today, I am 28 weeks and 3 days pregnant. That's crazy to me! When I was in the first trimester of pregnancy, it seriously felt like it was never going to end. But here I am, in my third trimester getting ready for an actual baby to be here! This is what I look like today:

Want to see something crazy? This is what I looked like at 26 weeks with Marley:I'm like a totally different person! The differences in my pregnancies is apparent to me every single day. And the biggest reason for that is how much healthier I am this time around. I started this pregnancy 25 pounds lighter than I did with Marley. I actually eat the way I am supposed to this time around, where as with Marley I was eating anything and everything I could get. I exercised exactly zero times when I was pregnant with Marley, and now I am averaging about 5 days a week of exercise. And I KNOW it is making a huge difference! That will be my biggest piece of advice for anyone who is pregnant! Around this time when I was pregnant with Marley, I couldn't even go grocery shopping because my body hurt so much, and my feet were so swollen that I couldn't fit in tennis shoes.

The baby moves all the time. At my appointment today, I was given a sheet to do kick counts, which was always so hard for me to remember when I was pregnant with Marley. According to Dr. Hill, the baby should move about 10 times in an hour. It has been 45 minutes since I started counting at the baby has moved 27 times! I can actually feel knees, elbows, and a bottom this time also. Sadly, I didn't feel that at all with Marley.

It is hard to watch the scale go up every week. I know that I have to gain weight and that it is necessary for a healthy baby! But after all the hard work that went into losing 71 pounds in the year before I got pregnant, it still hurts a tiny bit to watch the number go back up. Fortunately, I have learned how to be healthy and how to lose weight, and it shouldn't be that hard after the baby arrives to get back into shape. I am actually looking forward to it.

I say this all the time, but Marley is so excited to be a big sister. We talk about it constantly. She still thinks the baby is a girl (I have that feeling right now also), but no matter if it a girl or boy, she wants to name the baby Sally. She has felt the baby move twice now. The second time was last night while I was putting her to sleep. I asked what it felt like and she said, "It feel like.... owls." Very random. And one night while she was sleeping with her leg leaning against my belly, the baby was kicking her leg over and over again making her leg pop up. It made me smile that the new baby was trying to tell Marley what to do. It doesn't stand a chance though. Marley will be telling her little brother or sister what to do for the rest of her life!

At my appointment today, my blood pressure was the best it has ever been, I found out that I passed my gestational diabetes test (I was borderline with Marley), and my weight gain is pretty much in track. All of the problems I had at this point in my pregnancy with Marley and nonexistent, and I can't even explain how happy that makes me!

For some very strange reason, I am not worried at all about having two kids. Those of you who have more than one child must be thinking I am insane at this point. I just feel like I've got that part for some reason. I feel like I can handle Marley and a new baby, especially since Marley is such as awesome little girl. Obviously it will be a big change, but I just feel like I can handle it. Now, no one is allowed to say "I told you so!" if things aren't as smooth as I want them to be. I fully admit that I could be totally wrong about this! But that's how I'm feeling right now- not worried about it. After all, I have plenty of other things to worry about, right? Why should I spend extra time worrying about the fact that I'm not worried about having two kids! I can't wait to meet this baby and see Marley loving on him or her. It will be an awesome experience, even if it ends up being harder than I think.