28 Weeks

I'm very excieted to say that we are to the 3rd Trimester, we are far enough along that if the baby was born TODAY she has a very good chance of surviving. The doctor said 90% chance!! Oh yes!! This week her lungs are able to breath air...if they had to. That is such a great comfort to me. I love reaching milestones it makes the pregnancy so exciting. I feel amazing and absolutely LOVE being pregnant! I have had bad swelling for a while now and it freaked me out because after having my legs elevated all night they still would be swollen in the morning. Then it really freaked me out after my mom told me that sometimes swelling is a sign of Pre-Eclampsia. Plus my blood pressure has been getting higher which is another sign. So I did a bunch of research and I was going crazy for about 2 or 3 days thinking about the what if's. Then I realized that i'm doing everything I can to prevent it (i'm walking 1-1.5 hrs a day and drinking over a gallon of water a day). So if I get it, I get it, and there's not much I can do about it. So i've been telling my body to just do what it's suppose to do and get this baby to full term! I have also been taking a bunch of herbs to help get rid of the toxins in my body. During my research I found that a big reason why people's bodies get bad swelling and their blood pressure goes up is because their body is having a hard time getting rid of the extra "waste" product pregnancy brings. So me being my "naturalist" self I started finding out what herbs were safe to take during pregnancy that can help my body excrete these extra toxins. The first night I started taking the herbs the swelling in my legs and hands went down the next morning. I was so happy!! I have been taking the herbs for a week or so and my feet only swell at the end of the day and go down after a few hours of having my legs elevated. Also my blood pressure has been going down. I go to Wal-Mart 3-4 times a week and check my blood pressure (they have a free machine that checks it). One of the times I got it to 119/68! That's almost my normal BP! I'm so happy these herbs seem to be working! The doctor said he's going to watch me very close and he may have to induce me early if it gets out of hand. He's also going to do ultrasounds to make sure our baby's growing like she should. That's why Pre-Eclampsia is so bad because it can harden the placenta and make it so the baby can't get all the nutrients it needs to grow. They call this Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR). So far I don't have Pre-Eclampsia but my doctor said it looks like it's only a matter of time. I go in next week to get an ultrasound and visit so i'm hoping my BP stays down so we don't have to deal with anything crapy! Hopefully the herbs will "cure" me and baby!

A full body shot. My belly has finally reached the (she's definatly pregnant stage). I love it! It's so dang cute! I could be pregnant my entire life if my body would let me. I'm hoping our little baby can stay in as long as possible, I would rather not have a premie!

Sorry for anyone who doesn't like belly pictures...there will be A LOT more coming because I LOVE them. And until I get streach marks (cross my fingers I don't) I will do bare belly pictures. So if you are offended DON'T LOOK AT MY BLOG!!