28 weeks and counting....

Today we are 28 weeks pregnant! The time seems to be spiraling away from us now as we realize we will be done with pregnancy and on to parenthood in just 12 short weeks, but at the same time those 12 weeks still seem so far away!

The baby is now nearly 2 1/2 pounds and is about 15 3/4 inches long and it is unbelievable for me to realize that just 11 weeks ago at 17 weeks, the baby weighed only 3 1/2 ounces - meaning that baby has now increased its weight more than 10 times in just 11 weeks! And, just in the last 4 weeks, from when we were 24 weeks along, the baby's weight has doubled. This little one is growing fast! I've been feeling the baby move a bunch more this week, too - which makes me really happy, and it's proof for me that he/she really has been doing all of this doubling in size because it certainly feels like that from the inside - out! Most of the time now, instead of just feeling a little poke here and there, over and over, I now feel actual movement - and I'm dying to know just what exactly is taking place in there. It feels like he/she is dragging his/her whole little knee or shoulder or something right across my belly and around in my insides. It's such an amazing feeling and far beyond, I guess, what I ever thought it would feel like to have a baby moving around in there! Sometimes the movement has been so strong and odd feeling that it actually startles me and makes me kind of jump - and then that's always followed by a little giggle inside my head. I love feeling this little guy/girl move around in there - it's such a good relief knowing that they're living it up and well alive!

I am forever wondering what in the world this little one is going to look like and whether we have been carrying a little girl this whole time or a little boy. Now, that we're at this point in pregnancy, I've been realizing how glad I am that we've decided to wait on knowing the baby's gender until the very last minute when he or she appears. I was really anxious about our decision to wait up until we surpassed the 20 week mark and successfully made it through our ultrasound without knowing the baby's gender then. Now that our pregnancy is starting to come more and more to an end, I'm just filled with excitement and wonder for the "big reveal" (among other things like actually meeting him/her!) And, I am loving the mystery that still remains behind it all!

In addition to how baby is doing, I received some other news this week from my doctor on how the pregnancy is going and though things are still going great, my blood test on Wednesday revealed that I am slightly anemic. I understand that this tends to be very common in pregnancy - especially towards the end - so I'm not too worried about it. I now take an iron supplement in addition to my prenatal vitamins and that is that! I keep reassuring myself that of all the issues that COULD pop up during pregnancy, I am beyond thankful that this seems to be the only one I've had so far (knock on wood - knock, knock!) and it's a completely treatable one! :)

As we start heading towards our 7th month of pregnancy, we've also been preparing for baby's arrival more and more and, in my opinion, this is where it REALLY starts to become FUN! :) I signed us up for birthing classes this week that will run for 3 weeks in November. I also have inquired about touring the two local hospitals here sometime in November, so we're all set up with that, too. AND.... last night we experienced a little slice of heaven when we took a trip out to "Babies R Us" to re-purchase our shower gifts (that we received up in NY, but couldn't travel on the plane with) and utilize our gift cards. It really was like one big shopping spree, and so fun because at this point, we knew exactly what we wanted and we literally just strolled through the aisles plopping one large box after the next into our shopping carts... yes, carts - plural. Here is a picture of Andy at checkout with both of our loaded up shopping carts - I'm actually surprised that we got away with just having two and not more like three!

Although, a bunch of items had to be ordered, too, so maybe that's why.

Soon-to-be Daddy loading the car...

The car loaded...everything fit perfectly!

Me, really happy about all of the purchases we just made...

We made out really well and now have just about EVERYTHING that we will NEED (for now - when it comes to stroller/carseats/high chair, etc.) for baby. So now, in between settling in bottles and "binkies" and finding new homes for all of this baby gear, we just need to focus on finishing up the nursery! As part of our baby shower gift, my mom purchased us our changing table, and that should be arriving this week! We can't wait. Then we need to finish it off with our chair/ottoman set, tables, shelves and lamps, and we'll be golden! And, in addition to purchasing us our crib (amongst other things), Andy's parents gave us our crib mattress as one of our shower gifts and that arrived earlier this week! We set it up in the crib with one of the fitted sheets and now we're all set to use it! Once it was all put back together, I was actually trying to think of who I knew that might need their baby to randomly take a nap here at our house because I'm dying to see a little baby (anybody's little baby!!) in there! I've gone into the nursery now a few times this week to just have a look into the crib imagining how one day, SOON, I will be able to go in there and look in our crib and see our little one sleeping away so peacefully (hopefully!) in there - we cannot wait!