28 weeks

Mother:

You will probably begin to see your practitioner every 2 weeks now. Some women really like the added visits, while others feel that they are running out of time before the baby is born. If you haven't begun discussing labor plans with your practitioner, now is the time to start!

If you have taken childbirth classes you have a good idea of the interventions and alternatives associated in childbirth. If you haven't, please do some reading on the subject. The most common things that people have questions about are: episiotomy, fetal monitoring, and pain relief.

Some women will want to use a birth plan to convey their wishes for their labor, birth and postpartum. This is a terrific idea! It is also a good communication tool between you, your partner and your practitioner.

Your breasts my leak colostrum now, although if they do not leak, this is not an indication that you can't breastfeed. You may also find out what your blood type is. Some women, if Rh negative may need a shot called Rhogam to prevent complications. Make sure you know your partner's blood type, if he is also negative, then you are safe.

Baby:

Your baby's eye lashes are developing, as subcutaneous fat is deposited. If you have a baby boy, his testes will probably begin descending. Your baby is about 13.8 inches long (35 cms) and weighs about 2 pounds 4 ounces (1 kilogram)!

A baby born at this time has a good chance of survival with the help of medical technology.

Yes, we should be planning the labor, shouldn't we? We have childbirth classes scheduled, but right now have been focusing on baby care classes. Sort of the cart before the horse, huh? Oh well, we have baby class again this evening and Heidi's got a checkup scheduled next week.

CL has been pretty active of late. Heidi gets lots of kicks when watching Cubs games, usually when it comes to Sammy Sosa striking out, which could be interpreted several ways.

A. CL's a White Sox fan, which would kill Heidi on the spot.
B. CL hates baseball.
C. CL hates Sosa and his bloated ego.
D. CL has no idea what's going on other than Mom's yelling at the TV again.

Otherwise, everything's going well, and the days keep on ticking down. We're anxiously awaiting the baby's arrival, trying to sleep, eating right and enjoying a little bit of the married-without-kids life still.

Our good friend Heidi D. (Drock) came up to visit recently, which we enjoyed. Unfortunately, we didn't get to hook up with April and Ben at the same time (sorry guys, we'll just have to come to Hawaii to visit.)

The shower's in three weeks (August 28). Hope to see some of you there.