28 Weeks

Last weekend my husband & I had another date night, more exactly date morning. We dropped off the kids at Mrs. Anna's house around 9 am on Sunday & went to see the "Art in the Garden" exhibit at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. I originally wanted to hike the Snoqualmie Falls, but with my hubby's encouragement (who thought I was way too ambitious for the 3rd trimester of pregnancy) changed our more physically demanding hike to a leisurely walk in the Gardens. It was a good decision since, unfortunately, I got tired fairly quickly. We finished the date with a lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.




Posing with some of the art exhibits

I am officially done with the "easy" 2nd trimester. Now the all too familiar back pain, sleepless nights & fatigue are back again. I am up to 4 pillows for sleeping. The hardest part is getting up twice a night to use the bathroom & then not being able to fall back asleep. I'll be up with the baby soon enough & it just doesn't seem fair not to get my rest now. The hot weather has been especially difficult causing considerable ankle swelling & more insomnia. I have to start seeing my midwife every 2 weeks now (I honestly wish I could skip such frequent visits, but those are the medical guidelines). It's harder to find clothes that fit well & I'll probably be wearing the same pair of pants & a couple of shirts for work for the rest of the pregnancy. My feet are definitely bigger & I have to wear shoes that are half a size or even one size larger than usual.
I am in the midst of doing all the immigration paperwork for my Mom to move to the US. We filed the paperwork in March & got approved at the end of July. If we move quickly enough, there is hope she'll make it here for the baby's birth. Most of the work now has to be done on her end & involves being current on immunizations, a detailed medical exam, undergoing a criminal background check (which takes about 1 month) & submitting a huge stack of documents (including the original, a copy & a translation).



Attempting to capture some of the outdoor's beauty

The baby must be gaining weight since I've been craving rich foods. I've recently switched from low-fat products to full-fat milk & cheese & even started to eat butter(!). Most of the traditional pregnancy-related websites & magazines encourage maintaining a low-fat diet, yet some alternative practitioners state a diet rich in full fat foods from healthy sources is beneficial (e.g., organic full-fat dairy, organic grass-fed meats, pastured eggs & coconut oil), especially in pregnancy. The growing baby's brain is composed mostly of cholesterol so it's essential to consume adequate amounts.
Homeopathy practitioner Joette Calabrese from HomeopathyWorks.net recently wrote about good fats vs. fake fats in her August newsletter, & about the commonly accepted notion of saturated fats & cholesterol causing heart disease being completely wrong. One of my favorite online health experts, Dr. Mercola, even wrote a recent article, "The Forbidden Food You Should Never Stop Eating," outlining all the benefits of saturated fats in one's diet.
Personally, my well being has much improved since adding some fat to my diet. I still remember when about 10 years ago I went to a naturopath complaining of lethargy, depression, angry mood swings & feeling cold often. I was following a strict low-fat diet & replaced all my dairy with soy products. My cholesterol levels came back BELOW normal. The moral of the story is that we all need cholesterol to maintain healthy hormone levels & produce sufficient serotonin to feel happy.


One of my favorite things to eat for lunch lately is bacon, avocado & tomato sandwich. Just spread Vegenaise on toasted slices of rustic whole grain bread. Top the bread with avocado, tomatoes, & crispy bacon slices (I really like Trader Joe's Uncured Apple Smoked Bacon).


Strawberries topped off with organic whipped cream make a perfect desert

I had my 28-week OB ultrasound & good news - my placenta moved away from the cervix! Green light for home birth! The baby is head down & growing well (over 2 lbs). Of course, I couldn't get off easy. My cervix is shorter than usual - 2.4 cm to be exact (the ideal length is between 3-4 cm). If it gets any shorter I'll be at higher risk for preterm delivery. Perinatologist & I did a thoroughly chart review & it turned out I had the same "problem" while pregnant with Sophia. My cervix length was 2.1 cm at 29 weeks & that didn't stop me from carrying her to 40 weeks 2 days.


The little guy's 3D image (this is the best ultrasonographer could do since he kept his hand in front of his face the whole time)


It looks like he inherited my long nose!

So more appointments for me - a repeat cervix check in 1 week & another complete OB ultrasound in 3 weeks (due to baby's abdomen diameter being in the 5th percentile, or smaller than expected). That's on top of my regular midwife appointments & an OB/GYN doctor consult for VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) (another formality to be fully cleared for home birth). Did I already mention how much I don't like going to the doctors?


Sophia taking a nap with her favorite kitties (I couldn't help photographing her - she looks so precious when sleeping!)

Gerritt & I have discovered a few more favorite books at our library:

Bad Boys Get Cookie! by M. Palatini & H. Cole
Superman: The Story of the Man of Steel by Ralph Cosentino
Dora Saves the Snow Princess by Phoebe Beinstein
Don't Be Silly, Mrs. Millie! by Judy Cox
The Red Hen by Rebecca & Ed Emberley
That's What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting
Where's Kitty? (a lift-the-flap book) by Mercer Mayer

Additional Resources:

How Low Cholesterol Can Harm Your Health by Sayer Ji from GreenMedInfo.com

The Diet-Heart Myth: Cholesterol and Saturated Fat Are Not The Enemy by Chris Kresser, L.Ac