28 weeks!

And halfway through bed rest!  The babies are likely pushing three pounds each and we're officially in the third trimester.  Eight weeks to go until the cerclage comes out on 12/16!  Yay!  C-section is tentatively scheduled for 12/30 @ 38 wks (ironically both the 1st anni of my m/c and my niece's 3rd b-day), since if you recall last week the babies were no longer head down like they are shown here...



But my money is on them not staying put for long once the cerc is out.  14-15 pounds of baby on a completely spent cervix likely means we aren't making it to 38 weeks.

The Good:

-One of the advantages of spending nearly all my time horizontally is that my body is faring pretty well, no swelling, etc. and all my energy can go straight to the babies.

-I thank goodness every day for my long torso, and all the room it's giving the babies to grow, though I'm due for a growth spurt.

-My weight gain is right on target, and my BP is still perfect.

-I finally got the link to my online childbirth preparation class from Prentice, so that's been keeping me busy, for now.  And breastfeeding DVDs from Netflix, pure excitement!

-I joined DH back upstairs to sleep at night again!  A nice change of scenery, though I still spend my days downstairs.  This small step is making me feel a little more normal.

The Not so Good:

-I've found my first "battle scars" i.e. stretch marks, a couple of purple "commas" on my left hip (where I spend most of my time) and one coming out of my lap scar (under the bump).  I'm obviously not worried about these.  I'm thinking my bigger issue may eventually be diastasis recti (as the area above my navel is already looking thinned), which afflicted my sister on her first pg and has just gotten more severe with each one of her 41 wk singletons.  She now basically has a severe hernia that she has to live with.  My petite mother somehow carried four children without any of these issues that her tall daughters have, maybe because my eldest sister was so tiny.

-It's getting more and more difficult to breath, eat, and take vitamins.  I'm already eating about a dozen times a day and may end up on gummies.

-My weekly 17P shots are giving me large itchy welts on my ass.  Lovely...

Still terrified of the cerc ripping and my water breaking, but since there is little more I can do than I already am at this point, I'm really trying not to worry about it...  Looking forward to our coming milestones @ 30, 32, 34, and 36 wks...