28 weeks!

So this is it--I am entering the final trimester TODAY! 28 weeks is also considered the "age of viability" in the medical field. At 28 weeks the baby is expected to survive if born. Of course the lungs are not yet developed, but the baby can still survive with medical intervention. I personally have a friend who's baby was born at 21 or 22 weeks & it did survive, though.

I did not work out at all this week. On Friday night (last Friday, not yesterday) I started having really bad abdominal pain, really low in the abdomen. I was kinda scared, went to bed, only to find that it wasn't going away the next day. I found that the more I stayed off my feet the better it got & the more I was on my feet the worse it got. So pretty much all day last Saturday I stayed in bed & then on Sunday it was a little less, but was still there. I was supposed to work on Monday & was really worried about that--about having to be on my feet for over 12 hours & especially a Monday cuz Mondays & Fridays are typically horrendous at my job. So on Monday morning I got up to use the bathroom around 3:30 in the morning & was already having a lot of pain, so I called in sick (we have to call prior to 5AM to call in sick). The supervisor on at that time was this old lady, I swear she's in her 80's (in all seriousness, I am not exaggerating). She's always really rude & irritating too. No one likes her, but everyone tries to respect her because of her age. So she's getting mad, telling me they are short staffed & I cannot call in sick. I tell her I'm sorry, but I'm having REALLY BAD abdominal pain. To that she very snottily says "oh, it must be period time, take some advil & suck it up honey" I was irritated, but stayed calm (she LOVES to push people's buttons) & told her that I am almost 7 months pregnant. I was shocked to see that she gasped & told me to stay home with my feet up. When I went back to work yesterday my boss found me & asked if I was ok & the baby too, which was really nice. She totally agreed that I needed to call in sick for that.

So I had an appointment with my OB on Tuesday, so on Monday I just stayed in bed most of the day, getting up very little. When I went in on Tuesday I told her what was going on--to my surprise she really didn't seem alarmed. She did take a urine specimen to check for a bladder infection & she said to get a support belt for the baby & if it continues to go to the hospital. That was her answer. She just didn't seem very compassionate though, which bothered me. I also told her about my leg cramps & she just told me to keep on taking my prenatal vitamins, which I have been & it's obviously not helping, but she didn't have any answer for that. I did go on my own to Henry's & bought a calcium/magnesium supplement & a potassium supplement on Thursday. So I took them both on Thursday & that was the first night I didn't have any leg cramps. So yesterday I just took the cal/mag supplement (along with my prenatal multi) & I did have leg cramps last night. So today I'm only taking the potassium (along with the multi) & we'll see how it goes tonight. My concern is that it's VERY risky to mess with potassium. It's a supplement I never recommend people to take without monitoring their blood levels. Too much or too little & your heart can simply stop. I was hoping my OB would order blood work to see where I'm at, but she didn't. So I'm sort of playing it by ear to see what works to alleviate the leg cramps--but I do know that's it's one of those 3-potassium, magnesium, or calcium.

So on my way home from the doc's office I stopped at the mall & went to the motherhood store to find a support belt. They told me they only sell one style & that it isn't very good. They were really telling me not to buy it (so I'm thinking it's got to be REALLY bad for them to be like that!). They told me JCPenny & BabiesRUs have better ones. When I did try this one I liked the way it felt, though. And it was only $18, not too bad in my opinion. So I headed to JCPenny & found that they had 2 to choose from, but you had to order them via catalog & wait for them to come in. They were much bigger, too, like underwear & they were in the $20-something range. I really didn't want to wait for it to come in, I needed help NOW, & I didn't really like how big they were (the one at Motherhood is just a simple strap). So I went online on my phone to see what BabiesRUs has & they were in the $30-range & basically like JCPenny's. Most said they had to be ordered online too, not available in stores. So I headed back to Motherhood & bought the strap one. In all honesty I didn't think it would help much, but I am shocked to say that I REALLY like it (all the things they warned me about just aren't true, at least for me--they said it would dig into your skin, you had to take it off every time you sit down, etc) & it really does help with the pain.

So I go back to see my OB in 2 weeks instead of a whole month this time. This Wednesday we take the tour at Riverside Community Hospital & we'll decide which hospital we want to have the baby at.

My funny moment this week-yesterday morning I was in the bathroom at 5:30am getting ready for work. I am near-sighted & didn't have my contacts in yet. So I am trying to get right up against the mirror to see (cuz I'm near-sighted) & my belly is in the way, so I'm kinda putting it up against the counter, which I have to admit is quite cold at 5:30 am & it woke the baby up--not only did it wake it up (the coldness of the counter) but the baby was squirming around madly as if in a panic, LOL!!

The baby still moves around a lot & is getting stronger all the time. I actually think after I have the baby I am going to miss the feeling of it moving around in there. That is about the only positive I've had throughout this pregnancy so far.

As for Casa Buendia: we are still sitting here waiting on the insurance. Hubby called them & gave them a piece of his mind, telling them they wouldn't take this long if THEY were the ones living in the middle of it all. They called back apologizing & said they would pay for some of it, but still denying a lot of it. Today our contractor is coming over with someone he knows in the business who got a lot more insurance money for a house that wasn't even close to what our's was. They're gonna discuss what we need to do. I am going to remind him that we need our house completed before the baby arrives. Hubby is hitting his breaking point with the house (he held out longer than I did, but he's at work more & not here in the house dealing with it all as much as I am). He is now saying he wishes our house had actually burned. Our neighbors keep telling us that too, even though their house is gone & everything they owned, at least they have rented a house & are comfortable during all of this--as opposed to us living in the midst of a disaster zone for over 2 months & counting now.

I think that's all the updates I have for now.