3RD TRIMESTER ALREADY?

Whoa, this pregnancy is seriously flying by... This morning I had my 28-week check-up already, putting me squarely into the 3rd trimester. I started my morning bright and early with the dreaded gestational diabetes test. It wasn't so bad though. The orange drink actually didn't taste as bad as I remembered, and I passed the test with a score of 122. My iron level was so good (13.8) that my doc asked if I was taking iron supplements. My weight and blood pressure were both good. And Cora's heartrate was at a mobile 147bpm.

Here is my 28-week belly photo, taken this morning (27w5d gestation):

In other Cora news, I've been seeing visible kicks from her since just before the 26-week mark. I had forgotten how fun that is, and sometimes see my belly bounce even before I feel the kick! I hate to admit it, but I haven't been enjoying these things like I did last time... With James, I recall spending hours, literally, just sitting or rocking with my hands on my belly, trying to savor every kick. Don't get me wrong, I notice all Cora's kicks, but I have a LOT less time for sitting and rocking this time around! And when I AM sitting or rocking, I usually have James in my lap. In fact, Cora's most active time of day is James' bedtime. As soon as I settle into the glider with him, she starts her big show. I know James is starting to take notice of it too because every now and then as he's drifting off to sleep she'll give him a strong kick to his belly (as it's pressed up against mine, of course) and his eyes will shoot open and he'll look at me like "What was THAT Mama?" It's funny, but it IS also making our bedtime routine a little longer these days... Cora's 2nd favorite time of day to practice her kicks and punches is MY bedtime (which sometimes occurs immediately after James', I admit, but is usually at least 1-2 hours later), as I'm trying to fall asleep, or whenever I get back in bed after a middle-of-the-night bathroom visit. She has good timing, this girl. I can't blame her though. I know the drill. Babies are lulled to sleep by their mommy's movements, and when I stop moving (even for as little as 2 minutes), she wakes up. I'm trying to convince myself to enjoy that 10-20 minutes of activity no matter what time of night though. It's not like I'm sleeping well anymore anyway. Oh the joys of the big belly... At least Jay is willing and able to be my tow-rope (during the daylight hours)!

And speaking of the speed of this pregnancy, it was just 2 weeks ago that we really started to "prepare" for Cora's arrival. At James' birthday party (when I was at 23-weeks), a friend asked what we were going to do as far as a nursery for Cora. If you recall with James, we had his nursery nearly COMPLETED by the time I hit 26-weeks (the week my mom and grandma came to visit for Thanksgiving). And I had to admit that this time around, we had nothing set up for our baby girl. We had done a lot of thinking, just not a lot of acting yet... Though she does have quite the wardrobe already, thanks to her grandmas and Auntie Robyn:

Seems she won't be needing to wear as many of her brother's hand-me-downs as I originally thought... I was surprised, but as I was going through James' old things about a month and a half ago, and asking for Jay's approval along the way, he said way more often than I expected "That's too boyish"! I suppose he wants his baby girl to look the part even more than HE expected. Just wait until I post of photo of all the hairbows we've purchased...

Anyway, for those who haven't heard, the plan is to move James into the guest room downstairs, and move the guest room into the computer room. James will be moving to a regular bed (just a mattress on the floor to start, but a GREAT mattress - TempurPedic!) and using all of his Daddy's furniture from when he was growing up (the bunk beds won't be moved in for a while though, obviously). The computers will stay in the computer/new guest room. And Cora will move into James' current room: the nursery. No, we are not repainting it (we picked light green the first time around for practical reasons!) or buying any new furniture or major baby items (we also chose gender-neutral nursery furniture, carseat, bouncer, etc.). But we WILL be making the nursery girly, don't you worry. We purchased a gorgeous pink and white bedding set, we'll be changing out the wall decorations (Cora's Auntie Taryn will be putting her creative and artistic bilities to work again), and Jay will build Cora her very own special bookcase. It may take us a while to put it all together, but we realize this 2nd time around that we really do have plenty of time to get it done. The biggest benefit of doing this again so soon (and by THIS I mean having a baby) is that not only are we experienced and thus more relaxed, we REMEMBER everything (and if my mommy brain combined with my pregnancy brain prevents me from remembering, I have the trusty blog to jog my memory)!

The other benefit of doing this again so soon? All my maternity clothes still fit and are still in style. Booya.