28 weeks pregnant

This is really it. The third trimester. Cue the ominous music.

What’s happening with baby this week:
- Baby is gaining 6 ounces a week
- Baby sleeps and wakes at regular intervals; and when sleeping, can actually dream (how cool is that!)
- Brain tissue continues to develop; brain was formerly smooth, but now develops folds and grooves
- Eyebrows and eyelashes are present
- Baby has 2-3% body fat (pretty enviable), and muscle tone is increasing
- Taste buds have developed
- Baby kicks, stretches, and moves frequently
- Hair is growing

Baby weighs two to four pounds and is 15 to 18 inches long.

Symptoms to expect:
- Due to enter the "peeing-every-ten-minutes" stage (not yet)
- Braxton Hicks contractions (not yet)
- Uterus comes up to rib cage (yes, and it can be somewhat uncomfortable, especially when I'm trying to breathe)
- Leg cramps (a couple, not too bad so far)
- Shortness of breath (yes; Chris and I have started reading parenting books together, and I can't read more than a sentence without pausing for breath)
- Varicose veins (no, knock on wood)
- Heartburn and indigestion (not really)
- Breasts may begin leaking colustrum (not so far)

Additional Symptoms I'm Having:
- Occasional swollen wrists/ankles
- Sore hip continues
- My hands are boiling hot ALL THE TIME. Really irritating!

Some quotes from the Expert Websites this week:

If you feel your baby's head pushing against your cervix, he or she is probably in the head-first position.

Well, first of all, DUH. But on second thought, not duh, because nothing ever pressed on my cervix before, so how on earth would I know what that feels like? I've been feeling the baby's movements for two solid months now and still can't tell what's a kick, what's a punch, what's a head-butt, and what's a ... well ... butt-butt. So seriously, I have no idea what's going on in there.

And this? This has got to be a typo: As you embark on the next few months, you may find that you are also looking forward to the additional sleep that will come once your baby arrives! Read that again. Additional sleep? "Additional" sleep? If there's one thing everyone knows, it's that sleep goes down the tube when a baby arrives. Please, don't tease me with this.

You're probably vacillating between two feelings: "I've been pregnant forever" and "Help, I'm not ready for this".

This is the most accurate and profound truth I have read so far about pregnancy.