Week 28

Although I look more pregnant this week, I'm always surprised by how many people look at me and say that I look small for being 6 months pregnant. I guess one of these days I should post an updated photo so you can judge for yourself. I'm still not experiencing any issues with balance that I hear so many pregnant women complain about.

I am, however, starting to experience swollen feet. At least I think they're swollen. I bought a pair of slip-ons about 2 months ago or so, and they were a bit large on me when I first bought them, and now they fit pretty snugly. I'm guessing that it's due to swelling. As long as my feet don't swell so much that I can't fit into my shoes, I'm totally okay with it. Another thing that's new to me is a tightness that I feel on my calves. I actually think that they're swelling too. I find that sometimes after I sit for a while, they feel rather stiff, and I have to shake them out.

Another wonderful side-effect of 3rd trimester is that I find that my arms seem to fall asleep a lot more easily than they did before. I get that pesky pins and needles sensation that requires a bit of shaking to get rid of.

I swear that throughout my entire pregnancy, just when I've adapted to one thing, some new sensation/ailment comes along which takes me by surprise and requires me to adapt once again. I guess that's the way it rolls. As long as the surprise isn't too huge, I can live with it.

Speaking of surprises, I was in for a big one last week, when I went to see my new OB. After the epicly-long appointment with my new OB last week, the hubby and I decided to hit McDonald's for milkshakes. I've pretty much sworn off McDonald's except for ice-cream, and breakfast. We always hit McDonald's for breakfast on ultrasound day because there's one right beside the lab where I get my early-morning ultrasounds done (granted, I feel guilty every time I go there for breakfast). Anyway, I digress. So we'd just gotten our milkshakes from McDonald's and started walking back towards the subway station, when I get a call from the OB's office. Apparently my glucos challenge test results had come in, and I was JUST above the cut-off. The cut-off for that test is 7.8, and my results came in at 8.1. This meant that they wanted to schedule me for the 3-hour glucose tolerance test. Ugh. I don't mind drinking the sugary Orange Fanta drink, but sitting in a lab for 3 hours is not my idea of fun. Ugh.

Other than the glucose test, I went on yet another maternity clothes shopping trip. I've pretty much decided that I won't be buying any more long-sleeve shirts for the rest of the season, in spite of the fact that it has been rather cold in Toronto lately. Summer clothes, however, are still on the table. I'd like to think that the weather will warm up relatively soon, and therefore I would like to have a decent summer wardrobe.

Although I love the stuff at Rhonda Maternity, it IS on the expensive side. So I decided to go to Thyme Maternity. They've got decent selection AND I had a $50 discount card that I got with my last purchase there. Bonus! I ended up buying more items than I'd planned on buying, but I'm betting on the fact that I will get more wear out of these clothes.

The only thing that totally bugs me about Thyme Maternity is when I go to pay for my clothes. First, they try to make me fill out some ballot for free baby stuff. I don't need some crappy package of baby products that I will probably not even use - especially since we're going for the enviro-friendly Seventh-Generation products that we can get at Whole Foods and Grassroots. After passing that hurdle, I am always asked whether or not I want to be put on their list. I politely tell them "No, thank-you." Usually they're not pushy, but one time I was at Thyme Maternity, the cashier told me that I had to give them my address so that they could put me in their system. I knew that this was bullcrap, and I called her on it. She finally left me alone. I really hate it when stores push you to give them your address - ESPECIALLY when I know that they can't force you to provide you with that information.

So two hurdles down. One more to go. Next I was asked if I wanted the anti-stretch-mark cream that they sell. I'd been thinking of getting some of that stuff anyway, so I took the bait. Then I was told that if I bought two bottles of the cream, I'd get the third one for free. The one bottle was already $20 and I had no idea if it was even any good, so why the hell would I spend $40 on TWO bottles just to get the third one free??? Thanks, but no thanks.

Three hurdles later, I was finally able to pay for my merchandise. At least they didn't bug me when I told them that I didn't want a bag and that I didn't want my clothes wrapped in tissue paper. Bleh. I really like the clothes at Thyme Maternity, but their employees really need to work on being less pushy.