27 weeks, just chugging along…

Today ended up being a pretty good day.  We had a follow-up with the doctor to check out how my sugars were going since the diagnosis of gestational diabetes last week, everything is going well, but she would still like me to have to consult with the high risk doctor and the nutritionist, so that appt. was set up a couple of weeks from now.   I am supposed to just keep monitoring my sugar levels and taking it easy on the carbs, which has been surprisingly easy to do.   I want to thank all the mommies out there for their support and advice, I can’t tell you how great it is to be a part of such a wonderful club. 

While at the doctor, they hooked me up to the heart rate monitor and Baby Girl just wasn’t having it at all.  She kicked and kicked at the monitor until the nurse just decided to take it off, and we got to have an impromptu ultrasound.  She showed us her little face and it looks like she might even have daddy’s nose.  We also found out that if Baby Girl decided to make an early appearance and I went into labor today, she would have an over 80% chance of survival, which definitely makes this mama feel good.

We have another appointment next Monday, which is the 28 week check-up that includes an ultrasound for growth and also my Rhogam shot.  With me being A- and Joey having positive blood, we are taking precautions to protect me and the baby as well as future babies that we have.  Hopefully, this will be the only shot, but if the baby’s blood is positive at birth, I will receive another shot.  Here’s the link to Wikipedia regarding the Rhogam shot.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhogam

Here’s the 27 week update:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Busy Bee!

I apologize for the lack of updates the past couple of weeks.  Work has been bananas lately, and it doesn’t seem to be easing up any time soon.  It’s a whole new world being pregnant during busy season, but I think I’m up to the challenge.  We have gotten the nursery mostly completed, we are just waiting for the decorative items and the rocker to come in, and then we will be done!  It will be nice to have the room ready before the showers, that way we will have a place to put everything.

As part of our 24 week check up (which actually happened during week 25 because of the snow), I had to take the 1 hour glucose test to check for gestational diabetes.  The cut off is a glucose level of 135, and I registered at exactly 135, which meant that I had to come back the next week for the 3 hour test.  This past Monday, I went in for the 3 hour test.  If any 2 of the 4 readings are abnormal, then comes the next step to determine if I have gestational diabetes.  Unfortunately, I had 2 abnormal readings.  Now, I have to test my blood sugar 4 times and day and record my diet.  I will meet with the doctor next week who will review my results and then possibly send me to the high risk doctor and nutritionist to work on a diet plan.  Luckily, over the past couple of days, my sugar has been within the normal range, without many changes to my diet, so I feel pretty good that I will be able to manage my blood sugar with diet, which is a huge relief.  I will definitely keep you all posted.

Coming up in a couple weeks is another ultrasound of our baby girl, and I couldn’t be more excited to see her again!  If I’m not mistaken, after that appointment, I will start going to the Dr. every two weeks, which means that our little one will be here before we know it!  In the meantime, I will post the 26 week update.

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

Pregnancy = Fun?

I had a co-worker the other day ask me if I was having fun being pregnant.  I said “sometimes,” but on the way home I thought about it a little more.  Is “fun” the word that should be used to describe such a life changing and scary event?  I guess it could be included in the huge amount of words that I have probably used so far in discussing the events of the last 6 months with family and friends.  However, since I make pro and con lists in my head for everything, it struck me to make a “fun” and “not fun” list for pregnancy.  Since it has been a more positive than negative experience, I will work my way from “not fun” to “fun”:

Not Fun:

Morning Sickness – This started for me around 7 weeks, and honestly, there are still mornings when I get sick, but they are now fewer in frequency.  I’m most glad to be over the constant gagging, it just drove me crazy!

Fatigue – All day fatigue didn’t last too terribly long for me, but there are still days when I become just dead tired.  For someone in a career in which many times you “just push through” to get the work done, this may have be the most difficult symptom to cope with as my busy season has gotten into gear.

Acne – My skin has never been great, but geez, this is ridiculous.

1^st trimester worries – Am I doing everything right?  What can go wrong?  What was that pain?  I think as society has become more open about pregnancy, there has been more information available, but there’s honestly too much.  Too much information that discusses worst case scenarios that are very rare.  I didn’t realize until I got pregnant just how hard it is for some to get pregnant and get through the 40 weeks with no complications – it makes me very grateful for the experience that I have had so far, and I pray every night that it stays that way.

Fun:

Decorating – The nursery was painted this weekend, and ¾ of the furniture is in place.  We still have a few decisions to make, but it has been really fun to do something with so many cute elements.

Name Decisions – Although it’s been really hard to decide, (who am I kidding, we still don’t know for sure!), it has been fun to think of names.  You think about calling your kid’s name at the park, and how her name will look on wedding invitations, and it makes you all the more excited about the future.

Feeling/Seeing Kicks – Right before I started typing this there were 2 kicks that I could actually see from the outside.  I have been feeling kicks pretty consistently for the past couple of weeks and it never gets old.  I am thinking I will probably even miss it a little when she actually gets here.

Really crossing the threshold into being a “family” – I know we became a family when Joey and I got married, but now it’s really starting to all come full circle.  There is just something so awesome about knowing that you are making a contribution to a new generation.

Being Excited in General – Through all of it, the bad and the good, I have been really excited.  I’m sure I haven’t shown it a lot in my actions, but even the bad things have been completely worth it.  I can’t believe that in 16 weeks I will actually be holding this little person in my arms, and not just feeling punches and kicks.

Well, now that I have just completed the longest post I have ever done, I will now add the 24 week update:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

4 months to go, oh my!

So as the New Year has begun, we have now come to the realization that there will be a little person in the house in just 4 short months.  Joey has been recovering from surgery this week, so there hasn’t been much planning on the baby front.  We have registered at Target and Babies R Us, so at least that part is done; now it’s just the whole name issue, nursery planning and starting our childbirth classes, of which the first day is January 13^th.  It’s looking like Joey will be out of town that day, so my mom (the assistant coach) is going to join me for the first class. 

As far as the nursery goes, we are planning to get out today and get some paint, and we have 98% decided on bedding.  It’s not incredibly girly, but since we are planning on having our kids fairly close, we just didn’t want to invest too much time and money into a girly nursery when we would possibly have to turn around and make a very boy nursery a year down the road.  Our concept basically looks like this:

Sage Chirp Bedding

We will be adding pink accents of course and there will be other girly items added along the way.  Luckily the green lends itself to combining with pink, so we think it’s going to look really good.  Once it’s completed, I will be of course posting before and after shots.

Here’s the 23 week update!

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.