Although I'm not technically 35 weeks until tomorrow, I decided to post an update now since there won't be much to update on next week... considering I feel completely confident that I'm measuring perfectly and baby is doing just fine.
Recently I started noticing more frequent and stronger braxton hicks along with a few indicators that my body might be dilating. Both of these things are completely normal at this point, especially for third time moms, but when I started having more and more unusual aching back pain accompanied with some leaking fluid over the last couple days, I decided I better get things checked out today... especially since we're going on a short camping trip this week. (My pain was not crazy bad or anything... just enough to irritate me I guess). SO I called the on-call doc and she said to come in... of course. And the whole way I was kicking myself for calling because I felt silly and ridiculous... like I was probably just thinking into it too much.
When I finally got there, they got me right in and had me on the monitors... of course. Baby looked perfect, just as I expected, but they were fairly concerned about all the "contractions" I was having. They were the same braxton hicks I had been having, but they were consistently about 5 minutes apart... I felt minimal discomfort from them except for very mild cramps and mild aching in my back. I know what painful contractions feel like, and these were not even close to being painful.
They ended up running a couple tests and checked my cervix to make sure the braxton hicks weren't causing too much progress. I have not been the least bit concerned about early labor, or that baby would even come before 37 weeks, and I'm still not too concerned about it. But as of now I'm dilated 2cm, which is perfectly okay. My body is surely getting ready a little earlier this time, but baby's birth is definitely not imminent. My cervix was still completely closed at this point in my last pregnancy, so I was a little surprised to hear I had progressed at all. But, women do walk around like this for a while sometimes. I just hope baby hangs around at least for another 4 weeks. That would be ideal for me so I can have everyone present for the birth. I have to admit, it is kind of exciting that things are slowly starting to happen... Makes it feel real that baby will be here in the next month or so!
Anyway... they were very glad I ended up coming in though. They discovered I have a nasty bladder infection which they are treating with antibiotics. The dr said if I had waited a whole lot longer it likely would have caused an assortment of issues and spread to my kidneys which would have been very unpleasant. Sooo needless to say the discomforts I've noticed lately were from the bladder infection and should subside soon. I really didn't have much to complain about in the first place, just wanted to be sure that my symptoms were normal before we left town. Glad I went in and now I can enjoy the trip a little more comfortably. Everything pregnancy and baby related is still going quite well. I feel great considering I'm getting so far along now. Thankful for each and every day, and each and every moment of this experience. Anyway, thanks for reading friends! I'll update at 37 weeks. :)
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Weeks 33/34
Well, I'm blogging from my phone... Unfortunately. My MacBook charger bit the dust so we have our phones and an iPad... Not my favorite pieces of technology.
Anyway, we have been super busy on the home improvement train. We painted the trim in the kids room, repainted the walls, and put up some really nice chair rail trim to separate the two paint colors. We liked it so much that we applied the same concept to other parts of the house. We have one wall left and our bedroom to do. Otherwise it feels great to have fresh paint throughout the house... As well as freshly painted trim and doors.
I'm not sure at this point if I've found extreme motivation, extra energy, or both. I'm leaning more toward extra motivation since I know it will be way harder to get this stuff done once the baby comes. Either way, our house feels and looks so nice!
Anyway, baby updates... Baby is steadily growing and getting more squished. I am really enjoying this part of pregnancy. Sure, there are normal discomforts that accompany this part, but I love feeling the baby move and feeling little feet in my ribs... As weird as that sounds. Baby also has a very consistent schedule, at least that I have noticed... As soon as the kids are up and Jeff gets home, baby is kicking away in there. baby is also very active in the evening when the kids have settled into bed. Hopefully this schedule stays when baby is born. Other than that, baby is doing perfectly fine in there and weighs roughly 5 pounds at this point. Baby is also head down at the moment and measuring perfectly.. Dr was able to feel the baby's head and bottom at my last appointment... And we even heard/felt baby's hiccups when my Dr checked the heart beat. So cute!
All in all, I am feeling great. I am starting to experience a little swelling here and there so I have had to watch my salt intake. I have also noticed a bit of mild heartburn if I eat or drink anything other than water within an hour before bed. Not much else to update on... Still watching my weight. I have gained about 12 pounds at this point, which is great. No complaints there. My Dr is pretty pleased by that.
I have to say, its pretty cute how excited Joey is getting. About a week ago, he told me the baby could stay in longer. So I asked when baby could come out, and he told me that when the school buses start coming back then the baby could come out. That probably sounds super random, but it was really sweet that he said that. A few months ago when he asked when the baby could come out, I wracked my brain for something to say which would help him understand when that point in time will be when baby is ready to be born. Since he doesn't yet understand seasons or the concept of extended lengths of time, I told him that the baby will be born in the fall... And the fall time is when the school buses come by our house again. So I told him when he starts seeing school buses again, then it means that the baby will be born soon. I couldn't believe he remembered that! It was so sweet that he remembered what I said and is already keeping his eyes open for the buses. So cute!
That's about it for now. Next appointment is in two weeks, then I start weekly visits! Its all coming up so fast! Thanks for following me, dear friends!
Anyway, we have been super busy on the home improvement train. We painted the trim in the kids room, repainted the walls, and put up some really nice chair rail trim to separate the two paint colors. We liked it so much that we applied the same concept to other parts of the house. We have one wall left and our bedroom to do. Otherwise it feels great to have fresh paint throughout the house... As well as freshly painted trim and doors.
I'm not sure at this point if I've found extreme motivation, extra energy, or both. I'm leaning more toward extra motivation since I know it will be way harder to get this stuff done once the baby comes. Either way, our house feels and looks so nice!
Anyway, baby updates... Baby is steadily growing and getting more squished. I am really enjoying this part of pregnancy. Sure, there are normal discomforts that accompany this part, but I love feeling the baby move and feeling little feet in my ribs... As weird as that sounds. Baby also has a very consistent schedule, at least that I have noticed... As soon as the kids are up and Jeff gets home, baby is kicking away in there. baby is also very active in the evening when the kids have settled into bed. Hopefully this schedule stays when baby is born. Other than that, baby is doing perfectly fine in there and weighs roughly 5 pounds at this point. Baby is also head down at the moment and measuring perfectly.. Dr was able to feel the baby's head and bottom at my last appointment... And we even heard/felt baby's hiccups when my Dr checked the heart beat. So cute!
All in all, I am feeling great. I am starting to experience a little swelling here and there so I have had to watch my salt intake. I have also noticed a bit of mild heartburn if I eat or drink anything other than water within an hour before bed. Not much else to update on... Still watching my weight. I have gained about 12 pounds at this point, which is great. No complaints there. My Dr is pretty pleased by that.
I have to say, its pretty cute how excited Joey is getting. About a week ago, he told me the baby could stay in longer. So I asked when baby could come out, and he told me that when the school buses start coming back then the baby could come out. That probably sounds super random, but it was really sweet that he said that. A few months ago when he asked when the baby could come out, I wracked my brain for something to say which would help him understand when that point in time will be when baby is ready to be born. Since he doesn't yet understand seasons or the concept of extended lengths of time, I told him that the baby will be born in the fall... And the fall time is when the school buses come by our house again. So I told him when he starts seeing school buses again, then it means that the baby will be born soon. I couldn't believe he remembered that! It was so sweet that he remembered what I said and is already keeping his eyes open for the buses. So cute!
That's about it for now. Next appointment is in two weeks, then I start weekly visits! Its all coming up so fast! Thanks for following me, dear friends!
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| Just a sample of what we did... it's continued into the hallway, and we did the same thing in the kids' room but with a different shade of tan. I absolutely love it! |
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| Just a little belly pic... 34 weeks 4 days. Excuse the workout attire... and the umbilical hernia. I've been trying to stay active in order to help baby get into the optimal position. I'm also hoping that if I keep up with my exercise I'll make a bit of progress before labor begins... that proved helpful last time. |
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Weeks 31/32
Really nearing the homestretch now!! I'm finding myself doing all sorts of preparatory work around the house... I've been obsessing over every little thing in my house lately. The carpet, the appliances, the back deck that needs built as well as new front steps, the yard... But I'm not going to lie... for some reason I've fixated the most on the interior paint and now I'm stressing about repainting the interior of our house. Having lived in our home for over three years now with two small children and a huge destructive dog, it really needs to be redone, especially since the sellers picked such a light color to paint the whole interior of the house with. We've done our best to keep it well maintained and cleaned, but it just hasn't been enough... especially since our primary heat source in the cold months is our wood stove. So needless to say, with all the hussle and bussle around the house plus the smoke from the stove, it really needs some TLC. Sooooo I've been searching and thinking and pondering and eyeing different color palettes and none have appealed to either of us... Until just recently, that is. I saw a picture of this super cute room on pinterest. The had white floor moulding and white chair railing separating two paint colors on the wall. So basically we took that concept and applied it to the kids room to see if it was something we wanted to do to the whole house. We decided to keep the top color the same since it's a nice off white color (we just touched up the scuffs and repainted all the trim and floor moulding), and for the bottom color we went with a paint called "hot chocolate." It turned out amazing... so amazing, in fact, that we decided to apply the same concept throughout different parts of the house. I can't wait to get started with it!! It's a lot of work, but the end result is totally worth it.
Anyway... that has nothing to do with baby or me at all. Things have been going fairly well. I'm definitely feeling more and more pregnant as the days go on. I can really tell I'm nearing the end now as my lower back is starting to get pretty achey and I tire out more quickly... Other than that and mild sleep issues, I've been doing pretty well lately.
I'm still watching what I eat, and I'm slowly pinning down foods that cause me pain and discomfort. It's nice to know precisely what causes my gallbladder to react. So far I know for sure that any kind of meat (particularly beef or even turkey burgers with added fillers) (not including chicken or ground turkey... I do fine with those), anything super greasy, red onions (weird... but it does cause me pain), and most cheeses minus mozzarella.. So really I'm not AS limited as I originally thought. Just have to stay away from those few items. I'm thinking that this cautiousness with my diet has also helped a lot with my heartburn issues I typically have with pregnancy. I haven't had heartburn at all since the beginning of my first trimester... which has been awesome!! I usually have it really bad, so it's been great not having to deal with that.
Recently I have added a few changes to my nutrition... I've been praying and doing a lot of careful research on this blood disorder I've developed during my pregnancy. Given my anxiety about things I try to stay away from google. I do suspect I had this with my last pregnancy as well, but I could be wrong. In order to increase my platelet count by my 36 week blood draw (to recheck the situation), I've added more vitamin c to my diet through juice, and lots of fresh fruit... I also started taking an alfalfa supplement. I did a little reading and found out that a lot of midwives will have some moms start taking it a couple months before delivery in order to help prevent excessive postpartum blood loss. I couldn't exactly find evidence that this is effective for someone with a low platelet count, but regardless, it has a lot of vitamin k in it which helps blood to clot better... and it's good for baby because I don't do vaccines at birth. Joey had the vitamin k shot but he required medical attention and we had a few personal reasons for doing so in addition to his medical needs after birth. So I'm really hoping that between the careful attention I've paid to consuming enough vitamins via supplements and natural food sources, I'm praying that this will really make a difference and I will have at least shown some improvement by my next blood draw in 5 weeks. My chiropractor said to try to get these nutrients through raw food sources as best as I can... which I've clearly been doing in addition to the alfalfa. Anyway, if my platelets don't increase by 36 weeks, I believe that my doctor is planning to try some medication to help with it before the baby arrives. He might not feel it's necessary though... we will see. So for now, I'm praying that I've reversed it naturally before my next CBC.
As for baby, all is perfectly well. I had my 32 week visit yesterday and everything was as perfect as can be. Baby had a healthy heart rate and I'm still measuring right on target. My weight gain is still nice and slow. I've gained a total of 12 pounds at this point. I'm pretty pleased with that!
I've now graduated to two week visits now! Crazy how fast this is going by. Seriously, thinking that we only have a month and a half until the baby is here is just mind boggling to me. I feel like I have so much to do still. I really don't have that much to do, but I really feel like I'm forgetting something really big that needs to be done.
Anyway, not much else to update on. I'm still really enjoying my pregnancy, and I'm trying to soak in every moment. It's going to be over so soon! I sure hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful summer we're having! God bless you, friends!!
Anyway... that has nothing to do with baby or me at all. Things have been going fairly well. I'm definitely feeling more and more pregnant as the days go on. I can really tell I'm nearing the end now as my lower back is starting to get pretty achey and I tire out more quickly... Other than that and mild sleep issues, I've been doing pretty well lately.
I'm still watching what I eat, and I'm slowly pinning down foods that cause me pain and discomfort. It's nice to know precisely what causes my gallbladder to react. So far I know for sure that any kind of meat (particularly beef or even turkey burgers with added fillers) (not including chicken or ground turkey... I do fine with those), anything super greasy, red onions (weird... but it does cause me pain), and most cheeses minus mozzarella.. So really I'm not AS limited as I originally thought. Just have to stay away from those few items. I'm thinking that this cautiousness with my diet has also helped a lot with my heartburn issues I typically have with pregnancy. I haven't had heartburn at all since the beginning of my first trimester... which has been awesome!! I usually have it really bad, so it's been great not having to deal with that.
Recently I have added a few changes to my nutrition... I've been praying and doing a lot of careful research on this blood disorder I've developed during my pregnancy. Given my anxiety about things I try to stay away from google. I do suspect I had this with my last pregnancy as well, but I could be wrong. In order to increase my platelet count by my 36 week blood draw (to recheck the situation), I've added more vitamin c to my diet through juice, and lots of fresh fruit... I also started taking an alfalfa supplement. I did a little reading and found out that a lot of midwives will have some moms start taking it a couple months before delivery in order to help prevent excessive postpartum blood loss. I couldn't exactly find evidence that this is effective for someone with a low platelet count, but regardless, it has a lot of vitamin k in it which helps blood to clot better... and it's good for baby because I don't do vaccines at birth. Joey had the vitamin k shot but he required medical attention and we had a few personal reasons for doing so in addition to his medical needs after birth. So I'm really hoping that between the careful attention I've paid to consuming enough vitamins via supplements and natural food sources, I'm praying that this will really make a difference and I will have at least shown some improvement by my next blood draw in 5 weeks. My chiropractor said to try to get these nutrients through raw food sources as best as I can... which I've clearly been doing in addition to the alfalfa. Anyway, if my platelets don't increase by 36 weeks, I believe that my doctor is planning to try some medication to help with it before the baby arrives. He might not feel it's necessary though... we will see. So for now, I'm praying that I've reversed it naturally before my next CBC.
As for baby, all is perfectly well. I had my 32 week visit yesterday and everything was as perfect as can be. Baby had a healthy heart rate and I'm still measuring right on target. My weight gain is still nice and slow. I've gained a total of 12 pounds at this point. I'm pretty pleased with that!
I've now graduated to two week visits now! Crazy how fast this is going by. Seriously, thinking that we only have a month and a half until the baby is here is just mind boggling to me. I feel like I have so much to do still. I really don't have that much to do, but I really feel like I'm forgetting something really big that needs to be done.
Anyway, not much else to update on. I'm still really enjoying my pregnancy, and I'm trying to soak in every moment. It's going to be over so soon! I sure hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful summer we're having! God bless you, friends!!
Friday, July 5, 2013
Week 28/29/30
It's so crazy how fast time is flying by!!! Oh my goodness, we could have a baby in our arms as early as the end of August... which is only 8-9 weeks away! However, I sure hope baby stays put until at least the 17th of September (one day past my due date)... but I'm not going to hold my breath. Both of my kids came on their own 6 days early, so this one may decide to follow suit... but it would be ideal if this baby decided to plan his/her birthday in our favored window of time. The time in which my due date falls has become somewhat of a busy crazy time for everyone involved in the birth of this wee one. Jamie will be out of town in my 37th week, so baby would do well to stay put during that week... and today I found out that my doctor will be out of town during my 38th and 39th weeks... so it would be perfect if baby waited until 17th-19th so everyone including my sister can be around. BUT... it is what it is. Baby is going to come when he/she is ready, and we'll just have to be okay with that! :)
As far as my pregnancy goes, everything is going pretty well. My platelets are a little low, so I'm going to try a few dietary changes to try and get them up before I'm tested again in 6 weeks. I really don't want to worry about it, nor do I want to take medication for it. My weight is still at a perfect spot which makes me super happy. I think I've just now hit the 10 pound mark. I suspect my weight will probably start to increase in these last weeks as I retain water and baby starts to gain more weight. Either way it's still my goal to gain no more than 7 lbs in addition to what I've already gained which puts me at ten pounds less than when I delivered Annie. Healthy weight for sure!
Baby is doing really well, measuring perfectly. My dr has no concerns as far as my little one goes. We had a 3/4D ultrasound on Jeff's birthday, and that was really fun! Baby wasn't as cooperative as my other two were, but I suspect that's because the baby was really sleepy. We could all tell that baby just wanted to rest and snuggle in for a while. I have to say, this little one has quite the personality already. I thought for sure this little one was just a super active baby who just had more trouble entertaining him/herself in there. Not the case... baby was actively moving around during the ultrasound, but we could clearly see that baby was just trying to find the snuggliest position in which to sleep! This makes me hopeful that I'll have another snuggly baby. Annie enjoyed being tucked in snugly in her own bed rather than being held constantly... Joey would have been happy in my arms 24/7, but clearly that's a little difficult to do. So I really hope this baby likes snuggling a little more than Annie girl did. She's just super independent, and that's okay!
The one interesting thing we saw during our ultrasound was that baby was in the same position as Annabelle during her ultrasound. At first baby's feet were by my ribs, but by the end of it, feet were up in his/her face. I also got a great picture of baby sucking on his/her big toe! JUST like at Annie's ultrasound!!! It was crazy!! Baby also really enjoyed putting the cord in his/her mouth. I suspect this one might be my first binky baby... but we'll see. I wasn't planning on using those since my other two didn't like them, but I may change my mind. It was really a lot of fun to see our baby's face and compare the ultrasound pictures to Joey and Annie's. Baby seems to have a very sweet personality already. I just can't wait to hold my precious tiny baby!!
Anyway, things are still going really well. I'm still having lots of braxton hicks, and they're definitely increasing in frequency and intensity which is great. Just means my body will be nice and ready when the time comes. I'm starting to get worn out a little easier now, but all in all I feel like I have the most energy out of all three pregnancies. Maybe it's just that I'm forced to manage my time and energy more efficiently? I don't know. Either way, I've been prepping and getting things ready and figuring out what to buy before the baby comes. I'm also soaking in every minute of this pregnancy that I can. I'm really enjoying having this baby all to myself right now. It's a little hard for me to share when my babies are born... I've had them all to myself for 9 months that it's sometimes difficult to let other people have a turn. haha
Here are some pics from our ultrasound!
As far as my pregnancy goes, everything is going pretty well. My platelets are a little low, so I'm going to try a few dietary changes to try and get them up before I'm tested again in 6 weeks. I really don't want to worry about it, nor do I want to take medication for it. My weight is still at a perfect spot which makes me super happy. I think I've just now hit the 10 pound mark. I suspect my weight will probably start to increase in these last weeks as I retain water and baby starts to gain more weight. Either way it's still my goal to gain no more than 7 lbs in addition to what I've already gained which puts me at ten pounds less than when I delivered Annie. Healthy weight for sure!
Baby is doing really well, measuring perfectly. My dr has no concerns as far as my little one goes. We had a 3/4D ultrasound on Jeff's birthday, and that was really fun! Baby wasn't as cooperative as my other two were, but I suspect that's because the baby was really sleepy. We could all tell that baby just wanted to rest and snuggle in for a while. I have to say, this little one has quite the personality already. I thought for sure this little one was just a super active baby who just had more trouble entertaining him/herself in there. Not the case... baby was actively moving around during the ultrasound, but we could clearly see that baby was just trying to find the snuggliest position in which to sleep! This makes me hopeful that I'll have another snuggly baby. Annie enjoyed being tucked in snugly in her own bed rather than being held constantly... Joey would have been happy in my arms 24/7, but clearly that's a little difficult to do. So I really hope this baby likes snuggling a little more than Annie girl did. She's just super independent, and that's okay!
The one interesting thing we saw during our ultrasound was that baby was in the same position as Annabelle during her ultrasound. At first baby's feet were by my ribs, but by the end of it, feet were up in his/her face. I also got a great picture of baby sucking on his/her big toe! JUST like at Annie's ultrasound!!! It was crazy!! Baby also really enjoyed putting the cord in his/her mouth. I suspect this one might be my first binky baby... but we'll see. I wasn't planning on using those since my other two didn't like them, but I may change my mind. It was really a lot of fun to see our baby's face and compare the ultrasound pictures to Joey and Annie's. Baby seems to have a very sweet personality already. I just can't wait to hold my precious tiny baby!!
Anyway, things are still going really well. I'm still having lots of braxton hicks, and they're definitely increasing in frequency and intensity which is great. Just means my body will be nice and ready when the time comes. I'm starting to get worn out a little easier now, but all in all I feel like I have the most energy out of all three pregnancies. Maybe it's just that I'm forced to manage my time and energy more efficiently? I don't know. Either way, I've been prepping and getting things ready and figuring out what to buy before the baby comes. I'm also soaking in every minute of this pregnancy that I can. I'm really enjoying having this baby all to myself right now. It's a little hard for me to share when my babies are born... I've had them all to myself for 9 months that it's sometimes difficult to let other people have a turn. haha
Here are some pics from our ultrasound!
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| My chubby little pumpkin |
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| Baby's profile |
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| Baby was turning away so here's a good one of his/her shoulder. |
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| Baby sucking on his/her big toe! |
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| Hands in face. |
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| Grabbing his/her wrist |
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| Cute little hand! |
Friday, June 14, 2013
26/27 week update
It's been a busy couple of weeks. I feel like I've been on the go constantly... partly just to get the kiddos out of the house so Jeff can get some good quiet sleep, but we've just had a lot going on it seems. I've been trying to slowly weed through all the baby clothes and baby items to see exactly what we need. I made a registry for the things I knew we would definitely need... mostly things like diapers, wipes, cloth diapers, bath stuff, burp cloths, receiving blankets... things that tend to get worn out after the use of one baby. It's nice, I didn't have to spend a ton of time registering for things because we have almost everything for a girl or a boy. Way easier this time!! I did actually register for an ergobaby baby carrier and infant insert, as well as a new space saver high chair... both of which we decided to purchase right off of my registry yesterday. I received a coupon from babies r us for 20% off of my entire purchase, so we hopped right on that and bought the things we suspected nobody would want to fork out the money for. I'm so glad we did!! We saved a ton of money, and I basically got the $25 infant insert for free!! Good deal for sure because those were some of our big ticket items. I have to say though, it's tough taking Jeff and the kids with me. My husband may or may not really enjoy shopping for Annie. She even scored a princess potty chair due to her daddy insisting that she needed it and would be successful at potty training if she had that chair. It was definitely a hit. She promptly drug it out of the bathroom this morning, placed it in the living room (all while saying "it's so heavy! it's so heavy!"... where she learned that, I have no idea but it was so cute!!) and sat down on it for a good several minutes. She loves princesses, so I have to say, Jeff suggested a good purchase.
Anyways... I'm now heading into my third trimester!!! YAY!!!! I am so excited to meet this little peanut. I'm more and more excited every day... I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by. I'm really focusing on enjoying every single minute of it... even the moments of discomfort. I just remind myself that it is such a blessing that I even get to have this experience, and that there are women out there who would do anything to experience all aspects of pregnancy... the good, the bad, the ugly. Personally I think it's mostly good... Yeah there are things that aren't the most fun, but I really can't complain because I can always think of something that would be way more miserable.
A couple of days ago I took my glucose test for instance... WOW. That's all I can say about that. I walked in expecting a nice quiet getaway from housework, playing mediator with the kids, and cooking/cleaning up the kitchen. Not so. When I entered the clinic, I was welcomed by a thick wave of tension being emitted by all these other pregnant ladies taking their glucose tests. You know, I get it's not the most joyous experience in the world, but make the best with what you have!! We are ALL hungry, we are all probably a little thirsty from now having our fluids limited, and I'm pretty sure none of us enjoyed the super tasty beverage we had to suck down in less than five minutes time, but it's not a bad enough experience that we should convince ourselves we're in a bad mood over it. Sheesh!! So I get in there for my first blood draw, and as soon as it was over, the lady put me in this room with only one other woman in it... let's just say I definitely knew why as soon as I sat down. This lady was probably the grouchiest of all of them. So, I plopped down in my chair with a smile on my face, a book in hand, and chuckled at how ridiculous it all was. For real ladies... the glucose test is not that bad. They make it sound way worse than it is. I'd love to go into detail about the things I heard the other women say, but it's just too ridiculous to repeat... haha.
So, with that all said and done, my results came back perfectly normal. Even my hematocrit levels were great!! What a relief, because I was very concerned that they had dropped given my recent diet change.
Speaking of my diet... I've been slacking on logging my food, but mostly because I've been slacking on eating. I'm just not hungry enough to force all that food into my body. It's terrible, and I try my hardest to make sure I'm getting all my nutrients, but I can't over stuff myself and make myself sick!! So I've been slowly phasing things back in. I can still drink milk, eat a small piece of low fat cheese, and use a small amount of cream cheese. Lately I've eaten half of a small chicken breast to see how I do with that, so far so good. Ground chicken works great for me too!! I've not had any beef or pork though, which seems to have cut out most of my issues. However, I did eat a turkey burger the other day (no bun, no mayo, no cheese... just lettuce, tomato, and ketchup) and I ended up with a mild reaction to that. Definitely not my worst attack by any means, but enough to make me uncomfortable. So this week I'm going to try ground turkey... I suspect there may have been something other than just ground turkey in that turkey burger, so we'll see how I do with the ground turkey I purchased. Anyway... that's about it. Still trying really hard to eat a lot of dark leafy greens, protein, fruits and other veggies... grains... etc.
As far as baby goes, all is well with my little womb tenant. Growth seems to be happening at a rapid rate, which is awesome! I'm loving every minute of feeling our sweet little baby moving around, and even seeing the movements on the outside! I'm at the point now where I can see and feel different body parts starting to poke out here and there. It's super fun! That's probably my favorite part of pregnancy. It's kind of a game with this baby because when I push gently on the limb that's poking out, baby will move and push back somewhere else. My belly button hernia has also been a source of entertainment for this little tyke... the minute I push it back in baby just pushes it right back out. That gets a little uncomfortable, but whatever. It's to be expected I suppose. Baby definitely has her/his schedule all worked out in there. From what I've noticed, baby is most active in the morning and evening, with little spurts of movements during the day here and there. I'm hoping that since this one seems to have the most consistent schedule, that perhaps it will be easier to get the baby on a good sleep schedule when she/he is born. We'll see though.
As for me... I'm doing pretty darn good right now. I've had a little more energy this last week, and I just feel healthy. Perhaps it's all the time I've spent outside in the sun? Maybe it's the fact that I already have a flip flop tan? Who knows... But I'm doing really well. I still haven't gained any weight, which is perfectly fine and completely okay for me. Before I became pregnant with this baby I had hoped to lose at least 10 pounds... So I pretty much started out with 10 pounds of baby weight. I was still only a few pounds from my pre-Annie weight, which was good, but that meant that I really had to be careful this time about my weight gain. So... from start of pregnancy to now, I'm still at the 8 pound mark. This honestly makes me super happy because most of my clothes still kind of fit me... and it's also quite the ego boost when people make comments about it... for instance, yesterday at the mall, a sales associate at the mac counter informed me that she didn't even realize I was pregnant until I turned to the side. Seriously, that made my day, because for some reason yesterday I was starting to feel like my belly had grown a ton over night.
Other than that, things are going pretty well. I'm having a lot of braxton hicks contractions, and they are very slowly increasing in intensity. Some of them have been mildly painful. From what I hear, this is pretty normal. Also, given my experience with Annie, I'm pretty confident that this is just how my body works. Sometimes I'll have pretty regular braxton hicks, but never for longer than an hour and never getting stronger, longer, or closer together. I feel like that's just how my body does things so it can be fast and efficient at bringing the baby into the world when it's time for baby to be born. My doctor is well aware that I'm just one of those people that experience a lot of them, and he's not concerned in the least. I'm pretty confident I'll know when to get checked out if they start to feel different.
Anyway... not much else to update on. My next appointment is in two weeks... and then I think the one after that is when I start going every two weeks. So crazy!! Baby will be here sooooo soon!! Thanks for reading, friends! God bless!!
Anyways... I'm now heading into my third trimester!!! YAY!!!! I am so excited to meet this little peanut. I'm more and more excited every day... I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by. I'm really focusing on enjoying every single minute of it... even the moments of discomfort. I just remind myself that it is such a blessing that I even get to have this experience, and that there are women out there who would do anything to experience all aspects of pregnancy... the good, the bad, the ugly. Personally I think it's mostly good... Yeah there are things that aren't the most fun, but I really can't complain because I can always think of something that would be way more miserable.
A couple of days ago I took my glucose test for instance... WOW. That's all I can say about that. I walked in expecting a nice quiet getaway from housework, playing mediator with the kids, and cooking/cleaning up the kitchen. Not so. When I entered the clinic, I was welcomed by a thick wave of tension being emitted by all these other pregnant ladies taking their glucose tests. You know, I get it's not the most joyous experience in the world, but make the best with what you have!! We are ALL hungry, we are all probably a little thirsty from now having our fluids limited, and I'm pretty sure none of us enjoyed the super tasty beverage we had to suck down in less than five minutes time, but it's not a bad enough experience that we should convince ourselves we're in a bad mood over it. Sheesh!! So I get in there for my first blood draw, and as soon as it was over, the lady put me in this room with only one other woman in it... let's just say I definitely knew why as soon as I sat down. This lady was probably the grouchiest of all of them. So, I plopped down in my chair with a smile on my face, a book in hand, and chuckled at how ridiculous it all was. For real ladies... the glucose test is not that bad. They make it sound way worse than it is. I'd love to go into detail about the things I heard the other women say, but it's just too ridiculous to repeat... haha.
So, with that all said and done, my results came back perfectly normal. Even my hematocrit levels were great!! What a relief, because I was very concerned that they had dropped given my recent diet change.
Speaking of my diet... I've been slacking on logging my food, but mostly because I've been slacking on eating. I'm just not hungry enough to force all that food into my body. It's terrible, and I try my hardest to make sure I'm getting all my nutrients, but I can't over stuff myself and make myself sick!! So I've been slowly phasing things back in. I can still drink milk, eat a small piece of low fat cheese, and use a small amount of cream cheese. Lately I've eaten half of a small chicken breast to see how I do with that, so far so good. Ground chicken works great for me too!! I've not had any beef or pork though, which seems to have cut out most of my issues. However, I did eat a turkey burger the other day (no bun, no mayo, no cheese... just lettuce, tomato, and ketchup) and I ended up with a mild reaction to that. Definitely not my worst attack by any means, but enough to make me uncomfortable. So this week I'm going to try ground turkey... I suspect there may have been something other than just ground turkey in that turkey burger, so we'll see how I do with the ground turkey I purchased. Anyway... that's about it. Still trying really hard to eat a lot of dark leafy greens, protein, fruits and other veggies... grains... etc.
As far as baby goes, all is well with my little womb tenant. Growth seems to be happening at a rapid rate, which is awesome! I'm loving every minute of feeling our sweet little baby moving around, and even seeing the movements on the outside! I'm at the point now where I can see and feel different body parts starting to poke out here and there. It's super fun! That's probably my favorite part of pregnancy. It's kind of a game with this baby because when I push gently on the limb that's poking out, baby will move and push back somewhere else. My belly button hernia has also been a source of entertainment for this little tyke... the minute I push it back in baby just pushes it right back out. That gets a little uncomfortable, but whatever. It's to be expected I suppose. Baby definitely has her/his schedule all worked out in there. From what I've noticed, baby is most active in the morning and evening, with little spurts of movements during the day here and there. I'm hoping that since this one seems to have the most consistent schedule, that perhaps it will be easier to get the baby on a good sleep schedule when she/he is born. We'll see though.
As for me... I'm doing pretty darn good right now. I've had a little more energy this last week, and I just feel healthy. Perhaps it's all the time I've spent outside in the sun? Maybe it's the fact that I already have a flip flop tan? Who knows... But I'm doing really well. I still haven't gained any weight, which is perfectly fine and completely okay for me. Before I became pregnant with this baby I had hoped to lose at least 10 pounds... So I pretty much started out with 10 pounds of baby weight. I was still only a few pounds from my pre-Annie weight, which was good, but that meant that I really had to be careful this time about my weight gain. So... from start of pregnancy to now, I'm still at the 8 pound mark. This honestly makes me super happy because most of my clothes still kind of fit me... and it's also quite the ego boost when people make comments about it... for instance, yesterday at the mall, a sales associate at the mac counter informed me that she didn't even realize I was pregnant until I turned to the side. Seriously, that made my day, because for some reason yesterday I was starting to feel like my belly had grown a ton over night.
Other than that, things are going pretty well. I'm having a lot of braxton hicks contractions, and they are very slowly increasing in intensity. Some of them have been mildly painful. From what I hear, this is pretty normal. Also, given my experience with Annie, I'm pretty confident that this is just how my body works. Sometimes I'll have pretty regular braxton hicks, but never for longer than an hour and never getting stronger, longer, or closer together. I feel like that's just how my body does things so it can be fast and efficient at bringing the baby into the world when it's time for baby to be born. My doctor is well aware that I'm just one of those people that experience a lot of them, and he's not concerned in the least. I'm pretty confident I'll know when to get checked out if they start to feel different.
Anyway... not much else to update on. My next appointment is in two weeks... and then I think the one after that is when I start going every two weeks. So crazy!! Baby will be here sooooo soon!! Thanks for reading, friends! God bless!!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Foodness.
Today, I fell off the healthy food train. Oh well, right? I didn't have an attack, which is great. I didn't eat anything that usually triggers it. We stopped at the mountain view diner after a doctor visit this morning... where we shared some fries and the kids ate some chicken. I had been craving some fries and ranch, so that made me super happy! I ate my usual for breakfast, english muffin with almond butter and some pineapple. I had a glass of milk after that, drank my coffee... (then had fries for lunch... shame shame...) I really wasn't that hungry today. I didn't snack at all... and when I did it was because I forced myself. So for a snack I had pineapple. For dinner, I had left over lettuce wraps and had a couple chia shots to finish.
Tomorrow will be better.
About my dr visit... It brought me a lot of relief! I've had a lot of trouble with my right hand in recent years. After carpal tunnel surgery, and wrist arthroscopy surgery (for a really big cartilage tear), I have had yet another issue with my hand. I've noticed a lot of pain near the base of my thumb in the last couple of months. Usually just when I grip things, turn my wrist in certain ways, or try to pinch things... basically movements that put pressure on the area. I went in today and discovered I did not actually injure my hand!! Good news!! But I do have some sort of something that ends with tenosynovitis. (The only part I remembered). It has to do with the tendons on that side of my hand. This can be due to pregnancy, lifting Annie all the time... repetitive use... whatever the cause, it's treatable right now!! I'll be going back to hand therapy (for the third time), and hopefully it will go away after baby comes. So yay! Good news.
Tomorrow will be better.
About my dr visit... It brought me a lot of relief! I've had a lot of trouble with my right hand in recent years. After carpal tunnel surgery, and wrist arthroscopy surgery (for a really big cartilage tear), I have had yet another issue with my hand. I've noticed a lot of pain near the base of my thumb in the last couple of months. Usually just when I grip things, turn my wrist in certain ways, or try to pinch things... basically movements that put pressure on the area. I went in today and discovered I did not actually injure my hand!! Good news!! But I do have some sort of something that ends with tenosynovitis. (The only part I remembered). It has to do with the tendons on that side of my hand. This can be due to pregnancy, lifting Annie all the time... repetitive use... whatever the cause, it's treatable right now!! I'll be going back to hand therapy (for the third time), and hopefully it will go away after baby comes. So yay! Good news.
Monday, June 3, 2013
25 weeks
Not much of an update this week. Still continuing to work on my diet change... yesterday was a pretty good day, minus one cheat. For breakfast I ate steel cute oatmeal with brown sugar and blue berries, drank a glass of milk after, took a chia shot with OJ, had a cup of coffee... snacked on fruit throughout the morning. For lunch.. I can't remember what I ate. I know I had a protein bar and a fiber bar somewhere in there, with some fresh veggies. For dinner I had two cups of spinach with a homemade cucumber cilantro dressing (super yummy) and had a side of yellow squash sauteed in sesame oil with fresh minced garlic. Then I had a small serving of peach cobbler. So yummy. Today I had an english muffin with almond butter, blue berries, a glass of milk and a cup of coffee. For lunch, I will make a smoothie with black beans, kale, spinach, mango, banana, strawberries, chia seeds, and rice milk. I'll probably throw in a protein bar (mostly nuts and seeds, but packed with protein!), as well as some fruits and veggies to snack on. For dinner I'm having lettuce wraps made with ground chicken. There's my day of food!
Anyway, pregnancy wise, I'm finding a bit more energy these days. I suspect it's because I've been taking unisom as needed, as well as getting more nutrients I may not have been getting before. I'm still struggling to get to sleep and stay asleep some nights but it's getting better.
I'm honestly a little surprised that my weight hasn't started climbing since I've changed my diet. I feel like I'm constantly eating to get enough of everything baby and I need. I still haven't gained anything in quite some time. I'm so totally fine with that!! I've hit the 8 pound mark and stayed there. My dr is not the least bit concerned... in fact he really wants me to keep my weight down. Fine by me!!
As for baby... I have a very active and very responsive little baby in there. During the day I don't feel quite as many kicks and punches, but I suspect that's because baby sleeps most of the day because my constant running around lulls him/her to sleep.. which makes for a lot of fun "bonding" time in the evening. I can now feel little limbs poking out now, which is so fun to me!! That's my favorite part of pregnancy. I love being able to see where my baby is, and feel little hard spots where something is poking out. It's pretty fun lately because whenever I push lightly on my belly where he/she is bundled up, baby pushes back. It's been kind of a game. I just love it! I'm thoroughly enjoying this part. According to my weekly pregnancy e-mails, baby weighs a little under two pounds at this point and is roughly 13.5 inches long! We're getting there! :)
Other wise... not much else happening right now. I have my two hour glucose test on the 12th (yuck). It's so boring... but at least this time I have a smart phone and will remember to bring something to do. I'll probably stop at Ben Franklin on the way there and pick up some yarn to make hats with while I wait around. We'll see. Anyway... thanks for reading, friends!! :)
Anyway, pregnancy wise, I'm finding a bit more energy these days. I suspect it's because I've been taking unisom as needed, as well as getting more nutrients I may not have been getting before. I'm still struggling to get to sleep and stay asleep some nights but it's getting better.
I'm honestly a little surprised that my weight hasn't started climbing since I've changed my diet. I feel like I'm constantly eating to get enough of everything baby and I need. I still haven't gained anything in quite some time. I'm so totally fine with that!! I've hit the 8 pound mark and stayed there. My dr is not the least bit concerned... in fact he really wants me to keep my weight down. Fine by me!!
As for baby... I have a very active and very responsive little baby in there. During the day I don't feel quite as many kicks and punches, but I suspect that's because baby sleeps most of the day because my constant running around lulls him/her to sleep.. which makes for a lot of fun "bonding" time in the evening. I can now feel little limbs poking out now, which is so fun to me!! That's my favorite part of pregnancy. I love being able to see where my baby is, and feel little hard spots where something is poking out. It's pretty fun lately because whenever I push lightly on my belly where he/she is bundled up, baby pushes back. It's been kind of a game. I just love it! I'm thoroughly enjoying this part. According to my weekly pregnancy e-mails, baby weighs a little under two pounds at this point and is roughly 13.5 inches long! We're getting there! :)
Other wise... not much else happening right now. I have my two hour glucose test on the 12th (yuck). It's so boring... but at least this time I have a smart phone and will remember to bring something to do. I'll probably stop at Ben Franklin on the way there and pick up some yarn to make hats with while I wait around. We'll see. Anyway... thanks for reading, friends!! :)
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