How Far Along? 28 weeks

Total Weight Gained/Loss? 16 pounds - nothing gained the past 3 weeks....but still on track and bebe girl is growing.

Maternity Clothes: Wearing maternity jeans, oh so very comfortable, and still loving the longer maternity shirts (i may always buy maternity tshirts LOL)

Sleep: Still good (feeling super lucky at this point), maanging reflux by not eating after 7:30 pm....it is working.

Best Moment of the Week: J. reading to bebe girl at night.

Movement: Yes, all the time, especially when I wake up in the middle of the night.

Food Craving: Nope.

Food aversions: No.

Morning sickness: Never felt any, thank goodness!

Gender: It is a GIRL!

Labor Signs: No.

Belly Button: Getting wider and more shallow but still pretty deep.

Stretch Marks: none (whispered with fingers crossed)

Wedding rings: still on

Exercise: walking at least 45 minutes every day (helps with my RLS)

What I miss: a variety of clothing choices....wearing jeans and sweats and a variety of comfortable tess is great except when you want something different LOL.

What I'm looking forward to: 3D/4D ultrasound scheduled for December 5th! Can't wait!

Weekly Wisdom: Try and enjoy every minute, it goes too quickly ....I can't change this, but I know I am going to remember this time forever.

Favorite item bought this week: The bassinet arrived, and I love it :)

cutest papa moments of the week

~ J. and I were talking about this being the last Christmas with just the two of us. This lead into a conversation about "santa" and when you learned that Santa isn't real. As I am asking J. he says "Great, you already blew it with bebe girl, now she knows that he is not real." J. likes to pretend that bebe girl can hear and understand everythign we say....LOL.

~ J. reading to bebe girl at night. Currently he is reading "The Bicentennial Man" by Isaac Asimov. I think bebe girl is going to have a very wide, diverse imagination if you take into account the diversity of our interests :) It is just so sweet to see this grown man, reading to my belly and stoppping occasionally to ask if she is kicking. (we use a little microphone and speakers that you can use to play music in utero).....and she only kicked when he would pause :)

new appointments

As we moved during the fertility treaments, my old primary care doc was about an hour and a half away and I needed to find another one closer in the event that my OB needed to consult on my high blood pressure. I made an appointment to meet with a doctor recommended by my OB. I called to make a new patient appointmetn and was given one 6 weeks out! wow, but no big deal as I wasn't in a hurry. I had that appointment today.

Over all I must say, the office was great and the doc was very thorough. She went through my whole history; we talked about the pregnancy; we even talked a little about my childhood and growing up in a divorced home....it comes up when asked about siblings and I have half brothers on my dad's side, and a half sister on my mom's side.

The nurse took my BP on arrival, and it was 120/80 which is good. The doctor took it mid talk and it was 130/? and then she checked the other arm and said it was 140/? so she had some concerns and did not want to change my meds based on one visit (very good to hear). My BP at the OB office is 120/80 always and at home it is more in the 110/70 range.....so I really am not concerned, but she is (which is her job and I am glad she is serious about it). She also checked my urine for protein....negative! YAY! so again, does show that we don't have a problem besides my normal hypertension escalated by white-coat syndrome (typical).

But because of the elevation, she wants to see me in 4 weeks, weeeee. And I am to continue to monitor at home as I have been. If it escalates I am to call and come in sooner. Of course, I checked when I got home.....100/60 LOL. I have checked my cuff at the pharmacy to make sure it is correct and it is, so I blame docs for any escalation at this point.

But, I am blessed to have doctors who are serious about my health and bebe's too!

Next up, OB appointment on Friday, doing the one hour glucose again (to be extra sure) and doing a spot check for protein as there was a trace a few weeks ago.....doctors appointments could be a full time job :)

unbelievable

We have made it to the 3rd trimester. I cannot believe how fast the time has flown.

~ this morning I woke up and said to J. "We are in the third trimester, bebe girl will be here in 12 weeks at the latest" (due to the hypertension, we will be delivering between 38-39 weeks). He got a little wide-eyed and said, we haven't gotten the furniture yet....LOL. I did order the bassinet, and it is scheduled to arrive before thanksgiving!

~ Thanks to goo.gle, I have learned that if bebe girl were to arrive as of this week, she would have an 85% chance of survival, while I don't want her here yet....I am beginning to like our odds.

~ I am realizing that I won't have to restrain myself with eating for the holidays....my body and stomach will be doing that on their own. I ate 2 pumpkin pancakes and some bacon for breakfast....and felt so stuffed, I still haven't eaten anything (and it has been over 6 hours) I thought I was going to be sick....reminder, eat less than normal, way less than normal. Typically I have been eating more smaller meals but i so love the pumpkin pancakes at the restaurant we went to.....I even gave the third one to J. I can't imagine what would have happened if I would have tried to eat it.

~ We scheduled our elective 3d/4d US for December 5th.....I can't wait to see her in 3d for that! We also invited J.s sister, husband and two girls....and we are considering his parents, it is just hard as they really don't drive and it would be over 3 hours roundtrip to pick them up and then we would have the same for taking them home.

~ I am loving these beautiful late fall days; it hasn't even been cold yet (knock wood). please don't make us pay for this in snow later :)

Silly papa

J. sometimes has these thoughts and it sincerely cracks me up. I decided to keep track of these here on the blog so that I don't forget :)

examples from this week:
~ J. comes into the bedroom and says "did you know babies are born hairy?" huh? I say so eloquently. I wasn't expecting those words to come out of his mouth. He said he was reading "what to expect when you are expecting" (I knew leaving it in the bathroom was a good idea) and he read that some babies are born with hair on their back and shoulders, and some babaies are born with enlarged breasts because of the high hormone levels in their mama. AND that some babies are born with baby acne. "Perhaps" he say, "Perhaps it will be better if we do what you want and don't have any visitors in the first two weeks, so she has time to get cute"....silly papa. I told him that he will think bebe girl is beautiful no matter what her appearance is. Then I told him read a better chapter LOL.

~J. says that he is not going to be in the room when bebe girl gets her vaccinations. huh? He says he doesn't want her to associate the pain of the shot with him....LOL. silly papa.

26 weeks

How Far Along? 26 weeks

Total Weight Gained/Loss? 16 pounds (eek! but still ok, hoping for no more than 1 pound per week for the remainder)

Maternity Clothes: Wearing maternity jeans, oh so very comfortable, and still loving the longer maternity shirts (i may always buy maternity tshirts LOL)

Sleep: Better this week, maanging reflux by not eating after 7:30 pm....it is working.

Best Moment of the Week: The US at the perinatologist telling us that bebe girl is measuring perfectly and weighing in at 1.8 pounds (or 1 lb. 12 oz.)

Movement: Yes, all the time

Food Craving: Nope.

Food aversions: No.

Morning sickness: Never felt any, thank goodness!

Gender: It is a GIRL!

Labor Signs: No.

Belly Button: Getting wider and more shallow but still pretty deep.

Stretch Marks: none (whispered with fingers crossed)

Wedding rings: still on

Exercise: walking at least 45 minutes every day (helps with my RLS)

What I miss: running, and taking the stairs without getting winded.

What I'm looking forward to: scheduling a 3D/4D ultrasound. J. and I decided that since this may be our only baby journey, we would splurge and do it all.

Weekly Wisdom: Try and enjoy every minute, it goes too quickly ....I can't change this, because it feels like time is flying

Milestones: we officially started our registry :)

friday night leftovers (a little late)

Danifred does this regularly and has invited others to join her party....so as I am starting to be influenced by J. I am late, but he would say fashionably on time LOL. Make sure you check out her blog to see what everyone else is sharing.

~why does it seem like there is never time to clean the house, but once you do, it feels so great?

~J. was sick much of the week and stayed home 2 days from work. I thought that pregnant women were supposed to be immune suppressed, once again I did not get sick.

~Currently when a friend posts things related to children's shows on FB, I have to google it to understand. I am guessing this will magically change once bebe girl arrives.

~My current vaccuum is from Se.ars, it has Intell.clean. I love the fact that it tells you when the carpet is clean.....who thinks of these things?

Happy Weekend everyone.

99

Officially in the double digits for days left to our due date....even though we do know bebe girl will be arriving between weeks 38-39 weeks due to my existing (but under control) high blood pressure. It feels like this time is flying by....I want to grab it with my finger tips and hold on for a while.

It is like a sand castle built at the shoreline, built only for the momentary beauty, for those lucky enough to witness it. I feel so very blessed.

OB appt/ US

So I had another OB apppintment, I don't know what number it is, that's bad isn't it? I should really go back and track that. For now, we'll call it another. This time I met with a different doctor. There are 3 doctors in the practice, but for some reason I have always been placed with the same one. I was glad to have this appointment as I do want to/need to meet all of them since there is no telling which one will be on duty when bebe girl arrives.

I really liked this doctor. (I really liked the first one so, so far 2 for 2) She spent some time with me going over everything from previous appointments and talking to me about hwo we are going to proceed. She is fine with the weight gain so far, which is good. She tried to listen to the HB and I say tried, becaue beb girl was so active that there was a lot of noise making it hard to get a read. We could definitely hear the HB, but it kept moving and getting drowned out by her kicks that the doctor did not bother with a reading....she just said, wow sounds like a really happy and healthy baby. She seems to have plenty of fluid and room to move around.

My next appointment is in 3 weeks! wow it already seems like time is flying and i know that is going to make it seem even faster. At the next appointment, I have to do the one hour glucose test, which I passed at 20 weeks so I am not too worried, and I have to have a spot protein urine check because they found trace in my sample at the appointment. She said it sometimes happens at the morning appointments as first morning urine is more concentrated, and my blood pressure was fine and has been when I check at home so she told me not to worry, keep doing what I am doing. I wasa little concerned but have since done some googling and have found no real reason to worry since my BP is under control.

I also just had another ultrasound! This one was for a growth check, so the perinatologist checks measurements, blood flow and fluid levels......everything looked great. Bebe girl was measuring exactly perfect, which the doctor said rarely happens and at 25w3d bebe girl is weighing in at 1.8 pounds. woo-hoo! that made me happy to think that she is doing well and weighing great. I go in for another growth US in 6 weeks so I will be in the 32nd week at that point. The only sad thing was that I only got one pic and it wasn't very good.....but I am not really compalining, after all bebe girl is well and that is what we want :) This doctor also said, wow baby is really active and moving around; that is a good sign. It made me laugh because both times the doctos said it I could feel her, but NOTHING like when she is really going at it.

So over all, things are good :)

hand made gifts

Bebe girl recieved some beautiful handmade gifts this week from a former co-worker and good friend of mine. She is one of those people when you meet, you will never forget. Gorgeous and unique, huge head of red hair, full tattoo sleeves....and the biggest heart in the world, who would guess that she also knits? :)

When J. saw these he said they looked like they would fit a stuffed animal LOL.

24 weeks

How Far Along? 24 weeks

Total Weight Gained/Loss? 12 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Wearing maternity jeans, oh so very comfortable, and still loving the longer maternity shirts (i may always buy maternity tshirts LOL)

Sleep: Getting tougher due to reflux :(

Best Moment of the Week: Swimming....and feeling bebe girl

Movement: Yes, almost always when laying down or sitting, now randomly when walking or standing.

Food Craving: Nope.

Food aversions: No.

Morning sickness: Never felt any, thank goodness!

Gender: It is a GIRL!

Labor Signs: No.

Belly Button: Getting wider and more shallow but still pretty deep.

Wedding rings: still on

What I miss: people NOT commenting on how big or in my case how small they think I am.

What I'm looking forward to: Next OB appointment on 11/6, next US 11/10

Weekly Wisdom: Try and enjoy every minute, it goes too quickly

Milestones: Officially passed the point of "viability". But not interested in testing that theory.....My worry won't end until bebe girl is in my arms.

*changed positions in the hopes of making my bump more obvious :)

**edit, don't get me wrong, I don't mind hearing how small I am when people are looking at my picture :) but when I see people and that is the only thing they can say....well....and I am sure that I prefer it to the alternative, saying how big I am. I have just decided that I will never ever comment on a preggo's size. I will just say they look beautiful :) which for the record....I don't think I ever did before but I know I won't in the future!

awards

I have been away on a trip which explains my absence :) I hate to announce that we'll be gone, and can't get it together enough to schedule posts so I just disappeared, sorry!
But I am back and will talk about the trip soon, but thought I would catch up on some awards, and then owe a 24 week update too.....so here goes:

the first one I actually recieved from two people: Kate, and another Kate thank-you both for the award, very sweet!! and so cute that two Kates gave them to me!

First one



Here are the rules:
1. You can only use one word!
2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers.
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. Have Fun!

The Survey
1. Where is your cell phone? charging
2. Your hair? brown
3. Your mother? far
4. Your father? sweet
5. Your favorite food? mexican
6. Your dream last night? forgotten
7. Your favorite drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? family
9. What room are you in? dining
10. Your hobby? scuba
11. Your fear? alone
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? plane
14. Something that you aren’t? fearful
15. Muffins? pumpkin
16. Wish list item? westcoast
17. Where did you grow up? kansas
18. Last thing you did? classwork
19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Your TV? on
21. Your pets? none
22. Friends? plenty
23. Your life? satisfying
24. Your mood? content
25. Missing someone? always
26. Vehicle? rav4
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? wegmans
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? morning
31. Last time you cried? ireland
32. Your best friend? far
33. One place that I go to over and over? shore
34. One person who e-mails me regularly? facebook
35. Favorite place to eat? chipotle



2nd award thanks again Kate :)



1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award and write a little bit about why you love them.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Nominate no more than 17 people who you love or you think could use some love.
5. Write one word (you can only use a word once) about what you love about their blog.
6. You cannot nominate someone who has already been nominated – the love has to spread to all.
7. Post links to the 17 blogs you nominate.
8. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they’ve been nominated.




nominating these bloggers for both awards…
1. Danifred - hysterical

2. Just me - powerful

3. Amber - close (due date)

4. BWUB - blessed

5. EB - future (dreams)

6. Nicole - joyful

If you don't feellike playing, it's all good :) but thought this was a nice light way to work back into blogging!

Thanks again to Kate and Kate....you are the best :)