Week 28

We are in week 28!

Baby's car seat and stroller arrived last week. We still need to order the crib and dresser we've picked out. I decided against the cube crib, because it has a glossy finish that apparently shows off fingerprints. Ewww!

Friends of ours from New Mexico have offered us a baby swing, high chair and a Fisher Price Jumperoo. We're going to see if my family can pick up the baby stuff and bring them the next time they drive to Tucson. We also received two handmade blankets from Carole. I need to post photos this week.

Baby and I are doing well. It's getting harder and harder to be on my feet, but I'm pushing through it. I have been good about exercising. Since the last appointment, I have made sure to do at least 20 minutes of walking 5 days a week. It's already made a difference. I can now make it around the block without having to sit down to rest my lower back. I also started using 3lb weights for an upper body workout after my walks. This weekend, I was able to walk 30 and 40 minutes on the treadmill. I'm surprised at how hard it is to carry around the extra pounds, but I'm relieved that exercising has made exercising easier.

Berta (aka Mommy) at 27 weeks

[Enter pregnancy silliness] I have 2 pairs of the same maternity jeans that are threatening to disgrace me in public. They look great and as long as I have the privacy to adjust everything, they fit well. The problem arises when we are out shopping or running errands. These jeans like to slide downward, pulling my undies with them. I'm able to pull up my jeans while we're out walking around, but the underwear will not come up with them. An hour of this nonsense will leave my underwear bunched up just above my thighs and my pants still wanting to slide off. There is nothing noble about this particular pregnancy symptom.

I took this week's picture of Matt while he was looking over the crossword we were working on together. I could have given him a chance to pose for the camera, but I couldn't pass up the smile in this one.

Matt (aka Daddy) at 27 weeks

Double Digits!

We have less than 100 days until our due date. It is amazing to us that we have roughly 14 more weeks to go. Matt, Baby and I are doing well. I'm really noticing the weight. The pads of my feet hurt pretty much any time I am on my feet and my low back gets stiff after walking or standing for a while. None of the discomfort is enough to quell our happy moods. We are still just over the moon for our baby.

Our little guy is kicking a LOT! I think he plays two or three soccer games a day. Baby is also responding to touch. When Matt caresses my belly, our son will bump the area Matt has just touched. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night and he is wiggling and kicking. I place my hands on my belly and just feel him move. I love those moments.

Berta (aka Mommy) and Baby at 26 weeks

I've been reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing to Baby (and Matt) during our morning commute to work. It's a nice way to start the work day and I'm enjoying the book. I hope baby is as well. Bedtime is when we read from the shorter books. Although, I have read to Baby from my grown-up books at night, too. I'm currently reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The Lucky One. Not exactly, baby-appropriate, but a good way to mix up diction. And the first book makes Mommy laugh. That's got to be good for Baby!

Matt (aka Daddy) at 26 weeks

Matt continues to work hard, both at his job and at home. I'm learning to stop trying to do everything I used to do and to let Matt help me. I'm very close to needing his help putting my on my socks and shoes. He also gives me foot and leg massages. He has really been a wonderful husband and an excited Daddy-to-be.

Yesterday, I ordered a car seat and stroller for Baby. They should arrive this week. Even though I researched car seats beforehand and read countless reviews from different sources, I still hesitated clicking on the Submit Order button. It's my personality to worry that maybe I didn't choose the absolute best item. If I stall on every purchase, we won't have anything ready!

Now, that the order is in, I'm relieved and pleased with our choice:

Chicco Key Fit -30 Car Seat

Chicco Key Fit Stroller

Just for fun and reference and I guess, to frighten myself. I made a side by side comparison of my pictures from 18wks and 26wks. My how we've grown!

More About the Glucose Tolerance Test

Just some basic info. The glucose test is done to see how well the mother's pancreas is functioning. Some women can develop gestational diabetes while pregnant. This means, their pancreas cannot provide the insulin needed to absorb excess sugar in the blood stream. It may be that not enough insulin is produced or that the insulin that is produced is a lower potency. The extra sugar in the bloodstream can cause various health problems, but when she is pregnant, all that extra sugar gets sent down to the baby.

If the baby is receiving this extra sugar, his/her body must produce insulin to offset it. This might be marginally fine for the baby while in mom's womb, but it means he/she will pack on fat cells (a result of the insulin production). A bigger baby at birth is not be a concern outright, but one immediate complication can be the sudden removal of sugar to the baby's system. In such a case, the baby's body would be used to producing increased amounts of insulin and when he/she is born, the baby is no longer getting that sugar supply from the mother. This could cause an immediate drop in blood sugar in the baby which is pretty dangerous. In some cases, the baby has to be given sugar after being delivered to help ween his/her body safely off sugar.

This is why it is important for pregnant women to check the function of their pancreas between 24 and 28 weeks. It helps the mother determine if she will need to make changes (or in severe cases, take insulin injections) to maintain the health of her baby through the rest of the pregnancy.

This Week's Baby Report

I'd been holding off this post until we got the results back from the glucose tolerance test that I took during Monday's OB appointment. The results came back normal. Whee! I am very relieved. I was concerned, because Monday's appointment revealed that I have gained 10 lbs in 4 weeks. Yikes!

I can go on and on about how I'm not really eating that much and how I ate more before I got pregnant. That is sorta true. I haven't been eating a lot overall, but I have been eating a lot of ice cream. Because of my 10lb scare on Monday, I've made a point to cut down on sugar and to trade the ice cream for a glass of milk. I'm also trying to be more diligent about getting some exercise.

The walks this week have been tough. My low back and my feet hurt when I go outside to walk. The treadmill is a lot nicer to my body. We still have several more weeks before Baby is born, so I'm going to keep walking even if it takes me an hour to get around the block.

Our appointment on Monday went well. Baby's heart beat was good and he wiggled around while my OB tried to find his heart with the doppler. He's measuring right on for this stage--a very good sign. All my vitals were good.

As for the weight, I should mention that all the things I've read had warned me about a possible 10lb weight gain during this time. I'm now 17lbs heavier than pre-pregnancy. 2 lbs beyond what I'd wanted my total gain to be, but my doctor just wants me to stay under a 30lb gain. The best thing I can do for my health and the health of our son is to exercise and quit the dang ice cream.

We'll post pictures soon. My photographer has been busy with work, so we haven't taken pictures in a while. Soon, though. Then you can try to guess where those 10lbs landed!

Snugglesaurus

Left to right: Roberta (aka Mommy) with Baby (aka Baby), Selesia (aka Aunt Lesia), Richelle (aka Aunt Shell),

In the reflection of the window: Matthew (aka Daddy)

A couple of weekends ago, my sisters came to visit us for the weekend. It was a fun and fast weekend. On Friday night, we met up with them at Red Lobster. I didn't know it was possible, but I proved to be the biggest eater at the table. It doesn't feel like I have any room for food, but I'm beginning to think I can pack it away at my sides or around to my back.

On Saturday, Matt, Selesia and Richelle dropped me off at Massage Envy for a prenatal massage. It was so nice and so needed! While I was being spoiled with massage, the others were browsing/shopping at the Foothills Mall. My sisters got more things for Baby.

Gift from Aunt Shell 1 long-sleeved onsie in bulldog pattern, size 18 months

Close-up of the bulldog pattern

Gift from Aunt Shell 1 short-sleeved onsie, size 6months

Gift from Aunt Lesia, Where the Wild Things Are

We had sushi for lunch, In-N-Out Burger for dinner and made candy apples and pumpkin lattes for dessert. Sunday we hung out around the house until the girls left that afternoon. The time flew by quickly.

After that weekend, we now have a new favorite dinosaur: Snugglesaurus!


Thank you Aunties Shell and Lesia!

Week 25

We are in the middle of week 25. It's hard to believe that we are already 6 months along. At the same time, it seems like the big day is forever away. As we creep closer to the due date, I keep expecting to get nervous about labor. So far, ignorance has me incapable of getting anxious.

We have a 1-day birthing class on Saturday, November 21. It's an all day class that includes a tour of the hospital's labor and delivery area. I'm excited to find out where we will be having this little one. The hospital also offers a class on caring for a newborn. Matt and I would like to take the class just to do all we can to prepare for bringing home our baby.

Our next appointment is on Monday. I'll be taking the 1-hour glucose test during the appointment. I'm hoping that it doesn't make me sick. After this appointment, we'll be going to the OB every two weeks until the baby is born. We're in the last stretch now!

Yesterday, I got the H1N1 vaccine. I was so mad Wednesday when I found out that they'd given out the shots on Tuesday, but never announced it on the health department website. The website that claims to have the latest information. I'd called them last Friday to find out when and where the shot would be available. They told me that they didn't know and said that I should call back in the middle of the following week. Matt happened to read an article about the shot being given out (unannounced) on Tuesday.

I called the health department and found out that the vaccine would be available again on Thursday (yesterday). So, I made sure to get to Tucson Electric Park 10 minutes before the shot clinic was scheduled to start. The line was insane!

Here is an image of the park and I've marked the length of the line that I had to wait in to get the shot.


It took an hour and a half of waiting in the sun before I could get the shot. The annoying thing was that when I was leaving (at 1130a), the line was half the length and I heard workers going down the line asking if anyone was pregnant so that they could skip ahead. Pregnant women and caretakers of infants are given priority for the injection. Everyone else is only given the mist with the live virus.

After all the discomfort, I was incredibly lucky. They were out of the injection by noon--thirty minutes after I'd gotten mine. If I'd waited until after work, I would have missed my chance. I'm hoping the county gets another shipment for next week. I don't like to think about the pregnant women who were not so lucky.

Baby's Closet and Library Grow!

Our baby's closet and library grow. Jolynn gave Baby a gift bag full of goodies this week. Woo!

4 Books: Blue Hat, Green Hat; Moos, Baa, La La La!;
Doggies - A Counting and Barking Book; AtoZ

Cloth Diapers/Burp Cloths

4 Adorable Receiving Blankets in Neutral Colors

6 Washcloths in Neutral Colors

Thank you Jo!