36 Weeks (a little late)

I will be 37 weeks tomorrow. As I said before, the worst part now is the lack of being able to get comfortable to sleep. I go to bed somewhere between 8-9pm and I can usually fall asleep quickly. Once Joey comes to bed, I don't sleep very well. I have been waking up between 1-4am every.single.night and not able to go back to sleep for at least an hour or two. My hips hurt, my back hurts, my stomach hurts. I keep cramping and having other "body getting ready for labor" signs. I'll spare you the gory details.

This last Wednesday, I woke up in excruciating pain on my right side, my right hip, and across my pelvis. It was so hard to walk, sit, anything. I couldn't get comfortable. It sucked. I worked from home that day as there was no way I was going to be able to drive to work, walk to my office, and sit in an office chair all day. Paige (sister-in-law) ended up coming to get Brynlee and I to take us to her house. She took care of us. Then she took me to my 4pm appointment with Dr. T. I had my NST/BPP and he said baby looked great. She's definitely moving down so I am feeling her movements in different places.

Last week at my 36 week check up, I was dilated to a 1. That's better than how I was with Brynlee. I was only about a fingertip or so dilated at 39 weeks when I went in for induction. So at least my body is making progress this time. I go back tomorrow for another check to see where I am now. Hopefully all of these cramps, BH contractions, and other issues are good signs that I am dilating. My OB didn't give me an induction date at that appointment, but said her report from Dr. T said to induce between 38-39 so her nurse will call the hospital to schedule the induction. She said I would hear by the end of the week. That's a long time to wait! Luckily, her nurse called me the next afternoon.

We go in at 4am on 12/23 for induction. It wasn't really what I wanted to hear, but being that that is the week of Christmas, the days for induction are limited as it is. I really hope we're not in the hospital on Christmas morning, but what can you do? If so, we'll just celebrate later that day. I have to call the hospital at 3am (!!!) to see if they are still on track for me to come in at 4am. If not, then they will push the time back and give me an idea on when to come in. I really hope it doesn't get pushed back. I am hoping we will be home by the evening of Christmas Eve.

I feel like I still have SO much to do. Kyle and Paige came over yesterday to help us with projects. Joey got a bunch of stuff down out of the attic, but there's a bunch of stuff I can't find. Bottles, changing pad, baby socks, the little car mirror, etc. I know they have to be somewhere, but I have no idea where. Paige helped me put away and sort Makenna's clothes, work on her room a bit more, and sort through the stuff that Joey got down out of the attic. I washed 3 loads of baby clothes/towels/bibs and two more loads of things like the car seat cover, swing cover, bassinet bedding, etc. Joey needs to install the car seat base, but he says we don't need to do that yet. WHAT! I am 37 weeks and being induced in 9 days. We should go ahead and put it in. I also still haven't hung the decorations on Makenna's walls. Sigh.

I've also been cleaning house and trying to finish up everything for Christmas. Cleaning house sucks right now. I can't do much without getting super out of breath and of course my body aches all over so it's hard to do a ton at one time. But I know I need to get this house cleaned since I am sure people will visit us after the new little love bug gets here. I want to make sure we get Brynlee's presents wrapped (I haven't even bought everything yet) so that we can get them under the tree on Christmas Eve. She is going to stay with Kyle and Paige on the 22nd and 23rd. Hopefully she will be home with us on the 24th. <3

Brynlee has been a big helper so far. She has been helping me sort laundry, put things away, etc. She's also been a bit emotional and crazy lately, but I guess she gets a little bit of a pass since things are about to get real crazy.

I took personal days for Dec 22 and 23rd before we knew induction date. I thought I would have the week of the 22-28th to prep and celebrate Christmas. I am now thinking of also taking off Dec 18th and 19th or just the 19th. My boss already told me that if I need to take off, to go ahead and do so. I have to decide ASAP though.

Okay Brynlee and I are off to put away bibs, blankets, and other various baby items. :)

35 Weeks

Things are going pretty well over here minus how uncomfortable it is for me to sleep. I am 35 weeks now and so close to meeting our baby girl. In my last post (32 weeks), I posted that I was seeing the regular OB twice a month and seeing the high risk OB weekly for NST/BPP appointments. At my 34 week appointment with my regular OB, she went ahead and moved me to weekly appointments. So I see her every Monday and I see high risk on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. It's a lot.

I saw high risk doc yesterday. It was a big appointment because it was my growth scan. Makenna is measuring average as far as her legs, arms, head, etc. and is measuring on track with where I am in my pregnancy. Her stomach is measuring larger at 36 weeks and 6 days, which is common for GD babies. She is also weighing approximately 6 lbs 1 oz so she will probably be around 8 lbs like Brynlee was. My fluid levels are great and she is still head down. I love getting the BPP (biophysical profile) ultrasound because I get to see her breathing. It is SO neat. Dr. T said there's no reason to up my dosage of Glyburide so I am still on the lowest dose possible and only once a day. That's great news. He did say that he recommends induction between 38 and 39 weeks. When I see my regular OB on Monday, she will schedule my induction. I'll be 38 weeks on December 22nd, but that is the week of Christmas so I am really hoping that she doesn't schedule me for induction until at least December 26th. Ideally, she'd wait until 39 weeks, but she said I will definitely not go over that. So we will have a baby in less than 4 weeks. Crazy! One (probably the only one) good thing about being overweight before getting pregnant is that I have not gained a single pound this pregnancy. I am actually still under my pre-pregnancy weight. On my home scale, I am under by somewhere between 6.4-7.8lbs (first thing in the morning, naked, no food) and at the doctor's offices it is somewhere between 2.4-3.5 under (late afternoon appointments, fully clothes, had food all day). So I am pretty thrilled about that. Don't get me wrong, my reflection shows I've gained 40 lbs, lol.

I feel like she constantly moves and has very little sleep time in there. Apparently, they are supposed to be sleeping like 14 hours a day. I don't think she does. Sometimes she even keeps me up for HOURS at night moving around. I've also felt what I think are contractions at night. They weren't...painful. Just uncomfortable and felt like my entire stomach was kind of cramping? I don't know how to describe it. I never felt any of that with Brynlee. If I wouldn't have had GD and been induced, she probably would have waited to come until like 42 weeks, haha.

I feel Makenna hiccup all the time, too. I like baby hiccups, but sometimes she has them for a long time. She's not as far up in my ribs as Brynlee was so I can be thankful for that. I also don't see her butt bulging out of my side like Brynlee, lol. I do feel her feet high on my right side. I love watching her move.

I am planning for my last work day to be December 19th so I only have 12 more days of work after today. I am honestly counting down, but I feel like I have so much to do. A temporary Navigator will be taking my place while I am on leave. My boss said they are starting the interviews next week. Uh yeah, cutting it a little close to me leaving. So I may not get to meet with the person at all other than helping with interviews. I honestly have a lot of anxiety about someone coming in and replacing me for a few months. I am one who likes my order, has my way of doing things, and I just don't want this person to come in and mess it up. Luckily, my clients won't be around much for about a month. This is their last week of classes, finals next week, and then Christmas break until the end of January. But I still worry about them not reaching out to the temporary person when they need assistance. I will be back after spring break in March.

As far as Brynlee, she is doing great. She is so excited about being a big sister. I also think this is the first year she really understands and is excited for Christmas. She helped me with the Christmas tree earlier this week. We haven't finished because I need more hooks for the ornaments. I asked her what she wants for Christmas and she said she wants sparkly heart earrings and a purple star for the Christmas tree. How sweet. She also said she wants a star on the Christmas tree for Makenna. I don't know what we did, but we are raising one sweet little girl. She is so thoughtful and caring. I hope she stays this way. <3 She kisses and rubs my belly every day. When I take her to school, she hugs and kisses me and then hugs and kisses my belly. Every night, she wants to cuddle with me and Makenna. She includes her little sister in everything that we do (like little sister has a choice lol). If I say that Mommy, Daddy, and Brynlee are going somewhere, she always says, "AND MAKENNA!" She frequently goes in Makenna's nursery and oos and awws over her room. <3 It just touches my heart every time.

I can't wait to see the two of them together. I know I will be emotional and have happy tears to meet Makenna, but I know I'll probably be an emotional mess the first time Brynlee sees her little sister. <3

32 Weeks!

I haven't posted in a while. I feel like so much has gone on in the last month. The time change also has thrown me off. I am getting home later than normal because I have to stay late at work almost every day to make up the time I am missing for doctor's appointments. About that...

I am seeing my regular OB every 2 weeks. This week, my high risk OB moved me to weekly appointments instead of monthly appointments. My fasting blood sugar numbers have been over the 95 cut off. They've steadily been 99-101 and I haven't done anything different to cause them to increase. It just happens later in pregnancy. They had to put me on a very lose dose oral medication called Glyburide to help decrease my fasting numbers. I was on it with Brynlee as well. Since they put me on the medication, they have to monitor the baby weekly. So yesterday I had my first weekly appointment with the high risk OB's office. It took about an hour. Then they do what is called a BPP (biophysical profile). They first do an NST (non-stress test) where they hook me up to monitors to track contractions (not having any). They also measure the baby's movement, heart rate and “reactivity” of heart rate to movement for 20-30 minutes. Everything was good there. Then they do an ultrasound where they measure the baby's breathing, movement, muscle tone, heart rate, and amniotic fluid. Everything was good there as well! I will get these tests weekly until I have the baby.

Luckily, my high risk OB has multiple offices. They have one office that is located about 3 minutes from my job. So it's easy for me to go over there for an hour and then come back to work, if needed. They scheduled me all of my appointments until December 2nd (35 weeks) and then will schedule my December appointments on 12/2. I see my regular OB every other Monday, but in December I will see her every Monday.

Things are going pretty well pregnancy wise. Of course, sleeping is difficult and I have to switch sides a lot as to not irritate my hips too much. I am also still having a lot of heartburn. It's awful. The baby finally flipped head down. I hope she stays that way! I went to a chiropractor last Friday and I feel like she really helped with my back pain, pelvic pain, and round ligaments. Apparently my pelvis was really misaligned. The chiropractor said I should start to feel some relief in my right foot (where I broke my sesamoid bone). I hope so because it's still very tender. I'd like to get to run again after I heal up after labor and delivery. I plan to go back to the chiropractor on Friday after work. My (lack of) weight gain is awesome. According to my home scale, I am still down 5.2 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. It fluctuates between 5.2 and 6.2. My weight has stayed the same at my high risk office and has fluctuated a little (not much) at my regular OB's office. It just depends on what I had for lunch and what I am wearing that day, LOL. Overweight women really aren't supposed to gain much during pregnancy anyway. I feel like I have gained a ton and I look like it, too.

Here's a recent picture of my co-workers and I from Monday, 11/10. All 3 of us are pregnant if you can't tell by the obvious "hands on the baby bumps" picture. Kara is due April 2nd with a boy, Jenna is due January 25th with a girl, and I am due January 5th with a girl. Our co-workers were so nice and hosted us a joint baby shower (for Jenna and me). It was so beautiful and so sweet. I felt so loved! It was perfect.

Joey painted Makenna's room last weekend. I haven't taken any pictures yet because I want to wait until we put up the border, put the crib together, etc. It just looks like a mess right now. I can't wait to get everything together and have her nursery set up. We better hurry as my due date is in less than 8 weeks. If I am induced at 39 weeks, I only have less than 7 weeks left. My last week of work should be the two days before Christmas! That's less than 6 weeks! I should start a count down on my calendar, LOL. I am looking forward to some time off from my clients, to be honest. Some of them are really wearing on my nerves!

So there ya have it. 32 weeks pregnant...just flying right by!

3rd Trimester! :)

Well as of Monday, I am in the 3rd trimester!! I'm 28 weeks. I know I say this all the time, but I can't believe it is going by so quickly. I am still not prepared. I am hoping we get the paint this weekend, but I don't know when we will actually have the time to paint. I am glad we're keeping busy on the weekends because time is quickly passing, but sometimes I wish we had a weekend to focus on getting the girls' rooms painted and Makenna's room set up. No such luck. On the weekend of the 4th, we went to the State Fair for Joey's birthday. On the 11th, we went to the zoo with my work. On the 18th, we're going to Six Flags with Joey's work. The 25th is our town's Boo Bash and the 26th, we go out of town for our niece's 3rd birthday party. November 1st is my baby shower. Busy, Busy!

I am feeling pretty nice. It does hurt to bend over, but I am trying not to complain too much as I know that only gets worse. I've had a few calf cramps in my sleep, only in my left leg, but not very often. My right hip and lower right side of my back hurt if I am up moving too much. I did quite a bit of cleaning on Sunday and I was sore the next day. I've recently started to have the nauseous feeling if I don't eat breakfast early enough so I have to get that in check. I just don't typically eat breakfast as soon as I wake up. I wait until I get to work and then eat at my desk. I am sleeping better since we finally have a king sized bed! It is so comfy! This baby is constantly moving. She is a wiggle worm. At my high risk appointment last week, I was told that she is breech. She still has time to flip though. I hope she does. *crosses fingers*

Brynlee talks about Makenna all the time. When we were at the zoo and in the restroom, she patted my belly and said, "Hi Makenna! We at the zoo!" It's so cute! If I say we are going somewhere, she always asks who is going. I'll say, "Daddy, Mommy, and you!" And she always says, "And Makenna!" She doesn't want me to forget that Makenna comes, too. The only thing is, sometimes she wants to go places with just Daddy and Makenna...and not me. That makes no sense, LOL.

I have some good news...I switched OBs! I am so happy. I hope everything works out with the new OB. I just got the call yesterday that the new office received my medical records from the old office so they set up my first appointment for next Wednesday. It will be with the Doctor's nurse. It was funny because she told me that this first appointment will be to confirm pregnancy. That's normal. The funny part is that I will be 29 weeks pregnant! So I have been pregnant for quite a while now. :) I will find out if I will continue to see the high risk OB or what. I am glad I don't have to go long without an appointment since I cancelled my 28 week appointment yesterday with the old OB. I really just didn't want to see her or her crummy nurse again. So rude, so unprofessional.

I am hoping this "good" stage lasts a bit longer before I am too uncomfortable. It's hard to get out of bed now. It only gets worse, LOL.

26 Weeks, WHAT?!

Things are going pretty well for me besides the normal pregnancy issues. I am still having a lot of heartburn and I only assume it will continue to increase. My hips ache, especially my right one. I toss and turn a lot at night and of course, I get up to use the restroom like 95 times. I feel like I can never get comfortable. My back hurts, my sciatica acts up, and my feet are tired. Yay, lol. I feel Makenna move a lot every day. When my alarm goes off in the morning, I feel her tugging and moving around in there. It's such a sweet feeling.

My OB appointments have now increased in frequency! I just saw my OB last week for my 25 week appointment and I see her again at 28 weeks. Then I'll go back at 30 weeks. Shit gets real when you start your every 2 week appointments. I'll do that for a few appointments before I get switched to WEEKLY appointments! Eek! I also am still seeing the MFM (high risk OB) every 4 weeks. I am not sure if those appointments will increase in frequency or what. I see them next week so I guess I'll find out then. I can't believe I am already to this point. With Brynlee, I felt like I was pregnant forever. It also didn't help that I was sick until 21 weeks. I haven't been very sick with Makenna other than a few weeks of throwing up every.single.morning after brushing my teeth. I am glad that stopped! I still occasionally get nauseous, but it's not often at all. Anyway, I have felt like this pregnancy has flown by. It probably doesn't help that I don't feel prepared even though we really don't have a ton to do. With Brynlee, there was a lot of preparation needed since she was our first baby. With Makenna, we are using so many hand-me-downs.

We need to do these things:
1.) Paint the nursery
2.) Put together the crib
3.) Buy a dresser
4.) Order the bedding/nursery stuff
5.) Get the clothes bins out of the attic and wash everything
6.) Buy diapers

So we really don't have a ton to do. Okay, looking at the list like that...we have a ton to do! We are not ready for a baby yet, LOL. 

My sister sent out the baby sprinkle invitations and I am in love with it! It's so adorable and goes great for the nursery theme since we are doing her room in traditional ladybug (red, black, white, gray). Isn't the invitation so adorable? *love*

Brynlee is still so excited about being a sister. She talks about Makenna all the time and I just love it. She kisses my belly. She helps me pick things up when I drop them because she knows that it hurts me to bend over. It makes me so happy. I cannot wait to see her hold her and love on her. One of my friends from college just had her 2nd daughter. She posts pictures of her big girl holding her little girl and it makes me tear up every single time! Her daughter looks just so happy to be a sister. I know that's how Brynlee will be. <3

My 25 week appointment was pretty awful. I won't go into the long version, but the short version is this: My OB's nurse (who I like) was a total annoying B***h. She asked me if I went to diabetes education and I said no. She freaked out and wanted to know why. I told her that I wasn't referred there. She didn't believe me and basically said that I "didn't go" to DE and that they always refer patients there. Then she told me that she would be letting my OB know. Um, ok. Go ahead. Then the student Nurse Practitioner comes in (never met her before). Doesn't introduce herself. Asks me all the same things the nurse just asked. Also talked to me about not going to DE. OB finally comes in and um yep, she's big ole pregnant. At this point, I knew she was further along than I am which means she won't be the one there for my delivery. As soon as she comes in, I ask her when she is due. She says December 15th. Yep, due 3 weeks before me. I told her that I was pretty sure at my last appt (4 weeks ago) that she was pregnant, but figured she would tell me since I am her patient. She says, "Yeah, my patients are starting to figure it out." That is so unprofessional! She should have been upfront with me and her other patients to let us know that she is pregnant especially when it means she will no longer be there for my L&D or even my last few weeks of pregnancy. So I am mad and ask her what happens to my care. She says there's 7 doctors in her practice and I will rotate between them all for my end of pregnancy appointments. Then whoever is on call that week will deliver my baby OR I can "pick one" that I like best. I am so mad! I am not mad that she is pregnant. I am mad that she was just going to avoid the topic until I brought it up. It was like a big baby elephant in the room. So after a big lecture from her on not going to DE, she wants to see my blood sugar numbers. I show her. I had ONE that was 138 (numbers are supposed to be under 120, high risk OB wants them under 130). She asks me what I ate that day--a week ago. I tell her that I don't remember and that maybe I ate too much. Her bitchy response is this, "See that is why you need DE. They will teach you to make good choices. This is not about YOU, it is about YOUR BABY." And the way she said it made it seem like I am trying to kill my baby. I wanted to leave right then. The appointment ended shortly. I went to pay and set up my next appt then I had to go to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom, the nurse and student NP were talking about me. In the hallway. In the open. For anyone to hear. I am pissed! Yeah, that was the short version! I am so aggravated and appalled at the lack of professionalism in that office.

Anyway, now this blog post made me realize I need to get things in gear...

23 weeks, holla!

23 weeks, ya'll! I'll be honest and say that sometimes I feel like I have been pregnant forever. Other times, I feel so rushed and cannot believe that I only have about 16 weeks until I have another baby. I am not ready yet! I cleaned out Makenna's closet this weekend and tried emptying/sorting the boxes of stuff in her room. It was overwhelming. The boxes were really just full of picture frames that need new pictures, decorations for the kitchen, and small candles. One downfall to the house we bought is the lack of storage places. You would think that would mean we would store less stuff, but nope. We just keep finding a place for everything...

I feel like we have so much to do to get ready for Makenna's arrival. First, we need to paint both of the girls' bedrooms. I want to do Brynlee's in pink and white polka dots (just one accent wall) so I can finally hang up all of her Minnie Mouse decorations. We are planning to decorate Makenna's room in red, black, and gray lady bugs. I saw the cutest bedroom set at Target. I'd like to paint her room gray on top and red on the bottom of the walls. We'll see if Joey will do what I ask. :) We also need to get her a crib. Joey wants a white one to match our white changing table. Brynlee's crib was brown. I need to have Joey get the small size clothing bins out of the attic so I can start washing clothes and figure out what we need. I did go to the 50% Just Between Friends sale on Saturday. I actually didn't buy anything for Makenna, but found a super cute coat for Brynlee for $3! I also got her quite a few long sleeve shirts for fall/winter. I did get Makenna a few things when I went to the first day of the sale last weekend. I even got her two cute little Texas Tech outfits. :) We really don't need much for her since we already have a girl. Since they're born in opposite seasons, I'll most likely just have to layer her clothes so I bought some long sleeve solid white onesies. I should probably get some other colors, too.

Anyway, I have been doing pretty well. My OB wrote me a prescription for Fioricet at my 21 week appointment. Since then, I've had very few headaches at all. I've only taken one of the pills and I haven't taken any Tylenol in a couple of weeks. Crazy, huh? I am glad they decided to let up a bit and I hope they stay away. My headaches were brutal! I haven't been getting sick after my brushing my teeth anymore either. It does seem like I've traded those issues for other issues though! My hips hurt so bad especially on the right side. I toss and turn all night long. I have to sleep with a big body pillow between my legs and another big pillow against my stomach. I miss sleeping on my stomach. :( It's getting harder and harder to bend over and I am getting winded so easily these days. It hurts to get down on my knees against the bath tub to give Brynlee a bath. By the end of the work day, my back hurts so badly from my desk chair. I even have a pillow behind my back. I wish I could actually get some good sleep though. I wonder when that will happen...

Joey doesn't seem excited this time around. I know he's happy or whatever, but he was SO excited when I was pregnant with Brynlee. I am sure he's "been there done that" so he knows what to expect. He never asks how I am doing, never asks how the baby is doing, and doesn't really ever talk about her. He sometimes mentions her to Brynlee, but it's really not that often. I am also nowhere near as sick as I was with Brynlee. He used to hold my hair or get me a pony tail, bring me water and crackers, and a wet rag. He was so sweet and loving. Now he's like, "suck it up". Boo! Men.

I saw the high risk OB on Friday. This is the one who did our anatomy scan 4 weeks ago and even though he tried so hard, he could not get her to show us gender. I am glad I scheduled an elective scan after that disappointing appointment. When I went to see him on Friday, he tried to determine gender again with not much luck! She had her little legs pressed tightly together, the cord between her legs, and a hand down there. He said if he was going to bet, he'd bet girl, but wouldn't bet a lot. I told him that I had an elective scan and it was pretty clear that she is a girl. He said he thought he could see three lines, but couldn't say for sure. She also had one of her hands up by her face. So he had to wiggle her around so he could get a better view of her eyes and mouth. All is well! She is healthy and happy in there. The doctor said she is growing great and measuring on track for everything. That's always great to hear. My weight was exactly the same on Friday as it was at my appointment 4 weeks ago. According to my home scale this morning, I am down 6.2 lbs. As my mom says, I have a "surplus" of weight so it's fine that I haven't gained weight yet. I am hoping that when I do start gaining, I either don't go over my pre-pregnancy weight or I break even. :)

Here's to 24 weeks next week and soon to be in the 3rd trimester! I better kick the nesting in to high gear! :)

20 weeks!

Another month has gone byyyy! I can't believe I am 20 weeks today. If I end up being induced a week early again then that means I am more than half way through! It seems like it is flying by and I feel like it is only going to go faster from here on out. I am feeling pretty good except for the normal pregnancy things. My hips are starting to hurt so I have to sleep with my big fluffy pillow between my legs. It helps some. I am starting to have trouble sleeping/laying on my stomach and that just happened this weekend. My headaches are outrageous. Blah. I was hoping they would improve. No such luck. I had a headache at work on Friday, but drank a diet coke and had some Tylenol and it eased up. It didn't go away, but it wasn't as painful. I ended up going to bed Friday night with a pounding headache. I took our last Tylenol PM hoping that would make it go away and allow me to get some sleep. No such luck again. I woke up multiple times throughout the night feeling like someone had beat me over the head and tried to rip my right eye out of my head. I had the headache all day Saturday, all night Saturday night, and again all day Sunday. I finally used Joey's peppermint oil and rubbed it on my temples and forehead. It finally eased the pain, but again did not make it go away. I had about 2 hours of "relief" before it hit me full force again. I woke up yesterday feeling a bit congested and had some sinus pain. The only medicine we had in the house that is safe to take while pregnant is Benadryl. I didn't want to take that because I didn't want to sleep all day. I took one Benadryl before bed and it seems like that did the trick as I slept pretty well and woke up headache free. *knocks on wood*

I am such a slacker at updating my blog since the only people who read this thing are my Facebook friends/Mommy friends anyway. After we couldn't find out the baby's gender at my anatomy scan on 8/5, I decided to schedule an elective scan. Both Joey and I just really wanted to know. There's a place north of us that wasn't very expensive and could get us in on Thursday, 8/7 at 6pm. The good news is that we could also take Brynlee! I wanted her to get to see the baby, too. She knows the baby is in Mommy's belly, but of course she doesn't understand time or that the baby is still cooking in there. I thought it'd be fun to let her see the little thing. The ultrasound guy had to dig deep and low into my pelvis to see the baby. Then, of course, the baby had the legs crossed. Luckily, he just kept digging and had me jiggle (embarrassing) my belly around to see if the baby would open up. Finally! We could see gender!

Little sister due January 5, 2015

That's right! We're having ourselves a little sister. Brynlee is thrilled since she has been wanting a little sister. I was a tad sad at first just because I really would like a boy especially since we are pretty sure we will only have two. But I am excited for Brynlee to have a sister! Sisters are great. It was funny because after the ultrasound, Brynlee said they couldn't get the baby out. We tried explaining that they weren't trying to get the baby out. We were just looking at pictures of the baby. But she didn't get it. The next day when I was getting dressed for work and took my shirt off, she patted my belly and said they tried to get the baby out but didn't.

I am glad that we get to reuse everything from Brynlee except these two ladies will be born in opposite seasons. We are also going to get a different bedroom set for the baby's room. I found this super cute ladybug set at Target that I think is adorable. Joey said he likes it, too. Hopefully it won't be sold out or out of stock by the time we order it though. That always happens to me, haha. I am also excited to paint Brynlee's room. I've been getting different Minnie Mouse room decor to put up in her room. My sister got her a custom Minnie clock, growth chart, and name decor for her room. I bought her this cute little Minnie Mouse thing that says her name, birth date, and weight/length at birth. It's super cute. I also got her two cute little Minnie light switch covers for her room. I have some other ideas as well, but haven't bought it all yet.

Now if we could only choose a name. Joey likes my top name, but said he wants to keep looking, but doesn't look...so that's annoying. When he briefly browsed for names the other night, he only mentioned stupid names and was joking about it. Not cool. The middle name we chose is causing "conflict" with someone else in the family and it really makes me mad so I doubt we will end up using the name even though we have wanted to use it for a long time. It's ridiculous, but I'll just leave it at that. So now it feels like we're back to square one with deciding a first and middle name.

I have an appointment next Monday with my regular OB. It's just a routine check up. I see the MFM (high risk OB) again on September 5th. Moving right along!

Cute little baby!

Joey and I went to our anatomy scan on Tuesday afternoon. The baby is nice and healthy! That is always absolutely wonderful to hear. S/he is measuring right on track. We got to see cute little baby feet, cute little baby legs, and a cute little baby face. Unfortunately, s/he would not show us anything between the legs. The baby had his/her heels firmly pressed in its crotch area. Refused to show us anything! The doctor said he wouldn't/couldn't venture a guess because he honestly could not get the baby to move the feet long enough to see. He dug that ultrasound wand into my pelvis and said that the baby's butt was way back in my pelvis. He tried digging and wiggling that baby. He tried way harder than the ultrasound tech did with Brynlee though. But nothing. Sigh. He scheduled me for another ultrasound in FOUR WEEKS on September 5th. It's actually 4.5 weeks. So we waited 18 weeks to find out what the gender of our new little love bug, but now we wait more. :( I left very disappointed, but also happy. Of course, I am happy that the baby is healthy and growing well. But come on, it's totally understandable to feel disappointed not to find out! I am definitely not one that can wait until birth. Sure, I think that'd be exciting for Joey to go out into the waiting room and announce, "IT'S A ________!" and then I get to officially announce his/her name, but let's get real here...I get way too excited and definitely can't wait that long to shop.

I was also extra disappointed to not find out because I signed up to be a consignor for the Just Between Friends sale at the end of August. If we're having a boy, I need to organize, price, and tag Brynlee's old clothes so I can consign them and buy itty bitty boy clothes. If we're having a girl, I want to be able to buy itty bitty girl clothes for fall/winter. Brynlee and new baby are going to be born in opposite seasons. Brynlee was born in July and this one will be born end of December/early January so the sizes and seasons will be a bit off. My ultrasound with the high risk OB is not until September 5th so I would miss getting to consign at the sale. :(

The OB only gave us one cute little picture of the gummy bear. This is a picture of his/her face from the side. S/he is looking up at my placenta. You can see a cute little forehead, nose, chin, and then the body and where the spine is. So fun!

Petrosian #2 18 weeks 1 day gestation

I've already had three ultrasounds this time around. It's so neat to compare the 9 week, 12 week, and 18 week ultrasounds. They grow so fast in that amount of time. S/he went from looking like a gummy bear to a potato to a human. My OB said s/he is weighing around 8oz right now. He said that may not sound big, but that is a healthy baby. It's such an awesome feeling to see a baby growing inside of me. I can feel him/her moving some evenings when I lay down for bed or I am watching TV. I feel these little flutters and movements. It's usually on my left side though and this week, s/he was down deep on the right side. Better enjoy having room to move around before s/he gets stuck in one place, haha! Brynlee LOVED being in my ribs on my right side. Oh man, it was painful. I have a short torso so the babies I grow don't have much room in there, I guess.

Hopefully we'll find out soon!

18 weeks and a birthday party!

We had a great birthday party for Brynlee this weekend. Brynlee's cousin, Ainsley, came down to spend the night with her on Friday night. They had lots of fun. It's so neat because they are only 3 months apart so they are so close in age. We had her party at the local recreation center at the indoor pool. It has a big pool, lazy river, big slide, and a kiddie area with slides and such. It was so much fun. Brynlee had a great time hanging out with everyone. She really didn't want to leave the pool. I didn't take many pictures since we were having too much fun. I took a few.

Ready for winter!

Brynlee (grumpy) and Ainsley. They're so beautiful. <3

Minnie and Mickey at the beach!

Minnie balloons!

Doc McBrynlee

This girl. I just love her. She made sure to give everyone a hug and tell them hi when they came to her party. She told everyone bye and thanked mostly everyone for coming to her party. I only had to tell her one time to make sure she greeted and thanked her guests. Proud Mommy! We spent the rest of Sunday just playing with her toys, putting away her cute new clothes, and reading the cards she received. I put all of her cards in her memory box.

In other news, I hit 18 weeks today! Tomorrow is our big anatomy scan. I am so excited to find out what the gender of this little one. Brynlee is still just dying for a little sister, but she has started calling one of her baby dolls a boy. She still named him Rhino. Oh Lawd. I woke up feeling great today even though I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I didn't throw up or gag this morning after brushing my teeth and I haven't felt nauseous. Hooray! I usually just feel nauseous if it has been too long since I last ate. My blood sugars are still good minus a couple semi high ones after eating things I shouldn't eat (*ahem* tortillas *ahem*). I send my numbers to the nurse practitioner every week and she says the docs review them and say to keep up the good word, no changes. I am tired of finger pricking though!

The heat rash on my neck and face went away. It only took a few days of applying hydro-cortisone. I've never had a heat rash before in my life so that was weird. It didn't itch, but it felt warm to me. My headaches are still crazy so I definitely need to let my OB know. I can't go 22 more weeks of daily headaches. I had one horribly bad yesterday. I went to lay down in the dark in my room. I couldn't go to sleep though because the pain was just too much. Luckily, it finally went away after a few hours of dealing with that crap. My weight went up about a pound today from last week, but I am still down 5 1/2 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. Hooray! When I went to my OB last Monday, she pointed out that I was down almost 10 lbs (according to their scales). I am sure it's from not being able to eat much at a time. I go from starving to full in 3 bites, basically. It also helps that I am watching carbs and such. I was reading back on my journal entries from being pregnant with Brynlee and this is the time I started to slowly gain weight so I am sure it will happen now. I'm not too worried, but I am hoping to keep my weight gain to a minimum like I did with Brynlee.

Ah this pregnancy is going by so fast! I am looking forward to fall and then before I know it, I'll be looking forward to holding and loving on our new baby!

My baby is 3!

I can't believe I have a 3 year old! Brynlee has been telling me for a couple of months now that her birthday is July 27. It's so cute how she says it. When I took her to daycare on Friday, she ran up to her teacher and Ms. Baker said, "Happy Birthday birthday girl!" I was like, hmm...maybe she is telling her Happy Birthday since her birthday is on Sunday and she won't be at school that day. I didn't ask about it. When I picked Brynlee up from school, she ran up to me and screamed, "I'M 3 NOW!" I explained to her that her birthday is not until Sunday so she has two more days. She kept telling me NO, she is three! I just left it alone and she stopped mentioning it.

When she woke up on Sunday, I went into the bathroom and asked, "What is todaaaay?" in my sing song Mom voice. She had the biggest grin on her face and said all excitedly, "It's myyyy birthdaaaay!" So cute. When I was getting her dressed and asked her how she wanted her hair, she told me she wanted to wear four ponytails! Hmm, okay. So I did my best to put four ponytails in her hair without a comb! It turned out pretty cute. She also wanted to wear the cute little blue jean skirt I bought her at Old Navy on Saturday.

We asked her what she wanted to have for breakfast for her birthday. At first she said donuts. I treated her to donuts on Saturday morning and donuts really aren't a special breakfast, lol. So I asked her if she wanted pancakes and she said yes. We told her we were going to go have birthday pancakes and she was so excited. We went to IHOP and she chose the kid's meal that comes with 5 small pancakes, eggs, and a piece of bacon. She chowed down, too! She wanted both blueberry and strawberry syrup so Joey alternated them on her pancakes. She loved it. <3  I took some pictures of her and Joey before we left the house for the day. She absolutely refused to take a picture with me and it really hurt my feelings. I wanted a picture with her and she just kept saying no. At breakfast, Joey told her to go sit by Mommy and take a picture. Again, no. She flat out refused. *Sigh* She's such a Daddy's Girl and sometimes it really hurts my heart. I know she loves me, but she doesn't always act like it. Here's some cute pictures of her anyway.

After breakfast, we asked her if she wanted to go to Toys R Us to pick out a toy with some of her birthday money. Of course she said yes! It was so much fun. She was so excited and couldn't stop looking at all of the toys. I took a video of her because she was making me laugh so much. I can't get it to post here for some reason, but it's funny! She used some of her money to buy a baby doll diaper bag with accessories, a Dora doll with a pony, a Hello Kitty journal set, and a couple of keychain pens. She's so silly. The Dora doll is a Vet and comes with a doctor's coat, etc. Brynlee keeps referring to her as "Dora Doc McStuffins". Two different characters, lol.

After Toys R Us, we went to the Target by Toys R Us because I was looking for a certain Ergobaby carrier that was supposed to be on clearance. I guess they were snatched up quickly. We went to the Target near where we live, too. They didn't have it either so we just bought a slurpee and headed to the grocery store. Brynlee loves the Buddy Bucks at HEB. She had a sticker for an instant winner prize which was supposed to be these cheap little silly band bracelets. They were all out so they gave her these cool pink sunglasses (worth 350 points!) Doesn't she look cute in them?

Once we were home, Brynlee took a nap and Joey and I just relaxed around the house. We had dinner with some of Joey's friends. Joey thought it would be a good idea to ask the waitress to sing Happy Birthday to Brynlee and give her some icecream. Brynlee didn't like that. Well, she loved the icecream. But she is like her Mama, she did not like the attention. She froze up and looked so scared. I felt bad for her. Poor girl. :( After the waitresses walked away, I told Joey that she is shy and didn't like that. Once we got home and Joey got her ready for bed, she came to give me a goodnight kiss. She looked at me and said, "Mommy I'm just shy." Then she told me that she is all better. She's such a sweet girl.
It's crazy that these 3 years have gone by so fast. It really does just happen before ya know it. Here she is on her birthday each year.

And just for shits and giggles, this is one of the pictures that came up on my TimeHop app on Sunday. This was a little bit after the doctor broke my water...


Here I am, doing it again! Haha. Brynlee's party is on Saturday and she is SO EXCITED! She didn't understand, at first, that her pool party was not the same day as her birthday. I am sure that is very confusing to a 3 year old. We wanted the family to be able to be there so we had to do it the weekend after her party. Unfortunately, lots of people have said they can't make it. But what can ya do?

Happy Birthday to my sweet, funny, charming, beautiful, sassy little girl. <3

17 Weeks!

Another week has gone by! On one hand, I feel like this pregnancy is going by so fast. On the other hand, I feel like I have been pregnant forever, LOL. I guess that is what happens when you find out at exactly 4 weeks pregnant! It really is going by so fast though. Today was the first day I woke up and didn't feel nauseous. I also didn't gag or throw up after brushing my teeth. Hooray! I am sure it's a fluke, but hopefully not. I dread brushing my teeth every morning because I hate throwing up stomach acid.

Today I woke up looking like this...

I have a weird, red looking rash on both cheeks, my neck, my ears, and a little bit at the top of my chest. I have no idea what it is or what it could be. It doesn't itch, but it feels warm to me. But doesn't feel warm when I touch it with my hand. I haven't switched to a different face wash, moisturizer, lotion, or anything else. I am assuming it is either heat related or pregnancy related. I see my OB today for my 17 week check up so we'll see what she says. Sigh. I can't catch a break, haha. With Brynlee, I got massive chloasma or "mask of pregnancy". It has never gone away. I am doomed!

Things are going well. More and more people are starting to ask when we find out the gender. We find out in one week! Next Tuesday. Hopefully we will get to find out. I am so excited to know the gender and start talking baby names!

My headaches are still outrageous and lasting forever. I don't think the heat helps at all. I am pretty much miserable whenever I am out and about during the day, but it typically cannot be avoided. It also doesn't help that we need to replace the compressor in my car so our AC will work instead of only working on the highway going full blast! It was 102 the other day, Saturday I think. YUCK. I enjoy swimming, but I really hate summer, haha. I am so ready for fall. My favorite month is October because I love the changing weather.

I am sleeping better at night, but I know that won't last long. Once the baby gets bigger and I am getting fatter, I know I will be uncomfortable. Right now I am enjoying that I can still sleep on my stomach. I couldn't sleep on my stomach with Brynlee because *TMI* my boobs hurt too bad.

Here's to another week! :)

16 Weeks!

Holla! I am 16 weeks pregnant now. I haven't updated much because not much has changed. *shrugs* I'm feeling pretty well minus the headaches. I am prone to headaches anyway and I did have them more frequently with Brynlee, but they are INTENSE and long-lasting this time around. I had a headache yesterday that started around 10am. I took Tylenol twice during the day, took a nap, and still had a headache when I went to bed around 9pm. I took some Tylenol PM before bed. I slept pretty well, but I still woke up with the headache! I felt extra sickly this morning. It's gone now though *knocks on wood*.

I am still sensitive to smells and that makes me gag. I am assuming that will last the majority of my pregnancy. I do have morning sickness in the morning as opposed to all day sickness. It's worse when I haven't eaten yet. I've lost 6 lbs so far. I am sure I will start to gain it here soon. I think I started to gain weight around 17 or 18 weeks with Brynlee, but I was also throwing a lot so it was to be expected that I would lose weight. I keep meaning to look back at my pregnancy journal that I kept about being pregnant with Brynlee. It's kind of fun to compare.

Brynlee is excited to be a big sister, but she really wants a little sister. I am trying to explain to her that she can't choose if she has a brother or sister, but she doesn't understand that. What 3 year old would? She told me the other day that she will be sad if she has a little brother. That makes me sad. I know she will be happy to have a little brother and will forget that she ever thought of feeling sad. But I also do feel sad because we will probably (like 95% sure) only have 2 kids. I love having sisters and would really like Brynlee to have a sister. But lets be real here, she is a Daddy's Girl to the core. It sure would be nice to have a Mama's Boy! :) She also, of course, doesn't have any concept of time, LOL. She wants her little "sister" to come to her birthday party...in two weeks. She has been hugging and patting my belly. She's careful when she jumps and climbs on me. She's a very smart, sweet little girl. I am lucky to have her!

I can't believe that I am 4 months pregnant already. I am looking forward to my baby bump growing. I don't look pregnant yet. Well, my boobs do. Haha! I am also looking forward to taking more time off from work with this baby. With Brynlee, I was only actually off work for 5 weeks. The first week was already built into my short summer vacation with my last job. I also had to take the time off unpaid so that is one reason that I could not take longer. We just could not really afford for me to not work. With this one, I planned ahead. I've been paying for short-term disability as well as saving my sick, personal, and vacation days. I plan to take the full 12 weeks or as long as I will be paid. The STD will only pay 60% of my pay, but that is better than $0.

I do have to figure out my plan for Brynlee though. I'd like to keep her in daycare because I know the first 3-4 weeks will be rough as far as barely able to move around, getting used to having a newborn and being a milk machine, and exhaustion! Brynlee is an early bird. On the other hand, it'd be nice to have time with her and also save money on daycare. I just don't see myself getting two kids up early, get them ready, and taking her to school. It'd be different if Joey could take her, but he drives a work van with no backseat so no car seats. Hmm. I suppose we have time to figure it out. I like to plan.

So far so good. I can't wait for the anatomy scan on August 5th! I find out in TWO weeks what we are having. I hope, at least. I had an ultrasound around 18 weeks with Brynlee and she was shy. The u/s tech had to guess and say she was "pretty sure" she was a girl. So I hope this little one won't be so shy so we can see the gender! Of course, I want everything else to be perfect as well. A lot of people think I am having a boy since my pregnancy is opposite of Brynlee's. I thought it'd be fun to do a gender poll and see who is right. :) Feel free to participate! The link is below.

Baby Hunch: Boy or Girl?

Gestational Diabetes

Having gestational diabetes (GD) sucks. It's a common pregnancy problem. According to the UCSF Medical Center, approximately 7% of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes. First time pregnant women are typically not tested until around 28 weeks gestation. I was tested at 12 weeks because I had GD with Brynlee. 

Let me just say, the whole entire GD (pun intended) process sucks. It's not just testing my blood sugar 4 times a day. It goes like this: I take my fasting blood sugar when I wake up before I have eaten or had anything to drink, but after I have put in my contacts. I have to eat 3 meals a day plus 3 snacks a day. I have to remember the exact time I put breakfast in my mouth and remember to test my blood sugar 2 hours later. I do the same for lunch and dinner. I have to eat less than 45g carbs for meals and 15-30g carbs for the three snacks. I have to force myself to eat an evening snack or else my fasting blood sugar level is a little elevated in the morning. For fasting blood sugar, my number has to be no higher than 95. Last night, I did not eat an evening snack (I started blood sugars today) and when I woke up today, my stomach hurt, I felt icky, and my blood sugar level was 93. Borderline. So I have to make myself eat something in the evening. I have to write these numbers down and keep track of them. I also have to keep track of my food so I know what food affects my blood sugar levels and what to avoid. At the end of each week, I have to email my numbers to the nurse practitioner at the high risk OB's office. Fun stuff.

Luckily, I use MyFitnessPal to input my food. I love that I can use the app and just scan bar codes. This morning for lunch, I made a bowl of tuna with a piece of bread. I just scanned all of the ingredients. Tuna, mustard, mayo, relish, hard boiled egg, and a piece of bread. Easy peasy. I also like that it saves my frequent foods so I can just check mark them and use them again. I can also build recipes on MFP. Sure, MFP is more for weightloss and maintenance, but it works for what I need right now.

I found this awesome app today called Glucose Buddy. It's so neat! I am using it to track my blood sugar numbers. It's so awesome. I can even email the numbers to myself and it sends it like a spreadsheet. I can also email it directly to the Nurse Practitioner through the app. Sweeeeeeeet.

Glucose Buddy app on iphone

Easy logging of blood sugars

Easy e-mail feature

I am so happy I found this! With Brynlee, I had a little mini journal and I would write everything in there. Then I would type up the numbers in a spreadsheet to show my doctor at my appointments, but by the time I was diagnosed, I was seeing my OB biweekly and then it was even more frequent with once a week appointments and NSTs. This method should be much easier than that! I am all about making life more easy and more organized.

Having GD sucks, but I know that keeping myself on track will be better for this little baby. Less than 5 weeks and we'll know what color to paint the nursery. :)

13 Weeks

My oh my, how time flies. 13 weeks, it is. I had my appointment yesterday with my OB. Things are going well! The nurse had to dig a bit to find the baby's heart beat, but that's because he/she is all nestled in my pelvic bone. My vitals are good and I talked to my doctor about my horrendous headaches. She suggested adding a little caffeine when I first feel a headache coming on. I stopped drinking coffee weeks ago thanks to the heartburn. I do drink diet coke from time to time, but not often. She also suggested taking Tylenol PM when I have an evening headache that may prevent me from being able to sleep. I did that last night and let me just say I feel refreshed today and I only got up twice to use the bathroom. (Usually I get up anywhere between 6-10 times a night...seriously...no joke.) My next appointment with her is at 17 weeks on July 28th. It feels like it will be here before I know it.

I've lost 4 lbs thanks to Joey making me eat protein and veggies for dinner. Haha! Actually, it's been nice. Dinner is SO easy these days. He usually prepares the meat and I throw us together some veggies. Last night, we had fish and okra tomato stew. My mom used to make okra tomato stew and I always loved it. I still do. I put Cajun seasoning in our's though and made it spicy. I just cooked minced garlic and frozen okra in the skillet for about 6 minutes and then I added a can of diced tomatoes (with juice) and a can of rotel tomatoes (with juice). I seasoned with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes and viola! Yum. Of course, the picture doesn't look awesome.

I brought a big, yummy salad for lunch today. Lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, shredded carrots, broccoli, shredded cheese, egg, turkey cubes, and olive oil vinaigrette dressing. I also brought an apple with peanut butter. I've been drinking at least 70 oz of water during the work day plus a bottle of water or mixed berry green tea for dinner. Doctor said I am getting plenty of fluids and to keep it up.

I see the high risk OB again today at 9:30am. I guess I am just going to see all of the doctors in the office. I saw one doctor the first time, I see a different doctor today, and my visit on Aug 5th will be with a different doctor because "my" doctor will be on vacation that week. Today's appointment is to get my prescriptions for the supplies I need to monitor my blood sugar levels. I did the 1 hour glucose test on 6/24 and I failed it (I knew I would). They were going to have me do the 3 hour, but I insisted on just letting me skip it (it made me horribly sick with Brynlee) and just diagnosing me as having gestational diabetes. My OB agreed with that when I talked to her yesterday. So I go in today to meet with the doctor or whoever for them to tell me how many carbs I should eat at each meal. I am hoping it's not a long appointment since I am leaving work in the middle of the morning to go to this.

It's weird for me to be seeing a high risk OB. I didn't have to do that with Brynlee. When I was diagnosed with GD around 28 weeks, I was just sent to the diabetes educator at the hospital for one session. They showed me how to use the glucose monitor, talked to me about carbs, and how much I should eat. That was all. I didn't have to continue seeing the lady. I was still considered high risk, but GD is very common. I just wrote down what I ate every day and checked my blood sugar 4 times a day. I would bring my journal and glucose monitor to my appointments with my OB so he could check to see how I was doing. No big deal. I know I am going to be so tired of pricking my fingers by the time the baby is born though. It really, really sucks to prick your fingers 4 times a day. It hurts. Your fingers get really sore. But it's only temporary. I won't have to do this forever and I know it's for the good of the baby. I'd never want to hurt him or her.

Other than feeling tired (but I am starting to get a little bit more energy), I am doing pretty well. :)