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Saturday, June 4, 2011

29 weeks a look back

So most of you who read this blog (or did read this blog when I updated regularly) know that Our baby is here. I'm taking a bit of time while he sleeps to catch us up.

We got a wonderful crib thanks to a friend from work. She had her baby's crib recalled and was given a voucher but since her baby is now 4 she didn't need the crib again. So she offered it to us. We picked a convertible crib that changes to a toddler bed and with a conversion kit into a full size bed as well. We also did get a glider rocker! I love it.

After we got the items and brought them home (after renting a truck for it.) I spent one day at home putting the crib and rocker together myself. It's starting to look nice in the baby's nursery.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

28 weeks and some baby furniture!

Week 28 is almost at it's end but there is some sort of worry-some news I must share to get it off my chest and have some prayers from family and friends.

I met with my Nurse today after working with the insulin for 6 days now...my fasting blood sugar numbers are still high and it appears my body is still resisting the insulin. I started off with 20 units of insulin at night and 10 units 12 hours later, but as it hadn't help the nurse advised me after a couple days to up the dose by 2 units each night. As of today she is pushing me up 4 units each night until the fasting numbers stabilize in the mid 80s. I have been averaging something between 96-112.

The problem is with the baby's belly so large the nurse informed me today that if he doesn't lose some of that belly weight there is no way they are going to let me deliver naturally. I'm so frustrated because I can't control the way my body is responding at all and I'm disappointed to be struggling with this issue and not normal issues like cravings and possible lingering morning sickness.

I'm exhausted of monitoring my food and limiting my milk and fruit because the carbs involved and have been day dreaming of everything i'm not suppose to eat in large quantities. Praise the Lord I haven't had any cravings though. I'd be in big trouble.

So Little Man in my Belly - take your Mommy's advice and start doing some crunches to get rid of that belly please!

Tonight Jeremy and I are going to pick up the new crib, a mattress, and hopefully a glider rocker for me for those late night feedings. Scary and exciting we also have Birthing Classes coming up this Saturday and Sunday. Hoping I will still be able to use the class information to relax during a natural birth and not just wasting money on learning what we could use if I didn't have to have a C-Section. Oh and i've started fetal kick counts, the little man is a wonder of a kicker many times during the day and some times I think he might burst out from the force. Also my blood pressure is still normal 112/64 so no problem warning signs of pre-eclampsia either.

Okay...done venting...time to get ready to go get those baby items (and maybe I can splurge on a couple of cute outfits as some retail therapy too.

27 weeks and more ultrasound pictures

Well 27 weeks has come and gone. We had an ultrasound for the monthly growth check of Mr. baby Scherer and found that he's growing quite a bit. He's already weighing about 3 lbs! That's about 1/2 pound bigger than he was estimated to be at this time in pregnancy.

Rough news is that his bitty baby belly has jumped from the 70% percentile to the upper 90% percentile which means he's swimming in sugar while I sleep. The side effects and warning signs for me is the persistently higher than normal fasting blood sugar numbers in the morning. For me it's very frustrating. I've also been quite sick to my stomach which is probably a combination of side effects of the diabetes medications, my IBS, and stress in general.

So when I met with the nurse she decide it was time to put the medicines aside and turn to Insulin. I've never been needle squeamish nor do I might giving myself the shot either if it helps the blood sugar numbers level out, but it's still a bit of a scary thought to jab myself twice a day. We'll see how it goes...

And now for some cute, cute ultrasound pictures:

Top left: Profile number 1: he was practicing his breathing and swallowing while we watching him on the screen.
Top Right: A second shot with his little fist coming up near his face.
Bottom Left: Obligatory confirmation of the gender.
Bottom Right: 3D shot of his face with his arms up near his face as well. Pretty sure he looks like his dad quite a bit!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Week 26 - feeling a bit more pregnant

Since being back to work from vacation I have had several people tell me that I've "popped out" and am now looking more pregnant. I know I have but still have not gained any weight. The baby seems to using up some of my stored fats and the diet restriction is helping him along. I'm okay with this but know for sure that the end is coming because I am now feeling more pregnant with backaches more frequently, leg cramps in the calves, uncomfortable tightness where my sides and stomach are stretching. I again feel like I've eaten too much but it's the feeling of my belly growing. The baby is very active and I can tell when he's sleeping or turning somersaults.

With the aches and pains comes also some not feeling well myself. I'm having some stomach problems that could be from a few different things: increased hormones from the baby, my IBS rearing it's head from work stress, added effect of getting more pregnant (the stuff people don't really talk about like constipation.), or side effects from my medicine. In any case I feel not so happy and nothing really sounds good to eat. I've been taking as much time as I can to try to sleep through some of it.

Great news from work is I passed my 30 day written warning from said early stress and I'm still working so I am thinking I made the improvements they were hoping to. I also got my doctor's note this week that states I need to take frequent, short breaks to deal with my pregnancy complications.

What's going on next? Well tomorrow Jeremy and I are going crib shopping. We are most likely actually going to place an order online but a friend of ours from work is helping us out! Tomorrow evening we are going to a Medieval village for an authentic feast. It should be a challenge for me but that is how this next week is looking for food.

I'm getting more and more excited as the time ticks away...more next week!

Week 25 Home Sweet Home

Back at home from vacation found me super happy to be making my own food where I knew the numbers would be in range for my restricted diet.

One thing I forgot to mention that was pretty major was that while lounging at the hotel Jeremy got to see and feel the baby kick! What a fun thing for him to feel since I have been feeling him off any on.

Well going back to work was hard and on the 14th I actually went home sick. I had leg cramps, a headache, and felt like I was going to throw up. I went home and napped but then got up and made some chocolate covered strawberries that looked like Tuxedos for Jeremy and Dan for Valentine's day. We had them at our wedding and I found they were pretty easy to make actually! I also left work a couple days later early because my sugar numbers were much higher than they were suppose to be and I couldn't figure out why.

This week was also my monthly OB appointment and I talked to her about stress at work and my numbers being higher than I'd like. She explained that this is normal for the baby is growing as is the placenta and that means I'm becoming more insulin resistant and essentially more diabetic as the pregnancy progresses but overall she seemed pleased because that means the baby is still kicking (just have her feel my stomach at the right time of day would give her the same results.)

Week 24 - from Portland, Or

So we had so much fun hanging out together at the Benson Hotel. This is a fancy hotel I was able to find a good deal on (since it was the week before Valentine's day) and it turns out that every President since Taft has stayed there too.

My main concern was making sure I had appropriate snacks with me and alternatives for breakfast as I fully was aware my husband likes to sleep in when ever he can. The train ride down was fun, the engine has some electrical problems so we ended up arriving later to Portland than expected. We walked our suitcases and things up probably 6-7 blocks to the hotel and then went in search of dinner. We finally found ourselves in a different hotel restaurant for dinner but it was delicious..

The week passed quickly and really we stayed at the hotel most of the time. Food was a challenge as I feel very restricted in what I could choose and what was either in walking distance, had something I could eat, or delivered to the hotel when we were feeling lazy. All in all the trip was fun. We came home with two small carry on suitcases full of new books including a few for the little baby. It was a great time to just be with each other and appreciate that time. I'll add pictures when I finally bring the camera downstairs for Jeremy to add to the server.

I did get sick one day and we had to make a trip to the Rite-Aid to get crackers and diet seven-up. I think it was one of my breakfast choices.

Week 23 in review

Um...week twenty three...the end of January and beginning of February. This week was set apart by Jeremy's and my excitement to go our on our last vacation before the baby comes. I had been trying to think of something to do other than stay home for a while. Our original plan was to fly out in March to New York then Boston for a gaming convention we attended last year. Well Jeremy's job is getting busier and busier and that turned out to be nixed right away. So where else could we go and have fun? We decided on Portland, Oregon. We both had been there for a couple days last year and have fun going to the largest independent bookstore Powell's books. The only other concern was how were we going to get there and back and leave the only car we have for my brother and our roommate to make it to work. I was fortunate enough to take a train ride to Montana last year with my mother and loved it. So I booked us a round trip on Amtrak.

In preparation for going on vacation I was trying to prepare myself to have a hard time eating out the entire week. My sugar numbers were actually higher than the nurse and dietitian wanted them so the day I left for vacation I had to quickly have her call in the prescription to a close pharmacy. I was able to pick it up with enough time to get home and pack the car to go on vacation. After the stress at work I was so excited to get away and not think about the workplace for a while and just focus on Jeremy and I relaxing together.