Friday, August 8, 2008

Health Updates

Monday I had my three-hour glucose test and yesterday was my 28-week doctor’s appointment. The glucose test went as well as can be expected. The syrup stuff they made me drink wasn’t too bad. I requested the orange flavor again, so it just tasted like Fanta orange soda. The only hard part was being required to drink 10 oz. of it in less than 5 minutes. I’m not a fast drinker. But I did it. The phlebotomist (blood-taker, vampire…) was great as usual. She only missed my vein one time, so I was stuck five times instead of four, but it really didn’t hurt at all. Sheldon was able to be there with me also so the time flew by.

I got my results on Tuesday. My doctor said only one of four of the test results came back abnormal, which means I DON’T have gestational diabetes (woohoo!), but could mean little Sophie may not be so little when she’s born. The doc said she could be slightly bigger than average. In my little mind that means, maybe she’ll come early (but not too early) and be average! It could happen. The doctor suggested that I eat less sweets and carbs. What am I supposed to eat then?! That’s my entire diet! Meat just doesn’t sit well with me and lettuce becomes less and less appetizing every day. Bleh.

So yesterday was my normal check-up. Sophie’s heartbeat was a strong 156 beats per minute and everything was normal. The doc is pushing me to find a pediatrician, so he set up an appointment for Sheldon and me to meet with one of the doctors. I really didn’t think I was that behind, I guess getting on the pediatricians’ schedules may be what takes so long…hmmm…I didn’t think of it that way until just now.

The only slight concern that I had was that at my 26-week appointment I had gained a total of nine pounds since the beginning of my pregnancy and when I weighed-in yesterday, I had lost two pounds. How that happened, I don’t have a clue. But my doctor didn’t seem to be concerned. He said Sophie is developing right on schedule, so as long as she’s good, then I’m good. So I guess I’m allowed to be excited that I’ve only gained seven pounds up to this point. I should be allowed to celebrate with chocolate and ice cream, but apparently that’s not allowed since I had one tiny, little glucose test abnormality.

Tomorrow is our first childbirth class. I’m a little anxious, but excited too. Maybe the thought of giving birth in about two and a half months will become more real. I really don’t have a clue at this point. I’ll update you after the class to let you know if I was successful in getting one. Wish me luck!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Twenty-eight weeks and 3D ultrasound!

Ahhh! I’m only 12 weeks away from delivery…maybe closer! It’s so exciting! Time has gone by so fast because we’ve been so busy. Sheldon and I were out of town all last week with business stuff and this week our schedules are filled too. We haven’t made any more progress on our house/baby projects since my last post. Maybe we’ll be motivated this weekend to get some of the stuff done. It just feels like we have so much time, but we really don’t. If you count the weekends we have open to finish projects, there’s only about seven weekends left! Ahhhh! I only have seven weekends left to get my life in perfect order and become a perfect person so I can be a perfect parent! Ok, so that probably won’t happen, but I can try.

Fun and not stressful baby stuff to talk about is our 3D ultrasound! It was so neat to be able to see Sophie. Some would say we cheated, but I don’t care. I feel much better knowing that my little darling has all her limbs, fingers, toes, and all the other necessary body parts. She’s also cute to top it off…even with the orange hue in the pictures. Here are some of her candid shots.











We had the ultrasound done at Stork Vision in Fort Worth. They seemed like the best company according to my research. The room was pretty big and there were two leather sofas for guests to sit-in on the ultrasound if the couple wanted to include family and friends on the special day. We also got to watch the ultrasound on a 42-inch flat screen television. The only down side to the whole event was the lady doing the ultrasound. She wasn’t very enthusiastic about anything and seemed like she was trying to hurry through the ultrasound to get to the next person. Other than that, everything was great.

For an update on Sophie’s growth and development, BabyCenter says that she is about 2.25 lbs. and measures to about 15 inches in length. Her eyesight is developing, so she can open her eyes, she’s sporting lashes, and she may be able to see the light that filters through to her. Neat!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Nearing the end of twenty-six weeks!

It’s amazing that I’m almost in the third trimester. Officially on Tuesday, July 29, I will be there! Where did the second trimester go? I’m happy where we are on our projects-before-the-baby-gets-here list so far. It seemed like so much to get done, but we’re moving right along.

Done:
Clean out garage – check
Reorganize office - check
Move guest bed into office – check
Paint nursery – check
Buy and put crib together – check





Register for baby stuff – check
Buy paint for dresser – check
Repair dryer plug in house – check

Remaining tasks:
Paint dresser – this weekend, fingers crossed
Organize baby gifts and place in closet and newly painted dresser – sometime this week
Buy filing cabinet for paperwork so it’s not all over the office/guest room

The rest of the nursery organizing tasks will have to wait until after the baby shower. But until then, I can relax a little.

I had my glucose test doctor’s appointment yesterday. Yay. I hate needles, so that’s why I’m wasn’t too thrilled about getting my blood drawn again. The appointment went pretty good though. The glucose drink wasn’t bad, it tasted like orange soda. The phlebotomist was excellent as usual. Generally people can never stick me on the first try, apparently I have bad veins for drawing blood, but she always gets me the first time. I just had to wait awhile for the doctor to get back in the office – he was called to labor and delivery and delivered a little girl! How exciting! He must really like his job because when he came in the room where I was waiting, he was in a really good mood. I guess everything went well with the delivery.

Anyway, back to my little girl – her heartbeat was a strong 150 beats per minute and my belly measurements were right on target. Everything seemed great, until…

I got a call this morning from the doctor’s office. They informed me that my glucose level was slightly higher than what they’d like to see. My level was 144, and they don’t like to see higher than 140. So I have to go in to get the three-hour glucose test. Joy. Hopefully everything will be fine though. The doctor said the first test could come back as a “false positive” essentially and the longer test will tell whether or not I have gestational diabetes. The blood test also came back showing me as slightly anemic, which means I have an iron deficiency. That’s an easy fix - I just have to take an iron supplement once a day.

So until my next glucose appointment, well I guess the rest of my pregnancy, I’m going to try to be a good mommy and eat whole grains and more veggies. I have no problem getting the carbs and dairy! I could eat cheese and bread all day. I’m wondering if the iron deficiency is coming from my disgust of lots of red meat currently. I usually love the stuff, but since I’ve been pregnant I haven’t been able to look at a hamburger without gagging. The only red meat I’ve been able to stomach is a small, lean steak, and I have to eat it slowly. Another habit to reduce, not cut out completely, but reduce is my chocolate and ice cream intake. I can’t get enough of it. I’ll have to limit myself to one small dessert a day…no comment on the current intake.

The good news is I’ve only gained nine pounds since the beginning of my pregnancy. So I have to be doing something right!

How’s the little one this week? Well, she’s bee-bopping around in there more often and it still amazes me that she can kick me at the bottom of my uterus and the top at the same time. Talented one, she is. Babycenter says that Sophie is almost two pounds and should be about 14 inches long. Her hearing is improving and she should be able to hear Sheldon now or anyone else I have a conversation with…which brought up the question – can she hear the person on the other line if I’m on a cell phone? The sound is going in my head; does it reach down to her little ears? Hmmmm…. She’s also inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid which helps with the development of her lungs.

The countdown begins! T minus 95 days!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Down to double digits!

Wow! I can’t believe it’s already the middle of July and Sheldon and I are down to double digits in our baby debut countdown. It seems like February was just yesterday. We found out I was pregnant on Saturday, February 16. I remember the date well because we bought the fixin’s for a nice steak dinner that night, including a bottle of wine. I was curious as to whether or not I was pregnant, though thinking I probably wasn’t since the test hadn’t been positive the past four months we had tried and I didn’t feel as though I had any symptoms.

But I’d rather be safe than sorry, so I took the test that morning before Sheldon was awake. He didn’t know I had planned on taking it and was still snoozing at 5:30 a.m. when I crept out of bed wondering why I had the urge to go to the bathroom that early in the morning. I did the deed, thinking it just a formality before I could enjoy a glass of wine that night with dinner.

I turned away from the test for a brief moment, and when I turned back the result was displayed already! I WAS PREGNANT!! I was so excited I couldn’t stand it. I busted out of the bathroom, jumped on the bed and landed on Sheldon. He didn’t know what was going on. When I told him, he smiled a sleepy smile, said, “Yay!” and gave me a big hug.

Of course we couldn’t go back to sleep because we were both filled with ideas about our future plans and how that moment was the beginning of so many changes in our lives. Needless to say, that bottle of wine is still in our fridge, unopened. If anyone likes wine and thinks it may still be good, you’re welcome to it.

So here we are a few short moments later and we only have three months before we meet our little girl! She’s bee-boppin’ around in my belly while there are so many unanswered questions remaining in our new little parent brains. One thing we have no doubt about is that we love her so much already. We can’t wait to see you Sophie!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Mommy-mobile: The compromise

We did it! We bought a new vehicle! Bye-bye big rig - hello little sweet, cute, fuel-efficient ride.

The background:
We had a 2002 Dodge Ram quad-cab pick-up truck. It was sweet. It made a lot of manly, macho noises. It had a grill guard. It was 4-wheel drive and lifted. It had big tires. And it had a big price tag when it came to gas and repairs.

Sheldon has fixed minor repairs on the truck for the past couple of months. Then the big-ticket repairs started revealing themselves. We put about $1500.00 into the truck recently, and Monday we had to take the truck in to the shop again. This time, it was going to cost $5000 minimum to fix the current problems, with the added bonus that the mechanic said that we would be better off just getting a different vehicle.

Even though I was willing to keep the truck because of its lower payment, I wasn’t willing to keep putting money into it along with the high gas price that came with it. So Sheldon started his search for a new vehicle while I was working.

The compromise:
The first time Sheldon called, he found a GMC Yukon Denali. My response: “Yeah, right. Babe, you do realize that we’ll be caring for three people in a few months and we’ll have to be able to afford to drive the vehicle.” No dice for Sheldon.

The second time Sheldon called: “I found a Chevrolet quad-cad pick-up truck.” The payment was only slightly less than double what our truck payment was. My response: “Seriously, can you please look at something that is slightly more fuel-efficient? Like a Honda. Can you go look at the Honda dealership?” Sheldon’s response: Pause. “I guess.”

The third time Sheldon called: “What about a Jeep Grand Cherokee? I’m test-driving one right now. I’ll bring it by your work.” My response: “I’ll look at it, but I didn’t like it last time I drove one.” After driving it for a while, we both weren’t too impressed with the Jeep for the price the dealership was asking.

My response: “Will you just go take a quick look at the Hondas?”

Sheldon: “But I have to have something to pull my boat.”

Me: “Ah-hah! I knew that’s what you were looking for. We don’t even own a boat.”

Sheldon: “I’m going to buy one next summer.”

Me: “Who knows what will be happening next summer. We may buy a boat, we may not. What I do know is we’ll have a little girl that we’re supposed to take care of.”

Sheldon: “I know. I’ll stop by the Honda place.”

The fourth time Sheldon called: “I just drove by the Honda place. The Elements aren't too bad.” My response: “Aren’t those the ugly, boxy-looking cars?” Sheldon: “Yah, but you’ll have to see it. It’s actually pretty nice.”

So long story short, we looked at the Honda Element after I got off work. We drove it and an Accord. I LOVED the Element. I never thought I would say that, but I do. Sheldon liked it because it was still sporty-looking and not completely van or sedan-looking. We both liked the bonus of fuel-efficiency and Sheldon was happy about the Element’s ability to tow up to 1500 pounds. We could possibly own a small boat.

So here it is - our fun new car. Anyone want to go for a ride?





Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Twenty-five weeks!

Only 15 weeks left! I can’t believe we’re so close to meeting our little Sophie. My belly is definitely a ball-like shape now. (Pictures to come soon). It’s getting more difficult to find a comfortable sleep position and I have sciatic nerve pain pretty frequently. But I’m happy that we’re closer to the due date and we’re getting our house baby-ready.

The most fun part about being pregnant at this point is feeling Sophie wiggle around. I wait for those moments, and when they happen I can’t help but smile. Some of her movements are strange though – I can’t figure out what she’s doing. It feels like her whole body moves across my abdomen sometimes. Other times it’s a steady, rhythmic kick, like she’s practicing ballet or something. I’m sure we’ll have an interesting little person on our hands in October.

Speaking of having a little person in October, we’ve almost completed our registries. We have one at Target and one at Babies-R-Us. The Target registry should be complete. On the Babies-R-Us registry we’re just missing the crib mattress, I think. Both registries are available to be viewed online and most items can be ordered online as well. For you mothers out there, if there’s something that I seem to be missing, please let me know so I can add it to the registry.

While we’ve been getting ready for baby at home, Sheldon and I have also been talking and thinking a lot about what my job will look like after the baby is born. Will I be home full-time and quit work? Will I work from home? Will I work part-time?

It’s funny what emotions impending motherhood stirs up. I’ve had a strong desire or feeling that I should be at home with Sophie for longer than just maternity leave from work, but I wasn’t sure what that was going to look like until recently. I’ve worked at least part-time since I was fifteen – from babysitting and bagging groceries to my current job at the local council of governments. I made it a goal to finish college before getting pregnant because a career has always been important to me. Now this nurturing, mother-like feeling has snuck up on me and I don’t know what to do with it. I feel like I may morph into a Martha Stewart, Mary Poppins blend, and I’m okay with it.

On the other hand, I feel like if I quit work, I’ll be giving up something I’ve worked so hard for. Like I’ll lose momentum in my career-life and I won’t be able to get it back. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not working my dream job or anything, but it’s a good job that gives me a lot of valuable experience. I also have the fear that I may not enjoy being home 24/7 without any adult interaction, especially since Sheldon is out of town about four days a week for work.

So I think we’ve come up with a solution and I’ve already received approval from my boss. I will be working part-time after I have Sophie. My hours will also be flexible. I’ll be required to be in the office a few hours a week, but I can also work from home. I think it’ll be a nice fit. I’m really excited that I have a great boss and I work for an organization that is willing to work with me. Everything sounds good on paper right now - I hope it actually works out that way!

All of that to say and I didn’t hardly mention the reason for all these changes. Sophie should be about 13.5 inches long and weigh about a pound and a half now. BabyCenter just says she’s gaining more fat and hair this week. She’ll be here soon!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Paint Sophie's Room: Check

Yay! One project down, plenty more to go. We picked out the room colors last week and decided this weekend would be a good time to get started on the baby room. We painted one wall a dark pink, or in Disney colors, "Snow White's Song," and the other three walls are a beige-peach color or "Fluff-n-Stuff."

On Friday Sophie's room was cluttered with boxes of diapers, toys, clothes and a crib still in its box. Today it's painted with fresh new colors and ready to be put together. Our next big project is to re-finish Sheldon's old dresser so I have somewhere to put all her cute little outfits!

Here are some before and afters of the room.

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After...


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