32 WEEKS!

Yay! I am so excited this day finally came! I have been anxiously waiting for this milestone, and feel so relieved now that it is finally here! The reason, is because I was born at approximately 32 weeks. Yep, a preemie baby, weighing 3lbs, 13oz. My parents had to leave the hospital without me and were able to bring me home a month later, still covered in wires and hooked up to a heart monitor. BUT, I made it! With no long term complications!

I feel like I am really going to be able to meet this little boy now, and everything is going to be alright.

My baby has a big nose :)

I had my 32 week appt yesterday, and all is good. I did mention that he hadn't been moving as much the last couple days, and wondered if he was running out of room in there, so my doctor did a quick little ultrasound to check on the amniotic fluid levels and make sure everything else looked okay.

That was a fun surprise! But I felt bad Dh wasn't there to see his son again. I didn't really get to see much on the u/s, but one of the first things my doctor checked was his positioning in my pelvis, he is head down and facing my back - perfect position for delivery :) She also said he has a big nose!!!



I laughed, and told her "Well, so does his daddy!" lol. Dh's nose isn't really big, but he does have a chubby german nose and it looks like Levi will probably have his nose :)

Levi was also practicing his breathing and she said he had his eyes open and was sticking out his tongue. And he DEFINITELY still a boy!!!

Our next appt is in 2 weeks, on April 1st, and Dh will be coming to that one, because we have a growth ultrasound and the doctor is going to measure everything, find an approximate weight and make sure he is growing on schedule.

30 Week Appt. Update

Last night our electricity just randomly went out. DH went downstairs and flipped the breaker, but no luck there. We just couldn't figure it out! All the neighbors still had lights on, and we definitely paid our bill! So we called the electric company and they said they would send someone out, but the truck wouldn't be there for over an hour. So DH and Bailey and I sat on the couch in the flashlight lit living room reading baby books and magazines until Bailey started barking to let us know the truck had arrived.

By the time the electricity was back up and running, it was definitely time for bed! And of course we had to reset the alarm clock. Must not have gotten it right, because somehow I lost 10-15 minutes of time walking fro the house to my car :) So, I was late to the doctor's office today.

When I got there my nurse and doctor were both very relieved! I am always the first appt on the days I go in, and they were worried when the next appt. was checked in before me! My doctor said it was not like me at all, and that I am usually so meticulous about details, she couldn't believe I would have forgotten.

I thought this was so funny, considering how punctual I am at everything else in life... If only they knew!

At any rate, I had a pretty basic appt. today, all my vitals were normal, Baby's heartbeat sounds good and he is still head down.

I only gained about 1 1/2 lbs during the last week, which I was happy about, since I put on 6 in the the previous 3 weeks. Between that and the somewhat elevated blood sugar, I figure I better watch the sweets a little closer!!!

My doctor did comment that Levi feels pretty big for 30 weeks, which has me somewhat concerned. But I decided there is no use fretting until I am closer to my due date.

My appointments are now going to be only 2 weeks apart, until 36 weeks and then every week there after. I went ahead and scheduled the rest so I could just give work the list and tell them what days I would be in late all at once.

Also, I get to have another ultrasound at my 34 week appointment, so that is very exciting! I can't wait to see our little boy again!

Our Nursery!

Dh and I are pretty much finished with Levi's bedroom!!!

It was quite the collaborative project. He really did most of the work! I am so impressed :)

For the pictures on the wall, I printed off images online that I liked, and loosely traced some of them, dh took my sketches and free-hand drew them on the wall or on graph paper, then I came home and tweaked the lines until we were both happy. He did all of the painting, except the leaves on the tree, which I made sponge cut-outs of, and we both sponge-painted on.

Oh, and of course Bailey was there to supervise!

No GD for me!

The short of the story: My blood sugar level was on the high side of normal, I passed!

The results of my 1-hr were just posted online: 131mg/dL

I wanted to know what this meant so I googled it and found that most sources say something along these lines:

"A blood glucose of 140mg/dL will identify 80% of women with gestational diabetes. When that cutoff is lowered to 130mg/dL the yield increases to 90%. If your blood glucose level was greater than 130 mg/dL, your provider will likely recommend you take another diabetes screening test..." (http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/pregnancy-diabetes).

So I emailed my doctor and she responded that she uses the 140mg/dL cut off. So I don't have to take the 3-hr test, and I can still eat carbs and sugar!

My only concern is that because my result was kinda borderline, that I might have or still develop GD. How would I know if this happened? Could something bad happen if I had it and continued to eat my normal diet?

3rd Trimester!

Things are moving along. I am now 27 weeks pregnant, and officially in the 3rd trimester! 13 more weeks to go!

Things are still going well for the most part. My ribs still hurt, but I don't think anything I do will be able to stop that. I tried going to the chiropractor, but it was pretty useless. All he really did was crack my back. I don't think I will be returning. I also took my OB's recommendation and bought a bra with a larger band size and started taking Calcium/vitamin D supplements. Nothing helps. But, it could be worse right? And this little boy is so worth it!

I had another ob appointment this morning, and everything is going well. Baby Levi is head down now, with a nice strong heartbeat. Even though I have a bad cough, she said my lungs sounded good. My total weight gain is at 12 lbs, 6 of which have been in the last 3 1/2 weeks (I think I ate too many cookies last weekend!) And the doctor said when she completes the paperwork for my short-term disability (STD) leave, she is going to recommend the full 12 weeks off work :)

I also asked her about her vacation schedule. I wanted to make sure she wasn't going to be gone in mid-May! She said she is at a conference starting on May 26th, but if Levi doesn't come on his own before May 21st, he will be born that day! (Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! You get to be grandparents!)

While I was at the clinic, I had to drink this cup of thick, syrupy, fruit punch flavored glucose drink too. After waiting for an hour, the lab took some blood and they are going to test for gestational diabetes. I should find out the results today or Monday at the latest.

Hopefully I pass! It's almost Shamrock Shake season, and I look forward to those all year!

In other news at our home - DH has made great progress on the nursery! He has all the walls painted and has started sketching the tree and woodland animal silohettes that he is going to paint. We picked up the crib on Monday and set that up, and I do believe BIL is going to be helping hubby move the fold-out couch downstairs tonight (he doesn't know it yet though)! I will post some photos when we get it more complete!

I think that is all for now, I will try to post more often now that work has slowed down some!

Life has been crazy!

I haven't had time to do any of my normal time-consuming projects the last month or so. Work has been soooo busy. I have even worked the last few weekends. Our annual national convention is occuring as I write. I am working behind the scenes, so I actually have a little bit of time to breathe!

And time to type :) My blog is lonely and I feel like I don't know anyone when I log onto the SAL board these days. So many new girls! I am super happy they are all there, but I feel bad that I am so out of touch with everyone!

At anyrate, things have been going very well. I really enjoy being pregnant, and I try not to complain because I think I am lucky to have avoided most of the negative symptoms being pregnant usually comes with.

That being said - my back and ribs are still killing me. And I am learning that normal, everyday activities take so much more energy than I ever realized. I kindof feel like when I had mono in high school. I just kept going and going, and then when I actually rested, it hit me how beat I really was. Even walking down stairs here at the event center is wierd, because I can tell that my center of gravity is off, and I balance differently when walking down them.

I am not unhappy because of these things, but life sure is different!

My little boy has been pretty active the last couple days, and I absolutely LOVE feeling him and watching my belly move! We also got the 1st round of painting done in the nursery, and my crib came in yesterday, so hopefully we'll be able to put it together on Monday!

Things are progressing and coming together, it's just all so exciting :)

but, now back to work I go!