Two Turkeys In The Oven

My doctor's appointment last Wednesday at Maternal Fetal Medicine went well - I think I forgot to blog about it - if not forgive me - I can't seem to keep anything straight these days. I was released from MFM since there have been no changes in my cervix so they no longer think I am at risk for pre term labor. I will continue to take the Precardia as a preventative measure up until 32 weeks. Hudson was weighing in at a healthy 3 1/2 pounds. I have an anterior placenta (which is completely normal but since it's facing the front it prevents me from feeling Hudson quite as much or quite as strong.) I started monitoring Hud's kicks and movements more closely. The rule of thumb is 10 movements every 2 hours - which despite the anterior placenta I feel.

Now we are in the homestretch with 12 weeks to go!  This means getting registered for birthing and breastfeeding classes and getting some other details taken care of.  We will have our birthing class September 13th, 20th and 27th from 7pm-9pm.  It should be interesting, we'll meet some other couples, and we'll have a tour of the hospital.  From what I hear, the birthing suites at our hospital are pimped out!  I will have a breastfeeding class one night in September - I have to register for that tomorrow.  It says it's for couples, but I am not going to subject Brian to that!  I filled out all my pre-registration paperwork for my hospital check-in and that will be mailed tomorrow.  I still have to create my birth plan, although I know it could be completely thrown out the window when Banks decides to make her debut.  Oh well, at least I can let my docs know what I prefer.  Also, I need to create a living will and appoint Brian to make medical decisions in the event that I can't do so for myself.  Yes, a morbid thought, but a reality.  I had a little bit of a breakdown today and got upset about the thought of something going wrong and Brian having to decide to save Banks or save me.  I really do feel that everything will be fine, so I only needed 2 tissues to get through the tears today.   

Brown Animal Silhouettes MegaPack of wall decals and wall stickers

I ordered the crib mattress and it arrived yesterday.  After reading reviews and researching a lot, I decided on a soy foam mattress - environmentally friendly and healthier for Banks.  I was really happy to find this hypoallergenic/eco-friendly mattress for $130 because so many of the the organic/chemical free mattresses are $300 or more!  This one is not completely chemical free, but it is free of phthalates, antimony, PBDE's and boric acid.  It has square corners and fits perfectly snug in the crib.  It's also really lightweight so it will be easy for me to change the sheets.  Now I am ready to get her bedding and put the whole room together!

My doctor's office called with my blood glucose results and I tested at 101, which is great.  Anything 139 and under is OK.  So, that is great news (not that I was extremely worried) and no further testing is needed.  Just one more thing checked off the list!

This past week was a busy one with work and Brian being out of town, which is why I haven't been posting. 

Friday I had my blood glucose test done (results should be here by Tuesday.)  I could only have cheese toast for breakfast, so I made sure I was there right at 8am to get the show on the road.  I checked in, they called me back shortly and gave me the jacked up Hawaiian Punch to chug.  I had to hang out in the waiting room for an hour and then have some blood drawn.  After about 40 minutes, I was wired!  I am not used to having that much sugar (especially on an empty stomach) so I felt like I had 3 Red Bulls.  Afterwards, I hit up Chic-Fil-A for some Chik'n Minis and felt a little more down to earth.  I anticipate that my results will be fine, but I definitely want to know for sure.

Also on Friday, Brian got home!!!  Finally, our house feels like a home again.  We have had a great weekend full of quality beach time, good food, and great friends.

Today, I am officially starting my 3rd trimester.  27 weeks down, 13 to go.  I can hardly believe it!

I am so tired today.  I just feel drained.  Banks must be having a growth spurt and zapping all my energy.  She definitely has energy today - she has been really active all afternoon!  Hopefully she will calm down before bedtime because I am turning in early tonight.

Right now I am craving anything that is crunchy and cold and refreshing. I can't get enough of cucumbers, sweet pickles, and pretty much any other crunchy raw vegetable. I am also still really feeling crushed ice and freezer pops. But what's weird is that more than the taste of these things I crave the crunch and the texture. I will literally come home and eat a whole cucumber as a snack and be satisfied.

Will finally got to feel Hudson kicking and moving. After dinner on Saturday night we were laying on the couch watching a movie and Hudson starting moving around like a wild man. Will's eyes got super big when he felt Hudson kicking. It was awesome. Hudson's moves are getting stronger by the day. I felt like I could even feel a little foot or something - but I can't be positive. I am anxiously awaiting the lab results from the glucose intolerance test. In the meantime I am still eating well but having some of the things I know I will have to cut out of my diet should I have gestational diabetes - i.e: bread, pasta, cereal and freezer pops. I had a little pregnancy breakdown last night and am still feeling surley this morning. I definitly need a visit from the attitude changer. And while I normally love an overcast rainy day today I need some sunshine.

I am officially 6 months along today.  I think that Banks is celebrating by doing somersaults in my belly!  According to BabyCenter, she is the size of a hothouse cucumber this week...which is funny because its one of my favorite things to have on a salad, but I can't have them right now because they make me burp too much.  Today, I have had heartburn on and off throughout the day.  I took a couple Tums and it went away, but its back so I guess I'll pop a couple more.  Will probably wait until after I have my Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich and see if that helps - I read that milk/ice cream helps with heartburn.  Any excuse, right?!

Another thing - my bellybutton is starting to change.  I wonder if its going to pop out or just flatten out?  I will keep you all posted on that.

The glucose intolerance test was miserable yesterday. It took 3 hours plus 4 rounds of blood work. By the time we left I was so incredibly faint and had a headache for having to fast for so long, having blood drawn, and having to keep down that nasty sugary hummingbird feeder liquid that they make you drink. I should find out the test results next week. I was so incredibly hungry when we finally left (as was Will since he fasted with me) we went to Wades afterward. I swear our waitress gave me a bad look I was tearing into those yeast rolls so hard. After Wades I took a much needed 3 hour nap and woke up refreshed. It felt so good. Today we went to Charlotte to check out the baby furniture at Ikea. It was a bust. Cute stuff for decor but furniture wise the quality didn't seem great and there wasn't much of a selection. However there are a few things I want to go back up and get once we get the furniture in place. We'll definitely go with Walmart.com for the nursery furniture. Time to watch and movie and snug up. I love a rainy night.

TJ Maxx is the hook up for books!  After all the good ones I got last week, I had to stop by today to check for some new ones.  I got 2 more Dr. Seuss books - "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Dr. Seuss's A B C."  Each night I look forward to reading to Banks.  The glider is all set up in her room, I turn on the lamp, relax and read a book to her.  Call me crazy, but I hope she likes it!

The belly molesting has begun!  I have been rubbed like Buddha.  There is one member at the gym that really has a thing for pregnant women and he was definitely a little too close for comfort...Banks kicked back!  I had to laugh.  I think I will start telling people that they can rub my belly if they can pat their head at the same time.  It really is weird how everyone feels like your personal space (your belly) is not so personal anymore.  No one goes around rubbing beer guts?!  Oh well, I will just have to be a smart mouth goddess and put the touchy-feely people in  their place...with a smile, of course!

Also, I officially have swollen ankles. These things are ridiculous - they don't even look like my ankles. I've started wearing my sneakers to work - which helps a little but by the time I get home you can literally press your finger into my ankle and leave an indention. It doesn't even look like I have a bone in my ankle. I am drinking tons of water like 70 ounces a day and trying to elevate at night but I am not seeing too much of a difference. I took AP on a walk and had on some capri yoga pants and looked down and there was literally fat pooling out around my kicks. It was awful and embarrassing. Big girl with a big dog. I have also been having these terrible muscle cramps early in the morning in my calves. I have never had such bad leg cramps in all my life.

Yesterday the glider for the nursery came in!  I picked it up at the store, put it together, and the nursery is a little more complete.  For the past 2 nights I have gone in there and read to Banks.  I love it!  Her room feels so cozy now.

Today I had a check up at the OB.  The AC was out in the office, so thankfully I didn't have to wait long, but trust me, it was long enough in the heat!  All was good with me - blood pressure was great and tummy measured at 25cm, so I am right on track.  You are supposed to be the same number of centimeters as you are weeks.  Banks is good too - heart rate at 143.  Next week I have to go have my blood glucose test for gestational diabetes.  I am dreading it because you have to drink this nasty sugary liquid, wait an hour, then have blood drawn.  Good times!

So I received a call from my ob office this morning and was told that my glucose screening test came back high. (What a way to wake up, right?) I have to go back on Friday for more extensive testing so that we can see if I have gestational diabetes. My glucose level was at 147 and ideally it should be at 140. This didn't seem so bad to me however the nurse said it was cause for additional testing. The test on Friday morning lasts 3 hours and for the 3 days prior you have to prep for the test(by adding sugar to your diet) and then of course fast from midnight Thursday until the appointment. I went online and read a bit about gestational diabetes and treatment. Everything that I read made me feel like a total fat ass. I think there is a bad stereotype that goes on with people with diabetes. One of my aunt's had gestational diabetes with one of her pregnancies and baby and Mom were absolutely fine. This is very comforting to me and btw Aunt Susie is totally hot and fit. The scariest thing that I read was that in some cases women with gestational diabetes develop Type 2 diabetes later in life. I am really going to try not to worry too much until I know for sure - but you know it's hard! I am also pissed about this - I feel like I have every ailment in the book! Will did remind me that I didn't have hemorrhoids. Always the eternal optimist. Pray for a good report on Friday and a healthy Hud an Stef:) A shout out to my Mom and Memaw for always making me feel better about things!!

I am 25 weeks along now and time is flying by!  Its hard to beleive that Banks will be here in just 15 weeks.  I am so excited to meet her!  She has been REALLY active this weekend - even kicked Brian in the head when he was trying to listen to her.  Her kicks are getting much stronger these days and will move your hand if its on the belly.  I think that she may have had the hiccups today, but I am not sure.  I am reading to her for about 10-15 minutes almost every night now (Brian thinks I am crazy.)  Some of these children's books are real tongue twisters so its good that I am practicing with them now!  We are starting "Where the Sidewalk Ends" tonight so that should last us for quite a few bedtime stories. 

Here are this week's belly pics...

No doubt about it, I am in a funk. 

It was a terribly long week...Brian leaves for California tomorrow for 2 weeks for training for his new job...Meiko is showing more signs of old age so I have to take her to the vet on Monday...and my hormones are getting the best of me because I just want to cry. 

So I am super pumped up to have tomorrow off - I love Sundays!! I was born on a Sunday afternoon and it is one of my favorite days. I really enjoyed going to my nephew's 4th Birthday Party today. That little mug is getting so big!! It's so amazing to me how many women in my life are pregnant right now. It's awesome to be able to have people to talk to and share with that are going through exactly what you are going through. With all the kids at the party today and then reading some books later on in the day it really made me want Hudson here - now!! I can't wait for him to be here with us but I know he still has lots of growing to do!! Okay so aside from my major ailments that I'm always on here complaining about here's what has changed and is plaguing me about being PG:

I was having a really frustrating day at work, so instead of working out like I usually do on my break, I decided to run a few errands to get out of the club for a little while.  One of my stops was TJ Maxx to check out the baby gear.  They have books there too and I scored several classics today that I can start reading to Banks now.  It was the highlight of my day to look through the books and think about how she will react the first time I read them to her...and how she will react the hundredth time I read them to her!

Here are the books I added to her little library today...

A cool animal book called "What Am I?" It has some amazing artwork and this spiral that goes through the book that is incorporated into the eyes of each animal.

3 Eric Carle board books

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• The Very Busy Spider
• Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?

2 Dr. Seuss books

• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
• The Cat in the Hat

Yesterday marked 26 weeks. We had an appointment today. I had to drink this crunk juice and have bloodwork done to test for gestational diabetes (they normally test anywhere from 24-28 wks) I'd seen soon to be mommies gulping down this red potion before but today was my day. While we waited an hour to let the juice do it's thang in my system we met with the doc. No ultrasound since we just had one at Maternal Fetal Medicine but I did get to hear sweet little Hud' s heartbeat - which was rockin' and rollin' and sounding a little like a 311 song. All the sugar from the crunk potion had Hudson moving, moving, moving! So hungry lately!! Polished off the jar of bread and butter pickles this afternoon as well as some honey graham crackers and milk - great snack! My pica (thanks, Julie!) has gone beyond just soap (which by the way I still think is fantastic) and now involves anything that smells deliciously clean. I had to buy laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid the last time I was at the grocery store and being on that aisle made me crazy! It all smelled sooo good! Same goes for these delish candles we have at work called Cotton Flower- my god! I don't trust myself with them in my house! I even think Clorox smells divine (trust me I won't be gulping any of that down) but while doing laundry or cleaning I love the smell. The thing about craving something that you can't really have is that it's awfully frusterating and you never feel satiated. It's not like my cravings for crushed ice or Costco pizza where I can have it and my tummy is full, my thirst is quenched.

I am a watermelon monster!  Not just because I look like I'm smuggling a watermelon in my belly, but because I can't get enough of the cold, crisp, sweet taste!  Brian found these really good seedless ones for $2.50 each.  He brought one home, it got devoured, and I had to have more...2 more in fact (no, I did not eat them all at once.)  Also, for the past 2 days I have been constantly hungry.  Banks must be having a growth spurt!  OK, time for more watermelon now... 

I find myself drifting off, smiling to myself, thinking about all the things I am looking forward to doing with Banks.  Outside of simply having her here, seeing her smile, laugh, and giggle...I am so excited to take her places for the first time and to do things for the first time.

Just a few places to go...

• the beach and ocean
• the zoo
• a water park
• Build-A-Bear
• Disney
• pumpkin patch
• USC football game

And then just a few of the things to do...

• finger painting
• splashing in puddles
• catching a fish
• picking a flower
• petting Wrigley and Meiko
• making cookies

I am so plagued by indigestion and heartburn right now. It is getting so bad it's making me throw up several times a day. I just called the nurse at my ob office and I'm going to try Nexium to see if that will help my situation. Pre pregnancy I would maybe get a mild case of heartburn once or twice a year. But now I can't eat anything or drink anything without being attacked by it. Hopefully this will help ... I feel miserable! However, my digestive system has regulated. Always a good thing. Off to the grocery store before work ... Hudson likes to feast!

I seem to be outgrowing clothes everyday!  Not that they are really too small, but just don't look right.  Anyways, I finally went to Motherhood Maternity and got a few things - cute black cargo pants and yoga pants for work, 2 fitted tees, 2 plain tanks, and a blingy "Babylicious" tank that was just too cute (and on sale!)  Some things in there were a little scary looking and not my style, but I will definitely be back in September to get a dress for the shower, some cute jeans, and fall shirts.  To be honest, there was a lot of really cute things, but I am not trying to create a whole new wardrobe...just enough to get by for now.  I think the best part was that they had a faux belly that adds about 3 months!  Of course I had to try it on, but didn't have my camera...too funny!