Just catching up ...

I haven't written in a little while so I thought I'd fill everyone in on what's been going on lately. I went back to repeat my 4D ultrasound last Friday. I still wasn't able to get any pictures. I had worked all night and I was exhausted, I drove home to pick up Tim and eat breakfast before my appointment at 9:30. I told myself I was going to get in bed for just a minute to warm up before I took a shower to get ready and I woke up at 9:20. I threw my scrubs back on and headed out the door. On the way I decided to call the office and let them know I'd be a few minutes late. They didn't even have any idea I was coming in. Apparently either I wasn't written in on the schedule or they didn't look at it that morning since it was a Friday and the office is usually closed. When I got their the ultrasound tech spent about 7 or 8 minutes booting up the machine. As soon as she put the wand on my belly she said that we wouldn't be getting any pictures because he was still in the same position as last time. I was really upset because I was exhausted, aggrivated that they didn't know I was coming, and then I felt like she really didn't even try to get any pictures. I can understand she can only do so much, but it would have been nice for her to offer to try again some time or atleast try to get me some pics of his hands and feet or whatever was viewable. She just said it would have to be a suprise and sent me on my way. I was way too tired and upset to argue.

In better news ... I just hit the 30 week mark a couple of days ago. I can't believe how time is flying all of a sudden. It seems like just yesterday it was Christmas and I was only 23 or 24 weeks. I have only 8 weeks and 2 days left until my scheduled c-section. Its amazing how soon that seems. On one hand I can't wait and I hope the times continues to fly, but on the other hand I know I'm gonna really miss being pregnant. I love feeling him moving around, and talking to him, and making plans for the future. But, I will be glad to have a break from work for a while. Its getting really hard to be on my feet for 12+ hours a night, 3 nights a week. Not to mention I haven't slept well in almost 6 months. I know that won't be changing anytime soon though.

Here is a picture of my belly at 29 weeks and 4 days. Please excuse the stretchmarks ...

4D Ultrasound: A total bust!

We went in this morning for our 4D ultrasound and 28 week appoinment. I've been looking forward to this day for a long time now. As soon as the tech put the ultrasound wand on my belly she said, "we probably aren't going to be getting any good pictures today". Apparently Lincoln didn't want his picture taken. He is positioned with his head down, his face towards my back, and one leg and one arm infront of his face. I don't see how that could possibly be comfortable, but it does explain why I feel like I'm getting kicked at the top and bottom of my belly at the same time. She tried to get a few pictures, but they were terrible, not even worth posting. I rescheduled to go back next Friday morning at 9:30 for another try. Hopefully I can talk him into being more co-operative between now and then. My appointment went well however. They didn't tell me what my BP was, but it must have been fine because no one mentioned it. I actually lost 6 lbs this month. The nurse said that it was because I've been on the diabetic diet. I thought it was strange though that I lost half of what I've gained this entire pregnancy. So now I'm at a grand total of 6 lbs gained. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not complaining. Dr. Williams reviewed my blood sugars and said that whatever I was doing it was working. So I was pleased with that. I reminded him that I had scheduled my c-section for April 11th at 6:30 am. I thought he'd give me a hard time about it, but he said he'd be there. Hopefully next time I write I'll have some great 4D photos to share. Keep your fingers crossed!

Snow Day and Gestational Diabetes

I woke up this morning to Tim busting through the door to tell me that it was "pouring down snow". It hasn't snowed here since 2002, so its definitely not something that happens everyday. It brought back alot of memories of living in Birmingham when I was a kid and getting so excited at every chance of flurry. I don't think my dogs have ever seen snow, and they definitely were not impressed. They acted as if it was acid on their paws. They have spent most of the day inside the garage because they absolutely refuse to go out. Tim and I got all dressed and headed out to play in the snow. We took a few pictures and played around a little, but it wasn't as fun as I remember it being when I was a kid. I was also really afraid of slipping and falling on the deck so it took some of the fun out of it, but it was still an exciting day. I can't wait until Lincoln is old enough to enjoy the snow.

On another note, I met with the Dietician at the Center for Diabetes yesterday. We talked about Gestational Diabetes, what it is, what it can do to the baby, how its treated, meal plans, etc. They taught me some new ways to take my blood sugar that I wasn't aware of. I've tried a few times, but I absolutely cannot stick myself on the finger for some reason. The nurse taught me how to do it on my arm and even the heel of my hand. For some reason even being a nurse I never thought about doing it on the heel of the hand. Its much less painful in my opinion. I just hate the tips of my fingers being sore. So I will be checking my blood sugar approximately 4 times a day, and adhering to a carb controlled diet. I have to eat 6 times a day, which is going to be difficult with my work schedule, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to have a happy healthy boy.

My meal plan consists of:

Breakfast: 15-30 carbs
Snack: 15-30 carbs
Lunch: 30-45 carbs
Snack: 15-30 carbs
Dinner: 30-45 carbs
Snack: 15-30 carbs

Hopefully following this guideline I will be able to control my blood sugar without medications or insulin. I have an appointment to go back on the 28th and show them my blood sugar log and my food diary for the week. One thing that broke my heart is that I am not really allowed to have any kind of fruit juice at any time on this diet. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal at all, but I have been craving grapefruit juice like it is going out of style!

24 Week Appointment and Gestational Diabetes

Today was our 24 week appointment with Dr. Williams. I had to do the 1 hour Gestational Diabetes test. They have you drink a glass of a syrupy liquid that tastes like Kool-aid with about 3 times the sugar and then you have to wait an hour and have your finger pricked to test your blood sugar to rule out Gestational Diabetes. As soon as I saw the blood sugar result on the machine I knew it was bad news ... it was 164. So now I'm going to have to do the next step in the process which I'm already dreading; I will have to do the 3 hour test sometime this week. If the results of that test come back abnormal as well I will officially be a "gestational diabetic" and will have a carb controlled diet and possibly oral medications to control my blood sugar. If its still not under control with those measures I may even have to be put on insulin. I really hope and doubt that it will get to that point though. On the other hand everything else was great. I've only gained 1 pound from my last visit 4 weeks ago, which makes 12 pounds total. My B/P was great and the baby's heartbeat sounded great, so I'm excited about all that. We were also able to schedule our 4D ultrasound today, it will be done at my next visit on January 30th. I've been looking forward to it for a long time, its amazing how much detail you can see compared to the normal ultrasound images. I just hope that the tech takes her time and does a good job, she tends to always make me feel like she's rushing or has somewhere else to be. Tim said that if I'm not satisfied with it he'll pay for me to go to a private ultrasound and have it redone.

Happy New Year and Viability!

Happy New Year to all my friends and family! I hope everyone has a great 2008. Today is a very important day for Lincoln, he is now 24 weeks gestation. This is a huge milestone in fetal development. As of today if anything happened and Lincoln was born early, there is a possibilty that he could survive. Of course the odds are not great at this point, but its reassuring to know that every action would be taken to save his life if he were born. Our next milestone is 28 weeks, where the odds of survival greatly increase.

The Nursery and More Movement

The past couple of days I have really been feeling the baby move around. Its an undeniable sensation now. I was lying in bed today and I had my hand on my stomach and right when I felt him kick from the inside I also felt the thump on my hand. I have to say that is the weirdest thing I have ever felt. It made me bust out laughing. It happened 5 or 6 times within a few minutes. I called Tim into the room and he was able to feel it too. This pregnancy is really starting to get fun. I spent so much time at the beginning filled with worry and doubt that now its such a relief to just enjoy it.

I'm almost embarassed to say that they nursery is almost complete. It didn't take nearly as much time as I thought it would. Tim really got down to business the last couple of weeks and got most of the work done. There are only a few minor details left to add, but the majority of the work is done. I think this is going to be my new favorite room in the house.

Updates

I haven't written anything in my pregnancy journal in over a month so I figured it was time to get up to date on everything. This past month has been interesting. About 3 weeks ago I had a bad fall at work. I slipped in some water in the hallway. I had to go to the ER to make sure that me and the baby were both ok. I really didn't think I had done any damage, but I found out that my placenta partially tore away from the wall of my uterus. Its called an abruption, full abruptions can cause fetal death, but thankfully mine was only about 3 centimeters. I spent the night in L&D and got a couple ultrasounds done, but so far there doesn't seem to be any further complications because of the fall or the abruption. We also had our 20 week ultrasound a little over a week ago. Everything looked great. No abnormalities or anomalies were detected, which is great news. We also got a 2nd confirmation that we are definitely having a little boy.

I've also started feeling some small movement this week. Its a very strange sensation, but I love it. It lets me know that Lincoln is happy and healthy inside his incubator. I can't wait until the movement gets stronger.