written April 19th

before we get to the normal updates, let’s go ahead and get the big one out of the way… I had my glucose test today and MAJORLY failed. so badly that I don’t even have to do the second test… I officially have gestational diabetes. 

my doctor was super nice and encouraging. I also have several friends who have had gestational diabetes and had perfectly healthy babies. I was slightly discouraged at first, but I’m feeling much better now and definitely am not defeated by this!

the details:

I’ll continue seeing my normal OB, every two weeks now due to being in third trimester.

in addition, I’ll keep seeing the high-risk doctor. not sure how often yet. I already had what was going to be my final appointment with her scheduled for Monday, so I’ll know more then (and obviously it won’t be my final appointment with her).

the high-risk doctor will be managing my gestational diabetes and will report info to my doctor, who will still be the one who delivers our baby.

the baby will for sure come early, the latest they will keep her in is 38 weeks.

she wants me to try and manage it with diet first, and then later I may have to do medicine. she wants me to see if the high-risk doctor has a dietician on Monday, if not she will set me up with theirs.

she said until I meet with the dietician, just try to stick to a low carb/no refined sugars diet. HOWEVER, she did say I could enjoy my two showers this weekend haha.

she assured me that this happens often, that it isn’t my fault, that I didn’t do anything wrong, and that the baby and I will be fine.

William is a champ and ready to dive in head first into the new diet with me.

one of my cousins has had it with both of hers and been super helpful (I suspected I might have it because she did and we are both predisposed due to our grandfathers having diabetes).

I have three very close friends who also had it with their babies and have been encouraging and full of tips.

AND!

a. it’s only for 10 weeks. I can do anything for 10 weeks!

b. we both wanted to start some sort of better eating plan after the baby came, and we’re just looking at this as a head start.

c. WE GET TO MEET OUR BABY GIRL EARLIER!

now on with the normal updates. 

how far along: 27 weeks and 5 days.

size of baby: according to apps – fennec fox, a bunch of bananas, eggplant. BUT, probably bigger thanks to the gestational diabetes. 

maternity clothes: yep. can’t wait for the weather to stop switching seasons so I can wear the maternity swimsuit!

also, since we’re talking about clothes, I went to Belk to see if I could find a cute shirt to wear to the crawfish bowl shower and scored THREE dresses for less than the price of one shirt! they aren’t maternity, but they all will work as maternity dresses.

all shower outfits are officially planned!  

symptoms: my blood pressure went back up for a couple days, but finally went back down Wednesday night.

my belly is feeling and getting huge and as a result getting up from the couch and/or putting on pants is not the easiest!

I’ve been off steroids for the rash for two weeks and the itch is manageable, but it sure is pretty visible all over my neck which is somewhat annoying, but also manageable. after seeing the rash again today, my doctor wants to put me on topical steroids. 

I’m getting to the stage that the only thing I like about pregnancy is feeling her move. my back hurts, my belly hurts, my hands hurt, my face is broken out and ratchet, I’m covered in a rash, walking hurts, other parts hurt…, I waddle.

BUT, I know she is worth it all!

cravings/aversions: because I was afraid I might not be able to eat sugar anymore, I wanted ALL the desserts all week. I mainly, sort of resisted, which was good practice since my fears were correct! 

movement: she moves A LOT! for the most part, she stays pretty low though.

sleep: I’ve mostly slept well all week, but my hands have been hurting and that has started waking me up. 

gender: baby girl.

looking forward to: third trimester! just a couple of days from that milestone. but I’m only looking forward to just knowing I’m it. I’ve heard it’s the worst, but it means I’m closer to meeting my baby girl!

even though I wish I didn’t have to keep seeing the specialist, I really do enjoy that doctor though and how much time she spends looking at our baby and I’m looking forward to seeing her AND our baby again on Monday. 

and I know I’ve said it every week for the last few, but showers! one today and one tomorrow.

worries: with the third trimester being right around the corner, it makes labor and all that closer, and I’m all kinds of worried about that haha.

milestones: this is my last week of the 2nd trimester! that feels like a milestone for sure.

we also had our breastfeeding class this week.

AND the dreaded glucose test is behind me! even though the results aren’t ideal, IT’S DONE! 

best moment this week: I felt the baby have hiccups for the first time this week! that was such a fun feeling and made me a little teary-eyed.

---

I made pregnancy progress collages!

Other posts: Finding Out | Four Weeks | Five Weeks | Six Weeks | Seven Weeks | Eight Weeks | Nine Weeks | Ten Weeks | Eleven Weeks | Twelve Weeks | Thirteen Weeks | Fourteen Weeks | Fifteen Weeks | Sixteen Weeks | It’s a… | Seventeen Weeks | Eighteen Weeks | Nineteen Weeks | Twenty Weeks | Twenty-One Weeks | Twenty-Two Weeks | Twenty-Three Weeks | Twenty-Four Weeks | Twenty-Five Weeks | Maternity Woes | Twenty-Six Weeks

written April 16th

how far along: I’m writing this post [late] about the 26th week which ended on Saturday. currently, I am 27 weeks and 1 day, but all the responses below will be about the 26th week. 

size of baby: head of lettuce or cauliflower OR a pack of oreos (obvi went with that for the pic).

maternity clothes: the white maternity jeans arrived and I wore those this week. they are baggier than I’d like, but it’s fun to be able to wear a classic seasonal item. ALSO, the maternity plus swimsuit came in and I LOVE it!

symptoms: my blood pressure and swelling were up Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and didn’t get any better until this morning. I called the nurse this morning to report the blood pressure issues. she consulted with my doctor who said I didn’t need to come in yet since it seemed to be going down on its own, but she wants me to monitor it this week and write down everything I eat so we can try to figure out why it’s spiking when I come in for my appointment this week on Friday.

cravings/aversions: loving fresh fruit right now, especially grapes and strawberries. also loving ham sandwiches (with microwaved ham of course).

movement: SO MUCH. I actually was a little worried this weekend because she didn’t move a ton (our house was full of people and noises). but last night after things were calm again, she kicked me so hard she bounced my phone off my belly! and she kept wiggling for a while. William got to feel a lot of it!

sleep: we picked up our rocker recliner this week for our bedroom! I’ve still been trying to do most of my sleeping in the bed because I like being close to hubs, but if I woke up and felt back aches or restless, I’ve been getting in the recliner to sleep and it has helped!

gender: baby girl.

looking forward to: being done with the glucose test! it’s happening Friday. also, two showers this week! William’s work shower is on Friday and a crawfish boil shower on Saturday!    

worries: slightly worried that the blood pressure/swelling issue and writing down my food is about to result in a bland diet… and also slightly worried that I might fail the glucose test and will also end up on a no sugar or carbs diet… dear Lord please no?!

milestones: we got nursery stuff hung on the walls and bought a rocker recliner and a changing pad. not huge milestones, but nursery progress! 

best moment this week: seeing my phone bounce off my belly from a baby kick was pretty fantastic! also, my family was at our house all weekend for a Harry Potter marathon to introduce my brother to our obsession. it was a blast! 10 adults, 2 toddlers, 4 dogs, 6 bags of doritos (which we didn’t even eat half of), and 8 movies. my home and heart were full!

 

Other posts: Finding Out | Four Weeks | Five Weeks | Six Weeks | Seven Weeks | Eight Weeks | Nine Weeks | Ten Weeks | Eleven Weeks | Twelve Weeks | Thirteen Weeks | Fourteen Weeks | Fifteen Weeks | Sixteen Weeks | It’s a… | Seventeen Weeks | Eighteen Weeks | Nineteen Weeks | Twenty Weeks | Twenty-One Weeks | Twenty-Two Weeks | Twenty-Three Weeks | Twenty-Four Weeks | Twenty-Five Weeks | Maternity Woes

written April 6th

 

 

how far along: 25 weeks and 5 days

size of baby: rutabaga, prairie dog, napa cabbage, sweet potato, cantaloupe, cauliflower

maternity clothes: I basically just have all the dresses that fit me in 2-week rotation. And now that it’s officially white jean/seersucker season, I’ve been a little sad that I can’t fit in my white jeans, seersucker shorts, and seersucker skirt. BUT… I happened upon a Motherhood Maternity warehouse sale and scored a pair of white maternity jeans for $15! can’t wait for those to come in. also, the swimsuit saga continues. I upsized ordered from Lane Bryant and the top was HUGE and the bottoms too snug for comfort. so I returned it and am trying one from Motherhood. It will arrive with the white jeans, so we’ll see. If it doesn’t work I’m just totally going to wear one of William’s finishing shirts as my swimsuit on our babymoon.

symptoms: growing belly which has me getting deeper and deeper into that uncomfortable stage. today was my last steroid for the rash. so we’ll see how that goes.

cravings/aversions: nothing major to speak of. I thought I liked artichokes but ordered a chicken and artichoke pizza and realized I don’t. But I probably didn’t really love them before either.

movement: as I type this she’s turning flips or something! She moves a good bit, but she’s so low and moves low, so it’s hard for William to feel it, and I don’t really offer feeling that low to anyone else haha.

sleep: literally wake up every two hours to use the bathroom. I don’t know if I’ve pavlov dog trained myself, or if it’s just prep for nightly breastfeeding that’s coming soon. and like I mentioned above, I’m getting to that uncomfortable no matter how I sit, stand, or lay stage.

gender: baby girl

looking forward to: being done with the glucose test, two more weeks. and a fun looking forward to… baby showers! we have one April 20th and one April 21st, soon!

worries: still worried I’m going to fail the glucose test. hoping not!

milestones: we got to tour our hospital last night! seeing the labor and delivery rooms and recovery rooms made it feel more real! and both rooms are really nice and big! the recovery rooms have mini fridges, awesome big bathrooms, and seating room for at least 6.

best moment this week: on Easter Sunday after we hosted a potluck, we all (william, pups, and myself) laid in bed for a few minutes to rest and William ended up reading books to our baby. it was so sweet and fun. I can’t wait to parent with him!

Other posts: Finding Out | Four Weeks | Five Weeks | Six Weeks | Seven Weeks | Eight Weeks | Nine Weeks | Ten Weeks | Eleven Weeks | Twelve Weeks | Thirteen Weeks | Fourteen Weeks | Fifteen Weeks | Sixteen Weeks | It’s a… | Seventeen Weeks | Eighteen Weeks | Nineteen Weeks | Twenty Weeks | Twenty-One Weeks | Twenty-Two Weeks | Twenty-Three Weeks | Twenty-Four Weeks

written March 29th

 

 

how far along: 24 weeks and 4 days

size of baby: she’s big! apps say she should be around 1 pound and 5 ounces or the size of corn on the cob/Atlantic puffin/garden eggplant/demi-baguette/papaya/small pizza/cantaloupe/head of cauliflower. which all sound quite impressive. HOWEVER, according to my scan at the specialist this week, she’s 1 pound and 12 ounces!

maternity clothes: pregnancy wardrobe = swing dresses, swing tops, maternity jeans, sized up yoga leggings, flip-flops.

symptoms: RASH. growing belly, frequent bathroom breaks, etc.

cravings/aversions: the taquitos from last week hit the spot and I’m making coconut cake this weekend so cravings are happy and fulfilled.

movement: moving more and more! however, she wouldn’t move the way they wanted her to in the scan. stubborn little girl doesn’t like to have her picture taken.

sleep: other than bathroom breaks sleep still hasn’t been an issue yet.

gender: baby girl.

looking forward to: this may sound selfish even though I don’t mean it selfishly, but I’m really getting excited about our baby showers! they were all finalized this week and I just love hanging out with my people and seeing them be excited about meeting our baby and it makes me all teary eyed to imagine her wearing, covered up in, or playing in the gifts people give her! it just makes me even more excited about her arrival and makes her feel more and more real. two in April, one in May, and one in June. she is one loved little girl already.  

worries: I have the glucose test on my next visit in April and a little nervous about it considering that she’s measuring big and that can be a sign of gestational (which I CANNOT say, like why is that word so hard for me to say) diabetes.

milestones: 24 weeks is when the baby reaches the “threshold of viability” which means even though it would she’d spend lots of time in the NICU, she could actually survive outside the womb now. DO NOT WANT HER TO COME NOW, haha. but that’s an exciting milestone!

best moment this week: other than seeing her in the scan, always a favorite moment, the best moment this week was SETTING UP THE NURSERY!

I just can’t even describe how good it feels and had no idea it would feel that good to get it set up. I mean, we aren’t done! but we made some major progress.

previously all we had done was acquire stuff for the nursery, have the furniture painted, and paint the walls. and then… even though we picked out two different shades of grey for walls and furniture they came out looking the same color!

we debated repainting it again, but our friend suggested we just break up the grey on grey by putting stuff on the wall above the piece that will be grey on grey. once we agreed to just go with that, we dove in this weekend to get it set up!

all the furniture is placed where it will be. we made the decision to keep the big bed in there and got a throw quilt, pillows, sheets, and throw pillows to tie it into the crib bedding. we bought stuff for the collage wall that will break up the grey on grey, mainly a few baskets that we can put books, frames, and knick-knacks on. we put the crib bedding on (and will wash it when it’s a little closer to the due date). we got a lamp and lampshade to match the colors. we will order the rug soon – we picked out one online but want to check a few places here first. we’ll get a chair in there in April. we know what art will go above the chair (but need to get frames for it), what stuff/art will go on changing table grey on grey wall, we need a mirror for the big bed wall, and I want to make a big floral M made out of one of those paper mache letters, flower foam, fake flowers to go above the crib. WE LOVE IT! we go in there often just to talk about how much we love it haha.

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written March 23rd

Before I get to the normal stuff, allow me to share two crazy pregnant lady stories.

Story #1: Today at work I couldn’t find my Reese’s. I was furious because someone stole them. Then I found them in my desk drawer…. I forgot that I hid them in the drawer so no one could steal them.

Story #2: Earlier this week in a foodie Facebook group I’m in, someone asked what they could do with leftover prime rib. Growing up, we always made beef taquitos with leftover roast, so I suggested that. Then of course I couldn’t stop thinking about beef taquitos and had to have them.

I put a roast in the crockpot this morning so I could make them tonight for William’s first night back home after his work trip in Chicago. I made guac for me, queso for him, and rolled and fried some perfect golden brown taquitos. I pilled my plate high with four taquitos and lots of guac.

Half way through the first one, I exclaimed that the taquitos were all I’d hoped they would be (which was important because William was convinced I wouldn’t like them like the one time I craved fish sticks and hated them and the one time I craved McDonalds and didn’t like it).

Two bites into my second one I somewhat aggressively put it back on the plate and said, “I’m getting full and I’m really mad about it!”

William looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Why do you look like you’re about to cry??”

“I’m mad because it’s so good and I want to keep eating but I can’t!”

And then he just laughed at me for a while.

Pregnancy in a nutshell! Crave things, get mad about things, forget things, repeat.

Now on to the normal stuff!

how far along: 23 weeks and 5 days, almost 6 months

size of baby: chinchilla (ovia), papaya (what to expect), bunch of grapes (ovia), yule log (ovia), pear (baby story), grapefruit (baby pics), banana (baby story). chinchilla or yule log are my favs, but those don’t come in the picture apps so went with grapefruit.

maternity clothes: the only non-maternity things I can wear are swing dresses, swing tops, and sized up yoga pants. so yes.

symptoms: I accidentally didn’t take my steroid for 1.5 days and my rash flared up. oops! I had an OB appointment this week and she wants to start weaning me off so it’s out of my system by glucose test (apparently steroids spike blood sugar). I’ve been on 40 mg for two weeks, now 20 for a week, then 10 for a week, then off. fingers crossed! she’s keeping me on Benadryl at night and Claritin during the day and adding Zantac (which apparently helps with allergies too, not just reflux). other than that just the normal stuff – growing belly, winded easily, lots of bathroom breaks. oh and I did have leg cramps one night this week.

cravings/aversions: nothing major to speak of.

movement: YES!! she moves all the time and I love feeling it.

sleep: no complaints other than my hubby was out of town this week and I missed him in our bed.

gender: baby girl.  

looking forward to: working on the nursery this weekend with hubs! and our first baby shower is less than a month away, so that’s fun and exciting.

worries: mildly worried the rash is going to spread and go crazy when I’m off of the steroid fully.

milestones: nothing major. as mentioned, I had an OB visit this week. they gave me the stuff to drink for the glucose test in 4 weeks, and then we move to appointments every 2 weeks! excited to be able to hear or see her more often.

best moment this week: hearing her heartbeat during appointments is always a high point! I got to hang out with some friends this week I haven’t spent a lot of time with lately and their excitement about meeting the baby and that I actually look pregnant now was fun!

 

 

Other posts: Finding Out | Four Weeks | Five Weeks | Six Weeks | Seven Weeks | Eight Weeks | Nine Weeks | Ten Weeks | Eleven Weeks | Twelve Weeks | Thirteen Weeks | Fourteen Weeks | Fifteen Weeks | Sixteen Weeks | It’s a… | Seventeen Weeks | Eighteen Weeks | Nineteen Weeks | Twenty Weeks | Twenty-One Weeks | Twenty-Two Weeks

written March 16th

how far along: 22 weeks and 5 days, less than 18 weeks left, eek!

size of baby: small spaghetti squash (what to expect), American guinea pig (ovia), corn on cob (ovia), tomato (baby story), burger (little nugget), papaya (baby pics). I picked burger from this week’s plethora of options.

maternity clothes: I feel like my belly suddenly got HUGE this week. still have only gained 8 lbs, but definitely looking and feeling pregnant and wearing all the loose dresses I can.

symptoms: “rare pregnancy rash” doesn’t itch anymore and the spots are fading but not gone. meds seem to be helping! growing belly, round ligament pains, lots of bathroom breaks.

cravings/aversions: a coworker recently talked about coconut cake and I want coconut cake BAD!

movement: FINALLY! on Monday night at dinner I told a friend I still wasn’t sure if I had felt her and that same night right after getting in bed she went crazy! I KNEW it was her and now I feel her ALL THE TIME! and now that I’ve felt it I know I was feeling it some before too. AND William can even feel her now too.

sleep: daylight savings time. that’s all I have to say.

gender: baby girl.

looking forward to: getting the nursery done! it feels like we’re running out of time now.

worries: none to speak of this week. feeling her move makes a huge difference.

milestones: ALL THE MOVEMENT!

best moment this week: definitely definitely feeling her move! it feels so sweet and special to know she’s wiggling around in there and growing strong. when William felt her it felt extra special too. I find myself talking to her a lot more now that I can feel her move. 

 

 

Other posts: Finding Out | Four Weeks | Five Weeks | Six Weeks | Seven Weeks | Eight Weeks | Nine Weeks | Ten Weeks | Eleven Weeks | Twelve Weeks | Thirteen Weeks | Fourteen Weeks | Fifteen Weeks | Sixteen Weeks | It’s a… | Seventeen Weeks | Eighteen Weeks | Nineteen Weeks | Twenty Weeks | Twenty-One Weeks

written March 2nd

how far along: 20 weeks and 5 days! over halfway there!

size of baby: the What to Expect app says as big as a mango. none of the photo apps had that option, so I went with can of soda haha.

maternity clothes: living in them and dresses.

symptoms: stuff that comes with a growing belly (can’t bend over, swelling, barely making it to the bathroom on time)

cravings/aversions: I’ve been wanting fresh, non-heavy things. and Hawaiian pizza (the opposite of fresh and non-heavy haha). Hawaiian pizza was finally acquired!  

movement: NO! had an appointment with my doctor and she said it’s totally normal. said she didn’t feel hers until 22 weeks, bff said 21, the friend who felt hers at 18 said lots of her coworkers didn’t feel it until 25.

sleep: can’t get enough, want more.

gender: girl

looking forward to: MOVEMENT. I know I keep saying it, but READY. also ready to see the doctor more regularly. recent happenings have me wanting all the assurance I can get.  

worries: I slipped down a hill on Wednesday and scraped my knees up pretty bad and just jarred my body a little. I was panicked that it hurt the baby, but when I called the on-call doctor he assured me that as long as I didn’t hit my stomach and wasn’t experiencing bleeding or abdominal pain that I was okay. everything seems fine!

milestones: 20 WEEKS! we are over half way there which is CRAZY!

best moment this week: OUR NEPHEW WAS BORN! he came 4 weeks early, but he and mom are doing GREAT! it was very surreal being in the delivery room with my sister-in-law and realizing I’d be doing the same thing in a few short months!

 

 

Other posts: Finding Out | Four Weeks | Five Weeks | Six Weeks | Seven Weeks | Eight Weeks | Nine Weeks | Ten Weeks | Eleven Weeks | Twelve Weeks | Thirteen Weeks | Fourteen Weeks | Fifteen Weeks | Sixteen Weeks | It’s a… | Seventeen Weeks | Eighteen Weeks | Nineteen Weeks

written February 22rd

how far along: 19 weeks and 4 days.

size of baby: 11 ounces according to the doctor! tomato according to the app, but she’s measuring 4 days ahead.

maternity clothes: its spring(ish)! this means I can wear all my dresses again, most of which still work with the pregnant belly. but of course still loving the official maternity clothes too.

symptoms: I experienced some swelling this weekend and now on and off if I don’t drink enough water. emotions are also high. backaches happen easier. but I really can’t complain. 

cravings/aversions: nothing to speak of

movement: I mentioned that I thought I felt her, but after seeing how low she is on the ultrasound I don’t know if I did. what I felt was high. I could SEE her kicking on the ultrasound, but felt nothing!

sleep: I’ve been taking Benadryl at night to dry up whatever is making me cough, so that’s resulted in good sleep.

gender: baby girl!

looking forward to: MOVEMENT! I know everyone says I’ll feel it soon enough, but soon enough can’t come soon enough.

worries: our anatomy scan with the specialist really quieted some of my fears!

milestones: anatomy scan! that was a big one to get under our belts.

best moment this week: seeing baby girl move so much on the scan even though I couldn’t feel it. we also got a few smocked things at Little Feet consignment which was fun!

 

 

Other posts: Finding Out | Four Weeks | Five Weeks | Six Weeks | Seven Weeks | Eight Weeks | Nine Weeks | Ten Weeks | Eleven Weeks | Twelve Weeks | Thirteen Weeks | Fourteen Weeks | Fifteen Weeks | Sixteen Weeks | It’s a… | Seventeen Weeks | Eighteen Weeks