Quilt

THANKS JEANNIE!

7 weeks left

I woke up this morning and when I looked at the bed found Sally sleeping between my two pillows like this. I always put a pillow standing up against the wall and then one flat to lay my head on. Well the flat one had pull forward a little and she was squished between the two with legs straight up in the air, fast asleep. Maggie of course was on the other side of the bed surrounded by pillows, she knows how to find a comfy spot.

There is my belly in all its pregnant glory at 31 weeks.

I had an appointment today and it sure made me happy, and my doctor too. I gained only two pounds, so he was happy with the pound a week, though I was happier with less than a pound a week. I have a feeling that I am going to really be fighting weight gain this last little bit as Ryann starts to pack on the pounds. My belly measured the same as last appointment so he was really happy with that. I was afraid she might have had another huge growth spurt because I sure am feeling bigger. My sugars were good enough that my medication didn't need to be changed. Feels good to know that what I am doing is paying off. My doctor said he was "just tickled" with how things were going for me. Then I asked him about delivering me at 38 weeks because I am just afraid of how big she will be if we wait those extra two weeks. He said he would at possibly 38 1/2 weeks, depending on my cervix. He doesn't want to go too early and risk having to do a C-Section, but I'm kind of "damned if you do damned if you don't" case. That just made me happy to know that he is on board delivering me early. So now I can officially start my shortened count down...7 WEEKS LEFT.

I finished, again, Ryann's name and decorating her shelf. Though I bet the decor of the shelf will probably change two or three times before she comes. The little flower and ribbon under the shelf is a bow holder I made her. Jeannie got me the purple piggy bank because I had been talking about decorating one. I was going to put a little tutu on it but I ended up just put a bow by its ear and one on its tail. Who knows what will come of my next nesting/crafting spree.

Jeannie finished the bumper pad. The quilt is really close to being done. It just needs the edge done, but I have seen it and I love it!

Few More Pictures

Her sweet little face...the best we can get.
This view is looking up at hier lips and nose, so she looks slightly piggish.

She is smashed up against the placenta, once again giving her a smashed look. But she sure has some chunky cheeks!

She loves to show off her ears. Her face...not so much.

Official Report

The official ultrasound report is in...

Head Circumference: 28.5 cm-31 weeks 3 days
Abdominal Circumference: 29.0cm-33 weeks 0 days
Femur Length-5.8cm: 30 weeks 4 days
Estimated Fetal Weight: 1859 grams +/- 272 grams
Single, life intrauterine gestation with an estimated sonographic age of 31 weeks 4 days, which is 13 days greater than that predicted by the prior ultrasound.

Looks like we have a new due date of May 13th and a chunky baby already.

Realistically, I know the original due date is the best due date to go off of, it's more accurate. Big babies run in my family PLUS I have gestational diabetes. I just like to think that my due date is sooner and I'll just try to hold out till then because that will be 38 weeks according to the first ultrasound due date. I know there will be some amniotic fluid testing and another ultrasound in my future.

Sunshine

Finally the snow has melted and we have seen the sun again! Sally has a new thing that she does now, she goes outside and just lays on top of the dog house soaking up the sun. I think we are all grateful to see warmer weather.

Ryann has a dresser! This past weekend I organized all her clothes in the drawers. That was helpful to see that we have. She has a ton of 0-3 month clothes, so now to focus on 3-6 months and up. It was also good to go through the clothes again and think "am I really going to put my daughter in this?" so the give away pile grew slightly.
And last by not least...the belly.
Yesterday during my ultrasound I did get a weight on Ryann according to her measurements. Our baby is 4 1/2 pounds!

29 Weeks and 5 Days??? Maybe???

I had my 29 week 5 day appointment today. First Dr. Anderson reviewed my blood sugars and they are good enough that he didn't want to change my medication. There are a couple here and there that are definitely out of range, but with my weight gain and with most being in range he kept my medication the same...or so that was the beginning of the appointment. I am more than happy to report having only a 14 lb weight gain at almost 30 weeks, especially with the Gestational Diabetes fighting against me. Then he measured me and listened to the heart beat. Well apparently I am measuring big. So Dr. Anderson added Metformin for my treatment of diabetes to get all my sugars lower and in range. Then I also got an order to have another ultrasound for size vs due date. The advantage to working where you see your OB and having a lab in the back is the tech will get you in when it is supposed to be her lunch break. I also found out that with the new machine she got it also does 3D and 4D, so of course we played with that after the official ultrasound.

The unofficial ultrasound report shows Ryann's belly at 33 weeks, legs at about 30 weeks 5 days, and head at about 31 weeks (these are the estimates that I remember) so changing her due date to May 15th. I should have the official report either tomorrow or Wednesday so we shall see what that says. My fluid level is good too. I am not complaining about an earlier due date!

After that we played around with the 3D, Loretta has only had her new machine about a week. Ryann did not want to cooperate. She cooperated perfectly for the first part but not for the fun part. The more Loretta moved the wand around on her the more she kicked and waved her arms. Her head stayed firmly planted in my pelvic bone so we could not get a good facial 3D picture. She does seem to have chunky cheeks already and some hair on her head. It was really cool though to feel her moving and then on the screen I could see what she was doing. Now just to figure out WHEN we get to meet her. Enjoy the pictures!

Hand
Fist in front of her face.

The best face we could get, but she seriously looks like she is smashed against a window.

Ear and the start of the side profile

A perfect little foot with 5 toes

Like That Will Happen

My OB came up to me the other day at lunch and asked me how my sugars and weight gain were going. I told him and he seemed really please. Well I got to thinking about it and realized I hadn't factored in the fact that I had lost 3 pounds after finding out I had gestational diabetes. I went to him the next day and told him. He tells me, well you are doing everything you can, eating right, getting exercise, and taking your medication. Then he says, "My only goal right now is to get you to stop worrying about it." Yeah right, get a pregnant woman to stop worrying...good luck with that one!

Worry Wart

This weekend I did a big load of all the clothes Ryann has gotten so far and put them away. I have a drawer full of 0-3 months and 3-6 months. They need a some more organization, but they are at least separated by size. With all that done and the room done all I have been thinking is WHAT IF Ryann comes out a boy!?! That thought has consumed me and made me so worried, especially after taking all the tags off the clothes and washing them all...no returns there! Then Clint's mom finished Ryann's quilt and is almost done with the bumpers. This only makes the "what if" factor worse. So at work today I had to have another ultrasound, I had to put my mind to rest. Ryann cooperated perfectly. She is definitely a girl, no doubt about that. She also gave us the perfect profile picture with her beautiful full lips. I didn't get a picture though. Apparently they have a new ultrasound machine in the lab and it wouldn't let the tech print a picture or burn a CD since I wasn't registered. Oh well, I saw what I needed to see and now my mind is at ease.

Once I do have Ryann, flowers are a nice gesture but I don't think I want flowers. What I'd really like is a Dr. Pepper or Vanilla coke and chocolate chip cookies. Not that I would usually be eating and drinking these all the time but to have someone say NO you can't have them just makes me want them ALL THE TIME. I maybe had one coke to drink a week so that was not a hard thing to stop. It's just wanting what I can't have. So any friends and family who were thinking of getting me flowers, don't worry about that. A caffeinated drink and something sweet with real sugar in it will do. Flowers will still be accepted.

7 months

I can't believe I am already 7 months pregnant. I'm so glad that I am working, it makes the time go by fast and then I'm not sitting home thinking about how miserable I feel. The distraction is really great. Though working does make the tingling in my hand worse, just your typical carpal tunnel, typing and writing makes it all worse.

Despite my diet restrictions and exercise I have been unable to get the morning sugars under control. They have just slowly kept creeping up. I was put on a very low dose of medication a little over a week ago. For about two days it worked great but then they started creeping up again. I am now on double the dose, still a low dose though, and waiting to see how that works out. Taking the medication is not bad it's just the effects of it that suck. I wake up in the morning and first thing I do is take my medication. After I eat breakfast I don't even need to poke my finger to know if my sugar is high, I can tell it is high by the fatigue and nausea. Then a few hours after I have taken the medication I again feel crappy, this time fatigued and shaky because my sugar has dropped low. Oh the wonderful balancing act of blood sugar. My OB says I need to increase my protein intake. I'm trying, so any suggestions would help...besides the usual eat meat ones. I need protein ideas for breakfast and the snack before lunch. My sugars run great the rest of the day after I get through the morning and the drop. I'm surviving all of this though. I just have to remember that a lot of people have it a lot worse than me and I'm really lucky that I work right here with my OB and can get answers all the time and be closely watched. The positive side to all of this...with my mom's history of having big babies and my gestational diabetes there is no way that they will let me go long. That is just fine with me!!!

When Dr. Anderson first started me on medication he had me get my Hemoglobin A1c drawn. That came back perfectly normal. When I got poked Ryann started really kicking and moving. It was cool to feel her react to something that was happening to me. I can definitely tell pregnancy has changed me because just having one tube of blood drawn I could feel the color going out of my face and it feeling hot. Good thing that was all they needed, I probably would have passed out if they needed more. This is not a usual response for me and hopefully goes away with the birth of the baby...along with the gestational diabetes and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Ryann's kicks and movements are finally getting strong enough to actually see them, though she is a pretty mellow baby and doesn't do them a whole lot. It's all fine with me, and I hope it continues to when she is born. She has only kicked me twice in the ribs. She tends to enjoy kicking downwards on my bladder more. I think I prefer this since it really hurt getting that kick in the ribs.

Ryann's room is done in the aspect of all the large pieces are in. We moved our dresser out of our closet and into Ryann's room, she is all set now. Her room is now a complete mess with me trying to sort through all the baby cloths I have gotten so far and getting them sorted by size. I'm glad we got so much done early on so that I can just slowly do the rest of the little things.

Pictures of the room to come later, once I take them.