Doctor Appointment Update

Yesterday we had our 27.5 week check up along with the Glucose Screening Test. Man that stuff is awful to drink! I felt pressured to drink it fast because the nurse was standing there waiting for me to finish it which was a good thing so I could get it over with as quick as possible! The results won't be in for a few days, but I am not really worried since I have never had any issues with Gestational Diabetes. Let's hope I didn't just jinx myself.

The Dr. measured my tummy for the first time this week and it measured right on track. The babies heart rate was around 150 the whole time which the Dr. said is exactly where it needs to be. I only gained a pound over the last month which I find extremely hard to believe since I am getting much bigger and have been eating quite a bit. I believe that brings me to 15 pounds total so far. I am really hoping I can stay around the 25 pound total weight gain this time but I have never been that lucky before. With all three of my kids, I gained 35 pounds each time but it's always that last 10 pounds that take forever to get rid of so hopefully if I gain 10 pounds less overall I will have a better shot at getting back into shape quicker. My fingers are crossed!

So far, I am enjoying the pregnancy but on the other hand I hope the next 12 weeks go by fast so we can complete the journey. I am counting down the days until I can have a glass of wine again! The baby is moving often and keeps me up a bit at night. I have been craving chicken salad sandwiches for the past few weeks which is a new pregnancy craving for me. Usually I like spicy foods but this time around that doesn't seem to settle well with me. We made taco pizza last night for dinner and I am still suffering with indigestion from it! Oh well, at least I am looking forward to my chicken salad sandwich for lunch later.

Our next appointment will be on Wed. 3/11 which will be 32 weeks along. Wow! Then we will go ever 2 weeks and then weekly until delivery. It is really hard to believe we are talking about that already. Hopefully soon we can try to plan a hospital tour/ visit with R & S to show them where it will all happen. I am looking forward to that! I love our hospital (since it's where my three babies were born) and it is really like a hotel. I am already looking forward to the recovery time at the hospital reading books, watching movies, visiting with my family without the lack of sleep with a newborn. :)

I plan on uploading a belly picture this week so you can all see my ever changing body.

Hope everyone is good. Today is going to be a great day- low 60's in Chicago in February? WOW!

P.S.- Congrats to my little princess who went poop on the potty the other day! I am so proud!

It's Friday!

Thank goodness I made it to the end of the week. It has been a long one for some reason! I have been feeling good, just a bit tired from work stress this week. There is no change at all with my leg vein over the past week and the support stockings don't seem to be helping much. They actually just feel like regular tights to me and I have to deal with pulling them up constantly which is so much more annoying than a sore leg! Luckily my mom is going to lend me some thicker- better support stockings to try out. Thank god it's not summer time! I can't imagine wearing those things in the heat!

We had a wonderful visit on Sunday with R, S and baby B. We went to lunch and then they came to our house for awhile afterwards. It was really nice to spend time together again. I was holding baby B at the restaurant for a short time and then it hit me "Wow- 4 kids would be really, really hard." I never figured it would be that hard but with Morgan and the 2 boys on my left and a baby in my arms, it was quite the juggling trick! (Sorry Amy- I know you are about to have this yourself so I am certainly not being negative for you- you have much more patience than I do!)

It was a fun time to see them all again and see how much their son is growing already. Although he still looks like a newborn compared to our baby- Morgan!

We also added to the family this week ourselves with a new kitty! The kids have been wanting a pet again ever since we lost our cat of 14+ years in the fall. They are so excited to have a kitten to hold and love again. Luckily, she seems pretty open to the kids picking her up constantly.

We are hoping to schedule another get together in February with R & S and will need to figure out what will work in our schedules. Unfortunately, Al is going on yet another business trip in 2 weeks which will make my life so much more difficult. I am already praying it doesn't snow that week!!!!

Our next Dr. appointment is Monday, 2/9 which will be the 27.5 week check up and the yucky glucose test! I am not looking forward to that drink again. EWWWW!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Dr. Appointment Update

I had my appointment on Monday for the monthly check up and here is the latest update at 23 weeks:

Most importantly, we had a quick ultrasound to get photos of the babies heart since he was moving too much last time to get clear shots. The ultrasound tech verified that the heart looked perfect- all 4 chambers were there and functioning normally. He also reconfirmed it is in fact a boy so at least there is no question left for R & S. The baby's heart rate was ranging from 147- into the 150's which is exactly where it should be. The baby is currently breech but I really don't think that is concerning this early. Here is the picture from the ultrasound with the little guy posing. Sorry, it's a bit small.






I gained 6 pounds since last month which isn't too bad considering I ate many, many sweets over the holidays! I was thrilled to have the woman dr. check me this week because I had to drop my drawers and bend over to show her my hideous vein on the back of my leg! She said it is quite common in pregnancy but said I need to buy support/ compression tights to wear all the time- except during sleep. I also need to elevate my leg whenever possible and use a heating pad if it gets too sore. We just need to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get swollen or have red streaks coming off of it. If that happens, they would need to ultrasound my leg to make sure I don't have any blood clots. Isn't it strange that nothing like this ever happened to me before? I guess this is just someone testing me from above to make sure I was as committed as I said I was. :)

Besides the blue snake crawling down my leg- I feel pretty good. The baby is kicking all the time and loves to do flips. R & S- I think you should enroll him into baby gymnastics right away!

We are looking forward to a family get together with R & S and baby B with all of us on Sunday. It has been awhile since we have seen them and it was hard to keep in touch over the holidays with everyone's crazy schedules so this is an exciting visit to look forward to! I really want to spend as much time with them over the phone/ email/ and in person as possible before the baby arrives. I truly feel like it will not only help with our friendship bond, but will also make the whole process smoother and happier for all! I hope the little guy will show his strength that day so they can feel a couple kicks.

Snap, Crackle, POP!

Well, it happened. My tummy has finally popped! It is bittersweet because I was actually liking the fact that I wasn't showing until now which has truly been a treat. But of course, I knew it was coming. We will be 23 weeks tomorrow so I guess I should be thankful. I have been wearing maternity clothes for the most part but luckily I have been off of work for awhile with the holidays so I have been enjoying the lounging clothes instead. It is going to be hard to get back into business attire next week for sure! I am a bit nervous now that I am officially showing of what reactions will be from people when they start asking questions. Of course all of our friends and family know, but I am thinking of people I know from my industry that I only see periodically or people that are casual friends at the gym. I just really don't feel like going into a long explanation to justify my decision here every time someone asks me "Oh, when are you due?" Let's just hope people will have a positive and supportive reaction so I don't feel like a freak show.

The little guy is kicking, flipping and moving like crazy! He is very active throughout the day, but still mostly at night between 8-10pm. The kicks were even strong enough last week for Al to feel a bunch of them from the outside. Hopefully R will be able to feel some too at our appointment on Monday morning (although I think that is usually baby sleepy time so not sure if it will happen.) We are also scheduled for another ultrasound to get better pictures of the heart since he was moving too much last time. Then of course is just the usual 4 week check up and weigh in. This one will be a doozie I am sure considering I have been binging on sweets for the past 4 weeks!

I feel good for the most part but unfortunately have been having a lot of bad stomach aches lately (similar to the first trimester) and then to top it off I am starting to get really tired. I never had that pregnancy exhaustion in the first trimester this time but boy am I am making up for it now. I pretty much need an hour nap every day lately which is obviously not going to work when I go back to the office next week! My other problem with the nasty varicose vein has actually gotten worse if you can believe that! It is spreading and just plain disgusting! I can't wait to ask the dr. about that on Monday.

Well here it is, my first official belly shot which was taken on xmas day. I hope my husband is not too freaked out watching me get bigger daily. It is so different this time of course because before, we could both justify it as me carrying our child. But now, I am carrying for someone else and I think the weight gain is a lot harder to accept for both of us. Of course he hasn't complained yet about it but I do feel more self concious this time around for sure.

More updates to come after next week's appointment.

Happy Holidays!

It's hard to believe this year is coming to an end already. It has flown by faster than usual with everything we have going on. We are really looking forward to xmas this year because Morgan is old enough to enjoy the presents! It has gotten a bit more challenging to wrap and hide the gifts with Carson being 6 now. He is so much more observant! The other night our neighbors husband stopped by dressed as Santa to visit with the kids and after he left, the boys said "That wasn't Santa, that was Madeline's Daddy". (They call all husbands Daddy!) Too funny!

On the baby front- I still haven't remembered to have Al take a belly shot of me. Hopefully over the next few days! The baby is moving often now and I think the kicks may be hard enough to actually feel from the outside. He is most active at night when I am watching tv or laying in bed. R & S- get ready for a night owl!

I am feeling good now with the pregnancy. My only complaint is that all of a sudden I have a varicose vein that has appeared on the back of my right leg. I have never had this before with pregnancies but I think it's a normal side effect. Lets just hope and pray it will go away after delivery! I am not really craving any foods yet regularly. Jimmy Johns is still good, but I haven't been NEEDING it like before. Mostly I have trouble deciding what to eat because things still don't sound good. Of course I have been eating plenty of sweets with the holidays here which is not helping my bum!

Here is another picture of my angels.

Have a great holiday!

HALF WAY DONE! IT'S A.........................

Can you believe it? We are already 20 weeks along- half way done! Amazing. Even with the semi-challenging first trimester, it has flown by! On Monday, we had our 4 week check up and the 20 week ultrasound and R & S were both there. The baby looked perfect- heart beat was 153 I think. We saw hands, feet, toes, legs, butt oh and yep- a little pee pee.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!

It was a bit strange for me because I have never found out the sex with my own kids so that was really the first time I saw that on the ultrasound. There is no doubt about it. This little guy was showing off a few times with his legs wide open and it is definitely a boy! Congrats to R & S!!!!! Baby B will be the big brother in May, 9 months apart from this little guy. I am sure they will grow up to be the best of friends like our boys. Of course they will fight like my boys, but when they are apart- they miss each other like crazy.

The rest of the appointment was quick and easy. I have gained about 6 pounds so far and of course woke up this week with a tummy. If I remember tonight, I will take a tummy shot and add it to the blog soon. I imagine it will be only another week or two at the most before I give up on wearing regular clothes and give in to the comfort of maternity clothes full time. Maybe right after Christmas after I eat for days!

Oh and thanks so much again to R & S for the surprise package we received yesterday of Mrs. Fields cookies and brownies. They are absolutely delicious and all 5 of us LOVED IT! Thanks for being so thoughtful and "sweet"!

Here is an early holiday picture of our angels. Not sure when I will blog next with the holidays coming but I will be sure to add a few new pictures soon.

Wish us luck surviving the foot of snow expected tonight through tomorrow! Let's hope my work closes tomorrow!

Come and ride my roller coaster!

I can't believe it has been almost 2 weeks since I last posted. Wow, time flies when you are having fun! Or- when your life is too chaotic to stop the roller coaster to update a blog! We are still working endlessly on our house renovation and hope to have our new laundry room flooring done this week along with at least base cabinets for our kitchen so we can get our granite counter tops measured. At least I finally have a plywood counter top to prepare meals on and the horrible dry wall dust is finally gone! Now I am just praying we get the remaining cabinets put in before Christmas so we can host my family (about 20 people) for Christmas night. My fingers are crossed!!!! And hopefully sometime this month- before xmas eve, I can start my Christmas shopping! I am usually done in November but this year because of the house construction I pretty much haven't even begun. YIKES!

On the baby front........ I am still in regular clothes which is wonderful but also in the back of my mind I am wondering why I am not showing more. We will be 19 weeks tomorrow and I know by that time in my past 3 pregnancies I was definitely in maternity clothes. I should be thrilled with this instead of complaining, but since it is different then the past it makes me think about it. (Not stress about it yet.) I have felt some small movements probably only once or twice a day at this point but at least that is reassuring that the baby is doing ok. I know we are all looking forward to Monday when we have the ultrasound and the regular monthly checkup. Hopefully it won't be too crazy with my bringing two of my kiddos along with R & S's family in the room.

Oh and I finally told my boss and my coworkers the news last week. It went much better than I anticipated which was a huge relief. And just because I say I am not in maternity clothes yet doesn't mean I am not bigger. My lovely coworker told me right after my announcement that she thought my hips were bigger and I was WIDER. Needless to say I haven't spoken to her since! Just kidding. But seriously, why do people insist on insulting a pregnant woman? Some people just don't get it!

My husband is out of town for work again but luckily he is scheduled to come back home tomorrow. We can't wait!!! Hopefully my princess Morgan will be feeling better by then too. Poor baby- she is so congested and is coughing like crazy. I hate it when my kids are sick.

More updates to come next week after the appointment.