Cooking a big baby

I am 33 weeks and 5 days, I am so thankful to have made it to this point with all the bumps along the way. I had my bi-weekly check up yesterday and the doctor measured me again. I am measuring at 36 cms which is a few weeks ahead of schedule. They noticed this about a month ago and sent us for the ultrasound then. The tech estimated her at 4.5 pounds, so I can only imagine she is larger than that now. The doctor suggested I start coming in once a week and we will keep an eye on her size. They also are concerned about the gestational diabetes playing a factor in her becoming a plump baby.

So pretty much at this point 1. Dr said if I go into labor they are not going to stop me and 2. depending on her size we may have to induce. Looking at a calendar if I am measuring 36 weeks now and ideally they would like me to get to 37 weeks according to my due date that brings us to November 20th. Thats about 4 weeks away. I can't even wrap my mind around it. The Mr. has been working late and we haven't even really had a chance to talk about it being I am asleep by the time he gets home and the mornings aren't time for serious conversation.

I feel like there is so much to do, I am excited and nervous and anxious at the same time. Her room is halfway there, we don't have a sitter lined up and if I have to be induced I most likely will also have an epidural. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I was just looking forward to at least trying to be as natural as possible.

My Gestational diabetes has been good, I submitted my weekly numbers to the counselor and she was pretty happy with them which is great. Thats another week I won't have to be on pills or shots.

I can definitely tell that she is running out of room, her movements are at some points sharp and I can feel every one of them.

But we are excited and its 9 pm which has pretty much been my bedtime and I am so sleepy. At least it is supposed to be a quiet weekend.

We are getting down to the wire

We are getting down to the wire and I am starting to feel the pressure. No not pressure - down there - but pressure to get things done and prepared. We had my second shower yesterday, my mother threw it and this is her first grandbaby so she went all out let me tell you! Here is a picture of the cake, EEK I love it!

 

The quality is not the greatest, I uploaded so quick to Shutterfly this morning just so I could have some to show. I have done 0 retouching so maybe I will show more later but AWW isn't it so cute! Special thanks to the Pink Cake Box in Denville NJ for an amazing job. 

I am feeling better about the amount of stuff we have for her arrival, we are very fortunate to have such loving friends and family. This weekend was the last time I will see my parents before she makes an appearance. WOW. We talked about phone trees and making sure I give them directions to the hospital. And here I sit not thinking about work (which is in the busiest quarter of the year) but rather about my baby. I have to learn to use my time for both. 

I did not have a Dr.s appointment last week, which means I should have one this week. And we start baby classes on Wednesday. The weeks are jumbling together and I am starting to freak. 

Sleep is sometimes good sometimes not. Last night I woke up a bunch due to the round ligament pains again, I have not had them in a while and she must have grown a little last night because boy did I feel them. 

All in all, I know my body is getting ready and I know she is growing like she should. All wonderful things. I am getting myself mentally prepared for what is going to happen to me here soon. My mind and body are on two different wavelengths - my mind is FREAKING OUT and my body just says "I got this". I need both to be in sync. I don't think I have discussed this yet but everyone asks the question about getting pain meds, or an epidural. Pretty much its been the one question since week 20 that everyone asks. My answer has been the same since then; if I want it I will take it but if I feel like I can handle it I will. I am fully aware it is no walk in the park, it is called labor for a reason. I just know there are millions of women for the last millions of years who have done this time and time again and I can too.

32 weeks - 8 months officially

Well well we read our latest week in the What to Expect book and we have entered our 8th month. And boy can I feel it. I am so beat halfway thru the day and I feel like I am carrying an extra hundred pounds. My stomach is expanding at such a rate my skin can't keep up, my stretchmarks have stretchmarks. I thought I was good there for a little bit but then BAM, even more and they hurt, itch and seem like they I have broken blood vessels from them. It really is awful but the Mr. is good about telling me he doesn't care about them and that I can use these to make baby girl remember where she came from.

We had our first shower yesterday, it was so very exciting. I could not believe it was for me! It was very quiet and simple, we received some books, clothes, bath items and a car seat base. Very helpful in starting our baby collection. Our house is filling up with her stuff so quickly.

I am secretly checking our registry to see if anyone purchases the chair we want. Fingers crossed.

I feel pregnant, I feel big and pregnant. Its 2pm and I could use a nap or a large pot of coffee. Neither of which I can get right now. Bummer.

Sleeping is still difficult, I get kicked and I am up, her head rests on my bladder and I am up, I try to switch which side I am sleeping on and that is a task. I was so happy to get 6 straight hours Saturday night. Work is harder to stay focused on because I am so damn tired.

A few more weeks till we meet our baby girl. We are still interviewing sitters and I am at the doctor every other week so the days just fly by.

Gestational Diabetes Update & Ultrasound Picture

I will first update with the Gestational Diabetes as I went to the diabetes clinic on Friday. I met with a very friendly nurse who gave me my meter for testing and explained that we are going to try to combat this with diet first and see how that goes. Pretty much what is going on is my body is not creating enough insulin to fight off the sugar in my blood, that can be bad because baby will be receiving more sugar than needed and can lead to a larger birth weight baby.

 So I started pricking my finger and testing my blood Friday morning, I have to test four times a day. First thing when I wake up, and an hour after each meal. My pattern so far has been to have a higher number after breakfast than I do the rest of the day. I have also noticed that the more exercising I do (i.e. walking all around the Bills/ Eagles football game yesterday) the lower my numbers are. It is quite interesting to see how what you eat and what you do directly effect your body.

As for now they are having me control this by diet, no extra suggary stuff, careful with the carbs, under 30g a meal and try not to over-do it. All of which can be done, plus this will just make me get in the habit of what I am eating so after she is hear and Weight Watchers calls my name I will be pretty used to it. I have not been tracking my food in a journal just yet but have made notations next to my numbers if they have been high. I am supposed to have a blood sugar number of under 130 an hour after every meal, Saturday morning I had a bowl of Cheerios and an hour later it was at 132. So I know I have to limit my intake of milk early in the day. Bummer because cereal and milk have been my staple this whole pregnancy but I will do whatever it takes.

 My last appointment the doctor measured me and told me I was measuring about 3 weeks ahead and sent me for an ultrasound this morning to get a weight on the baby. Our little pumpkin measured at 33 weeks and 4 days (just about 3 weeks ahead) and 4.5 pounds. That is crazy. They do not change the due date as it helps to keep track of the lung development (learn something new everyday!) but they will keep an eye on us to make sure she doesn't get too big. This appointment and this news sent me into an anxiety frenzy. I feel not ready yet, work is getting crazy busy as the fourth quarter is our insane time. I work in a health insurance brokerage so our busiest time is right around my due date. She is head down already which is great and they measured my cervix, 5.25 cm which is also very wonderful. We confirmed she is a she and got to listen to her heartbeat again.

I have perma-grin on my face lately as we were able to see her little face in 3D and I am just reassured that everything is going okay. Below is our baby girl, aww! I know right!

Review: Pregnancy Plus Prenatal Vitamins and Dream Belly Stretch Cream!

At Pregosaur, we're big fans of natural products for TTC, pregnancy, and beyond - and one of our favorite companies, Fairhaven Health, generously gave us four of their amazing products to review. We'll post two reviews now and two later - and then there just might be a giveaway!

Here's what Jerseysaur had to say about the Pregnancy Plus Prenatal Vitamins and Dream Belly Stretch Mark Cream...

At first glance I was thrilled at the size of these nutrient packed vitamins - they are almost half the size of the other vitamins I have been taking so far. I compared the label to my current vitamins to see what is in this bottle that may be different. I was quite surprised with what I found - these vitamins have a few more ingredients and are quite consistent with the daily percent value. I have always wondered what going over the limit means to me, but these don't seem to over-do it while maintaining the 100% value across the board.

I also have been having little to no nausea with these pills on a full or empty stomach, which to anyone who has had morning sickness (or whole pregnancy sickness) that can be a real lifesaver!

I do have to say one thing I REALLY love about this brand is how natural all the products are. I am constantly thinking about what I put in that my baby gets to share with me and I am really pleased to know that these vitamins are nourishing us both naturally.

Look at the Dream Belly Stretch Mark Cream bottle, how pretty! I am a sucker for shelf appeal and package design, its nice to see some flair when I am dealing with stretch marks. As I have developed a much larger belly in the past few months, I have those mommy battle scars and as much as I would love to see them go they are with me forever now. I have been moisturizing since day one and will continue to constantly lather up as we get closer to the big day, but if I have my choice of creams on my night stand I have been turning to this one more frequently.

The best thing about this cream is the fruity smell - I peeked at the ingredients and saw grapefruit extract, which is so soothing. The list of ingredients is chock full of oils and butters which makes it feel so silky smooth. I recently have started learning more about the powers of natural oils and am so glad to see a few familiar names that are in this lotion to help repair my skin.

This product will take some time to see how it fairs in the last few weeks but so far so good. The non-chemically smell and thickness of the lotion really make it a great choice to have some bonding time with me and my baby belly.

Stay tuned for the next two reviews and the giveaway!

No Shots For Me!

Hello World, I have emerged from my rock. I finally have shaken this head cold thing. Thank goodness! Never did I know that a tiny little cold would rock my world like this one. It really is true that when your sick and pregnant its a whole lot worse.

I was asked at my last appointment if I wanted the flu vaccine, now I had this cold so they wouldn't give it to me anyway. At least thats what the paperwork said but I declined. I have not been faced with this decision before so I had about four minutes to think about it while I was changing from the waist down to have an internal exam. Even before pregnancies I have never received a shot so I thought to myself that I just would not start now and I really did not want it. I am sure others have been faced with this decision but its just one of those things where if I get the flu I will kick myself for not having the shot but if I don't I will be glad I declined.

This week has really been a wash for me, my house is a disaster and I have been in bed before nine most nights. I am determined to stay awake a little longer tonight as my dad and littlest sister are driving four hours to my house to drop off her old juvenile furniture then trekking to Vermont for a weekend in the mountains.

I am meeting with the diabetes center tomorrow morning to review a meal plan that they would like me on to combat the diabetes thing I have going on. I think I have been pretty good with my eating all week, I even tested it with a co-workers meter this morning. About two hours after I ate breakfast my blood sugar was at 84 which is perfect, so I just have to keep doing what I am doing I think. We will see, I will be sure to update you all after I talk with the nurse/nutritionist lady.