28 Weeks: 3D/4D Ultrasound Pictures

 This week Scotty and I got to go and do our 3D/4D ultrasound.  This was something elective that we chose to do.  I mean, who wouldn't take the chance to see their baby's face as many times as they could?  When we were called back the ultrasound lady asked if we knew what we were having and I told her we did.  She then asked what we were having and I told her I wanted her to tell us, just to be sure it was still the same as we thought 8 weeks ago.  She said that was fine and she was happy to do it.  Well Scotty, the big mouth, gets in the room and I don't even have my belly uncovered yet and he mentions to the ultrasound lady "yeah she does that when Jen does this."  Something along those lines.  Dang it!  We weren't in the room 3 minutes and he spilled the beans.  Geeze.  I don't know how he kept it a secret for 4 days the first time around.  Silly Goose.  He just gets so excited to talk about his Charlotte.  But, for your own good, I wouldn't tell him anything too secret if I were you.  : )

Something new that I have been experiencing this week are hot flashes.  They are terrible!  I will be doing nothing - just sitting and I all of a sudden get so hot that I have sweat on my forehead.  Gross.  I feel like I am hotter in general now.  I do not like to sit with covers on me, I do not like to sleep with the covers on me, and I wear dresses and sleeveless shirts more often because I get hot.  I mean I know that it is summer now but we usually have the A/C cranking at home and at work and I just can't get enough.  Gotta love those hormones.  Speaking of that - mine were raging yesterday.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to cry or to be angry, so I ended up just going to sleep.  That helped a little.
 
The hormones have also been giving me bloody noses and making my heartbeat really fast.  My nose doesn't bleed so bad that it runs down my face but when I have to blow it there is blood - TMI I know.  The heart pounding thing is weird too.  I will lay down on the couch or in bed and my heart will beat really really hard.  I am not out of breath or anything it just feels like it is going to beat out of my chest.  It only lasts for a few seconds and then it is fine but for that little bit of time it is uncomfortable.  From what I have been reading that can be from the hormones as well as from having twice the normal blood supply and my heart pumping harder to supply oxygen to the placenta for Char Baby.  So many changes that happen to your body that no one tells you about and that you do not expect.

A lot of people ask me how I am feeling or if I think that I have had a hard pregnancy.  I do not have anything to compare it to, but overall I have felt great!  I love being pregnant.  Yeah being sick and tired at the beginning was no fun and the heartburn now sucks, but it isn't anything I can't handle and I wouldn't not get pregnant again because of how I have felt.  I was also telling Scotty that I think that Charlotte is a very active baby.  Once again, I have nothing to compare it to but to me she is an active little girl.  I have been trying to do my kick counts where I sit or lay for 1 hour and try and count 10 movements.  Most of the time she has met that mark in less than 10 minutes.  I will be so happy when she gets here but I will miss her kicks in there!  I will not miss her chillin in my rib cage though. 

Well here are some of the pictures from the ultrasound.  Such a cool thing.  I am happy that we chose to do this and see our sweet girl's face.  It will be interesting to see if she looks like that when she comes out.  So who do you think she looks like, me or Scotty?  I know what I think.  : )    

She was quite comfy with that hand in front of her face!

Check out those sweet little fingers!

We may have a thumb sucker on our hands!

Like I said, we had the ultrasound lady check and make sure we still had a little girl in there and that we wouldn't be surprised on delivery day!

They are all amazing pictures of our sweet girl but this one was our favorite.  The next one has it in the color that shows up on the screen in the ultrasound room.  So cool!  She is so beautiful!



Baby girl is about 2.5 pounds.  Some studies show that babies at this stage may now be able to distinguish between voices.  So Charlotte maybe hearing both her Mama and Daddy and understanding that they are different!  Wow! 

27 Weeks: Glucose Test Week...

Scotty and I had our 27/28 week check up yesterday (6/12).  My blood pressure was good at 122/80 and baby girl's heart rate was in the 150s so the doctor was please with us both.  We saw Dr. Morton this week.  She was a nice lady.  Scotty and I both agreed that all the people that we have seen so far have been very nice and we would feel comfortable with any of them delivering our girl. She said that my belly is measuring perfect and that we both are looking good!  She also checked my cervix and said that it was closed like it should be.  She said that my weight is on track - I will share..... I have put on 18 pounds.  They said they tell moms to expect to put on 30 and I am already almost 2 months past the half way point of my pregnancy.  They weren't concerned with my weight at all so that was a relief.  They said to expect to put on fast weight near the end though and to be prepared for that.  But she said that is all baby and fluid at that point but to expect 2-3 pound weekly gains. 

So for the important part - glucose testing.  I have been freaking out about this dang test.  Ask anyone at work, my parents or my husband and they will tell you that I have been a nightmare to deal with about this.  I went in and I drank the stuff on an over 12 hour empty stomach.  The drink has 50 grams of sugar in it.  I wanted to know what that was like eating.  A banana has about 14 grams, a regular snickers has about 30 grams, and whole bag of skittles has about 47 grams (for a perspective) which doesn't sound like a lot but doing it on a very empty stomach is good for no one. I was guzzling the drink to get it down and over with so that the hour wait countdown could start.  The nurses were laughing at me guzzling it down and saying they knew what I did in college and that I always won!  HA!  Oh well, I knew I learned something beneficial in college.  I had 4 minutes to get that stuff down but probably did it in less than one. 

So Scotty and I then waited in the waiting room for a while and then we went in to see the doctor and about that time the hour was up and it was time for the blood draw.  I will say that after I drank the sugar drink within 15 minutes Charlotte was going crazy!  The doctor was trying to listen to her heartbeat with the Doppler and she was moving around and the doctor was chasing her.  I felt not so good.  It was really weird.  I felt jittery and fidgety but at the same time I wanted to just lay down and close my eyes. 

Anyway, I had my blood drawn and found out that it would be a few days before I got the results.  Talk about a buzz kill.  I was really wanting those results and thought I would get them that day.  Well after the blood draw, I asked for some crackers and a soda because I just felt like crap.  The nurse said that my blood sugar probably went sky high then dropped way low, which is kind of what they expect and that most of the time when that happens the person's blood sugar is in the 70s or 80s.  This was a comfort to me because I didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that I was feeling so bad.  After I gathered myself, Scotty and I checked out and paid for our 3d/4d ultrasound next week (YAY!) and headed out.  I still was feeling awful but I got some lunch and headed to work.  I stayed for a few hours and then I headed home.  I still felt so bad.  I went home and slept and felt better after I woke up.  But the nurse called today and I PASSED!  WOOO!  She said that my blood sugar was 73 (cut off was 130).  Praise the Lord!  I have been more worried about this test than I am about giving birth!  I am so relieved!  She said my hemoglobin is a little low but not low enough to treat with an added iron supplement.  She said to make sure I stay on top of my prenatal vitamins and that was all!  Yes!!

So now that is over with and I am a very happy Mama!  Charlotte's baby furniture is supposed to be delivered today!  Yay!  I am so excited to finally have something in her room.  The company that is making her bedding sent me swatches of the fabric to approve and I let them know they look great and they will now start making it.  I bought the curtains for her room this week and I also bought her diaper bag.  I wanted to have it when I go to VA at the end of the month so that my Mom can take it to be embroidered with Charlotte's monogram. Things are coming together! 

One of my sisters-in-law is a pediatric nurse practitioner and she recommended a pediatrician to us and I called and they are willing to take Charlotte on as a new patient so that is crossed off the list as well.  I learned that they will come and visit her at the hospital and check her out so that is pretty cool. 

Scotty had his first Father's to be day this weekend.  I had big plans for him but he had football camp with little kids all weekend and stayed in the dorm with them for 2 nights so he was exhausted when he got home.  So we went to eat at a restaurant we have been wanting to try for a while then he napped and I later fixed him dinner, gave him a cupcake, and some boiled peanuts.  I guess he was pleased with that. 

Well tomorrow is the 3d/4d ultrasound!  It is also the beginning of my 28th week of pregnancy!  I will be 7 months pregnant and entering my last and final trimester.  WOW!  Where has the time gone!  Our little princess will be here before we know it!  I just can't believe that next week is 28 weeks and two very short weeks after that I will begin my 30th week and it is all downhill from there!  I have been trying to do things that I know that I will not be able to do for a while (or ever again) after she gets here - like - nap, watch a movie uninterrupted, read books, head to the grocery store for a quick trip with out 17 bags of toys and bottles/a child in tow, sit with my husband on the couch and enjoy having him all to myself and having all his attention, enjoying the general cleanliness/tidiness of my house, as well as uninterrupted sleep (well for the most part - that is slowly drifting away from me now) and my generally high energy level.  I know that she will be so worth it and that none of those things will matter once she gets here but it is sad to think about leaving some of them behind, especially the part where it will no longer be Jen and Scotty anymore.  It will be Jen, Scotty, and Charlotte from now on - but I mean how freaking cool is that!  We will have made a person and brought her into this world and we get to keep her!  Plus, Scotty and I have had almost 10 years just J and S, it is about time to add someone else to the mix.  : )

Scotty and I get more and more excited everyday.  One of us says everyday that we are ready for her to get here so that we can snuggle her.  I know that our lives are about to change in a way that neither one of us can imagine but we are both so excited and are as prepared as we are ever going to be.  There is going to be a lot of learning involved and patience needed by the both of us but this little girl will be the biggest and most important blessing in our lives thus far.  She is so loved already!

Here is this week's photo.  I forgot to take an up-close picture of the sign.

26 Weeks

This week Charlotte is viable!  She could (if she had to, which I hope she does not) live outside of my body!  She is already on her way to not needing her Mama anymore!  It is a milestone to me.  I pray we don't get to see her this soon but it is a pretty big week in her little life.

I had a milestone myself this week.  I no longer can see the numbers on the scale when I weigh.  My belly is too big.  I have to push my butt back so that I can see the numbers - which by the way are going up up up!  Yikes!  I know I should be prepared for this but it is still hard.  I think that I am a few pounds over (5-6 pounds) where I should be from the research that I have been doing so I am trying to scale back my calorie intake and up my walks.  I just really do not want a whole bunch of weight to lose after she gets here. 

It is starting to get harder to breathe.  I think that she is just taking up more space and it is hard to breathe when I'm sitting, standing, walking, anything.  And with the taking up more space and moving higher and higher in my belly, this little girl has found my rib cage.  She enjoys hanging out there now.  I try and rub my ribs so that she will slide back down some but she is comfy up there.  I can literally feel my ribs expanding to fit her.  It is rather uncomfortable but it lets me know that she is a growing girl!

My glucose test is next week.  I have been really, like really, freaking out about it.  I am stressed.  I am trying not to be because I know that there is nothing that I can do about it right now and its gonna turn out how its gonna turn out but like I said before, this has been one of my biggest fears about pregnancy.  I have no desire to check my sugar all the time, its one more thing to worry about keeping in check and I just want a healthy little baby.  Plus moms with gestational diabetes tend to have bigger babies - another yikes. 

Even though I am terrified for the doctor this week, I am looking forward to the next week when we get to do our 3d/4d ultrasound!  Yay!  We will get to see her sweet little face, hands, toes, toenails and everything!  Hopefully they will give us a DVD or pictures or something and I can post those on here.  Speaking of the ultrasound, on that day I will be 7 months pregnant and starting my third trimester!  Whoa!  I had a minor freak out this weekend too about just how soon she will be here and how much there is to do!  Scotty and I have something to do pretty much every weekend until she gets here.  I am going to have to really get myself together and make a plan of what things need to be done.  Guess that nesting thing is starting to kick in.  I am really wanting to be as prepared as possible but there isn't too much I can do right now.  So I have the stress of wanting to be prepared but the understanding that nothing can be done right now.  It is a Catch-22.

Well - please be thinking about us this week as I do my glucose test.  Until then - here are the pictures for this week! 

25 Weeks

Not too many big news items this week.  I've been really trying to get myself together and get Charlotte's stuff together.  The painters came this week and painted her room which was a huge relief.  Just something else to knock off the list.  I ordered her crib and her dresser/changing table, another big check off the to-do list.  I kinda planned out how I want things set up in the room and where I want to place things and I am making a list of other "knick-knack" items that I need to start looking for. 

Baby girl has been quite active.  I am assuming that she is just growing growing growing in there and that she is taking up more room and becoming stronger and that is why I am feeling her more often and harder.  I love it.  I will very much miss feeling her rolling around in my belly. 

So I learned that the tightness that I began feeling in my lower belly last week and partially the week before are Braxton-Hicks contractions.  Yay.  The Dr. asked me at my 24 week appointment if I was feeling any tightness and I told her yes and that it was worse when I had to pee and she said that was normal and probably going to stay like that for the rest of my pregnancy.  She said having to pee or the opposite, being dehydrated, will cause the tightness. 

Speaking of having to pee - it is all the time.  I drink a lot because I know that I need to stay hydrated, and it helps my legs from swelling too bad, but I get up to pee about 4 times a night, sometimes more.  That is no fun at all.  Scotty has been rubbing my calves to help the swelling.  They will ache so bad and he kinda bangs on them and it feels great!  He really can be quite helpful.

The doctor called and told me that my thyroid numbers were looking good and that my meds did not need to be adjusted at this point.  Yes!  That was exciting.  Not that it would have been that big of a deal but it was good to know that my metabolism hasn't been affected too badly thus far. 

In other news, we returned home from our beach trip and lost our A/C for a about a week.  Not fun at all.  Since we are renting we have to report these things and the maintenance people have to come and fix the problems.  Well we reported it immediately but it has taken about a week for the problem to be fixed.  A man came and fixed the downstairs unit pretty quickly but we have been without A/C upstairs for a week.  When I go to bed at night it is 90 degrees or so.  I lay in bed and just sweat.  We have a ceiling fan and another fan but it just circulates hot air and it does not cool off that much outside anymore at night so having the windows open doesn't help either.  I finally said enough is enough and I blew up the air mattress and slept downstairs on the floor for a few nights and that was better.  They are supposed to come today to fix the upstairs A/C.  I really hope they don't need a part or something and us have to wait longer.  Bottom line - say thank you every night for your A/C because it sucks without it! 

Well that is all for now - here are this week's pictures.