Things I have learned this week:
1. When the baby starts to drop, and moves off your stomach, all of a sudden, the diabetic diet just isn't quite enough food. And you're hungry...all...the...time. Is this what it is like to be a hungry pregnant woman?
2. One day, you feel like you have the work transition under control, and the next, you realize it's just not possible to get it all done.
3. Not everyone enjoys the internal furnace. Even when you want it to happen so you can survive 46 degree weather without buying a maternity coat.
Today's visit to the OB may be the last time we get an estimate weight before delivery. They only estimate weight every 3 weeks, so, in theory, the next wouldn't be until 39 1/2 weeks, and we can always hope our little guy will have already arrived. As of today, they estimate the baby's weight to be 6lbs even (and they generally say that the ultrasounds are +-1 pound accurate). So, still around the 30th percentile in weight, so that is a good sign!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
5 weeks to go!
One of our most recent doctor appointments included a growth check session, which means they use measurements during the ultrasound to estimate the weight of the baby. Somehow, in the miracle of miracles, it is possible that we might have a Presto-sized baby in there, and not a Deal-sized baby. I’m sure that the weight estimates are not the most accurate, but as of this week, the baby is weighing in at a nice 4lbs 7oz, which puts us in the 27th percentile! Yes, you heard it, the 27th percentile. Not that this is a guarantee of a smaller baby, but it is great news for this lady, who is hoping growth continues at this pace. They only check for growth every three weeks, so it will be around the 15th of October when we get another weight estimate.
Thus far, all appears well with baby Deal. Amniotic fluid has been normal levels since about week two of treating the gestational diabetes and the weekly ultrasounds have all been normal to-date. Last week started weekly visits with BOTH doctors. Since I am on the diabetes medicine, my normal OB/GYN wants to begin fetal monitoring this week.
We finished our childbirth classes on Thursday. It is a nice relief to be done with the evening classes, as we now have some time to catch up with friends before the baby joins us. Some of the classes were better than others, but we definitely made a good list of questions to ask our doctor about our labor and delivery.
This picture was taken around 33 weeks. I’m very happy to say that these are the SAME jeans I bought when I bought my very first maternity clothes! It’s gotten colder here, so I’m happy I did actually cave and bought some maternity sweatshirts – I definitely need them!
We are debating whether or not we will be taking the laptop to the hospital to be able to post a blog entry after the delivery. Our hospital only has wi-fi in the cafeteria, not in the rooms. So, we may not be able to post something on the blog until after we get home. But, definitely check facebook, since Robert will at least have his iPod, which will allow us to post an announcement online.
Thus far, all appears well with baby Deal. Amniotic fluid has been normal levels since about week two of treating the gestational diabetes and the weekly ultrasounds have all been normal to-date. Last week started weekly visits with BOTH doctors. Since I am on the diabetes medicine, my normal OB/GYN wants to begin fetal monitoring this week.
We finished our childbirth classes on Thursday. It is a nice relief to be done with the evening classes, as we now have some time to catch up with friends before the baby joins us. Some of the classes were better than others, but we definitely made a good list of questions to ask our doctor about our labor and delivery.
This picture was taken around 33 weeks. I’m very happy to say that these are the SAME jeans I bought when I bought my very first maternity clothes! It’s gotten colder here, so I’m happy I did actually cave and bought some maternity sweatshirts – I definitely need them!
We are debating whether or not we will be taking the laptop to the hospital to be able to post a blog entry after the delivery. Our hospital only has wi-fi in the cafeteria, not in the rooms. So, we may not be able to post something on the blog until after we get home. But, definitely check facebook, since Robert will at least have his iPod, which will allow us to post an announcement online.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
Two weeks after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I'm finding that there is one very exciting BENEFIT to becoming a high risk pregnancy. When they monitor you once a week for tedious things like amniotic fluid levels, etc, you also get the benefit of the weekly ultrasound. Our little cashew continues to hide his face with his arms and hands all the time, but occassionally we get a glimpse of his face. Today, I got to see the little guy yawn for the first time. And, yes, that was cool. I find myself becoming one of those people who gets all gooey over the ultrasound tests.
And, yes, for those of you who are wondering how confident we are that we are having a little baby boy deal, the more recent ultrasounds have shown in much better detail that he is, in fact, a boy. In fact, the ultrasound technician got such a good shot she actually sent us home with a picture and the "boy" label. I'll spare everyone the first nudie picture, and just be happy to say that the cute football clothes we have received are definitely the right gender.
Modern technology is amazing, though. I have found that when you really have a sweet craving, sugar free candy isn't all that bad. Some, however, is better than others. For example, sugar free chocolate malt balls are pretty close to the real thing. Sugar free caramal peanut clusters, however, should never have been made. And, thankfully, Edy's/Dreyers has a new line of low fat, churned sugar free ice cream that is pretty darn good AND counts as a milk serving. And, thanks to my previous cooking habits, I find that our lunches and dinners haven't changed that much since cooking for the diet. Yes, there are some things that are out of the picture (pizza, takeout Chinese, etc), but for the most part, I'm able to cook most things just as before. 2 weeks down, 8 to go!
And, yes, for those of you who are wondering how confident we are that we are having a little baby boy deal, the more recent ultrasounds have shown in much better detail that he is, in fact, a boy. In fact, the ultrasound technician got such a good shot she actually sent us home with a picture and the "boy" label. I'll spare everyone the first nudie picture, and just be happy to say that the cute football clothes we have received are definitely the right gender.
Modern technology is amazing, though. I have found that when you really have a sweet craving, sugar free candy isn't all that bad. Some, however, is better than others. For example, sugar free chocolate malt balls are pretty close to the real thing. Sugar free caramal peanut clusters, however, should never have been made. And, thankfully, Edy's/Dreyers has a new line of low fat, churned sugar free ice cream that is pretty darn good AND counts as a milk serving. And, thanks to my previous cooking habits, I find that our lunches and dinners haven't changed that much since cooking for the diet. Yes, there are some things that are out of the picture (pizza, takeout Chinese, etc), but for the most part, I'm able to cook most things just as before. 2 weeks down, 8 to go!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
2 down, 288 to go
OK, so, maybe pricking my finger for blood sugar monitoring was not as bad as I feared. I'm sure I will continue to have a little hesitation, but it will definitely be managable. I have concluded, however, that the nutritionist is a little crazy. I received the meal plan today, and there is NO way I can consume the amount of food they prescribe in one day. First, in order to have the required servings of milk they want you to have when you are pregnant, I have to have it with lunch or dinner. But, here's my challenge, a glass of milk fills me up, almost like a full meal. So, if I drink the milk, I'm almost full by the time I'm only partway through dinner! Same thing with fruit.
The good news is that my numbers are looking good with the diet thus far, so I'm hopeful that this will be easy to keep in check. Then, I'll only have to worry about a large baby because it runs in Robert's family!
The good news is that my numbers are looking good with the diet thus far, so I'm hopeful that this will be easy to keep in check. Then, I'll only have to worry about a large baby because it runs in Robert's family!
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Newest Challenge
Well, I believe my horrific fear of needles is going to go away over the course of the next few weeks. I found out today that I have gestational diabetes, so for the remainder of the pregnancy, I will have the joy of daily blood tests. Although, I hear that now they make kits where you can at least test other parts of the body, and avoid the fingers which are used all day to type.
So, now I have to learn how much of the food that I enjoy cooking will be off limits to me for the next 11 weeks. I am somewhat intrigued by the ability to monitor my own readings, it's like a little science experiment. I guess if I can find something interesting about this situation, it's probably a good thing.
I'll go see the high risk maternal doctor on Thursday, where I will see a dietician and get the "official" rules. I imagine this will also mean more regular sonograms through the rest of the pregnancy in order to track the baby's weight. Hopefully, though, it won't require too many extra doctor visits.
Anyhoo - that's the latest. I'm off to bed as it has been an exhausting day trying to take in all of this information. We'll keep you posted.
So, now I have to learn how much of the food that I enjoy cooking will be off limits to me for the next 11 weeks. I am somewhat intrigued by the ability to monitor my own readings, it's like a little science experiment. I guess if I can find something interesting about this situation, it's probably a good thing.
I'll go see the high risk maternal doctor on Thursday, where I will see a dietician and get the "official" rules. I imagine this will also mean more regular sonograms through the rest of the pregnancy in order to track the baby's weight. Hopefully, though, it won't require too many extra doctor visits.
Anyhoo - that's the latest. I'm off to bed as it has been an exhausting day trying to take in all of this information. We'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Kicking and Screaming Already
Well, I can't really verify the screaming, but there is plenty of kicking going on these days. We have started seeing the belly move when the kicking occurs, which is really kind of bizarre. And, after 28 weeks, I appear to have gotten my sweet tooth back. Things like cookies and brownies are starting to sound like a good idea again. Although, my cooking days may be numbered, or at least my chopping days. In the last week I've managed to cut three fingers, a nail, and burn myself. I think I have gotten to the clums(ier) stage of the pregnancy.
We are still working on coming up with a name for the little guy. And while we haven't agreed on a name yet, we have managed to whittle the list down to names we actually like, and not just a list of names we don't hate. This was a pretty big step for us. Boy names really are much harder than girls' names.
As many of you can probably imagine, I have already moved into full nesting mode, probably a little earlier than some soon-to-be moms. We have built the shelves in the room, and have moved ALMOST everything that is not baby related out of the room. This involved the fun task of going through the extra medicine cabinet. This was the cabinet full of items that we had duplicates when Robert moved in. Yes, I realize that was in 2007. I'm convinced he brought some of these items with him to DC when he moved from Arizona for law school, since some had expiration dates of 2002 and 2003. And while we probably had more time to accomplish the cleaning out of the room, I feel like at least one huge task has been completed.
I had my glucose screening test yesterday. For those of you who aren't familiar, it is a standard test that they give you to test for gestational diabetes. I was prepared for the glucose drink to taste bad, and to want to get it over with as soon as possible. What I wasn't prepared for was that it would make me nauseous. That combined with the car ride to the doctor's office made for a rocky day yesterday. Thankfully, I woke up feeling pretty good today.
That's about it for now. As of yesterday's visit I will now be going to the doctor every two weeks, which seems like a pretty big milestone to me. In two weeks, we begin the labor and delivery classes. I'm not entirely sure why it takes them 4 class sessions to teach you how to say "I want an epidural", but I'm sure there is more to it than that!
We are still working on coming up with a name for the little guy. And while we haven't agreed on a name yet, we have managed to whittle the list down to names we actually like, and not just a list of names we don't hate. This was a pretty big step for us. Boy names really are much harder than girls' names.
As many of you can probably imagine, I have already moved into full nesting mode, probably a little earlier than some soon-to-be moms. We have built the shelves in the room, and have moved ALMOST everything that is not baby related out of the room. This involved the fun task of going through the extra medicine cabinet. This was the cabinet full of items that we had duplicates when Robert moved in. Yes, I realize that was in 2007. I'm convinced he brought some of these items with him to DC when he moved from Arizona for law school, since some had expiration dates of 2002 and 2003. And while we probably had more time to accomplish the cleaning out of the room, I feel like at least one huge task has been completed.
I had my glucose screening test yesterday. For those of you who aren't familiar, it is a standard test that they give you to test for gestational diabetes. I was prepared for the glucose drink to taste bad, and to want to get it over with as soon as possible. What I wasn't prepared for was that it would make me nauseous. That combined with the car ride to the doctor's office made for a rocky day yesterday. Thankfully, I woke up feeling pretty good today.
That's about it for now. As of yesterday's visit I will now be going to the doctor every two weeks, which seems like a pretty big milestone to me. In two weeks, we begin the labor and delivery classes. I'm not entirely sure why it takes them 4 class sessions to teach you how to say "I want an epidural", but I'm sure there is more to it than that!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Developing musical taste
A week or so ago, we started actively making sure there was music on reguarly for the baby to hear. At first, we tried the method of placing headphones on my tummy, until some smart cookie told us that by this time, the baby is able to hear/respond to ambient music. So, we gave up the 10 minutes a night on the belly stuck sitting down very quickly. Now I try to make sure there is music on in the house at least an hour or two a day.
We started with classical, since it seemed to be the thing to do. Not much response there, and since I couldn't bring myself to buy any Baby Einstein tapes, I decided to try the Carlson Music Method. For those of you unfamiliar - it basically involves playing music you like until you find something the baby likes. To this day, my friend Kim's son Owen is still a Weezer fan.
So, I started with some classics from Robert's iTunes - since his computer is much easier to access during the workday. I did find that the baby seems to respond to some music more than others, or it's all a coincidence and he just happened to decide to kick at that moment. More onn active kicking later.
Cashew's Hit List
Aside from when we play music, our little guy seems to be most active at about 2am. I started waking Robert up for the strong kicking moments so that he can feel them too. He is definitely kicking hard enough now that anyone within a mile of my belly could feel him! If you lok at the right time you can even see belly movement. Of course, sometimes this makes for lack of sleep or uncomfortable days (like tonight).
We started with classical, since it seemed to be the thing to do. Not much response there, and since I couldn't bring myself to buy any Baby Einstein tapes, I decided to try the Carlson Music Method. For those of you unfamiliar - it basically involves playing music you like until you find something the baby likes. To this day, my friend Kim's son Owen is still a Weezer fan.
So, I started with some classics from Robert's iTunes - since his computer is much easier to access during the workday. I did find that the baby seems to respond to some music more than others, or it's all a coincidence and he just happened to decide to kick at that moment. More onn active kicking later.
Cashew's Hit List
- The Beatles
- Eric Clapton
- The Black Crowes
- U2
Aside from when we play music, our little guy seems to be most active at about 2am. I started waking Robert up for the strong kicking moments so that he can feel them too. He is definitely kicking hard enough now that anyone within a mile of my belly could feel him! If you lok at the right time you can even see belly movement. Of course, sometimes this makes for lack of sleep or uncomfortable days (like tonight).
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