Wow, I'm back to being a blogger-slacker! I keep seeing all these posts that trigger ideas and/or think about things I want to share, but I just haven't had the time... or haven't made the time... Let's see if I can do a quick catch-up...
Woohoo Trimester 3!
At week 28, baby is about 16" long and officially weighed in at 2lbs 9oz at the growth ultrasound. At last week's fluid ultrasound (which I forgot to mention in the previous post), the tech expressed some concern about a shortening of my cervix. We were given the option of doing the progesterone pills to stop the progress or to watch it for another week and see if it was just a fluke... we decided to wait for another week. When we went in this week, my cervix had shortened another 1/2-1cm (from 2.5-3 to 2-2.5) so they went ahead and gave me the prescription - and we'll see from here, but I'm SO not ready for his great debut! I had a bit of a frustration/scare with my glucose test - which I expected to fail as it seems that I didn't actually HAVE gestation diabetes before, since the fasting reading is usually the first that goes wonky, and mine was the only one that wasn't failed horribly. So when I went in for it this time, I took my blood sugar meter with me so I wouldn't have to wait - and when I took the reading after drinking the nasty concoction, I had failed it by 20 points! :(
Some pictures from this week's ultrasound:
29 weeks was a little lackluster in the progress report... went to the OB yesterday for a check up since the progesterone pills have been giving me terrible cramping (and other strange symptoms). I was measuring at 30cm (which she said was beautiful) and have officially hit the 20 pound mark! The Braxton Hicks contractions are starting to get a little crazy uncomfortable, but I just remember that each one brings me a little closer to meeting our little Peanut! Good news is that I found out that there's something terribly wrong with my blood sugar meter - my glucose test came back perfectly normal... NO GESTATIONAL DIABETES!!!
Baby was playing peek-a-boo with us at the ultrasound, which I've got to say is absolutely amazing and simultaneously kinda creepy! He's getting really big, and we could see his little fat rolls around his ribs :) Supposedly over the next few weeks (what's categorized as "month 7"), he's supposed to be about 15.2-16.7" long and 2.5-38 pounds... but we'll see for sure at the growth ultrasound on November 2nd.
I just love the smirk in this one! :)
He's got my nose
This is my favorite from this week - he's sucking his thumb sideways!!
In other news, Nate is in Dallas this week for more training for his promotion (and will be headed back to Phoenix the week after next). Natalie has joined Ping Pong Club and is loving the weekly meetings that they have. Yesterday she announced that they found another school with a PPC and will be having competitions (not exactly what I had in mind when I was thinking they needed healthy competition - ie sports team - but something that will boost sociability nonetheless). Alyssa was nominated for the High Flying Falcon award (3rd consecutive year) for being an exceptional student and will get it at a ceremony tomorrow! Next week she will be inducted into Beta Club as well! My mom is coming to town this weekend to help with the cleaning/moving/organizing of the bedrooms - we're fixing up the girls' room to make it more efficient and getting the "game room" converted into the "baby room" in preparation for bringing home all the crap from my baby shower the weekend after next (afternote: the sunroom is about 60% filled with boxes/bags of stuff that's being donated to GoodWill - good job to the chicas for FINALLY being willing to part with some of their junk, er, "treasures")... and I think baby officially has a name!
30 Weeks:
I was looking particularly small today, so I figured this would be a great picture to share... at this point, we were looking at about 6.5 weeks until we would be induced!
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He's already got the beginnings of a double chin!!
This is the beginning of the 31st week and it's starting to really sink in for me that we're VERY rapidly approaching the finish line! The baby shower is this weekend at my mom's house - and while I don't want to seem greedy (because I just want to have everyone together that's supported us throughout the tumultuous times we've been through lately), I'm really looking forward to all the goodies that we'll be bringing home with us! We have NOTHING at this point. I bought a hand-me-down travel system (carseat and stroller) and swing from my friend Jessica; my parents have the crib and my mom bought a couple outfits. Aside from that, I have a coming home outfit and a grand plan for his "nursery"... lol! We were disturbingly productive when Mommy came to help us clean the other weekend, and have the "baby room" semi-cleaned and the girls' room is just about ready to go. We still have to drill holes for the dresser knobs for both rooms, and then the girls' room will be set (and I'll post pictures then); they'll be able to get the last remnants of their stuff out of the old game room/baby room, and we'll be able to move forward with setting up baby stuff!
Nate's in Phoenix again this week (the last traveling of the year; he'll go again for the graduation the first week of January) and while I still don't like it, I'm starting to get used to the traveling-spouse thing. Natalie and Alyssa are keeping me busy with their newly-budding social lives: they want to go everywhere with everyone all the time!! Natalie is now doing both Ping Pong club and Art Club, and Alyssa is doing FACS (Food and Consumer Services) and Beta Club. They've both mentioned sports, but haven't committed 100% at this point, but we should probably get on that, since track starts in December and softball starts just after the New Year and we still need to get physicals. This week, I'm realizing that as much as I love being pregnant, it's starting to get old. I've been pregnant for the majority of the last 15 months (!!!) and I'd really like to be able to sleep on my stomach, eat and drink as I want, etc (which has started the beginning of a post called "Gripes and Grins"). I got my new camera this week (I'll take pictures of and with it this weekend at the baby shower and post them soon) and I can't wait to get started playing with it!! I'm starting to get to the point at work where it might be time to start thinking about what's going to happen when I'm out as he's born - and I've started typing up very detailed step-by-step instructions of daily responsibilities (can you tell I'm trying to hang on as long as possible? I'm a little wishy-washy, lol). They're bumping up my OB appointments to bi-weekly and continuing the weekly ultrasounds at the hospital, which means that I feel like I'm constantly running around! Luckily, my employer has been wonderful and understanding in my here-and-gone schedule. Doctor(s) tomorrow, so probably I'll tack the ultrasound pictures onto the beginning of the post that will come about the baby shower this weekend... and maybe I can attempt to stay caught up while riding the whirlwind for the next few weeks.
