32 Week Appointment

Brooklyn is head down! YAY! I knew she had been trying to flip the last two weeks. It was the weirdest and yet semi-painful feeling I have ever felt. Heartbeat was 142 which is down from what it's normally been but nothing to be concerned about. I passed my glucose test. Honestly I don't remember what I scored on it, wasn't much concerned after she said I passed it. My appointment went pretty quick though. Alice had ran out (before my appointment) to deliver a baby so she was running kinda late today with everyone. Normally my appointments go pretty fast but that also includes the waiting time. Not this time though, we waited about 30 minutes total compared to our usual of about 5 minutes. Alice said not to worry about the contractions I had last Saturday since they stopped after sitting down. That's pretty much all that happened. I go back next week since they are closed the following Monday due to Memorial Day and Monday's are our only options right now thanks to Jay's job. I guess that's all I have for you all for now! 

First Contractions!

Today has been pretty different for me. I got up at 8:45 like I do every morning. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't the dog or the kids that woke me up this time... it was my dang bladder! Either way, I got up, did what I do every weekend morning, put the dog out, fed the kids breakfast, then tried to keep the house as quiet as possible so Jay could sleep. After all, he does work till midnight and if I'm already up anyway, there's no reason for him to be up too. Around 10:30 I fell back asleep on the couch in the family room and didn't wake back up until about an hour 1/2 later. I was fine for a little while then when I started walking around more, I would get a contraction! It's funny though cause the last week or so I kept wondering if I would remember what they felt like after 9 years. The cramps spread from my lower abdomen into my back. There was only about 5 of them, not regular, not really painful, just kind of annoying and uncomfortable. They didn't last long individually either. As soon as I would sit back down, they would go away. Then on top of a few contractions today, I've been feeling pretty sick to my stomach all day and more fatigued than usual. Normally if I go back to sleep I'd be fine the rest of the day, today on the other hand, it's taking everything in me to keep my eyes open. I can't wait for my appointment Monday. I wonder if she's going to check my cervix after I tell her about the contractions? Let ya know Monday how it goes!

30 week Appointment!

I'm a few days late updating. My appointment was 2 days ago. I was going to update yesterday but honestly, I totally forgot to lol. Okay so, first things first... I took my 1 hour glucose test Wednesday morning. Surprisingly it wasn't all that bad. I was expecting the thick orange drink that leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. Pleasantly it was fruit punch. Light texture, kind of like watered down Kool-aid. I'm assuming I passed my test cause Alice (my midwife for those that don't know) said that if I failed it then she would call me by noon today. No call is good news! 
After the glucose test I had my regular appointment. Miss Brooklyn is breech just like I suspected. Alice said that if she doesn't turn head down by 34 weeks then we will do exercises to try to turn her. Not sure what we are going to do if she doesn't turn after that though. Heartbeat was 152. She's been in the 150's the entire time. I think she's trying to turn on her own but doesn't have the room to. It feels like she's running out of room anyway, she's not kicking so much anymore, but is still moving around like crazy. I lost another pound. Not quite sure how that's happening but it is and of course Alice continues to tell me that I need to start gaining weight! So why is it that when I don't want to gain weight, I do, but when I need to, I can't? It makes no sense. Next appointment is in 2 weeks. Only 9 more weeks to go after today! Starting to get really excited!


There are 62 days until your due date on July 08, 2011.
You are 218 days pregnant.
You are 7.1 months pregnant.
You are in your 8th month of pregnancy.
Your 1st trimester: October 01, 2010 to December 30, 2010. (0 - 12 weeks)
Your 2nd trimester: December 31, 2010 to April 14, 2011. (13 - 27 weeks)
Your 3rd trimester: April 15, 2011 to July 08, 2011. (28 - 40 weeks)


Your baby is continuing to grow each week that you remain pregnant. Your baby's crown-to-rump length is nearly 11.2 inches and total length is approximately 18 inches. Your baby weighs approximately 3.5 pounds at this point. Your uterus is about 4.4 inches above your bellybutton and continues to get larger. An average weight gain at this point is between 21 and 27 pounds. The weight that you gain is made up of your baby, placenta, blood supply, uterus, breasts, fat, water storage and amniotic fluid.

Because the ligaments and muscles supporting the small of your back relax and loosen in order to get ready for childbirth, your back may be aching from now on. There is usually nothing that can be done to prevent backaches, only to make them more comfortable. Many women get heartburn during these last few weeks of pregnancy because the oversized uterus leaves less room for the stomach and the contents within the stomach. Eating smaller, more frequent meals can help relieve the discomforts of heartburn.

This week marks an incredible milestone in your baby's lung development. Before now, the air sacs and branches in your baby's lungs were present but not functional. The lungs were not able to inflate properly. However, now there is surfactant being produced in your baby's lungs. Surfactant prevents your baby's lungs from collapsing outside of the uterus and the baby is able to take in air and breathe properly. The fetal ear is almost completely developed both inside and out. Your baby can hear your voice and other familiar sounds that she will recognize after birth. Your baby is putting on white fat under the skin and the skin's color is pink instead of red at this point. Your baby's fingernails have grown to the end of her fingers and she may scratch herself while she is in the womb. 

Long Awaited Update!

I have a good reason for not updating! My insurance got screwed up some how and I was uninsured during April. Well, not completely uninsured but close enough! My insurance got switched to another carrier, one that my midwife/OBGYN doesn't accept. After finding this out on the 1st of April, several phone calls later, it was officially fixed yesterday! Thank god too cause I'm 30 weeks and I'm supposed to be going to my Dr. every 2 weeks now. Anyway, my next appointment is Wednesday. I have to go do my 1 hour glucose screening an hour before my appointment Wednesday so I'll be doing that first. I wasn't going to make my appointment in the middle of the week but when I tried for next Monday she was concerned about me not being seen in over a month. So Wednesday it is. So far everything has been fine. The Braxton Hicks contractions are coming more often and are definitely a little more uncomfortable than what they were. I have around 5-8 an hour. Nothing regular and nothing too painful but they say you should call if you have more than 4-6 an hour. Every Dr. is different so I haven't bothered calling about it. I figured I would just bring it up on Wednesday. From time to time I feel a little pressure in my pelvic and bottom area, again though, nothing serious. We tried to start walking last Monday but personally, I don't like staying up or getting up too early just to go walking when I could be getting sleep. Especially when I know in a couple more weeks I wont be getting much sleep for a while! I am so ready for the next 9 1/2 weeks to pass by though. As much as I wanted another baby, I was pretty naive about it! This is nothing like my pregnancies with Matt and Bri. Even though I had horrible morning sickness with Matt, I actually enjoyed being pregnant. Now I'm just miserable. I hate the heat here in Florida, I think that just makes things so much worse. It could be worse for me though, I mean compared to some people I have a pretty easy pregnancy. But hey, who says I'm not allowed to complain... after all... it is MY body! I will complain all I want to! 

UGH...

I still have 108 days to go and I'm already feeling so uncomfortable and on the brink of feeling miserable. Just sitting down in a normal position makes me feel a little sore/bloated. My uterus is literally under my ribs already. Standing is bad enough but it's shoved up even more while sitting, then of course those Braxton Hicks makes it so much worse.  Nothing I can say can come close to explaining what I'm feeling so I will leave it at that and add a pic just to show you!

24 Week Update!

I have no idea where to begin here honestly. Umm... How about the baby shower!  
The baby shower was yesterday, and yes I know it was extremely early but my sister was hosting it and that's when she wanted it. Only one of Jay's co-workers showed up so it was pretty small. We wanted it to be small anyway but there was supposed to be about 4-5 more people than there was. It was fun and we had a good time. Stella did a really good job on all the decorations and games and stuff. 


My appointment today went pretty good. My midwife was very happy with the 2lbs I gained. I know that's not much but considering I'm not continuing to lose weight she's pretty pleased. Jay told on me though, straight up told her that my lunch consists of McDonald's and Subway just about everyday. After asking me what I order, she was surprisingly okay with it. My fundal height (uterus) measured at 25, at my last appointment 4 weeks ago it was measuring at 19. She said it grew pretty fast and that I may feel some cramping because of it. Which I do from time to time but it's never anything that leaves me concerned. I have to go in sometime in the next 3 weeks to do my glucose screening to check for gestational diabetes. It's only the 1 hour test first so that's not too bad. Lets just hope I pass it so I wont have to do the dang 3 hour test. Next appointment at 28 weeks they will start scheduling me for every 2 weeks then at 36 weeks we go every week. YIPPEE!!


PS. Jay said I had to mention that my midwife so no more extra extra olives on my sub because of the sodium content in the olives. 




Jay and I also went baby shopping right after the Dr.'s so we could go ahead and get everything else that we needed. I know I'm doing everything pretty early, I just want to be prepared for anything that could happen and not wait for the last minute to do everything. The only thing we have left to get is the car seat and pack-n-play. We will be picking those up in May. I so can't wait!


Picture time now!!


For those that would like to see the rest of the pics, here's my link to my facebook album! Don't get your hopes up though, it's the only album on my facebook that you can view. Feel free to add me though if you would like to see the u/s pics and belly pics!  








And of course the rest of the info that I pull of I-am-pregnant.com!

There are 108 days until your due date on July 08, 2011.
You are 172 days pregnant.
You are 5.6 months pregnant.
You are in your 6th month of pregnancy.
Your 1st trimester: October 01, 2010 to December 30, 2010. (0 - 12 weeks)
Your 2nd trimester: December 31, 2010 to April 14, 2011. (13 - 27 weeks)
Your 3rd trimester: April 15, 2011 to July 08, 2011. (28 - 40 weeks)

This week your baby's crown-to-rump length is around 8.4 inches and your baby will weigh approximately 1.2 pounds. Although it weighs a little over a pound at this point, your growing baby is still tiny. Your uterus can easily be felt 1.5 to 2 inches above your bellybutton. The fetus does not appear to have much room in the uterus anymore, but as your pregnancy progresses, space gets much tighter! 

Because your uterus is expanding and putting a great amount of pressure on your abdomen, you might get stretch marks. Your weight gain may also be taking a toll on your body at this point. Many pregnant women experience backaches, bladder problems, sore feet and fatigue that affect their daily routines. You might also have some nasal stuffiness or nosebleeds. 

Your baby's face is basically complete now. The fetus's eyes are close together on the front of his face and they are still shut. Your baby's ears have moved into their final position on the sides of his head. Where they are now is where they will be when your baby is born! Hair will continue to grow on his scalp and his eyelashes are well developed. Most of your baby's features look the same as they will at birth. Because your growing baby is getting plumper, he no longer has room in your tummy to do cartwheels and somersaults. 

 

Now is a good time to ask about prenatal classes being offered in your area. Many local hospitals offer classes for expectant women and their families. You should aim to complete the classes approximately one month before your due date. 

You may sometimes get a stitch-like pain in your side from time to time. It's simply the muscles of the uterus stretching. 
the unborn child is covered with a fine, downy hair called lanugo. Its tender skin is protected by a waxy substance called vernix. Some of this substance may still be on the child's skin at birth at which time it will be quickly absorbed. 

The child practices breathing by inhaling (up to a liter/day) amniotic fluid into developing lungs. 

Healthy eating = weight loss!

I gave up on eating right during my pregnancy. Every Dr. appointment I've been to so far (excluding my last) I have lost weight. My Dr. was starting to doubt that I was eating. I never really got the whole "6 small meals a day" a thing. What does one consume in those 3 extra meals? You're lucky I'm eating breakfast! My diet consumes of a normal diet plus extras. Fruit, veggies, meat, Funyons, McDonald's, Subway, candy (which I have a nice stash hidden in my night stand), gummy worms/bears, Dr. Pepper... there's many more too but I honestly couldn't sit here and type it all out! 


Now let's be honest, I started out overweight before I got pregnant. I can't believe I'm going to admit this on the internet but it's rather important. I started out at about 200lbs. I've had a hard time losing weight all my life but this was my heaviest weight yet. At my first appointment (8weeks) I was down to 196lbs, morning sickness was just starting out at this time. 2nd appointment(12 weeks) I was down to 193lbs. 3rd appointment (16 weeks), I was down to 189lbs. Morning sickness was pretty much over at this time. I still got sick every now and then but it wasn't that bad at all. My Dr. on the other hand was questioning whether or not I have been eating. She told me to start eating whatever I wanted to in order to try and gain some weight. I thought when you were overweight and pregnant that you didn't have to gain much?! I guess I was wrong about that. So I decided I was going to eat whatever I wanted to like she said! 4th appointment (20 weeks) I weighed in at 191lbs. They were actually excited that I gained weight! Why is it that I can only lose weight while I'm pregnant, when I shouldn't be losing weight? I have a weight loss plan though. Well kind of!


After having the baby I plan on breastfeeding for about a year. Did you know that breastfeeding is a good way to burn calories and lose weight? I had no idea! So many woman are swearing by it though. So while giving my baby the best nutrition I can, I intend on incorporating a healthier diet a long with better and more regular exercise. I have to stay healthy for our baby's health and for my health since it's going to be up to me to give Brooklyn the best nutrition and the best life that I can offer! I'm pretty determined now, I just hope I will still be this determined when Brooklyn gets here! Wish me luck.