Happy Halloween!

It was "denim day" at work on Friday, so part of me really just wanted to wear jeans and relax. The other part of me knew that I had spent $6 on a Halloween costume and needed to follow through with my obligation. Some of the kids "got" my costume right away while others needed me to spell it out: me, pointing to the horns, said "What's this?" and then pointing to the big yellow spot said "And what does the yellow and white make me look like?". OK, put the two words together: deviled egg!

Other fantastic choices among my collegues were "oil spill" (French teacher wearing beanie babies dipped in black paint), "Smartie pants" (English teacher with smarties safety-pinned to her pants), and the usual butterfly, witch, and cheerleader. The kids were so worked up and high off sugar--I don't know why I bothered to try and teach. I should have just declared it "movie day" and started fresh on Monday! Deviled egg! He, he!
Side view. Does this yolk make me look fat?

Timothy, Inc.

Actually: Timothy, Inked. Tim has been planning to get a nice, professional tattoo for about a decade now. For those who don't know, he has about 8 already, but he keeps them in places that you wouldn't normally see (off the neck, nothing below the elbows, etc). Well, he found this celtic knot chain with boar and wolf about a year ago and has been pining away ever since. Crab $ is rolling in, and we agreed he could "treat" himself to a new tattoo. What you see in the pictures is 4 hours of work last weekend. He still has to go back for a couple more hours to finish all the shading. Then he wants to continue the celtic theme down onto his chest. He also wants to spruce up "Arielle", the mermaid on his back. She needs her hair retouched so that she is once again a red head and he wants to do some nice blue/green combos for her tail.

How do I feel about it? I love the one he just got done and I can't wait to see how far it goes. My only rule: no Jessica! Names are the kiss the death. Tim wants to find one for Emily after she's born, but he's taking his time to make sure it's meaningful to him (not just some generic hand print like Tyler and Caitlyn from Teen Mom). I'm all for tattoos for your kids--you never break up with them! :) The eternal struggle: wolf vs. boar (their faces aren't finished). Skull you see in lower right hand corner will be covered up by additional chest work--that's what happens when you pick out tattoos at 15 years old.
All the way around view

Gearing up for Baby

Tim and I have been lucky to receive so many fantastic baby items from friends and family. We were given a baby shower by Tim's parents and sister (where we scored mad baby gear), we have another baby shower being put on by my science dept. at school on November 2nd, and my sister has passed along so many clothes that I needed an empty suitcase to bring them back from my trip last July. I forgot how much stuff it takes to keep a baby happy. And to be honest, so much of this stuff just wasn't around for kids #1 and 2. Like a Bumbo seat?? Nope, wasn't even invented with Garrett and Caroline. Thank goodness that Cammy sprung for that one because Carrie seemed to use hers all the time. I was also able to score some great stuff at the YMCA yard sale last spring (got bouncy seat, travel swing, entertainment center, Boppy pillow with cover, aquarium thing that hooks to side of crib and plays music with lights and bubbles, and crib bedding!). We borrowed a bassinet from my cousin Stephanie and the thing was in mint condition. Swing from Josh & Jackie, who's daughter loved it for all of 7.3 seconds. It has this great feature where it can run on batteries or you can run an AC cord from the back to an outlet.
I LOVE this little bee on the side of my play yard! Have you noticed just how many baby items have insects? Even the swing is covered with pink butterflies.

Play yard all stocked up and ready to go. It has a great incline feature for the bassinet part, and the changing table holds up to 25 pounds. Not having to walk the baby to her room for a change will save me approximately 14 steps each direction. Not a huge deal, but will help out greatly when I'm sleep deprived.

Diaper bag from JJ Cole collection. A little pricey, but so worth it. Carrie has the same one so I was able to see her test drive it when I last visited. It's huge, has lots of pockets, matches the travel system, and has these cool rings that hook it to the stroller handle.

My pride and joy: the Chicco discovery car seat. Holds baby from itty bitty status all the way to 30 pounds (like I would carry the baby + carrier weight when the kid hits 30 pounds?!). But the Chicco brand has great reviews and I love how easy it is to adjust the straps. We got the whole travel system from Tim's parents. The stroller is already chilling in the back of the car. We haven't installed the seat yet because G & C are enjoying their space in the back seat...for now :)

Dr. Visit Update

I saw the perinatalogist on Tuesday for what I thought was just my biophysical profile. Luckily, they went ahead and did the growth scan so I didn't have to go back again on Wednesday. Baby girl is measuring 5 pounds, 5 oz. right now at 36 weeks. She's still in the 20th percentile, but the doctor pointed out that the important thing is that she stayed consistent and gained weight. They are not worried about her size at this point. I asked Roxy the US Tech what size the baby would be at birth, and she said "If you went to 40 weeks, and this is really just a guess, I would say she would be around 7 pounds, 10 oz". Well, we all know that I am not going to make it to 40 weeks, so I guess I am getting a barely 7 pounder. I won't know what to do with something so little! Roxy had two suggestions: "Buy newborn clothes and newborn diapers. Something tells me you didn't have either with your other giant babies". Very true, Roxy. So I set out last night to get some cute clothes at Kohl's and some diapers with my Target coupons (I am very immediate in my gratification!). Hit a great sale at Kohl's and picked up 7 one-pieces in a variety of velour, terry, microfiber, and cotton: Love the elephant on this one (I also got it in 3 months!)

Tried to mix it up a bit--my other picks were pretty much all white with small decorations, like flowers or polka dots.

So what does this mean for Baby Emily's arrival? Well, I go back to the OB on Monday at 3:45 PM for my 37th week visit. Now that she is head down (Yea! No C section!) they will be scheduling my induction when I come in on Monday. The perinatalogist said that he is suggesting I be induced at 38 weeks (less than 2 weeks...yikes!). My OB may have a different opinion (rumor has it that the docs in her office like to induce around 39 weeks for GD). So right now it's just a guessing game. Either way, we'll most likely have a date come Monday, which is soooo much better than just waiting to go into labor :) It will be nice to say "By the way, I'm being induced in a week, so have my sub lined up" as opposed to "By the way, my water just broke all over my classroom. Can you get a janitor and substitute, in that order? I will be freaking out in the faculty lounge."

36 Weeks

See the baby in the picture above? That's what a baby at 36 weeks should look like. My baby, however, has decided to be unique--she is currently facing head up. Yep, folks, looks like my baby is still breech.

Me: 35 weeks, 5 days

Dr Visit today: Saw the OB for my 36 week checkup. Got the good ole Group B Strep test (you are putting that Q tip WHERE??!) and dilation check (Still closed up like Fort Knox). Her heartbeat was a very strong 141 bpm. My blood pressure was 122/70 and weight has not changed in 3 weeks. I peed in a cup like a good little girl, and no protein! Yea! Dr. did not even bother with the fundal measurement--guess they stop doing that this far along? Wasn't sure and didn't think to ask (figured it was one more thing to not worry about this week).

Update: Back to perinatalogy tomorrow for biophysical profile (another ultrasound!) and back AGAIN on Wednesday for the extra important growth scan.

Doc's Opinion: If the baby is breech at the scan on Wed, the doctor's nurse, Megan, will be setting up my c-section for 39 weeks. I was a little taken aback when I heard that--really, so soon?? But dr. explained that breech @ 36 weeks is unlikely to flip and she will not do a version on a high risk patient (me, the one with GD). If the baby happens to flip by Wed, we will talk next Monday @ my 37 week checkup about scheduling my induction. Either way, November 17th looks like the last possible day of being pregnant with a good chance I will go before then! :)

Likes this Week: Going to the doctor every day (more face time with baby!), flip flops, baby squishing stomach makes me feel full even when eating less on GD diet, cold mornings, sleeping in just a little bit on weekends, falling right back asleep when I get up to pee every night, ballet being over (don't tell Caroline!)

Dislikes this week: Remembering that I forgot to do so much for the long term sub (like leave my log in info for computer, grade book, etc)., dealing with almost constant parent conferences, fat feet, swampy underpants, lack of foot rubs because my hubby is in pain from his tattoo :(, and my newest symptom--heartburn.

The Hips Don't Lie...

and other "truths" no one wants to share about the beautiful, life changing time we call pregnancy. Here are the top five facts that you must discover for yourself...
1) HIPS: Your hips will start to feel like you're 87 years old somewhere around 35 weeks. They will ache, creak, make you groan, cause grimacing when you try to get out of bed. If God forbid you fell asleep on your back (see #2), you will wake up thinking you are a wishbone and someone is going for gold on their wish.
2) SLEEPING: Don't even try to do it right, because everything you do will be wrong. For example, try to get a decent amount of sleep, and you are screwing it up if you don't sleep on your left side (lest your child not receive the optimal amount of circulation if you roll over by a centimeter). And if you wake up on your back, you will most likely panic and send up fifty "Hail Marys" because you will be certain you have permanently caused your child serious bodily harm.
3) RIVER: For lack of a better description, my underpants are a swamp. No one tells you that it will feel like you've run a marathon in July on a daily basis in your nether regions. Yes, panty liners are great, but I'm to the point of possibly stealing the baby's diaper stash. And might take her diaper cream too.
4) LEAVE: You will not save every sick and personal day for maternity leave. It's a funny thing about the OB's office--they are open the same hours that you are at work. So unless you work a really weird schedule (say, the graveyard shift at WaWa) you will be stuck taking occasional sick days to see the doctor. And while it stinks to watch the declining supply of sick days on your check each month, it's a necessary evil. And I won't lie--sometimes it's nice to just walk out of the door at work by 10:36 AM and know I won't be back til the next morning.
5) RESTRICTIONS: Kick counts were invented by a male doctor who thought it was funny to see how many women he could get to lay on a couch for TWO HOURS every night, holding their breaths, waiting for any little twinge. Now explain this: when the baby gets here, she will sleep, without moving, for about 20 hours a day. But while in the womb, I am suppose to require her to move 4 times every hour?! Doesn't add up! And just like me, she has her days where she looks like the Predator exploding from my abdomen, and other days where she likes to sleep in (who doesn't??) and freaks me out with her lack of movement. By the way, these are same doctors who scream in fear if you eat soft cheese, drink a Diet Coke, or enjoy a hotdog. God forbid I had a cold cut trio at Subway! All reason tells me that the human race is just not this delicate; how did we make it so far with these restrictions? It's a wonder any of us are here. And watching just one episode of "Teen Mom" always makes me feel better--if Amber can hit the Dairy Freeze on a daily basis and still produce a normal baby, I should have nothing to worry about.

Pumpkin Carving 10.22.2010

This is my story, morning glory: Timmy and Caroline ran out to the Food Lion while Garrett and I were at his soccer practice last night. Timmy called me because Caroline had spotted the pumpkin display and was begging for one. I said to go ahead and let her pick one out and one for Garrett, too. When we got home from practice, we had dinner, then rolled up our sleeves for some cuttin' time. Caroline gave up on the cuttting half way through one eye, and Timmy and I picked up the slack. Garrett was determined to design and cut his by himself. Both did a great job! Gotta pull out the slimy stuff before you can cut them!
Timmy gives Caroline a hand

Caroline said a big "NO!" to the stencils that came with the carving set. She decided to free hand.

First attempts at actual carving. She gave a great effort...for about 15 seconds.

Garrett with his design right before carving. He spent a load of time on the "relief" parts, just to realize that when he started to cut, he took out most of it. Oh, well. They both turned out great and smell nice (for now)!

Newest Member of 600 Club

Garrett came home with a post-it note from Mrs. Miller, his English teacher, about a ceremony on Monday. It's the awards for the Potomac Elementary 600 Club. If you score a 600 (perfect score) on your SOL test, you get invited to get an award. Garrett scored a 600 on two out of his three SOL tests last year: math and Virginia History. He missed a perfect score on his Science test by one question....and somewhere, in the dark, a science teacher weeps. But anyhoo, we were excited about the other two tests so we headed up to PES for awards, punch, and cake! Garrett and his "You're a star!" ribbon
See the pride in his eyes?! So excited about his accomplishments.

This is the "God, mom, hurry up. You're embarrassing me" shot. Garrett was more interested in a second helping of cake and running around with his friends.

Caroline's Ballet Recital 10.21.2010

Caroline had her ballet recital tonight. She loves ballet, but was actually terrified of the recital part. I would like to think that we didn't mentally scar her for life with our cheering and picture taking. Here she is in full ballerina form: Jennifer, Emily, and Caroline
Pretending to be "shy" during floor exercises

Showing off her moves

Using the bar. Her balance is much better than mine, which isn't saying a whole lot.

35 Weeks

Me: 35 weeks exactly (about 36 days to go!)
Dr. Visit: Went to perinatalogist AND reg. OB yesterday (1 pm and 3 pm). Perinatalogist did another biophysical profile and she scored another 8 out of 8. Movements were great and she was head down, facing backwards. The US tech made the comment "She looks like she's getting ready to be born!" I go back next Tuesday for another biophysical and Wednesday for our big growth scan.
Off to the reg. OB, where apparently my day went to total shit. First, my doctor went into labor approx. 20 minutes before I got there (no biggie, she's been miserable for 3 weeks and it was about time). The US lady was late getting to me--3:20 PM by the time she called me back--and we did another biophysical profile (don't know why I had 2 in one day, but love to get ultrasound pics!).
The US lady said "Have they mentioned the baby's presentation to you?"
I said "Yeah, she's finally head down".
The US lady said "Ummm, no, she's breech. Her butt is down near your left hip bone and her head in to the right under your rib cage".
That little bugger flipped over in less than 2 hours! She scored another 8 out of 8 and was so active that the US lady could feel her movements from the outside! I got pics ((two profiles up above).

I was shuffled to the closest OB since my doctor was at L & D, and I got the midwife. She forgot about me and left me in the room for about 45 minutes (did I mention that yesterday was not a good day to start with?!). Blood sugars were great, BP was 123/80, and weight was up half a pound. She mentioned that I need to see another OB next week because as a midwife, she can't do versions if the baby doesn't flip and she can't do a C section if the version isn't successful. She also mentioned that I measured 33 weeks in fundal measurement when I was 35 weeks. This measurement along with her 20th percentile status 2 weeks ago means that our growth scan next week will be very telling. If she's not getting bigger, we may be looking at an earlier induction that we thought.
(Side note: I looked up fundal measurements online, and supposedly they are unreliable after 34 weeks because the baby is squished and usually engaged head down. Not as reassuring when I know that my baby is not squished and also not head down, but I did feel a little better).
Oh, and then my car battery was dead when I left my appt. and I had to wait for Timmy to come jump start my car. Anything else?!
What's Next? OB visit next Monday, Biophysical profile next Tuesday, and growth scan on Wednesday!
Likes this week: not much, honestly. Getting to bed early, unswollen ankles, lots of baby movement in the evening, hanging out with Timmy, knowing that Timmy can go to the growth scan with me next week!
Dislikes this week: practically everything. Crying at the drop of a hat, getting emotional about everything (like my students being bad), getting very impatient at work, having no time for myself to rest, unending chores, soccer practices, and ballet, feeling like I am failing at growing a big baby, going to work at all.

Fall Decorations

I love getting the house ready for fall. Christmas may be other people's time for decorations, but I am all about the autumn deco. I manage to pick up new stuff every year because it just beckons me from the aisles at Walmart and Target. You want to hear the clincher? I am already nesting like crazy, so getting the house pretty is just part of it. I did a number on my car today--vacuum, car wash, wiped down the inside with Pine Sol, windexed the windows, and even Febreezed the interior. As far as my decorations go, I can only take half the credit....mother nature provided the mums :) My new wreath from Kohls...I justified it because it was 50% off. And if I can't have any candy corn on my GD diet, it will decorate my house, darn it!
Also a 50% off find from Kohls. Who can say no to a $4 flag???
My mums are being investigated by the MLB for steroid use...

Did I mention the 12 inches of rain we've gotten in the past week? It's helped out in the gardening department (I can't take any credit for these exploding mums)

Sign courtesy of Camm, mums courtesy of Britt's produce (Where the produce is local and the prices are sky high). I take a lot of pride in decorating a stoop that no trick or treaters will see.

34 Weeks!

Looking down (I can't see my feet anymore!)
Side view (long ways)

Side view (wide action lens)

Me: 34 weeks, 2 days

Stats: Up a total of 18 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight (no, you are NOT getting the final #!). Blood pressure and blood sugars are great. Feet swelling is very diminished unless I stand all day on my concrete floors. Tim is very good about foot massages about 3x/week.

Likes: Falling asleep with no notice on any horizontal surface; cooling weather; washing baby clothes; having all my maternity lesson plans finished for my leave; meeting with HR from work next week to go over my MFLA info; weekly ultrasounds of baby girl

Dislikes: sore pelvis when I wake up in the morning; hobbling to the bathroom twice a night; waking up every time I turn over; getting up so early for work; finding appropriate footwear (flip flops in November will be a dead giveaway); having such a packed schedule now that I can't even imagine how much more hectic life will get after baby!

Coming Up: weekly visits to OB and perinatalogist; 2 biophysical profiles next week; growth scan on October 27th with perinatalogist (baby's weight at that appt. will probably determine actual induction date).

3-D ultrasound! 10.12.2010

Me: 33 weeks, 6 days (40 days to go!)

Dr Visit: (1) Regular OB--> appt @ 11:30 AM. Baby liked to scare the crap out of all of us by having a heartbeat of 110 when Nurse Ashley checked me with the doppler. I knew the beat was slow and said "That's slow, isn't it?!" Dr. just nodded and asked Ashley to get the monitor. The heartbeat stayed between 110-117, which is still lower than the 120-160 range that is normal. Dr. assured me that it was probably just a normal dip in rate due to inactivity and low carbs from my diet, and I went on the monitor for 20 minutes. During that time, she kicked like crazy and her heartbeat stayed between 120-138. Dr. said everything looked great and not to freak out :)

Other stats: I only gained 1/10th of a pound, blood sugars were excellent, and my blood pressure was 123/62. Dr. assures me that I will be induced between 38-39 weeks, even if baby measures a little small.

Perinatalogist Visit: Off to the perinatalogist for a 2 PM appt. Told them about low baseline for heartbeat at first appt. Got my first biophysical profile. For that test, they look for 4 factors: Baby making breathing movements, baby making regular body movements, good level of amniotic fluid, and heartbeat. She was breathing in and out, threw her hands around, my fluid levels were perfect, and her heartbeat was 148. She gets a 2 for each part, so an 8 out of 8 was great! If she had scored lower than a 7, then I would have to follow up with the non stress test (which I didn't have to do this visit). Then Roxy the Tech flipped the screen to 3-D and surprised me with the coolest ultrasound pics ever!

Next visits: Perinatalogist next Tuesday (19th) @ 1 PM for biophysical profile. Back to reg. OB same day at 3 PM for weekly visit and biophysical profile (including ultrasound to check weight). Then back to perinatalogist the following Wed (27th) for growth scan. And yes, I still work full time! :)

Fall Festival 10.9.10

We enjoyed ourselves at the annual King George Fall Festival parade! The kids got massive amounts of candy from the parade people. Then we headed over to the high school, where the Ruritan Club was serving up BBQ from a pig they had been roasting since yesterday--delish! So worth the higher-than-usual glucose #s (only 137, which was under my limit, but high for me). The craft fair was a little bit of a bust, but only because I had bags of BBQ and a cranky child with me. Better luck next year :) Jackson and Garrett (sporting a faux-hawk courtesy of Uncle Mikey)
Caroline, ready to grab candy with her pumpkin bucket

Colton got a loud horn from a vendor...that didn't get old!

KG High School Marching Band

KG Fire Department (every truck and ambulance was in the parade, so we just hope no one had emergencies from 11am - 12:30 pm)

The three cousins, patiently waiting for more candy

Washington Redskins Marching Band was the finale of the parade

They got the crowd going! I danced in a way that thoroughly embarrassed my children :)

Tuba section (reminiscent of Carrie's marching band days in HS!)

Kick Counts

So, I have read about doing kick counts from both of my pregnancy books (thanks Carrie!) but my doctor has never mentioned them to me. Not once. My paranoid self can't shake the feeling that something will go wrong (not majorly, but enough to not be settled) with this pregnancy. I don't know why I feel this way. Probably too much Baby Story and Baby Center posts! :)
To ease my anxiety, I do kick counts several times a day. I will just take a seat at my desk and wait to see how long it takes to feel some squirming and kicks. At night, I wait til the kids are in bed, then I lay out on the couch, place my hands on either side of my belly, and enjoy the flips. Tim got his hands on there last night, and she was really giving him a show! You could see my stomach stretching to one side, then popping up, and moving back to the other side.
I tried to take a more relaxed approach to the pregnancy, but I am just too much of a control freak :) I've decided that doing kick counts every night is just something I will have to do to stay sane. I liken it to taking my prenatal vitamin and my insulin shot--daily activities that have to occur for a healthy pregnancy. And me staying stress free and relaxed is definitely a step in the right direction.
And to prove my stance on Baby Center posts: I snuck on last night "just to take a look around", and one lady had posted about how her baby is measuring small. This struck a chord with me (due to last dr appt) so I read the replies, all of which were done by women who are having monster sized babies. Example posts: "My baby weighed 5 pounds at my 28 week ultrasound"; "My baby is already 6 pounds and I'm only 33 weeks!". See the problem?!?! I gotta get off these websites.

Belly 33 weeks

Me: 33 weeks tomorrow!
Dr Visit: Saw my regular OB-GYN today, who is hugely pregnant and soooo tired of working. She is happy with my fasting numbers and thinks insulin is working wonderfully. She says that everything looks just like it should. As she put it: "I don't worry about you". Guess I am doing it right!
My Stats: up 1 pound (I had lost 11 pounds in the past 3 weeks, so this was of no concern). BP was up a few points (136/72) when it's normally around 125/68. Nurse said it was from a long day at work and a late appt time. Nothing to worry about.
Baby Stats: She's around 4 lbs. Will get scan and NST next week. Heartbeat was 129 (she was taking a nap). She decided to wake up on my drive home and repeatedly punched me in the hipbone.
What's Next? Back to perinatalogist next Tues AND regular doctor! One appt @ 11:30 AM and the other at 2 PM. These double weekly appts. will continue for the rest of the pregnancy. Good News: I don't have to go back to the dietician! Dr. says that diet is very good and numbers are great. At this point, I have no idea what kind of timeline they will follow in terms of induction. Dr. had originally said 38-39 weeks, but if baby is measuring on target, I don't know if she'll just let me go til due date. I doubt it, because the placenta gets less effective at delivering nutrients when you have GD, so there's no value in going all the way to 40 weeks. Guess I have a few questions for next week!
Picture Above: Bump courtesy of Emily, stretch marks courtesy of Garrett!

Ultrasound 10.4.10

Profile pics from today! The top one was super-close, and the second two are a little farther back (in the middle one, she has her hands bunched up under her chin). The third one is clearest, and shows the forehead, chin, and nose!
So good news: Baby D has flipped! She is no longer breech (for now). Ultrasound tech said I had plenty of fluid, so she may try to turn around again, but Baby D is pretty jammed in there now. Her face was pressed against the uterine wall--it's a tight fit in there!
Different news: Perinatalogist was an odd guy--man of little words who just stared at the screen while doing the scan and never made small talk. He freaked me out by focusing on the heart for about 10 minutes. When I asked if everything was ok, he said "Yes. I'm just a typical man--we can't multi-task. So I look for a while then do the talking after that". Ummmm....ok. Just don't scare the crap out of me by staring intently at my baby's heart with a deadpan look on your face, mister! Also, he said she's measuring right on target--20th percentile for 33 weeks gestation. I asked if that was ok (telling me she's "average" would lead me to believe everything is ok). His response: "Well, it's not where I expected her to be. With your history of big babies and gestational diabetes that has basically been uncontrolled for 30 weeks, I would expect her to be in the 80-90th percentile range. We'll have to keep an eye on her growth."
Now keep in mind: (1) This guy is upset with "average" growth; (2) he doesn't take into account my change of gene pool for this baby-- i.e, Tim and I have never had a baby before for comparison and everyone on Tim's side is average sized; (3) obviously the GD diet is working if it prevents large babies!
So What's the Deal? I am going back for NST next Tuesday, followed by more growth scans. She is not anywhere near "growth restricted" (she would have to be in the 5th percentile or lower). I go to my regular dr. tomorrow, and believe me, I'm going to be grilling her about what this dr. is talking about. I'm not panicked, just concerned that the dr. seems to think it "might" end up being a problem. I need the opinion of the dr. I've been seeing all year, not just this one perinatalogist to ease my mind. At the very least, this means they will be keeping a close eye on the baby girl, which makes me feel better!

32 Weeks

Yes, I know that's not a belly shot to the left, but my photographers are spending the weekend with their cousins and Timmy is out crabbing, so I filled in with a recent pic of the kids! Garrett was told by his English teacher to "duct tape your sister to a chair and read a fable to her". Well, we skipped the tape part, but he did read the fable.

Here are the weekly stats:

How far along? 32 weeks, 3 days (about 50 days left)

Update from dr: Now that I am on insulin at night, I get put into an even higher risk category (even though my dr's opinion is that I am doing everything right and she's not worried). So now it's weekly visits to her practice and weekly visits to the perinatalogist, where I will be getting a bioprofile each week (3-D ultrasound and NST). What does that mean for me? Well, even more time out of work because the tests will take 1-2 hours each week and that doesn't include the time I spend in the waiting room for my OB-GYN.

What about Baby? Heartbeat was a strong 140 (up from 124 at the visit the week before, which apparently is within normal range even though it scared the crap out of me). Weekly ultrasounds will give a better idea of her weight, but right now she's around 4 lbs. Supposed to be around 17 inches long this week! Still breech, but doctor said not to panic til 35 weeks. The problem now is that she may not turn due to larger size, so it's a wait-and-see game. Dr. says that perinatalogist will monitor breech status each week with scans.

What About Mommy? Starting to get the tired feeling that goes along with 3rd trimester, but nothing like what I had in the 1st trimester. Lots of nesting (Timmy and I got a new vacuum last night, and I was over the moon!). Foot swelling is much better, probably due to GD diet and lots of water. I've had a nasty head cold for the past week, causing me to steal my kids' penguin humidifier and sleep in an upright position. It's starting to clear up so hopefully I can stop buying stock in Kleenex soon.

Likes This Week: Cooler weather, new vacuum, washing baby clothes, feeling big kicks in the lower region and pointy elbows in my belly button

Dislikes This Week: Watching Timmy clean water out of the basement after 6 inches of rain 24 hours, depending on my coworkers to cover my butt, giving myself injections, being on my feet all day, hourly pee breaks, snoring so loud I drive my husband to the couch 2 nights in a row