30 weeks!!

Yay, I've completed 30 weeks of pregnancy! Just 10 more weeks to go until Kaua. Craziness! I really feel as if the third trimester is flying by. Not so much as in a blink and I'm done, but much more quicker than the 2nd trimester. 10 weeks is still a lot more to go, but it's crazy to think that in just over two months, our lives will change forever. We'll be welcoming our first child into the world. How blessed is that?

Here's my 30 week belly photo and I lost a 3/4 of an inch since wednesday and measure 39 inches exactly. You can even see the difference in my girth from last Sunday to this Sunday. I dont feel as if the baby got smaller, I just feel as if I lost some of that extra chubs. I'll monitor my measurements over the week and ask my doc about it at my next appointment if my weight doesn't go up (which I admit could be a nice thing).



Things are probably going to go rapidly from here. The months of October and November are going to be busy in terms of holidays and baby showers. I've started a countdown till my baby shower (with my mom) on my side bar. I'm excited for that for a number of reasons, one of them being I get to go home and see my doggie! I miss him. Last night DH flew back to prepare for his first day at work at his new station. He said our doggie is doing well with my grandparents. His coat is looking shiny and he seems very happy. Of course, he recognized my DH and was ecstatic. I hope he doesn't forget me!

On the pregnancy front, things are still going well. My back and body are aching a teeny bit more, but not much. Yesterday, DH and I walked on the beach for exercise and the beach had a bit of a slope to it. My hips hurt from walking on the slope and I knew it was because I'm carrying about 20 lbs extra weight. We also went for a dip in the ocean and when I was walking out of the water, I could feel the immediate difference between the weightless feeling while swimming and the weight of my belly as I walked out of the water. It really put into perspective what it's like for my back and body to carry around this extra weight. My next PNA appointment (already!) is this friday, so we'll see how the weight gain is. I hope its not much! Another intersting (and possibly not a good thing) is I'm having food confusion (well that's what I call it). I find that I'm hungry, but dont know what to eat. Nothing sounds very appealing. In most of my 2nd trimester, any and all food sounded yummy. Now, I have a hard time deciding what I want to eat and that frustrates me (which in turn then frustrates hubby). It's a crazy cycle.

Anyhow, I'm off to get a pedicure with a girlfriend today. A luxury I haven't had in several months due to monetary strains....but today, I feel like treating myself. Yippee!

29 week photo

Ok, this post is belated. I didn't get to it this weekend, and have been quite busy at work (when I usually post my blogs), so haven't had a chance to get to it. But wanted to share it:



I didn't get to measure myself on Sunday when I took the photo, but I measured myself today and I'm 39.75 inches! Yikes! That's huge!

I'm really really feeling big and I think I look really big too. I've been having the hubsters help me get up off the couch and stuff (it's kinda sad). I probably can get up by myself, but I just feel so big and cumbersome, that it's so much easier to have someone pull me up. I cant believe I've got 10.5 more weeks to grow!!

Cute thought for the day....found out my close friends were planning to throw me a surprise baby shower today. (Well, I found out about the surprise today, not that they were throwing me the shower today.) Another friend inadvertently let it slip. It's all good though. I'm happy I know about it b/c it makes planning for it so much easier and I wont be sad or feel weird at the thought that my friends "forgot about me." Which I know they wouldn't have forgotten, so I think I would have figured out a "surprise" was in store....I think. I really didn't know that it was coming....But anyways, I already feel excited for this baby shower and feel extremely touched that my friends wanted to try and surprise me with it.

Focusing on baby

I went back and reread my prior posts: when I first found out I was pregnant, that first OB visit where we saw the heartbeat, that second appointment where we looked for baby's heartbeat, to that 16 week and 20 week appointment where we held our breath to see if Kaua was alright and healthy, to those first movement milestones. What an amazing journey to re-read. It made me realize that my most recent posts - fretting over DH's job, and money and the home, well.....they're all so trivial. Right now, the best thing going on for me is this little guy kicking inside me. I realized, I haven't posted about him lately, and that to me, is the focus of my blog. (Well technically, this blog was supposed to be about my journey to motherhood, so I guess all the other things count as well, but still, I prefer to keep blogging about Kaua and have him be my main focus). So this post will be an update on the pregnancy:

Kaua is still a little mover - as I'm sure all babies are at this point. Over the past few days, I've noticed that he likes to hang out on my right side. Literally pressing up and out on that side. I feel kicks and taps else where, but some huge body part is constantly pressing up against my right. It's really cool looking because sometimes, you can just see something sticking out, like a round bump. It's also sometimes uncomfortable and I find myself sort of massaging and somewhat pushing him back in --- like go more in the middle son, you're making me uncomfortable. (Dont worry, I dont press hard, I'm very gentle and I'm pretty sure I'm not hurting him). I also notice when he's likely to be head up (breech) because the movements/kicks are more low. I dont like those days as much b/c although I feel his movements, there not as noticeable so to me, not as fun. Generally, movements are up high though, so I think he's for the most part, head down.

I'm noticing that I'm more short of breath lately. Nothing that impedes my exercising, but enough so that I notice that, yup, my uterus is pressing against my lungs, making breathing a little more labored. My sleeping is still pretty good, but I find myself getting uncomfortable in bed more easily. I'll toss and turn just to be sure that I've got the right position, with a pillow supporting my belly and a pillow supporting my back and a pillow in between my legs. And man, is it HOT!!! I've got a fan blowing right at me, and I'm still sweating at all parts where my body has to touch another part of my body or is touching a pillow. I'm normally a lover of hot, I like to be warm (b/c I always feel cold), so it's obvious that Kaua is making my body temperature higher. I also find that sitting on my couch is not as comfortable unless I'm in the reclined position with the leg rest up and a pillow behind my head or back (thankfully we bought those couches with the built in lazyboy recliners in all the cushions). I also noticed last night in the shower that I cannot see my vajayjay any more (no more grooming unless I have a hand held mirror). I used to be able to sort of look around the belly to see down there, but nope, no more. Contemplating getting DH involved in the grooming process....we'll see what he thinks. lol.

Lets see, what else. Oh my mom and I are talking daily now about upcoming plans for her to be here when he's due. We're also getting excited in planning my baby shower. We've ordered invitations and made a banner for the wall. We're discussing table decorations, gifts, etc. We're going with a "warrior" theme and a "firefighter" them since Wyatt = little warrior and DH is a firefighter. It's kinda fun because it's also football season and our local college team are the warriors and DH and I are football fans. Super duper fun. =) Although Kaua will be the 4th grandchild for my mom, I think this experience is exciting because I'm her only daughter and so she gets to play a major role and in this pregnancy and birth. This is the whole reason why I want to have a girl one day. I am enjoying all of this QT with my mom, just as I did when I was getting married. It's soooooooooo fun to have a best friend who is all about you. =)

Well, that's all on the pregnancy update front. 29 week belly pic and post coming up this weekend. =)

DH comes home!

Good news in the DH work arena. He's done with training early , and he'll be coming home this Friday! It's not permanent, he'll still be working away from home, but his schedule from here on out will be very good for commuting. 3 full days/nights away, and 6 days/nights home (repeat schedule). He'll be flying back and forth, so that's an added financial strain on top of his pay reduction, but it's something we're willing to do to be together for now. He begins this new work schedule on Sunday, September 27.

The sad news is, our little (make that big) doggie will still be living away. It's just not affordable to bring him back, especially with our impending move, and the possibility of both DH and I being gone at long periods of time (while on maternity, I plan to go be with my family to be closer to where DH is working and not be alone with a newborn by myself). It's quite unbelieveable how attached we are to our doggie. He's like another son to us, and we are going to be so sad away from him. I also believe he'll be sad away from us too, especially DH. You can see quite the definitive mood change in our doggie when DH is around and not around. I'm comforted somewhat with the thought that we'll soon be together and that for now, he's got my family to keep him company daily.

This is our furbaby:

But we must count our blessing where we can. DH will be home more and that's what matters most. =) I see him tomorrow and he'll be here for over a week! That's quite a long time for us!! =) I'll probably drive him bananas (I'm quite the little princess now-a-days), like many wives do, but truly, we enjoy each other's company (or at least I believe he enjoys mine), so it'll be really nice to come home to him again. =)

Hiccups

Kaua's got the hiccups just now. I can tell b/c I can feel very light consistent movement in the same spot. They are about 1 every second and only last for about 30 seconds. This is the second time I've felt his hiccups. I also felt hiccups from him on Sunday. Too cute.

According to WTE, he's almost 17" long and almost 3 lbs this week. He's also building baby fat (white fat) used to regulate his body temperature.

28 weeks and crib is set up!

We made it another week! Here's my 28 week belly photo and interestingly, there was no growth in belly inches:



Newer symptoms are a feeling of heaviness in my lower belly/uterus. It's a little difficult to describe. Its not BH but more like I'm just getting bigger (Kaua is, I mean) and I can feel his weight more. Occassionally, I feel sharp pangs in my lower sides, which I'm sure is round ligament pain, as well as an occasional sharp pain in my left butt cheek, which I'm pretty sure is sciatic nerve pain. I usualy only feel these when changing positions (from sitting to standing or vice versa) and I read in WTE that that's normal. Once in a while I feel a little dull cramp-like achy pain, which I'm not sure what its caused by. i'm not alarmed at it b/c it's dull and occasional. I think it could be Kaua kicking me in my cervix, but I dont feel a kick low, which would further indicate its him. Perhaps he's sitting on my cervix sometimes? Not sure, so I'll call my doctor if I get concerned and really monitor myself when I feel that (make sure it's not preterm labor or something). I'm also starting to notice pregnancy fatigue more in the sense that I'm feeling less energetic than usual. Even in the mornings, I'm feeling tired and sometimes like I wouldn't mind just staying in bed. We also set up Kaua's crib this weekend and it looks great! (despite not having any bedding).

As we put the crib together (mostly DH doing the work with me occassionally assisting), I noticed the difficulty in getting up and down from sitting on the floor and overall I just felt the need to sit more often. One of my friends also came by to drop off newborn sized diapers that her daughter no longer fits, so we got a nice little starter supply of diapers. She also dropped off a cute little blue bathrobe for Kaua.

Previously, the room that Kaua's crib is in had a futon bed/couch. We were able to sell that for $30 over the weekend (it wasn't in the best of conditions so the money was a nice bonus since we were just going to throw it out), so now Kaua's room has the crib and diaper changer in it. I like walking by it and peeking in and seeing the nursery developing (though not as fancy and visually appealing as I'd prefer). It's just so exciting that we'll be having a child in a couple months! (And a little overwhelming too.). There's a lot more I want to do to the room, but I'm hesitant b/c we're moving, so I'm a litte saddened at the thought that we wont be living here for very long to enjoy it.

Which brings me on to another topic. Our move. You all know that DH is currently working away from me, so we're commuting on the weekends until I can move to be with him. The good news is, he is finished with his training early and will be put out on the field soon. The bad news is, he was just told that he will not be stationed where we thought he was going to be stationed, meaning his schedule will not be very accomodating to commuting back and forth. He's appealed to his chief about the transfer and the chief is trying to see what he can do, but there's no guarantees at this point. There are good things and bad things to this new twist in our situation.

Good news is, this may hasten my permanent move to be with DH quicker. And when I move, the schedule will work out just fine. With the prior situation, I initially planned to give birth here then move to be with DH at my leisure while he communted back and forth till then. Now, I will still give birth here, but may move shortly thereafter (maybe even not returning to work after maternity leave). The bad news is almost purely cosmetic-ish in that I'm reluctant to move out of our "home" and move in with my mom (though I love her, it's so hard to move back home after owning your own). DH, myself and Kaua will be living in a 3 bedroom with mom and her BF. Though that's still plenty of room for all of us, it wont be our own home filled with our stuff chosen specifically for our own comfort. We'll be sharing everything. I wont get to do a nursery with Kaua b/c the spare bedroom is currently my mom's office. Kaua will likely be rooming in with me and DH. It also may be a while before we can afford to get our own place, so we'll be with my mom for probably a couple years. I will also be leaving my job earlier than desired. I work for a great company and am disappointed at having to leave them and eventually look for new work (in a market which is not as great as it is here). Leaving my job will also put additional financial strains on us since we'll be living off of DH's already reduced income alone. Plus we'll all have to go under DH's medical plan which may be difficult at first based on the enrollment timing rules for the healthcare provider. Also, although DH and I will be together (yippee!!!) in one place as it should be especially when raising our first child, it will take some adjusting to the new town since we've built our lives where I'm currently living (all of our friends are here, there's a lot more to do here in the big city, etc). I really love where we live now, so I'm going to miss it. I also wanted Kaua to spend some time (just for a little) in the town which is his namesake (or at least the weather of the town), but such may not be the case since we may be moving so soon.

Either way, we've got some really decisions to make soon, depending on where DH gets stationed, and coupling this with the impending birth of our first child, is somewhat overwhelming at times for me.

But thankfully, so far Kaua is healthy and that's all that really matters. The rest is all negotiable. So for that I praise God. As for the rest, I'm going to pray to God to direct my path when determining what the best choices are for our family.

Kick counts

So at my last appointment, my doctor didn't really instruct me to do kick counts, but did mention that I should be feeling Kaua move at least six times after I eat. Now, I should have asked him, how soon after I eat? And how soon should I feel the six movements in conjunction to the first and the last? but I didnt. So I went on line and did some research on how to do kick counts. I found some very very helpful information here:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/duringpregnancy/kickcounts.htm

And based upon this information, created my own little table for me to record Kaua's kicks. Here's a sample of what it looks like. (shucks, guess you cant paste a table from a word document in here). Well, it sorta looks like the tables here:

http://health.utah.gov/rhp/pregnancy/preged/duringpreg/kickcounts.PDF

except that I tweaked it a little more to fit my preferences. Last night, I started doing the kick counting for the first time at 27 weeks 4 days. I started at 7:45 pm and lo and behold, Kaua finished his 10 kicks in 6 minutes! Crazy! Wonder if it will always be that quick? My goal is to try and do the kick counts after dinner, when I feel his first movement. We'll see how that goes.

DH comes home tonight for the weekend! Yippee! We can finally set up his crib!

Another PNA went well.

I'm losing track, I think this is my 6th PNA. We'll just call it my 27w3d appt since that what I am today. Overall everything is still going well. I gained just 3 lbs since my last appointment (but that could be because most of my appointments have been after lunch and this one was before, but hey, I'll take it). So far the weight gain is up 22 lbs since my prepregnancy weight and while that seems like way too much for me, the doctor said I'm right on track in the weight gain department. (Let's pray I only gain 8 more lbs total and I'll have stuck to my original goal of just gaining 30 lbs).

My uterus is also measuring approximately 27 cm which is right on track and Kaua's heartbeat was averaging in the 140 BMP which is also right on track. My pee test (which I think they check for sugars or proteins, who knows) is normal, my blood pressure is normal, just about everything is normal. Hah, you'd never guess the kind of MC history I had prior to this pregnancy had you not known about it. But it's all very good so I'm happy.

We talked about me passing the glucola test and being slightly anemic. Doc said it was normal for women in this stage of pregnancy to get slighly anemic and that if I had a low red blood cell count, I would feel fatigued and lethargic (not sure if I'm feeling that now) and that during birth, I will typically lose some blood and if that is coupled with an anemia condition, it could make me even more fatigued and lethargic after birth. So, I could either take an iron supplement OR eat more foods rich in iron. (Hmm, too late, I already bought the iron supplement based on the advice of the nurse who called me). So I told him I'll be doing both, taking the iron supplement and trying to eat more foods rich in iron. We went over the instructions that I was not to take the supplement with dairy products, but he did tell me that if I took it with citrus (like orange juice or cranberry juice) that that would HELP with the iron's absorbtion in my body. So perhaps, I'll go pick some cranberry juice up to have with my pill (which I love, but it's got to be cran-grape or cran-apple, or some other mixture) .

From here on out, doc said I'm supposed to be able to feel Kaua move pretty consistently. Doc was a little vague on the meaning of "consistently" but what I got from our discussion is that I should feel him every day, I should feel at least 6 movements after eating and if I think that I dont, I should drink something cold, lie down and really pay attention to his movements. Baby will typically move more when I'm resting.

As for what type of movement I'm actually feeling, I'd say he's pretty active often and I feel him probably every couple of hours. Over the past few days he's been very active, to the point where I'm like geeze Kaua, take it easy in there, I'm trying to rest! But he still makes me laugh. His movements are a mix between kicks (taps) and what I call body movements (where it seems like he's brushing a body part against my tummy or pressing his head or other body part out). Doc said that it's normal to be feeling the body movements at this point, but as the space gets more cramped, it'll diminish to more kicks. I can tell that Kaua is getting bigger because his movements are stronger and on the rare occasion, his movements/kicks will take my breath away or really make me pause. Nothing painful, just more surprising and sometimes uncomfortable or distracting. Overall, his movements are reassuring though.

I've been reading that some girls due around the same time as me are starting to have every 2 week appointments from this point on, but not me, I got one more 4 week appointment (sometime around October 3, they didn't have the schedule up yet, so they'll call me to confirm soon), then after that one (where I'll be almost 32 weeks), I'll be going in every 2 weeks.

I also asked if I had any other big tests to take and he said the only other thing that will happen that's different than what I've been doing in these PNAs is that at my 36 week appointment, they'll be doing a vaginal exam and culture to check on my cervix (looking for dilation) and to see what position the baby is in. Doc said that by 36 weeks, the baby usually doesn't flip around and is usually in the position he'll be in for birth. For about 95% of women, the baby is head down, but if I happen to be in that 5% category (breech), then we'll have to talk about my options then. I hope Kaua decides to stay in the 95% category. Doc said he thought the baby was head down during the exam because when he found the heartbeat (which was immediately, it's amazing how fast they find it now), it was below my belly buttom which indicated to him that baby was likely head down.

We also talked about pediatrician recommendations and pregnancy class recommendations. Lucky for me, he agreed that I didn't need to take the childbirth preparation classes (which cost $80!!). I am already taking other classes offered by my health care provider (which are free) which he said are the important ones, and I'm planning on renting the Laugh and Learn DVDs (on childbirth, labor, newborn care and breastfeeding) from my library, so we're covered in the educational department. Also, I asked about getting a lactation consultant and he said the way it works for our health care provider, the consultants usually come around while I'm in the hospital after birth to see if I need help. He said to be sure that I see one, all I need to do is tell the L&D nurse I'd like to see one and she'll set it up. So, no worries about that till after birth.

I meant to bring my birth plan in to talk about it with my doctor this appointment, but I forgot it (which is becoming quite typical for me nowadays - forgetfulness), so doc said to bring that in for the next appointment and we can go over it.

So far everything is going A-OK for me and baby and that's just dandy! (yeah, I said dandy. =) ) We're in the home stretch!! =)

T-3 and glucola test

Well, we made it to the third trimester! Yesterday, Kaua made it to 27 weeks gestation and here's my burgeoning belly picture:



I'm currently spending my last night visiting DH in his new home (my old hometown) and on the plane ride over several nights ago, my plane seat mate asked how far along I was and complimented me on how great I looked! She said, she hopes she looks like me (my size) when she's pregnant. I was pleasantly surprised...b/c I've always been getting comments on how big I am and my mom even said I may not eventually fit into the maternity clothes she bought for me for my birthday. (Thanks mom!).

Anyways, 27 weeks and the 3rd Trimester! Woohooo! The end is in sight! There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Dont get me wrong, I love being pregnant, but with my growing belly, it's starting to get uncomfortable. Baby moves a lot and sometimes when I'm trying to get comfortable, his kicks throw me off. It's almost like (well it actually is) my belly doesn't belong to me anymore, it belongs to him. I'm also just feeling really big and cumbersome. I'm 39 inches and I'm still growing! I know a lot of this growing is b/c I've got this unbelievable sweet tooth. I know I'm so going to kick myself after I give birth when I've got 20-30 lbs to lose. But you know how you know something is not good for you, but you do it anyway? Yup, that's me.

So I've got some good news. I passed my glucola screening test!!! Yippeeeeee!!! I took the test on friday and I got a call from my doctor's office on Saturday. They said I passed my glucola test, but my blood results showed that I was slightly anemic (meaning low red blood cell count, meaning I need to up my iron intake). She said that it's a very common symptom of pregnancy because the baby takes up a lot of the nutrients that I would normally get from food and all I really need to do is take an iron supplement. She also recommended I take the gluconate based supplement rather than the other one, (I forget the name) because that one supposedly causes less constipation. She also said that because an iron supplement can cause constipation, I should make sure my diet has lotsa fiber. She also instructed me to take the iron supplement at a different time than when I take my prenatal vitamin and not to take it with any dairy food/products because that can inhibit my body's absorbtion of the iron nutrient.

I'm very happy that I passed the glucose test. Especially b/c my coworker was surprised that I wasn't instructed to take the test first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. From what I hear, sometimes what you eat can affect your results because it affects your blood sugar. I took the test late in the afternoon after a very starchy breakfast and lunch. I specifically asked my doctor and even called the advice nurse before the test and both said I dont need to alter my diet at all (but my doctor did recommend that I dont take the test right before eating a candy bar and drinking a soda). And I followed their instructions, ate typcially for me and voila, I passed. =) woohoo! Back to work tomorrow, but the good news is, DH comes home friday night for the weekend! =)

Crib came!

I order the crib on monday from Ama.zon, and it came on Thursday. Crazy! Who knew it'd arrive so fast? =) Too bad DH isn't here till next weekend to set it up. But I'm going to fly to visit him tonight and will be there till Tuesday! Yippee!! I'm so exited. I miss him and my doggy, even though I just sent them off on Monday as well. It'll be nice to see them and the rest of my family. I'm really looking forward to spending time with them all. =)

I take my blood glucose screening test today. I wont find out the results till my next PNA which is next week Wednesday. I really hope I pass. I asked the doctor whethere there was anything special I needed to be doing to prepare for it and she said no, just dont eat candy or drink soda right before the test. I attended a birthday BBQ for a friend last night and there were a TON of desserts, my pregnancy weakness. I hope that doesn't alter the results.

Yes, I'm big, thanks for letting me know.

Yesterday I got several comments about how big my tummy is getting. I dont mind it really, because I know that I'm doing my best to stay healthy and keep the weight gain under control. But c'mon, cut a girl some slack. lol. It's not so bad really. It's just making me a little self conscious. In pregnancy, I'm realizing that I definitely carry baby out. You know how some people carry around? Not me, I carry out.

I'm six months pregnant and last night someone said, wow, are you carrying twins? She also asked if I thought baby would wait 3 more months to come. lol. She's a sweet heart lady I dance with, so I know she meant no harm. But couple those comments with a comment from my coworkers who say I look the same size as my other coworker who is due 1 month ahead of me, and yup, I'm starting to feel pretty large. After making comments on my size, they all say, I look great and I'm just a taller (understood as "bigger") person than my coworker or friends who are or were pregnant, but still...I know I'm big, thanks for pointing it out.

So now I wonder, is baby boy just a big baby or am I just one of those people who are "big?" Who knows.

As long as baby is healthy, that's all that matters, I suppose.