Our Latest Ultrasound

On Monday, we had our fourth ultrasound! We again got to see Dr. Julie Gainer rather than Dr. Glenn Schemmer. I like her a lot more than I like him, so I was glad!

Anyway, this appointment went much more quickly than most of our others have. The baby's heartbeat was 133 bpm and he weighed 2 pounds, 10 ounces. He's a bit bigger than he should be right now--he's ten days ahead on the growth charts. The nurse poked around for a bit and couldn't get the baby to face us on the screen so we could see his face, and then she couldn't get him to turn to see his profile. So I got to roll on my side to see if we could get him to move. He didn't want to cooperate very badly... When we did get to see his cute little face on screen, we saw him drinking amniotic fluid! It was interesting, and cute! I wish we'd gotten another DVD. But oh, well, maybe next time!

Our little guy kicked a lot during the appointment, too. I could see my belly move while I was laying on the table. The nurse told us it was good for him to be so active. Active babies are healthy, happy babies, she said.

Overall, everything looks great, both the nurse and the doctor told us. Baby was rightside up, but they said that's nothing to be concerned about yet. He still has plenty of time to turn upside down. It looks like I have a little extra fluid, which they're not real concerned about right now. They said even diabetics with amazing control often have excess fluid. But I'm still in the safe zone, anyway. They said I'd feel the baby a lot better and a lot more often with the excess fluid at this point because excess fluid means he has lots of extra room to move around.

My next ultrasound is May 24, and starting that week I will be returning to the hospital twice a week for non-stress tests.

Anyway, I think that about does it for the appointment... I've posted our photos below! Enjoy!

"Dad should be proud," said the nurse! ;-)

His arm and hand. He kept covering his face!

His cute little foot!!

Hand and profile!

Dark profile...

Lighter profile!

Check back for more later!

-Aubrey

P.S. This was appointment #16!

The Pregnancy - 27 Weeks

I'm getting behind on this blog... I have not yet posted anything from my doctor appointment on Monday or from our trip... I will try to do that all today between other things I am doing! But for now, I will just give you the 27 week update! This is the last week of the second trimester! So read on and enjoy!

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"Your baby graduates onto a new growth chart this week. No longer will he or she be measured crown to rump, but rather from head to toe. And this weeek that head-to-toe length is a full 15 inches (more than a foot long)! Your baby's weight is creeping up the charts as well, coming in at just over 2 pounds this week. And here's an interesting fetal factoid: Your baby has more taste buds now than he or she will have at birth (and beyond). Which means that not only is your baby able to taste the difference in the amniotic fluid when you eat different foods, he or she might even react to it. For instance, some babies respond to spicy foods by hiccupping. Or by kicking when they get that spicy kick."

-text from What to Expect When You're Expecting, Chapter 11

-photo from http://www.babycenter.com

Thanks for reading! Check back later for my other posts!

-Aubrey

The Pregnancy - 26 Weeks

Ryan and I have had an eventful weekend! We went on our last little vacation before the baby arrives. We drove to Colorado on Friday, went to Mesa Verde on Saturday, then to Moab for a jetboat tour on Sunday, and we saw Hole In The Rock on Monday before we drove home. We got lots of pictures and before I delve into stories about our vacation, I'd like to finish editing them so I can post them here for you as well. So keep an eye out for that post!

In the mean time, I'll just post the 26 week update for you! Hope you enjoy!

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"Next time you're browsing through the meat department, pick up a 2-pound chuck roast. No, not for dinner--just so you can get a sense of how big your baby is this week. That's right--your baby now weighs a full 2 pounds and measures in at 9-plus inches long. Another momentous development this week: Your baby's eyes are beginning to open. The eyelids have been fused for the past few months (so the retina, the part of the eye that allows images to come into focus, could develop). The colored part of the eye (the iris) still doesn't have much pigmentation, so it's too early to start guessing your baby's eye color. Still, your baby is now able to see--though there's not much to see in the dark confines of his or her uterine home. But with the heightened sense of sight and hearing that your baby now possesses, you may notice an increase in activity when your baby sees a bright light or hears a loud noise. In fact, if a loud vibrating noise is brought close to your belly, your baby will respond by blinking and startling."

-text from What to Expect When You're Expecting

-photo from http://www.babycenter.com

Thanks for stopping by! Until either my vacation post or until Monday (our next ultrasound appointment), I hope you have fabulous days!

-Aubrey

The Pregnancy - Week 25

During the past four days of work, five men have noticed that I'm pregnant and said something or asked me something about it. While it is comforting to know that people don't just think I look fat now, it's still a bit awkward...

Anyway... We are 25 weeks along today! Only 12-13 weeks left to go! We are sure excited. We attempted to wallpaper the baby's room last night but did not get very far... The wallpaper wouldn't stick. I got frustrated and we gave up. We are probably going to attempt it again next week, though this time we will use wallpaper paste instead of soaking the paper and hoping the paste already on it will work.

So, on to the update! Enjoy!

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"Baby's growing by leaps and bounds (and inches and ounces), this week reaching 9 inches in length and more than 1-1/2 pounds in weight. And there are exciting developments on the horizon, too. Capillaries are forming under the skin and filling with blood. By weeks end, air sacs lined with capillaries will also develop in your baby's lungs, getting them ready for that first breath of fresh air. Mind you, those lungs aren't ready for prime-time breathing yet--and they have a lot of maturing left to do before they will be. Though they're already beginning to develop surfactant, a substance that will help them expand after birth, your baby's lungs are still too underdeveloped to sufficiently send oxygen to the bloodstream and release carbon dioxide from the blood (aka breathe). And talking about breathing, your baby's nostrils, which have been plugged up until now, are starting to open up this week. This enables your baby to begin taking practice "breaths." Your baby's vocal cords are functioning now, leading to occasional hiccups (which you'll certainly be feeling)."

-text from What to Expect When You're Expecting

-photo from http://www.babycenter.com

And that's that! Ryan and I will be heading to Colorado on Friday. We're taking one last fun little trip together before the baby gets here! I plan to get some cool pictures, so keep an eye out for them! We have no doctor appointments until a week from the coming Monday, so until then, I will just be posting bits about our trip, the weekly updates, and HOPEFULLY more on the baby's room!

Until my next post, I hope you are doing well!

-Aubrey

Dr. Glenn

I had yet another doctor's appointment with Dr. Glenn today. Nothing real exciting.

He measured my uterus and said I was at 28 cm, which is 3 cm bigger than I should be. I'm not really sure what that means exactly... But he also listened to the baby's heartbeat and said it sounds very healthy, so that's good. He told me that I need to go get a lab done in two or three weeks. I guess I have to do a 24-hour urine test so they can check my proteins and my kidney function. So I'm not real excited about that... It doesn't sound like fun... But I did get out of the glucose test! They were all ready for me to drink that glucose drink until I reminded them that I had pre-existing diabetes, so the test probably wouldn't actually be that beneficial for me... Dr. Glenn also told me that my blood type is O+. I'm only writing it here so I can look it up when I forget again in the future...

Anyway, luckily he does not want to see me every other week yet... He had me schedule for four weeks out again this time. By then I'll be in the third trimester, though, and he probably will want me to come in every other week. He also told me that I will probably need to start making big changes in my insulin pretty soon, since I am almost in the third trimester and my body will start needing more insulin very soon.

I also asked Dr. Glenn about the pills Dr. Willis prescribed for me for my UTI. I didn't realize that Dr. Willis had given me seven days worth of one of the pills instead of the four days worth he gave me last time until the day after I started taking them. He never called me about it and his nurse never said anything about it, so I wondered what I was supposed to do. These ones are the painkillers, and the pain hasn't been as bad as it was last time, so I didn't understand why he gave me so many. Dr. Glenn said that I should definitely be taking the antibiotics (which I was given ten days worth of pills) and that I don't need to take the other ones at all unless I'm in pain. He said that they're actually good to keep on hand for the next time I get an infection. I can start taking them as soon as I feel pain until I can get in and get a new prescription. So I'm going off of those but am definitely keeping them on hand!

Anyway. Ryan and I painted the walls in the baby's room last night. Mostly Ryan. But I got to help a little. It needs to be touched up in a couple places and we still need to paint the trim and the doors and stuff, and we need to put up the wallpaper. But we're getting there! We're really excited about it!

Anyway, I've got things to do... I'll be posting the 25 week update on Wednesday!

-Aubrey

P.S. This was doctor appointment #15!

Another UTI? Oh, and We Picked a Name!

I'm looking for someone to volunteer to come throw up FOR me... Any takers?

I went home from work early on Thursday because I was in an immense amount of pain again thanks to my kidneys. I called my doctor's office around 10:00 a.m. and they didn't bother to call me back until 5:30 p.m. They decided to just send in a new prescription for me rather than have me come in for another appointment. So I'm assuming (as is Dr. Willis) that my UTI came back and now I am back on the same crappy pills I was on last time.

I hate these pills. Already, they made my kidneys hurt again yesterday. They make me drowsy (which sucks because I take one at night as well as one in the morning). They make me incredibly nauseous (I threw up more stomach acid this morning than I ever have from morning sickness for my entire pregnancy). And I have been up since about 3:00 this morning because my head aches so freaking much. Oh, and in addition to making me drowsy, they knock out the baby, too. I hate not feeling him move as much as he usually does. It makes me nervous.

Anyway, enough complaining as I'm sitting here half ready for work already... Ryan and I finished going through the baby book Thursday night. Yesterday we narrowed our list of 36 names down to two. We like both of the names so much that we can't choose, so we're waiting for baby to get here to see what name he looks like more! Ryan also told me that I am in charge of the middle name. I already know what I'm choosing. :-)

Anyhow, I suppose I'd better finish getting ready for work and try to eat without throwing up...

I sincerely hope that you all are doing better than me right now!!

-Aubrey

Doctor Appointment and The Pregnancy - Week 24

24 weeks today!! Ahh, I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Ryan and I have yet to finish the baby's room... But we will soon!

We are almost done going through our baby name book. We just finished the R's! We have two names that we really like so far. But we still have to go through everything else we've liked, too!

Anyway, I had doctor appointment #14 on Monday. We saw Kaylene Ellertson again for my diabetes and she made a couple more changes. I've been a slacker thus far though and haven't been paying attention to what differences those changes have made for me. I know my blood sugars have been doing a lot better since I started seeing her every week, though. Super exciting, yeah?

Anyhow, on to the even more super exciting part--the lowdown on Week 24!! Enjoy!

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"At a weight of 1-1/2 pounds and a length of about 8-1/2 inches, your baby has outgrown the fruit references and is now the size of a standard letter (but would take a lot more than a standard stamp to mail). Baby's weekly weight gain is now about 6 ounces--not quite as much as you're putting on, but getting a lot closer. Much of that weight is coming from accumulating baby fat as well as from growing organs, bones, and muscle. By now your baby's tiny face is almost fully formed, and achingly adorable--complete with a full set of eyelashes and eyebrows and a good sprinkling of hair on that head. Is your baby a brunette, a blond, or a redhead? Actually, right now he or she's snow white, since there's no pigment in that hair just yet."

-text from What to Expect When You're Expecting

-photo from http://www.babycenter.com

Thank you all for stopping by and I hope you have a fabulous week!

-Aubrey

P.S. We have our next appointment with our OB, Dr. Glenn, Monday morning and we meet again with Kaylene Ellertson Monday afternoon. Just in case you want to know!