July 16, 2015

Third pregnancy, fourth baby | 8 months along!

How far along?
31 weeks today!  7/14/15


How big is baby?
About the size of a pineapple.  Or about the size of a loaf of sliced bread.
Two weeks ago, baby was weighing approximately 3lbs 10oz (according to the growth check scan)


How am I feeling?
body-wise:  xtra-large (baby bump measured at a whopping 37 weeks, at today's midwife appt.)  I knew I was 'larger than average', but didn't think I was THAT much larger.  ha!  BUT I'm loving my belly right now! and aches and pains are actually less right now; Praise God!!  
(spd is at a minimal, if I'm careful.  back aches are also at a minimum, just off and on, depending on what I've done in the day.  Swelling is at a minimum as well.  I've only had funky swollen legs about three times.  

health-wise:  I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes two weeks ago.  It has not been easy.  I just want to be able to eat what I want, when I want... but I can't.  I have to test my glucose 4 times a day.  And last week, they started me on Glyburide, because my fasting numbers weren't what they wanted to see.  It's so bitter-sweet.  On the down-side, pregnancy cravings are NO JOKE, and I can't always satisfy a craving . . . okay, more like I can NOT satisfy any cravings right now.  I have to modify my craving into something I can eat.  So, it's not the same.  But on the up-side, it has really helped me to control my weight gain even more.  I feel soooo much better.  I'm not so blugh and sluggish.  Also, it seriously keeps me motivated to walk a lot more frequently now.  So, as you can see, it's added a lot of healthy changes in my days.  :)  --but it's so depressing, upsetting, frustrating, disappointing, and annoying!!! ha! 

An itchy belly kicked in about four days ago,  I really thought that I was going to avoid it all together, this pregnancy.  It normally pops up a lot earlier in pregnancy for me.  BUT it just waited to join in on the very *fun* week that I've had this week (with emotions and my crazy glucose readings).

mood-wise:  All. Over. The. Place. --really.
recently, I've had a few days where I just feel like crying with everything . . . all day long.  My temper is SO s short these days.  I'm not used to it.  and I'm sure kids and hubby aren't either.  :(  I def don't feel like myself in that area.  Just about everything irritates and bothers me.  No one can seem to do anything right around here (according to mommy).  :(  I've labeled these crazy moods as "Monster Mommy"... how sad; I know.  But I'm sure it's just all the raging hormones.  God-willing it will pass VERY soon.  And hopefully it's not really *as bad* as I personally feel it is...?

everything else:  I'm super excited that we are getting closer and closer to our goals!!
For a while now, I've been saying that 37 weeks, "full term", was our big goal.  Obviously, it still is, but, my first "little" personal goal has been 34 weeks.  I want to make it past 33 weeks without any signs of preterm labor.  Thanks when I spontaneously went into labor with Liam and Elly.  33 weeks and 4 days.  And then, after that one, I will be so thrilled to get past 35 weeks without any signs of preterm.  That's when I had KJ.  So, today my midwife said 36 would be just fine to have baby.  But I'd still love to make it to, at the very least, 37 weeks.  :)  ...only God knows how this journey will go.  I'm so very excited!!


Weight?
+18 lbs, according to my midwife's numbers.  
But +20 lbs, according to the scale at the gym (the one I was using to track my weight-loss before pregnancy). 

Either way, I am happy with those numbers.  With the twins, I was up 32 lbs at 33 weeks.  So, so far, so good, right?  I know I'm not done gaining yet, but at least this new diet has really helped me control it. 


What do I miss?
Sleep.  
I just can't seem to sleep well these days.  I'm constantly tossing and turning.  I have two options:  left-side or right-side.  Neither keep me comfy for a long enough time to actually feel rested.  My hips get a radiating burning pain after a while of laying on one side.  So, I turn over, and then the same pain creeps up on that side too.  So, I turn again... all night long.

Fulfilling my cravings.
Eh.  I whine and pout about it, to no end.  But most times, it's just how I chose to help me deal with having to tell myself "No!", when I want, what I now call "no-no foods" or "naughty food".  haha


Cravings?
My favorite foods have been:  watermelon.  fajita tacos with pico de gallo and sliced avodado.
But now with the new GD diet, I can't just eat them as I please.  I have to time and measure it out if I want to enjoy a bit.

Oh, and the weirdest food thing, this pregnancy, has been my desire for strawberries.  I do NOT like them.  I've never "liked" strawberries.  I used to 'tolerate' them, as needed.  But, seriously, if I wanted to enjoy some strawberry shortcake, I'd leave out the strawberries!  haha!  I just liked the strawberry sauce.  I never ever cared for strawberry jelly.  anything strawberry was an automatic 'no thank you'.  And before the GD diet, which now limits what and how much fruit I can eat, and during what time of the day, I would actually find myself going to the fridge just to pluck a strawberry out to eat it!  It's just soooo strange to me!  Nothing like this has ever happened, in any of my pregnancies.  (It's just so very strange!  I have gone many years of passing up even a bite of a strawberry.  I have always bought them for my family.  Washed them.  Cut them nicely.  And served them up with breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner . . . and NEVER cared to pop one in my mouth.  So, so, so, so very strange!  Right?!)


Highlights of the week? 
Our goal of making it to 37 weeks has now been changed to "if you can make it to 36 weeks, all should be good to go, if labor wants to get started.".  What??  Knocked one week off, just like that.  Now, I'm not saying I want to have my baby at 36 weeks.  All it really means to us, and why it excites me sooo much, is that there is one week less to "worry" about the possibility of having a third preterm labor.  After 36 weeks, we can just relax and whatever happens happen!  (No more pelvic rest, which we started on our own at around 27 weeks or so.  No more stressing about contractions starting a pattern.  No more wondering if I'll "make it"...)  Sounds super awesome to me!  :)

Come on 36 weeks... let the countdown begin!

April 4, 2015

Third pregnancy, fourth baby | Week 16: Pain, sushi, and watermelon.

How far along?
16 weeks on 3/31/15


How big is baby?
About the size of an avocado.  Or almost the size of my iphone 5s.


How am I feeling?
Pretty good!  I've really enjoyed gardening again!  No regular nausea.  Super sleepy, feeling like napping every day (but that's also because the twins still don't really sleep through the night).  

I'm pretty sure I have 'symphysis pubis disfuntion'.  I had excruciating pain while pregnant with the twins, probably started closer to 25/30 weeks though.  This time around, it started around 14/15 weeks.  :(  It's so incredibly painful.  And it correlates with crazy pain in my left hip.  I can still manage to get through my days --as long as I listen to my body and rest when needed.

Oh!  I think I finally experienced my first moment of

April 3, 2015

In the midst of all the waiting... (SPD and ASD)

Oh, the waiting.  No solutions.  No answers.  Just a whirlwind of emotions from everyone involved.  What a LONG and draining process this has been.

Our oldest, 10 years old, was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (September 2014).  We thought it was all the answers we needed. We thought we were on the right road to getting the help we needed —in hopes of understanding how to better face the challenges at hand. 

My sad, broken, confused, momma heart just needed answers... Needed hope that life would smooth out and that raising and parenting our 10 year old would feel right again.

February 9, 2015

Meeting my midwife.

Ball of nerves. Today's the big day. Today means this is real. I'm really pregnant... Right?

It's been a tough three weeks of waiting for this appointment.  I've been freaking myself out, thinking that this whole pregnancy is all in my head. But then telling myself to have more faith than that. It's not always easy.  It just seems too good to be true.  Seriously.  Every single day, the devil messes with my thoughts and makes me think that something is bound to happen. That there's no way I'll actually be pregnant long. Or that I won't actually get to meet or hold this baby.  And the scariest thought that keeps flooding my mind is that I'll get to my appointment and there won't be a baby; just an empty uterus (or signs of baby that was once growing). And the midwife will say, "I'm so sorry, but you're not pregnant.".  Yeah, it's the tough ugly truth —what I've been dealing with every single day. 

So today's the day that I'm supposed to be able to fight those thoughts off easier and laugh in the devil's face, and rejoice! —because today I get to see my baby.

January 29, 2015

Third pregnancy, fourth baby | Week 7: Pee sticks, nausea, and more pee sticks.

How far along?
7 weeks on 1/27/15


How big is baby?
About the size of a blueberry.  Or about the size of a cuff link.


How am I feeling?
Super excited and still in a huge state of disbelief.

I decided to do what I highly suggest no one do... but I did it anyway.