31 Weeks

Pretty sure this happens on a daily basis in there.

I’ve been pretty quiet the last couple of weeks because I haven’t been feeling well. The out of control blood sugars was a huge factor in that, and now that they are under control again; my energy is returning, my moods are balancing out (well, sort of…) and I’m feeling a lot better overall. It’s a good feeling!

While I would never wish for my baby to be born too early, it would be amazing to have a fast forward button to April. The last trimester is ridiculous and hard, each day seems to get longer and longer.

I have two NST’s scheduled for this week and then my baby shower is on Saturday, I can’t wait!!!

Pretty boring around here, just trying to keep up my energy, keep up with my kids and get things ready for a new little person to join our family. Here’s a comparison from 21 weeks to 31 weeks.

30 Weeks

Some days I feel like I’m going to be pregnant forever and it will never end, and then I realize how little time there is left and I start to get sad. This is it. This is the last time I’ll feel a baby move inside of me, the last time I’ll have a newborn, the last so many things!! Apparently I’m feeling sappy today. 

Your baby’s the size of a cucumber!

Your 15.2- to 16.7-inch, 2.5- to 3.8-pound baby continues to grow.

 

 

I had an appointment with my OB this morning and if I wasn’t having all of these blood sugar issues, it would be my best and easiest pregnancy of them all. My blood pressure is great, no swelling, growing right on track, strong heartbeat, etc. But then he looked at my blood sugars and said “it’s a good thing this is your last one, another baby might kill you.” I am to continue twice a week non stress tests at the hospital and to see my Endocrinologist as needed, but since baby girl is doing so well, I don’t need another OB appointment for 3 weeks. 

 

I talked with my Endocrinologist on the phone this afternoon and we are trying something new with my night time dose of insulin. Currently, I take 100 units right before bed, but I’m still waking up with blood sugar readings near 200 – they should be under 90. And then my body is trying to catch up all day and I’m injecting a LOT of insulin all day long, only to start the cycle again the next morning. Starting tonight, I’ll take 60 units right before bed and another 60 first thing in the morning. Fingers crossed. 

 

That’s all for now. Here’s a fun bump comparison, 20 weeks to 30 weeks. Pretty big difference, no wonder I can’t find shirts that fit!!!

 

 

 

Five Things Friday {10}

1. I feel sorry for everyone in my life or that I come into contact with lately. My mood swings are pretty well “swung” over to the bad side and I am one cranky son of a gun. Sorry.

2. I find myself giving this look to almost everyone and everything all day long. #cantcontrolthesnark

3. I miss sweating. Not sweating from trying to put my shoes on, which is a daily occurrence now…but sweating from a good old fashioned butt kicking workout.

4. I want cake. Lots and lots of cake. And I don’t want to have to inject a bottle of insulin for that to happen, so I’ll just dream about it. For now.

5. Because I’m trying to keep myself motivated through these last few weeks of pregnancy, I’m running a Spring Biggest Loser Challenge. It starts on Monday, $10 to join and winner takes all. If you want to join, let me know!!

What I Ate Wednesday {9}

I had every intention of getting this post published last night, but exhaustion set in and I went to bed instead.

Love your veggies- didn’t happen. It’s clear I need more vegetables in my life!

Breakfast:

Since my blood sugars have been so insane lately, I’m trying to change things up with my meals in hopes it will bring my sugars back to down to normal levels. It’s not working. No matter how much insulin I take, no matter how little carbs I eat, the levels keep rising.

Snack:

Delicious and crazy juicy orange, along with roasted peanuts.

Lunch: 

Hey, look! Vegetables! My all time favorite soup.

Dinner:

A low carb wrap filled with cheese and salsa, dipped in spicy guacamole

And a new to me yogurt. Not bad, but I wish the cup was bigger!

Don’t forget to check out all of the other submissions for this week’s WIAW!

29 Weeks

Your baby’s the size of an acorn squash!

Baby already measures about 15.2 to 16.7 inches long. Right now, we weighs about 2.5 to 3.8 pounds but he’s still got a ways to go — can you believe he’ll triple in weight before birth?

your baby at 29 weeks

• He’s getting a little cramped in there, since he’s growing so fast. But you probably already realize that, since you’re getting all those jabs and kicks.
• He’s growing white fat deposits under his skin, and his energy is surging because of it.
• Feel a subtle twitch? It might be baby hiccupping.

Life has been somewhat of a roller coaster the last few days. My blood sugars have been all over the place and becoming harder and harder to control. As many times as Dr’s have told me this could happen, now that it IS happening, I don’t like it.

I had an OB appointment yesterday – and an ultrasound-. Good news is that baby girl continues to thrive and is doing great! She is growing right on track and even though my body is going nuts with all of this blood sugar nonsense, she continues to be unaffected. But, because my numbers have been so high, and when that happens, I note decreased fetal movements, it’s time to watch things a little closer.

Starting this morning, I will be at the hospital having Non-Stress Tests done twice a week and I’m also seeing my OB weekly now until delivery.

The first test was done this morning and we passed with flying colors. While it was a little boring sitting there clicking each time she moved, I loved being able to just sit back, listening to the heartbeat and moving around and I did a little reading as well. Next test is Saturday morning.

And that’s that! I’m trying to stay positive and just focus on one day at a time right now. It’s really all I can do!

What I Ate Wednesday {8}

It’s that time of the week again! Time to link up and share food for WIAW. I love reading blogs on Wednesdays, so many new recipes and meal ideas, and today has been no exception.

Let’s get right to it!

Breakfast:

When I find something that tastes delicious and doesn’t make my blood sugars soar, I tend to stick with it until I get sick of it. Lately it has been cinnamon raisin english muffins, topped with crunchy nut butter and then an orange on the side.

Lunch:

Pretty sad that I couldn’t remember what I had for lunch until I went back and looked at the pictures from today. #pregnancyproblems. Pregnancy brain is for real. I had an egg sandwich and a cup of grapes.

Dinner:

I’m happy to say that my aversion to vegetables is fading and I actually had a craving for roasted broccoli all afternoon, I couldn’t wait to eat it for dinner tonight! We had spaghetti and then I roasted broccoli in some coconut oil, sea salt and pepper.

Don’t mind the bump that got in the way of the pictures, that seems to be happening a lot lately.

Speaking of the bump, today is hump day, bump day! 28 weeks, 4 days.

And that wraps up my day! I’ll be finishing off the day with my current bedtime snack of a sliced apple and peanut butter. Exciting.

28 Weeks

Third Trimester! 

Putting on layers of fat, your baby now weighs in around 1.5 to 2.5 pounds and measures about 13.6 to 14.8 inches.

• She’s starting to develop more fat, so her wrinkly skin will start to get smoother.
• Her lungs are mature enough that she’d probably survive if she was born now. Wow!

Common Symptoms: Yes…to all.

• Trouble sleeping. As you get closer to your due date, you’ll likely have more and more trouble with this. It could be hormones or nerves — or both!
• Shortness of breath, as baby continues to crowd your lungs.
• Aches and pains — the third trimester can be really uncomfortable due to hormone fluctuations and the toll on your body.
• Braxton Hicks contractions — these might be getting stronger or more frequent as your bod gets ready for labor.
• Leaky boobs. Your breasts may already be producing baby’s first food, a yellowish substance called colostrum.

We started working on the room renovations that need to happen before baby girl arrives. Last Saturday the husband put up the door to our new room and once we get that room cleaned out (it’s the current toy room), it will be our new master bedroom. My nesting instincts are out.of.control. and I just want everything done now!

Aside from that, feeling the above symptoms, things are going relatively well. It was a sad day yesterday when I had to really work hard to get my wedding rings off, this is the longest into a pregnancy that I’ve been able to wear them, so I’m happy in that respect.

On the Diabetes front, things are still going well. Starting to notice I don’t need as much insulin at meal times, taking too much results in after meal blood sugar readings of 45-50. Not fun!!!

I can’t think of anything else to add, other than I’m really missing kicking my butt in and out of the gym and sweating hard core. I have been devising work out plans for after this little one is born and I can’t wait to get started!!

I’m sort of happy I have been taking weekly bump shots this time around, it’s fun to look back and see how things have grown. Here’s a collage from the start of each trimester (at 5 weeks, 14 weeks and 28 weeks)

27 Weeks

I think this is the first week that I’m actually really feeling the woes of pregnancy. It is WAY harder the 4th time and 12 years later. I’m old, I’m tired, I’m cranky, I’m gassy, everything hurts…that about sums it up. Yes, I’m whining, not sorry. I’m still feeling incredibly blessed to be this far along and we are both doing well, but I’m entitled to a little whining during the last trimester. It’s law.

I really don’t know what she’s doing in there all day long, but yesterday the rolls and kicks were so strong, I half expected an organ of mine to come shooting out my lady bits.

She definitely had a growth spurt this week, my shirts are starting to lift up now, they used to cover the bump ok. Also, not sorry, not buying anything else. Don’t care.

Other than the whining and being slightly uncomfortable, things are going great. My blood sugars are behaving, my blood pressure is still behaving and I’m beyond excited at those two things. While I may have some uncomfortable moments over the next couple of months, I know how fast it goes once they are here and while I’m insanely excited to meet her, I’m not ready yet!

Here’s a fun comparison- same shirt: 21 weeks vs 27 weeks.

26 Weeks

Almost 90 days- HOLY CRAP!!! Sorry, momentary freak out. I’m done now 😉

Baby is the size of…Lettuce.

Let’s see, how are things going? In a word. Interesting. My life would be so much easier if this stupid insomnia would just go away. I know that once the baby gets here, sleep will be non-existent, so dang it, I want to sleep now! Almost every night I fall asleep fine and think, this is it, the night I sleep all night…and then around 1 or 2 I wake up and just lay there and lay there. That alarm going off at 6 comes way too soon when you’re up for a few hours in the middle of the night. #firstworldproblem- I can’t lay down during the day and take a nap because then it’s even harder to fall asleep and I toss and turn even more. Good thing I have a full DVR, I’m ready to move out to the couch instead of just laying there staring at the walls.

Other than that, just normal pregnancy stuff. It’s definitely getting harder to do simple things, but I absolutely LOVE watching the bump go crazy with movements so I guess it’s a fair trade off 😉

I did get some excellent news today. Back in October when I first got my Diabetes diagnosis, my A1C level was around 13.2. In December it was down to 7.3 and as of the bloodwork I had done yesterday, it’s at 5.8. This is awesome. No one can say what will happen after delivery, but the doctors are hopeful that I either won’t need insulin at all or I could go straight to oral medications or the best possible outcome being I won’t need anything at all and I can control it with diet and exercise. Only time will tell.

From 6 weeks to 26 weeks. I’m sort of bummed I don’t have any pictures for weeks 7,8,9,10, 11 or 12 because those were the weeks I wasn’t believed to be pregnant anymore. Looking back, I am still in disbelief that everything happened like it did. While I may have “missed” most of the first trimester thinking I had miscarried, I’m so very thankful this little miracle of mine continues to fight hard and prove everyone wrong. She is a champion and I can’t wait to meet her.

What I Ate Wednesday {6}

Like almost every other WIAW post I have read today, this is my first one in a couple of weeks, thanks to Christmas Day and New Year’s Day falling on Wednesdays. Glad to be back in the game!

Today was snow day #3. Heaven help us all if school is cancelled again tomorrow.

We kept it low key today and didn’t go anywhere. It was a little warmer than it has been (I think it got up to 14 today which was a heat wave compared to the -40 two days ago) so they were in and out of the house making igloos and snow forts all through the yard. Thank goodness for small favors.

Breakfast:

Looking at this picture makes me sad I emptied the box this morning. I have a mad craving for Frosted Mini Wheats lately, can’t get enough of that goodness! The sliced banana on top makes it even better.

Lunch:

The usual. I’m trying to keep my carb levels to a minimum at least one meal during the day so I don’t have to inject as much insulin. It seems to be helping, my levels have been nothing short of amazing lately. I’m pretty proud of myself :).

Since I was pretty hungry, I also had a makeshift grilled cheese: whole wheat english muffin with sharp cheddar cheese- under the broiler for about 3 minutes.

I had a couple of squares of this little goody this afternoon.

Dinner:

The rest of the family had pancakes, but pancakes make my blood sugar spike to over 200, and I don’t even have syrup with them. Instead, I had an egg sandwich with turkey bacon on the side and a mighty delicious and extra juicy orange.

Can’t forget about hump day, bump day: 25 weeks, 4 days.

I had a bad case of insomnia last night and then the kids were up early this morning, which means I’m ready for bed. Like now. I’m going to go crochet for a little bit and then call it a night when I put the troops to bed.

Don’t forget to head over to Peas and Crayons for more WIAW fun!