Logan's Mural

I have such an incredibly talented sister! Bre came over today and painted this super cute mural in Logan's room. It was so sad to see the old one go, as it has been up in the baby room for over 3 1/2 years now. We had lavender walls with cute little bugs on this wall and the surrounding ones, but it was a bit girly to keep for our little boy. I wanted a blue/brown/beige color scheme and Lance wanted a sailboat, so Bre was able to combine the two ideas and come up with this! It also matches a cute bedding set that I have on my registry. We really couldn't be happier with the results of the mural!

Thank you, Bre!!! You're going to make such a great Auntie. I'm so lucky to have a sister like you. I love you!!!!!!!!!!

Let Summer Begin!

There's our little guy! We had an ultrasound about a week and a half ago and Logan checked out great! At the appointment, they said he weighed about 2.14 pounds and was in the 66th percentile for size. We scheduled a bunch of non stress tests to be performed this summer starting on June 28th. As of now, everything looks to be right on track with him, so there's no need to worry about the tests. Again, it's just a precaution. It involves me going into the perinatology office twice a week for 4-5 weeks so they can monitor him.

I think this picture of him is so funny. He looks like a little monkey who is holding a stuffed ducky. It also kind of looks like he's smiling. I hope he's a happy little guy!

A couple of weeks ago, I was officially diagnosed with gestational diabetes. My numbers weren't drastically high but they were elevated enough to get the diagnosis. I've since been to two diabetes classes with other pregnant women. I found the classes to be very thorough and informative. We had to track everything we ate for a week and we were given a blood sugar monitor and told to measure our levels 4 times a day. During the second class, a nutritionist and dietitian looked over what we ate and where are blood sugar levels were for the week. My numbers were all fantastic except for a couple of fasting numbers in the morning. In the middle of the night, your body gives you a boost of sugar that can sometimes give you a high reading first thing in the morning when you check your blood sugar. That is what was happening to me. So, Monday morning I have to go back to the diabetes center where they will show me how to give myself an injection of insulin before I go to bed at night. This will allow my blood sugar to stay lower when I check it first thing in the morning. This will be the only shot I will have to give myself because all of my other numbers are great. They assured me that giving myself this shot at night is not a bad thing and that lots of women have a problem with that particular reading. They also told me that out of the 5 women that were in my class, 3 of us are being treated for the same thing. I definitely don't feel alone in this.

I have been doing really well at managing my sugar levels and my eating habits. I'm really happy about the fact that when I have control over what I eat during the day, my numbers are great. I have been walking with Lance and Freyja every night, except for a few nights, and on those nights I hop on my stationary bike to continue to get some exercise. The exercise and change in eating habits has actually caused me to lose some weight. In fact, I am 7 months along and I am at my prepregnancy weight. I had gained a total of 5 pounds when I checked in at my 24 week appointment but at week 29, I had lost all 5 of those pounds. The doctor, again, was not concerned about this and in fact, it was me who brought up the fact that I had lost weight. I'm eating healthy, I'm exercising and Logan is growing the way he is supposed to.

He's also kicking me like crazy as I write this. *smile*

Yesterday was my last day of the school year. I can't believe that I just finished my 10th year with the district. Boy, how time flies! Since I'm so far along in my pregnancy, I'm not working summer school. My wonderful, loving, sweet husband is doing it instead to bring us in a little extra cash. (I hope he reads this!) I know that working over the summer isn't his favorite thing to do, but I do appreciate that he offered to do it. If I wasn't so close to the end of my pregnancy, I would probably work it. The timing of me not working seems to be perfect, though, seeing that I'm going to have a ton of appointments from now until the end. He's due in only 10 1/2 more weeks....yikes!!! He's going to be here before we know it!

The hot weather has finally hit us and Lance is super happy about it...me, not so much. I don't tolerate heat well as it is, but when you're carrying around a person all day long, it's really not so much fun. I'm looking forward to us finding a pool that I can dunk myself in this summer. Summer has definitely started!

Second Time's A Charm?

I decided to take last Friday off of work to do my glucose test, which is what is done to check for gestational diabetes. My students were going on an outing to San Francisco, so there was no way I was going to be able to coordinate my test with being able to meet my students before they hopped on BART, so I took the day off. I got the call from my doctor's office yesterday afternoon informing me that I had failed my test.

Major bummer.

So, tomorrow morning, I get to go do it again. Only this time, instead of drinking the solution and waiting one hour for them to draw my blood, I get to have my blood drawn right away, drink the solution and then get my blood drawn every hour (on the hour) after that for 3 hours. That's 4 blood draws in 3 hours. Good thing I don't have a problem with needles! (Or blood, for that matter).

I really hope that I'm not diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was told on the phone yesterday that they definitely weren't sure if I had it, which is why we're doing the 3 hour test. They look for your reading to be 140 or less. I read at 175. Apparently, if you reach a certain number, they stop testing you and you're automatically put on a special diet. I've already given up tuna and deli sandwiches...please don't take away milkshakes, too!

I'm not really complaining. I know this is important and I'm taking it seriously, but I'm not worried about it. If it turns out that I have it, I'll deal with it. I've been really lucky so far with my pregnancy and I have really enjoyed being pregnant. Up to this point, I have dodged so many things that other people have to deal with and for that I feel really lucky.

I have also started having some Braxton Hicks contractions. Boy, is that a reminder of what is coming soon! It just gets more and more real everyday. Love it!

Wish me luck tomorrow!

25 weeks!

I've had some people ask me lately to post a picture of my baby bump. Here is the first one! I'm almost 26 weeks along and I'm feeling really good. I'm a bit tired when I come home from work these days so I've been taking more naps in the afternoons. I only have 4 more weeks of work until summer break. I'm really looking forward to the time off!

Everything has been going really well with us. Last Monday, Lance was able to feel Logan move for the first time. It was so great for him to finally feel him move. He has been moving quite a bit. I think we're going to have a very active baby! My doctor even commented on how active he is. I've really enjoyed my pregnancy so far. I've been very lucky when it comes to so many things. My doctor is monitoring my blood pressure but after increasing one of my meds two weeks ago, she seems to be happier with my readings. I'm going to do my glucose test this Friday. Wish me luck!

Lance and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary last Tuesday. We decided to keep it low key and go to dinner at BJ's Brewhouse. Lance bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a Wolverine birthday card. Yes...a Wolverine BIRTHDAY card. It was awesome! He said it was because the store was out of anniversary cards. He didn't even need to give me an explanation. I thought it was pretty funny.

Freyja

Puppy Love

A quick update

Today I had a follow up appointment at my OB-GYN office to check my blood pressure. It was quite high at my last appointment so they wanted me to come in to see how it was doing two weeks later. My initial reading today was high at 160/90. We talked for a few minutes and then she told me to lay down so I could listen to the baby's heartbeat. I sat back up and after a couple more minutes, she took my blood pressure again. It went down to 140/82. Still a little high but much better! She consulted with another doctor in the office and they decided not to bump up my meds at this time. I gave her the rundown of how my readings have been over the last 2 weeks and since it hasn't been consistently high, they don't want to mess with my meds just yet. We wouldn't want my blood pressure to get too low, especially since my bottom number has been overwhelmingly good lately. I have another appointment with them in 2 weeks. This appointment will be for my 22 week check up and they will see how my blood pressure is doing then.

Tomorrow is the big day! As long as baby cooperates, we should know tomorrow afternoon whether we're having a boy or a girl! I couldn't be more excited.

Spring Break!

I really thought that this week was never going to come. Life has been crazy over the last couple of weeks for me. I have been super stressed about some things that have transpired in my life, although they have nothing to do with my home or family. Hopefully, some things will be resolved in the next couple of months. Until then, I keep looking forward to these wonderful breaks!

Lance and I had our 18 week appointment on March 24th. Everything checked out great! We got to hear the baby's heartbeat and all seems well. Bre was able to go with us to that appointment, so it was really neat for her to get to experience that as well. I had only gained 2 1/2 pounds since my 10 week appointment. I just don't have the appetite I did before getting pregnant. My blood pressure was quite high, though. It read at 160/96, which happens to be a new record for me. Instead of waiting to see my OB-GYN at 22 weeks, she is having me come back next week for a blood pressure check to see how it's doing. I have been taking my blood pressure everyday since my last appointment and it has been quite up and down. It is definitely on the higher side when I'm at work or have just come home from work and much lower when I'm at home. Hmmm.....

Spring Break is going to be a very busy week for us, but in a very good way. I have been waiting for this week to come for so long now and I'm more than thrilled that it is finally here! On Easter, I will head over to my sister's boyfriend's parent's house for dinner with my family. Lance goofed and bought a ticket to go to the comic book convention that day, thinking that Easter was the following weekend. So, we won't get to spend the holiday together. On Monday, we are FINALLY getting our new dishwasher! I never thought I'd be this excited about getting a new dishwasher, but I really am. Oh, to have clean dishes again! I have a doctor appointment on Tuesday to check my blood pressure. I'm also going to a concert with my parents that night. I have two doctor appointments on Wednesday. The first one is my 20 week ultrasound where we will (hopefully!) find out if we're having a boy or a girl. Lets hope that baby cooperates! The afternoon appointment is for a Fetal Echo. They are doing this as a precaution. Lance and I are leaving town on Thursday and going up to Eureka for a couple of days. We have never been up that way before and we're really looking forward to just getting out of town for a relaxing and fun little getaway. Boy, can we both use it right now!

So....what's your guess?