26 Weeks Babycakes!

Okay, little girlie, you are getting bigger and stronger by the day....and I can feel it!  Now if your Cousin Kiara would feel it, that would be perfect!  Everyone here in Illinois has felt you kick now (Pa, Mimi, Aunt Nikki)....but not Kiara yet and she wants to feel you so bad!  You are kicking away right now, the problem is, you are a night owl when it comes to your kicking, and Kiara is already in bed!  We got a couple more days baby girl, so time is short!


I have lots to share this week about Illinois, but first, here's all about you....


You should be around 14 inches long and anywhere from 2 - 2.5 pounds.  We go in next week for an ultrasound, so I can't wait to get your true measurements!


After a month of having your eyelids sealed shut, you now begin to open your eyes again this week. Your eyes are almost completely developed. Your eyes are blue in there in the womb and may change colors later in life. This is true for all races because the pupils do not have their final color until a few months after birth. However, some babies are born with darker or lighter shades of blue. You will continue to put on layers of fat until you are born. You are still lean at this point of the pregnancy though. By the time you are born though, you will assume the typical newborn's plumpness. Your skin is still wrinkled and red, but the fat continues to fill your skin out. 

Finger and toe nails continue to grow and blood vessels start to develop in your lungs to prepare you for life outside the uterus.  By the end of this week, your air sacs will be developed enough to function out here in the real world

Your blood circulation is completely functional. Your umbilical cord system continues to grow and thicken as blood travels with considerable force through your body to nurture you. My placenta is now almost equal in size to you. 

Even though it is still way too soon for you to be born yet, the chance of survival is up to 85% and the chance of survival without severe abnormalities is now 70%.  Your odds are getting better and better!


My feet are swelling on a regular basis...and that trip from AZ to IL really did a number on my feet!  Whew!  You should've seen them after I got off the plane.  Luckily, sleeping at night kind of "resets" them for the next day and then towards the end of the day they are puffy again.


Your Daddy and I flew to IL this past Friday and got to first eat lunch with Pa, Aunt Nikki and your Cousin Vera (Kiara was in school)...then we got to go pick up Kiara at school and surprise her!  She didn't think we would be there yet, so she quickly realized it was your Daddy and I standing there after school let out and was shocked.  Of course, she came and gave us big hugs and we hung out with them for a while until your Uncle Ryan came home and we went to Pa and Mimi's for dinner.  The next day was full of swimming (and sleeping in, your Daddy and I were TIRED)...and getting ready for your shower the next day.  


Speaking of that...your shower was AMAZING!  Did you know that there were 62 people there?  Yikes!  There were so many family and friends and it was a little hectic to try to talk to everyone, but it was so worth it.  See baby girl, so many people love you already!  I wish I had pictures of all the cute clothes and gifts you got too, but I don't.  Just trust me though, you are going to be one well-dressed little girlie!  Your Mimi really outdid herself getting ready for everyone to be there, and then feeding everyone and making sure everyone had a seat even...your Pa was awesome helping with all of that too.  And then your Aunt Nikki planned the event so well too...overall, it was just a great day.  Exhausting, but great.  I'm sure you felt many hands on you throughout the day...lots of belly-touchers and I loved it!  =)


Your Daddy left yesterday and he's busy taking care of your Sisters all by himself back in AZ.  He's such a good Daddy.   I'm really missing him a bunch...but I love that I get to stay here and see even more family and friends.  Like today, I got to see an old friend from grade school, another old co-worker and then I am spending the night with your Aunt Nikki and Cousins tonight...so I got to spend a couple hours with Vera and Kiara before they went to bed.  Still to come this week will be seeing an old college friend and see your great grandmas and grandpa one more time....then Pa and Mimi fly back with me to AZ for a little vacation themselves.


Here are a few pictures I have of the trip....I think I need to get better at taking pictures...I should have a TON more than this!

Sweet girls at the pool

Kiara playing with bean bags after pool time

I think Vera was throwing a bean bag to Mimi in this picture

Your Daddy and Cousins posing while playing bags....and a set of bunny ears too!

Vera was WOUND UP today when I got to their house...the only reason this is a good picture is because she didn't know I was snapping pictures!

Your Aunt and Vera - she's not so happy with me taking pictures anymore!

So, I came up with a game to get her to take a picture with me...I "push the button" first....and then....

...she gets to "push the button".  Whatever works to get her to pose for a picture!

Kiara and her American Girl Doll with the crazy hair!

Posing with their chairs...I painted Kiara's chair years ago, so this trip I got to finally paint a chair for Vera too!

Baby girl, you are kicking away right now in there!  Save some of those to share with your Cousin Kiara tomorrow and the next day, okay?  Love you girlie!

Two Thumbs Up Today!

The back of a healthy eye

Hey baby girl...I got a little news I thought I would share.  I went to the ophthalmologist's office today and two good things happened.

First thumbs up - He didn't have to dilate my eyes!  This is a small victory in my eyes (no pun intended, wait...yeah, pun intended!)  because the dilation takes five hours to wear off.  This means that your Mommy is walking around (especially the first several hours) like there is an intense bright light shining on everything she comes in contact with - and that's with sunglasses on even!  And forget about trying to read anything up close.  Driving...yeah, another story too...probably shouldn't be doing that after I leave the office, but I always seem to make it home.  =)  Regardless of that, he didn't dilate my eyes today for the pictures he takes of the back of my eyes because he has a camera that would work without it (and my eyes were fairly dilated on their own in the dark) and because he doesn't like to give drugs (if not absolutely necessary) to pregnant mamas.  And as small as the dilation drops may seem, it was nice to have him concerned about that for us.  Plus, he got great pictures of the back of my eyes without them (just like he said he could!).  So, score one for team Mommy/Avery with this one!

Second thumbs up - The pictures of the back of my eyes (think a million tiny blood vessels running all over the place - see picture above) look 100% healthy.  This is a worrisome area for diabetics (especially since I am going on 24 years with this disease)...and now with being prego with you...I worry even more because of all the extra blood flow.  Prego diabetics eyes have a tendency to get worse just with pregnancy alone (even with really good control).  At my appointment a year ago, I actually even had a tiny bleeding spot (very, very mild retinopathy) that was completely healed up and gone.  Woohoo!  Healthy eyes also mean that I will have to issues giving birth to you vaginally, at least as far as the health of my eyes are concerned.

Good news Girlfriend!  Just thought I would share.  You have taken a couple days off of being super active in my belly (which always worries me a little and shouldn't...plus I have been super duper busy that last couple days, so maybe I just haven't felt you as much)...but today you are back kicking away like your old Kung Fu self!

We fly out tomorrow to see everyone in Illinois....can't wait for them all to touch my belly (you!).  =)

What's a Rutabaga? 25 Weeks!

My little baby girl...we are another week along...with the few weeks ahead full of STUFF that I am so excited about...so maybe they will fly by (but I am truly doing my best savoring each moment of pregnancy...promise!).  Speaking of that, your Daddy was talking about how cute you were over dinner last night...looking at that last 3D picture of you and your cute little cheeks and nose.  We both sometimes just can't stand it!  We want to have you at the dinner table with us...with us not being able to eat our own food because we have to take care of you.  Or shoving our food down real fast so that I can hold you while your Daddy eats and vice-versa.  In other words...we are ready for you!  I always have known that I would LOVE being pregnant.  Not sure why, but I have and I am so glad that it turned out as true!  But I never anticipated the ANTICIPATION.  Loving the "being pregnant" part...and then on the whole other side of the coin, the "waiting for the surprise" piece is killing me.  I have NEVER been good at waiting for surprises or patience, for that matter. So, when this is THE BIGGEST SURPRISE my life has ever known up 'til now....it is just plain excrutiating to wait!  Whew...okay, just had to get that off my chest and out there for you!  I feel better now, well...at least for the moment I guess!  =)

So...here's the scoop on you this week.  As you will begin to tell, you are going to get more and more boring as the weeks progress...because you are so fully formed at this point with just a little fattening up and lung development left (okay, and a few more things probably too)!  And as boring as that is, that makes me a lot more comfortable from this point on!

Like I said above, you are now pretty well built portion wise even though you don't have a lot of body fat and your skin is thin. The structures of your spine begin to form -- All 33 rings, 150 joints and 1000 ligaments. Your tiny brain is growing rapidly, and your are starting to fill the space in my uterus. Speaking of uterus, it is now about the size of a soccer ball!  Really?  Just imagining a soccer ball in my tummy where you are is crazy.

"They" also tell me that your hands are now fully developed, although some of the nerve connections to your hands have a long way to go (okay, so I guess it's not just your lungs and fat after all). Dexterity is improving. You can make a fist and clasp objects placed in palm. "They" tell me as well that your prime entertainment now is exploring the structures inside my soccer ball of a uterus.You are fascinated by simple stimulation that you provide yourself; you touch a hand to your face, one hand to the other hand, you clasp your feet, touch your foot to your leg, your hand to your umbilical cord.  In other words, you are a master at keep yourself busy and playing by yourself!

You are around 13-14 inches in length (head to toe) and weigh over 1.5 pounds.  If I had to guess, I'd say you are closer to 2 pounds at this point, since all of the "theys" out there seems to measure babies' growth a little lower than what ultrasounds actually give you for weight.  And drumroll please......you are the size of a rutabaga!  Yep, I had no idea what that was either, so I found a picture.  Still, the picture didn't help me out.  I guess it's a variety of a turnip.  I feel really bad comparing you to this ugly thing, but know that your Mommy and Daddy know that you are already waaaay cuter than this chunky, white, hairy thing to the right.  The only comparison is on the weight...promise!  =)

I am feeling great - the only complaints I have are my feet get a little swollen at night, so I am learning to slow down a little bit and exercise in the pool more so that can be helped.  Also, I have a few heart flutters, which feels a little scary, but all the docs say this is normal since there is so much additional blood pumping through my system now.  This girl can't complain though...I've had it easy!

By the way, Avery Jo...we have no worries that you will be a girl that can stand up for yourself!  You may even be some kind of Tae Kwon Do expert in your time!  You were kicking the heck out of my tummy last night and my belly was bouncing with it.  One time, the kick looked SO big, and I only caught it out of the corner of my eye - so I can imagine if I saw it straight on how amazing it would have looked!  And you were so reactionary last night too - we were tapping on my belly here and there and you would kick us right back!  It's so much fun to play with you!

Several things to tell you about this week baby girl.  First, I had a doc appt. last Thursday.  All went well.  (I got a "You rock!" from the doc when they saw my latest 5.7 A1C!).  Talked through the "hole in your heart" mini-scare from several weeks back and since this was a different doc, she looked through the report and saw ZERO mention of it at all...which is great...just what your Mommy wanted to hear.  We also talked about you and what their procedures are for delivery.  For example, I have an opthamologist appointment this week (because I had mild retinopathy listed on my last eye exam) to see if that is still the case or has gotten worse.  If it has gotten to a severe point, then they would schedule a c-section between 37-38 weeks to get you out of there so I don't have a "threat" of pushing (could make the little blood vessels in the back of my eyes really bad).  But, that is only if it is severe, I guess.  So, say that my eyes are in decent shape, my doctor's group has me come in at 39 weeks (Nov. 30) and get an ultrasound to measure your size (of your abdomen and shoulders).  If those measure normal size then they induce me, if not, they will take you by c-section.  I love the fact that you will be here a week early for sure (see my pathetic, "can't wait for baby" rant above!), I just don't know how I feel about being induced.  I haven't ever heard the best stories about the labor after inducement, but it's just one of those things.  I realize that I want you out as healthy as possible (and I trust God)...so, both of those together means that I just have to wait and see...and know that God gave my doctors smart brains for a reason.  Of course if something doesn't feel right to your Daddy and I on the big day, we will insert our opinions, but for the most part, I'm trusting the doctors.  That's always been my style anyway.   Now, getting your Pa and Mimi out here (and hopefully your Aunt Nikki and Cousin Kiara too!) to be here for the big time will be a little tricky since we need to schedule flights and don't know exactly when you're coming.  I am supposing that God will work that one out too!  =)  I have that opthamologist apointment on Thursday, so maybe we will know at that point more...and then again maybe not!

Also, just got off the phone with Val (who is the lady that is certified with pump/CGM stuff and analyzes all my blood sugars and tells me what changes to make).  She really does a lot of work for us.  Every week (or lately it's been every 4-5 days) she looks at the download from my CGM and calls and we talk about changes needed.  We are getting to that time where every 4-5 days I need to up my insulin either with my basal rates (overnight has been the biggest pain in my butt!) or my sensitivity factor (how sensitive my body is to the insulin I put in)...or with my carb to insulin ratios (when I eat a meal how much insulin I give for that meal).  ALLLLLLL of these things are completely normal at this stage in the game (Val assures me a lot about that!) and it actually shows that my placenta is functioning correctly for you in there.  A healthy placenta starts making bodies resist insulin midway through second trimester and it just resists more and more until you are born.  So, as annoying and frustrating as it is to never seem to have my blood sugars figured out anymore, the good part is that this is completely normal and even healthy.  Basically, this is my life for the next 14 weeks - look at my blood sugar patterns and tweak/change basal rates, sensitivity factors and carb ratios - all looks good for two days - see another pattern develop over the next 2-3 days where I am going higher at certain times - repeat the analyzation step again and start over!  I just stay on top of it all, that's my job of course.  And it definitely doesn't hurt to have someone like Val (and the rest of the docs) on our side, willing to stay up late looking at my blood sugars and analyzing them, talk to me on the phone for 30 minutes every several days to explain changes, and then that doesn't even count all the emails and thoughts in between that they put in to make us as healthy as possible!  Val thinks I'm an overachiever and am basically working too hard - I need to trust my pump/CGM more (like I explained weeks ago, this thing is so smart with all the algorithims the brainiacs at Medtronic use to figure out how my blood sugars should "land" after insulin is given, based on how much insulin is in my system already, my sensitivity factors, basal rates and carb ratios set, etc. etc. - let's just say my pump is smart!)...and let it do it's job, instead of taking over and making corrections.  SO VERY HARD FOR ME...but I have seen many times where Val is right...my blood sugars went too low 3-4 hours later after I overrided the correction the pump wanted to give me because I didn't think it was enough.  It's just so hard for me to see a high number and I want it down quick so you aren't affected...and then it usually comes crashing down instead and that affects you too.  It's just a new mental place for me to get to...to trust the pump and let it do it's thing...and then, I can relax a little more and not overwork my own brain.

Okay, so here's something fun.  Your Sisters, Daddy and I all did an art project for you last weekend!  We had these big wood pieces that your Daddy cut into "polka dots" to put on your wall for decoration in your room.  And we each got to design one ourselves with paint...just for you!  I also made some smaller polka dots with the letters to your name on them to put on your wall too.  Your Sisters did so good (and your Daddy's is way cool too)!  I love what they did...and I can't wait to walk you around the room and look at them with you and tell you about their art and what they made!  I took some pictures of our painting time and finished product below.

Beginning of the design - working hard!

They are designing away and I am having a creative roadblock - so I started with your name on small circles first

Megan's starting with a palm tree!

Kyndall has a pretty flower for you!

Megan's finished product - looks like a great scene to me!

Kyndall's flower - so cool and pretty at the same time!

Your Daddy's piece of art for you - pretty cool, right?

I finally pushed through the creative wall and did this for you!

These are the tiny polka dots that will hang on your wall!

I can't wait to see them on your walls - hopefully in a couple days they will be up - and I will post some more pics of them on the wall for you.

The next few weeks are fully of busyness - and we are so excited about it!  Your Daddy and I leave to go to Illinois to see family and then a shower for you!  It sounds like there is going to be a lot of family and friends there, so we are praying for good weather!  We are so looking forward to this time there!  Your Aunt and Mimi (and Pa too!) put a lot of work into planning and getting stuff ready for us and I am so thankful for them.  I get to stay through the week to visit more with family and friends (can't wait to see your Cousins Kiara and Vera!!!!)...and then, your Pa and Mimi fly back with me and stay out here in AZ for 10 days! Woohoo!  They get to come to your next ultrasound appointment, see Kyndall's first cross country meet in Flagstaff, be here for Megan's 13th birthday party (with a bunch of crazy Jr. High girls!), and then also see you again at a special 3D/4D ultrasound we have set up (we will get a bunch of great pictures AND video to post on here later!).  By the time all of that is through, I will be in the 3rd trimester already!

We can't wait to see everyone and show you off - no one has ever seen me with a prego belly - so this should be fun for all!  Don't be surprised if you feel a lot of touching and pushing on you in the next couple weeks - I know that a lot of people will want to feel you kick - so just do what you do best!  I love you AJ!

24 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe it?  I can't - it's already 24 weeks!  You are growing like a weed and kicking like a Kung Fu master!  And I love it all!

This is another big week for you, my magical growing baby! Just take a look at your checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; and 3) lungs walls: secreting “surfactant”. What’s that? Well, surfactant is sort of what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat whose main purpose is to assist the your little lungs during inflation (as in, filling with air, not getting more expensive). Just in case you’re curious, you are still breathing in amniotic fluid, preparing and rehearsing your lungs for an oxygen-filled life outside the womb. You should be weighing around 1.5 lbs or so and come in at 11-12 inches long. You, my little cutie-patootie, may even be a little more plump, but you aren't anywhere near the full baby-fatted cute-self that we get to eventually see!  Most of the “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited third trimester. Only a few weeks away from that! Woo-hoo! Get ready!

Your Mommy is feeling larger FOR SURE!  Sometimes your Daddy looks at me and goes, "Wow, babe...you're getting really pregnant!".  And he means that in a very good way.  I love looking pregnant...and even still, I "wow" my own self in the mirror!  Especially when I flip from looking at my body from the front angle and then turn to the side...I go from not prego to prego in a second! 

I have slowed down on the running - I think it's been a week or so since I got on the treadmill.  I have been biking instead (have a $5 bike we got from a garage sale a long time ago!), and I can get my heart rate up to a good level on that.  Plus, I can read a book while I pedal - nothing like multi-tasking to make me forget I'm working out!  And the awesome book I just read ("A Time to Dance" by Karen Kingsbury - the first book I have read by her and it WON'T be the last - got another one coming from the library already!) made the time bearable too.  I am more winded than I ever have been...I guess the belly helps with that.  I may try getting on the treadmill again here soon - this week I have not been motivated to work out for some reason - last week was great though.  I don't think I've skipped a week (doing at least 3 or more work outs a week) since I was pregnant with you!

Okay, let's talk about your kicking for a minute here....LOVE IT!  I am wondering if I am always going to love this, say, in like eight weeks from now?  Or, is this all so new to me that I feel like it could never get annoying?  Sometimes with how hard you have been kicking (and twisting and turning and dancing and rolling) in there I get a little nervous to what it's going to be like in several weeks from now!  Your Daddy has felt you several times, now we just need to get your Sisters to feel it too.  You seem to be getting on a schedule now - pretty active in the morning after I have my 1/2 Caff coffee, after each meal you squirm around a bit, then...at night before bed between 9-10pm you are on a roll (literally) again.  Oh, and if I have a full bladder, you like to dance on it...I get these weird pressure pushes every so often.  Some days (like yesterday and today so far) you are a little quieter...I feel you here and there...but I think either 1) I am so busy, being up and around that I don't sit long enough to notice your turning and twisting or 2) I have a feeling that you turn with your back to the front of my tummy sometimes and so your little legs and arms and towards the back instead of my tummy so I don't feel that same feeling.  Another new feeling is putting my hand to my belly and ever-so-slightly feeling your heart beat (I think).  I can definitely feel mine (since lately it feels like my heart has taken up a new residence in my gut since it's such a strong beat in my tummy!)....and it's not mine that I am feeling.  It is a very light rapid tapping.  Unless I am imagining it there...which is entirely possible too!

I am also feeling like all my insides are getting pushed upwards (for a very good cause!).  Like, someone took a big rubber band and put it right under my chest (and right above the top of you) and started squeezing.  My lungs, stomach and heart feel all scrunched together.  And I am sure that is probably exactly what's happening too!  Even my sinuses and head feel pushed on more, like the pushing up of all my organs is getting into my head too.  The oil slick of my skin seems to have lessened a bit - or that new powder I bought is masking the spring of oil instead.  Either way...works for me!

Your Sisters are back to school!  This week is always so busy and overwhelming for me - getting back into the routine, papers need signed, classes organized, more school supplies bought, etc.  Plus, Kyndall is in cross country this year, so we take her to practice at 5:15am each morning (and Saturdays, mind you!)...then Megan goes around 7:45am.  Today, Kyndall forgot her shoes (because she has to take a shower and get ready for school there after practice), so there was another trip to school at 7:15am for me.  And on Mondays and Wednesdays she has ANOTHER practice after school until 3:45pm.  Yikes...this girl is either going to waste away to nothing or collapse I think!  She loves it though...and as much as she had NEVER (I repeat, never) run in her life before this summer and so is battling a few injuries, she's really doing well with it!  Better than your Mommy would and I ran track all through Jr. High and High School!  We had a parent get together last weekend for cross country and even with Kyndall not being able to use her full potential yet because of the injuries, the coaches seem to be really impressed by her.  And that warms your Mommy's heart.  Because it's more than just her being a good runner - they see that she has drive and dedication to this sport - when no one is making her do any of this.  Megan just got a new hair cut (wish I had a picture to show you!) and looks absolutely adorable (like that's any different than normal though!).  She is pretty pumped about 8th grade - feels "cool" I think because she is the big dog on campus now at the Jr. High.  She was in basketball last year, but at this point it sounds like she is going to skip basketball and do a lot of clubs at school.  And that is a-okay with your Daddy and I - she did great for a year and tried it - it's not everyone's cup of tea.  She does have her old basketball coach for Math this year - so we'll see if Miss B can convince her to try out before the season starts.  Either way, we are just so happy to have them as our girls (and your Sisters!).  They are the best things ever....which makes me that much more excited to think about you all THREE being together finally.  Wow, baby girl, I can't wait!

Your Mommy and Daddy got some new "toys" this past weekend.  First, my laptop went  out a couple weeks ago...not good...but I managed without it for a while and made do.  We looked at new laptops, but everything just seemed too expensive for us right now.  Every so often I check a website (http://www.woot.com/), which has a deal a day and they had a little netbook for sale for a great deal.  We ordered it and got it in the mail the other day and I am typing on it right now!  So far, so great!  Here's the little thing....

It's a tiny little thing, isn't it?

And then, your Daddy has been really into finding old LP's lately (yes, these "forms of music" will be like 100 times removed from whatever we listen to music on when you are older...but living in this house, I have a feeling you will always know old school music and LP's).  We started in Colorado at an antique shop finding a couple cool albums...and now, we have found a few places around here that sell used albums.  Your Daddy's favorite albums we have found are The Commodores, Yaz, and Billy Joel Greatest Hits.  For me - my favs are the Footloose soundtrack (hello, your Mommy's favorite karaoke song is on there - and yes - you will be karaoking by the age of 2) and Top Gun soundtrack.  Oh, we even found Michael Jackson's Thriller album and it's in great shape too!  Here's a picture of your Daddy's new favorite thing to do!

Also, some of your Daddy's old friends, Shawn and Dorene sent us some cute clothes for you!   I had to take a few pictures and show off your stuff!  You are so spoiled already!

Could this get any cuter?  A tutu dress for you! I love tutus!

Little sleeper with ruffles down your chest and belly (and can you see the little feet look like you have pink strappy shoes on?).....and the best part is......

...the pants have ruffles on your bum!  And we all know that your Mommy loves ruffles on the bum (for you, not me!)

Last, but not least, my tummy pictures for the month.  I am going to post a bare belly one again this week...but this may be the last month for it...my belly is just a little too, well, big and weird looking nowadays when bared.  =)  So, I'll also post one with my tummy covered - how clothes are fitting me now - since there's no need to raise my shirt up anymore to know that I have a belly under there!  And, I my tummy looks super cute with clothes on!

This is an old one - 20 weeks

Here's your Mommy now!  Told you both you and I were growing like weeds!

And here's me with my belly covered...how I'd look walking down the street.  I seem waaaay smaller with clothes on for some reason!

Yes, my arms are above my head, because...well...it's really difficult trying to figure out where to put them for these belly pictures!

Little girlie...I love you sooooo much.  At 24 weeks you are now officially considered a viable baby (and have a greater than 50% chance of surviving if born today!), although you've been viable from Day 1 for your Daddy and I.  My love for you already amazes me.  I can't imagine how much stronger that will be once you are in our arms, grab on to our fingers with your little hand, coo and giggle at us, wear some of these amazingly adorable clothes (with ruffle bums!), and just begin to be you and snuggle up to us.  For now, this love is incredible and I am thoroughly enjoying every single day with you.  Kick me if you feel the same way.  Ooooh....good one.

23 weeks - We Are Rolling Along!

My little bitty baby girl - I am so happy that you are in my belly.  You literally have no idea how happy it makes me.  And even as we are creeping up with the weeks you are in my belly, can your delivery date just get here already?  I find myself staring at your 3D picture (that I posted last post) and just imagine you in real baby form.  Your picture is on my phone, so that makes it a good time killer whenenver I need one!  I have never ever been good with patience - so this is a true test for me.  And I know, I know...everyone tells me to enjoy this time...and I am enjoying it, promise.  It's so fun to feel you like a wiggly worm all inside my belly nowadays and to show off my baby bump (and to park in the "Pregnant Ladies Only" parking spots at stores!)....buuuuut....can you just be in my arms already????? I am just impatient, I know this.  I just can't wait to hold you is all.  Your Daddy can't wait to smell you - he's really looking forward to your baby smell.  Don't tell him I told you this, but he likes to smell your tiny little diapers and baby powder that we have in your room sometimes.  I can't wait to see him with you in his arms!  Oh, and guess what?!  We SAW you kick the other day!  Your Daddy was trying to feel you and then took his hand away and right then my belly did a big BUMP.  We both were shocked!

I find myself wondering what you are doing in my belly.  What kind of thoughts you already have.  Are you bored?  Or are you content just sucking on your thumb, arm, hand, whatever and drinking in that amniotic fluid all day long?  I wonder what it feels like to do certain activities with me.  Like...how's it feel when I am working out?  Can you tell that I am sweating?  Do you feel my heart rate pounding faster and louder?  Or how about when your Daddy and I are talking, or your sisters are around and we are all laughing and talking - do you know their voices already too?  Or, how about (like just now) when your Daddy makes me laugh so hard (acting like monkey - you'll see soon enough!) that I cry - do you feel like I am trying to shake you up?  I hope you know it's happy shaking feeling and not a bad one!  Or what about the days that I feel like I am going non-stop - grocery store, doc appt., picking your sisters up, dropping them off, etc. - do you know that's what's going on?  Can you tell a difference from a more relaxing day?  Or what about when I am swimming in the pool - it's supposed to be the best exercise and the best way to combat any swelling - can you feel a difference when you are under water, or is it all the same to you?  These are things that I will never know and certainly don't remember for myself!  So, it will just be what it is - a bunch of things I wonder about during the day until you are born!

 Here are some things that I do know about you this week:

Your are positively HUGE, a whopping 1 - 1..5 pounds! That is quite an accomplishment for someone that used to weigh less than one ounce. You are the size of a papaya "they" say (although to me that doesn't seem too big) or the size of a smaller baby doll that your cousin Vera is probably dragging around by the hair as I write this!  =)  And you should now be about 11 inches long!

You do a regular 'workout' inside my womb. You turn from side to side and head over heels. Thanks to a fully developed inner ear, which controls your balance, you may have a sense of whether you are upside-down or right side up in the womb.

Your skin pigment is now forming too. You are now proportioned like a newborn except you are a thinner version of you since your baby fat has not developed much yet.

Your pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. You have begun producing insulin, even more so now, which is important for the breakdown of sugars (thanks for helping your Mama out with this one because I obviously don't have a pancreas that works like yours does!).

This week your nostrils will open and the enamel that will cover your teeth is forming. Surfactant, which is a substance that helps the lungs expand after birth, has begun to develop and the air sacs inside your lungs are growing. All the nerve cells are all in place now and will begin to join together to fully form a nervous system.

I have found that breathlessness is definitely kicking in for me this week!  Just going up the stairs is a small chore!  I usually have to take a moment to regroup once I am up the stairs before I can carry on intelligible conversation.  I cleaned for several hours the other morning and was I tired that night!  My back is feeling it more and more too.  The more sore my back is, the more my belly (you!) sticks out because my back is worn out.  It just means you are getting bigger!  So, keep it up!

I didn't know whether to include this next part or not - but in an effort to be honest and real about my feelings through having you in my belly - it is something that I now think about.  I have started to wonder what might happen if you were to be born prematurely. "They" say that a baby born between 23 and 24 weeks would have a 10 to 70 percent chance of survival. It truly depends on a number of factors that have to be taken into consideration.

There are babies that are born at one pound that beat the odds and go on to live a fairly normal life, while others unfortunately die due to unexpected complications. The smallest babies may survive but grow up with some mental or motor disabilities as a result of their extreme prematurity.

Here's the bottom line for me - every day that you stay in my womb at this point forward increases your survival rate by approximately 3 percent during weeks 23 and 26. And then generally after 26 weeks the survival rate jumps to 80-90 percent.  I've also read after 30 weeks, your chances of mental or motor disabilities reduce almost completely.

So, as much as I say that I want you in my arms now, I don't really mean that literally.  I want you in there as long as God thinks is His Plan for you.  We are just now at the point where you are a viable fetus - meaning BABY - so that is in a way exciting.  We haven't been able to think that way about you yet in this process - and now there is a chance of survival that increases every day!  So, in a weird way, it's an exciting time for us, but also scary too.  I'll gladly wait another 14-17 weeks to see you to get you as healthy as possible, but it's nice to know that you can possibly survive if something were to go wrong at this point.

ALL THAT SAID - I am learning to give this God - like, literally as we speak.  I have a tendency to want to create all these "short goals" for us - like, 23-24 weeks is the first goal - the point of viability, then 26 weeks is the next goal because your odds of living go up so much at that point.  30 weeks is the next because of the reduced chance of disabilities, etc. etc.  And sometimes I just need to stop!  And let God have it all. I was reminded this week during a study of the book of Esther in The Bible (with my friend Amy) of this very thing.  Even when there is perceived evil done and satan appears to be in control - HE IS NOT.  God has a calendar and a timing for everything.  I may not agree with the timing, but thank goodness I am not god because I don't know a sliver of what our God knows!  I'd be making decisions based purely on selfish motives and lack of information!  And that's not the way to make important decisions.  So I give you, Avery Jo, to God - all of you - your little heart, your mind, your body, your due date, your health, your path in life, everything.

I feel like I have probably made no sense and gone around the block a million times with this blog today, but instead of going back and trying to edit them to make sense, I'm just going to let them be...because this is EXACTLY what is going through my brain right now.  And it just may be the laugh I (and you) need one day many years from now when we are going back through my blog!  Love you AJ.

Fetal Echo Sonogram - AND - More Pics of You!!!!!

I'll start off with the wonderful pics of you!

Your adorable profile pic at 22 weeks 2 days - you always seem to be looking up at the "light" above!  I wonder what you are seeing in there!

3D pic of you - hands to your face which is what you seem to like lately!  Your Daddy and Sis (Kyndall) think that your mouth, cheeks and nose look like me already!

We went in for a check of your heart and we got a few extras on the side!  She even measured you again and you weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces!  That's the weight of a 20 oz bottle of water!  Your Daddy and I picked a bottle of water up tonight to see how heavy it felt and it was kind of crazy that you were that heavy in my belly!  I thought your weight was a little high for 22 weeks, but the doc looked at the percentile growth charts and you are at 54%, which is right in the middle!  So nice to hear for this diabetic mama of yours!  You had your hands to your face the whole time - your hands were either in praying position (I guess God is already answering MY prayers for you!), you were sucking on your thumb or arm, or your hands were to your face in general.  It seems that you are really exploring and experimenting with your sense of touch and taste right now!

There was only one slightly "off" thing that happened.  The doctor came in to do his normal check after the tech did hers (and this was after 20 mins each of studying your little heart beating - in super slow motion, with red and blue colors of your blood going in and out of your heart and everything in between!)...and when he was through he said everything looked good, just couldn't get a final view that he wanted, but as he was saying that, he did see the angle a bit better.  He then said the tech had just a little question about a spot on the heart that could be a hole (yes, a hole...Mommy started freaking out in her own mind right about here!), but the doc couldn't see a hole and he thought you had a healthy, normal heart.  Whew!  But, he still threw out the word "hole" and talking about your little heart!  So, I asked a few questions, like, what would that mean if you did have a hole in your heart (yikes, still sounds crazy to me!)...and he said that it would most likely not be there by the time you were born...and if it was, would most likely heal itself after birth.  Double whew!  He then said again, you have a healthy, normal heart.  Triple whew!  I know that docs have to be extra careful, as do the techs, especially with high risk patients like me.  So this is standard and normal, I'm sure.

I belong to a website called Babycenter.com and there is an ultrasound tech (for a high-risk pregnancy doc even) on one of the boards that answers a lot of questions (and even double-confirmed that your gender pictures were indeed absolutley "girly" once we found that new information out a few weeks back!).  Anyway, I told her all about what happened today and asked for her perspective on this whole hole-in-the-heart fetal echo sonogram find...and what it would mean to her...especially after our doc said you had a healthy heart in the end.  Here is here response (and this is being posted mainly so your Mommy can go back and look at this for reassurance as often as she wants!):

"Don't worry another second about your exam...if possible. The heart is VERY difficult to image...very! It can be close to impossible to fully evaluate it in many cases. There are times when we think we see an abnromality but then it can't be reproduced. The law in ultrasound is that we must be able to reproduce something over and over to prove that it is real. There is so much that goes into making an ultrasound look the way it does. We can get fooled by a lot of things. These cardiac defects can be very very hard to detect as well. Sometimes us sonographers are overly cautious and think we see things when in fact after the doc checks things out everything is normal.

It is routine in the office I last worked in (a perinatologist) that he came in and either watched us scanned or scanned himself on every patient....so the fact that the doc came in and looked doesn't mean there is a problem. Also, the heart is better evaluated in live mode so looking at the still images we get gives the docs little info. Sometimes they like to see the live action shot for themselves. Again...doesn't mean there is an issue just means that the doc is a good doctor and thorough!

Trust your doc. He wouldn't tell you things look normal if he had the slightest suspect that something was wrong! They are very cautious when it comes to the fetal heart. The liability is just too high for them.

Don't worry about what ifs....theres no what ifs here! Your baby's heart is healthy!"

A millions "WHEW's!" after I read that!  She is so nice...and I am so thankful to have her give her time to use her expertise on worried mama's like me!

All that to say...I am not spending another thought on any hole's in your heart.  Okay, it may creep in my mind every so often, but I'll shoo it quickly away with the nice ultrasound tech's words she wrote!  They'll keep checking up on you at the doc's office anyway, so no need for me to worry for nothing!

On an extremely COOL note - your Daddy felt you last night with that SUPER hard kick you gave.  We LOVED it.  I feel you a lot now - even when I am sitting in the car driving sometimes - so I am loving every minute of it as well and getting used to this new feeling.  By the way, that was ice cream I ate tonight that you seemed to really be estatic about!  You are already Mommy's kind of girl!  =)  Love you AJ!

22 Weeks - The Week of Seeing YOU!

UPDATE!!!!!

I had to interject before my regularly schedule blog to share some important news.  I just got a call from my doctor's office about my latest Hemoglobin A1C (blood draw that measures my blood sugar control over the past 3 months). The average, non-diabetic person ranges from 4.5-6.5.  My last A1C a month ago was 6.5, which, in my mind was acceptable, but was hoping more towards 6.0.  The call just came in from the doc's office and this time I am down to 5.7!  HELLO!!!!!  I was literally crying tears of joy and screaming when I heard (I'm  sure you heard and felt me, Avery!).  I don't know why hearing this number makes me so emotional, but it does.  I guess it's that I am now classified in the "normal" range...and that makes me feel, well...NORMAL.  I have NEVER had an A1C that low - the lowest ever was 6.2 right after I got on the insulin pump over eight years ago.  I cannot express to you how amazing that makes me feel knowing you are growing inside of me with the best environment I can give you.  God is so good!  I love you baby girl!!!!!

Back to our regularly schedule blog......

Like the title says, Avery Jo, we get to see you twice during week 22...how lucky are we?  Tonight we go for our make up "gender ultrasound" from week 15 where they told us you were a boy.  I'll let you know later if you are still a girl this time around! 

Update:  You are still a GIRL!!!!  Woohoo!  We saw you again and you looked so much bigger!  You had a great shot for the sonographer to check your parts - and she was the same that said you were a boy - and you completely were a girl still!  You were sleeping when we first saw you, and one of your little hands was up by your face like you were resting your head on your hand...and the other across your chest like you were just chillin' out.  So cute!  Unfortunately, the pictures we got were tiny and not great, so no use putting them up here.  Maybe we'll get some on Thursday!

Speaking of Thursday, we will go to look at your heart with a fetal echocardiogram sonogram (say that 10 times fast!).  We are going to have them look at my placenta again, since I have partial placenta previa, which means my placenta is blocking my cervix a little at the last check point - so hopefully it's moved up as my uterus has grown so that isn't an isuue anymore.  You have been a busy little lady this week - here's why:

You have finally broken the one-pound mark!  I don't know why, but this feels like SUCH a milestone for me (and you!)!  I've read in the coming 4-6 weeks you will double in size too!  And you are anywhere from 10-11 inches long too.

This week, you are making more sense of the world as you develop the sense of touch. In fact, your grip is quite developed by now — and since there's nothing else to grab in utero, you may sometimes hold on tight to that umbilical cord (don't worry — it's tough enough to handle it). Your sense of sight is also getting more developed. You can now perceive light and dark much better than before (even with those fused eyelids). But, it's mostly dark for you inside that cozy womb of mine.

Moving up from the eyes, your eyelashes and eyebrows are well formed now — and even more hair is sprouting atop your cute little head. I'd probably be quite surprised, though, if I could see you up close and in color. Hair at this stage of fetal development has no pigment, so it's bright white.  So you'd look like an adorable cute little old baby woman.  Yeah, that's weird, I won't think about that. =)

I am sporting the bump nowadays.  I have noticed that I prefer clothes that hug my nice bumpity bump instead of make a curtain around it.  You are already so cute from the outside, I just love to show you off!  I am also becoming more and more of a grease and oil factory.  My face is an oil-fest and I have pimples arriving in the strangest locations (on my ear LOBES - one on each side, and on the part of my ear where my hair line meets the corner of my ear, closest to my face - again - one on each side - weird!).  I've also have stinging eyes every other day or so, where one of my eyes begins to sting and it doesn't stop until my eye has fully watered and produced enough tears to wash it out and look like I just cried at a Hallmark commercial!  My working theory on this odd thing is that my oil factory of a face has released so much oil lately that it gets in my eyes and they don't like that very much!  Again, weird.  I never had morning sickness or too much of anything 1st trimester, but I do have pimples on my ear lobes and an oily face that could fry potatoes.  It's funny how women's bodies are all different!
 
And here's the BIG NEWS this week!  I feel you wiggling around in my belly now!!!!!  I am 100% sure this is you!  Right at the start of week 21 I thought I felt you and now you are a definite wiggler in there!  I felt you yesterday morning and I held up the fetal doppler to my belly where you were wiggling and right when I heard the squelchy-Avery-just-moved noise that I know so well, I felt you in my tummy too!  So, I have finally connected the "you" feeling in my belly and I love it...even if it's like there's a little alien moving around in there sometimes! (I just won't picture those alien baby sonogram pictures while you are wiggling!)  =)  In fact, I just was laying here and felt you almost thumping away several times and I think (still not sure about this one) I felt you from the outside too with my hand!  I had your Daddy come and feel, but you had settled down by the time his hand got on my belly, so he hasn't felt anything yet.  Can't wait for that day!  I'm trying to down some ice cold water to make you dance some more right now - but it doesn't seem to be working yet.

Just for fun, I'm sharing below a 15 second video clip that I found on YouTube this week.  The second is even crazier - Megan and I were watching and were scared the baby was coming out of the belly right then because it was moving so much!  I love feeling you move in there - but not sure I'm ready for this!  =)

Please Note:  These are NOT my belly (or you)! (Just in case there was any confusion!)

Baby Moving In Belly

Another Crazy Moving Belly
 
I did go to the doctor last week - met another one of the partners of the group - and really liked her a lot.  She made me feel like I was doing all I could, even when I had some crazy blood sugar readings in Colorado.  My numbers have been pretty good lately, so that makes your Mommy happy.
 
I saw the CDE yesterday too (Certified Diabetes Educator).  She is even more than that, she is a nurse practitioner and a Medtronic certified pump trainer (your Mommy's pump).  She deals A LOT with pregnant ladies on pumps and CGM's (Continuous Glucose Monitors).  I have had my CGM in for over a week now and she met with me yesterday to go over all the charts and graphs that the pump and CGM spit out to analyze my blood glucose readings (it's really quite incredible the amount of information given by that thing!).  She then took a good look at them after I left and emailed me a lot of suggestions and thoughts for my basal rates and eating plan (she doesn't think I eat enough carbs - hmmmmm - those are what make my blood sugars rise and make my post-prandial (1 hour after meal) blood sugar reading more unpredictable - so I don't ever try to eat TOO many of them at one time!).  I found myself being stubborn as she was making suggestions...and thinking that she only knows how to control all of this from her non-diabetic perspective, not my day-in-day-out-live-with-the-disease perspective. But, then I got off of my high horse and realized that I should just listen and try some of these things she has said out.  They weren't big things - all small changes.  And she made me feel like a superhero when it comes to maanging my diabetes and pump - something about a light shining in a dark room - so, maybe she does have some credibility?  =)

She said something quite interesting to me too.  As a prego, diabetic mama - I am UBER scared of affecting you with high blood sugars.  So, naturally I check my blood sugar almost hourly (if not more, if my level is high) and correct with a bolus of insulin here or there to get my numbers back in range.  She told me yesterday, that a high blood sugar reading slowly coming back into range isn't going to do "damage" to you as much as my levels bouncing all over the place.  She even mentioned the bouncing numbers would start to affect your electrolytes and that's what we are most worried about.  So, for example, say I ate dinner, took my blood reading an hour after as I always do and I am 190.  Too high for me - I like it 130 or lower.  So, I would give an extra 1 - 1.2 units to get me back to normal range.  Say, I check again 30 minutes later and I am at 170 - a little drop, but I am still feeling like I am impatient and want that under 130, so I give a little more insulin (Insulin doesn't work all at once - it's life span is 4-5 hours in my body) - so now I have my meal insulin working, the hour post-meal insulin working and the 1.5 hour post meal insulin working on my levels.  Lo and behold 3 hours post meal, my  number drops to 50 or even 40 and my liver decides to release glycogen to help me out with that low number (just like a non-diabetics would).  Now, I "rebound" (what they call it in the diabetic world) and my number shoots back towards the 200's.  And since my wonderful pancreas doesn't help me out with any insulin to lower that number, I am again back toward the 200's, which is twice now in 3-4 hours.  This crazy bouncing around of blood glucose levels is what she is suggesting I stay away from.  This is healthier for you if I do.  So, instead of over-correcting 1-2 hours after a meal, ride it out and be patient with the insulin working so I avoid the rebound effect.  That was good advice, I never knew it was better for you to slowly drop a higher number because the bouncing around was worse for you.  Thanks Val!  Now, she has also suggested some basal tweaking and a couple other things (like entering in EVERY SINGLE carb into my pump, even if it's to treat a low so she knows all that I eat throughout the day to then be able to better help me - now I just eat and go, or give a quick bolus which doesn't record the carbs to the pump - kind of annoying and more for me to think through - but a new habit is really all in the end).  I'll let you know how all of this goes!  She's really spent a lot of time thinking through my numbers and information - which is only to help you out more - so the least I can do is try some of these things she has suggested, right?  Right.

Busy week at the Marin Household - Megan has the last week of her cooking class, doctor's appointments (3), the extra ultrasound at the ouside company (tonight) and Kyndall is registering for classes this week (Megan is next week).  Oh, and your Daddy's car is still in the shop for the big craters we hit on our way home from Colorado, so managing on one car has been a bit of a challenge.  Usually it would be since he works from home, but with crazy schedule this week, it's just been one of those weeks!

That's al for now baby girl...can't wait to see you again on Thursday!