30 Weeks! Nine Weeks To Go!!!!!

And the countdown has begun!  I sit here and feel you kicking (sometimes pounding) in my stomach and I look at my belly and feel like you are so close to me yet so far away!  Like, you are literally RIGHT HERE (as I look at my belly shake from your twisting), so why can't you be RIGHT HERE (as I look at my empty arms)?  I know why....but still it is very surreal and frustrating all at the same time that you are RIGHT HERE and not RIGHT HERE yet!  Make sense?  Hope so!  I thought I would start this countdown to YOU off right with the NINE reasons I can't wait to have your RIGHT HERE (the "in my arms" one!).



9.  Baby smell - don't have to say more, do I?
8.  I want to see those fat rolls on your legs that I have heard so much about!
7.  I want to see your cute face and if you really have my nose and your Daddy's green eyes!
6.  I want your Sisters to hold you and and fall in love with you!
5.  I can't wait for that binding piece (YOU!) of our family to officially bind those last bits of us together!
4.  I want to dress you up in all the cute clothes we have for you!
3.  I want to see your Daddy hold you and be amazed by you!
2.  I want to somehow fall more in love with you with every gurgle and diaper change
1.  You already have such a special spot with us here that it just doesn't feel right without you anymore!

Okay, listing all of those out isn't good for your Mommy - thinking about all that stuff just makes it tougher not to have you here!  But, I'll wait...and be patient......=)

You are up to a lot in my belly lately.  I think this last week you have been the most active yet.  So active that I don't just feel you move anymore, I see it.  One day last week I was feeling you move and right as I looked down, my tummy was moving side to side, almost like you were playing the bongo drums on the inside of my belly - right, left, right, left, right, left - and my belly moved accordingly.  It was crazy!  When I am resting and on my laptop I usually have my shirt pulled up nowadays so my belly shows because you are banging around in there so much I don't want to miss any appearances through my belly!  I am wondering if I am eventually going to be one of those pregnant mamas that can make out body parts of their baby through their stomach.  I have a hunch that I will be doing this in the end.

Oh...and you are 30 weeks today!  Do you remember my little goal-setting for us about two months ago?  Well, this was the biggie "short goal" because at 30 weeks, you not only have a greater than 95% chance of survival if born early, but you also have a pretty darn good chance of surviving with no motor or physical disabilities now!  That is something to celebrate little girl!  This was a big week for me to get to (in my own mind at least)....and it's crazy....we are here!

Here's a bit more about you too:

The big news is your brain gain. Until now, the surface of your brain was smooth. Now, your brain is taking on those characteristic grooves and indentations. The reason for this change in appearance? Those wrinkles allow for an increased amount of brain tissue  — a necessary change as you prepare for life outside your womb, and the street smarts you will need.

Another big change at 30 weeks: Your bone marrow has taken over production of red blood cells (before, tissue groups and then the spleen took care of producing the blood cells). This is an important step for you, because it means you are better able to thrive on your own once born (with a little TLC from all of us out here, of course).

So it's in with the new (brain cells, red blood cells) and out with the old (lanugo). Much of the lanugo — the soft, downy hair covering your body — is beginning to disappear now because both fat and the brain are regulating your body temperature (so no need for that furry coat anymore).  But we may see a few leftover strands of fur on your back and shoulders when you are born.

You are probably over three pounds now and about 16 inches!  You are at the cusp of "normal" baby size for being born.  Just a few more pounds (or so) and a few more inches to go!

I have a doctor's appointment this Thursday - and I don't get to see you (boo!).  But, after this Thursday, I will go back in two weeks and then see you (I think) every week after that.  I will start the non-stress tests.  They are also called biophysical profiles, which are designed to test your heart rate, movement, my amniotic fluid levels, everything about you in there (and my health) for the last 5-6 weeks to know that you are healthy.  I am thankful for these because as we are nearing the end, I will know each week that you are healthy.  And, if you for some reason aren't, I am so grateful to have the proactive weekly tests to know to get you out as soon as possible so that you can be healthy.  What I am not so much looking forward to - the doctor's bills - but your Daddy and I will figure that one out.  =)  We figure that with as much as it has cost me to be pregnant (ultrasounds, blood work, doctor's visits, eye appointments, higher-level ultrasounds, and now these weekly biophysical profiles) our budget is already prepared for you and the extra costs of a third child!

Your Mommy's feet are still swollen a bit (soooo much better if I get my exercise in though!) and am having a tougher time being comfortable sleeping.  My hips hurt, depending on which side I sleep on, so then I flip and repeat the pattern through out the night.  Hopefully with all the tossing and turning, your Daddy is getting his sleep!  Good news - my blood sugars have been STELLAR this last week.  So much so, that I almost worry that my placenta isn't healthy - since this is what causes my insulin resistance to keep going up.  It feels like I have been on a blood sugar management vacation!  I will talk to the doc's about this, but I'm sure it's just what it feels like when Val and I have finally figured out the right combination for my pump settings.  And, I'm sure I will be back next week complaining how tough it is to control again!

Baby girl, God is so good to us!  He has blessed me with two amazing daughters already and a third on the way.  And the most important part is that I have been blessed with an amazing husband that is going to love you to pieces.  These things have just been on my heart this week - that I am so blessed - I almost feel bad for all that I have because I know that I don't deserve it, yet God's grace is there to supply it still.  There are so many little moments where frustrations try to get me down, or that I feel like all the daily "little" stuff I do doesn't matter and what's my purpose really anyway?  And then God finds a way to speak to my heart and let me know that frustrations are small and petty - I have SOOOO much to be thankful for - and I have learned to truly praise Him for these things and let the stupid stuff fall away.  And all the dailiness of my life?  Hello?!  I'm standing in the midst of God's purpose for me RIGHT NOW and if I don't acknowledge these small things as that, they will be gone before I know it.  I am enjoying the little stuff I do because it gives glory to God - and all I have wanted to do was to listen to Him and do what He wants me to do - so it looks like I am in the right place!  And you, as our little miracle from God, just top that off and make it all just that much sweeter.   

Love you baby girl!  

My, my, my how I've grown!

I was just looking at some old belly pictures from the beginning of YOU and thought it would be fun to see how far you have come!  The first picture is at 9 weeks pregnant, and then the second is from 29 weeks.  I can remember feeling soooo big even at 9 weeks - now I know I was just crazy!  I sometimes look at my belly now (or in the pictures below) and think that I must be wearing one of those pregnancy bellies that the actresses wear in movies!  Still so surreal to have a belly!  The last one is with your Daddy and I at Firebird's (yummy steak!) for my birthday - and I'm posting that one just because he's cute.  =)

I remember thinking I looked big!  How funny now!  (And sorry about the greasy 'do!)

Your Mommy - before her birthday dinner.  You're so big! 

Daddy and Mommy at Firebird's - you have NO IDEA how good that meal was - oh, wait - you probably do actually  =)

Let's Celebrate! 29 Weeks!

Many reasons to celebrate this week little girl!  First, you are one more week along - 29 weeks!  And that means we are 29/39ths of the way through (since I am going to be induced by 39 weeks!).  That means we are 75% of the way through!  (Well, actually 74.4% - your Mommy's always been a wee bit of a math geek!).  Another fun thing this week - we can officially start a countdown - 10 weeks to go!  Woot woot!  And it's my birthday today - and the Lord has blessed me with the best husband and kids - and you! - that I could want!  My whole entire family actually just kind of rocks!  We don't have the girls tonight, which sucks...but your Daddy is taking us to a good steak place...so get ready for some good eats later tonight!

Here's your update:
This week marks an important milestone in your brain development: The brain has matured to the point where it can help regulate body temperature. Of course, you aren't ready to do it all on your own yet; you still need the warmth of my body to keep you toasty until birth. You also continue to develop nerve cells in your brain. By the time you are born, you'll have hundreds of billions of them. That seems like a lot, but you need to stock up, since you won't produce any more after birth. You are looking more like a full-term baby, too. Your plumping up nicely; the surface of your skin is smoother and paler because of the fat you are starting to gain. This fat will be an important factor in your ability to keep warm (and by what the tech said a couple weeks ago, you already have fat rolls on your legs, so you should be nice and toasty!). Despite the increase in fat, you are still pretty thin—only about 3 percent of your 3 pounds is made up of fat. If we stretched you out, you'd be more than 16 inches long.

I also think I felt you have hiccups last week...just a steady feel of kicks for about a minute.  "They" say that this is a good thing that shows you are learning to swallow and "breath" in there - that your lungs are doing their job!

You also seem to be "sitting" lower too.  Much of the time, I feel your movements really low and I feel more pressure "down there".  I know that you  "drop" naturally more towards the end, and can even have dropped now...so I'm going to ask the doctor about this in a week or so.  It seems that this shouldn't be concerning for you, even if you dropped early, it just means that you are getting ready for the big day!  I also have been getting some tightening in the past couple of weeks of my lower tummy area.  I believe this could be Braxton-Hicks contractions...not sure though, since this is my first rodeo.  From what I read, my body is preparing for birth, so this is probably just the BH contractions doing their thing, getting everything ready for the big day too!

Oh, and I have to give a HUGE shout out to my wonderful CDE (Certified Diabetes Edcucator) and pump guru, Val.  I have really struggled in the past couple of weeks with my blood sugars - again - all normal and healthy that this is happening, but MAJORLY frustrating for you Mama!  It's been a constant battle of increasing my insulin in various ways, which means adjusting pump settings every 3-4 days.  I had been hovering the mid-high 100's and trying to "trust" my pump's adjustments and not override it's suggestions (I've talked about my trust issues with my pump before, haven't I?)...but I finally got to the end of my rope and realized I need to adjust more with these corrections from the pump and started overriding again (sorry Val!). I just feel like you are fattening up immensely in there if I don't do something.  Well, finally I had some data from my CGM (continuous glucose monitor) that I sent Val and even though I had been making adjustments to my settings along the way....Val worked her magic last weekend and gave me a whole new slew of adjustments to change in my pump and I have been chugging along quite nicely ever since.  I know that this is all short-lived and I will have to readjust everything in a day or two (because that's just how life will go for the next 10 weeks!)...but it feels like a breakthrough to me (finally!) and I really need that!  Every time lately I have taken my blood sugar lately and it's been in the 90's....I say, "I love Val!".  I think your Daddy is getting a little jealous!  =)  And there have still been some high ones too (right now, my late afternoons are on my watch list!), but being able to have 90-100 readings through the whole night into the morning is amazing!  And so good for you!

One more thing I have experienced this week, more than before at least, is round ligament pain.  I had NEVER heard of this before pregnancy, but they are basically the muscles that attach to your uterus.  So the bigger the uterus gets, the more they stretch, hence the pain!

Anyway, I went for a walk earlier this week and less than ten minutes in I had some of this pain on my right side!  Whoa!  Literally stopped me dead in my tracks!  I almost called your Daddy to come and get me, but I'm a tough son-of-a-gun and I stopped for a while and it eventually lessened (but it seemed like forever!). It kind of worried me there for a minute, actually.  I think I try to still walk at my non-pregnant pace and that was a good lesson for me to slow down.  I had it the next day with walking again, but not nearly as bad.  When I felt it coming on, I eased up and it eventually was held at bay.

I forgot to do belly pictures last week, so here they are this week!  As your Daddy tells me, I'm really getting out there....so here you are!  =)

There you are at 29 weeks!

Oh and here's something I knit for you this week (the bow is courtesy of my cousin Erica!)...just thought I would share.  Your Daddy is teaching me to sew this week - so maybe I'll have more projects to share from that soon too!

Love you baby girl!  We keep talking each week about how we can't wait until you are in our arms!  We need some prayers for patience I think!  =)

28 Weeks - The Calm Before the Storm?

Hi baby girl....how are you doing in there?  I feel you kicking all the time, so something must be fun!  You kick so hard sometimes that I worry that you need out or something is wrong!  But, after a few good ones (that are a bit scary at times with the intensity!), you settle down.  Whew!


So, your Pa and Mimi left yesterday (we already miss them tons too!) and our lives now look like they are slowing a bit....so I think I am dubbing this time the "calm before the storm."  And yes, that would make you the storm...but not the scary tornado-crazy kind of storm that your Mommy loathes.  You're the good kind of storm - sure, it will be full of no sleep, blurs and whirlwinds - but filled with so much more love and cute baby smells than I'm sure I can even imagine!


I'm taking in this time to suck in a little of this calmness (hope it sticks around for a while before you get here at least!) and enjoy my last 11 weeks of pregnancy.  You are definitely a part of my body now...in fact...you stick out quite nicely.  I haven't gotten to the uncomfortable-get-this-baby-out-of-me stage yet....I hope I never do...but you definitely make it a little more difficult to do things lately, like, say...shave my legs or bend over to pick something off the floor.  And then there's the kicking!  (By the way, I secretly love it....I just like to be dramatic about it too...because you are quite a kicker!)  Actually, your Sister, Megan and I were just sitting in bed tonight and I told her to look at my belly.  And there you were, bopping away.  She couldn't believe it was you!  And your Daddy put his hand on my belly last night right in time to feel a WHOPPER of a kick.  After feeling that doozy, I think he finally started believing all the stuff I've been saying lately about how crazy your kicks were getting!


I have been getting some tightening in my lower tummy every so often and I assume this is the whole Braxton Hicks contractions thing everyone talks about.  Kind of a crazy feeling and not even sure it's a contraction thing or not, but it would make sense that I would be feeling these at this point.  I just need to pay attention to them when I do get them and make sure there aren't more than a few per hour or else I'd need to call the doctor!  For now though, they are very mild and light....like my body is doing a warm up for the big race in a couple months!


Here's all about you this week:

This week you weigh about 2 ½ pounds and measure around 15 inches long. "They" say you are the size of an eggplant.  How glamorous, right?! During the last four weeks your weight has nearly doubled!  You are moving around a lot these days (don't I know this!), but soon this will slow down as you start to run out of room inside of my uterus.  I guess I need to savor these crazy wild kicks while I have them!

Your smooth brain tissue continues to develop folds and wrinkles as it increases in mass.  Brain functions include breathing and maintaining body temperature.  Lanugo hair is starting to disappear over your body, but eyebrows, eyelashes and the hair on your head is growing (and we saw pictures!).  Bone marrow has taken over the production of your red blood cells from the liver at this point.  Muscle tone is improving (I think my sore upper stomach muscles are proof of this!) and the your body is filling out with warming body fat. 

I think that's about it baby girl. This week was a bit boring...but in terms of you continuing to cook in there, boring is good at this point!  I see my tummy moving in my peripheral as I type this, so you are awake and up and moving once again.  I love you sweet baby girl...can't wait to hold you!

Doctor's Appointment

Hey baby girl...just a quick update.  I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and Pa and Mimi got to come as well (and your Daddy too, of course).  I had an ultrasound for growth measurements and all looked good!  The tech checked you out again and you are still a girl (we check every time....just in case!).  After all the measurements, she weighed you in at 2 pounds 11 ounces!  The tech made a couple comments about you having chubby cheeks and fat rolls on your legs!  I asked if this was normal since I have more than 2.5 months to go and she said yes.  =)  You are at the 68th percentile for your weight.  The doctor was a-okay with this number for you and said you are right where you need to be.  He did mention that your abdomen measurement was a little larger than "normal", but he wasn't concerned. I guess he relates it to the diabetes stuff and it must be what typically happens to people in my shoes.

Let's see...what else did I learn?  I know that I will be induced Nov. 30 (or you taken by c-section if you are measuring over 10 lbs!) at the latest.  If things with my diabetes control goes wacky before that time (don't think it should, but I wouldn't mind seeing you earlier!) they would take me before that to deliver you - anywhere from 37-38 weeks as long as your lungs are developed fully.  If I do get induced, I will be able to choose the point of getting the epidural....so when the pain is too intense I can get one immediately (instead, some doctors make you wait until you are dilated to a 4 or 5).  That's good to know!  =)  Also, whether I use my pump and keep it connected through labor or have the hospital put in an insulin drip is up to me.  The difference is that the hospital can't touch my pump, so I would have to manage it's function all on my own during labor.  I'm not sure yet what I would want to do...whether I'd rather just focus on labor and not be in control, so to speak....or be in control and have my pump to worry about too.  If I had the insulin drip in, then they would be the ones monitoring me.  I'll keep thinking about that one.

I need to start keeping track of kick counts as well.  Four per hour, twice a day.  So far, you are a rock star at kicking, so this is an easy task for your Mommy!

Oh...and I have a bit of an obsession with hot (buffalo) sauce...and I get a bit of a hard time (jokingly, I think) from others around me that you're going to come out with red skin and spitting fire.  I asked the doc, just to be sure that I am not harming you in there with the hot sauce and he laughed and told me I am just fine with eating it.  Well, drinking it is more like it.  =)

We got a couple pictures of you, so I have to post those of course.  Here they are!

You are getting so big!

This is a straight-on face shot.  So crazy because you can completely make you out in 2D sonograms now and you don't look like your alien pictures from before!  This is where the tech commented on your  chubby cheeks.  And she told us that you have eyelashes (the white marks above your left eye that almost look like stitches!).

Pa and Mimi loved seeing you again.  They got another good look at your heart and zoomed in on it, so we all got to see how cool it was to see your heart just beating away.  Easily saw the four chambers of your heart doing their job!  They loved seeing all the details!

That's all I got little girlie...we have a weekend left with Pa and Mimi before they head back to IL...the next time we'll see them I'll either be close to labor or have you in my arms!  Crazy!

27 Weeks! Third Trimester?

Holy moly little girl, have we been busy or what?  I feel like the last week or two have been absolute craziness!  All good stuff...but craziness just the same!  Hopefully you have been keeping up!  Lots to share this week!  Here's your update first:


Welcome to the third trimester baby girl...at least I think it is.  Everyone says something a little different as to when it starts, but it ranges from today to a week from now (and my doc's office says today!), so we'll celebrate today! Congratulations! We have made it 2/3 of the way through. You now appear much like you will look like at birth.  You weigh two pounds (or more) and are about 14 inches long. You have eyebrows and eyelashes and your hair is growing everyday (in fact there are so pictures of your hair below!). Your muscle tone is improving (I can FEEL that!) and your body is getting plumper.

Your brain continues its rapid growth. When I share music, conversation, and even books with you, you will start to recognize my voice and your Daddy's (and Sisters too!).


The retina at the back of your eyes is beginning to develop. Those beautiful eyes can open now (we saw your eyes open yesterday in a sonogram!), and you will notice and may turn your head if we shine a flashlight against my belly.

At 27 weeks, your length will have tripled or quadrupled from the 14 week mark (wow!). If you were born this week (don't do it, just a hypothetical!), the chances of survival is now at least 85 percent or greater. 


So, as far as I go, my feet are swelling more, especially at the end of the day....and I think I am getting a little more tired towards the evening too.  All to be expected.  I am still not eating much more, in fact, I feel like sometimes I have to force myself a little to eat, just because food doesn't really sound good.  Weird!


In the last week, Pa and Mimi flew back from Illinois with me on Friday and made it back to AZ safe and sound.  We went to Flagstaff on Saturday morning and cheered your Sister (Kyndall) on with her first cross country meet.  She did awesome!  Ran 3.1 miles (at 7000 ft. altitude!) in about 31 minutes.  She felt like she couldn't breath 2/3 of the way through and was a little disappointed...but, have I mentioned that she has never ran much before and it was at 7000 FEET????  Oh, and it was 3.1 miles for goodness sakes, so not feeling like you can't breath is probably written all over that mixture!  It was so much fun to watch her and cheer her on.  The next day was your other Sister's (Megan) 13th birthday party with six friends.  We played games, swam, opened gifts, cooked out, etc. and then they watched movies into the wee hours of the night.  Kyndall had a friend over too...so we had NINE teenage girls under this roof at once!  =)  They all had a blast and Pa and Mimi were here too...so that made it extra special for your Sister!  She had so much fun with all of her girlie friends!  


The next day (Monday), we got all the girls home to their parents and then went to a special ultrasound to see you!  The girls and Pa and Mimi were there, so we had about 30 minutes of just watching you move around in 3D.  A couple things stuck out about you this time.  1) You have some chubby cheeks...but boy are they cute!  2) We saw you yawn a million times and have a picture of it even too (below)!  3)  Your foot was up by your face almost the entire time and I think you were sucking on your toes (no lie!).  4)  We saw your eyes open up!  5) You have hair already!  We got a ton of pictures of you and even almost the entire time was recorded on a video!  I am hoping to get at least some of that on here to show, although I haven't gotten it downloaded quite yet.  There is an incredibly sweet picture of you yawning in it...oh and sucking on your foot too!  =)  You were a little tough to get good pictures of (well, with your foot and hand in front of your face the whole time and all!), so we had to move me around a lot.  I layed on my left side, drank cold water, pushed on my belly, went to the restroom....etc.  You were head down on my left side and my placenta was a bit in the way too.  We still got good shots, but you were a little stubborn!  =)


Things should be calming down some now for us.  I did get to start my women's Bible study group again this week, called Grow With Me.  I have done this the past two "semesters", so the summer was off and I have missed the ladies and the material that comes along with the ministry.  I get to know so many neat ladies that love the Lord...and at the same time my faith grows by leaps and bounds too!  Double bonus!  =)  And they all ask about you all the time and finally get to see you after not seeing a lot of them throughout the summer, a.k.a., my baby bump!  


I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday and get to have Pa and Mimi there too...so they get to see you again!  Maybe we'll get a couple more shots of you from that day too.  Val (CDE, pump guru) and I have been working with my blood sugars A LOT in the last three weeks...she has been super helpful to me and my insulin needs just keep going up, up, up!  And that's completely normal.  Just as we get it figured out for a few days and my numbers look good....things start to head upwards again and we make adjustments and do it all over again.  Less than three months of that left, though...and I get to hold you!  So, I think I can manage it all until then!  =)


Here's some pictures from Kyndall's meet, Megan's birthday party and your sonogram.  Love you baby girlie...you are so special and sweet...everyone loves you already so much!  And seeing your face yesterday only added to that love!  Can't wait to meet you!

And they are off!  What a view, eh?

Kyndall right before the finish!

Megan and her girlfriends playing a game

Another game - too funny!

Kyndall, your Dad, Pa and Mimi at the party while the girls played games

Your cute sister and her yummy cake!

Gift time!

The girls in the pool!

Your Mommy (and you!) with pickles and ice cream.  Megan got a "pickle" card for her birthday, and I HATE (loathe) pickles, so I thought this would be funny since I am pregnant and would never go near this craving usually!  =)

Sweet chubby cheeks!

Your arm and leg (coming from the left side of the picture)

Thumbsucker!

Wristsucker!

I think you are praying!  =)

The start of a yawn.....

....and there it is!

More chubby cheeks!

Fingers in your mouth...and your eyes are open a little too!

That's your foot headed to your mouth - your lips are all puckered up ready to go too!

The tech said that the shaggy chia-pet stuff on the picture is your hair - I think this shot is looking at the back of your head.  So...do you have a mullet already? =)

Another sweet profile picture

Sweet baby!

I think that is your foot under your chin - I'm not even kidding!  Your foot was up by your face for a lot of the time!