34 Weeks Baby! Five To Go!

Oh my goodness little one, you are moving around so much in there right now!  My belly is morphing all over the place - and - of course, your Daddy and Sisters aren't around to see it!  You have days like today - moving everywhere and constantly, and then others that must be your days "off" and it's just the normal kicks and bumps.  The other day I was in the car with your Daddy and it felt like you decided to try and play the guitar on my right rib with your toes!  You are quite the mover, but that was the biggest, weirdest movement yet from you.  It actually hurt - and it made me scream!  It's like ever since they told us you were almost six pounds, you've decided to show me how big you really are!  =)

Your Daddy and I had a weekend with just us - so we started getting prepared for your Sister, Kyndall's 16th birthday party/Halloween party next weekend.  We borrowed some decorations from your Uncle Ray and got a few things ourselves - so we'll see how we do with 40 teenagers around!  Your Aunt Mac and Uncle James are coming on Saturday too - and he has to go coach a football game for a while - but they will help us man the teenage crowd after that.  I think your Uncle Ray and Aunt Brenda (and cousins) will all be here too - so we welcome the adult supervision!  =)  I've realized, once this party is done and over - it's time to focus on getting some Christmas gifts checked off since your arrival will make it a bit difficult to shop at the normal time.  I just bought your Daddy his birthday/Christmas gift today - shhhhhh! - don't tell him!

I have all of your bedding and clothes washed and your room is pretty much ready for you!  We are so excited, we can barely wait any longer!  I still need to put together my hospital bag...but we have most of it thought out. Our last birthing class is tonight - so we are looking forward to having that done and under our belts.  I think we get a tour of the rest of Labor and Delivery, which should be interesting.  Also, this week, we meet with the first of two pediatricians for you.  I'll let you know how we like her!

We had another shower this weekend, Avery Jo!  The ladies at my Tuesday morning group, Grow With Me, put together an amazing afternoon.  Lots of great food, people and fun games.  And we scored lots of diapers for you!  =)  Also, some gift cards and adorable clothes!  Jen, the awesome gal that put it all on, took a bunch of pictures, so once I get a copy of those, I will show you them.  I do have one picture that I took with my phone.  It was the cutest cake!  And, the cake had pudding in the middle - YUMMO!  I just feel so blessed and you should too - so many people love you already and can't wait to meet you!

How cute????  And yes, that's a cute little baby in the middle of the flower!

Here's your update for week 34....

Besides looking like a newborn at 34 weeks of pregnancy, you are acting like a newborn as well. Your eyes open when you're awake and close them when you are sleeping. Your sleeping cycles are the same now as they will be when you are born (uh oh...you were awake A LOT today!). You have learned to blink and can see better when a bright light is shined on my stomach. You recognize voice and sound patterns from the outside world and you are most comforted by the sound of my voice (I like that).

You weigh about 5 pounds now (heh...try about 6!) and you are about 18 inches long. Your fingernails have reached the end of your fingertips at week 34 of pregnancy and you may even scratch your face before you are born (be careful with those, okay?). Your fat layers are growing every week to fill up that wrinkly skin (especially around your belly!) and you  may have already turned into the head down position for labor (yep...check that off the list!).

Your central nervous system is still maturing, and your lungs are almost fully ready to breathe air. If you were born this week, you have a 99% chance of survival outside of the womb, pretty darn good odds babycakes!

My blood sugars have been pretty darn good the last week.  Just waiting for them to go wacky again.  I am going to post my settings on my pump - just for my future reference really.  So that I know at 34 weeks where I was with my insulin and settings.  I probably should have done this a few more times along the way too...oh well...better late than never, right?

Basal Rates - Total Daily Basal Rate = 41.45 units - If I didn't eat anything during the day, these hourly rates should (hopefully) keep my blood sugar level. The specified amount each hour is given even throughout the hour.  Pre-prego I was around 19-20 units/day
12AM     1.4 units
2:30AM  1.5 units
5AM       1.6 units
8AM       1.7 units
12PM      1.8 units
2PM        2.0 units
10PM      1.5 units

Carb Ratios  (take the total number of carbs eaten and divide by this number to get how many units of insulin to take) - Pre-prego I had 10 as my ratio the entire day
12AM    9.0
7AM      5.8
11AM    6.8
5PM       5.0
10PM    8.0

Sensitivity Factor (if blood sugar is too high, this is the correction factor - 1 unit will drop me the specified number of points (mg/dl) on my blood sugar reading) - Pre-prego I had a 50 factor the whole day through
12AM    22 mg/dl
11AM    27 mg/dl
5PM      22 mg/dl
10PM    34 mg/dl

Okay little one...to finish off today's blog, I'll count down the five favorite foods I have eaten the most while being pregnant with you.  We'll see if they end up as your favorites too.  =)

5. Grape Kool-Aid and Water - mostly water, but we always have grape Kool-Aid on hand to have at dinner!
4.  Cottage Cheese - to most it doesn't sound to appetizing, but to me, it does.  It's usually part of my lunch - and it's really healthy for you too!
3.  Peanut Butter - Your Mommy loves her some PB!  On celery, mixed with whipped cream or just by itself!
2.  Ice Cream - DQ chocolate dipped cones, McDonald's vanilla cones and Sonic hot fudge sundaes!!!!
1.  Hot Wings and Hot Salsa!  Whichever it is - just make sure I got a lot of sauce!

And that's it for this week baby girl!  I have a NST and biophysical profile (measures your breathing and amniotic fluid again) on Thursday.  I'm hoping the fluid levels have gone up....I'll let you know!  Love you AJ!

Well, Heeeello Miss Linebacker!!!!

I had to write you a quick update after your growth ultrasound yesterday.  You are a big girl!  You measured/weighed in at 5 lbs 15 oz already!  That means you are pretty much a six-pounder!  That puts you in the 80th percentile for weight.  I have a feeling you are long (they can't tell me how long you are), so I'm sure some of it has to do with that....but they also said your belly is measuring a few weeks ahead - at 36 weeks.  Where, your head is measuring 34 weeks.  No worries, you are still a healthy little baby girl, the only thing it could affect is how you are delivered.  In four weeks, if your belly is still measuring bigger than your head, then they will schedule you to be delivered via c-section just to be safe.  It doesn't sound fun to me to have your head come out just fine and then your belly gets stuck....if you know what I mean!  =)  Right now, your belly is 2cm bigger than your head....which really isn't all that much...so we'll see.

I guess I could start feeling "bad" for this whole big belly thing.  "They" say that babies to diabetic mommies tend to have this issue - if high blood sugars are present, then your belly grows with fat, which makes it bigger than your head, I guess.  This is what us diabetic mommies try to do good at.  And, well, it should probably make me feel like I failed you already.  But I'm not letting myself go there.  I mean, I have had A1C numbers that rival "normal" people, I've tested my blood sugar 15 times a day, wake up every night at least once or twice to test and make sure I am in line, where a continuous glucose monitor to help manage my ever-growing need for insulin in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters even more, etc......the list goes on.  I'm just not going there.  I have done everything possible to make sure you are a healthy little girl.  And to be honest, if they told me you were underweight, I'd be really concerned because you are growing like a healthy baby should.  This way I know you are a healthy baby - a really healthy baby. =)  Plus, your Mommy was a 9 pounder and your Daddy weighed in at 8 lbs 15 oz.  We have really no chance of any sort of dainty kids.  =)  So no pity party for me....even if you are a small toddler when you come out of my womb...by God's grace he has blessed us with you and in no way am I going to diminish that miracle by boo-hooing about anything.  You're the best, plain and simple!

The ultrasound tech also said you have hair - a lot of hair - and long!  This will be so crazy to see what you actually look like after hearing so much about you!  I can't wait to see my fat baby with a mullet!  =)

They also said my amniotic fluid was a little low, but still in the normal range.  I think "normal" is 7 - 25 and mine was around 9.  The nurse practitioner that I saw was not too concerned...only if I got closer to a 5.  She said just drink water (I already drink 100 oz a day!) and rest, preferably on my left side (that magical left side!).  My swollen feet seem to be linked to this...if my circulation isn't as good, then yours won't be either, so you don't pee as much, which then affects the fluid (because that's what amniotic fluid is!).  So, I may need to slow down a bit.  Not sure how to do that quite yet.  Luckily they measure amniotic fluid each week, so we'll know weekly how you are doing in there.

The next growth ultrasound is at 37 weeks for me - four weeks.  I have a feeling that week we will know exactly when you are coming.  That will be the planning week for you.  Can't wait!  I've been waiting to plan this detail out for almost 33 weeks now!

Oh...and no good ultrasound pictures either!  First of all, remember the talk we had before we went in to the ultrasound?  Keep your hands away from your face!  Well, you didn't listen so well....they were still by your face.  =)  Also, at this stage of pregnancy, it's just harder to get a good shot because all you get in the picture is a body part - so your head barely fits even in the picture.  Oh well...we'll see you live and in person soon enough now!

Love you baby girl!  I can't wait to hold your chubby little body!  And brush your mullet.  =)

33 Weeks and SIX TO GO!!!!!

It's really getting closer now baby girl!  It's kind of surreal to be honest.  Like I really want to keep this basketball in my belly forever or something - of course not!  But, you've been in there for so long, and that's the only way I have known you, it's surreal to think that you will actually be out of there soon!  And six weeks soon!

You now weigh about 4.4 pounds and measures about 17.8 inches. You will gain one third to one half of your weight during the final weeks of pregnancy. My amniotic fluid is now at it’s highest level and will stay at this level until your delivery. You may have now settled into the head down position (seems like you have); however, some babies do not do this until later in pregnancy.

Your skull is not joined and is very pliable. Your brain is rapidly growing now and increasing in size. Fat is rapidly accumulating and changing the color of your skin from red to pink.  Because you are rapidly gaining white fat and weight at this point I could be gaining weight more rapidly than in the past as well. And now is when I need to start getting my hospital bag packed and ready to go!

I have a feeling that you are a long little girl in there.  You push up into my ribs with your feet and down with your hands or head on my left hip bone simultaneously.  It feels like you found the ceiling and the floor and want to see if you can get any more in between room by pushing on both sides! And my torso is pretty long too!

You are head down - last week the ultrasound confirmed that your little head is right where I feel you on my hip bone.  One of your little legs was curled up by your chest and your hands in front of your face (surprise, surprise!).  But, as the ultrasound tech was doing her thing, I still felt you up by my ribs too...and she confirmed that that was your OTHER leg up there.  So, one was up by your chest and the other down in "normal" position, pushing by my ribs.  Hopefully that means you are more flexible than your mama ever was if you are already doing the splits!

We didn't get any great pictures of you from the utlrasound though....dang it.  She tried for a 3D shot a couple times with you, but just as it's always been, your little hands were up by your face, so it doesn't make for good 3D images because they need lots of open fluid around the area to get good shots.  She didn't even check your weight, this was just to check your breathing and my amniotic fluid (it's technically called a biophysical profile).  Both were great!  Way to go Avery Jo!  I just found out that I get a growth ultrasound on Thursday....yippee!  It's been a good six weeks, so we are ready to see you and know exactly how big they think you are now too!  We are now on the two doctor's appointments per week schedule.  Every week from here on out will be like this week - I go in on Mondays for the non-stress test (NST).  Pretty easy - just lay back and get some monitors strapped to me for 20-30 minutes and make sure your little heart rate goes up with movement.  You were a little difficult this week because you had the hiccups right after we hooked up the monitors....so your hiccups were registering for about 5 minutes instead of your heart rate.  And we just had to be patient.  =)  Then, on Thursdays, I will have another NST, a doctor's visit and biophysical profile (ultrasound just looking at your breathing and amniotic fluid).  This week, though, we will get a growth ultrasound as well, so that's a more intense ultrasound looking you up and down!  And measuring along the way.  =)

Your Pa and Mimi booked their flight out to see you!  That's exciting!  We won't know for sure when you will be induced until a few weeks before, so hopefully it will work with their travel dates.  Of course, you could always be here sooner too (which your Daddy, Sisters and I are all completely cool with, just so you know...as long as you are past 37 weeks.  =)

We had our second of three birthing classes tonight.  Good class, and got to see another part of labor and delivery at the hospital that your Mommy and Daddy didn't see with our little hospital stint a couple weeks back.  It's a newer area and the rooms are huge!  I guess it's the luck of the draw who gets what...and I'll be happy wherever you are...so we'll see where we end up.  We have our last one next Tuesday!

Oh...did you know that we have another baby shower coming up?  Yes, you are spoiled little girl!  The women at church are throwing it for us, so that's what's happening this Sunday afternoon.  Pretty excited to go!  These ladies are wonderful - and are very excited themselves to celebrate you for an hour or two.

Your Sisters and Daddy and I went to the "Make a Difference" Concert on Sunday night.  It had TobyMac, Third Day and Michael W. Smith all together.  You will soon learn that your Sisters (and us) LOVE TobyMac.  And he was amazing and so much fun to watch.  Third Day has been a favorite of your Mommy's since college...and your Daddy was in awe of them at the concert and are now his new favorite.  And Michael W. Smith....well, he's just the man...period.  It was such an amazing blend of artists.  We all loved it.  And that includes you.  You were rocking and rolling in my belly the WHOLE concert - and well after.  You definitely like to move to music!  You even woke up the next morning rocking and rolling!  I'm not sure if you even slept through the night!  Just kidding, I think.  =)  Your Daddy felt some of your CRAZY movement during the concert.  It had to be a knee pushing out my stomach or something...he's felt you kick lots of times...but this all over movement that you do now was a new one for him to feel!

Here's a video with TobyMac, Mac Powell from Third Day and Michael W. Smith.  This was the final song of the concert (TobyMac's "City on our Knees") and they all sang it together.  Awesome.



Your Daddy took these pictures at the concert.....

 TobyMac rocking out with his band/dancers, Diverse City

Third Day was up next!

Mac Powell from Third Day and Michael W. Smith

Michael W. Smith

This concert was truly amazing.  Of course, the music was a huge part of that.  And as I have been reminiscing about the concert after, I realize that another reason this was amazing is that these artists are all they say they are.  They love Jesus and that was the MAIN message of the entire concert.  Each has such a big heart for their faith.  Now, do they stumble and make mistakes, I'm sure they have, like us all.  But, as TobyMac sings about - you lose your way, you get back up again....it's never too late to get back up again...you may get knocked down but not out forever.  In a world where artists that have so much talent they take for granted and luxuries in their back pockets, it's just really refreshing to see artists use this privilege for God's glory.  

Alright...we have to have our countdown this week...with the number SIX.  As in, SIX weeks to go until we see you!  In honor of that, here are SIX things I still need to get done before your arrival!

6.  Wash your bedding and some of your clothes from your last shower
5.  Pack a hospital bag!
4.  Have your Sister, Kyndall's 16th/Halloween birthday party with a ton of teenagers over here!
3.  Figure our what outfit you are going home in!
2.  Get a good chunk of Christmas shopping done!
1.  Get you to 37 weeks (full term) and then we are home free!  =)


Okay...one last picture before I sign off for the night.  Here's your Mommy's belly at 33 weeks.  And you have really grown I guess because this picture kind of even shocked me!  You've expanded in the last month! Now, when your Daddy says that I've really got a belly, I know why he's saying it - this picture says it all!  =)

Yeah, it's still crazy for me to look at!  =)

We love you baby girl!  Can't wait to see you on Thursday!  I will try and post pictures and a quick update from the ultrasound then!

32 Weeks and a Hospital Stay

Yep, you heard me right, your Mommy was in the hospital for a night over the weekend.  Although, I think you already knew that...you seemed a little different in there....with being couped up in an uncomfortable hospital bed for almost 24 hours and all!

We had our garage sale on Saturday morning and I had some higher blood sugars that morning until after lunch (and they were stubborn numbers too - wouldn't budge - low 200's overnight and then stayed at the high 100's), and then they got really high early afternoon.  Like 340-ish high.  And I'd give a correction bolus of insulin, and 30-60 minutes later...no change.  Did that again, and nothing.  At that point I changed my infusion site (hoping that was the cause) and your Daddy wanted to listen to you in there since we'd been battling these high numbers.  So we got out the fetal monitor to hear your heart beat.  And my first reaction was, "Thank God...there you are, beating away!"  And then my second thought was "Oh wow, baby girl, your heart sounds so fast."  You were clocking about 170 beats per minute and you are always between 135-150.  I've never heard you this fast before (well, at least lately - when you were just a mere little bean you always had a higher heart rate, but haven't had that since probably June!).  We got a little freaked out and I called my buddy ol' pal Nurse Val.  She suggested we go in to the hospital and get monitored just to be sure.  She assured me that you could be just fine in there and just very active, so a 170 heart rate wasn't crazy to her.  But, of course, it could also mean you were in distress, so best to go in.

Got to the hospital and checked in.  Was in the OB Triage area first and had these monitors strapped to my belly to measure your heart beat and any contractions I would have.  Your heart was still beating higher than normal, like 165 bpm.  My blood sugar was coming down (according to my meter) and was now in the mid-200's.  According to the hospital's big ol' clunky meter, I was low 300's.  I feel like I, the patient, have better technology than the hospital.  And more accurate.  So, the nurse relayed this information to the doctor (that's the nice part of having a group doctor's office for the pregnancy, there is always one of them on staff at the hospital), and he wanted to admit me for the night, mainly to watch my blood sugar levels.  They weren't overly concerned with your higher heart rate, even though I told them this wasn't anywhere near normal for you.  I accepted the hospital stay quite calmly, it meant we got to figure all of this out with good help nearby!

Got to the room and got strapped into the fetal monitors again.  I had two straps around my belly holding the heart rate monitor (for you) and one holding the contraction monitor (that also measured movement from you).  Then, I had a clippy thing on my toe that read out my heart rate and my oxygen level of my blood.  I was all hooked up!  Similar to this picture, except she doesn't have the clippy thing on her toe and I'm not Asian.  Other than that - the set up was exactly the same - with the monitors in the background and everything (thank you to whoever this is in the picture - so sorry if you didn't want to make an appearance on my blog!).

Once I was in my room and all strapped in (literally), your heart rate here started to be more like normal - more in the 150's.  The entire time my blood pressure was wonderful at 115/75.  And I am not sure how, since I was stressed out completely!  My temperature was normal too (which was one of the reasons my blood sugar could've been elevated).  Your Uncle Ray and Aunt Brenda heard we were headed to the hospital and came to visit.  They stayed for about an hour and kept us company and our minds off of the sheer fact that we were staying the night in a hospital!  We love them for coming!  The OB doc (not my high-risk group doc) came by and checked on me.  She got a download of the details and we agreed to just have me monitor my numbers with my own meter (for the most part) and that I would be in full control of my insulin pump.  I told her my concern with the discrepancy of meter readings between mine and theirs and she pretty much agreed with me that mine is probably the one to trust.  And that was it...the nurse would check on me during the night at some point or another and be my go-to person.  My numbers were now to the 140 range.  Not perfect, but soooo much better than the 300's.  Your Daddy and I finally got something to eat too around 9pm.  My hour postprandial reading (1-hour after eating) was 208...still a little high, but something I deal with at home every so often, so nothing unusual.

I called Nurse Val again and told her I was staying.  She suggested that I set a temporary basal rate to 110%, because this jump could very well be the fact that I am almost to 32 weeks - and this is what happens - you start growing more, hormones go off the charts and an all around increase of insulin is needed.  I started this around midnight...and throughout the night, my numbers slowly fell into normal range again, even with an 80 at 6am.

Your Daddy is such a good hubby to me, he stayed there with me on the uncomfortable pull out chair next to my bed.  Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.  First of all, that hospital bed was horrible!  I couldn't have slept even if nothing was on my mind!  Second, I was strapped to those monitors all the time and if you moved, or the monitor moved a little with my movement, your heart rate would disappear from the screen and I would readjust and try and get it back again.  This became normal and not alarming after many hours.  It scared me at first, but then I realized if I wanted to sleep at all, I would have to ignore this factor.  Every 1-2 hours from midnight to 6am, I woke up and took my blood sugar, wrote it down, unplugged the cords from the monitors - three of them - so that I could get up and go pee.  It had to be a sight, because I had these huge straps around my belly with long cords coming from them and I would just hold the cords in my hand and do my best to go the bathroom!  And then, once I unhooked the toe clippy heart rate monitor, it would start screeching like I had no pulse anymore (the nurse knew to expect this when I was getting up to go the bathroom).  So there was a huge "BEEP...BEEP...BEEP" constantly going until I could get my tangled self back to bed and hooked up again.  Your poor Daddy, he'd get woken up every time I had to get up too!  And then I'd get all plugged back in again, toe thingy back on (whew...pulse again!), and then situate the monitors to find you again and get your heart rate back on the screen and thumping again.  By this time, you were at your normal range - 130 - 150 bpm.

The nurse told me that you looked great in there.  They look for activity from one of the monitors on my belly and match it up with your heart rate and if it changes with your activity.  I guess you were a champ, because they said you looked great.  I also noticed that sometimes your heart rate would go to 115-120 for a few (LONG) seconds and then come back up to normal.  So, I asked about this in the morning and she said that this is completely normal and most likely it is from you either leaning against your umbilical cord, or your squeezing it.  Again, completely normal (just be careful with that thing, okay?! That's your life line!).  I also learned that the mild contractions I had been feeling were really just that. They noticed on the monitor that I had several.  Completely normal to have them this early - just getting ready to get you out of there!

I gave the nurse all my readings from the night before and remember the 208 postprandial that I had the night before?  The nurse gave this number to the doc and he was concerned still and thought I should maybe stay another night.  What?!  This was ridiculous...especially now that I was around 80 - and I hadn't set the temp basal to 110% at that point...so after I did...I obviously was getting my numbers back into range.  I told the nurse this and she relayed them to the doctor (the one from the doctor's office, by the way, and he hadn't come and even seen me yet...so that frustrated me a bit to make this judgement without even talking to me!  To his credit, there were 12 babies delivered the day before and that night I was there....so there were a few other things to attend to!).  I had a minor meltdown with just your Daddy in the room (picture a kid stomping when they don't get their way and then tears).  I think everything just built up finally - being so scared for you, being hooked up to all these monitors constantly, the bed SUCKED and my hips were hurting through the whole night and also feeling bad that your Daddy was stuck there with me!  Luckily, I got over my temper tantrum pretty fast and the nurse came in and told me that the next doctor from my office was on the clock now and he would come in and see me shortly.  He did - and I knew this one - he was the one that your Mimi and I saw when they were in town.  He agreed with my logic (thank you!) and if my lunch postprandial number was close to normal, he'd discharge me.

At that point, I confess, I cranked my temporary basal rate to 117% instead of 110% so that I had a better chance of getting out of there!  And it must've worked, because I was 139 after lunch (as close to normal as I get) and just like that - I was out of there!  My readings were pretty normal (with the temp basal still set) through the day yesterday, a little higher through the night (150's), and today have been a little more like 150 too.  So, I may just need to reset all my basal rates to around 125% of my old rates.  It's just that time during the pregnancy baby girl!  I have already double the amount of daily insulin that I use...and knew I could go as high as triple that amount...so we're right on target!  Even though it's still frustrating...I'd still do anything for you little girl!  In honor of SEVEN weeks to go and our little hospital adventure, I thought I would do our countdown this week based on that.  Here are the SEVEN things I actually liked about needing to go and stay in the hospital.

7.  We know where to go and what to do on the big day!
6.  There are current movies to watch at the hospital - and free!  All chosen from my uncomfortable hospital bed!  We watched "The Proposal", "Land of the Lost" and started "This Is It" (Michael Jackson - that was good!).
5.  We got to know the staff a little and feel really comfortable with them- maybe the two nurses that took care of me will get to meet you too!
4.  I know for sure that your Daddy gets to stay the night with me there when we have you.
3.  Hospital food isn't too bad (although they try to act like I should be on a "diabetic diet" which is just really funny to someone who takes care of herself like I do - on a pump, etc. - oh well!).
2.  I didn't have to get wheeled out in a wheelchair to get discharged.  They let me walk out on my own like a normal person!
1.  You were 100% a-okay.  Hearing your heart beat and monitoring you for a good 12 hours or so was such a comfort to your Mommy and Daddy!  And hearing the nurses say you look great in there was even better!

This hospital stay was a huge test in the humility department.  It made me feel like I couldn't take care of myself and you on my own.  And I guess that's where the humility comes in - reality is that I can't.  At a minimum I need God and to do what He says instead of going where my pride leads.  It's hard to say that I had to stay a night in the hospital due to high blood sugars...like I didn't do a good enough job taking care of you.  Well, and that's the next bit of reality - I do need others sometimes with having diabetes.  I never like to think that way, but it's true.  I have a disease that has a mind of it's own sometimes.  Where others get the luxury of having a pancreas that knows exactly what to do and is so intricately smart, mine is just a plain loser.  A waste of space really!  I wonder how much a pancreas weighs?  Because I really don't need it.....you get where I'm going with this?

Anywhoooo....what about you?  Let's see....here's a little update.

This week you should weigh about four pounds and are around 17 inches long. And though that's a head-to-toe length, you are actually back to a curled-up position. Since we are so close to the end,  I am more so feeling tapping and squirming instead of your signature rocking and rolling. That's because, while comfy, you are a bit tight for exercise space right now.  You are most likely settled into the head-down, bottoms-up position in my pelvis in preparation for birth. Even if you move around and your head isn't always down, at this point, you still have time to take your final position.
  
And because you are accumulating more fat and your skin is finally turning opaque (like mine) this means those see-through days are over.  Though weeks away from D-day, you are looking more and more like a newborn!  
  
And speaking of that big day, I should be resting up for it — because you sure are. In preparation for that big first date with your mama, you are literally sleeping like a baby — with sleep cycles of 20 to 40 minutes long.  So, if I am feeling less movement from you nowadays, that's because you are sleeping more than you used to.


You seem to push down on my left hip a lot these days.  And then simultaneously up in my ribs at the same time.  This must be a little stretch that you do a few times a day after you wake up....hands and feet straight up and out.  I feel a little more hungry now too, which is weird because I haven't felt overly hungry this whole pregnancy.  But, since you are growing in there (and I know this as well from my huge increase in insulin this week!), this new hunger makes sense too.  


We have our first non-stress test (NST) this week, along with a growth ultrasound and doctor's visit.  All of this is on Thursday.  From this point on, I will need two of these visits a week (but only one ultrasound).  The NST will be exactly like what we did in the hospital with those straps on my belly, measuring how much you are moving vs. the movement of your heart rate.  So, this is just a 45-60 minute deal of monitoring.  


Another thing we get to do this Sunday is take your Sisters to the TobyMac, Michael W. Smith, and Third Day concert.  We all LOVE TobyMac and I love the other two as well.  It should be a great concert - we can't wait!  And that reminds me of a song of his that I hope he sings.  It's not exactly about a baby in a mom's womb...but when I hear certain parts of it, it makes me think of you in there just needing to make it few more days...and then I get to hold you!  I'll leave you with a few of the lyrics to end the blog today.


Baby hold on
just another day or two
I can see the clouds are
moving faster now
and the sun is breaking through
If you can hold on, to the One that's holding you
there is nothing that can
stop this crazy love
from breaking through 


And the stars are up there
shining for you
oh, how the Father does adore you
His love will never change
And you and I
we were born to follow
the hope that will lead us to tomorrow
and no one can take it away

So baby hold on
just another day or two
I can see the clouds are
moving faster now
and the sun is breaking through
If you could hold on
to the One that's holding you
there is nothing that can stop this crazy, crazy love from breaking


Love you!

31 Weeks! 8 To Go!!!!!!

Hey there little one kicking me in the tummy....as you can see, I am a day late this week.  I have a good excuse though, promise!  Tuesdays are always busy days for me during the day, but your Daddy and I also had our first child birth class last night for THREE AND A HALF HOURS.  And, we have two more nights to go!

And get this, we left an hour and a half early to get to the hospital (yep, the one where you will be born!) because we wanted to grab something quick to eat, Phoenix rush hour traffic, etc.  This should normally be a 30 minute drive....BUT....it had been a day with crazy weather (storming and dumping rain one minute and a rainbow the next), so it figured we would run into some weather.  It's not all sunshine and pleasant days here in Phoenix (well, maybe 95% of the days, but the other 5% are weird and wacky!).

So, on our drive down I-17, the clouds looked really funky.  Not the kind of weird clouds that your Mommy usually hates (because tornadoes FREAK ME OUT), but still freaky just the same - like a big ol' wall of white clouds - not puffy and pretty clouds, but almost block-shaped clouds (if that's possible?).  So, your Mommy told your Daddy that we should pull off the freeway while we still could (out of shear fear!) and grab something to eat now.  And we did...and right when we walked into Wendy's it started hailing.  I could handle that hail...marble-sized pellets, not too windy.  Then, the sheets of rain came with wind.  And then, the freight train came and was running somewhere above the roof of Wendy's.  The hail got a lot bigger and outside was completely a mess - you couldn't see a thing.  And did I mention the freight train sound?  Holy moly...that noise is something I never want to hear again.  I was so scared.  When I lived in Illinois, I had to worry about tornadoes all the time...but here in AZ?  Yeah, right!  Well, your Daddy and I both think there was something above that roof in the clouds similar to a tornado that was making that HORRIBLE noise.  And your Daddy didn't want to freak me out, I could tell...but his face gave it all away.  I just kept telling him to "hold my hand, hold my hand".  And then I prayed to God for protection and really thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown at the counter of Wendy's!  Generally, living in IL, I have been well-trained to go to the basement.  Well, first of all, no basements in AZ, and second of all, we were in a Wendy's.  I felt so helpless...and we were.  We were at the mercy of the weather, whatever it decided to do.  Thank goodness, we made it through just fine and even got some food after it passed.  The view outside was incredible, as all the hail almost looked like snow on the ground and then God even gave us a double rainbow when we were driving away.

 This is right after the worst of it went through - so it looks a lot calmer than it was!

All the white stuff is the hail

All that said and done...we went to get back on I-17, just to see a sign saying the road is now closed.  Oh boy.  So, all traffic had to exit (you can imagine how long that took at 5pm on a weekday!).  It took forever.  We then had to dodge streets filled will rivers of water and hope we wouldn't get stuck in the high water.  Phoenix has NO DRAINAGE systems (gutters in the curbs, etc.) for rain....because it's always sunshine and pleasant, right?  Wrong-o.  So, when it does rain, it usually dumps sheets of rain instead of fun, light sprinkly rain and the roads are a mess.  Needless to say, were a good 45 minutes late to our class.  Probably fine in the end though, because I didn't learn a whole bunch new last night.  We did get to see the typical birthing video that was extremely graphic and was probably supposed to freak you out, but it didn't bother me too much.  I think it bothered the dads in there more than the moms.  

Oh, and on the crazy drive down, the neighbors by your Pa and Mimi's rental house here in AZ called to say that they had noticed some broken windows and that the screens on the windows looked like there were rocks thrown threw them.  They said there was golf-ball sized hail up there.  They were going to go and check stuff out for sure for us and then cardboard up any windows that needed it.  Nice people.

They only kept us until 9pm and not 9:30pm, so that was nice...we got in the car to head back up I-17 and guess what?  Yep, still closed.  We found out later there were power lines that got uprooted and toppled over.  So, we took city streets home....well, tried to.  Many of these major city streets were closed due to flooding as well.  And, power was out all of the place, so there were no stoplights.  It was kind of creepy (especially in some of the parts of town we had to drive through!).  We eventually found our way back to our neck of the woods.  And were a little scared of what our house looked like since we are just three miles from Pa and Mimi's.  Lo and behold, God blessed us because we had no windows or screens broken.  Crazy how the weather works around here!

Let's see...other than our crazy night, the last week with you has been great.  Mommy's feet are still swollen, but that has become semi-normal for me now.  And you are your usual mover and shaker in there.  You gave me a huge blow last night in bed....I think that was the biggest one so far...it kind of hurt!  Oh, and you have definitely had the hiccups a lot lately.  On my lower left side of my tummy (which is where your head has been the last couple times at the ultrasounds), I feel the rhythmic bumps for a few minutes.  Yesterday you had them twice and today you have already had them once.  They say it's a healthy thing, showing you are developing correctly, but it makes me feel bad for you in there!  And you can tell you get a little annoyed with them because after a couple minutes of having them you start squirming around and kicking more.  

Here's more about you this week:

As far as growth goes, you are still on a roll, measuring an impressive 17 inches and weighing in at more than three pounds (probably more like 3.5). You will still gain at least three to five pounds, possibly more, before you we get to meet you.

Your brain is working overtime these days, developing faster than ever.   Connections between individual nerve cells are growing at a frenetic clip, and you can now perceive information from all five senses. Sure, you can't smell anything right now, but that's only because you are still submerged in amniotic fluid and need to be breathing air to get a whiff of anything. Lucky for me — and you — my smell will be one of the very first scents you breathe in, a scent that will hopefully quickly become your very favorite.

So what's little Avery Jo doing all day long? Making faces, hiccupping, swallowing, breathing, pedaling with little hands and feet along my uterine wall, and even sucking your thumb (didn't they forget sucking your feet too?). In fact, some babies suck their thumbs so vigorously while in the womb that they're born with a callus on their thumb (or toes!).

A loud noise near me may cause you to jump (and I think I have noticed that before). You may move to the rhythm of music (how cool is that?  I'll pay attention to this now!). Studies with heart rates show that you may also prefer some types of music to others at this stage. Your eyes can now completely open and the irises are now responsive to light, dilating and contracting as needed.

In other words...you are such a little person now!  I didn't get to see you at the doc's appointment last week (pretty uneventful really - oh, my A1C was 6.0, up a little with all the stubborn insulin resistance kicking in, but still in a great place for you in there!).  But, I start having appointments weekly (sometimes maybe twice a week even) to measure your heart rate, movement, and general health....so, that will start next week and I think includes a growth ultrasound...so next week we get to see you again!

On the home front here, your Sister, Kyndall has been having ankle issues in cross country, so she went and got an x-ray the other day - she has a stress fracture!  She had shin splints since the summer, so this is just sometimes what happens with shin splints - they turn into this.  She has to wear an air cast for two weeks and her cross country season is pretty much over with this news.  Kind of sad, but we just want her to get better and heal.  I think she will be going out for track in the spring too, so you'll get to come along to her track meets then and watch her with us!  Megan is good too - she's just a busy little thing lately.  She is taking a cooking class after school each week, she is in student council and is in something called "Character Counts", which meets and does volunteer work every other week.  This week, she had cooking on Tuesday after school, she has a student council meeting today after school, and then "Character Counts" tomorrow after school - whew!  And she just said she thinks she wants to go out for basketball again, which starts in a few weeks.  Nothing like being born into a busy time!  =)  This means you'll get to see some of her basketball games too!  You'll already be one sporty little girl by the age of 6 months!  =)

Okay, to end this long blog today (sorry!), I'm going to continue with my countdown for the week - which is EIGHT today.  In honor of EIGHT weeks left until we get to meet you, here are EIGHT reasons why I have loved being pregnant with you!

8.  I have felt like a champ throughout the whole pregnancy - no morning sickness, food aversions - really not too much of anything but feeling normal!

7.  I like it when people rub my belly.

6.  I get special treatment and nice looks from strangers

5.  I just feel special  - like I (and you) were uniquely chosen for this job

4.  I like the anticipation of imagining what you will look like, laugh like, smile like....and then I get impatient!

3.  My belly - I just love it.

2.  Your kicks - I will miss them even when you are in my arms!

1.  The miracle of God's creation is right here happening within me - there is absolutely no denying that there is a God when something so intricate and incredible is being developed in my body.  It is truly an amazing thing and an entirely new face of God that I never knew of before because it can only be experienced with pregnancy.

I love you baby girl - can't wait for week 32!