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!

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!

A Shower, Swelling And A Banana

Baby girl, we are at least halfway there (if not over the halfway mark, depending on how long they let me go!).  What a busy week we've had!  You have made your presence known by literally feeling like a bowling ball in my belly lately!  For 2-3 days I had a constant feeling of pressure in my lower tummy.  I assume this was because you are growing away in there, since this is your big growth spurt stage.  Here's a little more about you this week:

You are about 6.5 inches and weighs around 10.5 ounces (almost a pound - woot woot!).  You are now measured from head to toes, instead of head to rump, since you can lengthen your legs now.  And that means from your head to your toes you are the length of the average banana!  Your rapid growth stage is just about over. While things have slowed down, this next stage is vital to survival. Your heart grows stronger and stronger this week too. "They" say that I may be able to distinguish between your heartbeat and mine at this point by putting my hand on my belly while finding my own with the other hand at the same time.  I'll just use the doppler though, much easier! Your legs are reaching their relative size. And with the increase muscle development occurring as well, I am supposed to start feeling much more than tiny flutter kicks soon...although I have an anterior placenta, so I am preparing not to really feel much for another couple weeks.

Immunities are being transferred from me to you now. These immune cells will protect you from viruses I've already had for up to six months after birth!  Crazy, eh?! The nerve cells for taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touch are now developing in specialized areas of the brain. Production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections. You may startle in reaction to loud sounds. Amazingly, you can actually hear noises outside of the womb. Familiar voices, music, and sounds you become accustomed to during you development stages often are calming after birth.  "They" tell me that you probably recognize my voice...and Daddy's too!

Your mommy's belly, is, well....out there!  I think coming to Colorado really made it stick out more!  And as much as this is what I have been waiting for, it's still a strange thing to see my body changing like this...I almost can't still believe that this is really happening!  The outfit I wore at the shower your Aunts and Uncles had for you really, REALLY made me look like the pregnant mama that I am!  Whew!  It's like it all came out of the blue from one day to the next.  It makes sense with the weird pressure I have had this week and all the growth you are having...still surreal for your Mommy!

Your mommy has also had her first bout with swelling.  Right after we got to Colorado last week, my feet were all swollen up from the car ride.  Your sister's were too (and she normally has BONEY feet - so she looked a little funny!).  I didn't worry too much about it then, after I had my feet up a while and had a good night's sleep, they were back to normal.  Yesterday, though, I noticed during dinner that the swelling was back.  I had been on my feet a lot that day, I guess.  Luckily, it's just the tops and sides of my feet (no more knobby, boney thing on the outside of the foot!).  It's not my ankles at this point.  I called the doctor today and talked to a nurse and she thinks it's just normal pregnancy stuff...not anything diabetes related.  Luckily, your Daddy and I bought a blood pressure cuff and brought it with us, so I know my blood pressure has been great (104/61), and I told the nurse that too.  Also told her it was just the tops of my feet with no other symptoms...so it's just pregnancy stuff.  I'm just a little worried about the drive home...I may have to invest in some stockings to wear to keep the swelling down during the drive.  I did have a weird blood sugar day yesterday too - two times I was in the 200's - which never happens...and it's not explainable (not that it usually is!).  Today has been great though...my increase in basals have basically done it's job.

Enough of that Debbie Downer stuff...the fun stuff of this week is that we had our first shower for you!  Your Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Kenny really went all out and had all the family over here in Colorado for a cookout.  Your Aunts and Uncles all brought some gifts for you too!  We got so many cute clothes for you, as well as some adorable hooded towels and washclothes, some cute little mittens so you don't scratch yourself and even some diapers!  We can't wait to use them all on you!  We had such a good time, and it was great to have everyone together!  They were all so generous...you are already spoiled!  Here are a few of the things we got for you.

The most yummy cake EVER!

A cute sleeper from your Aunt Nora (and Uncle Joe, JD, and Cameron)

Another ADORABLE outfit from your Aunt Nora (and Uncle Joe, JD, and Cameron)

A newborn onesie from your Grandma Frances...and the best part of it is.....................

there are ruffles on the bum!  I am IN LOVE with outfits with ruffles on the bum!

Really cute hooded towels and washcloths from your Aunt Soila (and Uncle Manual, Andrew and BJ)

From your Aunt Rhonda (and Uncle Kenny, Zach and Bailey) - have to admit this is one of my favorites - just read it.  =)

I love little sister outfits too!  Also from your Aunt Rhonda (and Uncle Kenny, Zach, and Bailey)

How cute is this from your Grandma? 

And for the grand finale today, I'm going to post my 20 week belly picture...as well as the 16 week one so you can see how big you are getting!

16 weeks

20 weeks

I think that's about it for now, little baby girl.  We love you so much!  I can't believe we are already over halfway there...I'm hoping this half goes even faster!  We can't wait to hold you, smell you, kiss you and just plain love on you!

Week 19 - I'm thinking we are halfway there!

Hey there little girlie-o-mine!  We are now 19 weeks in!  And depending on we both do at the end of the pregnancy, it could be the halfway point this week.  Many times, if induced or c-section, they will do this at 38 weeks....so we are halfway there!  =) I am sitting here writing this in the Rocky Mountains with you in my belly!  The Fall Valley River is flowing right outside our open screen door.  Love it!  Can't wait to sleep with our screen open tonight too...with the sound of the rushing river putting us to sleep!  I can pretty much feel you getting bigger!  So here's the scoop on you!

Your reproductive system is already well established. The vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes are in place, and your ovaries contain more than 6 million primitive egg cells (wow!). When you are born, that number will have shrunk to about 1 million, which is all the eggs you'll ever have. Your arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of your body now. Your kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on your scalp is sprouting. Around this time, your skin starts to produce a creamy substance called vernix caseosa, which is made of oils secreted by the skin, dead cells, and lanugo, the fine hair that covers the body. This waxy coating protects your skin from the effects of floating in amniotic fluid (I am imagining what my skin would look like after swimming in a pool for nine months - so thank goodness for that covering for you!). Most of the vernix will disappear before birth, unless you arrive early. Preterm babies are often born still covered with a lot of vernix. Even full-term infants will have a bit of vernix in the creases of their skin. You most likely measure about 7 or so inches and weighs anywhere from 7 to 9 ounces (you measured in last week at the doctor's office at 8 oz.). You are about the size of a mango!  There's a definite upswing on the fetal growth chart now, so we can expect some big gains in the coming weeks.

We are still adjusting to the fact that you are a girl!  All in a good way!  We catch ourselves sometimes saying "he" instead of "she"...still getting used to the change I guess!  We took back most of the boy-ish clothes and exchanged for some super cute girlie stuff instead.  Can't wait to see you in it all!

I am feeling great...definitely have a belly and love showing it off now more than ever.  We are in Colorado this week seeing your aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma, etc.  I am definitely showing you off to everyone around here!  Plus, we have all your latest sonogram pics that we are showing everyone too!  They love them.  They are throwing us a little shower on Saturday, which will be super fun!  I'll tell you all about it next week!

That's it for now I guess.  I feel like there should be more, but nothing is coming to mind.  I'll post some good pictures of our trip soon.  In the meantime, kick away!  I still need to feel you!  Love you baby girl!