Wiggle it....just a little bit!

Okay, so, I know that I should understand by this point that there is a baby inside of me...but after days like today, it just takes my breath away still!  Today was my appointment...and thank goodness another sonogram (was thinking they may just do the doppler to get your heart rate...but we got the sono instead - yay!).  I've read that you should be moving around by 9-10 weeks, so I was excited to see if we could catch some movements...and we did!  Your arms and legs were there, moving around...one of your arms was up by your eyes and nose...and the legs were-a-kicking!  Literally took my breath away...I didn't want it to end!  And as she took a few measurements (heart rate was 164 - good and strong!) and your Daddy and I were still in awe, you fell asleep!  Crazy little baby!  She tried to wake you up by pushing the sono wand on my belly a lot, but you were out!  She said that at 10 weeks you sleep every 30 minutes.  Or, maybe you knew that we wanted to get some good pictures of you, so you were holding still until the end?  =)  Either way, we did get a couple good shots of you today.  Okay, so let me explain.  The first picture is of your face, straight on.  She moved the wand so it was at a little different angle to get a front shot.  You can see your eye sockets, little nose area and mouth (the whitest part is your mouth)!  The second shot is the profile shot.  Your head in on the left, with one of your arms up by your eyes (no, you aren't a Who from Whoville with a pointy turned-up nose, I promise!).  Your legs are there and I can even see your belly!  Love it...you are really a baby!  I know I should know this and today really helped...but still sometimes crazy to see you as a little baby!  The screens in the room were so much better with detail than these pics...but we'll have to just take these for now!

The doctor's appointment went great too! I saw a different doctor than the first one we met several weeks ago.  Still the same vibe from him - they have a very balanced approach about the high-risk prenancy - meaning, they don't scare the crap out of me about my disease, which is much appreciated, and honestly, it's the way my nature is and always has been about my disease anyway (thanks Mom and Dad!).  So, he came in and looked at my blood sugar numbers for the past two weeks and said my numbers look great!  Woohoo!  We talked through several things/questions I had collected over the last two weeks.  I'm flying to IL in a couple weeks - all good, just need to get up and shake my legs out halfway through.  Same goes for our July trip to Colorado in the car - and your Daddy and I (and you!) are flying again at the end of August to IL again...no worries there.  Also wondered about my blood type (there is a Rh Negative issue/worry with babies and depending on blood type of mine and Daddy's then we would know whether to worry or not).  I am A+ (never knew that before)...so no worries there.  He also told me that I would get a 3D ultrasound around my 18 week appointment.  That is the week before we leave for Colorado...so we should have a CD full of great pictures of you before we go and see our family there!  Yay!  I also asked when I would get my A1C done (this measures my control of my blood sugar #'s over the last 2-3 months)...he said I would get that in two weeks (at 12 weeks).  So, I will go in and get that done the day before I head out to IL.  He explained that a "normal" person (a.k.a. - no diabetes or other high risks) has a 3% chance of congenital abnormalities - ranging from anything like an extra finger or two to a brain malformation.  That's a normal pregnancy chance.  This A1C result I get, if under 8.5, I will have the same 3% chance as a normal person of abnormalities.  If it is over 8.5, the risk goes to 22%.  Wow, right?  Well, an 8.5 A1C is pretty high and with all I've been doing with my numbers, I'm expecting to be under 6.5 (cross your fingers for under 6.0 - I'd love that!).  I'd never heard it explained like that before, so it was interesting to hear.  I look at the A1C test as kind of my "grade" for my blood sugar control.  It's really the only gauge out there to determine your average number over a long period of time.  Oh, and by the way, a "normal" person (a.k.a. no diabetes) has an A1C of 4.5 - 6.5...so that's the range I'm shooting for!  Ugh...I still can't get you wiggling out of my head!  =)

I wasn't sure I was going to do this, but what's a pregnancy blog without a belly picture.  So...we saw what you looked like from the inside up above...and here's how you are taking shape on the outside.  Still can't see a big bump...but you are definitely making an impact a little bit!  Can't wait until you are bigger and my belly is loud and proud!  =)

If you are wondering what the white thing is on my tummy, it's the CGM sensor.  You may even see a little tubing from my pump too...just ignore!  =)

So, here's the sad news....I won't see you again until after I am back from IL...a whole THREE weeks from now.  Part of that is good news because the doctor was pleased enough with how I was doing, so I didn't need to be back in for a while...but the sucky part is I don't get to see you for that long.  So until then, just keep pushing on my ab muscles and showing yourself in that way so that I know you are doing  a-okay!  I think in three weeks we get a good detailed scan of you - checking on the chambers of your heart.  Can't wait to see you then!

We're in the double digits now - 10 weeks!

Hey there my little one!  Wow, can you believe it?  We are at the 10 week mark!  I haven't seen you since eight weeks...so your Daddy and I are very much looking forward to this Thursday morning when we see you again!  Here's a little bit about you this week:

Though you're barely the size of a small plum — an inch and a half long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, you  have now completed the most critical portion of your development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in your body rapidly grow and mature.
You are swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including your kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout my pregnancy with you.

If I could see you up close, I'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on your fingers and toes (no more webbing - quack quack!) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on your tender skin.

In other developments: Your arms and legs can bend now! Your hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over your heart, and your feet may be long enough to meet in front of your body. The outline of your spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from your spinal cord. Your forehead temporarily bulges with your developing brain and sits very high on your head, which measures half the length of your body (wow...that's quite a head!). From crown to rump, you are about 1 1/4  - 1 1/2 inches long. In the coming weeks, you will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

And on top of all of this developement, it makes sense that I am feeling a bit pregnant now!  I love it.  My belly sticks out a little bit...especially at night, I think my stomach muscles are tired from the day and I just don't have the strength to have good posture anymore.  And my tummy below my belly button is pretty tight to the touch...so much fun to feel!  I am definitely tired a lot too - starts mid-afternoon and by the time dinner and dishes are done, I'm ready for the couch or bed!  My tum tum also feels tight in general too - it feels like I just worked out those ab muscles for two hours!  I have to be a little careful in bed at night because if I shift sides, I feel like I could pull a stomach muscle!  From what I read, this all very normal...and just means that you are growing inside of me and pushing out my muscles in my tummy.

And my blood sugars are behaving pretty good.  Sometimes some weird low numbers out of the blue...usually one a day or so...but they are manageable.  The high's are further between, which is great...and sometimes they are out of the blue too...but they are pretty rare.  The CGM is working out pretty nicely for me...still liking it and thinking it definitely helps predict lows and highs, which is critical for you.  I will be able connect it to some software on my computer and run reports for my doc (with all the hundreds of blood sugar numbers it's recorded) for Thursday...that will be interesting to see if they use them and adjust my basal rates or bolus amounts.  I have tweaked my basals the last couple of nights trying to get rid of some lows early in the morning...not sure it's working...we'll see again tonight.  I'm usually up about 2-4 times through the night checking my blood sugars, so I catch them if they happen.  I don't think I will get a full eight hours of sleep for several more years now.  =)

Your Daddy and I celebrated Mother's Day and had a relaxing weekend.  The girls got me a card and said some really cute and thoughtful things, which was wonderful...of course, they were with their mom on Mother's Day, so that kind of stinks, but completely understand at the same time.  Your Daddy made me feel plenty special and even made me breakfast and then took me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner - YUMMY!  I tried the low-carb cheesecake to help with the blood sugar levels - and it was pretty good - and it worked with the numbers pretty good too.  Oh...and we started looking a little at nursery furniture.  That was a whole lot of fun!  =)

Alright baby...I have to get to bed so that you can grow more.  I already love you so much, it's crazy.