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!