GD Free

Got my gestational diabetes results back today and I passed. They said all 3 readings were in the normal range so I don't have GD. So glad I don't have to worry about that now.

I am still having heart palpitations so I am waiting to get into see a cardiologist to find out what, if anything, I can do about it.

I'm really enjoying my birthing class and looking more into all the natural childbirth options I will have available at the hospital. I still have so much to learn about. I'm also doing research on cloth diapering, breastfeeding, making my own baby food, and would like to learn more about holistic options for treating sicknesses at home. I don't want to turn to antibiotics every time my baby is sick. This will be a completely different way than how I have been living so I have a lot to learn about everything homeopathic.

Some great websites I have come across are:
http://mothering.com/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/
and
http://kellymom.com/

My cousin has also told me about this website for cloth diapering.
www.drmomma.org

I also purchased the Birthing from Within book that goes along with the childbirth class I have been taking so I'm sure there will be lots of great information in there. Can't wait to get it so I can start reading.

29 Weeks

I'm 29 weeks along today! I realized the other day that my earlier post titled 10 weeks to go was inaccurate which doesn't surprise me because my math skills are not good. It should have read 11 weeks to go but in reality it is more like 10 weeks since I am going to be induced before my due date.

Anyway back to my day. It started with having to fast for my glucose test at 8am. On my way into the doctor office I had to move out the way for a cop to get by then while sitting at a stop light the lady behind me rolled into my car. We pulled over to check for damage but there was none. It wasn't a bad hit, I think she just took her foot of the brake and rolled into the back of me. We hugged and she said she was sorry. On to my glucose test now.

I arrived and they took me back and took blood for a base number before I drank the liquid. I chose the Orange drink again but this time it was a full bottle instead of the half bottle. After an hour they took another vile of blood. While waiting I got a text from a fellow BLM who was expecting her rainbow saying that she was being induced today! So excited for her!

Well the process continued for another 2 hours. They took a vile of blood each hour so I ended up getting blood drawn from each arm 2 times. While I was there I watched a couple of movies on my iPad which helped the time go by faster. Ready to eat when I got done I went back to work for a few to wait on my coworker to go grab a bite to eat.

By the time I got off of work the BLM had her rainbow baby. She weighed 5lbs 14oz and was 20.5in long! So happy for her and her family. That was the 2nd rainbow to be born over the past day in the Rainbow Room which seems to be a recurring theme in there!

My doctor appointment was scheduled for 5:30pm so I stayed at work until it was time to go to my appointment. My mom was able to meet me there today since Mark couldn't go.

Blood Pressure - 168/20 (Good)
Weight - 210lbs (Still gaining)
Fundus Height - Forgot to get this number
Little Bird's HB - 168 (Great)
My HB - 146 - It was high and I told them I was still having heart palpitations so I am going to see a cardiologist and have a 24hr EKG done to check my heart.

I also told the nurse I have been having a lot of headaches but never did talk to the doctor about them.

Love my doctor by the way. She said I could come in to be checked everyday and it wouldn't bother them. She knows that this is a very stressful time for me and wanted to let me know if I need anything to let them know. We talked about when I will start my non-stress tests which will be about 33 weeks. Possibly checking the baby's fluid and keeping a close eye on me over the next few months.

I asked if she got Brinley's picture I dropped off for her and we talked a little about her. I told her that I would be available to talk with future people who loss their baby if they wanted to give them my name. She seemed very happy about that and said she would mention it to the nurse who is in charge of that.

Last we talked about inducing me and what my options are. She was very adamant that we weren't going to let me go to my due date which is fine with me. So it is looking like I will be induced about the 1st of November so Little Bird's birthday could be 11/1/11.

Oh yeah... almost forgot. I won't have my glucose results back until sometime next week. 

There was a lot talked about today so I hope I'm not forgetting anything. My next appointment is scheduled for Sep 7th which is hubby's birthday. Then I start non-stress tests probably the following week or two. I'm so excited the end is near. Hoping everything goes well over the next couple months.

Earthquakes now!

Sitting at work I felt the ground shake for a few seconds and thought nothing of it until my husband called me a few minutes later to ask if I had felt it. It is crazy especially since we are watching a hurricane out in the Atlantic that is heading our way and it destined to become a major hurricane.

So it turns out there was a 5.9 magnatude earthquake just outside of Richmond Virginia today. It has been felt from Ottawa Canada to parts of South Carolina. It is the biggest earthquake the east coast has had in a very long time.

I have now experienced my very first earthquake.

Almost 10 to go

Tomorrow will mark my 29th week with only 10 weeks left to go before my due date. My anticipation is rising as I know it won't be long before I am responsible for the life of another human being. I've been here before, at 29 weeks pregnant, and was excited and nervous about being a mother. Well that ended 8 short weeks later when I found out my baby had died at 37 weeks. I am so nervous and worried that the same thing will happen again. I don't really know why she died and that is what makes this really scary.

I just keep telling myself that everything will be ok this time around because that is all I can do to stay sane. If I lost this baby I know in the end everything will be alright. I have been there before and survived, it has been so hard but I am still here.

So tomorrow I go for my 3 hour glucose test. I have to fast after midnight tonight and be at the lab at 8am. Once there I will drink one of those sugary drinks and have my blood tested once every hour for 3 hours. I have to sit at the lab the whole time and I'm sure I will be starving especially since I wake up hungry anyway. I'm hoping I pass the test but if I don't hopefully I can control the gestational diabetes with diet and exercise. I also have my next doctor appointment tomorrow at 5:30pm so it is looking like a busy day.

Living on the coast means that there is a chance of a hurricane coming ashore. Well guess what is heading our way right now... Yes a hurricane! The first Atlantic hurricane of the season and it is looking like it is going to be a big one. It is called Hurricane Irene and right now it is a category 2 but they are projecting it to become a category 3 by tomorrow.

Depending on where they say it is making landfall and how strong of a storm it is going to be we maybe going to Columbia for the weekend. I didn't want to go very far from home in my 3rd trimester but it is looking like Hurricane Irene will force me to leave. At least it is the beginning of the 3rd trimester and we will only be 2 1/2 hours away from home.

As for Little Bird, she has moving all the time which is so comforting. I've also started doing kick counts this past week. I counted for an hour last night and she had 78 kicks in an hour. She is a very active little girl.

I'll post an update after my appointments tomorrow if we aren't getting our stuff together to leave for the weekend.

Glucose Screening = Fail

Well I failed the glucose screening test last Friday. They said if my glucose numbers were higher than 130 that is considered too high and you have to go take the 3hr test. My level was 142 so I go Aug 24th at 8am to take the 3hr test. I have to fast starting at midnight the night before then they will give me a sugary drink to drink and test my blood once every hour for 3 hours. I will have to stay at the office while I do all of this. If I fail this test it means I have gestational diabetes. I will have to make sure I'm eating a healthy diet and get more exercise to keep it under control. If that doesn't work then I will have to take medicine.

Also my iron was 10.2 which was a little low so I have to take an iron supplement twice a day. My blood pressure was 115/62 which is really good.

I've been having a lot of headaches which I will mention again when I go back next week along with the heart palpitations.

One last thing is that I had a nose bleed at work the other day during the all college meeting. Since I was sitting in the front row I had to walk past everyone holding my bleeding nose to go to the bathroom. Thankfully by working at a college we have nursing faculty that followed me into the restroom to make sure everything was ok. All day after that everyone I saw asked if I was ok. lol I was fine but I called the doctor office just to be sure and they said it was normal and to try a humidifier at home to see if that would help.

Anyway that was just a quick update until next week.

27 Weeks and Dr. Appt

Today I am 27 weeks pregnant which is the beginning of the 7^th month and 3^rd trimester. I’m in the home stretch. Some symptoms I have been having are heart palpitations, tiredness, and round ligament pain mostly on the right side. I also have been very itchy on the stomach from the stretching. I’m looking very pregnant but still have 3 months to go! Here is a picture of me from a few days ago.

So I had a doctor checkup today and glucose test. I didn't get the results of the test and I'm not even sure they tested me. lol I got to take the drink home with me so I could drink it before I went in today. Well I drank it at 10:30am and my appointment was at 11:00am. I told them at 11:15 it had been an hour and she said she would find the nurse. Well they finally called me back at 11:30am and had me do the urine test. I was thinking that was all they had to do for the test but after I got back to work I looked it up and they were supposed to take blood for it.

So I ended up calling them and confirmed that they were supposed to take blood for the test. Looks like I have to drink that drink again on Friday.

Besides that my appointment went well. My blood pressure is still good and the baby's heartbeat sounds great. I am up to 209lbs now and growing. They talked with me about NST (non stress tests) for the baby. She said they would probably begin those when I'm 32 weeks so only 5 more weeks to go before I start those every week! We also talked about me taking some kind of anti-depressant since I am having days where I don't feel that great. I have had a few breakdowns over the past couple weeks. This is probably due to a constant headache, being tired, and the stress of Brinley's 1st angelversary coming up next week. I am trying to cut soda out of my diet and am currently on day 5 of not have a drink so I think that is the cause of my headaches.

Anyway it came down to them going ahead and submitting a subscription for some anti-depressants but I think I'm going to focus on my diet and working out a little more to see if that helps me get through. I really don't want to take the meds because even though she said there would be no risk to the baby I would have to take them for a while before they are fully effective then when I want to stop them I would have to be weaned off of them.

According to Baby Center she should be about 2lbs in weight and 14 1/2 inches long. You can read more about this week here:
http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-27-weeks_1116.bc

I've finally reached the time when I start going every two weeks so my next appointment is scheduled for Aug 24th. Glad they are getting closer. Only 13 more weeks to go!


---Forgot to mention before that my fundus is measuring 28cm which is great!

26 Weeks

Little Bird has been doing great. I had a scare the other day, more so because I was busy and not having a good day. You can read about it in my Brinley Love blog HERE.


I have reached week 26! I have another week till my next doctor appointment which feels like it is still forever away. Then a week from Saturday I have my next 3D ultrasound. Can't wait to see my little girl again!

I don't think I have mentioned this before but I have hired a doula. I'm so excited about this. We have also enrolled in the childbirth class she is teaching. It is from the Birthing from Within course. We have attended two classes so far and I love it. It is totally different than the class you get through the hospital. We have talked about nutrition and relaxation techniques. She has also had us do some birthing art with pastels. I wish I had at least taken a picture of the drawings before we threw them away. In the future I will be sure to get a picture first. I love that I am spending this time with my husband and connecting in a way that brings us closer.

I love this quote from the Birthing from Within website.

We at BIRTHING FROM WITHIN® believe that pregnant women and their partners are already gestating as parents. So, we refer to anyone who is expecting a baby as a "parent", a "mother", a "father", a "grandparent", a "sibling", etc. Just because the baby is not yet born, does not mean that the work of parenting hasn't begun! It has!

 This is something that many of us babyloss moms deal with. Are we a mother or not! Of course we say we are even though we have no baby with us to show but in our hearts. It is hard for others to grasp this concept if it hasn't happened to them.

So my doula, Ashley Sullivan, is a mother of a 4-year-old daughter. She is fairly new at what she does but I feel confident in her and am glad to have her there for support. She works in the Myrtle Beach area and can be found on her Facebook Page and through her Bodhi Tree Birth Services Blog. 

If you are looking for a different birthing experience I highly recommend looking in her classes and services. I will be giving birth at a hospital but I believe she would do a home birth if that is what you want to.