26 Week OB Appt

Today I had both my glucose tolerance test, and another OB appt. It made for a long morning of appts. After dropping off Jillian, I promptly reported to endocrinology to down my glass of lukewarm lemon-lime syrupy beverage. Gross. I should first back up and say that though I didn't have any problems last time, I was worried about getting the gestational diabetes diagnosis this time, perhaps because I feel particularly attached to desserts in any form right now. I always love dessert, but it's just been with heightened intensity this time. Taking them away from me right now would be very bad news...for everyone in this house. Because of this fear, I frantically binged yesterday on dessert whenever the opportunity presented itself. I had a cookie and a mini muffin at a meeting yesterday morning, a large bowl of coffee ice cream after lunch, and a huge piece of cake before bed last night. After the test, I headed over to the OB office for the visit and to get the results...but not before stopping briefly at the bakery in the Mayo subway to devour a blueberry muffin as a hypothetical one last carb-loaded hoorah. You know, just in case. Thankfully, my fears were unfounded and I once again passed the test with flying colors. I celebrated with a piece of cake after lunch.
Other stats from the OB appt include....

Weight--up 5.72 lbs from last month, for a grand total of 19.14 lbs. I'm sure this has nothing to do with my dessert consumption. Might be time to add a few more minutes to the daily treadmill walk.

BP-- nice and low at 90/56

Hemoglobin--10.9 (routine check at this stage of gestation). They like it to be over 11, but this was close enough. I'll just need to eat a bit more steak.

Baby heart rate--steady and fluctuating between 147-152. The dr. and I had to chuckle because she kept kicking the transducer when he was trying to find her heart beat.


Fundal height--24-25 cm. This was only a 1-2 cm change from last month, which is less than expected. However, my OB is not worried, and says that this can happen in subsequent pregnancies. Apparently the baby has more room to move in my previously-stretched uterus, and therefore could be laying sideways. This would affect the height of my uterus and result in an incorrect measurement of growth. But--just to be sure, we are scheduled for another formal ultrasound for growth measurement on April 12th. Dr. J. reassured me many times, and said: "If I was really worried, we'd be doing this tomorrow. This baby is going to be just fine". I'd rather be safe than sorry, so I appreciate his caution in addition to his reassuring manner. He's going to stay at work after overnight call that day so he can personally see me for a visit after the ultrasound. How's that for service?

Love Affair

While it's true I'm having quite the love affair with ice cream during this pregnancy, I have a new love that is perhaps a bit better for my physique.

Yes, that is a picture of my leg adorned with a knee-high compression stocking. Sexy, I know. I got a prescription for these hot little numbers at my last OB appt because of some varicose veins I've developed this pregnancy. The stockings help reduce the discomfort and ease any swelling, and also have a handy little side effect of helping to prevent blood clots. Since I am not really interested in horrible varicose veins or a blood clot, I'm all in. I went to the special little Mayo store that serves the sole purpose of fitting and selling these gems, and I left a new woman. I was worried I'd feel constricted and uncomfortable with them on, but as soon as the the store employee put these on me, I was instantly in love and there's been no going back. My legs feel more energized, and they are so much more comfortable than I imagined. I can tell a huge difference in how I feel on days when I don't wear them, and I much prefer to have them on. Of course I might feel differently when summer arrives and I want to wear shorts and flip flops.....

22 Week OB Appt

I headed to the OB clinic this morning with my unexpected companion, Jillian. I generally try to get care for her on OB appt days, because I usually have to wait awhile on Dr. J, and it is usually stressful to take a 2 year old to a dr. appt, whether it's for them or  not. She was under the weather today, so had no choice but to accompany me. The sickness created a bit of a subdued demeanor in the wild child, so it actually worked in my favor. She was relaxed in the stroller, eating snacks, and making sure I behaved when I was on the exam table. Because I have a raging sinus infection that won't go away, I got a more thorough exam that included listening to my lungs, looking in my ears, etc....all that stuff that happens when Jillian goes to the dr. Her eyes were fixed intently on me, and she complimented my behavior at the end with a "Mommy's a big girl, mommy gets a sticker!". She perseverated on the sticker piece long after we left, and just couldn't understand why I didn't get a Dora sticker for my good behavior.
Baby-related facts are as follows....
-BP was 102/50
-Weight gain this month was a hefty 6 lbs (oops...), bringing my total weight gain thus far to 13.5 lbs.
-Baby heart rate was good (no number given), but a bit difficult to find given her activity level. Yep, we've got another mover and shaker cooking in there! Jillian really liked hearing her sister's heart beat for the first time.
-Now begins the belly measuring (pubic bone to top of uterus) and I measured at 23 cm....pretty right on, if not a bit big for gestational age
Dr. J. gave me a second antibiotic to try for this nasty sinus infection, instructed me to take Benadryl at night so I could get some rest, and wrote me a script for some compression stockings (sexy!) thanks to some varicose veins that are already rearing their ugly head (I don't remember having them with Jillian, and if I did, I certainly didn't have them at only 22 weeks and never needed stockings). I'll go back on March 23rd for the routine glucose tolerance test and another appt. 

The Name Game

This poor baby doesn't have a name. Most people wouldn't be nervous about that, considering we have about four months left in the pregnancy. For us, it is a big switch from last time since we knew for several years before having children that our daughter (should we have one) would be named Jillian. After we learned that we were definitely having a girl the first time, we briefly glanced at a baby name book just to be sure, but absolutely nothing appealed to us outside of Jillian. That was her identity from the start. Currently, we have spent many evening hours scouring websites, a new baby name book, and our brains for another girls name we like just as well. We are attracted to classic, clean, feminine sounding names that are not overtly popular. At the same time, we do not want an unusual name that people have trouble spelling or pronouncing. Though there are a couple of one syllable names I really like, I won't consider using them due the short nature of our last name. Creating a list with those parameters is more difficult than you might think. Unofficially, we have a short list that we talk about often, bouncing back and forth between our favorites. As of last night, we have two names we both feel are "better" than the others on the list. Of course, I like one and Matt likes the other. As I was reading the chapter on narrowing down choices in The Baby Name Wizard Book, I  found a helpful suggestion. The author states that once you have a short list, you need to realize that all of those names are "good". She suggests that we focus on all the things we like about the names, and not critically try to pick them apart (what we have been doing). Rather, she proposes we take each name for a trial run for a day, referring to the baby as Name A for a day, and Name B for another, and then see which one feels harder to give up at the end of the day. So, that is what we are doing. Today, our daughter shall be referred to as Name A, tomorrow we'll call her by Name B. We'll see how that goes! You didn't think that I was actually going to tell you the names, did you???? Baby #2's name will be revealed to others (including Jillian, because she has loose lips) only after she is born.

About Halfway

That scary picture above was taken late at night the very day of that first positive pregnancy test (October 23rd). We were getting ready for bed, and Matt suddenly exclaimed that we had to take a picture of my belly's starting point just as we did with Jillian. Please pardon my tired, disheveled appearance. What you are supposed to notice is the relatively flat belly and jeans that were once loose in the waist.
Now, here we are nearly four months later, at what is somewhere around the halfway point of this pregnancy. Technically, I am 21 weeks and 2 days pregnant (that is counting by my last period, and the gestation that marks my medical chart, despite the changed due date). If you count backwards from the "official" July 1 due date I am 20 weeks and 3 days. Take your pick. It's about halfway. Matt took a couple shots of the growing belly tonight. Not sure what he was going for in this first pic, but it definitely screams "Moooo!"

A more appropriate belly shot (disregard the open drawer in the background, we were amidst dinner clean-up when I remembered to have him take this picture). Respectably large, to be sure.

Just for fun.....halfway with Jillian (June 2008). Younger, and definitely smaller!

Sharing the Love

Up until last night, Daughter #2 had been only sharing those delightful little kicks with me. Each night when I settle into bed, she starts her dancing. It's been pretty light, but definitely noticeable to a second time mom. I have tried without success to get her to do some for her dad on more than one occasion. Last night she was feeling cooperative, and when I told Matt to put his hands on my belly she stepped it up a bit. He said, "Wow she is really moving in there!" It was cute to see his face light up as he felt her in there making herself known. Maybe someday soon she'll do some dancing for her sister....

Trip to Triage

What pregnancy is complete without a trip to OB triage? It's funny, because just last week I was thinking to myself, "Wow, you are doing really good. No crazy trips to triage!". I had already been a couple of times at this point with Jillian. Guess I congratulated myself too soon, because I ended up spending a long four hours there late last night. It all began in church yesterday, when as I was sitting quietly, started to notice some contraction-like feelings. Not painful, but not comfortable, and my back was hurting. I shook it off and thought I'd feel better after lunch, lots of water, and a long nap. No such luck. This of course happened to be the day Matt was  moonlighting about an hour away, so I just tried to go about my day with Jillian and not read too much into it. I really started to wonder if it was just normal to get them in subsequent pregnancies, but I couldn't remember ever noticing them this early with Jillian. The day went on, and they just continued. Matt came home just as I put Jillian to bed and scolded me for not calling the nurse about my little pains. So I did, and of course, that call bought me a trip to triage. I headed in about 8 and was there until nearly midnight for the full work up. I got two different types of ultrasounds (one to check baby, one to check/measure thickness and length of cervix), the most painful, horrible speculum exam of my life, and the ever-tortuous cath to obtain the cleanest possible urine sample to check for any urinary infections. Four hours of poking, prodding, and waiting. Thankfully, all was well. Baby looks good, no infections, and my cervix is long and closed as it should be. I was sent home to try and rest (I just find it hilarious that this is even suggested to the mother of a 2 year old!), and drink lots of water, and was instructed to call the clinic today if they were still happening. I called this morning because I was still experiencing the same feelings. The nurse both reassured me and scared me at the same time. She reassured me in that she told me that your uterus is more irritable in subsequent pregnancies, making you more susceptible to earlier contractions and back pain. She scared me in that she scolded me for continuing to do laundry, make meals, and care for my two year old when I was supposed to be resting (ummm, who does she propose takes care of all of that??) and said that if I overdo it I could go into pre-term labor. I'm not really interested in that. Matt told me that is bogus, but that I do need to be more mindful of sitting and resting when I can. He also gently reminded me that it is fine with him if we just order pizza for dinner.