32 Weeks. AKA 8 Months

My intentions were to write this post Sunday, but my sleep deprivation has taken away most of my motivation to do much of anything. The further along we get, the more gratitude and joy I feel, making all the little things that I've whined about in the past seem so petty. I suppose it's the transformation into motherhood that is really taking over. I'm no longer my top priority; my pains really aren't that bad, as long as my son is okay. I feel such guilt for whining as much as I did.

Not whining now, instead just stating, I am now in the insomniac phase of pregnancy. No matter how tired I feel, sleeping just isn't working out. I got one of my 'What to Expect When Expecting' emails yesterday that was "Coping with Insomnia," if I wasn't so tired I'd read it. I know this is just getting me ready for the sleepless nights with Griffin; it's just the transition that is rougher than I'd like it to be. I think I see a caffeine addiction in my future.

So in my last post, I had mentioned being on the lookout for Braxton Hicks contractions. Turns out that I had already had one last week, I just didn't know what I was feeling. I've also had one this week. The first one kind of felt like a Charlie horse in my belly. My entire belly turned rock hard and I couldn't move much while it lasted. It wasn't bad though, only lasting a few seconds. There are still a few questions that I have about them but I see the doctor tomorrow, so if I can remember I'll ask. Speaking of tomorrow, we've been excited about it for a while, now it's crazy it's almost here. Tomorrow we have our 4D ultrasound! Hopefully little Bean Sprout will be playing along and show us his little face, I really am beside myself to see him. Today is my appointment to see the gestational diabetes advisor, or as Dr. B called her, the 'sugar nazi.' I hope this appointment is eye opening since I still feel a little in the dark over different things to eat. This hasn't scared me as much as I thought it was going to, and actually I am looking forward to the new diet. (However I have been having dreams of Thanksgiving dinner J)

A lot is going on now and will continue that way until late October. I hope we are able to still absorb the whole adventure while moving with such momentum. We have two doctor appointments this week, and then several things planned for this weekend. And next weekend is our trip to Charlotte for the Dave's best friend's wedding. The following Tuesday, the 29^th is my birthday (cough, cough) and a lot is planned for that weekend. Things don't stop there, but I won't bore you with the details. My point is that before we have a chance to take it easy again, it will be November the 8^th. Overwhelming yet exciting.

I had mentioned in my last post doing something special to celebrate eight months. A while back an old friend of mine, Brian McDonald, offered to do some maternity portraits for us. I hadn't really considered having any done, but was quite excited after he offered. This Sunday we met up at Coolidge Park and followed Brian's lead. He posted a couple as a preview, so I'll share. I really like what I see and can't wait to see the rest. And more than anything, it will be nice to have something to look back on to remember this time in our lives. I will still be posting our regular belly picture, although we haven't got around to doing them yet.

31 Weeks

 

31 weeks 3 days 

I have a million things in my head that I have been wanting to write about, yet nothing that I can settle on. I think I had mentioned before that this is how my little brain functions, at high volumes with low efficiency.

31 weeks brought a new emotion to this adventure. We now only have nine weeks left, that's a single digit! Things are starting to take on a new reality, a good yet somewhat overwhelming reality. My belly has clearly been inhabited by my own personal alien. However I've stopped belly watching, because he either is really shy or already a bit defiant. Anytime he's moving up a storm and I lift my shirt then look down to watch, he stops completely. Every single time. The other day I felt that he was doing one major baby dance in there, so I called Dave over to attempt to beat him at his own game. I slowly lifted my shirt and I didn't look down, I just had Dave watch to tell me what it looked like. Griffin carried on with his little dance and Dave relayed to me that he looks enormous. This wasn't the description that I thought he'd use. He put his hand to my belly and I think Griffin tried to poke his leg straight through, and Dave shivered with bewilderment. At least one of us got to see his moves.

This past weekend we attended a Baby Basics class. It was mostly common sense stuff, but I suppose you can't assume what should be common sense anymore. We saw a normal newborn should look like and not, what to be alarmed about and not. We were told that we needed to bathe the baby, and feed the baby, and stick our tongues out at the baby.     Some things I hadn't realized:

• It is better for a baby to be a little cold than hot. SIDS is more closely related to overheating babies. When Dave (the tightwad) heard this he looked at me and I read his mind, "We don't have to use the heat this winter either!"
  
• It is not condoned (at least by this class's standards) to use baby powder, cornstarch, or Chinese herbal powder ;) on babies because of some sort of inhalation risk. What am I going to do with all the Chinese herbal powder that I have stashed in Griffin's closet now?
  
• The only thermometers that were recommended were regular $12 (she was quite specific about the price) digital ones, not the in-ear ones and especially not the rectal ones. And they should be used under the arm. Good to know.
  
• When a baby is in "hard sleep" you can "fiddle" with the baby and not wake him up. You know, like pinch his nose, yank on his legs, shoot him with water guns….and he remains sound asleep. This is sounding like so much fun! However, under no circumstances whatsoever, you should EVER EVER SHAKE A BABY! (Back to the common sense thing, right?)
  
• I had no idea that the walkers of yesteryear are no longer recommended. Supposedly they tip over and fall down stairs. (My thought here is: most children don't need any help falling down stairs as it is. Danger lies all around us.) That's why the new excersaucers are gargantuan and tend not to be mobile devices. When I had been looking at baby toys and the like, I really didn't like the looks of these excersaucers. Our house is only around 1600 square feet; one of those things would literally take up an entire bathroom. Hmmm…..what to do? At least we have no stairs.
  
• [Dave's recommendation to this list] On the poster that was displayed for normal newborn appearances was a baby boy with swollen testicles. Now what was (extra) disturbing about this is that the lady running this class chose to skip over explaining this picture. There were like four posters each with 9 pictures, and each of the pictures were explained, exept this one. We now have no clue what to do if we find this, although I'm pretty sure that mommy instinct isn't going to allow me to think that this is normal. I'm not sure if ignorance is so blissful in this possible situation.
  
• I didn't know that a baby was a newborn for only 28 days, and then he morphs into an infant. Kind of like at eight weeks your once embryo transforms into a fetus, when most of his little organs begin to function. I think we may throw a party for the 28 day milestone.
  

I've been reading that starting next week (32 weeks), we may start experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, or practice contractions. WWOOOOAAAAHHHH! I'm not sure how excited I am about fake contractions, should be interesting. Oh, on Sunday we are doing something rather exciting to celebrate hitting the eight month mark and to celebrate this pregnancy in general. I can't wait to share what it is!

I have a growing fascination with my belly button.   Do you notice that my belly is casting it's own shadow?

 Updated belly growth.  Click to enlarge, if you'd like.

Newest Addition

So if there is anything that I am not...it is musically capable of anything.  Dave, on the other hand, would be the polar opposite.  Any instrument he touches seems to make beautiful noise in just a matter of seconds.  Most of the time I appreciate his infinite amount of talent, other times I am green with envy.

Dave has been wanting a piano for a little while, and we really had a space that would work for one.  When I first found out that he was serious about wanting one all I could hear was the noise of a toddler banging on the keys.  Then this past weekend while we were at my cousins' house in Huntsville, I heard Dave play along with the guitar while my cousins, Peyton and Isabella, played the piano.  Ahh.....I wouldn't call that noise at all.  So now the plan is to have Griffin classically trained on the piano before he's potty trained.  Maybe, although I'm not counting on it, I could learn to play Chopsticks or Mary Had a Little Lamb during Griffin's training sessions.

We found the piano on Craigslist and it was pretty much exactly what we were wanting.  Very simple lines and dark color, and has the smell of a nursing home.  ;)  It needs a bit of cleaning up, but it has years and years of potential here in the Jeffers' abode.  

Lunch

Lunch, day three.  

What was I thinking eating ramen noodles everyday for lunch?  This lunch has less than ten carbs and is full of fiber and protein.  However, as good as it was it has caused a large problem.   I just ate so much it now hurts to type and I do not have any room left in my chest cavity to expand my lungs to breathe properly. 

Week 30

This week is treating me much better than last week. The non-worrier in me wasn't used to all this worrying that the news of having gestational diabetes brought. I spent too much time feeling guilty that I had caused this to myself. I was really convinced that it was because of all the ramen noodles that I've been eating or because I haven't been exercising regularly since it got really really hot. However, yesterday I had my 30 week visit with Dr. B and he assured me that I had it all wrong. He told me that GD wasn't as preventable as I had thought. Since it's hormonal, it was bound to happen if it was going to. One of my biggest fears since finding out about GD was having a 14 pound baby. If you are unaware, GD can lead to macrosomia, or "fat baby." This happens because the sugar in your blood just hangs around since the insulin isn't working correctly to break it into energy, consequently turning into fat. Dr. B explained that the only way this would happen was if I ate Snickers for lunch every day and had no control over my diet at all. During the ultrasound he said that little Griffin is still the little baby that he's supposed to be. So this shows that my diet hasn't been out of control so far. He also told me that my case for GD was rare. During my three hour test, my fasting and one hour sugar levels were low but two and three hour were high. This means that my cells aren't immediately sucking all the sugar in, it's my insulin that's not kicking in and doing its job. I was assured that this would be easily controlled by my diet. Now I am a part of the population that considers sugar the enemy, now and probably the rest of my life.

I was surprised the other night when I woke up from my sleep feeling like my nose was running. Before going to bed that night I did feel a bit stuffy so I wasn't too worried. But it wouldn't stop and it felt like it was running down my face (TMI, right?), I tried to keep wiping it away and go back to my sleeping but something said to get up. I couldn't see much of anything so I told Dave to wake up to turn on the lamp. Dave was sleeping pretty hard and just made some noises at me, so I said a little more emphatically, "Dave, I think I'm bleeding. Turn on the light, please." This apparently got his attention as he rolled over and turned the lamp on then left the bedroom. My hand was covered in blood and I even found blood on Jack, who was sleeping at my head. I was too sleepy to worry much and it stopped pretty soon after finding it, so I decided it was no big deal and just related to my stuffiness from earlier. When I mentioned this to Dr. B he explained that nose bleeds are common in pregnant women and the reasons why. What I didn't realize until right then is how much I startled Dave in the night. Next time I'll know to specify that it's my nose that's bleeding when I wake him up.

I was asked if I was going to do a video with my weekly belly pictures to show the succession of its growth.  My plan is to do so, but in the meantime I made this college as a preview.
 

 click picture to enlarge

Also I wanted to share this video, which made me smile last week. Hopefully it will bring a little smile to your day too.

A Lesson in Humility

I am finally home settling in from a busy, yet exciting weekend. Saturday, Dave, my brother Jacob, and I ventured into Alabama for a wedding. Then after the wedding Dave and I went to Huntsville to visit with my cousins. We had a fabulous time talking and catching up with them, of which we had a lot to do. During my pregnancy story telling I was made aware that I hadn't shared one of my funnier experiences on my blog. I may have mentioned it, but I haven't actually told the story. Part of my mission when starting this blog was to share my experiences, no matter how humiliating they might be. So here's to keeping my word.

A few Sundays ago Dave and I had slept in, so much so that we couldn't make it to church. We did wake up hungry and wanted to get out of the house for a while, so we decided to go have brunch downtown. We weren't in the biggest hurry so it took us a while to finally leave the house and it ended up being somewhere around two when we left. Somehow I had managed to not eat a thing for breakfast, but didn't notice—YET.

I was putting on my makeup in the car on the ride downtown and started getting a little car sick. I figured that this was just the result of staring in the mirror. I finished with this and went back to watching the road. Instead of the slight nausea going away, I began to feel quite faint and felt my entire body heat up. I could feel sweat dripping from my face, my ears were ringing, and my heart was racing. We didn't have anything to eat or drink in the car so I moaned to Dave that we needed to head home. However, I did realize that our destination was much closer than turning around and arriving at home.

Dave using his better judgment decides to get off at the next exit and head for Greenlife Grocery. For those of you not in Chattanooga, Greenlife is an upscale organic grocery store that has an outdoor patio area for people to eat. At this point I am laying as flat as I can in the front seat with my feet up on the dash, legs apart, and skirt hiked up trying to use the maxed out AC to my advantage. Also at this point whenever I open my eyes it looks, and feels, as though a bright light is being shone directly into them. Basically I couldn't see anything. Dave swings into a parking space and asks what I want; I tell him to get me a Coke and water. He then rushes inside. He's back to me pretty quickly but lets me know that he was a little upset to find that Greenlife doesn't sell any Coke products. I now have this mental picture in my head that he painted for me where he is standing in front of this huge fridge case of beverages in a huge hurry, half upset there's no Coke and half confused because now he has no idea what will cure my crazy issues. But like the awesome husband that he is, he brings me back a can of sparkling ginger spritzer and a bottle of low alkaline water, just what I needed: carbonation and sugar. As I sit up to drink my fancy spritzer and regain my vision, I notice that we are parked in the expectant mothers' spot which, of course, is directly in front of the entrance and the patio area. I find myself immediately ready to leave this parking lot.

I will mention here that Dave loves to use the expectant mothers' parking spaces wherever they are available. I, however, don't like using them, especially if he is with me. I always ask him if he can see that my legs are still working, and tell him that a little walking won't kill me. Conversely I didn't argue with him about using the spot during this occasion, and actually it made total sense that he did. To add a little detail to the outsider's view of this, I didn't really appear very pregnant at this point. So now, imagine you're walking out of Greenlife after purchasing some fancy organic something-another's, heading to your Prius, and you see me. This probably isn't the first place to expect to see a girl flailing around a car with her panties exposed for all to see. Oh well, that is life.

I finally came to and the restaurant was in the next building over, so we both decided it was best to go ahead and carry on with our brunch plans. I have sweat running down my legs and my chest and my face, it kind of looks like I had just finished a marathon and sort of felt like it too. My plans were to go straight for the restroom once inside to clean myself off. The hostess asks how many and as soon as we tell her I ask where the restrooms are. She then says, "Oh, they are upstairs right next to where we'll be seating you." "Great," I'm thinking; I can feel how disgusting I look. Finally after trekking up two flights of stairs I find refuge in the restroom. I washed off the humility and was ready to enjoy my brunch.

29 Weeks

Not much to say this week, you've already been informed of how exciting it has been. I do want to make sure I express how insanely grateful and truly blessed I am to be carrying around my little Bean Sprout. I don't care what I have to do; I am going to do it for him. So I hope that my whining doesn't out shine that.

There is something that I haven't shared on here yet, so I guess this is as good of a time as any.

Bean Sprout now has a first and middle name. It's Griffin Van. That has been the name that we have been "feeling" for a while now, just had to sit/sleep/eat on it and it has passed the test for us. The more I say it, the more I love it. Now, I am a little picky about the way it's said. Don't worry; I won't jump down your throat if you don't conform to my pickiness. This is mainly for me. After I tell most people that his name is Griffin Van, they immediately respond by saying GrffinVanJeffers, really fast and all together. I, however, don't like the sound of that. I prefer to say GriffinVan [short pause] Jeffers. Anal, I know. It's very nice that we now have a name for him; I was getting worried that we'd still be going back and forth while filling out his birth certificate.

Update: I did get the call back from my doctor this morning telling me that I do have gestational diabetes. The news was very disheartening and scary to say the least. I had got myself so worked up over diabetes of any kind; I should have known it would knock me down if I ended up with it. After being upset with it for a while, I decided that instead of worrying about it I am going to look at it as an opportunity to learn to eat a lot better. And if I didn't have a reason to keep an active lifestyle, here it is. I prefer eating healthy and being active, and maybe a little guidance on how to do so won't hurt in the least. Like I've said, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure Bean Sprout is taken care of in the best way possible.

A Few Thank Yous

I am rounding the corner of finishing my pregnancy; and I have been realizing my gratitude for several things and felt it necessary to be thankful for them. 

 

Jif Peanut Butter 

I think of this as my security blanket.  It can make me feel better when I am feeling my worst.  Jif has become my favorite peanut butter.  Before pregnancy I wasn't a huge fan of peanut butter, so I didn't really know the difference in the brands.  Now my love of peanut butter is more out of necessity than want, but Jif is where it's at.  I am now a loyal fan. 

 

Target's Merona Pants, 95% Cotton, 5% Spandex 

I suppose that I should really be thanking Spandex instead of these pants, but I LOVELOVELOVE these pants. I wanted to stay away from maternity clothes for as long as possible and I believe that these pants will have me covered (hehe, there's a pun) through my pregnancy and BEYOND.  They are so comfortable I feel guilty for wearing them.  I thought they may look too casual to wear to work, but they look great as dress pants.  I didn't mention the best part, they were only $14.99!  I have them in two colors and would have more if they still carried them.

Fans of all shapes and sizes

I have always been a lover of fans, since as far back as I can remember.  I have kept a stand fan in my living room throughout the summer.  Most of the time the air conditioner is sufficient for everyone but myself.  I move this fan around the house with me.  Into the bathroom if I am taking a hot bath, into the hallway if I am straightening my hair, into the dining room if I'm in there.  We have a ceiling fans in the bedrooms and the kitchen, and thank God we do.  My quality of life is greatly increased because of this.  I also keep a little fan at work, I call it my littlest fan.  I am constantly hot at work, no matter what the temperature.  I think my internal temperature is set on blazing sometimes  most of the time.

My husband

Dave has been my serious life line.  I consider myself beyond to lucky to call him mine.  There are more than a million reasons that I could give, but I'm keeping this short.  He and I are big kids at heart.  I am assuming (& hoping) that we'll remain this way.  I appreciate this quality he has.  He manages to keep a smile on my face.  He has also made me forget how to argue.  We handle obstacles as a team, and that makes life so much more enjoyable.  It really seems as though we've both been pregnant through all this.  He has gone to all but one doctor's visit, and been there for me the second that I need him whenever I call his name.  And he really seems to enjoy all of it. 

My Dogs

Jack & Lucy are truly part of our family.  They are the best dogs that I have ever had.  With them I was fine without children before; but now I believe that they'll be the best ever big brother & sister to Griffin.  For little dogs they love to relax.  This really compliments my love of naps.  During the day when it's just the three of us, all I have to do is look at them to smile.  

Not in Today's Agenda

 This is NOT what I was suppose to look like today.

Today my plan was to go the hospital to take my 3 hour fasting blood glucose test.  I thought that this was all that I had planned  Once again I was reminded that absolutely NOTHING about pregnancy is predictable.

I had not had anything to drink or eat since 10:00 last night.  I arrived at the hospital around 7:30 this morning and after checking in, I was escorted back to the lab to get my fasting glucose level.  I will mentioned that I felt fine before and during this test.  I was sent back to the waiting room to wait for the pharmacy to send the Glucola, to begin the 3 hour test.  About 5 minutes after being sent back to the waiting room I began to feel light headed and weak, my body got really hot and began to sweat, and I was having trouble seeing.  I was thinking Oh, boy...we haven't even got started yet.  I was able to get up and ask the waiting room secretary if there was anywhere to lie down.  Next thing I know a stretcher is being wheeled in the room and a big man is picking me up and putting me on it. 

I ended up in what would be my room in the ER for the next SIX hours.  Once back to the room they had to decided whether or not to continue my test  Personally, I figured that I was already there and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get any discounts for terminating the test, so I was ready to get the "show on the road."  To make this long story shorter, my test was administered in my ER room while I remained hooked to monitors.  I did make it through the entire three hour test with only one more near fainting experience 

After all the blood work was drawn I really thought they weren't going to let me leave there.  At this point Dave had shown up ready to take me away and get me some lunch.  Everyone I had asked had told me that I'd be ready to leave right after my last test was taken.  The ER doctor seemed to have other plans that he wasn't filling me in on.  Finally he came into the room with a sheet of paper that I assume told my results.  I had planned on talking to my OB doctor about these, but thought some results would be nice to know after all this excitement.  Here's where things get pretty funny.  The ER doctor says that I am in the normal range for a normal person, but that's he's not too familar with the gestational diabetes range.  I tell him that this is fine that I am planning on calling my doctor anyway.  He then says, Well, maybe we can find the numbers.  He proceeds to google "gestational diabetes."  I didn't think much about his approach, until he says, Yep, we've done the finger pricks.  Maybe I should try gestational diabetes diagnosis instead.  Once he's found a website that he's satisfied with, he reads me the numbers.  Dave and I are both looking at each other trying not to laugh.  I was sitting there thinking, I could have done this test at home and gathered the results and diagnosed myself, with the help of google, all without spending the day in the Emergency Room.  

I am very happy that this test is behind me and my hopes are to not return to the hospital until Bean Sprout is ready to come out.  But I am not planning on anything.

I still have no official results as I have been sitting here impatiently awaiting the telling call from my doctor.

Oh Happy Day!

Wow!  Today was beyond nice.  So nice I feel like sharing why.

• We are 29 weeks pregnant today.  Only 11 more weeks to go.  
• I got to sleep in a little.
• Made perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs.
  
• Made it to and through church without passing out.
• Went to the Hixson Target (I really like this Target).
• Looked at some really cute baby clothes.
• Found an awesome [free] photo editing site: picnik.com
• Listened to Dave play the banjo.
• Ate dinner on the porch then afterward played Scrabble and ate watermelon, all while having great conversation with my Dave.
• Won said game of Scrabble (this rarely, or maybe never happens).
  
• Enjoyed the amazing weather ALL DAY LONG.
• Watched a season finale and premier of The Shield (my favorite).
• And....I am probably about to go to bed early tonight.  What a great ending to a great day.

It's starting to feel more like September than August, which hopefully means that I'll have more days to enjoy like this.  This sure does make being really pregnant a lot more enjoyable.