Are we there yet?

Every nurse or medical person I come in contact with says, "You're almost there!" or "The end is in sight." I guess it really is, folks. My last doctor appointment is scheduled for Monday, April 11th and my last NST is scheduled for Tuesday, April 12th. If I make it that long.
Currently, I am 2cm and 80% effaced.
I've had one real contraction (around 3:30 this morning), and even though I waited for more, nothing. Such a tease.
I was guessing the cervix would be closed, so I was happily surprised to hear I was dilated at all. We all know I could still go right up until induction day, but there is a glimmer of hope for earlier.
Oh, and they switched to a non-digital scale at my doctor's office. According to that scale, I am up 18 pounds from pre-pregnancy. I want the digital one back!

*edited to add* I've also had some light bleeding/spotting since the internal exam (which is to be expected). However, there has been threadlike things in the toilet...doesn't look mucus-pluggy...but I really have no idea what it is...I'm sure she jsut distrupted something while digging around in there. Hopefully that will help labor along!

Next Ultrasound Scheduled!

Our next peek at Nuggette will be March 22nd. I will be 35w5d. We haven't "seen" her since the 20 week u/s, so we are very excited. This is basically a growth scan to see how big she is and to determine if my April 17th induction date is accurate.

I do have full confidence in my body and in my daughter that she will come before the induction, because that's just how we roll in this house.

Yesterday's appointment was quick (+13 lbs so far this pregnancy). Today I have my weekly NST and we will attend our second child birth class. Tonight is the video watching. Oh joy! /sarcasm.

I am still waiting on a response from my superintendent about the possibility of my BFF giving me a few of her banked sick days. I should hear back from her today or tomorrow. She didn't say "no" though, just, "let me think about it." To me, that was a bit promising. If she allows the sharing of days, my last day of work will be April 1st instead of April 15th. I hope she allows it! Keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming. =)

The office is now completely rearranged and I love it. There are just a couple of house-keeping things that need to be done and this room can be crossed off the to-do list. B also completely cleaned and organized the linen closet, so that is pretty awesome too.

We bought two new vacuums...returned the first one and ended up with a Hoover Windtunnel. We. Love. IT. I didn't even realize our carpets could look like this. Pretty awesome.

The Magical 30 Week Mark

Something about making it to 30 weeks makes me feel great.
Overall, I have loved every minute of being pregnant. People ask me all the time how I am feeling and the answer is usually an honest "Great!"
The last few days I've been pretty tired, and even took a 2 hour nap yesterday. I'm not sure if that is due to my schedule or this pregnancy, but if that is all I can complain about, I'll take it!
We are in the home stretch now and the websites say I should start to gain about a pound per week. So far, I have gained a total of 9 pounds this pregnancy. If I gain a pound a week until the end, that will put me at 18 pounds-ish. If it's more, no biggie. Whatever she needs to be healthy!
My card club friends threw me a surprise mini-shower. So amazing. We got lots of cute clothes and blankets. And gift cards. We are saving the gift cards until after our other showers to use them to fill in the holes.

Weekend Blood Sugar Phenomenon

During the school week, I am very good at sticking to a food schedule (mostly because I am forced to eat when I have my break scheduled). Anyway, during the weekend, not so much. First of all, I can sleep a lot longer than during the school week, getting 8-9 hours of sleep, instead of 5-6. I have noticed that this throws off my blood sugar levels. This morning, my reading was 92. (Remember they want it less than 90 and now I am on gly.buride) I thought for sure it would be in the normal range because when I got up to use the bathroom at 4:30, I went downstairs and took it. Ugh. How frustrating. After being up for a few hours, I ate my breakfast (the same breakfast I eat every morning-eggbeater with cheese on toast and a glass of milk-fully in my meal plan). I went back to sleep and set my alarm for 2 hours later, which is when I have to check my after meal level. It was 122 (They want it less than 120). Double Ugh.
I dont' typically get my snacks in during the weekend, so I just went back to bed, feeling defeated. I woke up 3 hours later and made myself lunch. (A very sensible, on the meal plan, lunch-salad with sunflower seeds and shredded cheese, masala burger on flat bread, cottage cheese, water). Now I have to wait 2 hours before checking again. I like being on track, so this is driving me buggy!

It doesn't help that I was at a banquet on Thursday night and the vegetarian option had zero protein. That threw off my sugar for my after dinner reading and my morning reading. Breakfast was oatmeal, fruit, and a juice bar, so I ate by myself at the restaurant in the hotel. =/ At least I got my protein and limited my carbs.

I can't wait to get back on track. Of course, then holiday break comes around and I have 2 weeks off. Perhaps I will have to set some alarms to eat.

In baby news, during one of my naps this morning, I dreamt that we were having triplets. Everyone kept introducing us and then throwing in, "and they are having triplets!" After we were alone, I questioned B, "I thought there was only one? We only have one name!" LOL

B and I also found out that I am one of 3 pregnant ladies on our block, including our next door neighbor that is due 3 days before me. We all will be delivering at the same hospital. Too funny. We may be neighbors in the birth center as well. =) Next door neighbor is due April 18th and her husband is a tax accountant, so she really wants to go full term or later (at least for his benefit!) My doctor told me to keep in my mind that they may need to deliver earlier than 40 weeks due to the gestational diabetes. We will see. My friend, Karen, from undergrad is due in April too. Lots of Spring babies!

December 9th

Tomorrow is the anniversary of our EDD for Sprout. We've come a long way. Last year was a pretty depressing Christmas season. I had no holiday cheer, we didn't have our baby, and I was not pregnant again. This year is completely different. We still don't have our little Sprout, but I know he is just another angel in heaven watching over his moms and his baby sister. I'm grateful for that.

Today I had my weekly blood sugar check-up. I was down another 2lbs and spilling ketones. I'm guessing I am not getting enough calories. Doc wants me to call the nutritionist tomorrow, so that's what I'll do. She's going to tell me to add more protein and fat...I'm pretty sure of it. So that makes my total weight gain for this pregnancy 4lbs. Tomorrow marks 21 weeks.

I am also having a weird (embarrassing!) side effect of pregnancy as well. For the past few days, I have had a vibrating vagina. I know, right? It's like I'm sitting on a cell phone. Totally weird. There is no rhyme or reason to when it happens. The doctor said it is probably baby related. I consulted Dr. Goo.gle and from what I found, a LOT of women experience this. It doesn't hurt. It's just more annoying than anything.

Tomorrow I work all day and then head to a banquet at night. I'm staying the night at a hotel with a former co-worker and going to a conference all day Friday. I'm looking forward to the sleep. =)

Oh, and I miss B. She is a retail manager, so this time of year she is super busy and works late nights. By the time she gets home, I'm in bed, ready for bed, or asleep. Just a few more weeks of this hellish schedule and she will be back to somewhat normal. I can't wait. =)

Name

We chose our baby's name last night.
We were just sitting and watching TV and boom. There it was.
The name will be the same if it is a boy or if it is a girl.
I checked the SSA website to check on popularity and the first name is right around 300 and the middle name is right around 250, so just popular enough in our book. We want a unique name, but nothing too unique that people do not know how to pronounce or spell it.
We will not be telling anybody the name except B's best friend (Hi Aunt Sarah!) who is stationed over in Afghanistan.
Now we just have to hope and pray that our irl and our bloggy friends don't use the name before we do. =)

Appointment went great yesterday. She was impressed by my numbers. She said I will totally be able to manage my GD with diet. I have gained 8 pounds thus far. My bp was great and they said nothing about ketones this time. The heartbeat was strong (and my favorite part of the visit). We go back in 8 days for another appointment and the u/s. (P.S. That means you only have 8 days left to vote on whether we are having a boy or a girl! ------>)

Recent Happenings

• When I called my mom to wish her a happy birthday on Friday, she proceeded to ask me how much weight I have gained so far in this pregnancy. Honestly, I have no idea. Last time I was weighed, it was like 3 pounds. It's been a few weeks, so I'm guessing that number is higher now.
• She then told me to "You need to watch what you eat. I only gained 3 pounds when I was pregnant with you and I only gained 8 pounds when I was pregnant with your sister." Thanks mom. =/

• I'm guessing that pregnancy pantyhose is different than giant plus size pantyhose. Anyone have experience with this? I am wearing a dress to church today and I found a package of size D (up to 240lbs) nylons in my nylon box. They fit perfectly around my belly, but my legs seem a bit baggy.

• Wednesday is my 3 hour "Diabetes in Pregnancy" class. I was not happy about having to take a 1/2 day off of work, but you do what you gotta do. Luckily, B is able to come with me. I will also get an individualized meal plan at that time. The nurse said it is not an issue that I am a vegetarian. Yay!

• Our gender u/s is in 18 days. I'm so excited!

GD

Gestational diabetes.
Really?
Ugh.
I feel like such a failure.
Fasting 89 (They like it less than 95, so I was fine)
1 hour 192 (They like it less than 180..big fat FAIL)
2 hour 178 (They like it less than 155...even bigger fat FAIL)
3 hour 131 (They like it less than 140, so I was fine again)

2/4 = FAIL

I have to attend a "Diabetes in Pregnancy" class, test/log my blood sugars several times a day, see a nutritionist, and then have WEEKLY appointments at my doctor's office.

And just today I thought, wow..."I'm a pretty normal pregnant person."

Milestone

I hit a sort of milestone today. I had my first person come up to me and ask "Are congratulations in order?" Now, that takes some b4lls. I would never, ever, ask anyone, if they were pregnant. But apparently, our IT guy doesn't really have that filter. I was happy to say, "Yes, they are!"
Today is also the first day of my "at least 150g of carb diet" for my 3 hour test that is on Saturday. I totally had forgotten until I was driving to work. According to babyfit, I am at right around 200 right now, so fine. Babyfit says I should have between 300-350/day, so I figure with dinner in there, I should be ok.
Tomorrow marks 16 weeks. That's 4 months, right? FOUR? As in 6 more left? As in, almost half way through? Wow. I'm like really pregnant. Nice.

Oh, and I added a poll about gender over there ------->

Hello Second Trimester!

So nice to be in the second trimester. Today marks 14 weeks. Our appointment yesterday went well. We got to meet the second doctor in the practice. By the tie this pregnancy is over, we will have met with all 5 women. I love that our clinic is an all women clinic. They are young too, which I appreciate.

As soon as we got there, they gave me my glucose drink. (Fruit punch flavor this time.) It tasted like a melted Popsicle stick and burned my throat as it went down. Then we went back for my appointment. According to their scale, I have gained 1.5 pounds during this pregnancy. Score one for the team! (Please note, I will gain whatever I need to gain for this baby. I'm just enjoying the time now when the gain is minimal, since I know it will come later.)

Dr. F was able to find the heartbeat right away (in the 150 range and totally perfect). She did tell me that my urine had ketones. Ugh. She said you look like you are dehydrated. Let me tell you, I drank enough water yesterday to float away. I am not dehydrated. So then it made me think it could be related to my blood sugar. I really, really don't want to be gestationally diabetic. No thank you. After B came home and did some google searching, she said it could be a number of reasons: dehydration, gestational diabetes, insulin resistance due to hormones (hello! I have PCOS), not enough calories (this is B's guess since she thinks I do not eat enough), or not enough carbs. I am hoping the bloodwork will be able to tell us something a little more.

Our next appointment is combined with our gender u/s. It is SIX WEEKS away! I won't see a doctor for another month and a half. By then I will be 20 weeks. I am sure everything will be fine. I am looking forward to begin to feel the baby soon.

Oh, and I told the other two teachers on my team this week. They were superdy-duperdy excited. I still have to tell our para-pro and then the principal. I'm not a fan of telling the principal. Although, I'm sure I could be 9 months pregnant, as big as a house, and he would probably still not have a clue. He's rarely around this year, since he is now the principal of two buildings, so catching him will be hard. We will see, I guess.

Research Appointment

Yesterday was my final appointment for the research study. This appointment had been rescheduled a few times. When I get there, the nurse told me that the doctor was in the OR, so it will be a quick appointment. Basically it was paperwork, bloodwork, weight, and blood pressure. According to their scale, I have gained 6 pounds. I can't wait to see what my ob/gyn's scale has to say next week. I will be sure not to wear 2 shirts and a sweater to that appointment! The nurse didn't seem concerned at all about the weight gain.
So needless to say, I did not get to hear Nugget's heartbeat, nor did I get a bonus u/s. Oh well. My next appointment (1 hour glucose test too) is on October 20th. One week from today. Tomorrow marks 13 weeks. We are still being very cautious about who we are telling. Only one person at each of our jobs know, a handful of friends, and my immediate family. A few more weeks and we can be a little more public with it.

Lots of News

• U/s and new clinic was wonderful-the u/s tech was great and funny and very welcoming. She gave us two pictures of our little Nugget and let us hear the heartbeat. A beautiful 175 beats per minute! I love that they have a screen mounted on the ceiling so I don't have to twist or turn to see what she is looking at.
• Doctor is awesome. She seems so much more proactive than my last ob.
• Nugget is a big baby. Yesterday (based on ovulation) should have been 9w4d. Based on LMP it would have been 9w6d. However, Nugget was measuring 10w5d. The u/s tech measured it 3 times, just to be sure.
• Our due date was changed to April 21st. This puts us at 10 weeks today (instead of Saturday)
• I have no gained a single pound this pregnancy. This may be my favorite fact from yesterday's visit. My pants don't fit and to myself I look very pregnant, however, I think I actually lost a half a pound or something since the last time I was weighed. (Now each doctor's scale could be different, so I will find out for sure when I see the research doc next week.)
• We told my mom last night. She was very excited. We told her she cannot tell anyone until Halloween and she is on strict orders not to mention anything on facebook. Let's hope she obliges.
• Next appointment is October 20th (and I get to do the 1 hour glucose for that one...yippee! /sarcasm)

VegFest

Yesterday was great. We taught our preschoolers at church in the morning (and planted marigolds with them) and then headed over to our new neighborhood (kind of) to attend Michigan's VegFest.
If you haven't heard of VegFest, it's an all vegetarian event that "celebrates an animal-free, plant-based lifestyle." There were exhibitors and vendors as well as several guest speakers. We arrived in time to listen to Rory Freedman, author of Skinny Bitch. B had already read her book, so she knew about her no-nonsense (and hilarious) style.
I haven't had red meat since 1994 and have gone on and off years without any meat. Currently, B and I are both on a modified vegetarian diet (we will eat fish). We are seriously considering going dairy-free as well. We will see. I did promise to not buy any more dairy for the next 30 days. We still have a few dairy products in the house though (not to mention all of the products that contain dairy).
It was really nice to walk around yesterday and not worry about there being sneaky meat in any of the samples. It was also nice to be around like-minded people. Love that.

March 1st

I now have a "pre-pregnancy" appointment at the prenatal diagnostic unit at my local hospital scheduled for March 1st.
I now have to gather all of my medical records and fax them over. While I am eager to look at my medical records, I am not so eager in the process of obtaining them. I wonder if the offices will be able to get them copied and mailed by the time my appointment rolls around. I also hope I do not have to go to said Dr.'s offices in person because of HIPAA. (I'm fearful they won't let me request records over the phone...but maybe.)
I upped my Met dosage and am now taking 2 a day. Eventually I will get back to 3 a day, but right now my body is still adjusting to the increase. I will say it has taken the edge off of my constant hunger that has came around lately.

Hungry

I can't satiate my hunger today. Holy-Hungry-Day Batman! This is not good for a woman in a biggest loser challenge (did I mention I was the biggest loser last week...9 pounds!).
I am going to listen to my body and feed it more than I typically would, just for today, since maybe, just maybe, there's a bean in there trying to grow.
I did test this morning and got nuthin.
I bought two more tests tonight and will test the next two days.
Last time the positive test showed up on 11DPO (that would be tomorrow). I know every pregnancy is different, but I would love to see that double line tomorrow.

Saturday-in bullet form

• (Re)Take my NBPTS reading comprehension test today
• Get to a grocery store to buy fruit and milk (I have been eating a lot of cereal and fruit lately. I cannot get enough fruit)
• Home to do some dishes and/or nap
• Out to work friend's mom's house for bachelorette pre-party
• Out to dinner with bachelorette and her group of friends
• Skipping the bar and heading home to be with my wonderful wife

Edited later

• Finding out nothing fits anymore. Ugh. My size 16 capris cant even come close to buttoning. 16's were the big ones. Forget about the 12's or 14's I had lying around.
• I am grateful for this pregnancy. Do not get me wrong. I just wish I could stretch out my already limited wardrobe a little longer.
• Maybe when all the laundry gets done there will be more options.

Clothes that fit (and some pictures)

I don't think I have gained any weight since becoming pregnant (the last time I was weighed was a couple of weeks ago), but my pants are starting to fit differently.

As a big girl anyway, I was convinced that I wasn't going to have to purchase any kind of maternity clothes for a long time. I had recently lost 20 pounds before getting pregnant, so I just figured all the pre-weight loss pants/skirts would still fit for a while. Little did I realize that the body changes differently while pregnant.

My pants are buttonable and wearable, but not the most comfortable. I immediately take them off once I walk in the door from school. I can wear B's pants, which would fit me comfortably in the waist, but then it looks like I have clown pants on. Without being pregnant, I look like a tomato on stilts. I carry all of my weight in my boobs and my stomach. My legs are pretty thin, and my butt is nonexistent. I go from back to legs.

So last night, we hit up our local thrift store. I purchased 2 pair of actual "maternity" bottoms. (And bonus-they were having a sale that anything that goes on your bottom half of your body was half off!) I got a pair of Ol.d Na.vy jeans, the kind with the small elastic band that fits under the belly, (not one of those huge panels), and a pair of Li.z Lan.ge cotton gauchos that still had the original tags on them. I also got a Bis.ou Bi.sou dress (not maternity, but stretchy), a cotton skirt (drawstring waistband), a pair of linen capris (tags still on), and a pair of elastic waisted black pants (probably for bed time). We also bought a 4 pack of spoons (our spoons seem to be disappearing). Guess how much I spent?

$24. SCORE

We then walked down to Fashi0n Bu.g and I purchased 2 bras (buy one, get one half off) in a cup size and band size bigger than what I usually wear..and not underwire. They were comfortable when I put them on, but I don't love them. I am not used to wearing a non-underwire bra. I don't feel supported. The tags are still on those and I may choose to take them back. My cups are (almost) runneth over in my regular bras though..so something has to be done soonish.

Then one more store down was a Rit.e A1d going out of business. Everything was 90% off. However, all they had left were greeting cards. Anyone who knows me, knows I love greeting cards and stationary. It was my lucky day. I got 18 cards for $5.10. Awesome.

Overall, it was a fun shopping trip.

And for those of you that read through an entire post about my shopping extravaganza, I leave you with 3 pictures. 2 are of Brayden's (You know my BFF's son and the one I babysat all summer) first birthday and one of the outfit my mother gave us the day of our first ultrasound)

An update

My mom is still in the hospital. She had 2 toes removed a few days ago. She is on a wound vac, and I am telling her to stay in the hospital as long as possible. I know if she goes home, she will inevitably walk on her foot and possibly do more damage. There is talk of moving her to a rehab facility, and I would be A-ok with that too.

We've had some pretty long days around these parts. Work all day, get to the hospital for a few hours, complete daily obligations...and rinse repeat. I've had to go grocery shopping for about a week, but I just can't get to the store. I'm hoping tomorrow though, since I only have a half-day at school and B is off. Of course there are vet appointments and cars that need maintenance, but with 2 of us, we should be able to do it.

Today is CD11. Last cycle, this was the first day of High on the CBEFM. Not so much this time. Still low, and I'm ok with that. I will start using the OPKs today. I don't want to guess on ovulation, but for the sake of our NKD, I would think the big O would come around CD20. That would be in 9 days. If today is the 5th, that would put us around the 14th or 15th of March. I am at a conference on March 12th and 13th, so I hope it doesn't happen when I am there, but if so, I can always drive the 2 hours back home. No biggie.

In Bigg.est Lose.r news, I have lost almost 18 pounds and am averaging anywhere between 1-2 pounds per week. I know this is a good pace to keep it off. I also need to start exercising again. Since the last negative and my mom, I haven't exercised at all. Need. To. Do. That.

I think about y'all daily. I don't comment as often as I would like when things get busy around these parts, but I'm thinking and praying for you all.

In tune with my body

I am very proud of the fact that I am becoming more in tune with my body. I am being more mindful of my eating and listening to my body's signals. Because of this, I knew that FF was wrong with my ovulation date. Also because of this, I knew that I would have a temp dip this morning and start this cycle sometime today.
So, since the crazy medical community starts counting pregnancy from the LMP, I am assuming I will bleed sometime today and can officially count myself pregnant starting then.
I dusted off the old CBEFM and will begin with the OPKS around CD11. My best guess is I will ovulate around CD21/CD22 and we will do 2-3 inseminations with our new donor.
I'm so excited. I just wish B was feeling better. She has all the symptoms of a peptic ulcer. Ouch. She is going to call our doctor today.

Monday's Appointment

I was very excited about our RE appointment on Monday, but left feeling very disappointed and discriminated against.
The Reader's Digest version is this:
RE won't do monitored cycles without NKD jumping through a few hoops first, one of which includes attending a therapy session! (B and I already fulfilled this requirement when we started since we would be the parents.) I kept reiterating the fact that she would have no contact with the sperm and we would do all of the inseminations at home, all I wanted was the ovulation induction and the ultrasound monitoring. No go. She did say (flippantly, might I add) that I could get the Clo.mid from my Ob/Gyn. She upped my dose of met.formin and said that perhaps that would regulate my cycles on their own. Whatev, lady.
So I think we are going to do this minus the RE. I will monitor myself with temps, OPKs, CM, CBEFM, and possibly the ferning test as well. I have all at my disposal.
I still have to email NKD and tell him all of this...
We were both a little angry when we left there and I needed a day to process all of the information. I can understand she needs to cover her own a$$, but I still feel like there are more hoops that usual to jump through here.

Currently I am on CD51. FF said I O'ed on CD46 (on my own), but I am not sure if I believe it looking at the chart. I didn't do any OPK's or anything this month, and will hop back on the CBEFM once CD1 arrives. We can do this by ourselves. I know we can and we will.

BLC (Biggest Loser Club-group I started at work for weight loss): Our first weigh in after a week of exercising and eating right was yesterday. Together (12 of us) lost over 70 pounds! I lost 7 and my team mate lost 8.4 Together, we won the first week's kitty, $30 each! I know the first week is when you lose the most and I shouldn't expect that much each time, but it sure felt good!