Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Another Check up

Doctor says I'm doing well. Samuel is in position and I'm at 1 centimeter......Mike and I went for a 1 hour walk last night. Nothin'.

Mike's parents are coming into town and all I can think about is having this baby so that they can meet him during their visit. We were all betting on an early baby and it looks as though we've all been duped. He's just way too comfortable in there!

Everything else with me is healthy. My total weight gain is actually staying pretty much at 20 lbs. which I hope stays the same. I don't even want to think about my body having to come back to normal!

Monday, September 22, 2008

We see you!

One of the benefits of having gestational diabetes is that we are fortunate enough to get another sneak peek of Samuel before his arrival. The idea is to check the size of the baby to make sure that he's not too big (one of the side effects of a GD baby is that they can turn into little incredible hulks. The result can be shoulder injury during birth). I wasn't too worried because I've been really following the rules when it comes to my diet restrictions and my sugar numbers have stayed for the most part within the range or very close to it.

Going into the ultrasound lab today I honestly wasn't expecting much. At this point because the skeleton's bones are dense (as they should be) there is a lot of shadowing which makes it hard to see images. I was pleasantly surprised. The little guy is in position and ready to go. We saw a pretty clear face shot and profile shot. I have to say the best part was watching him yawn and stick his tongue out. He has his Daddy's tongue. Also known as the Gene Simmon's tongue. There was also the quintessential image of the thumb in mouth. Oh yes, and for the 3rd time I was notified once again that it's another boy!

Can't wait to see you Samuel!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Waking up is hard to do

Last night my parents celebrated the garage sale that they had by making a really good dinner. BBQ Steak, potatoes, asparagus, and salad. My brother was in town from college visiting, so it was a full house with 8 people. Needless to say, it ended up being a late night and Mike and I made it later by watching an episode of Carrier. Joshua also stayed up past his bedtime and yesterday for him was a sugar fest. I thought it would be a good treat on a Saturday to give him a sugary cereal, so for breakfast he got to have some Cocoa Puffs. A few hours later we went over to my parents old house to help them with a garage sale. They had doughnuts there, so of course Grammy gave him a doughnut. After we finished up with the garage sale there was a small break between sugar binges. I gave him turkey pepperoni, cheese and some olives for a lunch/heavy snack. Evening set in and my sister decided she was going to make cookies. Guess who helped her clean the beaters? After dinner he was treated to gummy worms and M&M's for dessert. SHEESH!

I was hoping for sure that since he stayed up late, we would be able to sleep in. Unfortunately, I was wrong on that assumption. Around 6:00am he started tossing and turning. When we are all sleeping in the same room, it's hard to just ignore even tossing and turning. Then the smacking noise starts and his exaggerated yawning sounds coming into play. That's also when he starts picking his nose in a very noisy fashion. I thought that I might be able to ignore this. However, a few minutes earlier I got up to use the restroom (in typical pregnant lady fashion) and it gave Samuel just enough room to start doing somersaults in my belly and kicking my ribs. With distractions like this, I just decided to surrender and get up. Playhouse Disney is my best friend on mornings like this.

The crazy part is, it won't get better any time soon. I will be getting up in the middle of the night soon for more than just a potty break. I better appreciate it now!

Yesterday, we also took a trip to the Goodwill. Joshua needed jeans and even at Target, they were selling for about $20. That's almost the same price that they were selling men's jeans. I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for something that he would most likely grow out of or tear up 6 months down the road. It's not just Goodwill near my parents store but the Goodwill Superstore. Sweet! We found 3 pairs of jeans for him. The best part of going to a Goodwill in California is that we could find barely used snowsuits. In this part of California, most folks go to the snow a few times during the season (Lake Tahoe) and they are done, so I was thrilled when I found a snowsuit for Joshua. I know that we'll be going to see the snow more when we go home (Mt. Fuji here we come!). I also found him some great snow boots and Mike found a nice pair of shorts. I also found a still-in-the-package meal/eating set for the baby. Playtex brand, with Baby Einstein characters. All for the grand total of $29.00. Only $9.00 more than one pair of jeans at Target. I figure at this point in Joshua's childhood, he doesn't care about name brands. Sure, I splurge and get him shirts at Gymboree & Gap (on sale!) and I spent a small fortune on his school shoes because we found out he'll need inserts for his flat feet, but I'm still OK going to get him previously owned clothes as well. I'll worry about going into debt over the name brand crud when he gets older, but for now give me all the hand me downs I can get!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Belly



I'm huge.....still getting comments from folks. Such is the life of a 37 weeker but I'm not complaining. I'm glad I've been able to blog about this since I might not remember this on my own and it may be the last time I'll be pregnant so, I must relish every little bit of it. Here are a couple more pictures that Mike took. One of our regrets when I was pregnant with Joshua was that we didn't get enough pictures.

My childhood friend (who just had her second baby too) put on a great baby shower for me last weekend. Great food, family, and friends. Husbands and kids welcome. We played some great games and the men played one as well. (Dress the baby doll while they were being timed) After this shower, I know that Samuel will be the best dressed baby on the block!

Other than that, we've been taking it very easy. We can't go anywhere because well, Samuel could come any day. So, it's been low key. The baby announcements are almost all put together and the thank you notes are prepared. We are as ready as we'll ever be. Just started to predict a date.

What's your guess?

Monday, September 15, 2008

Expectant and New Dad Website

Shhhh...

Don't tell Nicki, but I'm hijacking her side blog to let you guy readers know about a site that we found for the "silent" half of the pregnancy game... the soon-to-be dads and the new dads. We all know that during a pregnancy, the momma bear gets the attention as her belly swells and her walking becomes more of a waddle. Sometimes the soon-to-be dads feel like they're a little on the sidelines just watching the process in the shadows. Let's face it, our partners deserve the recognition for all that they go through. I wouldn't want to trade places with Nicki during this pregnancy for anything... even if it came with an open invitation to Fort Knox, a skeleton key, and a 15 minute shopping spree to grab what I could.

Anyway, for all of you expectant fathers and brand spankin' new dads out there, I highly recommend this site:

The Funky Stork dot com

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Look How Far We've Come

Yes, still pregnant. My doctors appointment went well today. Yesterday, I thought I had some contractions but nothing too serious. Today the nurse practitioner checked me just to make sure. Baby is still high and nothing unusual. The good news is I don't have to check my blood 4 times a day only twice which is nice. Good news too.....I'm actually down a pound from my last check up. I suppose it depends if that's good or bad but for me-who's feeling like a small planet, it's good news.

At this point I've surpassed the time that I was pregnant with Joshua which is pretty exciting. I'm also feeling the little kicker much more. Samuel is more into doing slow rolls (maybe because he has to use more strength to get his big body turned over in there). I've gotten to the point where I can feel lumps in my tummy and try and guess what body part it is. (Is that a foot in my ribs?) I've also been able to get anxious this time around. I really can't wait to see that face of his and count his fingers and toes. We do have an updated belly shot and it should be showing soon! Stay tuned.