Yuck and Ouch!

At my doctor’s appointment this week, I got to take the dreaded oral glucose tolerance test. This test is used to screen for gestational diabetes, which is a type of diabetes that can develop in some women late in pregnancy. When I arrived, they handed me this 10 ounce bottle of pure glucose and told me that I had five minutes to drink it. Here is a visual:

Thankfully, it was un-carbonated and chilled so it wasn’t too difficult to get down, but I did gag a little after each swig. Imagining it was an ice-cold beer didn’t help much either…I kid, I kid! I didn’t do that. After an hour had passed, they drew some blood to test how the glucose solution was metabolized by my body. I am not sure when I find out the results, but I guess that no news from them is good news! For those of you wondering, I didn’t have gestational diabetes with Caden, but that doesn’t mean that that will be the case with this pregnancy.

 As I waited for that hour to pass, they went ahead with their normal routine for preggers appointments. I had to pee in a cup, they took my blood pressure, and weighed me in. 153 pounds. Wait a second, 153 pounds? AH! I still have two months to go and I’m already just 10 pounds shy of being the same weight I was when I went into labor with Caden?? Lord help me.

I also got to hear Sam’s heartbeat, during which I was reminded why I love my OB/GYN so much. It never fails. Every single time he finds the heartbeat, he grins from ear to ear.

Then something funny happened. He asked me, “Have we given you your RhoGAM shot yet?” I replied, “My what?” It turns out that their records show that my blood is Rh-negative so I had to get a shot to prevent my immune system from making antibodies against Sam’s blood if he is born Rh-positive. (If he is born Rh-negative like me, then there is no harm or foul whether I got the shot or not.) Let’s say Sam is born with Rh-positive blood. If I had not had this shot and my blood mixed with his during the delivery, my immune system would react by making antibodies to destroy it. Although it wouldn’t hurt either one of us in anyway, it could cause complications if I had another baby in the future who had Rh-positive blood. Why? Because the antibodies that my body made would attack the next baby’s red blood cells. When this happens, babies can end up with anemia, jaundice, or more serious problems. All that being said, I have to laugh because the thought of having another child makes me want to hide.

So, to recap my wonderful doctor’s appointment in just one sentence: I had to drink 10 ounces of nasty and then I was poked with a needle – twice. Now if that isn’t enough to make anyone feel for me, that shot of RhoGAM they gave me had to be given in my derrière! How’s that for a happy ending?

Oh, the joys of pregnancy…

Third Trimester

As of March 1, I officially hit my third trimester! This is typically when pregnancy gets pretty uncomfortable. Your body starts to bloat, the way you walk is no longer graceful, you can’t see your feet any longer, and it’s tough to get a good night’s rest. All that being said, I am doing alright so far. All I know is that I cannot WAIT to burn these maternity jeans. 

We’ve had some precious moments at home since the last time that I blogged. One was a few weeks ago when I attempted to make a new recipe I came across on the LMP blog. Cheesy Enchiladas!  Mmm. (If you know me well, you know the danger in my attempting to cook something without being taught how in person. I chopped an onion for the very first time and I am pretty sure that I probably did it the most complicated way possible.) Before Brandon, Caden and I sat down at the table to find out whether or not we would all be food-poisoned, Brandon summoned Caden into the living room. As I continued to set the table, I noticed Brandon crouching down at eye level with Caden having what seemed like a very serious conversation. I never asked him what it was about but I am pretty sure that it was my sweet husband explaining to our son that mommy has a inferiority complex about cooking and that he should tread lightly when making remarks about how the food tasted so mommy’s feelings don’t get hurt or heaven forbid, gives up on trying to cook new things forever! Fortunately for Brandon and I, the enchiladas were delicious! Even the leftovers were good! Caden, on the other hand, thought it was too spicy. That didn’t bother me to much because I used Rotel in it and for a kid, that’s spicy. 

The other precious moment was between Caden and I a few weekends ago. I was propped up in bed one afternoon reading and Caden decided that he wanted to come lay down in bed with me and ask a million questions. “How come you are you alwaysreading?” “What chapter are you on?” “What is it about?” He also made several observations. “That book has a lot of words.” “That’s a big book.” “One day I can read a big book like that.” Then he changed the subject. He wanted to know how big my belly is going to get and how much longer we will have to wait until Samuel comes out. I was very pleased that at this perfect moment Samuel started kicking. I said to him, “Caden, you want to feel your brother kick?” He was so excited as both of his little hands on my belly and we both waited…and waited…and then finally, BOOP! Caden’s eyes grew very wide as he looked at me and said with such wonder, “Was that him?” He was even more amazed when he saw my belly shift as Samuel rolled from one side of my belly to the other. I later explained to Caden that Samuel’s ears are developed enough that he can hear our voices; Caden immediately got real close to my belly and said in the sweetest voice, “Hi Sam!” Praise you Lord for moments like these. I smile just thinking about it.

Without further ado, here is the latest belly shot from March 1.

So, something struck me as odd lately. I am all of a sudden having a strong urge that I “need” to buy a new purse and some new James Avery jewelry. With much thought on why I feel such a “need” to have these things, I have come to a pretty obvious conclusion. Since I can’t shop for the cute, new spring clothes that are making their debut in stores or a new pair of jeans (American Eagle jeans, oh how I miss thee!), I am shifting to something that isn’t affected by the changes in my body – accessories! The biggest problem with this though, is that any extra money in our account is -responsibly- being saved in preparation for whatever financial issues arise once Samuel arrives. I guess we can thank Dave Ramsey for drilling the difference between “needs” and “wants” so deeply into our skulls. It’s too bad that there aren’t any holidays coming up any time soon where I might receive some of these things... Ha! Ha!

Before I go, there is one last thing that I must share. A dear friend/co-worker of mine is getting a real kick out of the rate at which my belly has been growing. Sometimes when she walks by my desk, she can’t help but giggle at the sight of me. She will then demand to use my phone to take pictures of me –whether I am willing or not.  I love you, Denise.

This one was taken 2/24/10

3/1/10

3/10/10

I am sure there will be many more pictures (taken by the lovely Denise) to come in the very near future. But I must say, I cannot wait until everyones main focus is on little Samuel's cuteness instead of this body that I have grown more self conscious of than I have ever been before...