35 weeks - 1 month to go!!

•How Far Along: 35 Weeks



•Size of baby: Large canteloupe (19 to 22 inches, 5.5 lbs)
•Total Weight Gain/Loss: Around 5 pounds (since I lost some when I went on the restricted diet
•Maternity Clothes: Making it work...I'd prefer to walk around in an oversized t shirt and bedroom shoes 24-7, but alas that's not gonna happen.
•Gender: GIRL!  Raegan Hope Mason
•Movement: She hasn't been kicking quite as hard lately, which I read is normal.  She's still active, just not hurting me like she was a few weeks ago.
•Sleep: Sigh.  I really don't want to complain, but I AM NOT sleeping very well.  Potty breaks shouldn't come at 1am.  And 2:30 am.  And 3:45 am....
•What I miss: Sushi, sleeping on my belly, sugar
•Cravings: Fruit and ice
•Symptoms: I'm in the home stretch and not very comfortable.  The heat ain't no joke.
•Best Moment this week: Having pregnancy pictures taken.  Although if they didn't turn out very well, this may not be a good moment.

Too early to feel this done...

Two weeks ago, someone asked me "so are you ready to have the baby yet".  As in have you gotten to that point where you are just DONE with being pregnant.  Two weeks ago, I smiled sweetly, rubbed my belly and said - "No I feel great".  Yeah - two weeks can make a big difference.  It's 145 degrees outside, I pee CONSTANTLY, I'm puffy at the end of each day and I'm bored to tears at work because the person that I'm training to take over for me while I'm gone was brought in a month too early and now he does my job while I surf Ebay for nursery items.  I'm DONE.

Unfortunately, I have a little over 4 weeks of work to go.  I don't think I'd feel nearly as irritated with pregnancy if I was at home with Kendall, puttering around the house and visiting the pool every day.  But somehow sitting here at work, doing NOTHING, makes me feel more pregnant than I am.  Sigh.

32 weeks

How Far Along: 32 weeks


Size of baby: Head of lettuce (where they get these veggie comparisons is beyond me) - 19 in, 3.9 pounds

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm at a 2 pound gain as of my last visit, thanks to the 8 pounds I've lost since I've been on the diabetic diet.  This happened with Kendall too, so I'm not concerned.

Maternity Clothes: Was just blessed yesterday with a huge bag of summer maternity clothes!  So happy!

Gender: GIRL!  Raegan Hope Mason.


Movement: She's a mover and a shaker - get to start counting kicks this week.

Sleep: Boo - I'm using the bathroom several times a night and just getting to that uncomfortable stage. 

What I miss: Sleeping on my belly.

Cravings: Doesn't matter if I crave it - I probably can't have it.  LOL

Symptoms: Starting to slow down a little...definitely waddling when I walk.


Best Moment this week: Kendall talking to my belly every day...she's so excited!  Oh, and Raegan's bedroom stuff came last week - it's Lollipop Jungle by Lambs & Ivy and it's PRECIOUS!

Proportionate

That's the beautiful word that the doctor used to describe my sweet girl after our follow-up ultrasound last week...her head is now proportionate to her body.  I was speechless.  I was hoping for Raegan's head to have stayed on the same growth curve.  I was hoping that they'd tell me that even though her head was still small, we still weren't in the microcephely range.  But God blew me out of the water.  Not only did her head grow, but it caught up...I am amazed.  I am so grateful for God seeing fit to continue to grow Raegan and I just pray that James and I will be good parents to her and Kendall.  That we'd guide her to know Him and praise Him and honor Him with their lives.  And I pray that we will show our children how to trust in Him - even when times are tough or even when the doctor's news isn't positive or whatever life throws our way.  I want them to see steadfast faith in us in all situations.

No mo' sugar

I have gestational diabetes again.  I took my 3 hour glucose test again on Monday and got the results today.  So Tuesday I'm off to meet with the dietician and get my blood glucose monitor and my days of ice cream and fresh pineapple are over for the forseeable future.

This did not come as a shock and I'm actually grateful that I was able to have a fun few months of eating what I want.  The diagnosis could have been a lot sooner since I had diabetes last time and was checked earlier this go round.

My doctor's visit Monday went well.  I met with my favorite doctor and was able to get her take on the small head situation.  She's not one to feed me fluff or to make jokes to try to make me feel better (unlike the doctor that broke the percentile news to me last time...she totally irritated me by trying to be funny in a not funny situation.  Which I totally do all the time. Note to self - QUIT DOING THAT).  She read the report and told me that it's possible Raegan's head is small, but that we'll need this next ultrasound to tell us if she's had siginificant head growth in these last weeks.  That ultrasound will be sometime at the end of this month.  So I take that to mean that we're not "in the clear".  And she said honestly, that we won't be in the clear even if she's not diagnosed in utero because her pediatrician is going to be all over it given the small percentile.  Oddly enough, this made me feel better - I needed someone to shoot it to me straight and I feel like she did.  Hence the reason why I like her.  We are praying that her little head will be in a more "normal" percentile range at the next ultrasound (aka it had a growth spurt) and we can put these fears to rest. 

26 Weeks

•How Far Along: 26 weeks (and 2 days)



•Size of baby: Eggplant - 9.2 inches, 2 pounds

•Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm not sure, but I know the nurse will be glad to tell me at Monday's appointment...booooo

•Maternity Clothes: I have GOT to invest in some maternity pants for work...this Belly Band thing is on it's last leg.  Best $19.99 my mom ever spent.

•Gender: GIRL! Raegan (middle name not decided) Mason - James and I agree on zero middle names.  Maybe she'll be like my mom and not have one.

•Movement: Love it - you can see if from the outside now and it's cool!

•Sleep: Pretty good this week - my arms fall asleep a lot because I have a tendency to lay on them, but nothing a little hanging them over the side of the bed can't fix.

•What I miss: Raw fish.

•Cravings: Nothing really...I like fruit still and this morning I had to have toast or the day just wouldn't have been the same.



•Symptoms: I feel fabulous - seriously.

•Best Moment this week: James and Kendall both saw Raegan moving around - we were all piled in our bed just watching my big ole belly...fun times.

Looking forward to my appointment Monday.  NOT looking forward to taking the 3 hour glucose test AGAIN.  But I really want to talk to my favorite doctor about the small noggin issue and get her take on things and stress my feeling about not having the follow up ultrasound there at the office, but rather back over at the fetal diagnostic center.  In my mind, if they are just going to end up sending me back over there anyway - I'd like to save myself the stress of waiting for the appointment to be made and all that. 

I also want to bring up VBAC with her.  So far I've got one doc for it, one doc against it, so I need a tie breaker.

At times like these...

Yesterday was both an exciting day and a scary day for our family.  We had our follow-up ultrasound (because the baby was laying in a weird position last time and the tech couldn't get all of the measurements that she needed).  We got to see some really sweet shots of our sweet GIRL (yep - still a girl) and even got to come home with some 4D pictures (didn't get any of those with Kendall).  The tech was able to get all of the measurements that she needed and then I met with the doctor.

It turns out that the baby's head is measuring very small - somewhere around the 4th percentile while her other measurements are around the 40-60th percentiles.  The doctor tried to make me feel better, but is concerned enough to be sending us for a Level II ultrasound at Duke tomorrow morning.

I'm a wreck.

It's times like these that I realize how much more work God has to do in me.  I would love to say that I've handled the situation with faith and calm, but really yesterday found me standing in my kitchen raising my voice at my faithful and calm husband because he is so faithful and calm and I'm so...not.  I wish I could say that I didn't hop right on the internet (which is what the doctor told me NOT to do), but I did and now I've scared myself senseless.  I wish I could say that whatever God shows us tomorrow, I'm okay with because I know it's His plan, but I'm just a mommy who wants a healthy baby and I'm afraid and confused and I feel like that hot dog I ate in the mountains must have somehow hurt my child...okay, that's pushing it, but I am filled with guilt that if something is wrong that it's my fault.

Granted, everything could be fine and I could be borrowing trouble and making myself sick over nothing.  But how do you ever get to the point where you can patiently wait on something like this without worrying?  I would think that after nearly 10 years with Jesus, I'd have this thing down.  But I don't.

Here's what I do know - I am blessed beyond measure.  I have the love and support of so many people that it makes my head spin.  I know that there are literally hundreds of people praying for my sweet girl and I know that God hears all of those prayers and that He will prepare and equip us for whatever tomorrow holds.  He loves my daughter far more than even I do and He has a plan, not only for me but for her.

So in the midst of fear and worry and a hurting heart, there is also hope knowing that God's showing me something in all this...even if I can't see it right now.

21 weeks

•How Far Along: 21 Weeks



•Size of baby: Length of a banana


•Total Weight Gain/Loss: Actually, none...but that works because I'm already overweight and am only supposed to gain 15-20 total.  I didn't start gaining until 3rd trimester with Kendall, so we'll see how things go.

•Maternity Clothes: Still getting use out of my Belly Band with my regular pants for work and I live in maternity jeans any other time.

•Gender: It's a girl!!  Well, the ultrasound tech was almost positive it's a girl, at least.

•Movement: Definitely...can't feel from outside quite yet, much to James' dismay.  But a couple of times a day, she gets really active.  I love it.

•Sleep:  Up to use the potty twice a night, every night...at the point where I can't sleep on my back or stomach, so side to side it is.

•What I miss: Spicy tuna rolls and a flowing fountain of diet mountain dew.

•Cravings: Grapes, bacon...not together.

•Symptoms: I feel really good...the second trimester is so amazing to me - energy, attitude back to normal, healthy appetite.

•Best Moment this week: Lots and lots of movement.

•Next up: I have my monthly appointment, with another ultrasound on 3/18...or 3/16 - I can't really remember.  Baby Mason was turned the wrong way for the tech to get all the measurements she needed last time, so I get an extra peek...praying everything looks good.

I take it back

Remember that whole "they should just send me straight to the nutritionist" thing...yeah - I take that back.  Turns out I actually PASSED my 3 hour glucose test.  I was shocked.  I had already resigned myself to a finger prickin good time.

They'll test me again at 7 months, which means I get the pleasure of doing both tests again.  So we shall see what that shows.

I'm feeling good...it's amazing to me how much more normal I feel in the 2nd trimester.  Both times it's like I went to bed this queasy, irritable, non motivated hot mess and woke up energized, hungry and much more cheerful pregnant lady.  I still cry easily, but truthfully, I think I'm just a cry baby in my old age...not sure it has too much to do with the baby.

Sugar high

So no surprise here, but I failed the 1 hour glucose test that I took last week.  Even though I knew it was coming, I cried and cried when the nurse called to tell me that I needed to come in for the 3 hour test.  Now that I've thought about it - I really don't understand why they are having me come in for the 3 hour test.  I failed both the 1 hour and the 3 hour last pregnancy and I've failed the one hour this time.  Shouldn't we save everyone's time and money (and my blood) by going ahead and sending me to the nutritionist and calling it a day?

Other than that, my appointment last week went well and we'll find out what Baby Mason is on Valentine's Day, which I thought was quite appropriate.

New baby

Hard to believe that I kept my pregnancy pretty much a secret for almost an entire trimester!  We are very excited to finally announce that we are expecting Little Mason #2 in July 2011.  I'll be 12 weeks in a couple of days and am feeling great.  Still hormonal and tired, but not sickly anymore and happy that we've seen and heard the little heartbeat and my doctor's visits so far have been good!  I will have to take the glucose test next doctor appointment - since I had gestational diabetes last time, she wants to make sure I don't have early onset this time.  She is pretty sure I'll have it, just not sure if it will have shown up already.  Boo on that, but it's not the end of the world and in fact, forces me to eat much, much better - which is a good thing.

Kendall is beyond excited - she talks about her baby brother or baby sister all the time.  She walks around with baby dolls up her shirt and pretends she has a baby in her belly.  She gives my belly zerberts all the time.  It's such a cool time for her and I'm glad we made the choice to wait 3 years.  She'll be 3 1/2 when the baby arrives.

Christmas was fabulous and now we're snowed in together - James did have to work today, but thankfully they decided to close, so we're about to head outside to build a snowwoman (Kendall wants it to have a girl necklace, so I'm assuming it's a snowwoman, not a snowman).