Short but sweet visit to the beach. . .

 

 

Why do vacations seem like they take FOREVER to get here and then when they finally do, they are over in a blink of an eye?! I am so glad we had the opportunity to "get away" for a few days, but man it went by fast! For those of you who don't know. . .we went to Perdido Key (Pensacola,Fl) with Jarrod's parents and his sister and her husband. We left Thursday morning and got back late Monday night. We had such a good time! The condo was really nice and spacious! We hung out at the beach and pool for most of the day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then all went out to eat at night. All the seafood was so good! We ate at the Crab Trap, LuLu's, Flipper's and a little hole in the wall place called the Original Point Restaurant .  We also took one of those dolphin cruises one evening and it was a lot of fun! Sunday night we had family pictures taken by a local photographer. I am excited to see how those turned out! I did make a decision. . .while it was fun, it's not a trip I would take again while 7 months pregnant! The car ride was pretty uncomfortable, and we had to stop about every hour or so because of my constant need to visit the bathroom and my left leg kept going to sleep! And while the idea of laying out in the sun all day doesn't sound like a problem, for some reason I couldn't stand the heat! I got so hot so fast! Plus, it took all I had to get out to the beach (it's really hard walking in sand with already swollen feet!). I wouldn't do it again, but I am so glad we went! The weather was perfect and we got to get some r&r and spend time with the fam, so it's all good!  Thanks to Terry and Margie for everything! It's a family vacation that we will always remember!

And I got the results back from the 3 hour sugar test and some of those readings were a little on the high side again. So, I am scheduled to see a dietitian on Wednesday afternoon. I have no idea what to expect at this point. I am just hoping and praying that it isn't something drastic . . . like [dare I say it??]. .  .NO CARBS?? Hopefully she will just give me a better idea of what foods I need to start eating and what things I need to cut back on. Please send up a prayer for me, I am a little nervous about my appointment!

4D Ultrasound Pictures

Hmmmm. . . who do you think he looks like??

Exciting Tuesday!

Since I am going to have to take the day off work and will be at the doctor's office all day tomorrow anyway, I went ahead and scheduled my 4D ultrasound for tomorrow, too. It's at 3pm.  I am really excited. . . .and a little nervous!  I can't believe we are going to get to see a glimpse of what are little guy looks like!  It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it!

And other exciting news, we are having the front of our house landscaped by Harmony Gardens. We meet with them Saturday morning and they walked us through the proposed design and all the different plants. They told us it would be about 2 weeks before they could get to us. Well, this morning Jarrod got a call and they had a cancellation so they are going to come to our house and work today!  Yay! I am so excited to see what it will look like!

Abnormal test results

My doctor's office called yesterday with the 1 hr sugar test results and unfortunately it was a little on the high side. I have no idea what the measurements mean, but my level came back at 148 mg/dl and 140 mg/dl is acceptable. . . anything over that requires that you take another 3 hr. sugar test. [Just lovely! Ugh.] I already had an appointment scheduled on Wednesday at 11:00, so they are going to do the test that morning. I have to be there at 8am, having had nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before. They will draw blood as soon as I get there to measure the baseline “fasting blood glucose level”. Then I get to drink a big 'ol bottle of that yucky glucose drink. After that blood will be drawn and tested every hour for the next three hours. Sounds like fun, huh! Just what I want to be doing the day before I leave to go on vacation!

My iron came back low, too. Which means I will need to start taking iron twice a day now. And from what I hear that  is a pretty normal thing for the third trimester. I have read that some women actually feel more energized after taking the iron supplements, and that one of the symptoms of iron deficiency is fatigue and tiredness. . .  so, maybe having more iron in my system will help give me a much needed boost!

Please just say a little prayer that this will turn out to be no big deal. I am worried that I will have gestational diabetes and have to give myself a shot in the stomach everyday. [I shudder at the thought!] I know I will do it if that is what I have to do, but I REALLY hope it doesn't come to that!!

Doctor's appointment~ 27 weeks

It's over!! I did the glucose test this morning and it wasn't as bad as I envisioned it. The stuff actually didn't taste as that bad and then they didn't take as much blood as I thought they would! That's what I get for thinking?! ha!  I think the results of the test will turn out to be normal, they said they would call if there was a problem but if not they would wait to show me the results at my next appointment. We just briefly got to see the doctor before I had to hurry to the lab to have blood draw (you have to have it drawn an hour from the time you finish drinking the stuff) and everything still looks good. My bp was still great and the baby's heartbeat was strong. I have gained 3 lbs. this past month, which brings me to a grand total of 23 lbs gained so far! She told me that now that I am in the 3rd trimester, I would probably start feeling a heaviness in the stomach and hips soon and I might want to start wearing my belly band more for support. She also went over the signs of pre-term labor and reminded us that we needed to go to the hospital within the next month or so to register. She also mentioned that we need to be deciding on a pediatrician, so I am open to suggestions! They just need to be a NEA doctor for our insurance. I was surprised to find out that I will start having appointments every two weeks now, I thought they would wait until after the next one, but I guess I am close enough to 30 weeks now. So, my next appointment in on Wednesday June 3rd, the day before we leave to go to Florida.  I did ask her about the trip and any advice she had for traveling. She just said to be sure and get out of the car and walk around frequently and to just lean the seat back and put my feet up on the dash board and enjoy the ride. . . .now, I can handle that! ha!

We went and got some lunch before I came back to work. I have a hair appointment later this afternoon and then I am meeting my friend Amy to look at fabric. She makes the neatest diaper bags and we are going to pick out the fabric for the one she is making me! Then we are meeting the guys for dinner at Lazzari! Yum! Abstaining from carbs these last couple of days for the glucose test is killing me!! I can't wait to eat some bread and PASTA!

Stretch Marks!

At 27 weeks, I have discovered the first (of many, I'm sure) stretch mark!  It just appeared out of nowhere!! I have been using all sorts of lotions and creams (guaranteed, mind you) to prevent this from happening, but I guess you can't stop the inevitable. [UGH.]   So, I guess no bikini for me in a few weeks! (ha, like I was really considering that anyway!)

Other than that things are still sailing right along. My appetite has slowed WAY down. And while I am still tired, I am feeling more motivated to do things other than sleep! Last week we washed the back of the house and the porches and bought some hanging plants for the porches. I hope we can do some more landscaping this weekend. Since I am actually "feeling"  like working I guess we should take advantage of it while I still can!  We also went on a "date", we went out to eat and to the movies (and I didn't fall asleep!) all in the same night!  And speaking of sleep, I think I am actually starting to sleep a little better at night, too.

Stratton is on the move! He is most active in the mornings, after lunch and in the evenings.  It seems like he doesn't like his daddy, as soon as Jarrod puts his hand on my belly all movement stops!  And if we are laying in bed watching tv or reading and not talking and he is moving around and we start talking he stops, like he is trying to listen to us or something!

I have another Dr. appointment on Friday.  I am dreading it! It's the glucose test day. . .ugh. I am really not worried about the results, I am more worried about being able to down the nasty looking stuff they gave me to drink!  After this appointment my next one will be at 31 weeks and then I will start having them every two weeks, instead of 4 weeks.  I am anxious to schedule the 3D ultrasound. I didn't think I wanted to spend the extra $$ to do it, but I have seen some pictures of friends that have had it done and seeing their's has changed my mind! It's incredible!  We also need to go register at the hospital in the next month! It's all beginning to hit me that in 3 months (maybe less) we will have a baby?! Crazy!

Skinny us. . .

I HAD to share this! Kristen sent this to me today. . . Kate has been looking through Kristen's old photo albums (apparently she thinks it's funny that Kristen was actually young once. . . ) and they came across this one! Wow! Kate told her we looked "skinny", and I have to agree! We were HOT!! This was taken in June of 2003, on of my many trips to Ft Walton Beach, Fl. After I graduated from Harding my mom and dad bought me a plane ticket to go see Kristen who was visiting her parent's (pretty sure she lived in Little Rock at this time) it was a fun week! So, I am definitely growing my hair back out, wasn't it pretty?! [Thanks, Kristen! I needed a pick-me-up today!!]