I'm looking forward to an extra 16 inches in bed tonight

Okay, get your mind out of the gutter! What a filthy mind you have!!



Let me explain - we have a new mattress on its way - a KING mattress!! We're getting rid of our queen and moving up to a king. With the growing belly, a body pillow and a husband who thinks he's the only one sleeping in our bed I am looking forward to the extra 16 inches of room! Plus Olivia slept in our bed off and on for the first 6 weeks and I have no reason to believe that this baby won't do the same, so the added inches will be great once the baby is here.


We also bought our FIRST bedroom set and it will be here next week. We have never had a "real" bed - we've always had just the mattress set on the frame with wheels - and we have only had a chest of drawers from IKEA. This is like the best thing since sliced bread - I am just so happy!!! We got the furniture at Ashley - I think this is what it looks like

If this isn't the exact one, then it's very similar. I can't wait to get new bedding and paint and just have our bedroom finally be complete.

I've been hitting the bottle!

The bleach bottle that is :-)

As most of you know, I've been dying my hair for about 5 years now. My natural hair color is a very ashy blonde and it looks very BLAH! As a teen I would put highlights in my hair to give it a little umph, but my hair is so thin and the bleach just destroyed it over time and it became very brittle. I finally decided I would go dark. I've really liked it dark, but like most women when they are pregnant, I am in need of a change! I didn't want to cut my hair - I like it long because I can do so much with it and it's great for the summer and for labor. I have plans to cut it off in the fall, but not quite yet!

Here's a pic with my new blonde streaks!

It's a......

I had my ultrasound today, non-stress test and dr appointment and everything went well. The baby is head down, but constantly flopping from side to side - the technician would look at the spine and then go to look at the other side and the baby would turn on her - it was quite funny. She was measuring the leg and I asked if it was just the femur or the whole leg - she said, oh, it's just the femur, usually at this stage the baby is running out of room and keeps the legs bent - just then the baby extended both legs completely straight out and kept them like that for several seconds - but they legs were plastered together so I didn't see anything - but it's a Big Baby! According to all the measurements my due date is August 14th - that's 12 days earlier - but my babies have always measured big, but have always been text book size for their gestation. My doctor with Olivia pushed for a c section because she thought Olivia was going to be 10 pounds according to the ultrasound - she came out all of 7 pounds and 15 ounces 2 days past her due date. Jesse was 2 pounds 15 ounces at 30 weeks even though I measured 2 weeks big with him and the ultrasound today said that this baby is already 2 3/4 pounds and I'm 26 weeks. So, my midwife isn't changing my due date because my babies just tend to measure big.
I'll be very busy from here on out with Dr appointments - here's what the plan is:
Week 27 - one NST (non-stress test)
Week 28 - Dr appointment and 2 NST
Week 29 - 2 NST
Week 30 - Dr appointment and 2 NST
Week 31 - 2 NST
Week 32 through delivery - Dr appointment, 2 NST and an ultrasound every week!
It's a lot, but I'm so thankful that my midwife is keeping a close eye on this baby - it is very reassuring!

So, there IS a lot more opportunity to find out the sex of the baby (like 8 more ultrasounds) - but sorry to tell you, that's not going to happen :-) Unless you're willing to pay big money...just kidding ;-) I really really really want to be surprised and I'm looking forward to Brian yelling out "it's a boy" or "it's a girl" in the delivery room - the thought really does make me teary-eyed and very excited.

Thanks again for all your prayers!

Nursery

Okay, I'm having some anxiety about not having a nursery ready for the baby. Our original thought was that we would just do the nursery after the baby was born (Brian is planning on taking 2 weeks off) but the more I think about it, the more I just can't imagine trying to decorate a nursery with a newborn at home. I just started thinking about how tired both Brian and I were those first few weeks. So, I'm flipping out! I don't want a neutral nursery either which is making it even harder since we don't know if we are having a boy or a girl. So, I've made it my mission to find baby bedding (both boy and girl) with similar color schemes. Luckily the Pottery Barn Kids catalog showed up in the mail at the same time and I came across a lot of girl bedding and boy bedding with the same color of blue in it. My thoughts are to paint the nursery blue and either purchase both boy and girl bedding (and return one later) or just purchase whatever we need after the baby. Then we can decorate the walls to make the room really girly or very boyish. I have a friend in the area who paints mural and stuff on the wall which is another option. So, here's the bedding that I like. Whatcha think?

Sophie Bedding

Andi Bedding

Daisy Garden Bedding

Mallory Bedding

I added a pic of the bedding for kids too because I liked the way the room was decorated - I thought it would be so cute to hang little butterflies above the bed.

Oscar Bedding

Locomotive Bedding

Baby Boats

Benjamin Moore and Pottery Barn have come together to form a color palette. I was thinking of painting the nursery either "Faded Denim" or "Sea to Shining Sea"

Indianapolis canal

The Saturday before Mother's Day we visited the Indianapolis Canal for a little walk. The weather was excellent and the pics turned out good so I wanted to share.

Just a little paranoid

Yesterday I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off making chocolate covered strawberries and getting ready for our spa day at MOPS. Then I had to go to church last night and set up for our MOPS meeting that was today. I got home last night and went to bed, but as I laid down the baby didn't start moving around like he/she usually does so I started worrying. I was awake most of the night. The only way I could get the baby to move was to push around on my belly a little and even then, I'd just get a little kick and then nothing else. I got up several times and got a cold drink, but still nothing unless I pushed around. Finally at 4:57am I got a little bit of movement and was able to sleep until 6:30 when my alarm went off. I got ready and went to MOPS. I was busy setting up and eating breakfast and didn't really pay much attention until I was getting a massage and noticed that I hadn't felt the baby move in awhile. Finally during clean-up after our MOPS meeting I started worrying a little more. I talked to Brian on the phone and he insisted I call my midwife immediately. A couple moms overheard my conversation and insisted on me leaving rather than cleaning up. I left MOPS and went directly to my midwife's office. The did an ultrasound and immediately saw a good strong heartbeat and movement. I was hooked up to the monitors and had a non-stress test and everything was fine.

My midwife kind of scolded me for not calling her in the middle of the night or at least calling the on call service. She said that she has me and another patient and by the time our babies are born she will have grey hair, but that if we are worrying she wants to be worrying with us. I feel so blessed to have such an awesome midwife who is so understanding. She knows that this pregnancy, and probably everyone to follow, will be full of worry, but not only that, she insists that I call her and come in anytime I need to....she is a true blessing.

FYI - the heart rate was between 134 and 140 when the baby was inactive (sometimes even dipping as low as 127) and would jump up to the 150's when active. Last week my midwife was saying she thought it might be a girl, but today she said she is changing her guess and thinks that it is a boy. Not only that, but every nurse kept referring to the baby as "he". If I was forced to make a guess I would say girl, but I'm not 100% like I was with Jesse and Olivia - I go back and forth quite often - really the only reason why I say girl is because I had one dream in which the baby was a girl. We will all know in a few months - for now, we'll just have to keep guessing. However, I am starting to be more paranoid about not having the nursery done before the baby is born and I don't tend to like the "neutral" theme. I've got some ideas - I'll blog on that sometime soon - I'd like to get your opinions :-)

Happy Mother's Day

Ahhhh, life is great! I'm sitting on the beach, temperature is 78 degrees with a light breeze and a very warm sun. I'm relaxing, watching Brian and Olivia, barefoot in the sand, flying a kite. I've just eaten a wonderful picnic lunch prepared by my lovely husband and daughter and life is GRAND....oh, sorry, I must have dozed off! I think I was dreaming of the perfect day.

So it was a dream. Something I wish I was doing, but what I AM doing isn't all that bad either. I'm with all the people I love the most. I'm celebrating Mother's Day with my mom and my daughter (along with my wonderful husband and my dad, brothers, sister-in-laws and nieces). This is what the day is all about. I'm with my mommy and with the precious miracle who made me a mommy along with the miracle growing inside of my tummy. Life is great and I am so thankful for the blessings in my life and that I can not only celebrate Mother's Day with my mom, but that I can be celebrated too because God chose me to take on the very important role as a mommy. I also feel my angels close by - I feel them in the gentle breeze that blows through the air and the little rain drops that fall from heaven. I feel their love and I hope they feel mine. I caress my tummy as the little miracle inside kicks and flips and I thank God for the movement that I feel today. And to the guy who hand a hand in all of this, Brian, thank you for making this all possible as well - I must say we've got a beautiful life and so many blessings.

Thank you God for all the blessings in our life and continue to bless us.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there - I hope that you realize today how special you are that God has chosen you to take on this very special role.

Impatient

I couldn't wait any longer. My midwife has a no-news-is-good-news policy, but she usually always calls me anyway because she knows I will worry about results until I find out. I called her office this morning and she was out, but the nurse said all my results came back NORMAL!!! I don't have actual numbers, but normal was all I needed to hear.
Praise the LORD! I am so happy that I can check this off of my "stuff to worry about" list for this pregnancy! God is good - thank you all for your prayers :-)

Memorial Brick

This is a picture of a memorial Brick that my in-laws purchased at their church. I knew that they had purchased it, but I have never seen it. My cousin sent me this picture today so I thought I'd share. The brick is in a memorial garden outside of their church for anyone who has lost a baby. At the bottom of the picture (it's cut off) is a brick that says "Victoria Barnett" this is Jesse's cousin - she was a full-term stillborn who grew her wings about 5 years before Jesse.

My sweet little Jesse - you will always be my baby boy. I miss you so much and look forward to the day I will hold you in my arms. Fly high, sweet angel boy. Mommy loves you.

Unofficial results

The unofficial results are in!
I had my 1-hour glucose tolerance test today. I had my blood drawn at the one hour mark and the tube of blood will be sent to the lab, but because I am lacking in the patience department I also brought my own blood sugar reader and tested myself as soon as I got in my car which was about 3 minutes after the tube was drawn from the lab. The result on my reader was 128! Some doctors say 130 and below is normal, some say 140 and below - can't remember what the cutoff that my midwife goes by, but I'm thinking I might have made the cutoff either way :-) We still have to wait on the official results which could take a couple of days and I'll be sure to update you.
I am now on to the bi-weekly dr visits and in one month I will be going into my midwife's office 2 times a week for NST's (non-stress tests) that will continue 2 times/week throughout the rest of my pregnancy! So, I'll be in her office a lot for the rest of the summer, but I couldn't be happier. I'm thrilled with all the monitoring and it's just a nice comfort for me.

Thanks for all your prayers!

The good, the bad and the ugly - Prayers Needed!!

The good: I'm 25 weeks pregnant! That's 6 months, right? YIPPEE! I am thrilled that God continues to bless us with a healthy child. I'm amazed at the activity level of this child that is so reassuring for me - just when I start to have my doubts, I get a nice kick in the side :-) I love it! I find myself being consumed with every movement. Like today at church I zoned out a couple of times as I focused on the tiny movements inside my body. It's something you can so easily take for granted until you don't have it anymore. I remember the morning I knew something was wrong with Jesse and just praying for God to give me some type of sign that everything was okay - just a little flutter or a kick - nothing, he laid still, already in heaven. I don't want to take that for granted anymore - I love the movement, look forward to it, even laying awake at night sometimes waiting for another flutter. I am so thankful for this tiny blessing and I want to enjoy it as long as God allows me to.

The bad: Glucose tolerance test! Yep, it's coming up this week. I have my next appointment with my midwife on Tuesday and we'll be doing the one-hour test!

The ugly: I have never passed the one-hour glucose tolerance test...this doesn't mean I can't, right? With Olivia I just wasn't thinking the morning of my test as I ate a yogurt and some fruit - duh!! I ended up passing the 3-hour test, but for anyone who has ever had the pleasure of taking the 3-hour test, you know how horrible this test makes you feel. If you've never had to take it, you have to fast, get your blood drawn, drink a drink that has 2 times the amount of sugar that is in the one-hour test and get your blood drawn 3 more times - once an hour for the next 3 hours....without eating anything. It's miserable - especially when you have horrible veins that are very deep and like to roll. With Jesse, I did not pass the 3-hour test and ended up with gestational diabetes. At first I was so upset and scared, but you quickly get used to all the stuff you have to do and luckily mine was controlled with diet alone and no insulin was needed. It wouldn't be the end of the world if I ended up with g.d., but I'd rather not - this is where you come in - I need your prayers - PLEASE!!! While g.d. had nothing to do with Jesse dying, it's hard not to try to find some connection, especially since I have no cause of death. I often find myself thinking up things - even though we've been told by specialists that g.d. does not cause babies to die, it's just something that you think about. So, I'd rather not have it and all the complications that come with it. I just want a smooth pregnancy - I'm acting like a spoiled brat! There are some women who would give anything to have a baby, gestational diabetes or not and here I am complaining, but I'm actually just scared to death! I'm scared that something...anything, even something simple like g.d. will be wrong causing me to worry even more than I already do. Yes, g.d. is something that I can cope with. It's something easy to control and it's not the end of the world, but it scares me to death!
Please pray that all goes well this week and that we get results back indicating that I do not have gestational diabetes. Continue to pray for the miracle that God has blessed us with.