Monthly Archives: August 2010

29 Week Belly Shot

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As I get bigger (and bigger) and my due date gets closer and closer, naturally Ana and I have been having more discussions about babies and birth. Nothing I haven’t been able to field yet, but it sure is fascinating to me to see how her mind works. Ana and I had the following conversation while watching A Baby Story on LTC this afternoon:

Ana: Mom… when you have (points at my belly) the baby, will you have to go to the hospital?

Me: Yes.

Ana: But why? Usually the baby just comes out… and you can wash it in the sink.

Me: Well, we could do that, but I would like to have your sister at the hospital. Then we can have a doctor to make sure everything is safe. Then the doctor can check her and weigh her and measure her.

Ana: I don’t think you should go to the doctor. The doctor is scary.

Me: Why would you think that? You love going to the doctor. You love playing doctor. You want to BE a doctor!

Ana: Oh yeah. I forgot. I was just being silly.

I have been feeling pretty good lately. I am still sleeping really well, with the exception of the couple trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The lower back pain that was crippling me for the last several weeks has finally started to ease up. I did have one little twinge last night while I was trying to get comfortable to go to bed, but by morning it had mostly disappeared. Sure, I get tired really quickly so I just have to remember to take it easy and take more breaks. Today I cleaned all three bathrooms in our house and I was about ready to slip into a coma from exhaustion afterward. For the most part, it’s been pretty easy to take it easy and I owe all of that to Sim and Ana. They have been amazing helpers and don’t mind picking up my slack (or overlooking the lack of vacuuming).

As for the gestational diabetes, things are going quite well. I am constantly surprised that I am able to remember to test my blood glucose first thing in the morning and two hours after each meal (I have an app on my iPhone that has a reminder, but I have to actually remember to set it for it to work). I think I have only forgotten a couple times when we were out for something special. Otherwise I have been really on top of it. And my post-meal levels have been great. Eating out is the hardest, simply because I have no control over what they put into the food. Most national chains post their nutritional info online, so I can look it up on my phone (you would be surprised at the foods you think are “healthy” in restaurants) but it’s harder with the little “mom and pop” restaurants that we love to frequent. It was tricky at first, remembering which foods I could have and how much, but I am getting pretty good at it now. I think it helps that my stomach is shrinking (or the baby is sitting on it) because I get full so fast now and that has helped tremendously with portion control. My fasting (first thing in the morning) glucose levels have been a bit higher than I would like, but as those aren’t anything I can control (with diet or exercise) there isn’t much I can do about it. I’ve tried eating different things before bed and snacking in the middle of the night when I go to the bathroom but nothing seems to make any difference. I see my doctor on Friday and I will see what she has to say about it during that appointment.

Until then, here is my 29 week belly shot:


As always, any pictures of Baby Bateman 2.0 will be collected here.

26 Week Belly Shot

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I am officially 26 weeks (yesterday) and enjoying the last week of my second trimester. Next week I start the third, and final, trimester. That is so bizarre to even think about! For those of you who missed it, I just found out that I, once again, have gestational diabetes. I just talked to my doctor’s office and got the actual results of my 3-hour test:

     Fasting: 93 mg/dl
     One hour: 194 mg/dl
     Two hour: 174 mg/dl
     Three hour: 104 mg/dl

This is how they classify “abnormal” scores:
     Fasting: 95 mg/dl or higher
     One hour: 180 mg/dl or higher
     Two hour: 155 mg/dl or higher
     Three hour: 140 mg/dl or higher

So I passed the fasting, failed the first and second hours, but somehow managed to pass the third hour. It’s interesting because the last time I did this my fasting and one hour tests were fine, but the two and three hour were not. Hmmm. So this weekend Sim and I did some shopping for healthy snacks and a few sugar-free goodies. Sometimes a pregnant lady just needs her ice cream and a sugar-free fudgesicle will totally do in a pinch.

I have a diabetes education class tonight so I am hoping to brush up on the basics and maybe pick up a few menu ideas. I’m having a hard time figuring out what to eat before working out in the morning. I need something that isn’t going to sit in my stomach like a lead weight, but also won’t leave my blood sugar crashing half way through Stroller Strides. My normal pre-workout standby is a bowl of healthy cereal, but the GD diet limits the carbs I eat so that I would only be allowed 1/4 to 1/2 cup (depending on the cereal) which isn’t going to keep me full through the warm-up. So I’m hoping the instructor tonight will have some pointers for me. I’ll keep you posted.

In the mean time, here is my 26 week belly shot:

As always, any pictures of Baby Bateman 2.0 will be collected here.

Two Doctor’s Appointment Reports and a Picture

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Man, it’s been quite a week. Yesterday I took the 3-hour Glucose Tolerance Test (because I didn’t pass the 1-hour test I took last week). It’s not an experience I would wish upon anyone, but I’ve been there before so I knew what to expect. Then today I had a follow up ultrasound to check a few things they couldn’t see last time AND my regular monthly doctor’s appointment. Whew!

So my glucose test went just as expected. It was nauseating and exhausting. There is nothing worse than starving a pregnant women…until you start sticking her with needles. A 12-hour fast, one sickly sweet bottle of double-the-sugar Glucola, and four blood draws later, I was done. Sim and Ana met me for lunch and then I went home and took a two-hour nap. And was still a zombie for the rest of the day. At least I won’t be doing that test again anytime soon!

This morning I had another ultrasound. It turns out at my last ultrasound the tech wasn’t able to get a good look at the baby’s eyes, hands, and… one other thing that I cannot remember for the life of me. Anyway, today they were able to see everything and it all looks normal. The baby is in the 57th percentile and weights about 2 lbs. Aside from reassuring us that everything is going great, it’s always fun to get another glimpse of my daughter. I mean, is this not the cutest little profile ever?!?

Then right after the ultrasound I had my 26 week (rounding up again, since I will be 26 weeks on Sunday) doctor’s appointment. I have this to report back:

Weight: up 5 lb since last month (6 lb total gain)
Blood Pressure: 120/70
Baby’s Heartbeat: Normal, in the 140s

When I got home this afternoon, I got a call back from my doctor’s office letting me know they got the results back from my glucose test and I did not pass. So it looks like I have gestational diabetes. Again. Oh well, it’s not like I haven’t been through this before. I know it’s not an optimal outcome, but truthfully it’s not like I know it any other way. If nothing else, I know I can handle it and I know this will help me to do the best I can to bring another healthy baby into the world. I know I can manage the diet (even Simeon is looking forward to the most effective diet we have ever been on together) and I am already doing the exercise. Sure, it’s a little inconvenient, but I will do anything to make my body the healthiest place for my daughter to grow.

My Birthday Celebrations. Yes, plural.

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Simeon really went above and beyond for my birthday this year. I guess he felt the pressure was on since I was turning the big 3-0.

I guess it all started a few months ago when we got a letter in the mail saying something about “your upcoming Vegas Vacation.” Assuming it was junk mail or someone stole our credit card and went on a shopping spree, I instantly sent a text message to Sim (who was speaking at a conference in New York) asking if he knew anything about this. To which he replied, “Yeah… I was going to surprise you with a vacation for your birthday.”

Oops.

Fast forward to last weekend, where I was looking ahead to leaving for a long weekend in Vegas and feeling quite relieved that I didn’t have to plan (let alone clean up after!) any sort of party for my birthday. We were suppose to be meeting the Whislers’ at Out of This World Pizza to let the kiddos play and then maybe have some pizza for dinner. We got there and, not seeing our friends, I started scouting out a couple tables I could push together that would accommodate our two families. Sim then asked me if I had ever seen the room upstairs. I said no, and continued to look for tables. He said he and Ana wanted to go up and check them out and asked me to come up with them. I glared at Sim, reminded him that my back has been killing me and all I wanted to do was go sit down. But he insisted, so I slowly (and grumpily) followed him up the stairs…to find the room filled with all my friends and family shouting, “SURPRISE!”



Yeah, you could say Sim totally managed to pull this one off. I told him he was really lucky I took the time to shower, blow dry my hair, put on some makeup, and actually looked presentable, since more often than not lately I have been known to neglect one or more of those things. But everything went off without a hitch. Everyone had a great time and it was a truly amazing birthday party.




Simeon even serenaded me (singing AND playing guitar) with a song that he changed the lyrics so that it perfectly defined our relationship. In doing so, he totally won over ALL the people in the room and secured himself the title of Best Husband Ever.



And then I still got to go on a trip to Vegas! Seriously, can you believe how spoiled I am? Yikes! My mom came up Friday morning to stay with Ana while Sim and I went to Las Vegas for a long weekend getaway. We got to our hotel, only to find that my husband managed to upgrade us to a lovely suite for my birthday.




We hung out in our room for a bit before heading out on the town (it was 105 degrees outside. I wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere!) On our first night there, we had tickets to Tony and Tina’s Wedding.

Awww.


The next morning, my actual birthday, we splurged and went to brunch at the Wynn. It was seriously the most beautiful restaurant with the most amazing food I have ever eaten. Sadly, my pregnant stomach doesn’t hold anywhere near the amount of food it use to, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying a little bite of everything from the (two-sided!) dessert area.




Then later that day, we took a limo to the Venetian hotel where we enjoyed a gondola ride, a lovely Italian dinner, then got to see Phantom.





We wrapped up my birthday evening hitting the casino (we were in Vegas, it had to be done). I won one round of blackjack, with an actual blackjack, then instantly cashed out my winnings and Sim and I spent a little time high-rolling on the penny slot machines. Yeah, that’s how we roll.

The next morning we checked out of our hotel, went to the movie theater near the airport and watched Inception to kill a few hours before our flight home. It was a perfect birthday celebration and a lovely babymoon, too. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to be home, to see Ana, have her wrap her little arms around me and tell me, “I missed you! Now I can hug and kiss you as much as I want!” Now tell me, how could that not be the best part of my weekend??

Happy to be home. Ana told me, "I missed you and now I can give you as many hugs and kisses as I want!"

You can see all our Vegas pictures here.