Updates

I have quite a few updates since I've last posted. We're still trucking along. We had our first shower today. It was great! People are so generous. It's really starting to seem real that this little guy is coming home with us some time in the next 5-9 weeks!

The gestational diabetes still sucks, but I've been pretty successful at managing my levels. I have to check my blood sugar first thing in the morning and then an hour after I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yep, 4 times a day. I have to eat 3 meals a day and 3 snacks a day. The dietician gave me a limit of 60 carbs for each meal, except breakfast which is a little less. Unfortunately, any time I've had 60 carbs in a meal my number has been high, so I try to stick to around 45 carbs. For snacks I can have up to 30 carbs. I have found some great low carb snacks and actually hope to continue snacking this way after Brady comes. My favorites are the fruit and granola yogurts and I'm loving fruit like strawberries and apples, which I can eat as much of as I want. I even found a recipe for low carb peanut butter cookies and they are good!

We had our final Iowa City appointment a couple weeks ago. We are officially released to deliver locally. We had an ultrasound and Brady was measuring quite large. Not surprising, because of the GD. His weight was estimated at 3lbs 10oz, which is average for a 31 or 32 week baby. I was 29 weeks at the ultrasound. Overall, he was measuring about a week and a half ahead. They flat out said they don't think we'll be having a little baby this time around.

There was a little concern about my cervix during the ultrasound. The first thing the tech asked me was if I had been having contractions. Yeah, that freaked me out a little. My cervix was measuring 2.2 and anything 2.0 or below is apparently cause for concern and possible bed rest. No bed rest or restrictions for me (thankfully), but they let me know that there's a good chance I could go early. 37 weeks is ideal, but 35 weeks is my first goal. For whatever reason I'm feeling we're going to have a May baby.

Brady, we are getting so excited to meet you! Claire Bear we can't believe it's been over 10 months. We still think about you and miss you every day.Please  keep watching over us and your little brother.

Nothing is ever easy

I failed the 3-hour glucose tolerance test, pretty badly actually. I have started the low carb, low sugar diet, and honestly it kind of sucks. The limitations on what I can and can't eat are crazy. I feel bad for Brad because he does not need to lose any weight, but I also refuse to make two separate meals every night.

I think I'm making it worse on myself because I'm frustrated about it, but I will do whatever I need to do in order to get Brady home and healthy. At this point I'm ready for him to be here. I know it's too early and really I don't want him to be here until he's full term, but I'm so over being pregnant. I will have been pregnant for 18 of the last 21 months!

I will post about my journey with gestational diabetes and maybe even post some of the meal/snack ideas that I ended up liking (if there are any!).

FAIL

I have really been slacking on this whole blog thing. I guess it's a good thing that I don't have a whole lot to talk about. No news is good news, right? We decided that we needed to finish some projects around the house before this little guy gets here. Nothing too big, but we finished painting our bathrooms and put in new shower doors, and finally hung some pictures on the walls. We've also been working hard on the baby's room since coming up here in April and May we have almost no free weekends. We have also decided on a name, since we're sick of calling him baby, and honestly, we're sick of people asking. His name will be Brady Marshall. Brady is a name that we both liked a lot (there were only a few) and Marshall is Brad's grandpa's middle name (who is deceased).

Here are some pictures of Brady's room. We are pretty happy with how it looks so far. There are a few more things that I would like to add like curtains and maybe some toy bins and a fun rug. I have spent many hours on Pinterest looking for ideas, and many hours shopping at Hobby Lobby and Gordmans.

The letters are plain white letters from JoAnns. I then bought scrapbook paper and used Modge Podge to glue the paper to the letters. It was time-consuming, but very easy. I am not a crafty, artsy person and I would definitely take on this project again.

The real reason I named this post "FAIL" is because I failed my 1-hour glucose tolerance test. I have to take the 3-hour GTT on Wednesday, and I'm not looking forward to it at all. I can't say I'm surprised I failed. I get very weak and shaky and my body tells me when it needs something to eat, but I did pass the 1-hour when I was pregnant with Claire. They tell me it's very likely that I will pass the 3-hour test, but we'll see.

I guess nothing is ever easy. I thank God every day that Brady is healthy and growing big and strong, but why can't I have a completely normal pregnancy with no complications and give this little guy everything that he needs to thrive? I have been walking every day and have recently changed my diet to cut out a lot of the salt and sugar that I had been eating before. I don't care how many times people tell me that Claire's heart defect was a fluke, I will always believe that there was something that I could have done differently to allow her to be here with us and completely healthy. Fingers crossed that I get a call on Thursday saying that I passed and don't need to do anything further!

Another milestone

We had our echo on Friday. It went great, after starting off not so great. We were there early and they got us in right away. We've always been the only people in that waiting room. Obviously and thankfully there's not many fetal echos performed daily there. We were told that the cardiologist wasn't in, but the tech will take all of the pictures that they need and the cardiologist will contact us on Monday with the results. Really!? We have to wait all weekend before getting confirmation that everything was OK. Luckily, the tech turned the screen so I was able to watch everything. She even labeled some of the parts of the heart for us and gave us a picture which we never got with Claire. It was short and sweet, which we took as a good sign, because Claire's echos were all almost an hour before all was said and done. The tech is not really supposed to give any results, however after seeing a fetal heart so many times, we were able to clearly see four chambers, and she confirmed that.

I got the call from the cardiologist yesterday morning. He said our little guy's heart looks perfectly healthy and we will not need to have another echo this pregnancy. The most beautiful words anyone could ever say to me! They will want to do an echo with any future pregnancies because our risk of having a heart baby is slightly higher than most, but I am 100% OK with that. I thank God every day for this baby. We truly feel blessed.

Myths Busted

Sorry to burst your bubble if you're a believer in old wives' tales, but I no longer put any stock in any of the pregnancy old wives' tales regarding the baby's sex.

Myth #1: How you carry the baby
The myth is if you carry high you will have a girl, if you carry low you are having a boy. I'm pretty sure I'm carrying the exact same as I was with Claire. I'm not seeing any difference.

Myth #2: Baby's heart rate
The myth is that a boy's heart rate will be under 140, a girl's always above 140. This little one has always had a heart rate at 150 or above. In fact, the first couple times we heard his heart, the heart rate was in the 170's.

Myth #3: Your cravings
The myth is if you crave sweets you are having a girl, if you crave salty food or meat you are having a boy. I honestly haven't had too many cravings this pregnancy, besides Dairy Queen. However, I've gone crazy with the Valentine's Day sweet tarts and candy hearts. So much for the sweets meaning girl!

Myth #4: Your looks
This myth says that a girl steals your beauty, while a boy gives you the "pregnancy glow".
Yeah, there's no glow here! My face and fingers are getting chubby already and my skin certainly isn't clear and bright.

Myth #5: Morning Sickness
This myth says you will have much worse morning sickness with a girl than a boy. It was the complete opposite for me. I was so sick (luckily not throwing up sick, but still bad) from about 5 1/2 weeks til about 12 or so weeks this time around. With Claire I had my moments, but nothing like this time.

So, there you have it. We pretty much debunked all of the most common pregnancy myths.

Today Is the Greatest Day I've Ever Known

Just a little Smashing Pumpkins for your reading pleasure. If you couldn't tell by the title, our anatomy scan went great today! We are having a HEALTHY baby BOY, 4 heart chambers and all! We were both sure that we were having another girl, so you can imagine our surprise when the tech said she was going to rock our world, because we're having a baby boy. The look on Brad's face was priceless. I will never forget it. We go back to Iowa City in 2 weeks for a fetal echo, which will tell us for sure that everything is OK. After that, we are free to be seen locally and deliver locally. I cannot wait.

We are so ready to go shopping for this baby and decorate his room and do everything that we didn't get to do while I was pregnant with Claire. The only possible downfall is that we need to put some of Claire's things away and make this Baby Boy's room. It's going to be very difficult for me. We didn't have a lot for Claire, but her bedding and outfits will all need to be put away. We received many figurines after she was born. We plan to keep them all on display in our guest bedroom. Those are things we will never be able to store away in a closet. She will always be a part of our family. Our children will know about their big sister.

To top it all off, this week is congenital heart defect awareness week. We love you so much Claire. We know you are always watching over us and your little brother.

Let the Countdown Begin

Actually I've been counting since I found out I was pregnant again. Our 20 week ultrasound is in T minus one week. Seven days from today at this time, I will be leaving work to go home and eat lunch, meet Brad and leave for Iowa City. This is D-Day for us. We will see the heart in detail and see how everything else is looking, and of course will be finding out the sex of our little one. We are anxious and excited and hopeful all at once. Please God let this be our healthy, take-home baby!