Ally’s Pregnancy Journal

So after work I met Bryan at my OB’s office - I let them know when I had drank the glucose drink stuff (btw.. mine tasted like really flat orange soda - not bad but not great either). About a minute before the hour mark I had to go up to remind them and she told me to just go into where they draw the blood -the girl said she was about to get me. I thought they just pricked you for a little blood, no they took 2 viles of blood - didn’t bother me though because they do a pretty good job there.

The pee stick test was obviously off because of the glucose test and I was amazed when she told me I had gained 3lbs guess I did better over the holiday weekend than I thought - plus the 1lb from the last visit (the emergency visit) so that is 4lbs added to my already 3lbs for the pregnancy - so now I am up a total of 7lbs!! Only 3 more to go by the end! I’m definately not worried about putting 3 more on in 12weeks!

After they had Bryan and I go into one of the rooms and my doctor came in, it was nice to see her again instead of one of the other doctors - she listened to the heartbeat (to which LP kicked the wand the whole time - doesn’t like anything pressing on it’s domain aka my belly!) Then she measured my belly and said everything looked great, we talked a little about the pains I have been having and she was not worried since they are getting better aka the baby is doing it less often, asked if I had any questions - I explained I did but would wait since the birthing class would most likely answer most of those questions.

She told me to make an appointment with one of the 2 other doctors I hadn’t seen yet in 5 weeks I had to repeat 5 weeks because I was amazed it would be that far out, but hey if that’s what she wants! So once I meet this other doctor on February 2nd I will only have 1 left to meet - so far I love them all so I’m not as worried about my doctor being avaiable as I was in the begining! I also am working on a birth plan document to have on hand, but don’t want to complete it till I have the birthing class and the tour of the hospital (both on January 7th).

I also have to start booking some of the classes that Harvard Pilgrim offers for expectant parents while there is room still available, looks like some of them I will have to book for late February since January classes are already full, my weekends are definately filling fast and I only have 12 weeks to go before my due date as of today - so that is really only 11 weekends, though with the next 2 filled with New Year’s plans and the birthing class next weekend that leaves me with 9 weekends! Did I mention that somewhere in there we plan on buying a house and moving?!?! So another few weekends will have to be used to move - even if we don’t get into a house I have a feeling we are moving anyway since we had mega carpenter ants last summer and the traps we had out then to keep them at bay we will not be able to use with a toddler around!!

Better late than never…. Merry Christmas

So the above was our Christmas Card we sent out. We had a lot of fun using our photo editing software to do it, definately a team effort with Bryan and I!

So we did the usual three family visit Christmas Day - Bryan’s mom’s for Breakfast, My dad’s for birthday cake (Nick is 21 this year), and my aunt’s (my mom’s sister) for dinner.

The baby even got a few presents - my mom got a stuffed bear in a red jumpshirt with a hood, my aunt got a baby carriage ornament and my cousin gave me a knit blanket and soft booties.

I contributed to that by getting Bryan a sushi burp cloth and bib set and a my first sushi set so he can teach the baby early about sushi - he really got a kick out of them! I also got my mother in law a “Read to me Grandma” book full of stories she can read to LP - she seemed to really like it and hope to put it to use not long after the baby is born. We really plan on doing a lot of reading to the baby and right from the beginning plan on doing a story a night, even if it is a short one, but I notice that both Bryan and I have a change in our voice when we read to kids so I think the fact that we are already doing occasional reading will help the baby be comfortable with those voices and we can turn it into part of our bedtime routine. I don’t know if we will be doing a lullaby as well, we can’t seem to find one that is unique or that we really like.

Today is my OB visit where I have to do the glucose test, I had to make sure no fasting was involved since when lunchtime came I was sooo hungry - though not sure if part of that was just the baby moving around like crazy. I still seem to be getting the pains for hours at a time and when I do they really hurt, I’m hoping I don’t have to put the belt back on since the baby is annoyed by it and spends all day kicking it!

I ate really good these past few days but I don’t think I gained any weight - I’m hoping my doctor doesn’t start putting the pressure on since I have not even come close to the weight she wants to see me gain and she only wants me to gain 10lbs - but with 28 weeks and only 12 to go I doubt I’m going to be able to gain even 8lbs by the time the baby comes - guess we will see when I get on the scale!

Still on the “Eat anything I want” method but I find I always want a salad - why can’t I crave hot fudge sundaes or something really bad for me - though a week or 2 ago I did have the want for ringdings - can’t say if it was a craving cause I didn’t feel I had to have it, but it popped into my head so we stopped at the store on the way home and picked up some - I had a big glass of milk with it. I have been having hot almond milk almost every night for the last few weeks to make sure I am getting enough milk, last night I did really good on creating a lot of foam and made one for Bryan too - he was a bit sore from snowboarding all day with my brother Nick!

So officially I am 90days away from the due date, doesn’t mean LP will be here then but that’s ok, atleast I have a target to count down to!

Lunch Yesterday we had the christmas party here at work and it went off without a hitch, the employees really liked it and I was able to sneak out just after 2pm to go pick up Bryan at work.

We hit this place in Brookline called Magic Beans and they had all kinds of baby gear and kids of all ages toys, Bryan spotted this vest called Dadgear, it is just the greatest thing, he tried it on and loved it and when he realized it was basically a diaper bag to go he just thought it was too great! Here is the link to it, though I paid a little less than they list it for http://www.dadgear.com/gear_detail.cfm?itemID=14#

I told him I would be more than willing to get it for him but he can’t wear it till the baby is born, he was more than ok with that since he lives in all his other vests and really thinks this will be easier to wear then for him to have to carry around a big diaper bag, though most likely we will have a little backpack he can wear to put a change of clothes, extra diapers, butt lotion, toys, etc in. but for hikes and just walking around town the vest will be great, plus he loves it even if he never used it for a diaper vest - it is the same material and same price he has paid for his other tech vests that he wears all the time!

We then went to the Paris Creperie where we split a nutella and strawberry filled crepe and we each got lattes (mine decaf)

On our way to our friends’ house we stopped at Isis Maternity in Needham to check them out, they do prenatal massage, classes, they have mommy groups, lactation consultants on hand as well as a store with some great products. Some of the classes and workshops are free to members and others members get a discount, it really seems nice and the location is convient!

We had dinner at our friends’ house and had their kids open the presents we bought, they really had fun with them (we got them both doodle pads that came with books and these learn to cross stich kits since they always like immitating their mom doing it)

This morning the festivities continued with free breakfast downstairs and then they had us come after it was over to grab extra bagels, muffins and fruit, figured I would get enough for us to have breakfast the days we are home since I have Monday and Tuesday off and Bryan is off all week!

So right now I am wearing this support belt thing that you can get at Motherhood Maternity - OMG LP spends all day kicking at it and pushing it - at least that is better than him getting further down and digging there!! Little less painfull! (yep I’m still convinced that LP is a boy but you never know since my cousin we swore was having a girl and turns out she had a boy)

Hubby slept on the couch last night since he had complained about lack of sleep on Sunday night - he decided on the couch when I asked how he thought it would be any different last night than Sunday night if I am still going through the pain. It was actually nice because I was able to prop both my feet and back up and move around at will. Bryan also seemed to get more sleep out on the couch, I woke him up in the morning to have him go to bed so I wouldn’t wake him up while getting ready for work.

Today I am taking it easy, have my feet up and trying to do as much as I can from my desk, thank god I’m mostly reviewing documents!

Oh and I almost forgot, last week my boss called me into his office and told me that my promotion to Senior went through! Looks like I will get some money with that as well, not sure as to the amount because normal pay raises go through in April so I might get a bump up now and another in April!!

Tonight I might make a quick run to the mall after work(maybe I will leave a little early) then will go home and try to get this baby off of my lower belly!

Atleast I can’t complain I don’t feel the baby because with this thing on I am constantly feeling LP kick (don’t think it likes being a little restricted!)! Also felt hickups again today - 3 in a row, such a wierd feeling, almost like LP is vibrating in me, they must shake the whole body when LP hickups!

Well last night around 8or9pm I had started to feel these abdominal pains - constant ones as well as occasional ones that got really sharp. None of the times on these were consistent - sometimes an hour apart, sometimes 10minutes - most of the time I could feel the baby move after them so knew the baby must be ok. I tried a bath, tried lying down, tried having Bryan rub the belly with lotion, tried curling up in a ball, nothing seemed to make the constant pain go away, I finally fell asleep last night and woke up just after 5am with the pain still there, tried to get ready for work but both Bryan and I agreed that we both would take the day off and call my doctor as soon as the office opened - we had a feeling with the pain going on for this long they would want to see me.

Just after 9am I was able to get a hold of the office and when I explained what was happening they had me go right to the Hospital’s maternity floor. Bryan drove me in and we only had to wait 1 minute before they brought me into a room, the room didn’t have a bed but a reclining chair - they hooked up the monitors on me where we could hear the baby’s heartbeat and see that it was pretty regularly at 144bmp - only a few times did it go up or down. They also had me click a button every time I felt the baby move, though we had to disregard the first time since the baby had hiccups (a first time for me feeling it). She was also watching for contractions.

After about 20minutes of this she had me give her a urine sample to rule out a bladder infection and then they had me go over to my doctor’s office where one of the other doctors there would check my cervix to make sure I am not dialated at all. After about an hour he finally saw me, checked and he said my cervix was nice and tight - so far all good signs that I was not going into pre-term labor. He then explained that with this being the beginning of my 3rd trimester that this could very well be the baby making more room and growing and pushing. He explained that I did the right thing by calling and coming in because it could have been other things and since it is hard to diagnose some pains without an examination during pregnancy that if this pain gets worse not to hesitate coming in. He told me to take the rest of the day off and lay in bed - trying to prevent the baby getting really low.

We stopped at the Thai place on the way home and picked up a soup and salad to bring home. I have been laying in bed since, I even put the belt thing on to try to keep the baby up higher to help prevent the sharper pains. Hopefully this will go away by tomorrow morning!

99 Days to go! Well that is if the baby decides to come on time, if not it could be a few less or a few more days left in this pregnancy.

Either way I’m at the point right now where I am truly enjoying the pregnancy! The only negative thing I am experiencing is being tired but at this point I have given up on not being tired - no matter how much sleep I have gotten or have not gotten I am always tired!

This baby is quite active and lately I feel LP moving around more often than not, as I sit here writing this now I feel little movements down there. LP definitely hangs around near my bladder a lot and I have started feeling a little bit of pain in my lower pelvis - not sure if it is the pressure of the baby or my hips are starting to widen. I find myself talking to the baby a lot and even try to coax it into not pushing or kicking too hard by talking to it while rubbing my belly - doesn’t seem to work though, sometimes it has even caused the baby to get more excited. With the movement being so often lately I have come to realize one of the following must be true a. the baby only sleeps when I do, b. the baby moves in it’s sleep or c. it takes lots of little naps so I don’t notice the time between.

Last night we had an interview with a potential pediatrician but were very quick to decide that he definitely will be our children’s pediatrician. When he came in (on time might I add) he sat down and got right to business, explained the practice, the hours, what goes on as far as hours and if you call at certain times, his philosophy as far as infants and what he expects from us, etc. He then asked questions about the pregnancy and our plans as far as breast feeding and circumcision, etc - many of these things were on my list of questions but he got there even before I was able to ask them. He definitely had us both at ease when he said that “anything goes in the first 3 months or until the baby is 13-14lbs - which ever comes first” and that after that he will start guiding us in the right direction should we not let the baby cry long enough or not get into a schedule, etc. He advised that until the baby is sleeping through the night (10-6 counts as sleeping through the night) that we should not bother to try to get the baby onto a schedule - which may come by around 3 months, sometimes sooner. When I told him our plans for the bassinet attached to our bed and how we would move the baby into it’s room before 3 months he said not to bother if the baby is not sleeping through the night. He recommended we have a humidifier and a baby monitor and he was pretty happy when we said we already have both (we currently use a humidifier to help keep the house temp down and a friend of ours gave us some of the basic baby stuff we would need - including a baby monitor). Then he went over a list of OTC meds to have on hand for the first year incase we call and they recommend us using one of them - Tylenol infant drops, pedialite, mylecon, delsym, cortozone 5, chamomile tea (or we can get grippe water - both help with colic). He said that lavender lotion helps and so I asked if it was ok to use the lavender stuff right away - to which he said it was perfectly fine(love the smell!!). He also recommended “Your Child’s Health” by Barton Schmitt as he tends to agree with most of the things he has in that book (this will even more so help us understand where our doctor is coming from so I will start to read that around the time the baby is due/born)

After we left the Dr’s office we went for dinner then stopped at Barnes N Noble since I really wanted to pick up the book he recommended as well as a few last presents so we wouldn’t have to go back there unless we have something specific in mind.

Last night when we got home I had Bryan take a belly shot since it had been a few weeks and to mark 100days left! I think I am going to have to start doing them more often because the changes are definitely getting more noticeable.

Well Thursday I had my 24 week OB appointment and I am soo exicted to say that I finally gained weight in this pregnancy!!! I gained 7lbs in the last 4 weeks so that brings me to 3lbs for this pregnancy from week 7 to now. If I include my pre-pregnancy weight I am really -3lbs for this pregnancy but since my doctor wanted me to gain atleast 10lbs from what I was at week 7 I am counting myself at 3lbs - so I only have 7 more to gain by the end, though I will try to keep up the eating I have now since they say as time goes on, my stomach gets more squished therefore making it harder for me to gain. I was a little worried because so many people commented on how small I still look but the OB said that from measuring on the outside things look good and so was the baby’s heartbeat so I’m not going to stress about it.

This weekend we went up to The Vermont Country Store on saturday to get some xmas shopping done and on Sunday I met up with some friends for lunch then went and did some xmas shopping on my own dispite the snow coming down. We got about 2-3 inches so not too much and not too little.

This week will be another crazy one at work and I hope to have Bryan take another belly shot this week since I will hit the 25 week mark.

I’m not going to continue on “what I ate” since now it is pretty typical of what I ate earlier in the pregnancy but now I tend to find myself able to snack a little more in the afternoon than I did before.

It has been a while since I have updated so I figured I would start with Thanksgiving weekend:

Well Thanksgiving we did double dinner as usual but I think this will be the last year for it. Though I very much loved and enjoyed being able to see that many more family members I never did get a chance to relax. By the time I started getting comfortable after the first dinner we had to leave to get to the second and before dessert was even being served at the second we had to leave to pick up the rest of the kids for the weekend. We didn’t get home till after 9pm and just had enough time to relax a little before going to bed. I also was exausted as I didn’t get to nap or really put my feet up as I usually try to do a little bit even when at work ( I can put my feet up at work and will usually find 10 minutes to just sit and relax, even if it is during lunch).

We took my niece Hailey, sister Rachel and brother Chris for the whole long weekend. Friday we took them to the Museum of Science (Bryan’s brother met us there as well) and we spent the whole day there (I’m talking 10am to almost 6pm!) The kids had a blast and go along so well it made it easy on us. After we walked from there to Fanuel Hall for dinner at the Union Oyster House, quick stop through the shops at Fanuel Hall then walked over to South Station, heading waterfront at the Boston Harbor Hotel on the way to check out the boats. It was pretty late by the time we got to the Quincy Adams train station where we had parked and we all agreed we would sleep in and have a nice relaxing day on Saturday at our place.

That is exactly what we did on Saturday and in the evening before I cooked dinner Bryan took the kids for a round of bowling, to which they always enjoy!

Sunday the kids played a bit before Bryan took them home and I spent some time relaxing.