0 Update for week 32 and belly pics

Week 32 UPDATE - how time actually goes by
Total weight gain: 10 lbs
How big is baby?: I will tell you the truth - these measurements are odd balls-  that is a jicama... good to eat- not too pretty.

Maternity clothes?: oh Lord yes- Mark has banned some of my regular clothes and when you see my belly pic you will know why.
Stretch marks? stay away! nothing thus far.
Symptoms? besides being huge and looking like a watermelon swallowed my belly space I am doing great.
Sleep? when I go to bed at a decent hour its fine. I get up but I will live
Best moment this week?: breastfeeding classes and childbirth classes were this past week. we did good but realize that we are not into the whole holistic birthing process. I am not pro drugs and want to wait as long as possible, however, I dont want Mark to soothe me... that stuff doesnt work for me.
Movement?: wow this kiddo likes to move. Its pretty funny to put something on my belly and watch it do the wave.
Food cravings? bananas.. weird I know. I blame the target billboard for the new store opening with Bananas on it.
Labor signs?: none thank the Lord
Belly button in or out?: still holding out as an inny
Gender? team green
What I miss? a clear face- I think 16 year old acne has caught me. I also miss seeing my feet and being able to bend over.
What I am looking forward to: moving into our new house and our first baby shower tomorrow.
Milestone: we only have 8 weeks left! WOW. that is really fast.

Here is the belly pic for the week. I have gotten HUGE... her is one from a few weeks ago and then this week.

30 weeks

32 weeks- baby lee is getting BIG

0 The process of buying a house...

One thing I will never recommend is purchasing a house when you are pregnant. It sounds like a natural flow- finding out your having a baby, looking for more space to raise your unborn child and for quality education, and a place to dig in your roots. I can say all of these things were going through our mind when we decided it was time to settle down. We started our search in October of 2010, visiting open houses and getting a feel of the market. We found some good options, but nothing that ever struck our fancy until we visited an open house in a small neighborhood in Anderson. We walked in and I loved the house. It was clean, open and decorated well, just overpriced for the square footage and amenities. We never found anything that just fit for us over the next few months so we decided to give up.

Fast forward to February. House hunting is back on our minds, but we really haven’t had any luck finding any new options. We again stopped in a few open houses and started looking more frequently at listings, but yet nothing. We were both still traveling and decided it was time to buckle down and get the search on the way. We decided a Saturday of looking at homes would be a great option. We started around 12pm looking at close to 15 homes before we were just plain tired. The house we loved previously was off the market, our second choice literally went off the market while we were looking at it, and our third choice was a short sale and the bank wasn’t willing to accept any offers except above asking price. INSANE – yes. We knew that it was time to buckle down and start planning to have our little one in our apartment until something opened up. Disappointed – yes, giving up – no. We were frustrated, but we knew it was something we had to get through. We scheduled more time with our relator to look at a few more homes on Tuesday night and I honestly wasn’t willing to go. Mark was going to have to decide on these on his own. I didn’t want to interrupt my day for houses we didn’t like. We had a plan in place to be in communication if we needed to see another house for a second time, so I went on with my day working out and was prepared to head home for the night.

That is when we got the call. The house we liked in October was open again – no idea why, but I felt it was a sign. I ran to Anderson to meet Mark and the relator for another look prior to us jumping on placing an offer. I waited around for about 2 hours then we got the call. We had a preliminary inspection report for the walk through which helped and we felt confident we wanted to put in a bid. After sitting until about 10:30 we had our offer in and the games began. We had a few back and forth discussions and we were accepted. We thought we were prepared for the whirlwind of events, however, we are still wondering if we are.  We are currently two weeks away and praying every second that our final demands are met and we are ready to finally move. We have been packing boxes, labeling boxes that were already packed and preparing for what is going to be a long and tedious move. I have attached some photos and hopefully we will be moving in soon. Keep your fingers crossed.

0 Its been too long and a lot is going on!

So there is a real reason I have been away for a while- we have been pretty stinking busy. I will split the next few posts up since they all need their own time. I am dealing with the gestational diabetes, but not well. I have one more week to get it under control and then we move to insulin. I am following the diet, watching what I  eat and still not getting the numbers I need to. Baby Lee is handling it well... measuring at 4.6lbs as of yesterday and still growing and developing well. I am glad that part is hanging in there. I have a few more posts to split up- buying a house, birthing and breastfeeding classes and maternity leave. Oh the things that are going through my head! I will hopefully have more to post after this weekend as well. Its my first baby shower and one I am REALLY excited about. I will also give a weekly update and hopefully post a few more belly pics. I am getting pretty darn big these days. I am not ready for the next 7 weeks!

0 Update from the test and the feared results Gestational Diabetes

I came out of the test on Monday pretty hopeful that I would have great results on Wednesday and I would be ready to tackle the rest of this pregnancy. Not such luck would be had by me. I received the phone call from the doctor in the middle of a meeting but was able to grab it and run out of the conference room. The nurse was the bearer of bad news but she was very informative and helped me get into a gestational diabetes class the next day. I didnt take the news well, but I also didnt cry like a giant baby like I thought I would. So many things make me very emotional these days so it helps to not freak out over bad news once in a while. I called Mark, my parents and quickly started reading a million articles online about GD. Wow, I have a lot to learn.
The class was yesterday and was roughly 2.5 hours. I wasn't sure if it was just for gestational patients, and luckily it was. I dont think it would have been very helpful to have other diabetic patients in the class, but you never know sometimes. I was one of 4 students taking the class and I was pretty nervous about learning the ins and outs. I filled out a million pieces of paper and prepared to take good notes. I can tell you after 2.5 hours of class, I still have a lot to figure out.
I know it is all temporary, but since its not just about me, it makes it way more stressful than just watching my sugar levels. I am scared of being induced early, having a c-section or having a child with a higher risk of having diabetes. I am sure you will hear all about it in the next 10 weeks as I prepare for baby lee to arrive.

0 Valentines day and a visit to the doctor.

So failing the one hour glucose test isnt what I had in mind when I took the test a week ago. I was able to choke down the gross orange beverage and was ready to kick that test in the butt. I guess I wouldn't be so lucky with a failure phone call two days later and instructions to come in first thing for the three hour test. I was devastated. I was sure that I would pass as I have been doing VERY well on my weight and watching what I eat. I was also informed that I was anemic and needed iron pills but that was assumed since red meat isnt what I prefer right now being pregnant. I gathered all my instructions and prepared for the three hour first thing on Valentine's day.
I was instructed to fast for 12 hours so after an early dinner last night of steak, roasted potatoes and carrots with a glass of milk I was ready for a long night without food and drink. I wasnt loving the idea of being without but I was able to hold on. There is something about someone telling you that you cant have something that makes you want it more.
I arrived at the doctors office earlier than scheduled hoping to get started. We started a few minutes early with a first blood draw and then the dreaded drink of the lemon-lime variety. I choked it down in the three minute limit and prepared to get comfortable for the next hour wait. I was placed on the same floor as peds, so I was able to google over the babies and little kids that were coming in all dressed up for Valentines day. I nestled in with a book and started to drink plenty of water to rehydrate. (side note, when they said I couldnt have anything to drink, they should have said only water was an option for drinking - even more so with my veins). I made it through all of the pricks, hoping that I wouldnt get sick or feel sick from my blood sugar going all over the place and my stomach growling. It wasnt until the final prick that I was done and had to keep going with my un-pleasant day.
When you get to the 4th prick, you are done. Physically and mentally you are really ready for it to be over. You have listened to the 3 hours of patients that are in the doctors offices for well visits to the flu praying that you dont catch a thing. Thank the Lord I was sitting in the same seat the entire time and I packed some antibacterial hand wash for myself. I was prepared. When they called me in for the last time I was ready to check out. I thanked the lab tech as I walked in for being gentle and I started to sit down for the last prick. As she finished and pulled out the needle, I knew something was wrong.
Typically when I get blood drawn, my veins dont cooperate. If they do get blood out of them, they close up VERY quick after. Today was a little different. I have two veins that are usable for these types of draws. If you can get one on each side to cooperate (like we did today) it is a miracle. When the lab nurse pulled out the needle I noticed quite a bit more blood than normal coming out of my arm. I put pressure on it while she grabbed a bandaid and we prepared to switch gauze for the closure. As we switched WAY more blood was coming out of my arm than it should have been. Seeing the nurses face made me a little freaked out. She started asking me questions about aspirin and medications and I knew that it wasn't supposed to bleed like that. After holding my arm for a few minutes the bleeding just didn't stop. We nicked a vein. I was alright with it at first but I will admit my arm hurt. They instructed me to eat immediately and make sure that I rested the rest of the afternoon. That just wasn't in my schedule. I haven't been in the office more than 2 days in the last two weeks and I needed to get into the office and get ready for the week.
I finally did make it to the office after a trip to Verizon to get a new phone case, a stop at PotBelly for a sandwich and a 30 minute search for my badge. I might have called Mark crying like a baby since I couldnt find anything I needed and even though he was far away he was still able to cheer me up (as well as he convinced me to go to work for a surprise.) My day was much better after I went to work to see the flowers. Mark did a great job with the flowers and Paige was a wonderful date for dinner at the Rusty Bucket. Even though it was a bad start for the day, it was a good ending. Here are some pics of the day..

Flowers from Mark at the office

Arms after the day of blood draws.

Other Arm after vein issues

Shot from above as I type... belly getting bigger

My dates for the evening

0 Week 27 - update and how we are doing

So I went to the doctor last week and didnt write about it but since I have another appointment tomorrow I figured I would write a recap for this doctor. I saw Dr. Lewis this time and what can I say- she is awesome just like the rest of the practice. I am really glad that I have the doctors that I do. I am always able to get an appointment when I need one, they are always kind and they take care of me (baby Lee and Mark) very well. The last appointment I had with Dr. Lewis was diverted to the midwife since she was out on a delivery, but I finally got to meet her and was glad I did. I can feel completely comfortable with every doctor in the practice and I cant usually say that when it comes to doctors.
The appointment was pretty routine. I am a little off my appointments with rescheduling so I didnt have my glucose testing this appointment but they are starting my two week appointments now so I can get caught up. I cant believe I am already at the two week appointment time. I did get a little talking to when I had too much sugar in my urine, however, I guess that will happen when you eat your breakfast of oatmeal (full sugar since I was out of my low sugar variety). I am hoping that I pass the glucose test and baby Lee is fine, but I am not too concerned.
Week 27-
Total weight gain: Guess was right at 6lbs. I am counting that as a win.

How big is baby?: eggplant or cauliflower... I dont see how these are similar however they are where I am.

Maternity clothes?: of course... going strong with a good stock
Stretch marks? none currently- keeping fingers crossed.
Symptoms? well sleep is come and go... swelling happens when you fly and walk too much and attempting to get sleep in a hotel isnt as easy when you are trying to keep off your back.
Sleep?frequent bathroom trips wake everyone up but I guess that is better than not sleeping.
Best moment this week?: coming home from a long business trip.
Movement?: finally can see some external movement. Hilarious and very welcome.
Food cravings? anything that involves veggies... I still love me some veggies.
Labor signs?: nope.
Belly button in or out?: still in but wow does it hurt when it stretches.
Gender? team green
What I miss? cute clothes are still it and a good hard workout. I feel so bad that I cant break an awesome sweat. I am doing well to keep moving.
What I am looking forward to: last business trip is this week. Orlando for 4 days and then Mark heads to London. Looking forward to it being over, however, I do not want Mark to leave.
Milestone: Welcome to the Third Trimester~

0 The weeks keep rolling on! We are finally in the third Trimester!

The weeks keep on rolling by and we are finally in our third trimester. Its very exciting and yet scary at the same time. I am feeling consistent movement now, and usually when Mark is around he can feel it as well. Its definitely a lot higher movement than it was before but the jabs while I am sitting or driving still come down low. I don't think baby Lee likes sitting in a car at all. It has been a whirlwind of the last two weeks so I figured it needed its own post.
Traveling for work while pregnant isnt always ideal. My job requires me to travel when necessary and with the time winding down for me to be able to travel, I decided to get my last trips scheduled as quickly as possible. I had two trips that had to be made out west so those were scheduled first. The first stop was Phoenix, Arizona. The flight was fairly easy and the weather was wonderful. I arrived and headed to a large amount of store visits before settling in my hotel. I stayed in a Spring Hill Suites and it was very nice. The location was perfect (right next to the Arizona Cardinals stadium) and there was plenty to eat close. That first night I made my way to Gordon Biersch. I know its a chain, but it seemed to hit the spot and it was less than a mile from my hotel. After eating a wonderful meal and heading back to the hotel I was finally able to relax. Baby Lee must have loved the food, because it was moving all over the place at night.
The next day I had plenty more to see and do while in Phoenix and a flight to catch to LA that night so it was keeping me very busy that day. The temperatures hit about 75 degrees and I was officially over being in the heat. I didnt pack appropriately so I was stuck in tights, dress shoes and a skirt for 10 hours and luckily I was able to grab some jeans out of my bag prior to getting on the plane. I was happy that we had a short flight and all I wanted to do was get settled in LA.
After the short flight to LA and dinner I was able to finally check into the hotel. Dinner was quick since I wasnt staying in the nicest area of town. The next morning was an early morning drive to Compton and then heading to San Diego getting a look at some equipment. After a long 2.5 hour drive one way, I was able to enjoy looking at the ocean and get work done at the same time.Another early bedtime and I was heading to Nashville- Paige was turning 30 and I was ready to see some friends.
After delays at the airport I was able to enjoy my weekend. It definitely isn't as fun to enjoy the bar life in Nashville when you aren't drinking, but it was still a good time had by all. A new pair of boots were welcomed into the family of my shoes and I was able to relax and enjoy time with the girls!
Great weekend and very busy... I will write on my trip to Houston the same time soon... it needs its own post for sure! Glad to be at week 28 and I will update on how I am feeling in another post.