Appointment Update

Had a check-up with the midwives yesterday (met with Susan) and once again all was as it should be. I've officially topped the +20 lb. mark, which is about where I should be at this point considering I expect to start gaining about 1 lb per week from now on. With a bit under 10 weeks to go until EDD (estimate due date), that would put me at right around a total of +30, which I'm definitely OK with considering the original estimate of 40+ (eek!).

Heard Cletus' little heartbeat, right in the 130s, though he got excited and started kicking the doppler probe and got his heartrate up. Susan was also able to tell that he's in a good position - head down, back on my left-hand side, feet and arms stretched to the right. Hopefully he stays in that good position! Even so, Susan said not to worry because he's still got room to flip around. They won't worry about that until around 36 weeks.

She also told me that my glucose results were even lower than they'd told me over the phone - level was 67 (not 77) - wowza! She said, "You must have felt terrible with blood sugar that low!" Eh, just a little hungry (like usual). ;)

Hump Day Bump Day - 30w+3d - spring colors!

I also got a photo from Angelina from chorus competition this past weekend...

The costumer really camouflaged the bump pretty well, unless you got a good side-view of me! Such a great weekend and awesome to catch up with my running & singing buddy! :)

Looking forward to a nice Easter weekend coming up!

The Big 3-0!

Wow, 30 weeks?! Crazy! Almost down to the single-digit countdown.

Busy week and weekend, including chorus competition in Winston-Salem. Sadly I was so busy I didn't even get a photo with all my makeup and costume on! It's certainly a sight to see.

I did a bunch of comparison photos last week - amazing to see the difference a few weeks makes:

Same outfit, 3 weeks apart.

~10 week difference

5 week progression

Still cracks me up to recall how I thought I was "hiding a bump" at 15 weeks. Certainly not compared to now - there's no hiding!

Cletus is still dancing and moving like crazy in there. Usually wakes up about the time I get to work, is calm until around lunch time, then really active in the evenings around dinner and right when I go to bed. Occasionally he'll wake me up in the middle of the night but, let's be honest, I was probably getting up to go pee anyway. I did actually sleep fairly well through the entire night last night, which left me feeling amazingly refreshed this morning! Still have crazy dreams every night, but at least I wasn't tossing and turning like I have been the past few nights.

Tonight we have class number 5 with the Bradley instructor - last week we actually started discussing childbirth, which is certainly more helpful than a lecture on nutrition. However, I have kept up pretty well with my vegetable consumption. so perhaps something did sink in! 

30 week photo - I'm *so* funny  ;)

29 Weeks

Yep, it's right - have definitely felt the hiccups! It's like how the kicks felt in the beginning when I could just barely feel them... just little rhythmic thump thump thump. Movement is also a little calmer - more slow, rolling movements rather than sharp kicks or jabs (though there are still a few of those, too, and they totally catch me off guard!).

Felt good about the workouts I did this week. A good bit of walking, some biking, and some strength training!

Had a nice weekend with the Milliken Earth Run 5k on Saturday - it was an earrrrly morning to get here and help set up, but turned out to be a great event.

The Milliken team before the race!

I was even able to run about half of the race, which I hadn't planned to do, but just couldn't help myself! I finished in about 42 minutes, which was better than my goal of 45 minutes. Yay! :)

Looking forward to Winston-Salem this weekend for chorus competition!

29w + 1d

Test Results - happy news!

So after a week of waiting to hear the results of my glucose test, I got impatient and called the nurse at the midwives' office. Got a return phone call on the drive home with great news... I passed!! Not only did I just pass, but the nurse commented that, "Actually, your number was really low... so definitely no risk of diabetes!" She said my glucose, hemoglobin, and platelet counts (whatever those are) all looked great. I think glucose levels are supposed to be below 150 to be "safe" and mine was 77.

Hooray!!! :)

Of course, to celebrate, we picked up some ice cream on the way home...

Yum!

Between that good news and my order from Old Navy of summer maternity wear (hello tank tops!) I was in a fantastic mood for the evening. Definitely one of the happier Hump Day Bump Days!

HDBD photo @ 28w + 3d

28 Weeks & Appointment Update

Um, how are there only 12 weeks left??  Eek!

So I intended to update last week after my appointment (on Wednesday) but was trying to wait until I had my test results back. Still no word, but hopefully later today!

Anyway, last week was a good, busy, productive week.

Tuesday we had our second Bradley class - still not entirely impressed, but keeping an open mind. The focus of the class was on nutrition, and we got a good deal of propaganda about how "grains are bad" and "chemicals in food are bad" and "my kids are allergic to everything but everyone should eat the way we do." She was trying to not be too preachy, but it still came across that way. Scott and I just had to sit and bite our tongues to not yell "DO YOU EVEN SCIENCE?!" I just hope our eye-rolling wasn't too loud...

Anyway, speaking of nutrition... I did make a personal breakthrough of sorts. I have eaten at least one serving of vegetables almost every day of the past week! Those of you who know my long history of vegetable dislike will know what a big deal this is. I've managed a couple of small salads, and servings of roasted cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and asparagus.

Dinner with pork chops, potatoes, brussels sprouts (cooked with chorizo and parmesan), and a small spinach salad.

I feel pretty happy with this progress!

On Wednesday I had a check-up with the midwives and did my glucose challenge test - had to chug this lovely drink (containing 50 mg of sugar) and then have my blood sugar tested to see if I potentially have gestational diabetes. I should hear the results soon.

Delicious sugar drink (yuck!)

Other than that, the appointment was good. We met with Barbara (one of the 4 midwives) and she said we're doing great and everything is on track like it should be. Cletus still has a nice strong heartbeat at 146 bpm and he's moving around in there like crazy! Barbara was also very impressed and excited about my half marathon - she asked for some photos to share with the mom-to-be group she leads to show them real examples of people staying active during pregnancy. Yay! :)

Photo from Wednesday - Hump Day Bump Day!

On Wednesday evening we also visited the Sunshine House as a potential option for daycare. They're located in Travelers Rest and open from 6:30am (which was key for us) to 6pm, and accept children from 6 weeks up through elementary school age. They also provide transportation to and from the local elementary schools, which would be helpful down the road. Still have to decide a lot of things about when to go back to work, whether to do a nanny for a while before doing daycare, etc. But it's nice to know this is an option!

Thursday was Scott's birthday, so we went out to dinner to celebrate, and also stopped at the GBX beer tasting, Barley's, and Chocolate Moose for cupcakes. We also went to Asheville on Saturday with a group of folks to celebrate - much fun!

The crew at Hi-Wire Brewing

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, so I joined Scott for a 21-mile bike ride on the Swamp Rabbit - so nice to get out in the sunshine! Hopefully that continues for this week as well.

28 weeks

27 Weeks - Hello 3rd Trimester!

Wow, hard to believe we're in the third trimester now...  time is really flying by!

Cletus is still kickboxing or jazzercise-ing like crazy in there... and now sometimes it feels like he decides to just streeeeeeetch his arms and legs out so I get weird bulges poking out at odd angles from my belly. So strange to watch!

This week we've got:
- Class #2 for Bradley Method on Tuesday
- Gestational Diabetes screening and midwife checkup on Wednesday

Getting excited about upcoming plans for baby shower - got my invitation for the family shower in Charlotte... so cute!

We enjoyed some beautiful weather this weekend, and celebrated the beginning of 3rd trimester with a group hike at DuPont State Forest yesterday. We hiked Corn Mill Shoals, up to Cedar Rock, and then around the Burnt Mountain loop for a total of 6.2 miles.

Group photo at the top of Cedar Rock

View from Cedar Rock

Lunch & hydration stop

Pausing for a break by the Little River

Beautiful day to be outside, and gives us a lovely taste of what spring has in store for us! Can't wait for some more sunshine. :)

27 weeks + 1 day

26 weeks (and a couple of days)

Oops, missed the 26 week update - busy weekend! But we're now officially in the less-than-100-days-to-go countdown! Exciting and scary at the same time...

Today we'll go to our first of ten weekly classes for the Bradley Method of Childbirth. We're going to the class in Spartanburg since Greenville classes were only offered on Mondays.  I'm excited to learn what I need to be doing for the next 3 months (aack it's only 3 months!!).

Not much else to update - recovered pretty well from the race on Saturday, hobbled around most of the afternoon but felt surprisingly good on Sunday. Cletus is still kicking and moving around like crazy, especially in the evenings after dinner when we're usually relaxing on the couch. He also seems to enjoy my morning (half-caf) coffee. :)

26 weeks + 1 day