This week was a special week because my sister threw me a baby shower.  I think I will write a separate blog post about all the sweet things that I was given but I was most blessed by the presence of so many people who are special to me.  We had lots of fun and games.  My sister hosted but the venue was my parents house.  My mom put together a beautiful spread of foods for everyone and my sister and four nieces decorated the place.  My sister had several fun games that we all played along with advice notes for me as a first time mom.  I think almost all of the experienced mom’s in the room at some point in their advice notes stated to cherish each moment!  What wonderful advice from so many wise mothers! :-). I loved my shower and was blessed by it deeply!

As for growth and stats this past week of our little Isabella Marie, she is probably around 5 lbs 13 oz at this point and the size of a pineapple.  She is still moving around quite a bit but she is a bit squished in there now so not so much kicking and punches anymore.  She has times where she is very quiet but just as I start to get concerned she picks up her activity level by a lot.  Her kidneys and hearing should be fully developed by now and she should be head down which we know she is because of the ultrasound we had.

As for the ultrasound follow up with my doctor, he hadn’t received the report yet so I am assuming he will have that by my next appointment.  She was very active during this appointment and her heartbeat was 168 which is higher than she has been in a while but definitely in the normal range.

As for my symptoms I continue to have really bad heartburn and a lot of contractions.  My back is also sore quite a bit and often.  Mostly though I just feel so blessed to be carrying this beautiful child and I am trying to soak up the remaining 5 weeks or so left in this pregnancy.

I just want to thank everyone who came to my shower and made it such a wonderful event.  And I want to thank all those that wanted and/or tried to be there but couldn’t for whatever reasons.  You were in my heart as well.

Shalom everyone! 🙂

 

First, I must apologize for the delay getting this post out this week but here it is now.  As many of you are aware, I had an ultrasound scheduled for this past week.  We found out some very interesting things at this ultrasound.  One of the first things of note was that she is head down and is very low.  The tech kept commenting on it and really seemed to struggle to get an image of her brain, causing me quite a bit of pain as she was pressing really hard and hitting into my pelvic bones.  Her brain is looking excellent though.

The night before the ultrasound I had a particularly strong contraction and I felt her drop downward.  It was a very dramatic and sudden movement downward that took my breath away for a moment.  Now I am feeling a lot more pressure in my pelvic area and on my bladder than ever before.  She is now not just kicking my cervix but full on head butting it which is causing the aptly, if not quite vulgarly named, sensation of lightening crotch.  So when the tech commented on her being sooooo low, my husband responded for me in a somewhat joking but also serious manner, “Yes, she knows.”

Another thing of note and the main reason for getting the ultrasound was her size.  Because of the diagnosis of gestational diabetes we had to make sure she was not growing to big.  At this current point in time she is 5 lbs. 3 oz.   We were told this is in the 59th percentile and just about as perfect as it gets.  She had very big cheeks to her face and so she is plumping up just perfectly at this time.  In fact, if she was born today, she would most likely be just fine.

On the topic of due dates we also noticed something very interesting dealing with her estimated due date.  We saw that there are now two different estimated due dates.  The first one is the one based off my last menstrual cycle which is April 30th.  However, a second estimated due date showed up according to the actual ultrasound age (AUA) as April 23rd.  My understanding of this though is that as long as they are within a week of each other, they are saying basically the same thing and one can disregard the AUA due date.  Based on this information we are still expecting her around April 30th but we won’t be shocked if she comes a little earlier.

The ultrasound tech and doctor checked many things including her lungs, heart, stomach, positioning of the placenta, my weight and my blood pressure and everything came back perfectly healthy for us both.  The ultrasound could not have gone better.  This week we have a follow up appointment with my doctor about this ultrasound as well as the regular two week check up.  I am eager to see what his reaction is to the ultrasound.  Stay tuned for that update next week on Sunday.

Shalom everyone! 🙂

This past week has been one of the more uncomfortable weeks.  It started off normally and the doctors appointment went extremely well.  My fundal height was perfect (the height of my belly outwards) as was my blood pressure and protein and sugar levels in my urine sample.  I now weigh 161 pounds so I have gained approximately 30 pounds so far this pregnancy.

Little One’s heart beat is 144 beats per minute which is also perfect.  Based on my fundal height, her growth appears normal although we are having an ultrasound on Thursday to make certain of this fact.  If all is going according to plan with her growth as we suspect, then she is currently approximately 17 inches long and weighs about 4.19 pounds.  Her brain development was accelerated this past week as well.

She is moving a lot which is causing some unpleasant symptoms for me from time to time.  Some times she hits me in the cervix which causes a sensation like lightning to run through that area of my body.  Still, I love to feel her move and mostly she doesn’t hit me in that area.  I also have had a tremendous increase in my need to use the restroom.  My two biggest symptoms though this week was a tremendous increase in both heart burn and contractions.  The heart burn has been awful but the contractions have become much more intense and usually at night which has not helped my or my husband’s sleep.  It becomes a game of musical beds as I sometimes find the soft guest bedroom bed more comfortable or the firmer mattress in the master more comfortable but sometimes neither one is a good option.  

However, despite the discomfort I am just thankful that the nausea and vomiting have subsided significantly and I think these discomforts of the third trimester may be somewhat easier for me to manage than perhaps other women at this stage who have had easier pregnancies to this point.  I have felt much worse during this pregnancy than these discomforts I am experiencing now.  I am still delighting in feeling her movements which are much more dramatic now than before, even visible through clothes.  I am really enjoying my pregnancy now.

Shalom everyone! 🙂

This week has been a very busy week of moving and cleaning up the new house.  I over did it the first few days and started having very painful contractions again.  They keep me awake at night, or have actually woken me up in the middle of the night.  I have now been ordered by the family to sit and direct and nothing more.  My family has really pulled together to help us get moved, even though several of them are recovering from the flu right now.  We are so blessed to have family living so close to be able to help us like this.  We now have most of our furniture moved into the new house and we’re living in it now.  We’re so happy about that! 🙂

So, Little One is about the size of a squash.  She is 16.7 inches and 3.75 pounds according to the Bump app.  I feel her rolling around a lot more now rather than just the kicks and punches from before.  She seems very active and healthy.

This past week I scheduled an extra ultrasound to measure her growth and make sure she is on track because of the hypoglycemia.  That will be happening in a couple of weeks.  I also have a routine, two weeks, doctors appointment on Wednesday so stayed tuned to find out how that goes in my next pregnancy update post.  I also will be posting a house tour soon.  We got so busy this week that I just didn’t have time to post that like I wanted to.  I hope to get that posted for you all this week.

Shalom and blessings to you!  🙂