Week 28

Bryann and I headed out to the beach house last weekend to celebrate our 2 year anniversary over the Memorial Day break.  It was a glorious 3 days of sleeping, walking on the beach, playing fetch with Sam and watching him frolick in the waves, and sleeping some more.  :-)  We explored some of the Rockaway shops on Satruday did some antiqueing up the coast line on Sunday.  We even found a few little things for the baby's room!  I love heading out there to our little retreat and getting away from the world for awhile. 

Our 2-year "cotton" anniversary gifts to each other were similarly inspired.  I made him a t-shirt quilt from the few college tshirts we were still clinging on to, and he had his friend's wife make me a quilt in the colors we've chosen for the nursery.  I also got him a canvas toiletry case with his initials embroidered in "Super Hero" font, but he was WAY more excited about the quilt!  :-)

In new-house-news, we got to lock in our rate this week, and scheduled movers so there really isn't much else to do besides pack and get things ready for the big move!  I'm nearing the end of my stress-capacity though, so I really could have a mental breakdown any day now.  The whole moving process is really overwhelming on top of the fact that afterwards, we have remodeling to do, and a baby to prepare for - which we haven't been able to do ANY preparations for since we're moving in 2 weeks!  So watch out for super-stressed-out Kristi.  Part of the problem is that I really can't DO any of the things that need to get done until we move, and then it needs to be done all at once, and all at the same time.  There's just so many moving parts to this that it's gotten a bit overwhelming.

In baby news, on Wednesday, I had my 3-hr glucose screen to test for Gestational Diabetes more accurately.  I fasted from 7pm-8:30am, and they took a baseline blood draw.  Then I had to drink a super sweet, horribly disgusting orange flavored drink, and wait in the lobby for the rest of the morning.  They drew my blood to test my glucose levels every hour for three hours afterwards, so by the time I got to go home, I was feeling really sick, on a huge sugar crash, and extremely tired.  Luckily though, I do NOT have GD!  Which is SUCH a huge relief.  I know that I still could have had a completely normal pregnancy and healthy baby with modified diet, but GD also puts you at higher risk for Type II diabetes later in life.  And since a ton of people in my family have Type II diabetes, I really didn't need any more of an increased risk than I already have. 

 What Baby T has been up to this week:

• Baby T weighs 2.5 lbs and measures about 16 inches - the size of a small cabbage!
• Baby might be dreaming when she sleeps.  Studies of fetal brain activity have shown similar sleep cycles to adults like REM.  Though what she could possibly be dreaming about, I have no idea.  Floaty bits in the amniotic fluid??
• On top of opening her eyes, it's possible that she has been blinking, as well as coughing, sucking, and breathing
• Her brain continues to develop the fastest during this week and she is getting fatter by the day! 

Pregnancy symptoms this week include:

• More noticeable and more rapid weight gain.  I'm officially in my 3rd trimester, so I should gain about a pound a week.  I don't weigh myself at home, but I can definitely tell the difference in pictures and when I look in the mirror. 
• Pre-pregnancy shirts officially do not fit any longer - with the sole exception of some of my super-stretchy tank tops.  But I think I've got enough maternity articles to get me through the rest of my pregnancy. *Fingers crossed!*
• Heartburn and digestion issues continue to be ongoing issues - so much so that I'm almost not even bothered by it anymore...  Almost...

What I miss/What I'm looking forward to:

• Bryann and I have date night tonight - we're seeing the last play of our season tickets with PCS, and we're treating ourselves to ice cream.  :-)
• I'm going out to the beach again to celebrate my Grandma's 92nd birthday! 
• MOVING!!! 

Bryann's 2-year "cotton" anniversary quilt!

28 weeks!

Week 27

We got the appraisals in for both houses - and both came in splendidly!  Our house appraised for the selling price, and our new house appraised for slightly above the selling price!  So now, we just hope that interest rates don't skyrocket so we can lock next week.  We have a tentative close date set on our house for June 11th, a close date for our new house on June 13th, and an "out completely" date of June 16th.  We're getting really excited!  Everything has gone so smoothly, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

My OB appointment on Thursday went ok.  I'm 27 weeks pregnant, but my uterus measured at 25cm (I'm supposed to be anywhere between 25 and 29 cm at this point) but she said that was still within range and she wasn't worried.  She said my weight gain was right on track, and the baby's heart sounded good.  She also said there are no known cases of pre-natal epilepsy and that the crazy movements I'm feeling are a good thing.  The more movement, the better, I guess. 

My 1-hr glucose test didn't go well.  I was well above the normal range, so I have to go in next Wednesday for a 3-hr glucose test where they'll have me fast for 12 hrs prior, then take a baseline blood draw, make me drink the super sugary flat soda drink, then take my blood again every hour for 3 hours afterwards.  NOT looking forward to having my blood drawn 4 more times...  And I'm now also seriously worried that I have gestational diabetes.  I made the mistake of Googling after I found out that my test went poorly, and read stories about still-born babies and worked myself into a panic.  Tamara had to talk me down and gave me a few examples of people she knew with GD whose babies came out perfectly healthy.  So until next Wednesday, I'm going to eat like I have GD and avoid foods with high glycemic indexes.  Bryann is convinced that I DON'T have GD and that the only reason my results were high is because I wasn't fasting - but they didn't tell me to fast, so I'm not convinced that's it.  We'll see next week though... 

I had my last concert of the season on Saturday, and Tamara and Rian were sweet enough to come!  I don't know when I'll be able to go back to choir, so it was a little bittersweet for me.  I love singing and I love the group, so I'll really miss it while I'm taking the time to care for new Baby T. 

Lastly, Bryann and I have our 2-year anniversary coming up, so we're heading out to the beach this weekend for some R&R and to celebrate Us.  :-) 

What Baby T has been up to this week:

• Baby is measuring at about 2 lbs and 14.5 inches long (head to heel) - the size of a cauliflower - Or "Callie-flower" as we now like to refer to her!  :-P
• She continues to open and close her eyes, and is now perhaps sucking on her fingers and toes
• Baby's brain tissue is developing and her brain is very active at this point
• Her lungs are still immature but they would be capable of functioning at this point if she were born prematurely - with a lot of medical help, of course.
• Baby continues to kick and squirm and shove her head or her butt (I can't tell) into the side of my belly so you can feel her protruding.

Pregnancy symptoms this week include: 

• Ongoing heartburn and digestion issues.  I have a feeling these will be with me until after the baby is born.  
• I can feel the baby hiccup now!  They feel like tiny little rhythmic bloops, maybe 4-5 seconds apart, and last for a minute or so. 
• I've been kicked in the ribs a couple times this week, and I'm kind of not looking forward to her getting bigger and potentially bruising or even breaking my ribs with her kicking.  

What I miss/What I'm looking forward to:

• Finding out whether I have gestational diabetes  :-(
• Anniversary weekend away with the hubby
• Moving! And finally being able to get things ready for the baby's room!  

27 weeks!

 

Week 26

Last weekend we did our annual San Francisco trip to see the Braves vs. Giants series.  We decided to drive down this year to save some money, so we took off Thursday night and stayed with my dad in Klamath Falls, then drove the rest of the way to SF on Friday, then back to Klamath Sunday night, and back to Portland on Monday morning.  That's usually how we do drives down to see Bryann's family in Sonora, CA too.  It's nice to have my parents' house function as a half-way point between us and Bryann's family. 

We had a wonderful weekend in SF, and got to spend a lot of time with our college friend, Lucas, and our other friend Katy came to the game with us on Saturday.  It was really nice to spend time with Bryann's mom and sister, and two foster sisters, too.  The weather was completely beautiful the entire weekend.  It would have been a perfect trip if the Braves hadn't totally sucked and lost both games miserably.  We went to games on Friday night, and Saturday afternoon, and even walked to the peek-a-boo area behind the park on Sunday afternoon to catch a few innings, hoping things would improve - the Braves couldn't perform horribly during the only 3 games in a row that we'd ever see them ALL YEAR, right?!  To no avail.  We left to make the drive back to Klamath and got texts from Bryann's mom about how terribly the game was going, and how they left early because they couldn't stand to watch it anymore.  Alas... 

In other news, we had the appraisal on our current house done on Thursday, so we should hear back sometime early next week.  It's a little nerve racking because Sue can't find any comps to support our sale price - which means if the appraisal comes in low, we may have to do some renegotiating on the price if the buyer doesn't want to pay the difference. 

What Baby T has been up to this week:

• Baby is measuring at 2 lbs and 14 inches (head to heel) - the size of a cucumber!  
• Baby's eyes are starting to open, and can potentially see all the exciting action going on inside my uterus.  If we shine a flashlight on my stomach, she might be able to sense the light and kick at me.  We haven't tried this yet though.  
• Baby can hear noises now and can respond to them with movement and/or pulse rate
• Baby has been kicking a lot...  Like... a LOT.  Like, she kicks so fast sometimes, that it feels like she's working a speed bag and I'm becoming slightly paranoid that she may be having seizures...  

Pregnancy symptoms this week include:

• Digestion issues
• Heartburn - I finally gave in and had to get some Tums to control it.  Bryann insisted on calling our OB and getting an approved list of remedies before I took anything, but she said Tums was perfectly fine.
• Dry, flaky belly skin (even though I moisturize 2x a day!) 

What I miss/What I'm looking forward to:

• My cravings for beer have actually subsided considerably.  The tiny sips I take of Bryann's beer don't taste as good as they used to.  I mean, they still taste GOOD, and I would GLADLY drink a nice, ice cold IPA if I could, but I don't DESIRE it like I used to.  
• Using my pre-natal massage gift.  I've been trying to schedule it, but she's been pretty booked up.
• My OB appointment next week - hopefully she'll tell me that Callie does NOT have epilepsy and I'll be doing my 1-hr gestational diabetes test.  

Katy and me

Bryann's family + us + Lucas before Saturday's game

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On the Pier outside the ball park

Lucas and us at Saturday's game

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother's Day Brunch

 

Week 25

Jeff came to Portland for his bachelor party last Friday, and spent the weekend bar-hopping, paint balling, and strip-clubbing.  You know, the usual bachelor party stuff?  We all got together on Friday night at a local pizza joint that could hold the 20-some people that were able to come for the co-ed mixer.  Bryann went out with the guys on Saturday night, and I got to hang out with Lucas while he was in town for a bit on Sunday.  It was really nice to see everyone, even though I couldn't partake in the partying.  It was actually a beautiful weekend in Portland, so it was also nice to spend the day in the sun on Sunday with Lucas, Rachel, and Paul.  

I'm looking forward to going to San Francisco this weekend to see some of the Braves games, see Bryann's family, see Lucas again, and do a roadtrip with my sweetie.  :-)

What Baby T has been up to this week:

• Baby weighs about 1 1/2 pounds, and meaures 13.5 inches - the size of a rutabaga.  As a side note, I'm glad she has a name now, and we don't have to call her "Lil' Rutabaga"!  
• Callie is starting to fatten up, lose some of her wrinkes, and grow some hair on her head!  I think it's funny how some babies come out completely bald and some with a complete head of hair.  We'll have no way of knowing what Callie will look like until she's out.  
• My uterus is apparently the size of a soccer ball.  Which seems about right when I look down at my belly and feel how full everything is in there.  

Pregnancy symptoms this week include:

• Still no morning sickness.  AND no nausea of any kind.  But I haven't been around any weird smells to trigger nausea, but I'm still thinking it's all finished.

What I miss/What I'm looking forward to:

• My first Mother's Day!  Except I'm not really a Mother yet.  Just a Mother to be.  But still!  Bryann got me a pre-natal massage as a gift, so I'm REALLY looking forward to using that!  

25 weeks along!

Week 24

We broke down and bought a stroller!  Katee took me baby registry shopping this past weekend, and I got to test out her BOB stroller, and then test out some of the other strollers at the store, and the BOB was just soooooooo nice...  Then I happened to see it for $150 OFF it's normal price on Amazon, so I couldn't resist purchasing it.  I'm always a deal hunter.  The Amazon price was the same as what people have been asking for on Craigslist for their USED strollers, so yeah, it was a pretty good deal.  We even tested it out and took Sam for a walk, and loaded it up with a 42 lb. bag of kitty litter.  :-D

What Baby T has been up to this week:

• Baby is a little more than a pound, and measures at almost a food long - the size of an ear of corn!
• Her brain is developing into the tiny genius she's bound to be!  *No pressure, Callie*  :-)
• Her taste buds are forming, and supposedly she can taste what I eat.  I'm not sure how that really works, but if I want her to eat her veggies, I better eat lots of them myself. 
• Her lungs are developing branches and surfactant, which will help her air sacs inflate and let her scream once she hits the cold outside air.

Pregnancy symptoms this week include:

• Umm... I think this is the first week I can't really report pregnancy symptoms?  I feel like a pretty normal person with a big belly.

What I miss: 

• Boring old me, I miss the same old stuff.

What I'm looking forward to:

• I'll tell you what I'm NOT looking forward to!  I have to take a glucose test at the end of the month to test for gestational diabetes.  Apparently I have to drink this nasty sugary fluid that tastes like flat soda, at regular intervals for an hour, and then take a blood test.  Bleh!  
• But I AM looking forward to getting that over with!  :-P

Bryann walking Sam and the bag of kitty litter in our new stroller!