Gestational Diabetes & Me...

So it turns out I did have gestational diabetes, which can cause the baby to get too big. I have to watch what I eat, count carbs and make sure I eat 6 times a day.

All in all, I think the only thing that the boy is not pleased about is counting the portions (smaller meals and no Spagetti O's (my signature craving) - obviously the end of the world as he knows it), but it is for his own good, and is not going to change no matter how many times he kicks me in the bladder or the ribs really hard!

This also means I must face my fear of needles head on. I have to test my blood sugar 4 times a day and take insulin at night. Although I must say... I can't really do the insulin every night by myself. Frank helps me on the nights he is not playing.

Of course this also means that they will be monitoring the little guy to make sure he is not getting too big/getting stressed out in there. When they determine he is close to being too big, I get to have the amneo test and they will check his lungs to make sure they are fully developed. Then they will talk induction... and while I want to meet him sooner rather than later... he needs to bake a bit more.

So that's whats new with me!!!

So Cool!

So yesterday, my mom came up and we went to my doctor's appointment. Everything looked great and he allowed the doctor to find his heartbeat easily! I took my Glucose test, so I am on pins and needles waiting for my results, which should be in today!

Then after lunch and a little shopping, we did our elective ultrasound. He showed himself and even performed for us! (Including giving us the finger!) I fell even more in love with my little Monkey!

The infamous finger shot!

I think he heard my crack about him having more hair than his daddy!

Bein' all cute!

There is about 17 weeks until we meet you! I can't wait!

It was totally neat to see what the 4D scan can see. The baby has a head of hair, my nose, his daddy's cheeks and his great-Grampy's feet! (Which skipped me, but his Uncle Mikey totally has my Grampy's feet!) It also looks like he laughs like mommy.

We also have a DVD of his performance. It is just mindblowing to watch him move around and kick and bend. It was a memory I will have of him for the rest of my life. And it was neat to share it with my mom, who had never been to an ultrasound like that before!

I can't wait to see that face up close and in person, but for now I know every day and every kick will bring me closer to meeting him.

Decorating the Nursery!

So we have known before we were having kids what the general theme of the nursery would be for either gender. Now that we officially know we are Team Blue, we have started really focusing on the baby's room.

The theme will be Rockets and Robots!

I have been working hard on some really fun and creative home made projects for it, including (insert gasp here) a thematically appropriate room sign and name letters. Those will not be posted here until the baby is born and the name is no longer a mystery!

It is super fun planning these things, but with the former office about to be turned into a baby's room.... We are going to have to work hard to get some things packed and put down into the cellar for storage. That is one of the things we will need to begin to do this weekend, as our crib will be in our house in a few weeks!

But for now we have the gorgeous Dwell studio for Target sheets we picked up, and some other assorted rocket stuffs for the little one!

Dreaming in ....

We had our anatomy scan yesterday. The anatomy scan is basically two techs do an ultrasound one right after the other, and they look at the baby from head to toe and then they can tell you if they see anything that can lead to birth defects. They can also tell the gender!

The great news is that the baby's heart is pumping strong. The blood is flowing great. No sign of Downs Syndrome, and a perfect kidney.

The even more awesome news is that the baby wasn't shy... We are dreaming in blue!

Meet our son!

We have a great name that will not be revealed until the baby is born.

My beautiful baby boy... I am in love with him already. June seems so far away!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated alone at home with Chinese food and it was AWESOME. It was just the way to ring in what we call:

2011: The year of the Baby

We got a great strawberry cake and just hung out on the couch watching Twilight Zone and the Boston Fireworks.

As far as Monkey goes, everyday I am astonished at the growth of my stomach, the idea that there is a little guy or gal in there. And now I find myself enjoying my pregnancy, but I am counting down the days until we meet him or her. It is incredible how close I am with a little one I have yet to meet.

I found myself this afternoon thinking about what the baby will be like, who he/she will be like, what he/she will be when they grow up.... I don't care. All I want is a happy child.

And I get to be the proud Mommy.

That is the awesomest feeling.

I can't believe...

Christmas is one of my favorite hollidays. I love baking, wrapping carefully selected gifts , hanging up stockings and decorating the tree.

I just can't believe next year, my little one will celebrate their first Christmas. Santa will visit on Christmas and New Years (for stockings only), and we will start our own family traditions.

The stockings tradition is one of my favorites... on Christmas morning we didn't get our stockings, rather Santa would deliver them to us on his way back to the North Pole on New Year's Eve. It extended Christmas for us, and Santa had the means to give the world's most awesome stockings.

Yeah... I can't wait!

The First Trimester is OVAH!

Our first trimester has been over for almost a week and it has been interesting, painful and fantastic all rolled into one.

Knowing that the Monkey is growing and thriving every day kept me from really hating every second of the morning sickness, back pain and extreme exhaustion that happened. Just reminding myself that the outcome is going to be our little guy/gal is all I needed to smile and soldier on.

I lost a ton of weight mostly from having violent morning sickness, but my doctor is not really that concerned yet, because I wasn't tiny to begin with. Blessed anti-nausea medicine worked until Monkey decided my stomach made a good bed.

Speaking of doctors, mine is awesome. Super awesome even. She is very aware of certain things that I need to look out for and we are proceeding super cautiously. The whole practice is awesome, especially in the event of reporting odd occurrences, i.e. odd bleeding. They brought me in the first time, and gave me my RH shot, and then sent me for an ultrasound. My ultrasound showed that the Monkey was ok, and I got to see the fingers and toes just starting to form. The second time, they were able to get the baby on Doppler, monkey was perfect and somewhat well behaved. (Monkey is a bit of a ninja with the Doppler. He/she tends to hide wherever they can to get away from it. )

The constant need to lie down kind of stunk. I was in bed at 7:30-8:00 just because I couldn't sit any more. Not just that, but my lower back and my hips hurt.... I mean crying hurt sometimes, even now. This is normal, according to Awesome Doc, but something we have to monitor.

Adapting to pregnancy has been different for me, I have to let things slide, and ask for help. Trying not to get overwhelmed at work has been a challenge, but my co-workers have helped to make life easier.

Now that I am somewhat adapted to small meals, sleepiness and the back pain; the second trimester begins, and I tell you what... I am going to rock the hell out of it.