Big Fat Bummer

So, I'm blogging from the waiting room of the local hospital after just chugging my THIRD helping of that yummy, orange glucose drink. You might remember that I "failed" my first glucose screening by a very small margin. But since I also ate oatmeal along with the orange drink that day- they let me re-do the test in the office yesterday- for which I fasted. Well....yesterdays results were WAAAAAY worse than the one a few weeks ago! My blood sugar was well over 200!! So high that the doc said, "that's really high! Lets take it again." They took it again and it read 190. Still WAAAAY too high!! So, alas, here I am. At the hospital at 6:15am after having to cancel my patients for the morning to determine whether or not I have gestational diabetes. They drew blood first thing to get a fasting blood sugar level (which came back within a normal range) and then I chugged that terrible orange drink. So, now they'll take my blood every hour for the next 3 hours. I should have the results sometime tomorrow.

The likelihood of me NOT having it is very slim since I have now failed 3 attempts at passing the darn thing. :( I'm totally bummed. I'm feeling a little better today, I guess. But yesterday, I was totally sad. I cried. Several times. A pregnant woman crying?! Shocking, I'm sure.

So, the two main reasons I'm sad about this news (which, admittedly isn't technically news yet since I wont have the results from this test until tomorrow) are:

1) Babies that come from gestational diabetic moms tend to be bigger. Not that I have anything against big babies-- if that's how God made them. What I'm NOT cool with is a bigger (basically has more fat) baby due to the fact that my body doesn't handle sugar the right way, and therefore, my baby gets too much which causes her to be bigger than she's supposed to be. This can also increase the risk of the baby eventually developing childhood obesity. :(

2) If I do have gestational diabetes, my risk of getting type 2 diabetes later in life is increased. Even with my history of (almost) always being active and maintaining a healthy weight...doesn't matter. The risk is there.

Other things like, I'd have to be on a low-carb, no-sugar diet for the remainder of my pregnancy (3 months) are also pretty huge bummers. What is that? The south beach diet?! Ugh. I love dieting....especially while pregnant. :( We went out to dinner last night for what Patrick called my "last supper." (Slightly funny). My doc said to load up on carbs and eat what I want the night before the test. She said my body should be able to compensate for anything that I eat- if everything is working correctly. So, I complied......I had sweet tea, cheese fries (been craving those lately), a salad, and a few fried pickles. :) Yummm.

So, that's the news for the day. I'll keep you posted on the results. I'm ready for bad news, but would totally welcome great news! Please keep Baby Bella and me in your prayers.

THIS is a big fat bummer.

Preggo Belly Update!!

So, I think I've been a bit of a slacker with the whole updating the blog thing. But, seriously, it takes so much time and I just don't feel like there are many readers out there. If you're still out there, give me a holla! :)

So, I'm almost 27 weeks along now (a little over 6.5 months). I think the last time I updated the belly stuff was 10 weeks ago- around week 17! Is that possible?!? My last belly bump picture was week 15. There actually wasn't a huge belly difference between weeks 15/16 and week 20/21. But, MAN-OH-MAN has my belly ballooned since then!! It's a little scary, I must admit! :) So, I'll just go ahead and show you the weekly pictures dating back to week 21. (Even though I haven't been updating the blog, I've been trying to be good about documenting "the growth" for Bella's little belly book that I'll one day, God willing, put together)!

PS. Looking back a these pictures, I almost always take them on Wednesday since that's my official I'm-one-more-week-pregnant day. Well, apparently, I really like to wear purple to work on Wednesdays. There is definitely a theme!

Week 21: Using a rubber band to hold the button together on these non-maternity jeans.

Profile at 20 week ultrasound!

Week 22: Yep! It- the belly- grew THAT much in 8 days! Woah!! Needless to say- no rubber band would be holding around THAT belly! These are full blown maternity pants! Cute pant though, huh?! :)

Week 23: Totally looks like I shrunk this week...maybe I was a little easier on the Oreos!
Week 24: No worries, the belly's back out in full force!
Week 25:

Week 25 family photo! Aren't we the CUTEST?!
Week 26: Yet again, another growth spurt in a mere 7 days!! Definitely large and in charge!

Wanna see something scary?! This is what my belly looked like with Ava at THE SAME TIME! - week 26! (Note- still wearing pre-maternity jeans (remember my "magic jeans?")...still implementing the rubber band trick here. I considered this particular week as the week I "popped" with Ava's pregnancy! Eeek!

Profile at week 26 ultrasound: Looks like Ava's nose. The lips look like a different shape to me, though! 3D picture of her face at the 26 week ultrasound. She DOES NOT STOP MOVING, so it's a little difficult to get a completely normal looking picture. Lower face looks semi-normal, but the forehead is having some issues. :)

Soooo...there are the updated pics! Things are going relatively well right now. The biggest thing is that I'm MUCH larger this time around....even from the very beginning. Which hasn't really been a problem up until now. But, now all those things I got at the end with Ava- lower back pain, uncomfortable when/after eating, sciatica, not being able to sleep, feeling like my belly is very heavy, heavy feeling/fattening feet, etc are here now (and have been for quite some time)! All that paired with my profession makes it even harder. So, that's kinda a bummer...cause I've still got 3 months left. And that's a lot of growing. :)

So, other than that stuff, things are looking good! With Ava, I was so anxious to have her and meet her. But this time around, I don't seem to be in much of a hurry. I know my life is going to change drastically when Bella arrives, so I'm just enjoying our family of 3 for the time being. Also, it gives me time to give Ava a little extra TLC since I imagine her world will be significantly rocked come 3 months from now!

Some of you may remember that I had a 20 week ultrasound (when we found out Baby K #2 was a girl and also that I had a marginal previa). Well, I went in again last week for another scan to basically check on the previa. As of right now, it's basically unchanged and still there. They are still hopeful that it will move out of the way on it's own as Ava's did. So no big deal. We'll do another scan at week 36 to check it again. If it's still there at that time, I'm sure we'll start to talk about a planned C-section. Only time will tell, though!

I had my glucose test at that same appt. Well, I failed it. :( Apparently I wasn't supposed to eat my maple and brown sugar oatmeal along WITH the yummy (totally lying!) orange glucose drink. (I actually asked if I could eat the oatmeal, and they said yes, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to do it at the exact same time as the drink....or with the added maple brown sugar)! I missed the "normal" mark by a few points. They were gonna make me fast, go to the hospital, and have my blood drawn every hour for 3 hours to check if, in fact, I have gestational diabetes. But, I called them back just today and asked if I could just redo the test again (sans oatmeal) and they said that was fine. So, I'll be fasting before that one . I really don't want to do the 3 hour thing at the hospital. Sounds like a total drag. And yet another thing- my iron was marginal. So, they'd like me to take some extra iron if possible. Ugh. That's not gonna help me out much, if you know what I mean... ;)

So, that's really it. I'll try to be at least a little better updating the belly pics. I was so good with Ava, I don't want Bella to think I was slacking with her! I'll update soon with some Ava and Patrick stuff too!!! Tata!

Tickle Monster

Ava: "Daddy, can you come tickle me while I roll on the floor and laugh and say 'stop tickling me'?"

Patrick: (Smiling) "Sure"

I mean, how can you deny that?! :)

What's in a Name?

Yep, you read it right! We've decided on a name for our new little baby girl. I actually thought this wouldn't happen until MUCH later in the pregnancy. Patrick refused to even consider names before we knew the sex. I, of course, wanted to talk about boy and girl name possibilities before when actually knew what we were having. But Patrick and his ever practical self ix-nayed any name discussions prior to week 20. Party pooper, right?

Well, then week 20 came, we found out it was a girl, and we still didn't really talk about it. A few weeks ago, I started forcing name conversations when he couldn't escape- like driving in the car, eating dinner at a restaurant, etc. He didn't like anything I suggested- but, of course, didn't have any real suggestions of his own! So, I had thrown a few names out there as my top 3 or so- he poo-pooed all of them for one reason or another!

Then, a few days later, he text me: "I like ____ _____. Gave it some thought today." It happened to be one of my top TWO!! So, we took a day or two to really consider it and it felt right. We finally settled on a pretty little girl name.

So, what is it?? Well....are any of you familiar with a little vampire lover named Bella? :) Yep, we're totally going there. Her name will be Bella. No, not after Twilight (although, come on! Greatest books ever)!! And, when I said this name initially, Patrick said, "like after the vampire?" (If you remember, though, her name is actually Isabella Swan, she just goes by Bella). ;) So, anyway, we love it. It's short, feminine, goes well with "Ava" and is easy to pronounce and spell. All things I wanted in a name. Now, I wasn't particularly looking for a name that everyone else also has- apparently Isabella is the #2 most popular girl name this year. But, you know, you gotta pick something you like- and I like Bella. So, there. :) For a middle name, we decided on Michele, after my mom. Yes, only one L. Pronounced like regular "Michelle." :)

Besides- Bella means "Beautiful, Devoted to God, and Intelligent" (depending on what origin you look at)! Doesn't get much better than that!

So, there ya have it: Bella Michele :)

Purtty, ain't it?



.

So.....we're having a.....

HEALTHY BABY! :)

So, we went in today for our 20 week ultrasound (although, I'm only 19 weeks!) to check and make sure everything was looking good. The baby looks great and is measuring right on time as far as my due date goes! Everything looks great. The only thing that isn't totally perfect right now is that I have a previa....AGAIN! I had one with Ava too...but it corrected on it's own. We'll just have to wait this one out and see if it corrects on it's own as well. Hopefully, this wont cause me any issues! Keep your fingers crossed!!

So, that's the boring stuff....I know you're all wondering if it's a boy or a girl....so, here you go!! You can ask Ava...

Sprinkles

I had to go into work for a few hours this morning, so, Michee (my mom) took Ava for a little while. They ended up going to Bagel Boys and Michee asked her which one she wanted. She pointed to the everything bagel...."I want the one with the sprinkles!" :)

I mean, COME ON!!!!

Trumpets

I took Ava to the potty today and she pushed her pee out so hard that she also pushed out a rather respectable toot! Then, the best conversation ever....


Ava: That was a funny sounding toot.

Me: Yeah, that was a little funny sounding.

[[Pause]]

Ava: (said with excitement...) It sounded like a trumpet!!



I mean, really?! Does it get better than this?!? And how the heck does she know what a trumpet sounds like?!? Hahahaha!!

I Felt the Baby!

Just a real quick update- I felt the baby move for the first time today! :) At first I wasn't sure, so I sat really still- and sure enough, a few teeny tiny little kicks. I've felt them several times this evening too!

I almost forgot how cool those first couple of movements are...the ones I get to have all to myself. Totally freaking awesome. :)

Updates Galore! Ava 32 months

So, life has been busy and Ava has had a lot of updates since the last time I posted! Just FYI- the picture above was an outfit Ava wore to church- that SHE PICKED OUT! She didn't pick the bow, but when I saw what she was wearing, I figured, why not?! Crazy cute, huh?!? :)

Ava's really doing great! Her mind is still developing at an alarming rate, and every day she is talking better and better. Even just her sentence structure and grammar gets better everyday. A young brain is truly amazing!

She has started something rather annoying lately- whining!!! UGH! I can only take so much unnecessary whining before I go crazy. But, she sure does test my limits! We were having dinner at Michee and Pop's few weeks ago, and Ava was whining and my dad (Pop) started to imitate her and and make a totally obnoxious whining sound. Ava didn't miss a beat. She stopped her whining, looked right at me with a very serious face, and in typical tattle-tail fashion said, "Mommy- Pop is whining."

The other day, we were in the car and she was whining for God-only-know-what reason and I said, "Hey wait a minute, I think I hear a little baby. Do you hear baby sounds? I didn't think there was a baby in here..." She waited a minute and said, "I think the baby in your belly was crying."

...Already blaming the un-born child! Smart little thang. :)

Patrick bought her this fish puzzle, and she loves it. We've done it several times together and she's getting really good at doing most of it by herself now! She's always so proud when we're done and always wants to keep it together until Daddy gets home so he can see it. Sweet. :)

So, Ava is officially in a Big Girl bed now! She picked out the comforter set (from Target!) and we got one of my old beds and box spring and put it on the floor. (I was afraid with anything higher, and with her accident prone history, she'd roll off)! But, she's been doing great and hasn't really looked back!
Here's her sweet smile- remember that dark tooth I told you about? This was at it's darkest. Since then, it's actually started to lighten back up. Still keeping my fingers crossed!!
In other news- we're potty training! In fact, I think we're just about trained. One day she just looked at me and said, "Can I wear fancy pants?" ("Fancy pants" are code words for real underwear)! So, pretty much after that day, she was good to go. I guess it really is true what they say about waiting until they're totally ready. She switched from fancy pants to pull-ups for the first few days, but we've been going strong with fancy pants ever since! I thought pooping in the potty would be an issue- but she just sat down one day at Bobbi's house, got one of her books out and read until it came out! I was so proud! And just the other day, I was on the phone while she was playing. She walked away and the next thing I hear is the toilet flush...then Ava comes waddling out with her pants and fancy pants around her ankles....

Ava: Mommy, I peed!
Me: What?? By yourself?
Ava: Yeah!
Me: Good job, A! Did you wipe?
Ava: Yes
Me: Are you sure you wiped?
Ava: Yeah (Even if this is true, she can't possibly have done a through job. Oh well)!
Me: Do you think you might need some help pulling your pants up?
Ava: Yeah

And there it is. A potty trained two year old! I thought it would be a pain, but let me tell you- I do NOT miss changing stinky diapers!!

Here she is sitting on her "little potty" that we don't really use too much anymore (note the Dora backpack she's wearing!)...but this must have been one of the times when she was waiting for it to come out....she doesn't even stop talking on the potty!!
Still talking.....
My child is type A, OCD. Surprise! Where did she get that from?? Anyway, I've mentioned before that everything has to be in a line. Well, she called me the other day to "come over here" and when I went over...this is what I saw. She laid all her dollhouse people in a row and she laid at the end of the row, too. Then she wanted me to count them....starting with her first. (She was very specific about this)! Maybe she's a little crazy, but isn't she cute!!?
She wanted to shave like Daddy the other day...so, this is what I walked into the bathroom to see!! It got a little messier than this, as you can imagine!
We had the last of the Georgia snow. (Thank GOODness)!! Ava loved it and always enjoyed playing in the flakes!
Patrick had a little break (the weekend) after the end of his second term, so we took a family trip to the GA Aquarium and had a blast. Here she is checking out that huge fish!
The weather finally warmed up and we've taken the boat out a few times. Now, she always asks to go out! I can only go out with her if there's someone else there too...can't man that boat and take care of a 2 year old! But, man! She really loves that boat!

So, I decided to take the little potty with us on the boat...just in case. It's still a little cold to jump in the lake- plus, I'm not sure Ava would be down with jumping in just to pee?? But, here, she announced, "I have to poop." So she got all situated, asked for a book, sat there for about 8 or 9 minutes with no luck. I guess it passed. :) Little summer babe. :)
These pictures were taken on Easter weekend. We had an Easter egg hunt with all the kids...not sure how I got all of them to look and smile at the same time, but what a cute picture!!
Let the hunting begin!
So much fun!!
Checking out her goodies after all the eggs were found!Pure, pouty sweetness. Love her!

To see more pictures from Easter weekend, click here!!

To see more pictures of all that other stuff, click here!!

Baby Belly Update!

So, tomorrow I'll be 17 weeks! Sounds like a respectable number, right?? Well, during my first trimester, I felt like I was pregnant FOREVER, but I would be at week 8 or 9. NOT very encouraging when all I wanted was to be in my second trimester so I could start to feel better. But things seem to be moving a bit faster now- not that I want it go so fast- this baby is due in September...which means the end of summer....and I can't even THINK about the start of cold weather right now!!

Well, here I am, finishing my 17th week, and I still feel about the same. I'm still pretty tired and I still have to take my magic pill (Zofran) everyday for nausea. Although it's annoying to have to take that stupid pill everyday, I feel lucky that I have true relief when I take it. I clearly remember the beginning of this pregnancy (feeling REALLY sick already at week 5- before the discovery of the magic pill), and I'm glad that I don't really ever feel like that anymore. I've had friends that weren't so lucky, and none of those magic pills ever worked for them. So, I'll take it!

My stuffy nose is out in full force- probably doesn't help that all the trees decided to drop their pollen all over my ...well...everything!! Benadryl helps a lot, and I've recelty had to resort to Breath Right Strips. This isn't a picture of me, but I just threw it in here so you can imagine how incredibly sexy these things are. Patrick is a lucky man! ;) All joking aside- I love them; they are amazing. And I will have a very close relationship with them until the end of this pregnancy, I'm sure!! So, I've been a bit of a slacker taking weekly pictures- I'll try to get better. But here are a few. This one is from week 12. Not much of a difference from week 10...maybe even a bit smaller? Explain that!
These pictures were taken at week 15.5. The bump is definitely getting higher. Although most of that is fat and intestines being pushed up, cause the actual baby is still really small and the top of my uterus (sorry if that grosses some of y'all out!) is still below my belly button! Who knows!

I had a doctor visit yesterday and things seem to be looking good. We listened to the baby's heart rate. I still haven't felt any movement, but my doc says I should be able to feel him/her any day now! Yay!

I'm scheduled for my 20-ish week ultrasound in 2 weeks!!! You know what that means!?!! Hopefully, we'll be able to determine the sex! I don't really have any hunches or a preference, although Ava won't even consider the fact that it might be a boy. She's dead set on a girl! I'm good with a healthy baby- I won't be too picky beyond that!

So, as soon as I find out, I'll post! Overall, I can't complain too much!! I hope everyone is doing well!!! I've got some cute pics from Easter weekend that I'll try to post soon, too!!

January, February, Moach....

Patrick had Ava in the car a few weeks ago, and out of the blue, she started saying the months of the year....he asked if I taught her those. I told him no, and that we'd been working on the days of the week...maybe Bobbi or Michee?? We asked them, and they both said no too...so, by the process of elimination, we assumed she learned this at school. We were pretty impressed! Enjoy!!





A belly/pregnancy update will be coming soon! Promise!

First Trip to the Dentist!

So, I took Ava in to my office for her first official trip to the dentist. I couldn't believe how cooperative she was! I thought for sure there would be NO WAY she'd lay in that chair and let me look at her teeth! But she did! And she was perfect!! These pictures were taken by Patrick's phone, so that's why they're not very big!



When we brush teeth at home, we talk about brushing the "sugar bugs" OFF and then brushing the sparkles ON! So, when we were at the office, I told her I just needed to count all those sparkles....and she just let me! I told her she had 20 sparkles (20 teeth!) and she was so excited!
Well, I also had to take an xray of her top front teeth. About a month ago, Ava had her worst fall yet (one of her 546 falls to date)! And a few weeks ago, Patrick asked me if I'd noticed her gray front tooth. WHAT?!?!? A GRAY TOOTH?!?!? And sure enough! I took a look, and there it was....her upper front left tooth was DARK!! Check it out in these pictures:

You can see it a little better here...so sad! :(
So far, the xray looks ok, but I'm not that hopeful that it will stay asymptomatic forever. But, we can hope!! Best case scenario- nothing ever happens and it comes out many years from now when it's supposed to. Worst case- it becomes infected, I try to save it, it's not savable and has to be extracted. :( Did you hear that?!?! Extracted!!! Oh no. :(

Keep your fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted.

More updates to come!!

Baby Layla Grace

Layla Grace was a 28 month old sweet, perfect, and very sick little baby. She was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma about a year ago. I just recently started following her story- and it was completely heart wrenching. For the past 2 1/2 weeks, I've been checking Twitter 10-15 times a day for updates. And, finally, after 2 weeks of hospice care and pain that could not be completely controlled (due to an allergy to Morpine and all its family members), Layla Grace is finally healed and pain free. She's in Heaven with God. I have been brought to tears countless times as I try to comprehend what Layla and her family have been going through...and I just don't know how you live through something like that. But her family has an incredible faith that has helped to guide them through the worst possible thing a mother and father could have to live through.

It has made me think a lot about how lucky I am to have Ava...and that she's healthy and happy and pain free! I want to hug her a little more, cuddle her a little longer, and try to enjoy every second I have with her.

About 2 weeks ago, I woke Ava up and had her on her changing table getting dressed. I looked at her, smiled, and said, "Ava, I love you so much. I'm so glad you're here with me."

And she looked back at me with a smile and a giggle as if to say "silly mommy!" and said.... "I'm not going anywhere!"

Dear God, if I am the luckiest mom alive, that will be true.

Layla- May you rest in peace, you sweet sweet baby.







You can follow the latest news via Twitter at: http://twitter.com/laylagrace

You can read her entire story at her blog (although, it's very busy right now): http://www.laylagrace.org/

Snow Day Fun!

Ava got to play with Aunt Sarah in the snow!! Don't eat the yellow snow!! :)

Fat Mama

Ava wanted to talk to me about something...here's a little video...it's super short!






Sooooo...yes, it's true!! :) I'm pregnant!! Although we're unsure of exactly how far along I am, I have a due date of September 22nd which makes me about 11 or 12 weeks along by now!!! This pregnancy hasn't been anything like Ava's. Everything is different...including my constant nausea morning, afternoon, and night. There's other stuff that isn't so fun either, but I'll spare you those details. ;) With Ava, I had relief from being sick as long as I ate breakfast before I got out of bed. And that only lasted a few weeks. This time around, it started from the very beginning...around week 5!! Which is very soon after I found out. Since then, my doctor has prescribed me some anti-nausea medicine which I call my "magic pill." It rocks. It gives me a chance to work and feel as close to normal as possible. I would NOT be doing good without my magic pill!!

Well...with Ava, I wasn't in maternity clothes until about 6 months along. And I didn't really show until about 5 1/2 months....so NOT the case with baby #2!! I'm already showing, already have a belly, already using the ole' rubber band trick so I can unbutton my pants. Had to get the maternity stuff out of storage. Of course, I don't have any maternity clothes that are winter...so, I'll have to improvise a bit until it gets a little (a LOT!) warmer! I looked back at the blog to see when I started with my weekly belly pics with Ava- and it wasn't until week 16! And I had NOTHING!!! Granted, I did gain a few pounds in the 2 or 3 months just prior to getting pregnant, but damn! I didn't think it would be this different!! So, I took one of me about 2 weeks ago to start the documentation of "the growth"...

So, here's me at about 10 weeks (2 1/2 months) now:

And this is me at 24 weeks (6 months) with Ava:
Dude. I'm gonna be HUGE!!! It's not lookin' good! ;)

So, that's the good news from the Kindregan clan. :) Please keep us in your prayers for a safe and uneventful pregnancy and a healthy baby! I'll try to update as much as I can! Hope everyone is having a great day!