29 Weeks

This week has been really rough. I visited the endocrinologist this week and it was a hard visit. She was not happy that it took this long to get me in to see her. She said I should have been in at the beginning because I have a history of high blood sugar (I am not diabetic, but I have elevated blood sugar). Basically she told me the only thing she can do at this point is keep MaKayla from getting too big, because it is too late to prevent anything else.

After looking over my blood sugar, she decided to put me on insulin shots. Currently I am taking two shots a day, one before breakfast and supper. I also have to take my blood sugar 4 times a day. My blood sugar is starting to come down, but not low enough. I am going to have to call to have my insulin adjusted. They said I will have to adjust my insulin several times during the rest of my pregnancy. They also want to see my back once a week, until I have MaKayla.

Besides all of this, everything else is going really good. MaKayla is very active and is moving a lot. I love to feel her move throughout the day. I cannot wait to meet our little girl and know that she is safe and healthy.

28 Weeks

I am actually behind one week in writing; however, I am caught up based on my doctor’s calculations. Dr. Rister pushed my weeks back by one, due to MaKayla measuring a week behind. This week we had our monthly doctor’s visit. So far I have only gained 6 pounds throughout my pregnancy. Dr. Rister is not too concern about my weight gain at this moment.

Dr. Rister is very concern about my gestational diabetes (GD) and the effects on MaKayla. He said that he will take her at least three weeks early because with GD is not good for the baby to stay in for a long time. Since she is measuring behind we are still looking at having her delivered the week of December 19^. He is also very concern about my blood pressure. So far it has been perfect; however, he said that GD can raise it. If my blood pressure goes up, then he will place me on bed rest. I asked him how do we know when she will be ready to be delivered? He said that it will be a number of factors that will all happen at once and we will know it is time. He told me it will be a joint decision between all of us, which makes me feel a little better. I also asked about her lung development and the possibility of her ending up in NICU. He told me he could always give me a steroid shot to help her lungs develop and he is going to try his best to keep her out of NICU. We all are praying that she will be okay. We all keep praying she will be okay.

Next month we are going for our 4D ultrasound and the next day our doctor is going to do a measurement ultrasound. I get to see Miss MaKayla two days in a row, which I think will make me feel better. I am excited about seeing her again. My next doctor’s appointment is the last of my four week appointments. After this appointment I am moving to two week appointments. I cannot believe she is almost here. So far I have to say I have enjoyed my pregnancy and it has not been too bad. Next month might be a different story, but for now it has really gone well.

27 weeks

This week had its ups and downs. First the down part of the week, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and we have been working on how to manage this right now. I am still waiting on a referral to an endocrinologist so I can get started. Luckily, I know how to manage my blood sugar and I already started eating better. Also, I notice my feet, ankles and legs are starting to swell. I cannot stand on my feet an hour or longer without them swelling.  

The ups this week are we received 4 inches of rain and took family pictures. We were so excited to see rain, it has been too long. During our family pictures we also took some maternity pictures. I cannot wait to see all our pictures. A girl I use to work with took our pictures and she does a wonderful job. She owns Soulful Snapshots in Waco.

Overall baby girl is still doing really well. She is moving around like a wiggle worm. Mark still has trouble trying to feel her move. MaKayla’s kicks are getting stronger, so it will not be too much longer before Mark and the girls can feel her. So far I have not had too much trouble sleeping at night. The most problems I am having are with my hips. I will lie on one side for too long and then they start to hurt. I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by, and I cannot believe I am about to be in my third trimester.

26 weeks

This week has been an exciting week. We finally announced baby girl’s name, MaKayla Grace. Miss MaKayla has been moving around a lot this week, and she is starting to respond to me. We also had our shower this weekend, which was wonderful.

Earlier in the week I started patting my tummy and then would stop to see what MaKayla would do. When I would stop she would start kicking her feet about the same length of time I patted my belly. I did this about three times and she kicked her feet every time. Then I started talking to her and telling her how funny she is and rubbing my belly. At this point she really went crazy and then settled back down. She is not even here yet and she is making me laugh.

This weekend was our shower and I do not know where to start. Our friends and family are so wonderful and generous to us. We did have a good time visiting with all our friends and family. We had about 50+ people show up for the shower, and we received more gives than we could ever imagine. We are truly blessed to have so many people who love and care about us. We did receive three of our big gifts this weekend, our pack and play, car seat, and bed room decorations, including her bedding.

This next week I will be moving into my third trimester. I cannot believe I am almost 7 months already. One thing that did not go well this week was my glucose test. I was about 100 points over what the doctor already considers high for blood sugar. Today I had to go back for a 3 hour glucose test, where they stuck me four different times. Hopefully my blood sugar will go down this time around. If it does not go down, then it means I will be diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

25 weeks

This week was actually pretty calm. Baby girl is starting to move around a lot more. Once thing we did accomplish this week was exchanging the pieces of her dresser at Ikea. I highly recommend not exchanging or returning anything at Ikea, ever.

A few weeks ago, Mom and I were in Dallas and we bought baby girl’s dressers. We asked the sales person to load our cart up since I am pregnant and mom is not allowed to lift anything. I told the sales person to make sure he tripled checked everything because we live far off and I did not want to come back. I tried to double check his work but he was moving pretty fast. When we got home, we realized that the big dresser should have two pieces (a 1 and a 2). When looking over the box, we discovered two number ones. I was so upset with no only the sales person, but myself for not checking those numbers. I thought I saw him grab the two box. I checked the dresser pictures and the colors, but not the piece numbers.

Well the next week was Labor Day weekend and we decided to go to Austin. I told Mark we could stop at the Ikea in Round Rock and try to exchange the dresser there. No such luck, one thing we actually forgot the receipt (mom bought the dressers and she forgot to give it to us) and second, they told us we need to go to Dallas. Why do we need to go back to Dallas, I have no idea. Anyways, we finally went to Dallas Ikea to exchange the dresser and this time we had to receipt. When to sales person was looking over the receipt they realized the cashier rang up the wrong dresser. The cashier charged us for three small dressers instead of a big dress and small dresser. The sales person had to call security to have them pull the camera to see what happened. Meanwhile, the sales person told us we could not receive a refund without my mom’s credit card. At this point I was hot and I explained to full situation to him. I told him all I want is my number two box; he could see we had two number ones. Finally he was to pull the number two box for us and calculated up the cost differences. It basically came down to them owing us 98 cents. I told them to keep the 98 cents, we just want to box. Thankfully we did not have to wait on security, he just let us have the box. In summary, we finally have baby girl’s dresser put together and ready to go.

Since the dresser was put together, I was finally able to start organizing her stuff. Baby girl already has lot of clothes, and she will probably receive more at the shower. I just hope we have room for all her clothes.

24 Weeks

We finally made it to 6 months, I can hardly believe it. As of right now if I went into labor Baby Girl has a good chance of surviving. I feel like I can take a deep breath now. We find it so interesting that Baby Girl already reacts to things on the outside. This week we were watching Joyce Meyer and she got really excited and active, then after it is over she settled down. Every time we pray over her or read the bible to her she starts to move. I think it is neat that she recognizes God’s word. She also reacts to other things, such as Polka music and Czech food. I keep telling Mark she is definitely Czech.

This week has been really rough. Friday was one of the worse days I have had in a long time. My allergies are really bothering me and I do not think Clairton is working very well. I could not get up without getting dizzy or sick at my stomach. I also had a headache too and my sinuses were all blocked up. I think part of it is because I had a massage Thursday night, which was wonderful. My doctor had told me I had a lot of blockage below my ear and down my neck. I have had ear aches and my jaw has been hurting. I think during the massage it loosen up all of that blockage. Saturday through Monday has felt like a daze to me and I still do not feel 100%. We go see Dr. Rister tomorrow, so we will be able to find out if I can do anything else for my allergies.

This weekend was crazy busy. We had a wedding on Saturday, which was a lot of fun. Then we had our family reunion and a baby shower on Sunday. Everyone at the family reunion kept asking what baby girl’s name is and I told them they will have to wait for two more weeks. They were trying to trick me into telling her name by catching me off guard, but it did not work. We finally told the girls this week; however, it was not planned. It accidently split out, but we have wanted to tell them anyways. We told them they could not tell anyone until after the shower.

Other Updates: It finally rained yesterday!!! We received 2 inches of rain. On a side note, Mark hurt his hand yesterday. One of our cows is sick and we have her pinned up. She was trying to get her into the shoot to give her a shot and she decided not to go in. When she backed up she smashed Mark’s finger between a metal pipe and a post. One of our really good friends, who is a nurse, looked at it last night and did not think it was broke. She doctored him up and he has an appointment with the doctor today. Keep our fingers cross that it is not too bad.

23 weeks

We did not have too many exciting things going on this week. Over the weekend my big sister (from my sorority) and her family came to stay with us. We had a great time with them and their daughter. She has a 1 year old little girls and it gave us a chance to get us to having a baby in the house. We also were able to see how GiGi, our boxer dog, was going to react. GiGi did very well with Anne Marie. By the end of the weekend GiGi started to lay down on her own when Anne Marie was in the room. Annie Marie did get scared when GiGi would yawn or shake, but overall they got along very well.

Baby girl has been very active this week. I really enjoy learning her patterns. I laugh at her because if I am lying down and lean too much on my stomach, she will kick me until I move. I can tell she is already going to have a strong personality. She also did this the other day when our cat Belle laid on my stomach. She kept kicking at Belle, until I made Belle move off my stomach. She seems to like her space.

Other Updates: We did have some relief from the heat this week; however, we still had a few days over 100.

Not Pregnancy Related - Texas sets a new record

I know this is not pregnancy related, but I want to document a record breaking summer for my pregnancy journal.

http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-texas-hottest-june-august-163258438.html

Texas has hottest June-August on record in the U.S.

Texas just finished the hottest June through August on record in the U.S., the National Weather Service said Thursday.

Weather service meteorologist Victor Murphy told The Associated Press that Texas' 86.8 average beat out Oklahoma's 85.2 degrees in 1934.

That Dust Bowl year is now third on the list for the three-month span, behind No. 2 Oklahoma's heat wave this June through August (86.5 degrees).

Both states and others in the nation's southern tier have baked in triple-digit heat this summer. Texas had its hottest June on record, the fifth warmest month overall, and July was the warmest month ever.

Oklahoma's July was the country's highest monthly average temperature ever, at 89.1 degrees.

Louisiana's heat this June through August puts it in the fourth spot all-time — 84.5 degrees.

The average figures are taken from the entire 24-hour cycle of the day, not just from daily highs.

The reason for all the hot, dry weather lies thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean. The La Nina phenomenon is associated with cooler sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. It brings dry conditions to the southern U.S. states.

Unfortunately, the forecast shows the likelihood of La Nina re-emerging.

Texas hasn't just been hot this summer. It's in the midst of its worst drought since the 1950s and enduring its driest single year going back to 1895.

The heat and lack of rainfall have clobbered agriculture. An early estimate shows crop and livestock losses at $5.2 billion. That figure was expected to rise. The drought and scorching temperatures have burned grazing pasture and rangeland, forcing ranchers to severely cull herds. Ranchers keeping animals are paying high prices for supplemental feed or the cost of transporting their animals to states with grazing land.

Producers who planted more than 2 million acres of cotton that rely on only rainfall to grow in the world's largest contiguous growing patch around Lubbock abandoned their fields.

Texas' economy will take a more direct hit. Agriculture accounted for $99.1 billion of Texas' $1.1 trillion economy, or 8.6 percent, in 2007, the most recent year data on food and fiber was available from the extension service. Losses in that sector have a ripple effect that's about twice the amount of the actual agricultural loss.

Grasses, vegetation and trees around the state remain tinderbox dry and wildfires have destroyed more than 3.5 million acres since last November, about when the drought started. Just this week, hundreds of homes were destroyed when wildfires raged southeast of Austin.

Fish and other wildlife are struggling as lakes and rivers are drying up across the state and more than 850 water suppliers have implemented mandatory and voluntary restrictions on usage. Two Central Texas springs relied upon for life by eight endangered and threatened species are perilously close to levels that will require an evacuation by federal wildlife officials.

The U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday shows that not a speck of Texas is out of drought, and more than 81 percent is in the worst category. A year ago just 15 percent of Texas was abnormally dry, the least dry status on the map.

Other states in the southern U.S. also are in drought. Almost all of Arizona and Oklahoma are in some drought stage. All of New Mexico is mired in drought, with about 38 percent of it in the worst stage — exceptional. About 70 percent of Oklahoma is in exceptional drought.

22 Weeks

This week was a very eventful week. We finally confirmed baby girl’s Godparents. I could not think of anyone more fitting to be Godparents, than my best friends Lori and Father Will. We all have been through so much together and they have been there for me more than anyone.  We actually talked to them about being Godparents about three years ago when we first start trying for a baby. Part of the reason we talked to them is because we wanted to make sure that once Father Will became a priest, that he could still be the Godfather. Not only are we very excited about our choice, so are the new Godparents. The great thing is that Lori, Father Will, and Mark have become just as good of friends. I cannot wait for baby girl to meet her Godparents.

This is a picture of all of us at Will orientation ceremony when he became a priest

This is a picture at the rehearsal dinner for Mark and I’s wedding. We laugh at this picture and say we are three peas in a pod because we are dressed alike. No, we did not plan dressing alike either. :)

Also this weekend we went to Austin to stay with Lori. We went downtown Austin to see the bats fly out. The girls loved watching the bats fly out from the bridge, it was pretty neat sight. Then the next day we drove back into West and rested for the afternoon. Then about 6:30 pm, baby girl experienced her first Westfest. We had such a good time out there. Baby girl enjoyed a beer bread sandwich and some kolaches. We also listened to some polka music and Gary P. Nunn, which she seemed to enjoy. Mark and I also had a chance to dance a few times, which she seems to also like. I can tell you that all this moving about took its toll on my ankles. When we arrived home that evening, I had indentions around my ankles from my socks. Then Monday my ankles were sore most of the day. I just tried to stay off of them as much as possible. My ankles are a lot better now and I feel pretty good.

Other Updates: We had a record breaking summer. I want to Thank God for the relief we had this weekend from the heat. This summer we had 83 days over 100 degrees and 44 of those days were consecutively over 100 degrees.

The Pregnant Working Girls

Within my office at work, we have four pregnant women. Yesterday we decided to take a picture before one us ends up on leave. We were all matching because we had open house yesterday.