29 weeks

when: Christmas 2011

what i wore:

dress: soon maternity*

cardigan: madewell

scarf: mimibird

leggings: be maternity via target

boots: steve madden

where: traveling, hanging out with family

• we made it to 29 weeks! we just feel so blessed. hearing about the loss of a baby is never easy, but it’s especially hard now that we know what it’s like to be pregnant. praying for multiple friends/family of ours who are dealing with tough news.

• whoa, hunger. i’ve been eating so much lately! i can tell my appetite has increased because i am eating more with each meal and also snacking multiple times a day. it is so crazy. some days i barely get full and then an hour later i am ravenous again. i am also a lot thirstier and have been filling up my water cup twice as much as i was a few weeks ago.

• total weight gain = 10 pounds (still just a couple pounds on the low side, but i’m really happy with it)

• her heartbeat at the last appointment was 146 bpm.

• it warms my heart when i hear eric pray for our little girl by her name.

• i really love our midwife group and that we have the chance to meet with five different midwives throughout our prenatal care. each one has a different perspective on pregnancy, labor and delivery, and i find it fascinating and helpful to get multiple points of view.

• i also love the birth class we chose. we bought a DVD study called the best birth and are doing it at home on thursday nights. eric is really good about making me try out all the things they demonstrate, even going as far as me holding a handful of ice and him helping me cope with the “contraction”/pain for 90 seconds by breathing and focusing on him.

• we are considering having a doula at the birth…has anyone had experience with one? i would also like a photographer there!

• we toured our first day care/preschool today. it’s near our house and we really liked it. we will probably have her start there in june. however, i am not sure how people can afford to send multiple kids to day care! wow.

• more and more i am feeling ready for her to be here. i think that God is smart because 9 months seems to be the perfect length of time to prepare :) i’m so excited to meet her! and see her face and share her (and her name!) with the world.

*purchased with gift card won from soon maternity

THE DREADED GLUCOSE TEST

i know a number of my readers are currently pregnant, so i wanted to share about my experience with the glucose test last week. i had the one-hour test, and it was not nearly as bad as some reports i’ve read.

there are two things that freak people out: the drink and the blood draw.

THE DRINK

• my clinic gave me the glucola ahead of time. (if your clinic does this, too, keep the drink chilled for a better taste.) i totally appreciated this because it meant i could drink it by myself 30 minutes before my appointment (i am better if no one is watching :) ). i thought i’d be able to drink it at home, but because of traffic we left our house early and i drank it in the car on the way.
• i was also able to choose between lemon-lime and orange flavor. i chose the former.
• my clinic also did not make me fast for the test. i was happy about this so that i could have my blood drawn on a full stomach. i was allowed to eat normally until i took the glucola (30 minutes before my appointment). then, i had to wait until after the blood draw (an hour later) to eat or drink anything (you also can’t have mints or gum during this time).
• you only have to drink 5 oz! (the bottle i am holding in the photo above is about half full.) it would be harder if you had to drink more, but seriously, it is not that much. it probably took me five drinks and less than three minutes (you have to drink it all within three minutes).
• i suggest taking as big of a drink as you can the first time. i took a big swig and got a lot of it down. i think after the first one i looked at eric and said, “this is a joke.” i was surprised that it didn’t taste terrible. i’d describe it as thick 7up that wasn’t carbonated. i don’t love 7up but i can choke down 5 oz.
• then i took another big drink. it was with this drink that i realized how heavy the drink is. there is a lot of sugar (obviously). so i took it a bit slower from there, but still took big drinks every 15 seconds or so. i wanted to get it down fast, but i didn’t want to gag on it.
• i think my stomach was wondering what the heck was going on…taking in all that sugar so fast!

THE BLOOD DRAW

• remember how i passed out during my blood draw at my 10-week appointment? ok, so i wasn’t looking forward to this part either. it was really super easy and fast. they take two viles of blood (as opposed to three at the first visit). i laid down for it and just took deep breaths and looked away…and it was completely fine. however, it did leave me this nice bruise.

THE RESULTS

i passed! my midwife called me the next morning to let me know that my hemoglobin was 117 (they want it to be under 140 after an hour). my iron looks good, too, so i’m not anemic, and i don’t have gestational diabetes! woo!

i should note: each clinic does it differently so maybe all the factors just worked in my favor. and i’m sure the three-hour test is different…you have to drink more and have more draws. i should also mention that i am a picky eater (i don’t make myself eat/drink things that don’t taste good to me), and i eat a lot of sugar in my diet normally.