Bumpdate: Weeks 37-38

If you missed my previous bumpdates, you can check out weeks 5-12 here, weeks 13-14 here, weeks 15-16 here, weeks 17-18 here, weeks 19-20 here, weeks 21-22 here, weeks 23-24 here, weeks 25-26 here, weeks 27-28 here, weeks 29-30 here, weeks 31-32 here, and weeks 33-34 here, and weeks 35-36 here! I've decided that at the very end of this, I'm going to make a book out of all of my weeks so Baby Cookie can look back and read through them someday. I also hope to make one giant blog post compiling all of my weeks together to see the progress.

How far along? 38 weeks (almost 39!)

Size of baby?

37 weeks: swiss chard

38 weeks: leek

Total weight gain? I'm finally gaining... and I hope it's all baby! I'm up 10 pounds now! 

Gender? GIRL! You can read about it here! 

Maternity clothes? Yep - all the time still except for some huge t-shirts!

Sleep? I'm now waking up at least once and hour - sometimes twice... I always have to go to the bathroom, but I think I'm waking from hip pain (despite the giant maternity pillow between my legs)... so I have to pee AND switch sides after I hobble back to bed...

Work outs? I'm trying to go on more walks... sometimes alone, sometimes with Dan and Smudge. I usually go 1.1 miles because there's a nice loop around our neighborhood that I like. 

Cravings? Pumpkin everything! But I totally blame that on social media and not on being pregnant... though I did make some delicious pumpkin muffins this week that I'll be sharing the super simple recipe for soon.

Aversions? Anything spicy in the evening. I can handle the heartburn during the day, but being awoken by acid in my throat is not exactly fun...

Best moment of this week? We saw the Royals play in Cincinnati, and it was a blast! Dan got me tickets for my birthday a month earlier, and we sat right behind the Royals dugout... we made a couple fun signs (about Baby Cookie, of course), and it was so much fun! There were (by FAR) more Royals fans than Reds fans at the game... and we won! 

Worst moment of this week? I've still been cramping a ton and having contractions... though my twice weekly NSTs are NOT showing anything. Boo. 

Looking forward to? Meeting Little Miss Baby Cookie... soon!!! 

    

Bumpdate: Weeks 35-36

If you missed my previous bumpdates, you can check out weeks 5-12 here, weeks 13-14 here, weeks 15-16 here, weeks 17-18 here, weeks 19-20 here, weeks 21-22 here, weeks 23-24 here, weeks 25-26 here, weeks 27-28 here, weeks 29-30 here, weeks 31-32 here, and weeks 33-34 here! I've decided that at the very end of this, I'm going to make a book out of all of my weeks so Baby Cookie can look back and read through them someday. I also hope to make one giant blog post compiling all of my weeks together to see the progress.

How far along? 36 weeks

Size of baby?

35 weeks: honeydew melon

36 weeks: head of romaine lettuce

Total weight gain? I'm finally gaining... and I hope it's all baby! I'm up 7 pounds now! 

Gender? GIRL! You can read about it here! 

Maternity clothes? Yep - all the time still except for some huge t-shirts!

Sleep? I'm getting maybe three hours a night altogether... but I am in bed for eight hours or so. Heartburn, aching hips, cramping/contractions, and needing to pee are all keeping me awake at night!

Work outs? Walking through the grocery store leaves me huffing and puffing. It'll be fun to see how I do at the baseball stadium later this week! 

Cravings? What I'm craving now is basically not cooking... which is funny, since Dan and I prepared 32 freezer meals over the weekend! So over cooking. 

Aversions? Still tomatoes and peppers because they are causing heartburn at night.

Best moment of this week? We took one last road trip to see some wonderful friends get married in KC! 

Worst moment of this week? On our road trip back to Dayton, I started cramping and having some small contractions... got checked out, though, and all is good. The midwife said she does not see the baby coming "this week" - so we'll see! Could this be my last bumpdate? I'm thinking not... but she may surprise us!

Looking forward to? Having this baby out of my body and in my arms!!! Baby Cookie, I know your timing is your timing, but we are so anxious over here!

    

Glucose Tolerance Test

Where do I even begin with this post? I guess I'll start by sharing that I officially hate my hospital and that I do NOT have gestational diabetes, thank goodness.

My experiences with these tests (yes, multiple tests) were miserable.

{image via}

At 28 weeks pregnant, my doctors sent me to the lab in the base hospital to do the one hour glucose test. No biggie, right? Wrong. I called to get my results that afternoon, and I FAILED. By a lot. Like a lot a lot. Almost enough for them to diagnose me with gestational diabetes.

I knew something wasn't right, though. I made sure to eat only protein before going in. My blood draw was in the morning, so I actually just didn't eat breakfast. There was NO WAY my blood glucose was as high as they said it was.

Get this: not only did my asthma medication (albuterol - so I can breathe and so Baby Cookie can get her oxygen too!) made it high... and no one warned me about that... but ALSO, they gave me double the grams of the liquid for the one hour test. That'll do it.

The doctors made sure I scheduled a three hour glucose tolerance test as soon as I got back in town from Kansas City for our baby shower. I scheduled it, I fasted, and I did NOT take my asthma medication (which, by the way, then screwed my breathing up for THREE WEEKS, no joke - from not taking it twice - the night before and the morning of. Ugh. Bad decision.)

After fasting and then drinking this horrible liquid, I was fine for about an hour. I sat in the main waiting area, and I went back to have my blood drawn at the one hour mark. Did I mention it was the new workers' first day on the job? No? Well, it was. And they were so nervous. The lady who was drawing my blood was SHAKING as she moved the needle toward my vein. I have NOT had the best experiences with this hospital to begin with (like that time I was admitted for kidney stones, and it took them SEVEN times to get my vein for an IV - 90 whole minutes and two VERY bruised arms). I started feeling woozy just thinking about that, and she dug that needle into my arm and STARTED MOVING IT AROUND. What?! NO! I felt myself getting flushed, and I announced that I was dizzy and hot and was going to pass out.

Luckily, I didn't pass out. But I almost did. Everyone in the room rushed over to me with water, and then they let me lay down in a bed for the other two hours I had left... and I got an experienced phlebotomist to do the remaining blood draws... thank goodness.

After leaving, I had the best meal of my life. I couldn't even wait until I got home. I went through a fast food drive-thru and ate in my car. And when I say ate, I actually mean scarfed the food down as quickly as I could. And it was glorious.

The best news? I passed the fasting blood draw and every single hour - including the first hour that I failed the first time around - with flying colors! In fact, my third hour blood draw was LOWER than it should have been... confirming my hangriness. I need food, people.

I'm SO glad that part of pregnancy is over. Here's to four-ish more weeks!


    

Bumpdate: Weeks 33-34

If you missed my previous bumpdates, you can check out weeks 5-12 here, weeks 13-14 here, weeks 15-16 here, weeks 17-18 here, weeks 19-20 here, weeks 21-22 here, weeks 23-24 here, weeks 25-26 here, weeks 27-28 here, weeks 29-30 here, and weeks 31-32 here! I've decided that at the very end of this, I'm going to make a book out of all of my weeks so Baby Cookie can look back and read through them someday. I also hope to make one giant blog post compiling all of my weeks together to see the progress.

How far along? 34 weeks

Size of baby?

33 weeks: pineapple

34 weeks: cantaloupe

Total weight gain? Between 3-5 pounds, depending on the day... I'm curious if I'll pack on more rigt before delivery, or if I'm just not meant to gain much. We'll see!

Gender? GIRL! You can read about it here! 

Maternity clothes? Always except bed - still fitting into those giant Royals shirts from T-shirt Tuesday... you know the ones... they always give XXL because it's what they have. Yep, those.

Sleep? Sleep. Ha. I'm waking nearly every hour to pee or reposition myself. My hips hurt so much that I constantly have to switch sides.

Work outs? Walking occasionally but mostly not working out at all at this point. I know I'm going to regret this afterward when it's that much harder to get back in shape, but the moment I try, my entire body feels like it's shutting down.

Cravings? It's something different every meal at this point. I don't want much... hardly anything ever sounds good... and the only thing I can stomach is what I'm craving at that instant. Talk about annoying...

Aversions? Most hot foods right now. It's so hot outside that I can't even think about it. Also, still tomatoes and now peppers too. Reflux. Ugh.

Best moment of this week? Ellie and Megan hosted a wonderful baby shower for us here in Ohio. It was small but special and fun! 

Worst moment of this week? Another couple of hospital visits... one for my breathing, in which they had to give me an IV of magnesium sulfate to relax my lungs (from my sinus infection)... and another time for rapid heartbeat. I could hear and feel my heart pounding, so I laid down for a while... 90 minutes later, Dan checked my pulse, and it was still over 100 beats per minute RESTING... so he freaked out and called L&D. They had me come in, but they didn't really do anything... they just monitored Baby Cookie and waited for my heart rate to go down before sending me home.

Looking forward to? We're heading BACK to Kansas City to see a couple good friends marry each other! PLEASE pray that the drive goes smoothly. Dan took extra leave so that we can break the drive up more.

    

Bumpdate: Weeks 31-32

If you missed my previous bumpdates, you can check out weeks 5-12 here, weeks 13-14 here, weeks 15-16 here, weeks 17-18 here, weeks 19-20 here, weeks 21-22 here, weeks 23-24 here, weeks 25-26 here, weeks 27-28 here, and weeks 29-30 here! I've decided that at the very end of this, I'm going to make a book out of all of my weeks so Baby Cookie can look back and read through them someday. I also hope to make one giant blog post compiling all of my weeks together to see the progress.

How far along? 32 weeks

Size of baby?

31 weeks: coconut

32 weeks: jicama

Total weight gain? I'm still at a total of three pounds, but Baby Cookie more than likely weighs more than that now. I'm actually finding out this morning at my ultrasound! 

Gender? GIRL! You can read about it here! 

Maternity clothes? Full time. I do still have baggy t-shirts and a huge pair of gym shorts that I wear, but otherwise, it's all maternity clothes.

Sleep? I slept pretty well while Dan was out of town because I was able to sprawl out over the whole king size bed! Woo! I actually slept through the night for the first time in MONTHS... and when I say through the night, I mean five hours without waking... because let's face it - that's a LONG time these days.

Work outs? I try to walk, but it's pretty tough to go for very long... or very fast. I'm constantly telling Dan to slow down. I have always been a faster walker than him, so this is completely new. And you should have seen me on our trip to Colorado... that altitude KILLED me. It's crazy to think I lived there for four years just fine...

Cravings? Mexican / spicy foods! I have had my fair share of burritos lately, and I found an actual authentic hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint about 15 minutes from my house... and it's far better than Chipotle, Qdoba, Hot Head, etc. I'll be visiting them frequently, I'm sure. 

Aversions? Still tomatoes... except I'm eating more salsa than I'd like (see above...), which causes heartburn. But I want that spicy food so bad that I just kind of suck it up. I refuse to take any meds for heartburn because I am already on so many for allergies and asthma... I just can't bear to take any more.

Best moment of this week? We went to Colorado Springs to watch a couple friends get married at the USAFA chapel, and that was a blast! I loved eating at all of my old favorite restaurants and strolling through Garden of the Gods - and we even bought Baby Cookie her very first flight suit and took a picture in front of her future school! ;-) 

Worst moment of this week? I had some mystery pains last week right before Dan was set to leave town... we thought I could have been going into premature labor, so we went in to get me checked out. That was no fun, but at least we now know that Baby Cookie is safe and sound for a while longer in there!

Looking forward to? Some Ohio friends are having a small baby shower / get together for us this weekend. It'll be fun to see all of our friends at the same time! 

    

Bumpdate: Weeks 23-24

If you missed my previous bumpdates, you can check out weeks 5-12 here, weeks 13-14 here, weeks 15-16 here, weeks 17-18 here, weeks 19-20 here, and weeks 21-22 here! I've decided that at the very end of this, I'm going to make a book out of all of my weeks so Baby Cookie can look back and read through them someday. I also hope to make one giant blog post compiling all of my weeks together to see the progress.

How far along? 24 weeks

Size of baby?

23 weeks: papaya

24 weeks: ear of corn

Total weight gain? I weigh exactly what I did when I found out I was pregnant. I'm not sure how... but since the doctors aren't worried, neither am I. 

Gender? GIRL! You can read about it here! 

Maternity clothes? I'm still wearing maternity clothes pretty much full time except for my pajama shorts and baggy t-shirts that I sleep in. I did buy a couple maxi dresses for "normal" people two sizes too big, and I hope they'll stretch out with my belly this summer. I found them at Walmart for $15 each (compared to $45+ for maternity dresses I've seen, ugh), so I bought two different colors/patterns. I wish I would have bought more now because they don't have anymore in stores or online. 

Sleep? I've been sleeping a little better since the last update, but now I'm waking up four times a night to go to the bathroom... oh well. At least I'm falling asleep quicker! 

Work outs? Walking on the treadmill feels so hard these days. It's like running used to be, which is crazy. Also, I keep randomly being out of breath after doing not much activity - like painting my toenails or trying to move positions on the couch. And it's only going to get worse... 

Cravings? No real cravings to report... still want a lot of fruit, I guess, but I always like fruit, so I'm not sure if that counts as a craving anymore.

Aversions? Chicken of all kinds... keep it away from me. 

Best moment of this week? I am finally feeling Baby Cookie move around a lot (and not just one flutter every few days), so that has been exciting! Now, I just can't wait until Dan can feel her too!

Worst moment of this week? Our AC has been out, and it was 85 here over the weekend. The company who has to fix it (since we're renting our house, we have to go with the one the owner wants) is the most unprofessional, awful company we have EVER worked with for anything, so it's been quite the hassle. Let's just say that it hasn't been working properly for over two weeks, and they're finally going to fix it tomorrow. What!? (They did come to fix it once, but they left it more broken than before...)

Looking forward to? I can't wait to meet our little girl! I know we still have a way to go, but it's so nice knowing that she would have a fighting chance if she were born now. Not that we want that to happen by any means... but we are so thankful that doctors would do their best to treat her now!

Was it difficult for you to move around this early?

When do you think Dan will be able to feel Baby Cookie moving from the outside?

    

Bumpdate: Weeks 21-22

If you missed my previous bumpdates, you can check out weeks 5-12 here, weeks 13-14 here, weeks 15-16 here, weeks 17-18 here, and weeks 19-20 here! I've decided that at the very end of this, I'm going to make a book out of all of my weeks so Baby Cookie can look back and read through them someday. I also hope to make one giant blog post compiling all of my weeks together to see the progress.

How far along? 22 weeks

Size of baby?

21 weeks: banana / carrot

22 weeks: papaya

Total weight gain? I am at my starting weight now! I've finally gained those few pounds back, so that's some progress. 

Gender? GIRL! And it was confirmed at my anatomy scan and when I was hospitalized again due to yet another kidney stone with a, "oh, that's DEFINITELY a girl!" - You can read about it here! 

Maternity clothes? I'm wearing exclusively maternity clothes now aside from gym shorts. This morning, Dan asked if I was wearing a regular or maternity shirt because it looked so tight on me. Yep, it was a maternity shirt. The ones I bought from Old Navy are not going to last much longer, which is sad because I'm only barely over half way there... boo. 

Sleep? I am not sleeping well at all. The Snoogle pillow is not helping much at all.

Work outs? Nothing other than walking.

Cravings? I really want a Lunchable. Gross, I know. But I do. It must be the whole "you want what you can't have" kind of thing. 

Aversions? No REAL aversions, but I'm still avoiding tomato based foods for fear of reflux.

Best moment of this week? The anatomy scan for sure! It was so fun seeing our baby girl for so long. It was neat seeing all of her body parts and hearing measurements and stuff. We really enjoyed it! 

Worst moment of this week? ANOTHER ER visit with another kidney stone. They admitted me to the OB unit for monitoring and some checks... but I only had to stay for five hours this time. I am so over that hospital. 

Looking forward to? I honestly can't wait to hit 24 weeks... because it marks viability! I know there are some rare cases of babies living before that, but 24 weeks is when hospitals have to use interventions to help babies if they're born early, so it'll be nice knowing that! 

How did you get comfortable enough to sleep well when you were pregnant? I will take any and all advice!