I took my 28-week blood test this morning. They give you tasty orange stuff to drink (like orange soda) that is basically orange sugar water. Its the equivalent of 13 jelly beans, said the midwife. Then an hour later they draw blood. The purpose is to test how your body is handling sugars, to determine if you (well, me) have gestational diabetes (GD). I’m not too concerned. I had to eat a healthy, low-carb breakfast before the test so Alan made me an omlete. He’s so good to me. Then we got bagels after the test :) What can I say, I’m a carb addict!

This evening he was craving donuts, so we bought some and brought them home. He grabs a donut and a piece of cheese. I said “You want donuts and cheese together?” and he says “What can I say, you’re pregnant!” :) Cracked me up!

They told me to call the hospital tomorrow to get the results of the blood test. Oh, they are also testing for adequate iron levels, and maybe something else. I can’t remember :/ The GD and iron levels are the main concerns. I’ll try to post the results soon. I’m sure they will be fine though. As long as they’re not testing for carb addictions ;)

On another note, our friends Jim & Julie bought a house! They survived the Boston real estate market. I’m so happy for them (and a bit jealous). I can’t wait to see the new place. Congrats guys!

Today I felt like a truly pregnant woman! I’m wearing maternity jeans (been wearing them for awhile) and a new maternity shirt that shows off the belly nicely. Instead of a pudgy person in a baggy sweater, I truly felt pregnant :) Then we ended the evening with session 1 (of 2) of “Taking Care of Baby”, a course offered by the Women’s Health Resource Center here. It was interesting. Session 2 is next week.

We also signed up for a breastfeeding class and a child birth class called “Exploring Childbirth”. The midwife pulled Alan and I aside after our last shared medical appointment (last Monday) and said we might be interested in the Exploring Childbirth class instead of the traditional lamaze class. I guess this one (series of 6 really) is designed for people who want to do things more naturally and it explores different ways to deal with pain. I’m trying hard not to think about the labor part of this whole experience.

All things are going well on the health front. I feel great, baby is kicking a lot, heart rate is good (don’t know the exact number), and the belly measurement (fundal height) was right on. All systems go. At the SMA we discussed healthy eating (funny, the Soft Batch cookies I’m eating now weren’t on the list…), braxton hicks contractions (“your uterus pumping iron”), and birthing plans. It’s beginning to feel more real. And we still don’t even know where we’re going to put this kid!! Maybe after the baby shower, once we have furniture and baby stuff, we’ll be more motivated to find a place to put it all. Someday we might actually have a nursery or something, but not for this little baby.

Figured I’d take more belly pics. I don’t think I look much different than I did at 21 weeks though :/ We also took a bit of an unusual “us” picture. That’s it for this lovely Sunday. Go Eagles!

I’ve discovered that my belly makes for a good bongo. Not sure little zig likes it much though as the kicking begins shortly after the bongo-ing :) Or maybe baby is bongo-ing back… hmm…. fun with baby J! :)

Time sure does fly. Last weekend we went down to Nashua (various reasons) and I took the opportunity to go shopping at Old Navy. They actually have a decent maternity section. I bought 2 pair of pants. One more underbelly (now I have 2 of them) and a pair of big belly pants! I couldn’t even try them on without laughing :) But I figured I’ll need them at some point so I’d better buy them. I still haven’t worn them yet though. I like the 2 underbelly pairs I have. They are very comfy :)

I’m gonna try to take (and maybe even post!) another belly pic this weekend. We’re at 25 weeks now and making good progress.

Happy Super Bowl weekend to all!

So I got my first “are you pregnant?” question today :) It was from a business acquaintence, not a complete stranger, but still noteworthy. As soon as she started saying “I don’t want to seem rude or out of place, but…” I knew where it was going. Then she followed it with, “are you having twins?”!! ;) She has twins though, so I’m sure that’s where the question was coming from, not a diss on my big ol’ belly. I think its time for another belly pic soon…

Today is Alan’s birthday and we have been so busy I didn’t even have time to get him a present! Our goal was to leave the office at 5pm, but alas, its 7pm and we’re still here. We hired a Network Manager today though, so Alan is very happy to get him on board. Maybe that’s the birthday present :)

We had quite an eventful weekend. Drove down to visit Jim and Julie in lovely Woburn, MA and got hit with 26″ of snow overnight. The news called it Blizzard ’05 and “The storm of the century!,” which amused me. After we dug on on Sunday we drove up to Nashua, did some shopping at Target, and had a yummy birthday dinner with the Johnsons.

And today, for the first day ever, I’m wearing maternity pants!! I so badly wanted to wear jeans again (instead of my fancy pants or overalls) that I broke down and bought a pair of maternity jeans. They are very comfy (elastic and buttons in the back so I have room to grow), and they look like normal jeans as long as the waistband is covered. They’re called “underbelly jeans” :) So far they fit around my belly, but I’m sure that will change soon enough.

And now, back to work until Alan takes me home and makes me stir-fry for dinner (happy birthday to him!)

SMA = Shared Medical Appointment. This is either all the rage or my hospita’ls brain child, not sure, but I liked it. We had an appointment with a midwife, a nurse, and 4 other women all due around the same time. There was a side room where the midwife did a brief exam, and then we all chatted about issues and concerns. I thought it was a lot more interesting than a regular one-on-one at the hospital.

The checkup went well. My fundal height (bonus points to those who know what that is!) was exactly where it should be (23cm) and I’ve only gained 10 pounds in total (though I lost a few at the beginning) and most of that weight came during the last month. Gotta love the holidays!

The midwife told the nurse that I was delivered by Ina May and that sparked a whole new round of questions :) The nurse said Ina May was in the area last year. All the midwives met her and apparently the whole thing was great. I feel famous by association :)

At 21 weeks we decided to take a belly picture. I finally started feeling like my belly looks pregnant, not just fat. That feeling comes and goes sometimes, but I’m sure it will get more frequent as time goes on.

Some of the belly pictures in magazines and web sites are just amazing. I can’t even comprehend my belly getting that big!

09/20/04 – Postive pregnancy test (yay!)

11/19/04 – Good strong heartbeat

12/17/04 – Ultrasound

12/27/04 – I felt the baby kick

12/29/04 – Alan felt the baby kick!

Group appointment – 10/13/04

Our first appointment with midwives was in October. The first appointment was just a group informational session. Alan and I and several other pregnant women were there. One of the midwives told us how things work with the midwives and the birthing center at the hospital. She also went through a presentation with basic information about pregnancy, what to do, what not to do, and what tests we may be presented with during the pregnancy. It was interesting. They also did a tour of the birthing center at the end, but Alan and I were running late for a flight to DC, so we had to leave before the tour. I think we get another chance to take a tour during a childbirth class. Hopefully anyway :)

First appointment – 10/25/04

The following week I went in for a blood test (standard procedure) and everything came back perfectly normal. The following week was my first private appointment. At that time the midwife complimented me on my great numbers (iron levels, blood pressure, etc.) from the blood test.

Mom told me to tell the midwives that I was delivered by Ina May Gaskin. I never thought they would care, but it came up in conversation, so I mentioned it at my appointment. She thought it was awesome! She had all sorts of questions and said “The other midwives will be so excited!” I laughed and said, “I think my mom is going to be more popular at this birth than I am.” ;)

At this appointment we tried to hear the baby’s heartbeat, but couldn’t. It was only 10 1/2 weeks though, and the midwife said that there’s nothing to worry about.

Third appointment – 11/19/04

We got a heartbeat! Yay! This was a pretty short appointment actually. She just did a checkup and let us hear the heartbeat. It was very cool.

Fourth appointment – 12/17/04

On December 17th we went in for the 18 week ultrasound. Some doctors do frequent ultrasounds, but the midwives here just do one for a normal healthy pregnancy. We went in and met with a radio technician and another in training. It was neat because the one lady was explaining all sorts of things to the other, so I feel like we got to learn a lot. One interesting point, you have to be significantly more precise when measuring babies because the proportion of the object (like the head) to the whole body is much great in a baby than say the proportion of a kidney in a grown up. She kept stressing the importance of being very precise with the measurements.

We decided that we don’t want to know the sex of the baby before birth, so the technician was nice enough to not go “down there.” But she did show us all the other parts. We saw hands and feet and head and ears and belly and all sorts of great things. It was very awesome.

Our next appointment is in 2 days so I’ll try to post an update then.