Pics from last weekend

Mom, Dad, Corinne & I at the reception.

My cousin, Heather, & cutie 2nd cousin, Carsten

Melissa & Patrick amid bubbles.

Awwwww, Look at the cute newlyweds!!!

Jason & I

27 week belly pic (Just for you, Erika Herring!!)

28 weeks!!!

According to "What to expect" this week, baby weighs in at about 2 1/2 lbs & stands at almost 16 inches (measured head to toe). Baby Orf is right on schedule then because it weighed 2 lbs, 4 oz at the ultrasound last week. Impressive new talents include blinking its eyes, coughing, more intense sucking & better breathing.

Baby may be dreaming now too. Brain wave activity measured in a developing fetus shows different sleep cycles, including the rapid eye movement phase, the stage when dreaming occurs.

The good news is that babies born this week, though premature, have an excellent prognosis because their lungs have reached the point (for the most part) of maturity. Of course, it's still best if a baby doesn't check out of the uterine hotel just yet, there's still a lot of growing & maturity to do over the next 12 weeks.

As for me, still doing good overall. I've been sleeping a lot better this week and actually have been sleeping in our bed instead of camping out on the couch. Maybe the insomnia has gone away for a bit. Hopefully, I don't jinx myself. Feet still get swollen but I guess I will expect that for the rest of the pregnancy. My skin has started to itch a lot more too. I better start lotioning up!

3rd Birth Class

Last night the main topics we discussed were C-sections and deep breathing. We watched a movie on the whole process of a C-section. They even showed the actually cutting of the abdomen & everything. Um....Eew. It's good to know what to expect though just in case I would happen to need one. Then we did some breathing techniques. "He-He-Who", that is what you are suppose to say when u do one of the techniques. So anyway, of course, I was doing it wrong and the instructor noticed, so she came over and breathed with me. Then we did some stretching, rocking back & forth and I got to bounce on the birthing ball. : ) Fun stuff. Only 1 more class to go.

Failed!

Well, the Dr called on Friday & I failed my 1 hr glucose test. MAJOR BUMMER!!! So now I will doing the 3 hr test this week. I'm really not looking forward to it at all. I'm also hoping I do not have gestational diabetes (GD). The nurse already informed I'm not suppose to be eating cookies, candy and pretty much anything sweet. This is not fun because anyone that knows me, knows I really likes sweets so it's tough for me not to eat them. Maybe that is why I'm in this predicament to begin with. I never realized how much sugar is in certain foods too, I've been checking the nutrition labels for sugar content. I've also looked up some GD diets just to see what I may end up having to eat for the next few months. Guess we'll see what happens.

On a happy note, we went to Wisconsin over the weekend to attend my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful day for it!! We had a good time. It was nice to see everyone since we won't be going to WI for Xmas this year because of the pending birth of Baby Orf. I think Melissa & Patrick are a great match for each other and I wish them all the best! CONGRATS you guys!!!! Those 2 are some dancing fools, I hardly saw them sit down all night long! I will try to post some pictures sometime this week.

Dr appt

Today was a busy day!! First off, I drank that glucose drink to be tested for gestational diabetes. It was gross. It tasted like nasty cough syrup. I thought it was gonna taste like super super sweet kool-aid, no such luck! I'm glad the bottle was small because it was hard to drink it all. I'm also glad I chose the non-carbonated one, cuz I had to drink it in 5 minutes. Carbonated would have been harder to drink fast. She had given me the bottle of it at my last appt so I was just able to drink that at work. Then I had to make sure I was at the dr office in time becuz they draw your blood exactly 1 hr after u drink it. I will know the results of that next week. I hope I pass. Otherwise you have to do the 3 hr glucose test. I've heard that one is definitely not fun.
Then I had an ultrasound to check on things. Everything is looking good. Baby is head down at the moment and according to the tech, pretty far down. She assured me that didn't mean I was going into labor or anything though. That is good to know. But obviously with still time to go, the baby can move into all types of positions & may not stay head down. I was thinking it was still breech cuz I alway feel kicks in the same place (lower abdomen). But those kicks must be fist punches instead! Baby is weighing in at 2 lbs, 4 oz. The heartbeat was 150 beats per minute. She pretty much said everything looks perfect. The baby was being a little stinker though and the tech couldn't get a good head measurement. I guess it's face was smooshed into my placenta. We did get a cute face pic though. Other than that, no good pics though.
Then I had my dr's appt. Nothing exciting to report here. I have to start counting the baby's kicks and keeping track of them. I will also now be going to the dr every 2 weeks instead of every month.

27 weeks!!!

WOW! I'm now in the 3rd Trimester!!! Only 3 more months and Baby Orf will be here!! I seriously can not believe how fast the time is going. When you think about a pregnancy, 9 months is a long time, I mean, it's almost a year! But it really hasn't felt long to me at all. Maybe because overall, I feel fine most of the time and everything is going well. I hope it continues like this.

According to "What to expect" this week---Beginning at this stage, baby's length will be measured from top of head to toe--which makes baby nearly a full 15 inches now and weighing in at just over 2 lbs.

Baby's hearing is progressing as the network of nerves to the ears matures. Even though the sounds your baby hears are muffled (thanks to the creamy coating of vernix covering those ears) he or she may recognize both me and J's voices.

Baby's taste buds are very developed now too. (with more taste buds than he or she will ever have outside the womb actually).

2nd Birthing Class

Jason & I went to our 2nd birthing class last night. Last night was overall pretty interesting to me. The instructor talked about what happens once you get to the hospital, like what machines they hook you up to to monitor the baby and me. She talked about inductions and methods to get the baby out if the mom is having trouble. These include the vacuum and forceps. These things are creepy to me. She passed both of these around the room last night. Those forcep things really freak me out. They are heavy & cold & and they look like something you'd toss a salad with. Hopefully I won't have experience with either of those. We also talked about anesthesia. This is the part I was most interested in. We watched a video on epidurals & how they administer it, one of the ladies in the video gave birth without it, the other decided to get an epi. They both felt they had made the right decision for themselves. I am definitely getting an epi!! The needle in my back part doesn't really bother me if it helps relieve pain. Ahh, the joys of childbirth.