Another ultrasound...

Being diabetic and 32 weeks pregnant means I go to the doctor a whole lot. Yesterday I got sent for an ultrasound to determine how big baby Spencer is. My doctor(s) already thought he is bigger than he should be and they wanted to know just how much bigger.

Yesterday we learned that Spencer is 5 lbs and 7 oz already...and is approx. 2 weeks further along than he should be. He is in the 80th percentile. They said that is not all that great, but that they wouldn't worry unless he reached the 90th percentile. His heartbeat was 147, which is good.

I was told by this new place that he would be born at 38 or 39 weeks and that they don't let diabetics go 40 weeks. So that means we are having an early to mid-November baby unless he decides he wants to come early. Please just stay til Nov 1st at least!!

Third Trimester

Well, I am 32 weeks along now...and trying my best to get fully prepared for the big event. Several things have happened lately that have helped me feel almost ready. The first is the baby shower my sister threw for me. It was great fun and Carl and I got all the big ticket items we really wanted. We got an infant car seat/stroller travel system from some of my girlfriends that pitched in together. We go the matching high chair and play yard that go with it from family. It is all Alphabet Soup from Safety 1st. I love the pattern, Carl didn't at first, but I think he likes it more now. We got tons of clothes from everyone. We got a take along bouncer, mattress for the crib, the puppy bedding set I wanted for the nursery...we got really spoiled! I am so thankful for my friends and family that have helped us in getting ready for the upcoming arrival of Spencer Mason. Here are a few picture
 

After the shower, we got the rest of the nursery furniture assembled and got a lot of the nursery ready. Really the main things left to do are to grab a few last supplies, do the nursery windows, and get the birth plan ready, car seat installed, and bags packed so we are ready for our little man should he come early.

Another thing we have done to get ready is that we started baby classes last night. We go to the 2 hour classes every Monday night from now until baby Spencer comes. Last night was the breastfeeding class. I really feel that we both learned a lot. I feel great about our decision to breastfeed and learned helpful tips. For example, it should not be painful and you should not even need lanolin...if you do have pain and get chaffed it means you are not doing it properly and the baby is not latched on right. I always thought chaffing and pain went along with breastfeeding. Carl and I learned many benefits of breastfeeding...it will help me lose the baby weight faster AND help lower my blood sugar, which has drastically gone up throughout my pregnancy. 

Next Monday the class is about post-partum baby care. I really think this class will be beneficial to me because I have never really been around babies before. I have never changed a diaper, I am terrified of holding babies, etc. I am hoping to learn more helpful tips and ease my fears about holding, feeding, etc to my baby before he comes. The week after starts Lamaze classes. Carl thinks they will be pointless, but I just want to at least go to one or two and see what it is about. It can't hurt! 

So now to nest and get the house ready, stock up on diapers and bath supplies, finish up the nursery, etc...and get ready for our little dude!

Ugh

I have been going to the doctor weekly now...getting closer on getting insulin right, but not quite there yet. Last week, they switched me to NPH and R insulin instead of the 70/30 mix I was taking...so that means mixing my insulin and taking more shots. Yesterday they upped my dosage a little bit and I go back next week to see if it is ok or if it needs some more adjusting.

I have started back to zumba twice a week. I really missed it and I try my best even though I really can't do some of the moves right now. Instead of jumping I will bounce on my toes, and I don't lift my legs as high as most of the other people. But that is just fine. I am still getting a workout and doing something that will hopefully get my blood sugar levels under control.

This past weekend I went to an ultrasound clinic where I got to be a guinea pig for doctors learning about ultrasounds. I got a few new ultrasound pictures...glad I got paid instead of paying them! Haha! They were a bunch of goof offs and had trouble finding the babies organs and parts.

I am supposed to go for an ultrasound sometime this week to check on Spencer's size. They think he is on the big side. Ugh!

My sister is throwing me a shower in a few weeks...I am really excited! I have finished registering at Target and JCP and am trying to save up some money to buy some of the bigger items off the registry myself if at all possible. My sister is having fun planning the shower, and I am looking forward to seeing my family there! One of my friends is throwing me a shower in early November...that will be fun too!

Latest Doctor Appointment

Had another check up with the doctor yesterday. My blood sugar levels have not been within limits, so I have to increase my insulin and go back next Monday to see if it helps. If it does not help, they will probably switch me to a different type of insulin. I didn't have an ultrasound, but doc said that the baby feels a little big to her....which I knew was common with diabetics and what I was hoping to avoid. Sigh. Hopefully we will get this under control soon.

So, next appointment is next week on Monday. Hopefully I will have better news to share then.

I am just about done with my registries at Target and JC Penney. My sister is having a shower for me I Sept 19 and a friend is throwing me one early November. I am really excited about them!

Registries

I have finally started registering for baby Spencer. Creating a baby registry is much more fun than creating a wedding one! Our nursery is a real pretty light/medium green color and we want to go with a light wood crib and furniture to match the rocker that I won from the bank. I found several bedding sets that I liked, and this is pretty much the only one that Carl would agree on:


We registered for the whole nursery set at JCPenney.com. I am really looking forward to getting the nursery ready, decorated, and stocked. Right now I feel very behind with everything that needs to be done before the end of November!! It seems a bit overwhelming right now, but I know somehow we will do it!

I also started a registry at Target. I don't want to register anywhere else, because I am afraid if I do, then I won't get all I really want from the places that I have registered. (I really want all the nursery items from JCPenney!) I emailed friends and asked for input on what is useful and what is a waste of money. I got some really good feedback, but I still have so many questions! (How do I know what kind of formula to get? How do I know the stroller I pick out will be good enough? What is ok to buy used and what to I need to buy new?) Everyone keeps telling me I have plenty of time, but I really don't! The hubby works 2 jobs now, so we don't have much together time to work on projects around the house. I work at a Halloween store, so I pretty much won't be able to do anything starting in late Sept through Nov 1st. So we need to get a move on and get ready!

2nd purchase for baby

The first purchase I made for baby was for Carl's father's day present. I bought a red Star Trek uniform onesie and a vampire pacifier from Thinkgeek.com. Carl wanted all of the colors they had for the onesie, but I was not about to pay that much for a father's day present when the baby hasn't even been born yet and when the baby does not need a Star Trek onesie in every color. Carl can be such a nerd :P Here is my 2nd purchase for baby Spencer Mason Lindley:


I wanted a baby book that I saw at Target the past few months, but I didn't know if I needed the boy one or girl one. They reduced the price and sold out of them before I knew the sex of our baby, so Carl and I went to Babies R Us to find a different one. We found the C.R. Gibson Little Pond Record Book and I fell in love with the cover. I am definitely extra emotional lately...I cried while we were looking at baby books because they were so cute! The only things that really bothered me about this book were that it does not have a place for first ultrasound picture or hospital bracelet, and the other books did. But, in the end, we chose this one because everything else about it made up for that. Plus, I can put those items in the back section where there are a few pages for memories.

We spent probably an hour walking around Babies R Us trying to decide on nursery items and looking at things we want to register for. In the next month or so we will have to go back and actually register. We will probably register at Target for most of the items and then Babies R Us for the rest. I am so ready to start working on the nursery!!

We found out what we are having!

When Carl and I first found out that I was pregnant, he swore he did not want to find out what we were having. I swore up and down that I was going to find out regardless of what he wanted. Either he was just aggravating me, or he changed his mind, because recently he has been as anxious as me to get that ultrasound that would tell us if I was cooking a hamburger or hot dog.

In the first month or two, I looked online at all sorts of wive's tales for different ways to predict what you were going to have. The first I looked at was the Chinese Birth Calendar. According to the Birth Calendar, you can predict your babies gender by your age you will be when you give birth and what month the baby was conceived. Well, for me the age is 28 and the month conceived was February, so according to the chart, I should have a boy.

Carl's sisters kept telling me about another gender prediction method involving a string and a needle or ring. When I went to Illinois last month with Carl, Cynthia found some string and tied my wedding band to it and held it over my wrist. After it started to swing, she exclaimed "It's a boy!" She swore that it worked predicting all 4 of her kid's sex and she just KNEW I was having a boy.

Well, yesterday we begged for our 2nd ultrasound since the first one was too soon to tell the sex of the baby. The ultrasound lady said "It's definitely a boy, or else a girl with something rather large between her legs". I was super excited! We have had a boy's name picked out since the first day, and have gone back and forth over girl's name for months. No more arguing about it! We have a name. Carl was set on having twins, one of each, but since that didn't happen (Whew! Thank goodness!) I think he is happy that we have a boy and now he wants a girl. He wanted the boy to be older to look out for his little sister. I want to see how the rest of this pregnancy goes and how we deal with this huge change in our lives before I even think about doing this again!

Here are the ultrasound pictures of our little Spencer Mason Lindley:

Yesterday I was 21 weeks and 3 days pregnant, and Spencer weighs 15 oz now and should be 1 lb within the next couple days. My due date is November 22nd. The heartbeat was 136. The doctor and ultrasound person said that everything is looking great with baby! Now, if I can just get my blood sugar under control!!! It is soooo much harder now that I am pregnant!