So sad

I failed the glucose screening test for gestational diabetes, as in totally flunked, not just a point or two over, so now I have to do the long test on Monday morning at the lab. We have all these yummy goodies in the house from Christmas, and I can't eat any of them! That's why I'm so sad. I have to follow a special (healthy) diet for the next three days before the test, and while the diet itself isn't bad, the fact that I can't have any chocolate is terrible! I love my sweets.

I thought maybe if I blogged about it, I be more likely to be good and not cheat. I really do want to have accurate results, so I need to be strong! The other thing I'm not excited about is I can't eat for 12 hours prior to the test, and since the test itself is 3 1/2 hours long, I won't be able to eat until almost lunch. (That's a near crisis for a pregnant lady.) In the grander scheme of things, this really is just a small inconvenience, and writing these words has made me feel better already. I can do it!

No Weight Gain

Yep, it's true. I went to my 28 week appointment yesterday, and I had gained no weight. It made total sense, though, because I've had the flu. The stomach flu is never fun, but it's worse when you're pregant. This is the second time in two weeks that I've been sick, and I have to take this opportunity to say what a wonderful, understanding, and caring husband I have.

Greg has been a trooper through it all. Monday night he checked on me often as I lay on the bathroom floor. He called the doctor and drove to the pharmacy in the middle of the night to get the anti-nausea medication. He had lots of work he needed to get done Tuesday, but he wrote emails and made phone calls so that he could stay home with us that next day. He took care of the kids the whole next day and evening, all the while checking in on me, giving me medicine, and making sure I had everything I needed--and he did all this on less than 2 hours of sleep.

I am so grateful to have a husband who loves me so much and keeps his vow to "love, honor, and cherish in sickness and in health." He is a devoted husband and father, and I love him very much. Now, just pray that he doesn't get sick from taking such good care of me!

28 Weeks

We got Joel in the photo this time. Joel's saying "hippo," and I'm not sure what Kari's doing.

We ARE Baby Blues

One of our favorite comics is Baby Blues, and with the addition of baby Aubrey, our family will look very much like the McPhersons. The similarities are rather uncanny. The dad and oldest daughter, Zoe, have red hair, the stay-at-home mom and little boy, Hammie, have brown hair. They have a baby girl named Wren. The kids are a little more spaced out than ours are, but it's pretty much going to be our life in a few months. If you're a parent of small children, or have ever been a parent of small children, you'll relate. It's great!

One third to go

I am officially in the third trimester with this baby! Yeah!

Thanks, Kari

Today as we were unloading the dishwasher:

Kari-- "Mommy, you have to grow bigger so baby Aubrey grows healthy and strong, right?
Me--"Right."
Kari--"Well, Mommy, don't grow too big, ok? Because then you wouldn't fit in the kitchen. "

24 Weeks

Had my regular every-4-week appointment today. Everything's great. Aubrey was moving all around when the doctor was trying to listen to her heartbeat. I gained another 4 lbs, same as last month. It seems that I'm on track to gain not as much as I did with Kari but more than I gained with Joel. Oh well!

Bumping around in there

Feeling good these days. However, by the end of each day I move like an old person. The joints and ligaments in my hips don't feel so good, and various ordinary movements send shooting pains down my legs. I don't really mind those things so much, though, because I'd rather have that than feel sick and miserable all the time. Baby Aubrey Ann (I think that might be her name--still no official decision on a middle name, but I'm leaning that way) is kicking and moving a lot these days. I started working on her quilt, so she'd better be a girl!

The Name

We've been having a difficult time coming up with a name that Greg and I both really like (I'm the picky one), and I think we may have found one. We both really like Aubrey. I guess it used to be mostly a boy's name, but in the last several decades, it's pretty much become a girl's name. I'd never name my boy Aubrey. We're still working on a middle name-Aubrey Elizabeth? Aubrey Elise? Aubrey Ann? Aubrey Sue? Aubrey Kate? There are just so many options. If you think of another good one, let us know.

Kari isn't too keen on this new name idea, so hopefully she'll come around if we decide this is to be our baby girl's name.

Baby Girl

The ultrasound photos show we are having a girl! As I said on our blog, Kari is ecstatic. She knew it would be a girl. :) I'm not sure what we'll do about the name. We'll be thinking about it. I kind of thought we'd be having a boy, not that I really cared either way, but it just seemed like we should have a boy--a brother close in age for Joel, I have two brothers--but apparently God decided we should have a girl, and I'm excited about that! It's just still sinking in. Now I can move forward with planning rooms and all those fun things.

The baby had all the parts babies are supposed to have, and I was thankful to see that, too. I loved watching our little girl move around, curl her little fists near her face, tuck her knees up to her chest, and open and close her little mouth. What a wonderful gift God's given us.

20 weeks and approx. 198 weeks old (Kari)

One of these months we'll get Joel in the photo, too.

Truckin' along

I don't have much to report, but I am happy to say I am still feeling good. It's great to have the nausea behind me. The baby is moving and kicking often these days. I can even feel it from the outside. The hip/sciatic nerve issues that plague me with every pregnancy have begun, but I haven't fallen down yet. :) (With Joel, I fell to the floor several times.) I just have to be careful when I stand up after sitting or lying down for a while.

Joel pats my belly and says "baby" now, and Kari still refers to the baby as "Suzanna Isabelle." Only about two more weeks until our ultrasound!

Movement

I forgot to add that I've been feeling the baby move for about a week, and today when Dr. Drake was listening for the heartbeat, I felt a definite kick/jab right where he had the doppler. Very exciting! :) I know that later I won't appreciate those kicks quite so much, but it's fun right now.

16 weeks

Me and my crazy-faced daugher

My appointment went just fine today. The baby's heartbeat is nice and strong. And I am nice and plump. I gained another 5 lbs! I'll be quite the whale by the end if I keep this up. The doctor told me not to worry about it, that he's not concerned at all, but he's not the one who will have to lose the weight when it's all over. I've even been working out 5 days a week for 30 minutes, something I didn't do this far into it with previous pregnancies. Oh well! I'm thankful the baby seems to be doing well. That's all that really matters.

Two days and counting

I have not been nauseous in the morning for the last two days. Whoopie! It's been great! I hope this is the beginning of the "feel good" middle months. I have my next appointment a week from today, so maybe I'll post another photo then. The baby's growing, and so am I.

Second Trimester

Well, I am very thankful to be into the second trimester of this pregnancy. The nausea has gotten better. The mornings can still be a challenge, not wanting to eat but feeling sick if I don't get enough food and protein in my stomach. The food cravings have eased up considerably. Pretty much nothing really sounds good now. Hey, at least I'm not eating at every restaurant in town anymore. Maybe I won't gain 5 pounds like I did last month! Two weeks of vacation didn't help any in that department.

I'm blaming the pregnancy hormones on the fact that I've cried while watching three different movies and reading two different books. It's pretty bad when even Good Morning America makes you cry.

It's another six weeks until we have our ultrasound and get to find out what we're having. I'm anxious to know so I can start making plans and start on this baby's quilt. The first quilt I ever made was Kari's (with the expert help of Aunt Sue), and I discovered that I enjoyed quilt-making. I've made two since then, one big one and another baby one (Joel's). I'm not sure how I'll find the time to work on this one, but it'll get done somehow. I'm considering making a big quilt for Joel when he moves to a twin bed, but that might be a bit much to tackle this time. We'll see how domestic I'm feeling.

Kari says she's going to call the baby Isabelle. It's not on my list, but she says it's a good name.

12 week appt.

The whole family got to hear the heartbeat at the doctor's office today. Kari thought it was pretty cool. She is already talking about our family as "the five of us."

Showing so soon

We are now 12 weeks along, and here is the photo to go along with it. Kari wanted to be in the picture with me. Can you tell?

I showed pretty early with both Kari and Joel, so I guess that's what my body likes to do. Oh well! I am pregnant. I may as well look it!

In the last week I started feeling a lot more nauseous a lot more of the time--morning, afternoon, evening. Such a bummer. I remember this happening with Joel, too. I felt really sick for about 3 weeks starting at 12 weeks. Hopefully it won't last long, both for my sake and the sake of my husband and family. Hopefully Baby Moffat is doing well, even if I'm not feeling so great. It's worth it.

Stinky Beach

I do love the beach, but I've never noticed before how smelly it is. The first trimester is not the best time to be at the coast. I'm not sick all the time, by any means, but various smells (even normally yummy ones) can get to me at any time. Crab smell is definitely one that got to me. :) The guys had a great time crabbing all week. I really am glad they enjoyed it so much, but I'm also glad I don't have to smell it anymore. :) I have yet to actually throw up this time around but have come close. I don't usually throw up when I'm pregnant, just feel nauseous at times. I'm very thankful for that. (I don't know how you survive your pregnancies, Karina.)

So, how am I feeling? Fine! I have to take a nap pretty much every afternoon while the kids rest, and I'm constantly aware of food--food that sounds really good and food that sounds very bad--but really, I'm doing just fine. (Oh, and Jane, you'll be happy to know that yes, Joe's Donuts is one of the places I've been.) We visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory three times on our trip. I have a new favorite ice cream flavor--German chocolate cake. Too bad they don't sell it in the stores, or maybe that's a good thing.

Not too much exciting to report on this pregnancy yet, for which I'm am thankful. Just getting fatter! I can't post a photo yet because I'm not even 11 weeks and you're not supposed to show at this point, but I've got quite a pooch going already (especially after dinner). I'll wait a few more weeks until I'm "supposed" to look pregnant.

Self-Indulgence

So far, I've eaten at three of the establishments listed in the previous post. They each satisfied my particular cravings for those days. Yumm!

Food, Food, Food

Why is it that when I'm pregnant, every restaurant in town sounds so good? We hardly ever go out to eat, but I'm going to have to give in soon. But how do I decide where to go? Olive Garden (mmm..breadsticks), Roadhouse, Red Robin, Calamity Janes, Szechwans Kitchen, Applebees, breakfast at Central Cafe (rasberry french toast...mmm), Joe's Donuts, or maybe Tollgate Inn for an omlette? Oh, the decisions. The crazy thing is I just ate breakfast.

Due end of Feb/beginning of March

I am almost 9 weeks along and just saw the heartbeat today. Everything looks good, and we're so thankful. There won't be much of interest on this blog for a while, I'm guessing. Should be fun, though--for me at least. =)