Weekly Appointments and Votes

A quick reminder that you only have three days left to vote on the final name poll!!


Today I had my weekly NST and OB appointment. The nurse had a heck of a time finding the baby's heartbeat to track! For about 15 minutes she searched all over my belly and every time she would find the heartbeat, the baby would move. So after she got another nurse to try (and found it for good) Matt had to sit there and hold/press the monitor onto my belly to keep the heartbeat. Geez! So we only had to sit like that for about a half hour because after finding the heartbeat, she was moving like crazy and responding very well. 
My midwife got a copy of my blood glucose numbers for the week and consulted with one of the MD's in the office. My after dinner numbers (and some after lunch numbers) are getting too high. Because when I have an unusually high number, I tend to write down what I ate that probably caused it, they determined that I'm not allowed to eat any rice. So disappointing! We don't even eat white rice, we eat brown! My body has no problem with whole grain pasta, but apparently brown rice isn't working. I have to start trying to eat protein in my lunches. I really don't want to use up our chicken breasts for my lunches! I don't know, we'll see. Next week I'll be meeting with the one person I haven't met with yet for my growth ultrasound and she is also an MD. I'm supposed to discuss my numbers with her and find out about medication. After weeks of trying to not get put on medication for the gestational diabetes, I'm looking forward to getting on them! I have been hungry since starting this diet, because I haven't been able to eat much.
So I had my Group B Strep test done today too. I won't go into details on how they do that, but it's nothing super serious. It's a bacteria that lots of people carry, and it doesn't bother them, but it could harm the baby if I'm not treated. If I test positive, at the hospital they will give me antibiotics while I'm in labor so it crosses the placenta and the baby won't be affected by the Group B Strep. My midwife also checked my cervix and it's softening (meaning it's getting ready for delivery). I'm not dilating yet (that's a very good thing since I'm just 36 weeks, and she won't be considered full term until 37 weeks) and the baby is FOR SURE head down. I'm so happy to hear that she is head down because one of the reasons I would have to have a C-section would be to deliver a breech baby. Now I just hope she stays head down and ready to go!


Matt and I made a collage tonight of Christmas post cards he had gotten. It looks pretty cool! I thought I would share pictures:

Also, we moved the pack n' play into our bedroom and got it all set up and ready to go. It should be good until we get a crib.




I think that's it for this week. I'll be blogging again next week after the growth ultrasound to give an update of the baby's size and what the MD says. I hope everyone has a great Christmas!!

Meeting With The Pediatrician

Matt and I met with the pediatrician we are going to use for the baby. Her name is Dr. Peterson at Ptarmigan Pediatrics here in Wasilla. She was really nice and we are very happy with her. We got a tour of the office, and it was pretty cool! I was expecting just a regular doctors office, but they have an awesome mural in the waiting room, and animal shaped patient bed. Very cute! The rooms are themed like "The Castle Room" and the "Walrus Room". The funny thing about the walrus room is that they don't have a walrus shaped patient bed, but they have a polar bear one. She said that they just don't tell the kids that in real life polar bears eat the walruses. :)

So we will be naming her our official pediatrician to be at the hospital when the baby is born (if available) and she will be the one to give the baby her first exam. They have the best website, with forms to fill out ahead of time so you can focus on your sick child in the waiting room instead of filling out endless forms. Overall, it's just a great place! Even the baby was excited about it. She was moving around so much that she made my underwear slide down off my belly on the way home! 

We are trying to start practicing relaxation techniques, but we keep getting side tracked. Today we ended up wrapping gifts and finishing up the nursery instead. Tomorrow for sure! We really need to start practicing before it's too late and we are super unprepared. We are also struggling with packing our labor bags and suitcase. Just trying to get organized enough to figure out what we really need, what we can pack now, what we need to make a list of for last minute things, and what we still need to get. Plus what we will really need for labor vs what will just take up room in the bags. 

We got a package today from Matt's mother of more things she has made for the baby. I'll be posting pictures at the end of this post. I also have pictures of our tree and some decorations I took at the same time. I have also posted the last name poll with all the top voted names from the previous polls. The winners of this poll will help us complete our "short list" to bring to the hospital for naming the baby. I hope everyone had fun voting in these polls. We will have more later on for other things, don't worry!

We are gearing up for Christmas week. We have another NST appointment on Monday/OB check so I'll blog again after that to update everyone on how it goes. Hope everyone is ready for Christmas!! Almost a week away....

Pictures:


Link to the album "Susan's Crafty". This album shows all the clothes, blankets, quilts, wall hangings, etc that Matt's mother Susan has made for the baby. She has made a bit more than what I have in the album. I'll be adding the rest once I take pictures of them.
Click Here for Susan's Crafty Album 


Link to our Christmas 2010 album. I'll be adding our Christmas pictures too once the day comes. So far, it's just decorations.
Click Here for Christmas 2010 Album 


Link to the nursery pictures album. I took pictures of the fairies Matt hung up today, as well as the wall hanging from Susan. If you have already seen this album, just skip to the last 5 or so pictures and you'll see the new ones.
Click Here for Baby Schneid's Room Album