Seven measley points...

I'll start off with the good news first...

I had my 25 week appointment today!  For those of you who are not familiar with the "Birthplace" vocab, it means that our little one is now viable, meaning that if it had to, it could survive outside of me.  Don't get me wrong.  I will be more than happy to wait 13 more weeks to meet him/her.  However, like I said, if it had to be born now, it could survive!

Since the US tech couldn't see the baby's lip and nose last time (1 month ago, already!), she had to look again today which means we got to see the baby again!  Once again, it has been confirmed that we have a stubborn baby on our hands cause it wouldn't look at us.  This means that we will now be scheduled for a Level II ultrasound.  Not seeing the lip and nose is not a huge cause for concern, but it's something the doctor really wants to see...thus, the Level II.

I was also scolded today but the nurse pracitioner to keep an eye on my blood pressure when at work and to slow down on the weight gain, which has hit the 13 pounds mark.  I was so tempted to say "Preachin' to the choir."  However, now that it has been officially made a "concern" by the NP, I'll be more apt to watch what goes in my mouth.

Which brings us to the not-so-good news...

I also had my repeat 1-hour glucose test today.  They had me drink the "glucola" before the ultrasound and my NP appt, so I only had to be bored for 30 minutes instead of a full hour.  The same lab tech drew my blood this time as last, so I feel we have a bond :).  I could tell by her expression as she ran the test, that I had failed.  In order to pass, I had to have a result below 130.  Lucky me, my result was 136.  Seven measley points that will totally ruin my morning tomorrow.  I have another appointment tomorrow morning at 8am for 3 loooooonnnnngg hours.  Which means I have to sit there for 3 hours. Not moving.  Not walking.  Not eating breakfast other than more orange flavored, high-sugar, cola drink.  I also get my blood drawn every hour on the hour during that time for a total of 4 pokes.  Please pray for me as I may not be the most pleasant person if I have to limit carbs for the next 13 weeks.  But please don't get me wrong.  I will do what I have to do for my health and the health of the peanut.  I just hope I pass.

Since we couldn't see much of the baby today, we didn't get many pictures, but we did get one of the baby scratching its head.  The head is the white half-circle and the hand is next to it on the left with the fingers bent.

Enjoy!

The Filter

I've gotten a lot of comments from friends and family lately.

Most of those comments have to do with some of the things that are coming out of my mouth.  No, not vomit.  It's those snippy comments when my tolerance for bull$h!t is at an all-time low.  Usually those comments stay in my head or are said under my breath when no one around me can hear.  I also don't put up with rude comments or actions from people lately.

My reason?

The Filter.

I've decided that this pregnancy has removed the filter from my brain to my mouth and is now letting me express myself in all ways possible to let others know how I really feel.

I had an awesome day with 6 friends from high school this past Saturday.  During that day (including a road trip to Albertville), I apparently let some comments and words fly that my best friends had not heard me say or even think to say before.  Let's just say the f-bomb was repeatedly uttered in many different forms.  It's a beautifully diverse word :).

I should clarify that I am fully aware that being pregnant does not give me an excuse to be a b!tch.  But like I said before, my tolerance level has dropped dramatically.

I'm not sure if this filter will return once I no longer have a placenta, but in the words of Chantel, "I like Jenny without a filter." (Yes, my long-time friends do call me Jenny)

Welcome to my new world!  :)

One year ago today...

*****Disclaimer - Medical talk and some disgusting stuff will be discussed.*****

I was sitting in Pre-Op at this exact time (10:14am) waiting for the OR to be cleaned as I was the next patient in line.

It was my first experience being in the hospital as a patient and even though I tried not to show it, I was soooo nervous!  My first IV, my first admission, my first surgery, my first general anesthesia, and the best part, my first PCA.

I had found out about a month earlier that I had fibroids aka non-cancerous tumors on my uterus.  Usually not a big deal, but for someone who was trying to have a baby, it was something that needed to be removed in order to prevent infertility, miscarriage and pain.  Most people with fibroids have a hysterectomy, but since we were wanting kids, my doctor recommended removing them.  On the first ultrasound, they anticipated the largest fibroid to be about 8 cm in diameter.  The next day, I had an MRI and the size was then noted to be 9cm, but I also had several others of unknown size that needed to be taken out.  Surgery was scheduled which brought me to my day of firsts.

Surgery was uncomplicated tother than the fact that my uterus was the size of a 20 week pregnancy and the doctor had a hard time getting my uterus out of my abdomen in order to remove the fibroids.  The result of which was an 8 inch long incision on my lower abdomen.  It turned out that the largest fibroid was actually 12 cm, followed by another at 5cm and 6 more between 1-2cm each.  Rob joked that I had octuplets!  My doctor was even kind enough to take pictures of the fibroids once they were removed...picture to follow :)

For the next 3 days I was a patient and lucky enough to have wonderful friends and family come visit me.  I'll admit I was not the best company...especially for the first 2 days.  I would often doze off in the middle of conversations.  I think I made Rob extremely worried.  I remember my mom trying not to cry the first time she saw me after surgery.

On November 7th, I was discharged from the hosptial and spent the next 4 weeks at home laying low and getting the royal treatment from Rob, my parents and his parents who each brought us a meal to enjoy without having to cook.

When I think back to everything that has happened within the last year, I am in awe!  Surgery, our first wedding anniversary, the birth of a nephew and 2 nieces, not to mention the wonderful new addition that has been created and will arrive come February.

To all my family and friends...Thank You for being You!  You all have made this last year so much better just by being there for Rob and I.  You are amazing!

Disaster Area

Our house is a disaster.  I keep looking at it and telling myself it's gonna get better...really.

It's all for a good cause, the main focus of this blog, the baby that is supposed to be arriving in 16 weeks.

Our current guest room is the going to be the baby's room and our lovely "work-out" room will go back to being the workout room/mini storage room.

All of this includes going through a lot of stuff...throwing some away and creatively organizing others.  I like things organized...really, I do!  It's just getting them that way that bugs me and usually takes forever. 

As I'm going through our stuff, I am also realizing that we not only have a lot of stuff, we also have a lot of stuff that we will never use.  I am currently calling all the extra stuff "crap."  I have never had a garage sale, but that might be what it will come to....after baby but before maternity leave is over.  It's a good thought, right?  Maybe I won't call it a garage sale.  I'll call it a crap sale.  That'll draw the buyers, won't it? Ha!

As for the organizing, I'm about half-way done, but it seems never-ending.  That's the way cleaning and organizing goes, doesn't it?

I keep telling myself it'll be worth it when it's done.

It'll be worth it when it's done!

For the sake of my own sanity and pride, I am NOT including pictures this time around.  But visualize this...a small tornado has hit all of the rooms in our house with the exception of the bathrooms.  Maybe a medium tornado would be better and no, I'm not exaggerating.

It'll be worth it when it's done.

21 week ultrasound

Today, I have hit the 21 week mark. It's really not that special other than the fact that we had our ultrasound today!

We have decided that our baby is going to be a stubborn thing. The ultrasound tech was not able to get the usual "profile" picture cause it wouldn't cooperate. It was also a good thing that we didn't want to find out what Baby P's gender is, cause we had a modest kiddo on our hands. Because they were not able to visualize the face, I have to have another ultrasound (oh, darn) at my next visit in 4 weeks.

We were able to get a picture of a foot as well as an arm and hand. If you look really close, you can see the baby's head and shoulders in the arm picture.

I am feeling the baby move a little more. However, I did find out why I'm not feeling it like most people have told me I would by now. My placenta is in the front (anterior) acting as a cushion for baby's kicks and punches, making it difficult to feel.

All in all, it was a good day! Rob had the day off, so we went out for lunch and then checked out a couple stores for cribs. I have to be one of the most indecisive people on the planet and can't decide on a crib for the life of me. Good thing we won't need it for a while! With being fortunate and having sisters who are sharing their baby stuff with me, we won't get too much new stuff, so getting to pick out the new things our baby will use is wonderful and helping me get into "mommy mode"! Too bad I can't decide and thanks goodness we have a few more months before we really need the "baby gear."

I know the pictures are a little blurry, but like I said, baby wasn't really cooperating that day.  Enjoy!

Half-way...kinda

Today I hit the "official" half-way mark!

I am 20 weeks along which is technically half done.

However, since I'll be having a c-section at approximately 38 weeks, I hit the milestone last week.

Either way it's nice to finally say...

"I'm half-way...kinda"

The Stuewe Family

Last week my sister, Jodene mentioned that she wanted to try to have a fall family picture taken to commemorate Jayde's 7 month "birthday" as well as to simply have a recent family photo including Jayde. Instead of going to a "pro", she asked me if I would be willing to take some pics.

I am not a professional. I am simply a photographer wanna-be with a mediocre camera and average eye. I told her I'd give it a shot and hopefully we'd come out with something decent enough to put in a frame.

The problem? Her husband Andy is a busy farmer who recently cut all of his hay and is in the middle of fall harvest. What's the big deal? In farming, a good weather day is a crazy busy day. We knew getting him to agree to take even a few hours off to sit in front of a camera was going to be tough.

I had to be the annoying sister-in-law and text him yesterday saying "This is your warning. Pictures tomorrow in Chaska." His response "K". What a guy! No arguing.

We planned a trip to the Arboretum in Chaska for today...a beautiful fall day. It was almost too warm! We stayed in the car and did the 3-mile drive. It's gorgeous! I had never been to the Arboretum and I was amazed just driving into the parking lot how beautiful everything was. Part of the reason the pics turned out so great was the scenery.

The other part was how cooperative my "subjects" were. Andy was very generous with 2 hours of picture taking and even Ava and Jayde held it together long enough to get some good shots. At least...what I think are good shots.

Here are some of the results. I'm not good with photo editing, but I think they turned out pretty good all the same. Enjoy!







My Favorite One




















Being silly