17, 18, 19 weeks...

Crap, well apparently I haven't kept up with my 'blogging every week' thing. Boo. I've been meaning to for the past week, but my back has been killing me and my laptop has been stupid and on the fritz for a few days. So even though it's after midnight, I'm getting something out tonight! Big news! Made it to the half way point! I kind of considered 18 weeks my 'half way point' because I don't think they will be in there much past 36 weeks, but now I'm at the 'normal' half way point too!

So - diabetes. Overall, things are starting to get a littttleee bit more difficult. I am starting to see more of the 11's (198) 1 hour post meal, not the 8-9's (144-162) I would like. Saturday was a scary night too... I changed my site prior to dinner and Jamie and I went to Moxies. Got home and my blood was 13.9 (250) 1 hour post meal. Higher than I'd like, but not a huge concern with all of the iob. 45 mins later I was up to 17 (306)!!! I corrected that, and Jamie and I went for a nice long walk; I was convinced it would be down to normal when we got back. Got back from our walk and.... 16.6. (299) At this point I pulled the site, and had a good cry from the frustration of it. It ended up taking an injection and about 3 hours total to get my blood below 10 (180). What an awful night. Of course I then had a couple lows in the night, but I would much rather deal with those than a BG that won't come down. So scary. I'm assuming my insulin resistance will kick in real soon, and I am terrified for that. I'm just telling myself that I'm doing the best I can and I am correcting everything ASAP every time. I am obsessive with testing my blood and I know I don't have highs running through my system without me knowing about them at least. It's not a perfect science, but we're getting through it. Had my appt with the diabetes clinic on Tuesday and they seemed pretty happy with my numbers, yay.

What else is new? We've been doing some shopping! We bought a stroller (a Kolcraft Contours Options LT) and I do really like it! That being said, I am the most indecisive person in the world, so I've also ordered a double graco stroller (which matches our infant car seats) and I'm waiting for that one to come before we make our final decision! I will do a post on 'baby gear' once we decide and I can talk about that sort of stuff, I need more time to write up that one though!


Today was probably the most amazing day EVER. I had the fetal echocardiagram, and my Mom came with me because Jamie was working. I took the day off, and Mom and I went for a nice long walk on the beach this morning which was great. After that, we showered up and went for lunch (mmm Swiss Chalet) and then off to the Ultrasound. Luckily the tech invited my Mom right in and she was able to watch the whole thing. We started off getting some measurements of the babies and then the MFM (maternal fetal medicinist) came in and made sure all the heart stuff was okay.
They noticed that the babies seemed to be face to face and said to 'flip it into 3D'. The tech brought out a different wand, pressed a couple buttons and OMG the babies were forehead to forehead in living (orange) colour. It was AMAZING!! The dr said he'd never seen something like that before and called in a guy named Chris who seemed to be an Ultrasound Guru. They all played with the 4D images for at least 20 minutes and it was just soooo cool. So exciting to see them looking like real babies and not just little black and white profiles! It's funny how it's different when it's your own baby... I usually think 4D ultrasounds are kind of creepy and funny looking, but seeing your own babies on there... I could not stop talking about how cute they are! We also got an amazing shot of Baby B with his hands clapsed together over his chest while he smiles. Plotting a plan of some sort, I'm sure. Overall, just an awesome day. They're both kicking like crazy, and sometimes I can see it from the outside, but Jamie hasn't been able to see it quite yet. Hopefully soon... They get stronger every day.



They gave me a TON of pics at the U/S

Okay, what else is new? BACK PAIN!! I am sleeping well (aside from peeing 3 times a night) and wake up feeling great. I am okay if I am up and moving around, but sitting just kills my back! By 2PM at work, I am in sooo much pain. Sitting at the table for dinner and sitting on the couch is killer at night. I spent most of my evenings lying on the floor in front of the fireplace now. The back pain is primarily in my upper back, and a little bit off to the right. I need to make some time and set up a massage therapy appt, I really think that would help. Today was better than most days though, probably because I was up and around all day long! You would never think that an office job would be difficult while pregnant, but it's been pretty bad - boo. Oh well, we'll see how things go!

Okay, survey time and some pics... this Momma needs to go to bed! I will try to post about strollers (it has been a journey) once a decision is made, haha!

How far along? 19 weeks, 6 days
Total weight gain: Pre-preg, I am now up 4 lbs! 14 lbs, if you go by what I lost from morning sickness! Yahoo
Maternity Clothes? Absolutely. That or giant baggy tee shirts at home. My regular tees have now become crop tops, haha!
Stretch Marks? None yet, at least that I can see... Really hoping they stay away
Sleep: Better! I sleep really really well, I just wake up often to pee... Good thing with that is I get lots of BG tests done in the middle of the night.
Miss anything? Palm Bays and my back not hurting.
Movement: Stronger and more frequent every day! I've now seen a handful of kicks from the outside, but those ones aren't as often yet.
Food cravings: Haha, everything. Healthy stuff would be grapefruits, strawberries, bananas etc... But I've also had major cravings for donuts (which I've only given in to twice) and sour candies. Cravings are insane though, it's literally all I can think of when I want something. And I wake up hungry and am starving for lunch by noon, when I don't typically take lunch at work until 1 or after.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Morning sickness seems to have LEFT the building
Gender: Boys, boys, boys!
Best moment this week: Everything! The movements, the ultrasound today, my giant belly growing... I love it all! If they'd be nice to my back, this would be perfect!
Labour signs: Nothing! I also have decided that what I thought were Braxton Hicks are actually Round Ligament Pain. Cervix is looking great, so I'm happy about that too. I want to keep those babies safe and cooking
Symptoms: Ahhh, a giant tummy? That, along with cravings and back pain
Bellybutton in or out? Still in, but very wide and flat now!
Wedding rings on or off? On, fingers are still the same size.
Happy or moody most of the time? Happy, although I did beat Jamie (joking of course - kinda) because he didn't bring me home snacks last night. Haha, I get lots of hormonal moments, but I am usually laughing as it happens. I know I am just acting over the top and silly so it's funny.
Looking forward to: My next appt on April 9th! I love going in and getting reassurance everything is okay... And I can't wait for the movement to be strong enough for Jamie to feel!!

Just a little growth in 1 month!!


 

16 weeks!

Okay, 16 weeks! Have I said lately that time is flying?? Lets start with the most exciting news.... I had another ultrasound today (a growth scan) and the tech was able to make an 'educated guess' on the gender! It is a little early for them to call it 100%, but all signs point to the babies being.... BOYS!!! Jamie and I are absolutely thrilled and can't wait to meet the little guys! We'll know 'for sure' at the next ultrasound (which I think is March 20th?) but for now, I'm calling it as boys. One baby was shy, but the other one was quite bold in showing us a pretty clear 'twig and berries'. I think ultrasounds can be wrong more often with girls than with boys. Either way, we won't buy the paint for the baby room quite yet, but I am going to start SHOPPING! I'll keep the receipts... just in case!

Okay so let's look at the diabetes side. Things are still looking pretty good! My one hour after meal highs have been cut down quite a bit, and I'm finding instead of the 13's and 14's (234-252) I am seeing them more along the 7-8 range (126-144) which I'm happy with! They tend to drop a little more at the 2 hour point, yay. My A1C was taken again on Monday and it was 5.1%... It's funny, because the clinic is almost urging me to get it up a little bit higher, but I'm proud of it! I find if I don't eat often enough, my blood will start to drop, so it's leaving me with lows pre lunch and dinner. We tried hacking back the basal rates again today though, so hopefully that will help with that problem. Other than that, the only real issue was a 'bad' low yesterday... I tested around 3:30 and I was 4.2 (76)... I can't remember if I ate something after that, but at about 4:55 (just before I was going to leave work) I just felt a low come on instantly. I was literally in the middle of a 3 minute phone call and by the time I hung up I was LOW. I tested and it was 1.8 (32) which is absolutely a very low number, but it doesn't usually effect me that bad. I was sitting at my desk shoving dex tabs in my mouth and sweating like crazy. I was considering lying on the floor of my office, but figured that wasn't a great idea. I ended up with the numb face/ numb hands type of low, and it look about 15 minutes before I really felt comfortable enough to go out to my car. I waited it out in my car for another 10 minutes or so (and continued eating sugar, haha) until I felt safe enough to drive and my numbers were back up to a reasonable level. Ugh I don't get 'bad' lows often, but every once in a while, one comes along that just kicks your ass. All my diabetic friends know exactly what I'm talking about, sadly. I'm glad that those are a very rare occurrence.

So how else are the babies doing? Well, I got the report for the genetic screening (which I need to go over with my obgyn because I don't know what it all really means of course) and everything seems to be screening NEGATIVE! Very excited about that, I know you can get false positives with twins, so I was kind of emotionally preparing myself for a possible 'positive' result that may or may not be true, but I think we're looking pretty good. We did the growth scan this morning and it went really well. Apparently husbands aren't allowed to come in for those ones, so poor Jamie had to wait in a separate room for 20 minutes until I got called in for my appt (why set appt times, when they are never on time??) and then he had to wait about another 30 minutes for the main portion of the ultrasound to be complete! Now we know for next time though. I had the same tech as last time (she's really great) and I guess at this point they measure things like the femur bone, head diameter and the size of the abdomen and they add that all together to create an estimated size and weight. I guess it makes sense that they stop doing the 'crown to rump' measurements, as it's so much harder to get the entire baby in a shot! Either way, once all the measurements are said and done, they were both coming out to .60 lbs, and they seem to be measuring right within a day of each other, such great news. I'm scared every time I see them that they will suddenly be a different size, but so far so good!

After all of the measurements were taken, I got to leave for a minute to empty my bladder (thank god) and Jamie was summoned to the room. We took another look and one baby was being a little shy, but the other one (I think it was baby b) was pretty confident in showing us his parts! The tech of course can't actually document any guesses, or say for SURE, but I feel comfortable that we have blue in our future. Either that, or we have a daughter with some swollen girl parts... Which I guess could happen! Joys of the unknown, haha. As far as positioning, A seems to be on the bottom area (he was lying sideways for most of the ultrasound) and B had his head by A (bottom right, towards my hip) and was lying kinda with his feet facing up towards my chest. Creating a little right angle at that point - heads together, one lying sideways, and one head down. It was cute though, they both moved at one point and I had two heads in the right corner and a jumble of four little legs all facing up towards my bellybutton, so they were both diagonal in my stomach. She said they have lots of fluid right now, and lots of room in their little swimming pool to move around and enjoy. Enjoy it boys, you're not going to have that much room for much longer!!

Anyways, this is getting veryyy long (as usual) so survey time!

Cameo by Holly!

How far along? 16 weeks, 5 days
Total weight gain: I'm starting to gain! I'm now about 1-2 lbs below my 'pre-preg' weight so if we count my 'starting weight' as what I weighed after morning sickness really kicked in, I am now up 8 lbs! My dietitian was thrilled... I'm excited to gain weight, but I hope I can keep it to my belly, and not the rest of me!
Maternity Clothes? Absolutely. Love them... Waiting for Old Navy to have another sale, so I can stock up on more shirts!
Stretch Marks? None yet! I try to cocoa butter at least once per week, and so far so good.
Sleep: Meh, not great. I'm up a few times every night and tend to wake up on my back feeling really uncomfortable. I need to get a body pillow!
Miss anything? Not needing to pee in the middle of the night!!!
Movement: Same as last week - little taps and kicks every now and then! Can't wait for them to get stronger.
Food cravings: Still nectarines and strawberries! I bought some Ben n Jerrys the other day, and have barely eaten ANY of it. And Jamie bought me toaster strudels today, YUM!!! Haven't had those in years and that was a craving that hit hard and fast last night, haha.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Knock on wood, but morning sickness seems to be gone!
Gender: Boys! (Most Likely!!!) Sheesh, I'm going to feel silly if they end up being girls.
Best moment this week: Feeling little kicks, and watching my belly grow! I loveeeee my bump! Of course ultrasounds are awesome as well. I'm just loving everything! OH! And I found a protein powder that I actually like! It's not milk based, so I can mix it with water and it kind of tastes like Crystal Light almost! Soooo happy about that.
Labour signs: Braxton Hicks contractions every once in a while, but nothing else, phew!
Symptoms: I'm just getting big.. And my brain doesn't work quite the way it used to!
Bellybutton in or out? Still in, but kinda flat. I had taken out my bellybutton ring last week, and put it back in after a day or so cause I felt naked. I took it out today at my ultrasound because she needed to use the wand over that area, and so far haven't put it back in yet - we'll see.
Wedding rings on or off? On, fingers are still the same size.
Happy or moody most of the time? Happy! I'm loving this journey!
Looking forward to: Another obgyn appt on Thursday, and then my next ultrasound (which should be a longggg one) on March 20th!


Yeah... there's two in there!