Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Gummy Bear 30 1/2 Weeks

Gummy Bear: 30 1/2 weeks

Baby is: measuring 1 lb, 14 oz, putting her in the 36th percentile, as of 27 weeks. She should be closer to the 2-3 pound range according to all the apps now.

Cravings: Nothing pregnancy related. I would prefer to have a (decaf) Pumpkin Spice Latte within arms reach at all times though. God bless Starbucks, haha

Aversions: There are still things that don't sound good, but for the most part I'm ok. I ate brisket and deviled eggs yesterday and both tasted good.

Drinking: Water, Milk & Pumpkin Spice Lattes

Clothes: Comfy! Mostly pants and t shirts. I like wearing dresses, but they don't provide much belly support.

Gender: It's a girl! Full steam ahead on the hairbows, headbands and ruffly bloomers!

What I miss: Being able to move more easily

What I’m looking forward to: Wrapping up the last trimester! And my showers!

Went to see the doctor & midwife last week. Baby's heartbeat sounds good. I asked them both if some babies just aren't as active as others because I don't feel her move a whole lot. And when I do, it's just for a second. The doctor said she does have a slower heartbeat, so she probably is just chilling in there. I also have my fat layer and the anterior placenta cushioning her. Plus she's on the smaller side. All that combined means I just don't feel her like most people can feel theirs. However, she knew I was talking about her and has been a lot more active since then. Then Friday I inadvertently ordered regular, not decaf, at Starbucks. She was wiggling up a storm Friday! I even felt her kick and could distinguish that it was her foot. It was creepy! I know it's supposed to be beautiful and all, but I think it's weird that there's a living human inside my stomach. I have trouble wrapping my head around that. It's fascinating. But super weird. Now that she's getting bigger and I can feel her move more it really weirds me out.

The first time they took my blood pressure at the doctors office it was elevated so they had me lay down then they retook it and it was fine. There was no protein in my urine so they weren't worried about it. She said I should be thinking about taking it easy at work though. She has NO idea. It really doesn't get easier than I have it. For a long time my job was super high stress. Like not healthy at all stressful. But since the buy out, things have settled down and there's still plenty of work to do, but the atmosphere is so much different. I'm definitely not feeling stress from work. She mentioned that in Europe most women take off work for the month before they have the baby. Umm... no thanks. I'm pretty sure women is Europe are also paid to do that. I would not be. As much as I like the idea of sleeping in and not having to get dressed to come to work, that's not very practical. Short of her putting me on bedrest, I'll probably be sitting at my desk when I go into labor, haha.

And I hadn't really had any other stress. We hosted a baby shower the night before for a couple in my Sunday School group who is adopting a little boy. But that was fun, not stressful. The more I thought about it, I may not have been feeling stressed, but I had probably stressed my body. I hadn't had much sleep the past several days. Lots of late nights cleaning the house or hanging out with friends. Was definitely not getting enough sleep. I think that probably contributed to it.

So I told her I'd start trying to take weekends off. I'm sure she thought I meant work, but I meant from all my stuff. I cannot sit still. I always want to be going and doing. Errands to run, people to see, projects to work on. Go, go, go. All the time. So I've been trying to take it easy at home. Not making us run a million errands. Not trying to clean everything myself. Not finding things to do. I knew I needed something to keep me sedentary and I don't have the attention span to read right now, so I picked up some yarn for a baby blanket. I've never made anything that big, but I figured, how hard can it be? Luckily the yarn I picked up has fluffy pieces on it, so it hides mistakes. You also can't see the stitching so I'm just using a regular garter stitch so it comes together quickly and I don't have to think too much about what I'm doing (am I on knit or pearl?). I picked up a few stitches it looks like, but hey, it'll be soft and warm and I don't think it will matter to Lorelai. I did have to pick up some circular needles though. I'd never used them before. They're still a little awkward to hold sometimes, but it's cool to see the big piece of knitting all stretched out on them. And hey, it keeps me sitting down.

I told the midwife about my doctor's visit and when she took my blood pressure, the top number was higher than when I was at the doctor, but my bottom number was lower. Apparently, the bottom one is more important to her, so she was happy, but echoed the need to prevent it from becoming a problem. She had a few herbs and supplements she wanted me to start taking as well as a list of ways to combat high blood pressure in the third trimester. The first thing she gave me is this herbal spray called Mama Calm. It has Motherwort, Lemon Balm, Lavender, Chamomile and Skullcap in it and it tastes horrible. Then she has me taking Cal-Mag with Citrate, Hops, and Choline. That's fine. Grabbed all of that and have been taking it since the appt.

However, the list of suggestions to "combat high blood pressure" was a little much. It seems to be from the same people who publish the Brewer diet, which is number one on the list. It's basically the pregnancy version of a high protein, low carb diet. However, the daily recommendations of things you should be eating is extensive. I decided early on that it would not be practical for me to try to follow it. The next suggestion was to eat a protein snack EVERY HOUR I'M AWAKE and to set a timer to remind myself. Excuse me? I would literally never eat anything but protein because I would never be hungry enough for a meal, knowing I'd just have to eat again in 30 minutes. No fruits and veggies. That's not healthy. Plus, if I'm supposed to be taking it easy, wouldn't it be stressful to have to stop what you're doing every hour because a timer went off and you had to eat? I would be so irritated. Then the final suggestion that gave me a good laugh was to keep protein by the bed and eat EVERY TIME I WAKE UP. So now, not only do I have to pee 3-4 times a night, but I have to stay up to eat something too? I don't think so. She scratched off a few recommendations she didn't want me to follow. One of them was to increase your calorie intake to 3000-4000 calories per day. What exactly will eating around the clock do? How am I supposed to eat all the time and not increase my calorie intake? So I decided to keep my diet in tact. It's working for me. I'm healthy. I'm not gaining a ton of weight. In fact, I lost a pound at my last doctor visit so I've only gained 4 total pounds. So unless my blood pressure becomes more of an issue, I'm going to keep on keeping on and see how all these supplements help. I definitely don't want to add stress because I'm worried about eating all the time. I worry about that enough without having to make sure I'm checking off a list of things I'm supposed to be eating every day. I go see the doctor again next week and we can take it from there!

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