27-28 weeks

Well, I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks - but between Thanksgiving, my birthday, and a little trip to NYC - I haven't had time! But I'm happy to report that I'm having a huge surge of energy which served me very well in NYC, as I was happy to go, go, go as long as I wanted without any real sense of handicap or need to slow down. That was wonderful - that cold weather always does me good. I was at Ben's Christmas program tonight for school (his class sang "This Little Light of Mine" and "Frosty the Snowman") and several women commented that I looked so glowy and good. I did have to confess that the glowy look was more due to the windburn from the harsh NYC wind than my hormones, but it was still nice to hear a compliment! We had a great Thanksgiving and I had a fun birthday (32 - almost in my mid-thirties already!). I went to Dr. Laden on December 2, which I was complaining about - right after Thanksgiving and birthday festivities and before my trip. But it turned out not to be so bad. She's already reduced the number of times I have to test my blood from 4 times a day to 2 times a day - so that was welcome news. I did gain 2 pounds, but I expected that, and I'm still at -4 pounds for the whole pregnancy. She also gave me the great news that my hemoglobin A1C levels were lower at my 24 week blood test, than they were at my 8 week blood test, which is rare in pregnancy to lower, especially from someone who is known to be gestationally diabetic. I was proud of myself in NYC - I ate pretty reasonably - only treated myself to pizza one time and dessert one time - everything else was pretty much salads or sandwiches. Plus I got a ton of exercise walking the streets of Times Square! Here are a few pictures from the last two weeks:

Ben and I at church together after his school Christmas program

The NYC ladies in front of Rock Center Cafe

Me posing with the Muppet I made for Jake at FAO Schwarz

The boys and I on my birthday morning

My three guys swinging in the backyard of my parents' house during Thanksgiving.

25 weeks!

This last week I had my 24 week checkup and now we're to 25 weeks. Still no weight gain - which is fine, considering my fighting beginning weight was PLENTY large to begin with! I've been trying to be really faithful to a lower carb diet, which is probably what I attribute to a negative weight gain. Miss Caroline is moving around a whole lot, and Jake and Ben are finally able to feel her wiggling and bumping around. Her bedding came in from Pottery Barn Kids - I'm still not totally sold on it, but it is cute. It's mostly white and pink - the crib sheets are white with pink toile, the bumper is white with pink polka dots on one side, and pink stripes on the other side. The quilt is a two tone voile (which is really lightweight). The collection is called Isabelle, and it was on clearance at PBK. We've decided to move Ben into Jake's room and have both beds and dressers in there, and sharing a closet, but then move bookshelves and some toys into the guest bedroom so that they won't be quite as cramped. That way, the "baby" room can stay the baby room, and we'll still have a dedicated guest room when family and friends come into town. I'm crossing my fingers that the boys will be able to sleep in the same room - that hasn't always been successful, but has gotten better in recent months for things like camping, hotel stays, etc.
At my last dr. appt, Dr. Laden did indicate that she would not be making me take the 1 or 3 hour gestational diabetes tests, as it is fairly safe to assume that I would have it again. She did order the Hemoglobin A1C blood test, which gives doctors an indicator of what my blood sugars have averaged over the previous 3 months. She told me to begin testing my blood sugars 4x per day (yikes!!), and keeping a log of it for a week, and then to fax her the log after a week, and that, coupled with my score on the blood test, would determine for her how to proceed. Well, my blood test results came back "Great" in her words, and since I've bought the food I need to stay faithful to my diet, my blood sugar readings have been outstanding, so I'm hoping that she'll at least decrease the number of times per day that I have to test. Four holes in my hand per day gets old, believe me! This faithfulness to the diet should also keep my weight in check, so that will be good too.

That's all the baby news for now! I'm thinking that I'm going to start posting some belly pictures next time. I never have done that, and since this is most likely my last pregnancy, I do want some documentation of me pregnant - we've noticed in the past that we have neglected to photograph me pregnant. I have two pictures of my pregnancy with Jake, a few with Ben, and very few with Caroline, so I've got to seize the day....and soon - only two more weeks 'til my third trimester.

His Loss, His Gain

Jake lost his 2nd tooth in one month - so his grand total is 2 lost teeth now - both on the bottom front row! He is very proud because this one, he intentionally pulled it (the first one was lost in the middle of an apple bobbing contest). He was very brave and was determined to pull it before bedtime because it was just going to drive him crazy. It was very cute to watch!

Halloween and Football

We had a great Saturday last week - Scott and I took off for Austin, sans children (who were being watched by the ever gracious Donna, and our favorite babysitter, Maggie). Our mission: to attend the UT/OK State football game at DKR Memorial Stadium. We LOVED the peaceful car ride to Austin, where we could talk without being interrupted. We got great parking at the Seminary, and walked over to the Alumni Center where I got to see a couple of old friends before heading over to the stadium. The game was great - our seats were fine, and the football was better, even the Band was great. Afterwards, we each picked up food from our favorite places, me - DoubleDaves, Scott - the Wendy's Baconator, and we made our way back to Conroe (we left Conroe at 10:30am and got back to Conroe at 10:15 pm). It was a full day - but the boys had a great time with their keepers, and we got a whole date day!

Kim and I (both at 21 weeks - my 3rd pregnancy and her TWIN pregnancy)

Caroline's first UT football game

This week is Halloween, and the boys are both in high gear. Jake has decided to recycle last year's UT football costume, that barely got used, as he ran home screaming from a scary zombie adult who freaked him out big time. Ben chose to be Donald Duck this year, and is cute as a button. His preschool class had a little party today and they all dressed in their outfits. He just loved all of the attention his puffy little duck outfit got him. He's at a fun age for Halloween this year.

Jake and his friend Colton at our church's Fall Festival

Ben's Tuesday preschool class in costumes

Donald Duck in jeans!

It's a....

GIRL!

We found out last Tuesday that we are having a daughter! Jake and Ben will have a sister, and they are both getting more and more excited about it. At first, they were a little disappointed not to have another wrestling buddy, but Ben announces about his baby sister at every opportunity.

Everything appears to be happy and healthy! So stay tuned!

Long Overdue Update

Well, it's been almost two years since I last blogged. I can't believe that I let it get away from me for THAT LONG! I mean, I've always been a procrastinator, but this one takes the cake! Anyway, as you can see by my blog title, and the counter on the side, we're having one more baby, due at the beginning of March, and this Tuesday, October 14th (which also happens to be Scott's 32nd birthday), we will get to see a bigger, better picture of the baby, and hopefully find out whether it's a sister or a brother for Ben and Jake. Both boys would like a boy, so they can name him Dude. Hopefully they'll be amenable to a sister named Caroline, or a brother named something a little more traditional than Dude (in other words, we don't have a boy name yet!). So stay tuned for Tuesday's news - hopefully everything will be healthy and bouncing - which I'm more and more confident about as this week has definitely been a turning point week with regards to the amount of moving and shaking going on down there! My mom will be here and she's excited to see the baby, and if we need girl clothes after all, she's prepared to do some shopping immediately following the appointment!