I'm Starving my Wife and Child

I'm only Shelly's S%&T list today.

Today was our OB appointment and her Glucose Tolerance test. I was 100% sure she needed to fast for the Glucose test. I even called a friend just to make sure. So Shelly was allowed NOTHING but a little water after 10:00 pm last night. We the found out at the lab that there was no need for the fasting. Oops! Word of caution to all non-carrying spouses out there - NEVER STARVE A PREGNANT WOMAN!! Hopefully once the bagel kicks in she'll forgive me.

No results yet on the Glucose or Iron tests. I'm not sure if we'll hear back from the lab today or Monday.

No protein in Shelly's urine! Great news as they we're previously slightly concerned about Preeclampsia.

She gained 4 pounds this past month putting her at a total of just over 7 pounds total for the pregnancy. The doctor's happy with this as she'd like her to keep her weight gain between 10 and 15 pounds.

She's measuring 31 weeks which is a week ahead. This means we could have a big baby.

Shelly's back has REALLY been bothering her. She has a history of back problems and had back surgery about 12-13 years ago. The doctor has finally convinced her to give Physical Therapy a try. She starts that next week.

Next week is our next Ultrasound. They'll most likely talk to us about beginning non-stress tests on the baby which will require a trip to Maternal Fetal Medicine twice a week.

Isn't it odd that in your last weeks of pregnancy you get the least amount of rest. We're going from one OB and one MFM appointments a month to:

• One OB appointment every two weeks
• One Physical Therapy appointment every week
• Two Maternal Fetal Medicine appointments a week

Shelly's not looking forward to this. Her big question is "When will I find time for my nap?". And again she reminds me that it's not easy being 41 (soon to be 42) and pregnant. But it's all going to be worth it when we officially welcome our beautiful baby girl into this world.

Binge Blogger

Hi. My name is Dee and I'm a Blogaholoic. I'm not a daily blogaholic but more of a Binge Blogoholic. Yes, I Binge Blog. I typically Binge on Wednesday's, Thursday's, Friday's and Saturday's. I'd love to Binge Blog Sunday through Tuesday but life is crazy busy on those days. So, to all of you who are also Binge Bloggers, I hope you can relate. :)

So, it's Wednesday, and I'm binging. My wife is watching the Jazz and I'm about to enjoy an hour or so of blogging pleasure. I could experience BBF (Binge Blogger Fingers) tomorrow but it's worth it keeping everyone updated and staying up date on my fellow bloggers.

Shelly is miserable. She's experiencing back pain, heart burn, bruised ribs, and exhaustion. I've also caught her head spinning around several times lately. My response to this is of course to LAUGH which only makes her head spin faster. I'm loving every minute of it knowing we're in the home stretch and I can live with this alien being staying in our home for another eight to ten weeks.

Riley is still active and sassy. We have had a couple of days this week where she wasn't very active. Of course we panicked, got out the Doppler, and quickly reassured ourselves she was just fine. We now think it was just a growth spurt. She seems to have one to two days a week where she's pretty mellow. Then the next two days Shelly feels as if she's run out of space again and BAM, her stomach has popped more.

Friday we have a Doctor appointment with our OB/GYN. Shelly will take the Glucose test. Hopefully we get good results there. After this appointment we start going to the doctor every two weeks. How exciting. We're getting so close. Next week is our next MFM Ultrasound to see how little Riley is doing. Hopefully the Hygroma is staying the same. I'm not sure what the protocol is with Perinatologist at this stage. I wonder if we'll increase the U/S frequency during the last 10 weeks or not. Guess we'll find out next week.

This weekend should be a crazy one. We have to get the basement cleaned out for the contractor to start on Monday. Shelly works all weekend. I'm going to help our friends move. I have to help Steve finish putting Bead Board up in Riley's room. Then, on Sunday, we're going to Disney on Ice with Tate and her Mommies!

Next weekend Shelly and I are spending the weekend in Park City to celebrate her birthday and our 10 year anniversary. We thought we'd be doing lots of shopping. Instead, with the way Shelly's feeling, we may be spending most of the time in the room resting, watching movies, and ordering room service. At least we're out of the city and it's just the two of us.

I'll snap a 30 week belly shot of Shelly this weekend in some of her new Maternity clothes!

March Madness!

Roxi got a new Basketball in celebration of March Madness. She just had to share how cute she is with all of you. Have a great weekend!

Cool Slideshows

So Pregnant

Okay, I know Shelly is the pregnant one but I feel SOOO pregnant this week. I know it's most likely PMS but COME ON! I feel moody, fat, Bitchy (notice the capital B!), and emotional as I think pregnant women feel. And, I'm craving salt and chocolate. I know it's not as extreme as being pregnant but I hate feeling like this and can't imagine going through it for nine months. Kudos to all pregnant women and mom's who've carried babies out there. You're tough cookies!

That's all for today. I'm almost too ornery to type!

The Bird

We had our follow-up Fetal Foto appointment on Tuesday. The good news is it was WONDERFUL to see our little girl. The bad news is she still wouldn't give us a good full face shot so we're going back again in a few weeks. Until then I don't have any pictures to post because they kept the CD/DVD.

Riley is SO SASSY! She was a complete wiggle worm throughout the entire appointment. She likes to keep her hand in front of her face. It was almost as if she were telling us "No sneak peaks. You'll see me when I'm ready for you to see me!"

She's definitely FEISTY! Every time they'd think we were in a good position to get good 4D images she'd move. This happened over and over. After about 20 minutes she brought her hand up to the side of her face and FLIPPED US THE BIRD for about 30 seconds! I think she'd had enough of the poking and prodding. She's totally practicing for her teenage years! After she was done flipping us off she gave us a peace sign. I think she was saying, "Peace out. I'm not cooperating anymore. Go away. We're done for now."

It was amazing to see her again. We also learned she just may be a thumb sucker. She really likes to keep her hands in front of her face. And, although we're expecting a beautiful bald baby, she did have a few little hair wisps at the back of her head.

We didn't look at the Hygroma much. Legally they're not allowed to point out medical issues. I think that it looks the same size. We'll know for sure in two weeks at our next Maternal Fetal Medicine Ultrasound. We know it won't go away but I think, based on my vast medical knowledge, that she's growing like a weed and it's staying the same.

Shelly's starting to get pretty uncomfortable. Riley's wedged herself underneath her ribs. She says she feel as if her ribs are actually bruised. I know she's totally miserable because her Mom called today with Jazz tickets to Saturday's game and she turned her down! These aren't your average tickets either. They're 5th row, center court, right behind Larry H, and come with dinner before the game and snacks at half time. I would have bet $1000 that she'd still go to a game if she was asked but no, she doesn't feel like she could sit through the entire game. Wow! This is getting serious!

28 Weeks

We're 28 weeks today!

How Riley's doing:

• Her eyebrows and eyelashes are now very noticeable!
• Hair on Riley's head is growing longer. Some babies are born with almost none at all, while others appear to be ready for their first haircut! We tend to think she's going to be a baldy.
• Eyes are completely formed now. Quite a view from inside!
• Her body is getting plump and rounded. Most of that increase is muscle tissue and bone. Fat will be added during the third trimester.
• Muscle tone is improving. Preparation for the Olympics feels like it is taking place in Mama Shelly's tummy!
• Her lungs are capable of breathing now (but she would still struggle and require medical attention if born now).
• She can recognize our voices now and will often calm to it later on!
• She weighs in now at approximately 2.2 pounds and is about 14.8 inches.

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. We had to prepare the house for our friend Erin's 40th birthday party. I didn't want Shelly to feel anxious about getting the house clean, plus I didn't want her to get wore out before the party, so I made her an appointment for a Maternity Massage. She loved it. Plus it gave me a chance to crank the stereo and scrub!

It was great to see friends last night we hadn't seen in awhile. Plus, many of those friends now have kids. It use to be, in all too recent years, a party meant lots of loud and intoxicated adults. Now a party consists of loud toddlers hopped up on sugar. Lots of fun! Our friends Kori & La came with their two year old twin boys, Beau and Brady. They've gotten so big! And are so cute! I think they had a great time playing with Tate.

Our other friends brought their six month old little girl Scout. She pretty much just wanted her Mommies but did LOVE playing with Tate as well.

I put the camera away early and didn't get many pictures. But we did catch Tate showing her excitement over having a party for her Mama Erin's birthday.

We thought it would be fun to snap a picture of Shelly and LB together. It's Riley and Talor's very first picture together. Shelly's 28 weeks. LB's 24 weeks.

We have our follow-up Fetal Foto appointment on Tuesday. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures to post. We didn't invite the entire tribe to go with us this time. Last time we had about 10 people with us (family and God Parents). Shortly after that we learned about Riley's complications and we think, because everyone had already seen her, it might have made it a little harder on those who were at the first appointment. I cant wait to see her face in 4D!

Cheese Please

I read a post today on Arcane Matters that made me laugh. It prompted me to post an update on Shelly's cravings. Thanks Jennifer!

Shelly has always been a simple water drinker. No soda for her. She'll mix it up now and then with OJ, V8 or Wine, but that's about it. The first month of pregnancy she started craving Coke, as in Coca-Cola. My opinion was that no soda should be consumed because it's full of lots of "bad" stuff and no "good" stuff. Of course my opinion doesn't count when it's comes to cravings. She's the prego, not me. She instead decided she WAS GOING TO HAVE HER COKE! But, only ONE a day. For the first six months she stuck to it. There were days where she would have no coke but very rarely would she have more than one.

Now that we're headed into the third trimester her cravings have gotten wackier. For example, today it was cheese. Cheese bread, cheese cake, cheese soup, cheese and crackers, etc. Anything with cheese. So, being the loving wife that I am, and since I'm working from home today, for lunch I ran out to get her a Cheese Enchilada, Cheese Quesadilla, and Cheese and Beef Taco. Why so much you ask? She doesn't eat much at any one sitting but she does like variety. She's now got enough leftovers to enjoy this cheese craving for three more days. I hope the next craving turns out to be cookies or something I love!