Quick Update: more tests, gallblader, glucose test

Its definitely been awhile since my last post, and although it’s partially from my laziness, its also because I have been surprisingly busy!




So just to update, I went to a great baby shower thrown by my mother in law and two friends, Courtney and Lindsay at my MIL’s house in Granite Bay, Ca. It was a great day, but I will post about that another time.



Since then, I’ve slowly crawled into my third trimester officially, been taking birthing classes, toured the hospital we will be delivering in, gone to a bachelorette party, wedding and thrown a wedding shower! It’s been a fun an exciting month, nonetheless! Plus work has gotten extremely busy with my peak season starting, so sleeping and resting have become a huge apart of my daily schedule.



But the thing I most want to blog today about is my recent pregnancy related issue. Well, I believe its pregnancy related, but it could also just be “bad eating habit” related. I don’t remember if I mentioned this, but everyone kept saying to me “ you’re pregnant, you can eat what you want!”… this my friends… is so NOT true and I feel as though I’ve learned this the hard way. But, I am learning from my mistakes!



First of all, back in the end of April, I took my 1 hour glucose test. If you’re not familiar with the process, well this is how it goes. Depending on your doctor, they will tell you to fast for 12 hours or tell you to fast for 2. My doctor told me to fast for 2 hours, drink this small red drink and get my blood drawn within an hour of drinking it. (I have severe pregnancy brain, so I think this is how it all went). Well, the reason the drink was red, was because it was fruit punch flavored….. YUCK! I do like fruit punch, I don’t like it when its as sugary and syrupy as that was! Oh, and you have to drink it within a 5 min time period. So not only is it on a empty stomach, its gross and you feel like you want to vomit the whole time. Well, I did this got my blood drawn and to my surprise, I FAILED!



I was really upset and depressed about it. I felt like it could totally have been avoided by eating better and not indulging on every little craving I had! Well, since I failed, I had to go back and take the 3 hour glucose test. This was terrible. It’s similar to the 1 hour test, except, you fast for 12 hours, go get your blood drawn, then they make you drink the drink again(this time I got lemon lime, it was better), then get your blood drawn every hour for three hours. Yes, that means you got your blood drawn 4 times in 1 day. Which, if you’re anything like me, it mades you sick to think about. I was sooo lightheaded by the end of it, I had to take the rest of the day off of work, and you can bet I managed to sleep the whole day, and night.



These tests test for gestational diabetes. Well, thankfully, I passed my 3 hour test and don’t have gestational diabetes. Whew! Regardless, it was awake up call to eat better and be a better mom for my unborn child. Now, I’m not saying I have been a staint about what I eat, but I have definitely taken the idea of “eat whatever you want, whenever you want” out of my head.



Well, although the scare has helped me make better food choices, it hasn’t made my bad food choices completely disappear. Last week, I went to lunch and decided to enjoy a nice meal of chicken fingers and fries. They were tasty, but nothing amazing. I couldn’t even finish since the meal was so big. Later that night, after making dinner, my stomach was starting to feel a little off. But I assumed I was hungry, so I ate dinner, and the feeling still didn’t go away. It got worse.



Now, I actually tend to get stomach aches fairly often and know that when it’s a stomach ache, my whole belly aches. This time, it was only at the top of my belly (TMI warning), just under were my giant breasts now sit. The pain was always there but got worse in waves. So since at first I thought it was a stomach ache, I went to the bathroom and just sat there hoping something would happen, and I would feel better. Nope, nothing usual happened and I definitely wasn’t feeling better, then suddenly, I had to urge to vomit. Sometimes, when I have stomachs I also feel like I have to vomit, but I don’t actually vomit. Well, this time, I did and a lot.



Thankfully, someone had just explained to me what a contraction feels like and that your whole belly gets extremely hard. Well, my belly wasn’t hard so we knew it wasn’t a contraction(thank goodness!) So once the vomiting started, Cole called a 24 hour nurse hotline. They explained it was my gallbladder, and that I could be passing a gallstone. All I could think was “wow… didn’t read anything about my gall bladder in all those pregnancy books!” The nurse asked about what I had eaten and said the chicken finger and fries must have triggered it and that there was no medicine I could take to ease the pain since I was pregnant. The only thing I could do is wait it out, and eat better in the future. I was very upset to hear that. So I layed on my left side and did my best to quietly handle my pain since it was now 11pm and I knew both Cole and I had to work the next day.



I was so exhausted from the lack of food in my body and the pain I was going through, I quickly fell asleep, (while still noting the pain while sleeping). The pain did eventually go away and I was so relieved! It was unlike any stomach pain I had ever had and don’t want to risk going through it again. Again, if I had been better about eating, this may not have happened.



So I went to my OB yesterday (Monday) for my regular appointment, and told her about my episode. She told me there IS medicine I could have been given and if it were to happen again to go to the hospital so I can be treated. I was a little upset to hear that I didn’t need to be going through that pain, but glad to know I managed through it. But due to the issue, my doctor had me go and get an ultrasound done so that they can check my gallbladder.



I went this morning and the nice ultrasound tech also checked on the baby for me as well :) She’s doing good and at my request she also “double checked” the sex for me. The baby is STILL a girl! Haha She was moving like a maniac, kicking me during the session and was head down. I don’t know the results yet as far as my gallbladder goes, but hopefully I’ll know in a few days.

It's a Girl!

Lots to update!

First of all, here’s the 19wk picture from last week. Its not all that different from the 17 week one. I’ve gained about 5 pounds in the last 4 weeks! Ugh! Doctor still says I’m doing good, so I guess I am! Haha

I am officially halfway and on week 20! Woo hoo and with that, I went to my anatomy ultrasound on Monday. It was really fun and interesting. We found out that it’s a GIRL! We have a beautiful little daughter to welcome into this world :) When we found out, I, of course, cried.

Let me tell ya, she’s STILL a mover! She was all over the place and the ultrasound tech had to chase her all over my belly to get all the measurements she needed. Then when I moved to my left side, she clamed down a little. Which is interesting because that’s the side I usually sleep on!

But they ended up getting measurements of her legs, arms, head, stomach, heart, open hands and spine. She definitely made the ultrasound tech work for it! We were there for a good 2 hours trying to get them all.

The most asked question now is “Do you have a name yet?”. No we definitely don’t have a name yet. We were kind of preparing ourselves for a boy so we have a boy name all ready to go! But as for a girl, we have a few names we’re kicking around, but nothing we’re set on. So until we are set on a name, we’re not saying anything.

What we’ve learned from the first few months of pregnancy, is everyone wants to “help” with names. But Cole and I want to pick it out for ourselves and really don’t want a lot of opnions. It makes the whole process that much more complicated. Then if you add the “well.. this name would be good cause its your aunt so-an-so.” Just makes its all into a bigger mess. So, when we have a name, and we’re ready to share. We will, but until then we don’t have much. It’s a lot of pressure, so we’re trying to take our time with it :)

Her Face

Left Leg (hopefully ballet legs like mom!)

Her feet: Looks like they need little slippers on them

Profile

She likes to play with her feet. Yes that huge thing by her head is her foot.

Intelligender Test and other Gender Prediction methods

After reading a few people talking about this “intelligender test”, it finally sparked our curiosity to try it.
So we did. There is definitely no 100% guarantee of it being correct. It probably has the same likely hood of being accurate as the Chinese gender chart. Anyways, a trip to Walgreen and $35 later, its finally at our home ready to be used.
Now if you’ve never heard of it, I will tell you what it is. It is basically an at home gender test that you can use as early as 10 weeks. Well, we are at week 17 and are eagerly waiting for out next ultrasound to find out the gender of our little one. There are 3 componets to this test. 1. a regular plastic cup 2. a cup with a lid and one side that says “boy” in a brownish color and “girl” in an orangish color.3. a syringe, no needles.
So how this works is, you wait till your first urination of the day. Right as you get out of bed. Which I can imagine will be tricky to remember that early if you don’t have a adorable husband who wakes up earlier than you and wake you up an hour before you should and says “babe….. do you want to go to the bathroom now?” haha he’s so cute
So you get up, step 1 :) and pee in the plastic cup. Then you take the syringe and get 20ml of your early morning pee and put it in a hole at the top of the cup with a lid. Then you discard the remainder of the pee and swirl the sealed cup for 10 seconds. Next you rest it on a white surface for exactly 5 minutes.
There was some powder on the bottom of the cup with the seal. Actually some of that powder looked like glitter so it really started to make me wonder…
After 5 minutes if the liquid was now a brownish color, it is a boy. But if it is an orangish color, then it is a girl.
Wondering what color it turned for us? :)
Well, it turned BROWN :) for BOY!

So now our standings look like this:

Intelligender test: Boy
Chinese Gender Chart: Girl
Old wives tales: Girl
Family: Girl
Some Friends: Girl
Some Friends: Boy
So who knows…
We'll find out in about 2 weeks! Either way, we are thrilled. So if you're wondering if we've thought of names yet? Well, go ahead and keep wondering. We've decieded that we are going to keep it a secret until we have a name we're sticking with. Basically because we dont want anyone's opinion. We want it to be our own :)

Hopefully Cole and I will remember to take my 17wks bump picture tonight. Ya know, before we fall asleep at 8pm :)

3rd OB Appointment

So we had our 3rd OB appointment yesterday and it went well. It was very short though. Just a “how are doing? Any questions? Are you feeling the baby move yet?” and then they checked the baby’s heartbeat on the Doppler again and the doctor said “very good! 132”




Then she gave us the referral to the imaging center so we can find out the sex of the baby!!! We’re so excited but they won’t see us before 20wks, so our appointment to find out the sex is on March 21st! a month away! This is going to feel like the longest month ever!



There have been a few things I’ve discovered in the last couple weeks. 1. As much as I love the taste of it, my stomach can no longer hold fast food easily. No McDonalds, no burger king, no arby’s and no taco bell. The last two really break my heart, but I have been so sick after trying to have fast food, so I am taking it out of my diet. You would think with no alcohol, no caffeine, and no fast food, I wouldn’t be gaining as much weight as I am! Well, I guess that’s the sneaky thing about carbs. Oh I’ve gained another 4lbs since my last visit. My doctor said “good! You’re gaining weight!” Which was not the response I excepted. I expected “its great you’re gaining weight but you might want to slow it down a notch.” Oh well… it guess its good! I guess in her eyes I’ve only gained 8lbs… but I’m counting sicne the wedding.. and as I’ve mentioned, I’ve gained a steady 4 lbs each other since the wedding!! So, if you care to do the math, you’ll know how much I’ve REALLY gained  but its not all from pregnancy, so I guess I’ll go with what my doctor thinks 



Also, I am more tired now than I was in my first trimester! Last weekend was a 3 day weekend for Cole and I. I took a 2 hour nap, but sat and Sunday and a 3.5 hour nap on Monday!! I also went to bed early each night. I had no problem at all falling back asleep. The bad side is that I waste my day away sleeping. The good side? Cole does all the laundry while I’m asleep. This is usually one of my duties of the house. But he finished 3.5 loads during my Monday nap!



Lastly, this post nasal drip is driving me nuts! I constantly have, what I think is a headache and is probably sinus pain. I went to buy a netti pot and they were out. So I grabbed a saline spray that is suppose to do the same thing as a netti pot. I wasn’t doing it right. First… is came out my throat. Then just came out of the same nostril, then.. Cole decided I was doing it wrong and pushed it really far in my nose and my nose started bleeding. So I’m just going to wait till I can get my hands on a normal netti pot and go from there.



Lastly, I’ve decided. Brody wins for the “has the most sympathy pains in the house”. He eats ALL the time and is always hungry. He’ll eat whatever you give him. He doesn’t even need to smell it first. He sleeps as often as possible and only on comfortable surfaces. Can only exercise for so long before running out of engery. Recently has had lots of gas, AND…… today he woke up with me on of my many trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night and as I left, Cole walked in to shower and I left brody in there. We both heard him whinning more than normal… then I hear Cole say “Brody!! No!! Stop!” HAHAHAHAH the little guy has had his pee pee accident in 2.5 years. Now, im not saying I had an accident, I just mean, he had to go really bad too and couldn’t hold it in any longer. Well, poor guy. He even tried to jump in the shower with cole before his accident. If he had made it into his shower and had his accident… he probably wouldn’t have been in trouble at all. Even though I doubt he realized there was a drain in the shower and if anything was trying to get dad’s attention.





Well… that’s the most recent updates!

Sharon's Bachelorette and NT Scan Appointment

So much has happened and ill try to sum it all up!

Last weekend was a blast! I flew to Sacramento to see Sharon and we went up to South Lake Tahoe with 16 of her closet friends! We had shared a cabin between the 18 of us and it was a great time! The first day we drove up and just hung out around the cabin. That night everyone had drinks, except me, and enjoyed a little dance party with games. Also, to everyone’s surprise a male stripper was invited. I won’t into too much detail, but he was definitely an older man, slightly balding and had no rhythm. He was even clapping off beat.

I’m sure he did his best and as much as Sharon did not really enjoy it or like the idea at all, she was a good sport about it and it made the night fun. I mean, how awkward is it when a male stripper comes and the bachelorette isn’t being a good sport?? Seriously… he’s standing there in a thong…. what’s he suppose to do now?

Hahahaha, it was fun to watch and everyone seemed to have gotten a good laugh from the show. I’m glad I didn’t have one at mine is all I can say  Well, I guess I did if you count being brought on stage at Thunder from Down Under. Which , I will say, those dancers have AMAZING bodies (and lots of hair on their heads…well at least the one that picked me did) so I was kind of okay with it!

Anyways, the next day we walked around the town, watched the sex and the city movie and got ready to go out. I, of course, napped twice during the day. We also did a mini shower where the gifts were suppose to be travel related and Sharon had to guess who gave it to her. She guessed mine right. The Tiffany’s Desk Planner…. I want one 

We went on a party bus to get to the casino Mont Bleu and went to club Opal. Were there was a pretty nice VIP area sectioned off for us! Lots of pillows and a big both to sit in. It was a great night! I was definitely sad to leave my family again. Since I got to see Jennie, Ivy (my cousin in law) and my mom too. I miss Sacramento so much.

Tuesday, we went to our NT scan. We went to Washington imaging center in Issaquah. It was great except they request you drink 24oz of water 1 hour prior to your appointment. With my bladder being an issue as it is, I was stressing out the night before that I would have an accident during the appointment. I even had a dream that I did!!

Needless to say, I made it just fine. I did find out why I’m soo tired too! The baby is moving around so much!! It was nuts! What a busy body just like it’s dad. We don’t; know the sex yet, and are very excited to find out! The baby is acting like my uterus is an anti gravity machine and is flipping all over the place! Most of the pictures we got to take home are random. No normal pictures because the baby would not sit still! I hope this isn’t a sign!

(Heres a picture of the baby's hand at it's mouth)

It was an amazing sight though. Sometimes, I forget I’m pregnant and I just feel fat and sick. It was so great to see there is actually something inside me causing me to gain and feel sick. I, of course, cried when I saw the ultra sound, again! This time, being able to see the spine and the arms and legs was just so amazing! The baby is starting to look really human! I don’t think the feeling of “I’m a mom” has really set in just yet, but it did a little more when I saw the baby look like a baby,…. With a giant head.

Heres a picture from the back and you can see the spine and an arm :)

Friday Morning

It’s been a shameful morning thus far.




My morning sickness still sucks. Eating helps a lot. So, I’ve had a bowl of chicken noodle soup, and want another one… 2 pieces of toast and a bag of blueberries. Waiting in the sidelines, I still have a peach, a yogurt and strawberries.



Remember when I said, I’m not eating more but I’m gaining weight? Well, that’s all changed. I’m eating more and gaining weight and there’s nothing I can do to stop myself  I guess its good that its all mostly good for the baby! I did feel like it was necessary though. I felt like a mack truck hit me this morning and had such a hard time getting out of bed and vomiting that I was 40min late to work.



I’ve been reading my “what to expect” book and it told me that my body is working to make this placenta and even when I’m asleep, its working away. Which is why pregnant women are so tired. Well, I hope that placenta is almost done cause I don’t know how much me and my work will be able to handle this!



Next note, something no one mentioned about pregnancy, at least not to me and now I have it. My hair is growing like crazy. I actually only really notice it on my legs, but I feel like a drag queen trying to stay fem. Its nuts!!!! I can’t imagine how its going to be in the summer when my legs are showing and from the morning to night I have a 5 o’clock shadow showing! This is going to be interesting.



Well, this is the last post for the week, as I mentioned in me other post, I will be in Lake Tahoe and enjoying my time with my cousins. Next week, we have an appointment at the imaging center and really look forward to the next ultra sound!

2nd Appointment and Stats

So I am noticing on the baby community boards on the various websites that they put stats of mile markers of the pregnancy in their signatures. Although, I think it’s a great idea to keep track of these things, im going to go ahead and put it in a post rather than in my signature. So here it goes!!!

BFP: 11/29/2010

EDD: 8/8/2011

FU/S: 12/28/2010

FHB: 1/28/2011

That’s all there is for now! So wondering what these crazy acronyms are?

BFP= Big Fat Positive. The first day we got a positive on our HPT(home pregnancy test).

EDD = Estimated Due Date

FU/S: First Ultrasound

FHB: First Heart Beat on the Doppler

Obviously the first two stats are the most exciting, but the list will grow and I will try to update it here and there. Now that we are out of the first trimester and into the second, Cole and I are more excited than ever to watch our little Van Gundy grow!

Anyways, since FHB says 1/25/11 which is today, I guess it’s a good idea to mention how it went!

Nothing too thrilling, but still tears came, nonetheless! They weighed me.. ugh. I’ve gained 4lbs since last appointment which was a month ago. So she said im gaining weight very well and I look good! (I’ve actually gained like 14 total since I became pregnant, but they didn’t weigh me till 8 weeks. So…. Im just going to let them think 4) Keep in mind, I had a little food binge after the wedding too!!!

Also many kind women have told me about their weight gain and how they gained the most in the first trimester and not to worry. Not everyone can be skin, bones and baby. The dr didn’t seem concerned about my physical size, so I’ve decided to not be concerned either. Everyone has a different pregnancy after all!

Next she put the Doppler up to my belly and we heard the heartbeat. Yes, this made me cry on the table, which I am sure made it more difficult to hear. But it went like this… dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub dub. She told us that the reason it would get faint is because the baby was moving around a lot which is good and healthy!

I still have a hard time accepting that there is something living inside me. So anytime I am faced with that fact, I cry a lot. Currently, I am only a pet parent and the mom of 2 loving doggie, who I think of as my children. Brody is my handsome young man, and Taylor is my beautiful little girl. Amazing to think they will finally be put in their “place” as the family pets and no longer my furry children. Yes, I realize how pathetic this paragraph sounds, but it’s the truth.

As for news besides pregnancy, Im headed to Lake Tahoe this weekend for my cousin’s bachelorette party. I know, pregnancy and bachelorette party probably don’t sound like they mix, but Sharon’s one of my bestest friends and its at a cabin. So I won’t necessarily be running around a lot. It will be a lot of fun and really nice to see her! Hopefully I will update with photos next time around:)

updating... nothing much new

Still morning sick, and still regular sick.




I’ve been fighting off a cold the last couple weeks and I can’t wait to be rid of it! This last week was nice. Cole and I have been missing our little girl, our Vizsla, Taylor , and we got to dog sit her friend Nutmeg. Nutmeg is very similar to Taylor so it was really nice to have her around! They are about the same size and weight. Same energy and very similar personalities! Nutmeg and Brody cuddled for most of the day and played occasionally. It really made us miss our Taylor. We watched her from Wednesday to Sunday. It felt SOO short! So now we are definitely trying to see Taylor back as soon as possible.



So before I drown on about pregnancy, have to say GO SEAHAWKS!!! WOO HOO! On their amazing win this weekend against the Super Bowl defending champs the New Orleans Saints! It was a close game and a very exciting one was well. But the Seahawks made Seattle a very happy city on Saturday night! Hope they do well against the Chicago Bears this coming Sunday. Seahawks won the last time they played the bears, but you never know what will happen.



So my tummy has been tossing and turning all morning. I can’t wait till we at least know the sex so I can stop saying “it’s in there”. I don’t really know what to call it or s/he? First things first, boy or girl, the baby is going to need a seahawks onesie! I’m eyeing a few out now. It will be my first baby purchase!



Nothing new on the pregnancy front. Still waiting to hear back from the doctor about the biopsy results. We’re kind of just deciding that no new is good news for now. I have also been so hungry that im started to be disgusted with myself. My appetite has has actually gotten bigger, along with my body, if you can believe it! I’m eating everything in sight and as big as though as I should be 4 months along.. and not 2.5. It’s a little embarrassing. But I’ve decided, I’m just not going to be one of those girls that stays thin and then finally pops out at the end. Its just not me. I’m not going to look like I’m normal from the back either. Hopefully I can tone down the eating a little and have been much better about snacking on something healthy. But the quantities haven’t changed much yet.

Will the morning sickness please go away....

Another day, another revelation.




I’m still battling every morning with morning sickness. Its gotten worse, which is a good and bad thing. The reason its good, is it means the baby is doing well. The more symptoms you feel, the better. From what I’m reading. The bad thing, I’m miserable at work and only feel good when I’m sleeping or in the evenings.
Yesterday, I didn’t want to go to bed too early because I wanted to savor feeling normal. So, I’m trying remedies to make me feel better. The first one, ginger in hot water. It is actually helping a little. I don’t feel like I have to constantly be running to the bathroom to gag. But I still feel weak.
Hopefully im not a huge drag this weekend since we’ll be in Chicago!!!!

My mom said she never had any morning sickness, and I get to have it everyday. This is miserable! I can't wait till im out of my first trimester. I will feel better about a lot more things by that time!