38 Weeks!

We're past 38 weeks! Larin and I are so excited that this little girl is coming so soon! We've been able to get mostly prepared physically, such as setting up the nursery and getting the needed baby items. We're also doing pretty well trying to prepare mentally for this huge change we're about to experience. As each day passes and her arrival draws nearer I feel more and more strongly that this is the most important thing we are doing in our lives right now. We are so blessed to be having this baby girl!

Its been a while since I updated on the pregnancy and other goings-on out here in Vegas, so here are the highlights of the past several weeks:

End of April (Week 29) Tested positive for Gestational Diabetes... but found out they made an error. Re-tested just to be sure. Yes, I got to drink the glucose drink for a third time! Thats what I got for complaining about having to take it the first time. And the second time.

Beginning of May (Week 30) Had a fabulous weekend visiting Emily is Salt Lake. I got to see Dan & Patty and see Emily graduate. So fun! And Emily and I made the yummiest lasagna. And she got to feel her neice wiggling. :)

May 21 (Week 33): Found out I really do have Gestational Diabetes! (The morning after we made homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies... and I ate, like, well... a lot) Luckily I have been able to control it with diet, no insulin! And I've still been able to eat my strawberries, just in moderation and without sugar on top. :)

June 16: We went to the circus!! It was so cool! We took two of Larin's nephews with us. All the acts were amazing, from riders doing tricks riding on horses to lions and tigers to cats, dogs, goats, donkeys, etc doing tricks, to motorcycle tricks, and my favorite: the elephants! One even did a handstand! It was so much fun!

June 17: Celebrated Father's Day!! I am soo excited to get to see Larin holding our daughter!

Last week (37 Weeks): We met with the fetal specialist and diabetic counselor. They did a measurement ultrasound (to make sure our little girl isn't getting too pudgy from my diabetes) and she's measuring a healthy 7 1/2 pounds! On the downside, my blood pressure was high and they were concerned with my amniotic fluid levels. I was ordered to immediate bedrest! ...but negotiated working 1 more day to wrap up loose ends at the office. We also started fetal monitoring every 3-4 days. They're testing to rule out preeclampsia.

Also the end of last week we (Doctors and us) scheduled tentative induction for Friday June 29. This is one week before her due date, but with everything going on medically, they don't think its worth the risk of waiting longer and having something possibly go wrong.

This weekend Larin took me to see the Phantom of the Opera Spectacular show here in Las Vegas. It was fabulous! And spectacular! Even Larin managed to enjoy it! :)

Looking forward, my Mom will be getting here this Wednesday, which I am so grateful for! I'm excited to get to learn from her as I go through all these firsts, and I'm sure she's equally excited about having her first grandbaby! I have officially begun my maternity leave and I'm so excited to have a few days where I'm forced to slow down and relax. We'll probably be having our daughter this next week (no big deal... just adding a little person to our lives)... Yay!

I'll update when she's here... Is the anticipation killing you? Its killing me! :)

28 Weeks

Time is absolutely flying by! We're now at 28 weeks!

Yeah, I can't believe it either. I'm officially in my third trimester. She is getting big! Now when she moves I can REALLY feel it and I can usually feel her moving in more than just one spot. One of my favorite things to do in my downtime is stare at my belly and watch her move. I've also finally gained back the weight I lost in my first trimester (due to the joys of morning sickness)! At our last check-up, our Dr. said everything is still looking good. I also got to take the lovely glucose screening test... what's more fun than drinking something that tastes like cool-aid and chemicals and then getting your blood drawn? 

Things are going well in the other aspects of our lives as well- Larin has a few more weeks left in this semester and then he'll be off from school all summer. I'm excited to get to have him around during the summer, especially when our daughter arrives!

Easter weekend we made a trip to Hiko (Larin's hometown) to visit with his family and my great sisters-in-law hosted a shower up there for all the family. It was so much fun to play games and celebrate this little one. We also got some cute clothes and homemade blankets and other fun baby gifts. Its fun to start to gather the things we need for her. And there are just so many cute things for little girls!

I have a flight booked the beginning of May (yes, with my Dr's approval) to go to Salt Lake for Emily's graduation. I am so excited to see her and celebrate with her.

Things are going great at work and I'm keeping plenty busy. I'm starting to plan for when I "plan" to leave on maternity leave. Yes, I know its kind of pointless to plan for a baby's arrival, since they pretty much arrive when they want to, but I want to have some sort of plan in place so my clients don't suffer with me being gone.

22 Weeks

It's been a while, so what's happened in the past few weeks? Let's take a look...

 Yep! It got bigger!! I finally gave in at 20 weeks and bought some maternity jeans. I still fit my pre-pregnancy jeans, but the "hair-tie holding up the jeans" thing made me nervous when I get up and down off the floor in front of strangers all day. 

22 Weeks (March 5)

We also learned on Valentines Day that "it" is...

 ...

(for those of you who need some direction, this is looking directly at the bum and the white dot towards the center of the picture is next to three lines that are her female parts... and the caption "Look I'm a girl!" tells ya that, well, its a GIRL!) 

It was AMAZING to get to see our BABY GIRL in the "Anatomy" ultrasound. I may or may not have cried for the 2nd half of the unltrasound from excitement about knowing the gender and general relief that our little baby is healthy. Its amazing how much they were able to see (besides just her hoo-hah)! Everything is developing properly which is such a miracle... from seeing the chambers of her heart to the fingers and toes, it truly is amazing! Here's her first close-up:

This is our last scheduled ultrasound, so these may be the last pictures of her until she's born. In the meantime, we've begun preparing for her arrival. From painting to gathering second-hand baby stuff, we are on our way to parenthood!

New Blog

With a baby on the way, I decided it was time for a better blog set-up. So, gone with my single lady blog, now we have a family blog! I will eventually be making this blog private. But for now, how about some baby bump pictures as requested?

Here's 15 weeks (Jan. 15th)

...And 18 weeks. (Feb. 3rd)

I think I look farther along than that! Larin showed me the picture after he took it and I said: "Is that really what I look like?" Wowza!

More posts to follow. Eventually.