One Month To Go and Counting

Today is exactly one month from our due date. I am surprised to find that I haven't shared any news or photos for over a month, so let me see if I can summarize. (I never know if I should put the photos in order or backwards. Here they are chronological from week 32 to week 35.) Weight gain has slowed down most likely due to 24 hour heart burn and a tiny squished up stomach. The day or so after my Week 31 appointment, I felt babygirl drop. When I say "felt" I mean that the shooting pains low in the groin began in earnest which is what I associate with dropping. Also there was a sudden increase in the violence with which I was being bumped from the inside out. In my mind that made sense that she had just given herself some additional workout space. Now I get elbows and knees constantly. There was no accompanying lessening of the squished stomach syndrome however so I was anxious for my week 33 appointment to see what the doctor thought. At that appointment, sure enough my stomach was measuring small. Not just small, but smaller than two weeks prior so just to be sure all was well I was sent to have an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed everything to be within normal ranges so we are operating on the assumption that she has dropped.I now have more maternity clothes that don't fit than ones that do. I am rapidly depleting my clothing options. I'm afraid that I'll be down to underwear and a t-shirt by the time we make it to the hospital!

Everything else progressing along just fine. I am now to the point where I get to go to the doctor's office every week. That means an hour wait followed by a seven minute appointment. Yippie! Lorelei has been disappointed that she hasn't been to an appointment with me in a long time to hear the heartbeat so when I make my next appointment, I will do so thinking to bring the girls along for a listen. Both of them seem very excited about the prospect of having their baby sister on the outside. Emma really enjoys the idea of being bigger than someone else in the family.

By the third daughter, we really don't need much of anything other than diapers. I did realize last week that the $10 messenger style bag that we bought to use as a secondary diaper bag (that then became the one and only diaper bag while the $50 bag that I had labored over choosing sat unused) finally fell to pieces. So I bought a new diaper bag. It is red. Lightweight. Lots of pockets. Can be worn messenger style and seems like it will wash well in the machine. Soon we will have to get into the storage unit to dig out the baby clothes, the bottles, the bibs, the pillows, you know the "baby stuff". Unfortunately it will all be coming home to the apartment, but hopefully not for too long before we will finally be able to move into the house.

This past weekend we celebrated Mother's Day on my favorite beach, Siesta Key. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Wide, fine, white-sand beach with shallow water for a long way into the ocean with only gentle waves. It was warm but not blazing and there was a bit of a breeze. There were also no jelly fish to contend with this time. I really didn't want to leave - ever.

3/4 ths of the Way Toward Goal

This week marks 30 weeks. In my mind that means the big mile marker of 3/4ths of the way to the end - or 75% of the way. That sounds impressive, right? Only 10 weeks to go! Of course when I think about it in terms of days (70) it doesn't seem quite so close. Today we spent some time at the beach. It was lovely after a fairly disappointing past couple of months - cold and rainy - to be at the beach. Unfortunately there were a million man-o-wars washed and continuing to wash up on the beach so we didn't get to actually enter the water, but we still had a great time as you can see.

Going for the Zen

Yesterday was my most recent check-up. The big event was the diabetes screening test - which I'll find out the results of next week. I did gain another 6 pounds in the past month despite all the gold stars on my calendar for exercising! I talked with Dr. Esserman about the non-typical weight gain (non-typical for me that is). He said that I am doing fine and that asked about eating starches and ice cream. I really did cut back on the carbs for several weeks after my last appointment - but seriously salads are seriously overrated. I tried to arrive at a zen-like acceptance of what will be will be and stop worrying about the weight gain. It hasn't actually worked out for me, but I also haven't eaten another salad in the past week. I told my doctor that I would rather gain 60 pounds than give up ice cream and that is what I'll do. I'll still be exercising and frankly there isn't that much in my diet - other than the ice cream obsession - to worry about.

So today I ate a protein bar, went to the gym, had an egg white omelet washed down with low sodium V-8 and ate a pint of ice cream. Does that count for a zen-like balance?

(Photos below weeks 26 and 25. Above is week 27.)

Triplets?

Lorelei and Emma are showing off their very pregnant bellies. Poor Emma's baby is already hanging half out! Clearly Emma is carrying low - must be a girl and Lorelei is carrying out front almost like a soccer ball - must be a boy.

Recent Belly Shots

 

 

Week 20

 

Week 21 - slimming horizontal stripes to dazzle the eyes.

Week 23

 

Medical Evidence

 

Week 24

Doctor Update

So I gained even more weight this past month - a whopping 7 pounds. The doctor was not at all concerned. He predicted that my weight gain will still put me squarely within the American average. Fantastic. I am a lot of things- but average American is not one of them (or so I thought). Seeing and hearing that I was clearly concerned he acknowledged that I may just be more conscientious than most. So what were his recommendations? Overhaul my diet. Forget that what seemed to work just fine for my first two pregnancies because it ain't working now. Instead focus on a low glycemic diet. (Read less cereal) So I am trying. It is really hard because I have never been a low carb eater. I am not a super fan of protein and most vegetables hate me. But I am trying. I will for sure keep everyone posted on how the month goes and what the result is. By 28 weeks I'll also have the glucose tolerance test completed and see if gestational diabetes is at play.

Gaining Momentum - and Weight

Today is week 24. Yeah. Three weeks away from the third and final trimester. Yippie do dah. I have an appointment this morning and I am anxious for the weigh in and also for a very serious conversation with my doctor about my weight gain. I don't expect that my concerns will be well received, but I have to try. Maybe once I know my weight gain for this past month it will support or debunk my argument that something is not quite right.