Ava in 3D and Glucose Results

29w 4d

First, Let's start with our adorable little 3D ultrasound images of Ava from this past Thursday.  She was all balled up (literally, had her foot pulled up to her head), and didn't want to give us a good shot of her whole face.  We did get some pretty cute side images though.  As far as her "check up" part, she is doing great!  Her heartbeat was 144bpm.  She is in the 47% for size, but her little torso is a bit short (measuring 28 weeks), and her little legs are a bit long (measuring 30 weeks).  Her head is right on track, and she is almost 3 pounds (2pounds 14 ounces)!! WOW!
During the ultrasound, she appeared to be asleep for the most part, but she did open her eyes a few times (kinda scary looking in ultrasound..).  One of the first things the u/s tech said was that she already has long eyelashes.  Yay for Ava!  I loved that! 

 

 

As far as my Glucose Tolerance Test- things did not go so well after my first attempt.  I had to go back for another 1 hour test (last Wednesday).  I was told to bring Jelly Beans and try eating 18 of those instead of drinking that drink.  The nurse was exceptionally unfriendly to me- she even said that my getting physically ill the first time was "mental".  I needed to have "mind over matter".  I digress- my results were too high after the hour, and they also took my iron level which they said was too low. SO, I left feeling like basically a terrible mom-to-be that I could have 2 things wrong, even thought I feel great (I know development of GD is not something that can be controlled, so I shouldn't have felt bad about that, but I did anyway.). 

 Well, just not feeling "right" about my hemoglobin being 9.1, I went to another lab (2 days later) to have it check through a cbc.  Turns out, my hemoglobin is actually 11.8 (perfectly fine during pregnancy).  Then, I had to go back to the doc today to do the 3 hour glucose test, and after only the first hour, my blood sugar was already well below where it needed to be at 3 hours (and I had to eat twice the Jelly Beans this time- so I'm not really buying that my sugar was 147 with only 50g of glucose, but with 100g it was down to 130 in the same amount of time.)  

  I don't know what happened at the appointment last Wednesday where my levels were so off, but I suspect the nurse had something to do with it. BTW, the glucose machine and iron machine are separate, so if it had been machine error, it would be crazy that it happened on both machines at the same time.  I think she either mixed my results with someone else's, lied, or somehow incorrectly put my blood into both machines... 

Oh well, I should just be thankful that I do not have an iron problem or gestational diabetes, but in the future, I am going to request a different nurse.

Glucola Test #1

27w 5d

Today is my last official day of Fall Break, so to end with a bang, I scheduled my gestational diabetes test (or maybe I just didn’t want to use a sick day for it and had to be close to 28 weeks).  My thought process was that I would at least get to hear Ava’s heart beat (which is always thrilling), even if it meant waking up early and drinking a gross drink on my last day to sleep in. 

            Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.  I had to fast the night before (not easy when your almost 7 months pregnant).  When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised that the orange drink of doom I’ve heard so much about, was actually not bad.  It tasted like orange Hi-C (one of my favorites).  I was feeling pretty smug as I drank the whole bottle with ease and went to wait out my hour.  About 30 minutes in, I started feeling a bit light headed.  I just blamed it on stress from lesson planning (I thought I would kill 2 birds with one stone and made planning my task while I had to wait).  Regrettably the feeling didn’t go away when I put my school stuff up.  I tried to get more comfortable, but nothing was working.  At the point when I really thought I was about to pass out, I went to the front desk and let them know.  They quickly moved me to a room to lie down, but it was too late.  I didn’t pass out, but the second my head hit the pillow, I threw up the orange drink.  Darn.. 40 minutes in..  Only 20 to go..  No one was around, so I went and found a nurse to let her know. 

At this point, I think they just forgot about me.  I was told the doctor would come talk to me to determine what to do (I was hopeful that they would test my sugar anyway since I was close to finished).  No such luck.  I sat in the room for another hour with no one checking in or anything (luckily I didn’t pass out).  I never got to talk to the doctor or hear Ava's heartbeat.  Eventually, I just went back to the main waiting room, and when they saw me, they told me I would just need to reschedule and try again next week.  Great..  Next time, I get to eat Jelly Beans instead of drinking the orange drink.  I hope it’s not as miserable.  It took several hours, and meals, and a nap to feel good/normal again.

On the brighter side, I really don’t *think* I have diabetes.  I am no doctor, so I could be 100% misinterpreting my symptoms, but it felt like my sugar spiked then crashed (insulin overshoot, I think).  I really wish they would have at least check to see where it was at that point..

Another positive note, which I am actually really excited about, since I have to take half a day off next week to go back, I scheduled a FREE ultrasound!!!  The Hope Resource Center in our area is training on new ultrasound equipment, and they needed volunteers to practice on.  Win-win- They are a great organization, and I am happy to help them in anyway, AND I get a free peak at our precious Ava!  I hope I feel better after next week's test than I did today, but seeing Ava should perk me up either way.

The nursery is still a work in progress.  I’ll try to post pictures soon!

Ava's Nursery Projects

26 weeks 3 days

 

Fall break is here!  My mom has come over several days to help me with various house projects, so I thought I would post some pictures of ones that relate to Ava’s Nursery.

 I found a website from Pinterest that said how to re-finish oak cabinets (or dressers), so that was my first big project.  Ben helped me move everything outside, so I wouldn’t have to be around the fumes.

 I am really excited about how the dresser and end table turned out!! They look a million times better than they did before, AND they match Ava’s crib to a T.  We had looked at purchasing a new dresser for her room, but I’m so glad I tried this first.  Grand total was less than $50, and I still have a ton of the gel stain left.  (I bought two colors to get the shade of the crib just right.)  In case anyone wanted to see the website where I got the idea, it can be found here: http://www.monicawantsit.com/2012/02/staining-oak-cabinets-espresso-color.html

   I did a few things differently (her sock method was way too messy for me.. I used double rubber dish gloves and a foam brush to apply the stain- so much neater), but I’m really glad she recommended the products she did.  We have a WoodCraft store close by that sold everything I needed in the right brand.

The next project Mom and I worked on was painting Ava’s nursery.  It was a multi-day project because there were 2 layers of wallpaper to remove, and I wanted to do a stripe.  So technically, this project started months ago with removing wallpaper stages at a time.  Ben and I really wanted to get the bulk of it painted before we got the new carpet put in, so we did the light green part a few weeks ago.  Then during Fall break, Mom and I have painted the top stripes (had to wait several days before adding the maroon to let the creamy-pink dry).  Here are pictures of that progression:

 Now that the basics in the room are laid out (paint, carpet, furniture), I get to start having real fun!  My next projects are going to be creating some of the wall décor and organizational baskets.  I have a few ideas of things I want to do (and try from Pinterest!), but we’ll see how they turn out.. I have a week and a half left of break.  Hopefully I can get it all in!  I'll post pictures when it's closer to complete!