MARCH 1, 2001---Update on Carrie--she is having some tests run tomorrow at the hospital on her bladder, and some bloodwork done also. Had to pick her up at school today because she's had this dry hacking cough for 2 weeks and she said she coughed up some blood, scared her & me. I had told the Dr. last week about her cough but he said she sounded fine---"whatever"...I am going to see if the hospital can check that for her tomorrow. If they don't I'm going to find someone to see her in Murfreesbor, this is ridiculous! I had my OB appt today...here is how it went..................... Here's an update from my OB appointment today: I have gained 5 pounds in 4 weeks!!! I knew it was gonna be bad, but that only makes me 8 lbs into this pregnancy so that's not too bad I guess. I saw the nurse practicioner today, she said that was fine, and not to worry about it. :) *whew* My BP was actually lower than my last visit. Probably because I am so tired from being up last night and had no energy and was sluggish...I guess? Anyhow, no worries there at least. She measured my stomach today, first time I have had that done so far. She didn't say anything so I assumed it must have been a good measurement. We listened to the baby's heartbeat, only the 2nd time I have been able to hear it so far, it sounded good and clear and she said it was in the high 130's to lower 140's as far as BMP goes. While we were listening to the heartbeat the baby kicked the machine and she looked at me and said wow, he's moving around a lot isn't he,,,did you feel that? I said yeah, she said she'd felt it too. That was pretty neat. She said the next time I come in (March 29th) I will have the 1 hour glucose test and to eat normal foods before I come in.We are having another U/S at my next appointment also. My hubby told her how tired I have been and she said I need to go buy some over the counter Iron pills to help with that. I am having my iron level checked next time also. Then we had our sex check U/S, the baby has grown sooo much. I asked her which position the baby is in because I feel lots of kicks/pokes down low and she said he's head down. At that point we noticed what I'd been feeling is the baby "punching" me with its hands a lot. You could see him in there moving his hands around and punching, not really kicking much. That was so cute. Then she told us what we're having.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I know you guys know how happy I am to have heard that. I thought I would cry but I didn't. I am still in shock and really not believing it just yet. I just can't believe I'm having a son... days until our little boy is due to arrive!!!

March 7, 2001

I went a couple of days ago and got registered for my childbirth classes. We will be going on 2 consecutive Saturdays from 8 am until 3 pm, March 17th & March 24th. On the 24th we will have a breastfeeding class for 2 hours. I hope that will help me to understand what I did wrong when I tried breastfeeding Carrie & Sarah and hopefully I will be confident enough to do it longer this time. I am really looking forward to the classes. I kind of dread them too, I remember when I took them when we were pregnant with Carrie...John got really tough on me about the things I was eating/not eating and I didn't like that. Maybe he won't be so bad this time, he's been ok about that so far. Plus, I'm older & wiser & I realize how important those yucky old carrots are for my baby! I have also made sure to take my prenatal vitamins every night before I go to bed. I have missed one night, I don't know why I forgot, but I guess that's not too bad huh. Who's ready for spring already?!!! Me! I'm so sick of the cold weather and I really can't wait for it to warm up. I want those "YARD SALE" days to hurry up & get here. I have so much shopping to do and so little time to do it in. I like to buy a lot of my "baby stuff", clothes, etc. at yard sales because they outgrow stuff so fast, who can afford to buy it all new? Not this girl! My mom is planning on giving me a Baby Shower sometime in May, around the week of my Birthday. I can't wait for that either! I have so much I need to get, we still don't have a crib or a changing table. I need a dresser & bathtub, a stroller, a carseat...ugh! Can you tell I'm getting worried we won't be able to get it all in time? We only have 17 weeks until our little guy is supposed to make his entrance into the world. I'm getting so excited. I wonder if he will look like Me or John, will he have red hair too? Will he be a big baby, will he cry a lot or will he be a "good" quiet baby? Will he sleep through the night or will he make me go insane? LOL~~ He is getting so big now, he kicks almost all of the time. In fact he's doing his "punches" right now! I will be glad when I can share those kicks with Carrie & Sarah & they can feel them through my stomach. It won't be long I know, I just can't wait to see their reaction. They seem to be getting really excited also. Did I mention yet that I have started getting some colostrum in? About a week or 2 ago I noticed it. I was so excited. My baby sister is 17 and having a baby also, she's due just 20 days after me, on the 24th of July. She found out yesterday that she is having a GIRL! She was wanting a girl, so she's excited about it. This will be her first baby, as it is my last. We are having a really good time being pregnant together. I only wish we were having our babies in the same hospital! It would be cool if we went into labor on the same day! Well, I don't have much else to write about tonight. I have 3 more weeks until my next Dr. appointment so no new news yet... I will update on Carrie's tests from last week as soon as I hear from the Dr. office. I think I will call them tomorrow and see if they know anything yet. Til next time, happy belly rubs!

March 14, 2001

Sorry I haven't written in a week, a lot has been going on and I have been really busy! I got the results of Carrie's tests on Friday of last week and they came back negative, so she is FINE! Yay! Last night I had a pretty good scare though. Around 5:30 the girls and I returned home from Wal-Mart and I had bought a 22 pound bag of dog food for my husband's Dalmatian, Buck. I lifted it a total of about 4 times, putting it into the buggy, in the car, out of the car, in the house...While I was cooking dinner around 6:00 I started having some pains in the middle of my back, to the right side of my backbone. It would get all warm and achy feeling and I figured I was just tired. While I was eating dinner it started getting worse. After dinner I was getting very uncomfortable and began noticing these pains were coming and going about every 8-12 minutes. I told John that if I didn't begin to feel better I was going to call him to come home from work and take me to the hospital. He left for work around 8:30. By 9:30 I was losing it. The pains were getting much worse and my abdomen was hurting also. I was scared I was going into pre-term labor. Now I am only 24 weeks today so I had good reason to be scared. Finally I called John & he came home around 10:30 and we headed off to the hospital 45 minutes away. When we got there I was feeling some better, nerves were calmed down some too. We arrived shortly before midnight. They had me pee in a cup and took my urine to the lab to be checked out for god knows what all. I was then given a "show your butt off" hospital gown and put in bed. I was hooked to a fetal heart monitor and one of the contractions monitors also. I was having some very mild contractions which were just BH (Braxton Hicks) and they said it was nothing to worry about. The baby's heartbeat sounded really good and strong so it was ruled out I was not in labor at this point. My cervix was checked and it was determined that it was closed, not soft, and almost barely 1cm dilated but that is due to me having previous pregnancies and nothing to worry about, since it is closed and not soft. I figure it's that much less I have to dilate when the real thing starts happening! Boy did that nurse finger me good! That hurt almost as bad as having a pap smear. Within minutes I had to pee soooo bad. I peed a gallon. A half hour later I had to pee another gallon. LOL Finally after about 3 hours of being in the bed the nurse came back in and said I have a mild Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) and am slightly dehydrated. Great just great. I had to be given a shot of antibiotic which hurt like HELL! She said she mixed it with some numbing medicine because it is such a painful shot. It sure didn't seem to help me any as far as numbing goes. It felt like a bee was stinging me every 2 seconds the whole way home. It was torture! I left the hospital in more pain that I had arrived in! Go figure huh? We finally left the hospital around 2:30 am. I am having a follow up visit with my regular OB tomorrow at 11 am and they are going to do another urine culture and make sure the antibiotic is killing the UTI. I sure hope it is because I don't want to have to have another shot! It was kind of nice though, being hooked up to the monitors and hearing the baby's heartbeat. He kept kicking the monitor, right underneat it and it would make a big "thump" noise and you could hear him swooshing all around inside me too. Also I got to meet a couple of the OB unit staff and see what the care is going to be like when I go into labor for real. The rooms you labor & deliver in are a lot smaller than the one I had with Sarah, but I guess it doesn't matter really. I just hope John, my mom, and the girls will have enough room to feel comfortable when that day comes. I will try to update tomorrow after I get home from my appointment. Also John & I start our childbirth classes on Saturday. I can't wait!

March 18, 2001

I had my appointment at the Dr. on Thursday, 3/16 at 11 am. They took a urine sample and did another culture on it. I haven't heard anything from the Dr. office so I assume it came back ok at this point. I think I will call tomorrow and ask about it. I am thinking I may tell them about this small itchy painful rash I have developed on my back. John thinks its from the shot, but I don't know. It's weird. I think rashes are suppose to be bad during pregnancy...? Also I was weighed, and I have lost 2 pounds since my last appointment, 2 weeks ago! That makes me at 6 pounds total weight gain at 24 weeks into this pregnancy! I think I just might get lucky and keep my goal of not gaining over 20 lbs! I only have 16 more weeks to go, well about 15 weeks now, and after the next 4 weeks I am suppose to start my real weight gain, the baby is suppose to start putting on his weight at that time. I still have my appt. for 3/29 and am having the glucose test to see if I have developed Gestational Diabetes, and I really hope I haven't. That would be awful! I didn't develop it with Carrie & Sarah so maybe I'll be ok. I'm also having my iron levels checked. So, looks like everythings going well at this point. Baby is growing and kicking a lot.