32w5d OB appointment

I am happy to report that in the last 2 weeks I lost 1 pound. This brings my total weight gain to 27 lbs since the egg retrieval. Maybe my goal to not gain more than 30 pounds is actually still possible? I attribute the weight loss to the changes to my diet due to having gestational diabetes. Thankfully, my OB doesn't increase the frequency of visits due to GD. I had been told at the perinatologist's office that the visits to my OB would increase to two a week starting at 32 weeks. In reality, my OB just switched from every four weeks to every two weeks, but that's just because of where I am in the pregnancy, not because I have GD. I almost asked if we could wait 3 weeks because it means in 2 weeks I'll see him and the very next day have an ultrasound with the specialist, but I was just so relieved I don't have to go once or twice a week that I decided not to request a change.

Because of the contractions and cramping I had on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, he did an internal exam in addition to listening to Ian's heartbeat. He said that I am 1cm dilated, but that could be from the previous pregnancy. He said my cervix is still very thick. I take that to mean 0% effacement. He seemed to think there wasn't any cause for concern. Of course my mind flashed back to June 23, 2008 when the OB said I was only dilated 1cm and probably wouldn't go into labor for at least 3 weeks and actually my water broke about 12 hours later. However, I do recall hearing/reading somewhere that you do dilate earlier in your second pregnancy. Should I be concerned? I really don't want to give birth this week! Well in terms of the physical discomfort of pregnacy, I wouldn't mind having Ian tomorrow, but I know that's not best for him. Also, I don't want to spend any time in the NICU if at all possible, and I want to have off the first half of the spring semester. So even though there would be physical relief from having him tomorrow, I'd like him to stay in until January 8th if possible.

Daddy, Daddy, Daddy

Nadia's first word (if you don't count "hi" that she said when she was very young) was "dada." Well the last couple of days I have been reminded of the stage when she said "dada" incessantly because her new favorite word is "Daddy." She says it many, many times a day. Her Daddy doesn't mind!! She has attempted Mommy a few times, but it sounds more like "memmy." It's fun to find out what new words she'll say each day. One of her new words today was "hotdog." She saw a plastic hotdog bun, picked it up, handed it to her Daddy, and said "hotdog" perfectly. We also enjoy discovering new words that we didn't know were in her receptive vocabulary. One example of that today was when I was in the bedroom and said I need to blowdry my hair. She walked to the bathroom and pointed to my blowdryer. Good job, Nadia!

Yesterday I had a lot of contractions. If I stayed seated I didn't have many, but every time I stood up and walked around, the painful contractions would start up. This morning they started out even worse; I was planning on calling the OB resident on call at the hospital to see if we should go in or not. I decided to wait until after Nadia's morning nap, and after that the contractions stopped for a few hours. They've started again, but we've decided not to call since I have an OB appointment tomorrow morning. I'm praying that Ian will not come TOO early! Nadia slept through the night last night for the first time in several days, but her attempts to sleep when we've put her down for naps have been foiled by really bad coughing spells that involved her throwing up phlegm. Paul commented that it's been a rough week - he was referring to Nadia & I both having a cold as well as the intense cramping and contractions I've been experiencing. Hopefully we'll both be feeling better soon!!! Yesterday was my second day of having four good blood sugar levels, and I'm three for three so far today. I sent a message today to cancel my Tuesday appointment with the dietician as I think I've figured out what and when to eat to keep my levels where they're supposed to be. Thankfully, I haven't needed to make too many changes. I think I must have a very mild case of gestational diabetes.

Glorious Sleep

I'm still really congested, but I feel a million times better today just because I got a good night's sleep last night. I was in bed for 11 hours! I didn't sleep that whole time by any stretch of the imagination due to going to the bathroom many times, having a few really painful contractions, Ian kicking me, heartburn, and rocking Nadia at 3:30am after she had a bad coughing fit, but still it was wonderful to get a lot of rest and a decent amount of sleep last night. Nadia probably got about 11 hours of sleep over the course of the 12 hours she was in her crib after you subtract the time she spent in my arms and Paul's arms being rocked in the glider after coughing up phlegm. We had a humidifier running in her room last night. Her cough is definitely the worst it's ever been in her whole life. I'd love to put something under her head or under her mattress so her head would be propped up, but she moves all around the crib. In addition to getting more sleep last night than she had the past few nights, Nadia also took a nice long morning nap. YAY!

I only got one thing on my to do list accomplished yesterday (as far as schoolwork goes). I finally wrote the peer observation report for the professor I observed on the 16th. Today I must make serious headway with grading the language arts units. They are very time consuming to grade as the shortest ones are about 20 pages typed. Over the past four days I've only graded 3 of them, and there are 32 students in that class. I hope to grade at least 10 today.

Paul also hasn't gotten very far on his to do list. I don't think Ian's room is going to be painted any time soon as he hasn't even started working on his thesis yet. I've done some shopping online the last few days for Ian's room. For example, this morning I ordered him a hamper, lamp, and mobile. I can't wait to see his room all put together! I also am bidding on a Bumbo for him on eBay. I am not sure if he'll be able to use the rocker/bouncer since Nadia still uses that every day so I thought I'd get him a Bumbo instead as many people have said how much their children have loved sitting in one. I'm going to wait until after Christmas to make the last few purchases, such as a crib mattress, in case we get any of those as Christmas gifts. As for Christmas shopping, of the 23 people on my list I've finished buying gifts for 15 of them. Most of the ones I haven't bought anything for yet it's because I haven't received a wish list yet. Christmas is only 26 days away! Although I've been hoping that Ian will wait until at least January 8th to be born, I have a feeling that he might be born sometime in December. I just hope he waits at least a few more weeks!!

Little Parrot

In the last three days Nadia's vocabulary has exploded. She also has started repeating or at least attempting to repeat almost every word we ask her to say. I have given up on keeping track of what words she can say, but here are a few recent additions: cookie (she got a lot of positive reinforcement on this one at Millie's house as Grandma and others would give her a bite of a cookie every time she walked over to the dessert table, pointed, and said "cookie"), tiger, draw, read, grapes, ah choo, and yucky. She also has said a few two word combinations. She is moving from the holophrasic stage (when a child uses one word to convey a message such as when she says "up" as her way of asking us to pick her up) to the telegraphic stage (usually two words, one of which is usually a noun). Yesterday when I dropped something while she was sitting in her high chair she said "down uh oh." Another time when we were snuggling she said "baby awww." I often tell her she's my baby when I'm cuddling her. Paul said that one time he heard her say "I draw" when she was playing with her etch a sketch. I am dubious about that one. I have heard her say "draw" when she's using it, but most toddlers would say "me draw" before they'd say "I draw." It's a lot of fun to hear her using so many new words!!

Today wasn't really that great of a day. Nadia still isn't feeling well - runny nose, cough, off and on a low grade fever, and very fussy. The three of us have been up since 4:40am. We don't let her cry when she's coughing and feeling so lousy. She stayed in bed with us from 4:40-5:55. We kept the lights off, but she never fell asleep. Unfortunately her two naps were both super short (less than 30 minutes each) because her coughing would wake her up. She had another episode of chocking and spitting up phlegm today (this time in her crib). I also don't feel well, but my symptoms are sore throat, runny nose, headache, and a low grade fever off and on. Not getting enough sleep isn't helping either! On top of this, I have had some really painful cramping today. I spoke with the OB nurse this afternoon, and she thinks it's ligament pain. I hope that's the case. I really don't want to go in labor at 32 weeks. My next OB appt is scheduled for Monday morning. He has been seeing me every 4 weeks, but I expect that to dramatically change due to the gestational diabetes diagnosis as well as the fact as I'm now in the last 6 weeks of the pregnancy. We had planned to go to Hershey Park's Christmas Candylane tomorrow, but we'll be rescheduling due to Nadia not feeling well. On an unrelated note, I weighed Nadia today, and she's now up to 25 lbs! One good bit of news from today is that it was the first day that all four of my blood sugar numbers were good. YAY! Hopefully the same will be true many times in the future.

Thanksgiving Dinner #2

Thanksgiving 2008

Yesterday I ate "normal" meals at lunch and dinner, and both times my blood sugar was 103. What a relief! My dinner was a pasta dish (noodles, sauce, cheese, and meat), and I definitely ate more of it than the diabetic diet allows. I did follow the diet for breakfast, and I was so hungry that I couldn't wait 2 hours to test. I had a splitting headache and my heart was racing. I tested after 90 minutes (it was 92) and then ate a banana and granola bar. Needless to say, I am not a big fan of the diabetic meal plan! I had even put peanut butter on my English muffin as the NP said eating protein would help. It's the first time I ever had peanut butter at breakfast. I have an appointment scheduled with the dietician for next Tuesday, but I plan to cancel that if I can keep my numbers low the next few days. This morning I ate one egg with my usual bagel and yogurt, and although my blood sugar was about the same as yesterday after breakfast, the difference was that I felt fine. So I think I'll be eating one egg plus one yogurt and either an English muffin or bagel the rest of the pregnancy for breakfast. I don't usually eat 7 eggs a week, but it's worth it if it means I won't feel like I'm going to pass out. I need to find something else to eat for lunch as I don't want to eat egg salad for lunch if I am having an egg with my breakfast.

Ironically, the only number that wasn't good yesterday was my fasting number. It surprised me as the first six days my fasting number was good. My fasting number was good again this morning (in the 80's). Yesterday Nadia kept pointing to the baking dish that contained the brownies. In the afternoon I decided she could have a small brownie, and I had one as well. The fact my numbers were so good eating my regular foods (including a brownie) shows me that probably I can still have a treat now and then although I don't plan to bake any more brownies or cookies until after Ian is born. I have finally gotten the hang of using the glucometer. I am only pricking myself four times a day and only using four strips a day. That's a big improvement!! I don't think I'll be losing weight the next few weeks after all. The weight loss won't start until I give birth. Only one number exceeded 120 today, and it was still less than 130, which I think is pretty good considering it was after the turkey dinner. I limited myself to a very small portion of each of my favorite holiday meal carbs (stuffing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce). I actually thought there would be a chance my number might be under 120, but it wasn't. My "dinner" consisted of a slice of fresh apple pie plus cashews. Nuts are protein so I was hoping they'd help keep my blood sugar down, and they did! It was only 109 even with the apple pie. There aren't any more brownies or other sweets in our house any more. My goal for the next 3 days is that I'll have a good reading every time I check my blood sugar as #1 I really don't want the NP to say I need to go on a medication for my diabetes and #2 I'd like to cancel the appt with the dietician. If I can keep all my numbers under 120 the next three days, I'll cancel that appointment on Monday.

While we were in MD, I came down with a bug of some sort (sore throat, runny nose, etc.). Nadia has had a runny nose every day since a couple of days after we got back from our trip to MD in October. Otherwise she's been fine, but last night she took a turn for the worse. The junk coming from her nose is no longer clear, she's had a bit of a fever off and on, and she's developed a cough. This morning the poor girl was choking and coughing up phlegm. It certainly was upsetting to her. Despite not feeling up to par, she was very well behaved at Aunt Millie's house this afternoon. She loves to spend time with her cousin Shawn, Grandma, Pop Pop, etc!

Since it's Thanksgiving Day, here are a few of the many blessings I am thankful for...

1. Jesus Christ, who has provided a way for me to spend eternity with Him

2. Our families - it's especially touching to see how much they love our little girl!

3. My husband - what a wonderful Daddy he is to Nadia!

4. Our health - in general the three of us have been very healthy this year

5. Nadia - what a delight it is to be her Mommy

6. Ian - I can't wait to hold this sweet little boy in my arms!

7. My job - I am able to be the primary breadwinner doing something I enjoy and only be away from home about 18 hours a week on average (including driving time). Nadia only is with a babysitter an average of 7 hours a week.

8. Sarah - Her rates are so reasonable, and Nadia loves spending time there.

9. Safety - We (especially Paul) spend a lot of time on the road. My check engine light turned off on the way home from Maryland on Monday night. I hope it stays off for several more months.

10. Diabetes - I am very grateful that GD is almost always temporary; I have more empathy now for those who deal with this for many years instead of a few short weeks.

Family Christmas Photos

Christmas photo 2008 (taken almost exactly one year ago)

Today we went for our annual family Christmas photos at Sears. Last year although we only liked a couple of the poses, and they were with only Nadia. This year we did buy a few prints of one of the family shots. None of these really "wowed" me though. I would say of all the times we've had pictures taken, the best two by far were in early May (Mother's Day) and the end of June (her 1st birthday). Those two times it was really hard to pick as there were several great shots with wonderful expressions on her face. The times we took her prior to that she didn't ever smile for the photographer, and the problem these last two times (Halloween and today) has been that she is a girl on the go. It's really hard to get her to sit or stand in one location for more than two seconds. Actually the last time I felt it was the photographer's timing that was off although we still got more smiles with her penguin outfit than we did today. They showed us nine different poses, and we ordered prints of three of them. I've posted eight of them below. The ninth one was of Nadia and me, and my face isn't showing at all. I can't believe they thought we might consider that one! We did order some of the first photo (above) - the close up of her face and the second one (below) - of her in the process of getting out of the chair.

It was hard to decide which pretty dress to have her wear. I had bought this green dress (size 24 months) at JCP awhile ago, and I also had bought a couple of red plaid ones at yard sales (size 2T). Paul doesn't like plaid; so we went with the green. I had on two different black tops before deciding to wear a red one. So many choices to make! I can't believe my little girl can wear size 24 months already. There are only a couple of pair of size 12 month pants that still fit her. Mostly she wears size 18 months now. The size 18 month sleepers and dresses have zero growing room. She'll be moving to 24m/ 2T in those very soon.

We did order some of this family photo (above). I liked the background better of the other family photo (below), but Paul's eyes aren't totally open in that one. I was hoping to use the free 10x13 coupon for a family photo for our family room, but that frame is hung in a vertical fashion so this photo wouldn't work for that. So we got our 10x13 of just Nadia. We won't be waiting until December for our next family photo. I assume next year we'll get two family photos - one in February with Ian and one next December. Hopefully one of those two times we'll get one we really like that's oriented vertically.


They took two maternity poses. She wanted to have Nadia touching or kissing my belly, but that wasn't going to happen. I will say though that a couple of times at home today Nadia pointed to my belly and said "baby." I doubt she really understands, but it proves she does listen to some of what I talk to her about! We didn't order any of either maternity pose. I also had Paul take two belly shots at home, and I added them to yesterday's post. Today I'm 32 weeks!! The choir director last night made my day when she said to the choir (as I walked past her to find my seat), "She's the cutest little pregnant woman I've ever seen." Awww how sweet! I wouldn't use "cute" or "little" as adjectives to describe myself, but it was music to my ears! Your comment was very kind also, Tamera. :-)

I spent more today than I ever did before, but I was planning to buy a Super Saver membership. If you spend $50 then the membership only costs $10 the first year and $5 a year after that. If you spend less than $50 then the membership costs $40. In January of this year they started charging $5 a person if you have more than one person in the session. The rest of this year we avoided that fee by only having them take pictures of Nadia, but I know I'll want pictures of Nadia & Ian together over this next year, plus I'll want some of the four of us. There are other perks to the membership, but that was the main reason I wanted to join. In light of how much we spent today, I should definitely be able to resist the $25 package they'll try to sell me when I pick these up. This is the first time I haven't ordered a collage from Sears. I was planning to do so because when I picked up her penguin photos they were advertising a new collage that can include up to four photos from different sessions. It was on sale for $10, and when I asked they said it would still be available at our next appointment. I had gone online and selected three poses (one from July 2008, November 2008, and June 2009) and was planning on using one of today's as the fourth. However, they told me today that product isn't available yet. Hopefully I'll be able to get one the next time we go as I think it would be wonderful to have a collage of her first 17 months of life.

Gestational Diabetes

Today I was officially diagnosed with GD. My hopes of being able to put away the glucometer were dashed, but actually the news that I need to start following the diabetic meal plan was far more upsetting. I don't think I'll be gaining any more weight the rest of this pregnancy. That is one good thing. In fact I won't be shocked if I lose weight over the next seven weeks. 45 grams of carbs per meal is really limiting. For example, a light yogurt (100 calories) has about 20 grams of carbs. I'm going to have to force myself to eat more protein, or I think I'll be passing out. I ate one breakfast in the past week that had only 45 carbs, and my blood sugar was less than 80 after that meal, and I felt like I was going to pass out, which wasn't a good feeling to have while sitting on a subway train. Veggies and protein are my least favorite food groups. I mostly eat fruit, carbs, and dairy. I wrote the NP back and explained that I had been out of town all week and hadn't been eating what I normally eat. This morning after my usual breakfast, my blood sugar was 117, which is a good number. She wrote back and said that if I wasn't diabetic it wouldn't matter what I ate and my numbers would be under 120. I had a banana and egg salad sandwich (on rye bread) for lunch, and my level was a littler over 120 so I guess even here at home I wouldn't be under 120 all the time. If my numbers don't stay under 120 while following the diet over the next week, I'll be put on an oral medication (which has the same effect as insulin shots). I'll also be meeting with a dietician sometime in the near future. The good news is that I'll be 32 weeks tomorrow and that means the c-section is exactly 7 weeks away if Ian doesn't decide to come sooner than that. I can do anything for 7 weeks, right?

I admit I cried a bit over this news. That's probably due in part to all those extra hormones floating around in my system. It's a good thing I ate lots of sweet potatoes on Monday as I'll have to skip them on Thursday. There have been years in the past where I haven't eaten any turkey on Thanksgiving Day because I'd much rather have stuffing, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes. I guess this year I need to stick with turkey and veggies. Ian is 100% worth it; I just wish I could have escaped this diagnosis, especially since those 7 weeks encompass Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's which typically involve lots of sugary foods. I had made some brownies for Paul before I left for Maryland, and he hadn't eaten all of them. I did have a brownie this afternoon as my last hurrah after I got the message from the NP. I will do my best not to eat any more sugary sweets until after he's born.

As nice as it is to visit family or go on a vacation, it's very exhausting when you get back home as you need to unpack, do a lot of laundry, go grocery shopping etc. I did accomplish two items on my lengthy school related to do list while I was in Maryland (graded at least 60 papers). I am glad I did or I'd feel even more overwhelmed than I do at the moment. Paul has a lot on his plate right now as well as he has a paper due to his advisor at PSU plus he needs to finalize his master's thesis (that he hasn't worked on for over 15 months) as he's trying to graduate in January. He was going to paint Ian's room while Nadia & I were in Maryland, but he said it would be better to do it this week; so that's also on his to do list. It will be fun to decorate his room!

Seventeen Months!

Children grow up soooo fast! The top picture was taken in August 2008, and the bottom one was taken today. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was feeling Nadia kick inside me, and now she's running around the house. I had planned to start potty training her around this age, but I think in light of Ian's arrival I'm going to wait at least until she's 21 months old to start potty training her. I've heard that older siblings often regress in this area when the new brother or sister arrives on the scene.

The area in which Nadia is changing the fastest these days is her vocabulary. Lately she often says at least one new word a day. Today's new word was "turtle," and the way we heard her say it was she pointed to a picture of a turtle and said what it was. Although she's been using words for several months, she has only recently begun to identify objects in books before we've said the word. The same goes for making the correct sound when she sees a picture of a cat, dog, cow, etc. Her vocabulary includes at least 40 different words. I look forward to being able to communicate even more with her in the future!!

Thanksgiving Dinner #1

One perk of being married is that it seems we often end up eating two special meals at each holiday. The last few years I've cooked the Thanksgiving dinner for my family, but this year my Mom cooked today, and on Thursday we'll be eating with Paul's family. His sister-in-law, Millie, will be cooking that yummy meal. My parents will actually be having two meals this year as they will be eating with my sister, Wendy, and her family on Thursday in Chicago. There were 13 of us at the meal today, not including Ian. It was all very delicious, and I am happy to say that I resisted eating any pie while I was in Maryland, even though I like pies better than cakes (and there were 3 to choose from - banana cream, pumpkin, and cherry). I can't say I resisted ice cream the whole trip, but I didn't have some every day. My two favorite Thanksgiving dishes are sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce. Paul's favorites are turkey and mashed potatoes (with gravy).

As for my blood sugar levels, I deleted the first day's from my medical record since they were much higher than any other day. I haven't gotten feedback from the NP yet regarding the five days I have entered thus far. I am hoping she'll say I don't have GD. My fasting value is supposed to be below 95, and this morning was the 6th morning that it was indeed below 95. So far it's been between 79-94 each morning. Two hours after a meal it's supposed to be below 120. Of the 14 times I've checked (I couldn't check 2 hours after dinner today as we were on the road), it's been 120 or less six times (79-120) and the other eight times it's ranged from 122-138. Only three times has it exceeded 130 over the past five days. I'd love to stop pricking my fingers. Thankfully I am getting much better at doing it. I was going through WAY too many strips a day at first due to getting error readings.



Nadia slept solidly for one hour of our four hour trip last night. She slept off and on for about another hour and cried off and on for the other two hours. She rode with me the first 3 1/2 hours and with Paul the last 30 minutes. As much as I love spending time with my family, I have to admit I am glad we won't be making that trek again until March. That will be our first multiple hour car ride with two munchkins under the age of two. Hopefully Ian will be one who likes to sleep in his car seat.

Nadia's cousins gave her lots of hugs as you can see from the picture of Andrew (age 4 1/2) and Nadia. Paul was with us about 48 hours, and that's about the most his body can handle due to the fact they have a cat. It's not just adults who comment on the size of my belly. Jenna commented on how large it is several times. Tomorrow is a big day as it's Nathan's first birthday and Nadia will be 17 months old. On Wednesday I'll be 32 weeks which means as of Thursday I have less than 7 weeks left! :-)

Chuck E. Cheese

My niece, Jenna, turned seven years old today. After church this morning, we went to their apartment. Jenna opened her gifts, we ate lunch, and headed to Chuck E. Cheese. It was very crowded and noisy. The kids had a good time. It was Nadia's first time at a Chuck E. Cheese, and she definitely enjoyed the rides. Unfortunately my camera is very slow so I missed some great shots.

New Foods, New Words

Nadia has eaten a lot more the last couple of days. She also has eaten several foods that she hasn't ever had before - cheese quesedillas, a chicken strip from Chick Fil A, turkey bologna, slices of cheese, banana cream pie, etc.

Nadia's newest words include "push" (when she wanted me to push a button for her on a toy), "cheese," "kitty," and "light." Her current repetoire of animal sounds includes "moo," "ruff ruff," "meow," and "baa." At Donna's house on Tuesday she would point to their dog and say "ruff ruff."

She got her first scab on Wednesday night. We met a former roommate of mine (when I lived in Annapolis) for dinner at Panera, and after dinner Nadia ran around on the side walk outside the restaurant. She fell down, and her nose was scraped on the sidewalk. You can see her boo boo in the pictures of her on the scooter (in the previous post and this one). Speaking of the scooter, she sat on it and scooted around the porch until she saw one of her cousins standing on it, and now she prefers to stand on the scooter. She's enjoyed the fact that the temps have been in the 60's here.

Maternity Clothes and Manners

I've mentioned before that although I am 5'7", petite size pants fit me perfectly. This is because I have a long torso. This didn't pose a problem for me when I was pregnant with Nadia, but it has definitely been a problem this time. I am not sure if it's because of a difference in the style of summer vs. winter tops or because my belly is bigger this time around, but most of the maternity sweaters I bought aren't long enough to cover my belly any more, particularly if I am wearing an "under the belly" style of maternity pants. Normally I wear either a size medium or large sweater; it's rather frustrating when XL maternity sweaters don't fit. One solution I have found is that actually some of my tunic style sweaters (size M or L) fit. Something is wrong when a non-maternity sweater in a smaller size fits when a XL maternity one doesn't. My mom, Nadia, and I went shopping at Target on Wednesday, and my mom graciously bought me a few XXL maternity sweaters there. I don't think the fact that they were XXL was the difference but rather that sweater was a longer style. It's so nice not to be tugging on my sweater all day long to make sure my belly isn't showing!

I am torn as to what I should do regarding the maternity clothing I've outgrown. I put the summer maternity clothes in the basement because even if I decide to sell them on eBay, now isn't the right time. My bigger decision is whether to sell the 2 pair of pants (size L) that fit me in the early stages of pregnancy with Nadia that don't fit now and also the sweaters (L and XL) that no longer cover my belly. We're not going to do IVF again, and by the time I finish nursing Ian I will be getting very close to 39 years old (presuming I nurse him at least for 12 months). In the last 7 1/2 years since we started trying to conceive, we've never gotten pregnant without medical intervention (IUI or IVF). Although I would love to have a third child, I really don't think it's going to happen, and of course after being childless for so long, I am thrilled that soon we'll have two little ones. I'd hate to sell my maternity clothes and then end up needing them again, but I also think emotionally it's probably better for me to just assume that Ian will be our youngest child. I think selling the maternity clothes will help it seem more real to me that the door of having more children is closed. Yes, there is sadness when I think of that, but considering a few years ago I assumed I'd never be pregnant, I just need to focus on the two wonderful blessings God has sent our way and that helps decrease the grief over "only" having two kids when I always dreamed of having at least three or four. What would you all do in my shoes? Sell the clothes or hang onto them just in case there's a surprise BFP at the age of 39 or 40?


Yesterday I was at the NAEYC conference in DC. All throughout the day I had quite a few people ask me when I am due. One lady looked at me and asked "you aren't going to have that baby today are you?". Generally it seems the reputation is that people in certain areas (the South or rural areas) are more polite than those in other areas (the North, cities). Well I must say that in DC I was treated in a very polite manner all throughout the day yesterday. For example, I was offered a seat on a bench while waiting for the METRO train. This is one perk to it being obvious that you're pregnant. :-) The conference is so big that the Convention Center isn't big enough to house all the sessions. They also are using two nearby hotels. Unfortunately my session was at one of those hotels, and it was an ordeal getting there and back as the shuttle wasn't running every 15 minutes as advertised.

The expectation is that we will present at at least one national or international conference a year. I have typically gone to 2-3 conferences each academic year. I did still do three conferences in this calendar year (2009), but in terms of this academic year (09-10), this is the only conference I will be attending due to Ian's arrival, and I only plan to speak at one during the next academic year (in Baltimore in November 2010). The next year I am thinking of doing more than one is during the 11-12 academic year (one in DC and two in Philadelphia). Conference proposals are due about one year before the conference so it's something one must plan in advance.

Last night we had dinner at Chevy's. It was a treat to have Mexican food as I rarely get to a Mexican restaurant since Paul doesn't like Mexican food. We discovered that Nadia loves cheese quesedillas. It was no surprise that she devoured the ice cream that came with the kids' meals. It was nice to see her eat so much since she's been eating very little lately.

BIG Boy

Yesterday afternoon I met with a Nurse Practitioner first. She said that I haven't been officially diagnosed with gestational diabetes, but that she will make that determination after seeing my blood sugar levels for one week. I am to eat as I normally would and check my levels four times a day (first thing in the morning and then 2 hours after each meal). If my levels aren't good (greater than 95 for the first one and greater than 120 for the other three), then I'll meet with a dietician and be placed on a diet. If that's not enough to get my glucose levels where they want them to be, then she'll give me a prescription for an oral medication. If I am diagnosed as having gestational diabetes, I will need to go to the OB two times a week starting at 32 weeks (which I'll hit a week from today). One appointment will be for a non-stress test, and the other will be for an ultrasound. I enjoy ultrasounds, but I can't say I would enjoy going to the doctor 2 times a week for several weeks. I am hoping I am not labeled as having GD. I was unable to successfully do my fasting blood check this morning. I went through 6 strips and pricked my fingers about 8 times before I gave up in frustration. It only took me 2 strips and 2 stabs to get a reading 2 hours after breakfast, and it was less than 120 (117) even though I ate a higher carb breakfast than I normally do. I had cereal (granola) whereas at home I usually have a sugar free yogurt plus an English muffin or small Lender's bagel. Hopefully I'll continue to have good readings, and hopefully I'll get better at using these strips. It's bad enough to use 4 in one day; I'd already put drops of blood on 8 strips today by 9:30am!

My second appointment was with a nurse who trained me on using the glucometer. I didn't have any trouble using it that first try. I am not sure why it's been so much harder for me today. Then I had an ultrasound, which I wasn't expecting. The sonographer was unable to get any good pictures as he was face down the whole time (he isn't breech any more) and also he was in constant motion. He actually moved the wand she was using. Almost all of his measurements (length of his leg bone and such) were between the 92nd and 98th percentile! That has never been true of Nadia. His weight was "only" in the 82nd percentile. I know they aren't totally accurate in predicting weight from an ultrasound, but they estimated that he weighed 4lb 11oz. Considering Nadia weighed 5lbs 5oz a week after she was born, that sounds really big to me! They said he's measuring about 2 1/2 weeks ahead of where I actually am. It seems like Ian is going to be bigger than his sister was. I guess I won't be needing preemie or newborn size clothes for him - we'll just start out with 0-3 months this time unless he comes really early. I bought some diapers for him recently, and I didn't buy the newborn size that I used with Nadia at first. I guessed maybe he'd start out with size 1.

I am to enter my glucose levels online and the NP will review them and write me a message once a week. If I ever enter a value under 60 or over 200 she will contact me sooner than that. Hopefully she'll tell me next week that I can stop testing. She said she thinks that maybe I had GD with my last pregnancy even though I passed the one hour screening in light of the polyhydramous I had (excess amniotic fluid) and the fact that Nadia's blood sugar was low after she was born. The good news is that as of tomorrow it will be less than 8 weeks until Ian is due to be born so even if I am officially labeled as having GD, I won't be pricking my fingers that long and of course it's all 100% worth it!!! The doctor said the bright spot wasn't as bright yesterday on his heart (I asked), but he said it often waxes and wanes so you can't read much into that. He said that with my age + the bright spot he'd put the risk at 1% that Ian has Down's syndrome. That was very reassuring as my OB made it seem like the risk was much higher than that.

As for weight gain, I had gained 3 lbs in 2.5 weeks so that's much better than the previous time when I gained 7lbs in 3 weeks. I've gained 28 lbs since the egg retrieval, and I now weigh 3 lbs more than when I gave birth to Nadia. I've never weighed this much in my life, and unfortunately I know I'm not done gaining. I'm still hoping not to gain more than 35 lbs total. I gained 33 lbs total by 36 weeks with Nadia. If I do go on the GD diet, that should help keep my weight gain in check.

Nadia and I made it safely to Maryland last night. I'm speaking tomorrow at the conference at the convention center in DC. Thankfully Nadia slept for a good portion of our trip down here even though I left earlier than her bedtime (since I'm not a safe driver past 9pm). Hopefully she'll be a good girl for my mom tomorrow as she'll be watching her while I'm at the conference all day.

Decreased Appetite

Nadia hasn't been eating very much lately. It bothers Paul much more than it bothers me. I figure she'll eat if she's hungry. She must not be in a growth spurt. She has been drinking more milk than usual. Unfortunately, the sippy cup leads to many tears these days because Nadia wants to carry it around all the time. We only let her hold it if she's drinking from it.

I went to a branch campus 90 minutes from our home to observe a faculty member this afternoon so Nadia was at Sarah's longer than usual, but she won't be going back to Sarah's for 2 weeks. Nadia has said the names of both of Sarah's children (Lane and Abbey). I've heard her say Abbey (age 3), and Sarah told me she's heard Nadia say Lane (he's in the 3rd grade).
Tomorrow someone from Lowe's is coming at 7:30am to measure for an estimate on the fence and deck. My other goals for the morning include making beef stew for Paul to eat while we're away (in addition to the pizzas I picked up today) and finishing packing our suitcase. Then I'm taking Nadia to Donna's house as I have my 2 hour doctor appointment tomorrow afternoon regarding the glucometer and such. After visiting with Donna I'll do a little shopping and then drive down to Maryland. I'm speaking at the NAEYC conference in DC on Thursday. It's a HUGE early childhood conference (average attendance usually exceeds 30,000). Paul will be driving down on Saturday, and we'll both be driving back Monday night. On Sunday we'll be celebrating my niece's 7th birthday, and on Monday we'll be having Thanksgiving dinner with my family. We'll celebrate with Paul's family on the actual holiday.

Daddy's Girl

At the top and bottom of this post are two of Paul's baby pictures;

there's no denying that Nadia looks like her Daddy!!

The photo above shows the outfit Nadia wore today to church and

to a luncheon to celebrate the baby dedication of Paul's cousin's daughter.

It was so nice to only need a sweater today since it got up to 70 degrees!

Sometimes Nadia steps into one of my shoes. This morning she stepped into one of Paul's, and I helped her get into the other one. She truly has been Daddy's girl this week. If both Paul and I have been around, she has chosen to be held by or play with Daddy not Mommy. It's very sad to her when Daddy goes upstairs to his office to get work done and she can't go with him.

Dairy Queen

I felt badly about strapping Nadia in the carseat again after she had already spent a decent amount of time there in the morning. So before we got in the car, I promised her that we'd get some ice cream at the mall. I had gone two weeks without having any ice cream, and that's a VERY long time for me. We both enjoyed the blizzard very much! I really don't think I have gestational diabetes. Those who have it tell me that they don't feel well after eating something with a lot of sugar in it; I felt fine after eating the ice cream. I know someone who also failed only1 of 4 blood draws during the 3 hour test, and she was told "Congratulations, you passed." Well eating less ice cream and such should help keep my weight gain in check if nothing else!

I do need to have Paul take another belly shot as it's been awhile. I haven't forgotten Tamera's request! I must say I felt better today about the size of my belly when a cashier at the grocery store told me how good I looked. She was comparing me to another pregnant woman she knows whose belly is much bigger than mine. I have to say that this comment put a smile on my face!

Sooooo Big!

When I was pregnant with Nadia, I lamented the fact that although it seemed obvious when I looked in the mirror that I was pregnant, it wasn't until I was about 32 weeks along that strangers would ask me questions like "when are you due?". I think in part people are scared to assume someone is pregnant and find out that they're not. I had looked forward to being pregnant for SOOOOO long, and I wanted the world to know so it was a disappointment to me that it was only obvious for about 4 weeks (since I gave birth at 36 weeks). However once I actually got to the point that strangers were commenting, I realized that being that big wasn't a very comfortable experience physically. As the saying goes, "be careful what you wish for."

I figured that this time around I would pop out sooner since that seems to be true for most women in subsequent pregnancies. I think I was about 26 weeks along when strangers started commenting on my pregnancy this time around and that has certainly been true in the past couple of weeks. I've even noticed students I pass in the hallway (whom I don't know) just looking down and staring at my belly. It actually feels weird since normally it would feel awful if someone was staring at my abdomen (when I wasn't pg). When I was pregnant with Nadia, the OB measured my belly at each appointment once I hit a certain week. My belly hasn't been measured even once this pregnancy. I thought maybe it was something only done during one's first pregnancy, but I have since talked to others who were measured in subsequent pregnancies. In the last week I have had quite a few people make comments about how my belly is soooo big. If you had asked me how that comment would make me feel when I was 30 weeks with Nadia, I would have probably said that would be music to my ears. For whatever reason, I've felt self-conscious when it's been said to me this time. It wasn't ever said when I was pregnant with Nadia. The scary thing is that if I make it January 13th, I have exactly 9 weeks to go. I kind of doubt my belly will stay the same size for that long, LOL. I have been using the almond oil again, and so far I don't have any stretch marks. Hopefully I won't get any. My belly button is stretched very thin, but it hasn't popped out yet. I guess if I do have gestational diabetes that would lead to a larger baby and belly. Frankly since Nadia was so small, a larger baby sounds just fine to me, especially since I'm having a c-section.

This morning Nadia and I went to MOPS. The speaker was a lawyer who talked about legal documents parents of young children should have. We don't have any of the three that he discussed (Will, Power of Attorney, and Living Will). That is definitely going to be one of my goals for 2010. I've been wanting to have a will drawn up since Nadia was born, and hopefully we'll actually get around to it next year. We should at least just write our own even if we don't make it to a lawyer's office. Of course I hope these documents aren't actually needed for a LONG time! When we do make it to a lawyer, I think we'll just do all three documents while we're at it. One of the nursery workers in the room Nadia was in this morning was one of my college students. I had her as a student in fall 2008 and have her again this semester. She's a non-traditional student (probably older than me). She was glad that she got to meet Nadia. I found out this morning that a new MOPS group has formed that is closer to where we live. I need to find out when their meetings are held before I decide if I'm going to switch groups or not.

Nadia's two newest words are "bear" and "ball." It's not surprising that she likes balls, but I do find it amusing that her favorite ball is a basketball. I mean a regular basketball, which is not something you usually see a 16 month old playing with. Sarah said that it's the same when she's at her house - she'll play with other balls, but her favorite is the basketball. Daddy will be happy to teach her how to play if she still likes basketballs in the future. :-)

Mommy's little helper

My appointment to be trained with using a glucometer has been scheduled for November 17. They said it will take 2 hours. It's with the perinatologist office (maternal fetal medicine) where I had my last two ultrasounds. The day after my appointment I'll be 31 weeks; that means the longest I'll need to prick my fingers will be 8 weeks.

Nadia is becoming Mommy's little helper. I figure I might as well put her love of putting things into "containers" to good use. She has been putting her bath toys away in the basket for several weeks. Other ways she's helped me recently have included putting her clean socks away in her sock drawer, putting dirty clothes in the hamper, and putting plastic containers and lids in her cabinet after I've taken them out of the dishwasher. Now we need to teach her to put her toys in the toybox!

More!

I had planned on using sign language to communicate with Nadia far more than I actually did. She used the sign for milk, but other than that she wasn't using any signs, and I stopped signing to her a few months ago. A few days ago she started using the sign for "more" when she wants more of something I'm feeding her. I was shocked the first time she did it as it's been months since I've shown her the sign. I had no idea she remembered it since she never used it back when I was trying to teach her "more" and "all done." I do want to teach her more sign language in the future, but for now we are just working on expanding her spoken vocabulary. The word I can get her to say on demand for other people most easily is "elbow." She now says "night night," "hi," "hello," and "bye bye" at the appropriate times such as when she's pretending to talk on the phone or when she's waving to someone. "Up" used to be her favorite word. Her new favorite word is "no" - surprise, surprise, LOL! The only name she used to say when calling for someone was "mama," but she has recently started saying "dada" when she's trying to find her Daddy.

I have gone on strike with carrying her up or down the stairs. It's enough of a workout just getting my own pregnant body up the stairs. Months ago she preferred to go up herself, but lately she's preferred to be carried. I have learned the trick to getting her to climb up quickly is to put some object she wants to hold a few steps ahead of where she is. If I keep moving the object up the stairs, she climbs them very quickly. She generally fusses when going down the stairs, but I think that will pass as long as I am consistent in insisting she do it herself. Of course yesterday at Grandma and PopPop's house she wanted to climb their stairs all the time. It's not that she can't do it. So Mommy will not be carrying her any more. She's a big girl!

Nadia was really well behaved yesterday considering she got very little sleep. She didn't get her morning nap because of Sunday School and church, and then her afternoon nap was only 40 minutes long because she took it in the car as we were driving to get together with Paul's family to celebrate his mom's birthday. Paul didn't want to leave until his football game was over. She did sleep almost the whole way home, but then she couldn't go right back to sleep so she didn't actually go to sleep in her crib until after 9pm. Thankfully Paul stayed up with her as I was exhausted. Hopefully she'll take two good naps today to make up for the sleep she lost yesterday.

She was very excited to see Sarah at church yesterday since she hadn't seen her in a week. She'll be going to Sarah's just 8 more times in 2009. Can you believe I only have 10 more classes to teach this semester including tonight's class? That doesn't include the 3 nights of final exams or one more faculty meeting. It's exciting to think I should only be making 14 trips to work in the next four months in light of the break between semesters and then my maternity leave (presuming Ian doesn't come early). The only other time I've had 3 months off of work since 1989 was the summer of 2004 when I was transitioning from an adjunct position at another university to my present position; we moved that summer so I was busy packing, unpacking, painting, etc. My maternity leave won't be a restful time as I'll be in that infamous sleep deprived stage, but still it will be nice to have lots of time to spend with Ian and Nadia. The ironic thing is that during my maternity leave, I'll actually be receiving my full salary for the first time since September 2008 even though actually I'll be at home. When I go back, my salary will drop back to 50%.

I have been doing some birthday and Christmas shopping lately. This morning I ordered the chair pictured at left for Paul's birthday. It was on sale, which is why I bought it today even though his birthday isn't until January 3rd. It cost more than I usually spend on a birthday gift for him, but since this will be the big "40" for Paul, I thought it was okay to spend a little more than usual. He's been wanting a new office chair, and this one looks like it should be comfy as well as go perfectly with the other NY Giant items I've given him for that room in the past. I hope he likes it!

I wish I had a picture that showed Nadia's full outfit that she wore yesterday. The photos above don't show the Clifford that's on the bottom corner of the dress or how cute she looked with her black patent shoes. The dress is size 18 months and it didn't quite hit her knees. Some size 18 month dresses are still long enough, but I guess in some cases she's ready for size 24 months! The top photo is of Nadia with her Grandma. The second is of Millie (Paul's sister-in-law) with her grandson, QJ (our grandnephew). Yesterday was the first day we got to meet QJ and hold him. The third photo is of Paul's mom with her first great grandchild, and the fourth photo is of Nadia playing with her cousin, Shawn (QJ's uncle). I think next year Nadia and QJ will have fun playing together, and eventually Ian will also have fun playing with Nadia and QJ.

Frosty Pine

Yesterday we went to Lowe's to buy a gallon of paint for Ian's room. I let Paul pick the color as he has a very good eye when it comes to choosing paint colors. We brought along the wallpaper border, and he decided that a pale green called "Frosty Pine" would be the best choice. I can't wait to see Ian's room after we decorate it in about 2 weeks! We also bought a carbon monoxide detector while we were there. We ended up getting one that also measures natural gas. It was twice as expensive than the ones that just detect carbon monoxide, but since we have natural gas heating our home, it seemed worth the investment especially since natural gas makes Paul rather nervous.
Yesterday Nadia said the word "touchdown" again. She had said it last Sunday, but since I only heard it once, I hadn't counted it as a new word yet. She said it a couple of times yesterday - very clearly! You can tell her parents like football that "touchdown" was one of her first 50 words, LOL. You can see from the photo in yesterday's post that she also shares our affinity for pizza. She ate almost an entire slice last night!
Yesterday I got an email from someone in Michigan who read one of my journal articles and was wanting to do additional research on the topic. That was a pleasant surprise. I admit it's easy to just focus on the goal of tenure & promotion when writing articles. It's nice to think that people are actually reading them. :-)

Didn't Pass

I didn't pass the 3 hour glucose test, but I have not been given the diagnosis of having gestational diabetes (yet) as you have to have two abnormal levels to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Of the four blood draws (fasting, 1hr, 2hr, and 3hr), three were normal. Unfortunately my level at 3 hours was 149, and 139 is the upper limit for "normal" for that blood draw. The doctor said this means that I need to begin blood sugar monitoring with a glucometer at home. I have to be seen once a week to review the results. If at any point it seems that I have developed diabetes, more treatment will begin. I am glad that January 13th is only 9.5 weeks away as I'm not looking forward to pricking myself several times a day or going to the doctor once a week. Of course Ian is totally worth it, but it would have been nice to avoid a glucomoter like I did when pregnant with Nadia. The upside is that maybe I won't gain as much weight the next 9 weeks. I haven't had any ice cream in a week, and I haven't done any baking. Unfortunately my favorite food groups are dairy, fruit, and carbs. I don't generally eat much protein or veggies, which I think are the ones lowest on the glycemic index. We shall see what other changes I need to make to my diet.

I was planning to attend a function for ladies at church this morning, but the theme of it was "Chocolate Boutique" and that didn't sound like a good thing for me in light of my glucose issues. So I stayed home. I did go out last night. My friend, Cheri, who hadn't seen Nadia in more than a year and had never been inside our new house, came by and visited with us for 15 minutes before she and I left for a Barlowgirl concert. It was great to be able to spend some time with her. Tomorrow afternoon we'll be spending time with Paul's family as today is his mom's birthday. We hope she's having a very special birthday weekend!

Nadia's vocabulary continues to expand. Some of her newest words include "knee," "elbow," "baby" (said in reference to her dolls), and "uh oh." She has a word for belly button, but since it's not something others would comprehend, I am not counting it as a new word. It's sort of like "beh buh." She certainly makes good use of the word "no" lately, LOL!

Contractions are back

Tuesday I started having rather painful contractions again. They weren't AS bad as the ones I had at 23 weeks which even hurt around my back, but still they haven't been very fun. I wasn't able to stand during class very much on Tuesday night. Yesterday I felt just plain awful between the contractions and that terrible 3 hour glucose test. I skipped choir rehearsal and went to bed early. I am feeling much better so far today. Hopefully the contractions will stay away. I didn't have painful contractions like this until 36 weeks with Nadia. I keep telling Ian that it's too early for him to be born! I'm hoping to make it until at least 38 weeks this time. Monday the doctor's office called me right around 8am to tell me that I had failed the test on Friday. I am hoping that since I haven't been called today it means that I passed the 3 hour one. I sent an electronic message so hopefully they'll write me back later today. I don't like to be left in suspense and although I can access many lab results online, for whatever reason glucose isn't one of the ones that they let patients see.

Anemic

I was correct that the lab results indicated that I am anemic. I don't think they would have mentioned it to me if I hadn't asked about it. I am glad I can view my medical record (at least portions of it) online. Dr. S called back and said that I should take one iron supplement a day, and that if my stomach could tolerate it, I should start out taking two a day just to get my levels back up to where they should be. I took one today. I'll see how I fare before I go to two a day. I went ahead and took one Colace also as I know what the side effect of taking iron will be.

Paul still wants Nadia to spend some time at the neighbor's house today, but I'm thinking in light of her morning nap he won't mind keeping her at home tomorrow morning when I'm at the doctor's office. It's not that he doesn't enjoy spending time with her; he definitely does!!! It cracks me up though at the difference between moms and dads. I have never taken Nadia to a babysitter so I could get work done at home. I find ways to watch her and accomplish what I need to do whether that's grading papers or doing housework. I think Paul is probably like most fathers in that he doesn't feel he can accomplish anything else while he's in charge of Nadia.

3 Hour Test

I didn't pass the 1 hour diabetes test this time. With Nadia, my glucose was 128 after the 1 hour test. This time, it was 138. Some OB's use 130 as the cut-off (under 120 is ideal) and others use 140 as the cut-off. Dr. S must use 130. This means I have to do the 3 hour test which involves fasting for 12 hours before the test and having blood drawn four times over a 3 hour time span. I'm not looking forward to that as I usually eat breakfast at about 6:30am, and my test is scheduled to start at 8am on Wednesday. I know a lot of people fail the 1 hour test and pass the 3 hour test which means they don't have gestational diabetes. Hopefully that's what will be true for me! I will ask the neighbor if she can watch Nadia on Wednesday morning. Looking online, my red blood count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit were all low and my red cell distribution width was high. All of these point to anemia. I asked the nurse if I should start taking iron in addition to the prenatal vitamin, and she said she'd check with the doctor.

Yesterday Nadia did take two naps for the first time in four days. Her morning nap was one hour long, and her afternoon nap was 90 minutes long. She also slept 11 hours last night. YAY! She wakes up chattering happily when she sleeps 11 hours or more compared to waking up crying if she sleeps less than that. If she takes an afternoon nap today, it will have to be at the neighbor's house this afternoon.

Sarah called me Thursday night to say she had the flu and couldn't watch Nadia on Friday during my doctor's appointment. Thankfully, Paul's parents said they could come up. Friday night Sarah called and said the doctor said she'd be contagious for five more days. So Saturday I called our neighbor to see if she could babysit Nadia today and tomorrow. Thankfully she is able to do so. I can tell the flu is really bad this year. My sister, Wendy, had the swine flu last week. She actually started having symptoms the same day she returned to Chicago; thankfully we didn't catch it from her while we were together in Maryland. Last Wednesday someone was supposed to come and give us an estimate on installing a fence on our property. He called to cancel due to his wife having the swine flu and him having the seasonal flu. Today someone was supposed to come and tune our pianos, but he called last night to say his children had the flu, and he needed to stay home with them today. I am very grateful that thus far we three have escaped the flu (seasonal and swine). Nadia still has a runny nose, but other than that we're healthy.

January 13th

I haven't been sleeping well lately for a variety of reasons - all of which are related to being pregnant. Most of them are physical things like hip pain. However, one reason was that I have been going round and round in my mind about VBAC vs. RSC (repeat c-section). Yesterday morning I decided that Paul and I should talk about it one more time and make a decision so that I wouldn't keep thinking about it. I listed out for Paul all the pros and cons of each that I could think of, and he had me look up a few facts such as the mortality rate for c-section (we already knew what it was for VBAC). If the decision were 100% up to me, I'd attempt a trial of labor, but I feel on a decision like this I need to defer to my hubby. His preference has always been RSC. So that's what we're going to do. I am not looking forward to being in pain for a couple of weeks, but if that's what it takes to have a healthy baby boy, it's definitely worth it! It does feel nice to have the decision made. I guess I didn't need to switch hospitals. Now I wish I had just stayed put because the first hospital is closer. If I hadn't needed to wait an hour for the bloodwork, I would have been in and out in 30 minutes this last time, and that never happened at the other OB clinic, so maybe it's all for the best anyhow. I'm actually not really crazy about Dr. S (whom I've seen 3 times now), but who knows who will do my RSC and I won't be seeing him that many more times as my next appt is at 32 weeks. Ian might decide to come sooner than 1-13, but that might be his birthday, and that's only 10 1/2 weeks away!!

Ian's clock came in the mail on Friday. Isn't it cute? We need to go pick out the paint color in the near future as Paul is going to paint Ian's room in about 3 weeks.

The last two pictures were taken yesterday. Next year we'll take Nadia trick or treating. Nobody comes to our house. Paul got Nadia a Halloween card, and Grandma got Nadia the pumpkin (which lights up). As you can see from the picture below, our penguin loves boxes!

Nadia has only been sleeping 9.5-10 hours at night lately. Hopefully we can get back up to 11 hours, which used to be the norm for her. The last 3 days she's either taken only one nap, or if she's taken two, one of them has only been 20 minutes long. Saturday and Thursday she only had morning naps, and Friday she only had an afternoon nap. I don't know if it's because of her runny nose or tooth #12 that is still coming in or the flu shot she got on Friday or a combination of those factors, but hopefully we'll get back in a good 2 nap routine in the near future. Of course "falling back" one hour this weekend doesn't help. We had been putting her to bed later than usual the last few days in an attempt to help her switch her body clock one hour. As expected though, she woke up at 5:15 (new time) this morning. Whomever came up with this plan couldn't have been a parent of a young child!

Her newest animal sound is "oo" (for an owl), and her newest word is "uh oh." A few days ago I recorded a short (32 second) video of Nadia enjoying her belly button and giving teddy bear a hug. I wanted to also record her saying "eye" when I pointed to a picture of an eye in a book, but she was too intent on hugging teddy to do that.