September Bumpdate

I'm actually posting this on time this month!  Wahoo!  Probably because I was just so excited about all of the exciting things I have to post about... hang on to your hats!

 9/2: 31 Weeks.  Happy Birthday Nick!  My main man is getting OLD!  We celebrated his birthday on the 8th by sleeping all day :)

 9/9: 32 Weeks.  Ginger got the hiccups for the first time this week.  Before I was pregnant I would hear people say their baby got the hiccups all the time when they were pregnant, and I always wondered how the heck they could tell something like that.  Well, now I know!  And you can definitely tell.  It was so funny.  They lasted for about 5-10 minutes and I was cracking up the whole time.  It just feels strange.

 9/16: 33 Weeks.  Saw the specialist for my GD, and after talking with Dr. Dimmette, they decided I needed to start taking gliburide at night to control my sugar levels in the mornings.  Bummer, but now I don't have to stress out when my blood sugar is high every morning.
This was the week of my baby shower!  Words cannot even begin to express how blessed I feel after this week.  One of my best friends and former BYU roommate flew down for the weekend just so she could come to my shower.  I had a ton of family come long distances to be there.  So many of my good friends gave up their Friday night to come.  The lovely and talented Shillawna Ruffner did some maternity photos and photographed the beautiful shower (check out her work here.  And you can be sure I will be sharing once she has the pictures edited.).  My shower was absolutely incredible.  It was hands down the most beautiful shower I've ever been to, though I might be a little biased.  So much work, thought, and love went into every little detail.  And the word shower felt especially appropriate as I was showered with love and gifts for this sweet little miracle inside me.  Every time I think about it, I get all choked up.  Its just amazing how much this little girl is already loved even before she is even here.  I am so grateful to everyone who helped make the night so amazing and to all those who came from near and far to be a part of it.

9/23: 34 Weeks.  Happy Birthday to me!  My birthday was the 23rd, but we won't discuss how old I am.  My co-workers spoiled me with a gift certificate to get my hair done before Ginger comes and a sugar free Razzleberry pie from Marie Calendar's... YUM!  

This week Nick and I also had the opportunity to take a mini overnight babymoon.  We stayed the night at the Disneyland Hotel and then went to Disneyland the night day.  It was nice to get away and spend some time with my love, just he and I, one last time before our lives change forever.  While we were at Disneyland, we ate at the Blue Bayou to celebrate our birthdays, and I pretended I didn't have GD so I could eat the Monte Cristo sandwich.  

 I had another doctor appointment this week.  After this, I start going every week!  Getting closer and closer to meeting my sweet baby girl!  Dr. Dimmette told me that because they had to put me on meds for the diabetes, that she wouldn't let me go past 39 weeks... which means she will induce me sometime between the 21st and 28th... which means Ginger will definitely be here before Halloween... which means I basically lost 2 weeks of prep time before she gets here... which means I'm kinda freaking out a little that I won't be ready!  But as much as I'm freaking out, I'm so much more excited to get to meet her 1 1/2 - 2 weeks early!

Side note:  From looking back at all of my belly pics, I have decided that I should no longer wear my hair half up.  It makes my face look fat.  Boo.  You may now continue with your regularly scheduled post.

Soooo... if you're doing the math, I will officially be a mom in 3 weeks, 4 at the most!  I have been waiting so long for this to come that it feels surreal for it to finally be here.  For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a mom.  I have always known that is what I was meant to do, what I was born to do.  And as nervous as I am to actually finally get to be a mom, I know that I am going to be great at it.  Sure there will be times when I make mistakes, and more than not I will feel inadequate, but I am going to put my heart and soul into raising this beautiful daughter of God.  I want to teach her who she is and where she came from, how much her Father in Heaven loves her, how much divine potential she has, how beautiful she is, that she has infinite worth, and so much more.  I cannot wait to hold her in my arms and do everything I can to take care of her and raise her the best way I know how. I want to sing her to sleep with my favorite hymns and encourage her talents.  But most of all, I want her to know how much her daddy and I love her and I just hope that we can even begin to show her just how deep that love goes.

August Bumpdate

Well, another month has come and gone, and we're another week closer to meeting our sweet (and stubborn) little girl!  August was a pretty boring, and insanely hot month, and quite frankly - I'm glad its over!  I am ready for September!

*** DISCLAIMER***  Ginger is NOT going to be our little girl's real name.  There are a number of people who have heard me call her Ginger and thought that we were really going to do that to our little girl, who is more than likely actually going to be a ginger.  This is not the case - it is a nickname we gave her to bug my mom since she will probably be a red-head and we don't actually have a name for her yet.

8/5: 27 Weeks.  We attempted to do a 3D ultrasound this week and invited our families.  Unfortunately, Ginger is in the breech position and is literally folded in half.  She covered her face with her feet the entire time we were there and we didn't get to see her :(

8/12: 28 Weeks.  Attempt numero dos at the 3D ultrasound.  Like I said - we have a stubborn little girl. She was still breech and still folded in half.  Still no pictures of our little girl.  We believe more than ever now that she is a red-head, and all the personality traits that come along with the fiery hair.

 I also saw Dr. Dimmette this week.  I'm now at the point where my monthly visits move to every two weeks.  Yay for lots of waiting two times a month instead of one!  

8/19: 29 Weeks.  We got another step closer to finishing the nursery.  There are now patches of grey and lilac paint all over the primer white walls.  Grey is a crazy hard color to pick out, just in case you were wondering.  The lilac paint I am ready to go, but I'm still deciding on the grey.  Hopefully I figure it out soon!

8/26: 30 Weeks!  When I hit 30 weeks, it felt like such a huge milestone!  Now I can count on my hands how many weeks I have left, instead of having to use both my fingers AND my toes!  

We had our third and final attempt at a our 3D ultrasound this week.  Ginger is finally head down, but still folded in half.  At one point, one of her feet was actually resting on top of her head.  We did get ONE semi-decent picture of half of her face... enough to see that she has a cute little pixie nose!  Better than nothing, I suppose.  But this third attempt was definitely confirmation that she is a red-head.  She is SO STUBBORN!  Nothing we did could get her to move so we could see her.  She better not be that camera shy when she gets here!

I also saw Dr. Dimmette again this week, and she did an ultrasound!  This was the first one she had done since my first trimester, so I was pretty excited, AND Nick was able to come!  Double bonus.  Dr. Dimmette says Ginger is measuring right on track, which is especially good to hear because of the gestational diabetes.  Ginger has long legs that measure a week and a half ahead of schedule, and a slender belly measuring a week behind, so right now she is long and thin.

This little girl has turned into a ninja over the past month, and her favorite spot to kick is my lungs.  Sometimes she literally takes my breath away, but I secretly (or not so secretly, since now I've told the one person who reads this blog...) love when she kicks and punches and beats up my organs.  Every little movement is a reassurance that Ginger is growing healthy and strong.  I am grateful for her movements, and worry about her when I don't feel her for a little while.

My gestational diabete is more or less under control at this point.  I can honestly say it is not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be, and I don't feel deprived at all... most of the time.  Its definitely hard when your in-laws buy a ginourmous chocolate cake and offer you a piece, but I'm strong enough to turn it down.  My will power is crazy awesome when it comes to my GD because I know that every choice I make with regard to my food is a choice that affects Ginger way more than it affects me.  If I make bad choices, it puts her and risk for childhood obesity and diabetes - I definitely don't want my poor judgement to set her up for failure before she is even born!  

I am so excited for September to be here!  Coming up this month:  Nick's birthday, my birthday, my baby shower, my gorgeous future sister-in-law's bridal shower, a mini baby-moon with my love, AND some more exciting things that I'm not supposed to tell anyone about!  Next month's bumpdate is going to be amazing.  Until then...