Previous Page Next Page Journal Index
IT'S A...
Anyway, I'm a little disappointed, but not terribly so. Other than the whole stubborn thing, the ultrasound went very well. The baby looked just perfect, and it is measuring a little closer to it's due date now. Last time, Duckie was measuring a whole week ahead...now he/she is only 3 days ahead of schedule. This is particularly good news because one of the biggest risks of gestational diabetes is macrosomia, or in laymen's terms: sprouting a mongo baby. We also got a fabulous picture that you can see here. The detail is just amazing. The eye sockets, nose and teeth are all clearly visible.
We also learned that we are not only giving birth to a stubborn child (did I mention that Duckie started moving about 2 minutes after the ultrasound was done?), but also a contortionist! When the tech was explaining why she couldn't get a good peek at the genitals, she told us how he/she was laying. Apparently, Duckie had his/her arms crossed over his/her head, with one leg shoved in between them! So we have now lovingly nicknamed our child "the stubborn contortionist." :)
I'm actually not too broken up about it. Last time, a lot of my frustration came from the fact that I felt my doctor had removed my choice to even try to find out. This time, I went into it knowing that the baby might not cooperate, and it's a lot easier for me to forgive my baby than my doctor. :) Also, in the last several weeks, I had begun to reconcile myself to not knowing until delivery, so I think that my recent experiences really helped make this less frustrating. And actually, we may still find out fairly soon. My friend Amy's mom does ultrasounds, and the doctors she works with let her do an ultrasound on Amy while the office was closed last summer when she was pregnant. We'll be visiting them at the end of this month, and Amy just asked her mom if she could do one on me while we're there. There's a good chance the answer will be yes. So all is not yet lost. :)
Well, that's about it. I won't be updating my journal for another week or so now, as I leave tomorrow to go to Chicago, and from there we are heading to my first shower and our huge family reunion. I'm so excited about both! I'm sure it will be a fantastic time and I'll have lots to report when I return.
Where to Begin?
The shower was wonderful. Of course the company was great. :) But we also couldn't have ordered a more perfectly beautiful day. We were on a houseboat on Lake Washington, and it was sunny and only in the low 70s, with just the lightest breeze blowing. Someone told me that the guy who was driving the boat said it was the best day for boating he'd seen all summer. It was so gorgeous. And I got the most wonderful gifts. It was really quite overwhelming. I honestly feel like I could have this baby tomorrow and not have to go out and buy any last minute stuff. (Not that I'm encouraging you to come tomorrow, Duckie!) I think the hardest thing was knowing that I would have to wait a whole week to get it into the baby's room and put away. :) Thanks to all my aunts, especially Barb and Katy, for throwing me such a wonderful shower!
The reunion was also great. The weather was just a little warmer, but there was a nice breeze, so most of the day was great. Unfortunately, we capped the day off with a tremendous storm that we all just barely got away from in time. We had so much great food and again, the company was of course great. :) For me, I think the highlight of the day was going out on Katy and Tom's pontoon for about an hour. It was just so lovely, and while I forgot to wear my swimsuit (duh!), it was still nice to just sit on the edge of the boat with my legs dangling in the water.
On Sunday, Nate, his mom, my dad, Erin, and Stathie all had to head back to Chicago, but Mom and I stuck around in MN for a couple of extra days. Mostly, we relaxed with Nanny on Sunday, but then on Monday, Mom and I drove to Minneapolis and hit the Mall of America. I was too tired to do much (fatigue is really hitting me with a vengeance again), but our main destinations were Sears and Motherhood Maternity. The plus size selection at Sears wasn't too great (although certainly better than our selection in South Bend), but I was blown away by Motherhood. They had at least 3 times the selection of plus sizes than any other Motherhood I've been in. I was like a kid in a candy store. :) Mom had been saying that she wanted to buy some maternity outfits, so we bought lots of great new stuff. I had expected my fall wardrobe to be predominantly jeans with T-shirts or, on days I need to dress up, my black slacks or skirt with a T-shirt and a black cardigan over it. Now, I've got lots of nice shirts that are actually intended for fall, as well as a pair of navy slacks, a pair of tan slacks, a super comfy pair of tan knit pants, and a two-piece outfit. I'm beginning to like my maternity wardrobe better than my non-maternity wardrobe! It's just as cute, and soooo comfy. :)
After our long day of shopping, we had a nice relaxing dinner with Aunt Barb and then stayed at her house that night. On Tuesday, Mom and I headed back to Chicago again. We got a late start, because we found out at 9 am that Notre Dame had announced while we were gone that they would be selling the remaining football tickets to the public Tuesday morning. So Mom and I spent all the time from 9 until noon either hearing a busy signal or on hold. Fortunately, we did get through once and were able to get all the tickets we wanted so that Dad can go to most of the games as well as 4 tickets for the November 2nd game against Boston College, when we plan to have another tailgate. So we hit the road much later than we'd intended, and by the time we got home, we were too tired to do much but go to bed.
On Wednesday, however, we finally picked up our baby dresser from Babies R Us! We were supposed to get the crib, too, but much to my chagrin, BRU had called while we were away and said they had "discovered" that the box was damaged, and when they opened it, the crib was damaged. So they had to reorder it, and it will be a couple more weeks before it is in. Oh well, we did get the dresser, and since we don't have a mattress yet and therefore can't put on any of our bedding, the dresser was all I was really concerned about.
Thursday, we returned to South Bend and went through all the shower gifts again, oohing and aahing and removing tags. That was so much fun - it was like having a second shower! And then Friday, we actually got the baby's room set up. We put everything away in the dresser that could go there, and then arranged the other items we have in the room. It's not quite complete yet without the crib, but it is really looking like a nursery now!
So that pretty much catches me up. Yesterday and today I've mostly been working on schoolwork and trying to fight through the fatigue. I hope this is just a phase, because I'm exhausted! Other than that, though, everything is great. I'm generally feeling really good and the baby is moving so much these days. Sunday night in Mankato, the baby actually moved for about 20 minutes straight! Of course, it always chooses bedtime to really get going. But the movements are definitely getting more frequent and, often, much stronger.
Well, like I said, I'm pretty exhausted, so I'm going to wrap this up and head to bed. Good night!