Already smiling...

Xavier at 28 weeks!!

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of events, thank goodness my glucose test ended up okay.  We are starting our 29th week - officially into the 3rd trimester. I can't believe how quickly time has flown and in just a few short weeks little Xavier is going to be in our arms.  I can still remember when I figured out I was pregnant and told Matt for the first time, and now we're at the point where we can see his nose, eyes, lips, cheeks and make guesses as to who he looks the most like!!  Click here if you want to see all 68 pictures from his 28 week photoshoot (password: xavier) ;).  


At 29 weeks X is about 2.5 to 3 pounds and over 1 foot long!!  At this point he's done a lot of his developing and is moving a ton.  I can even feel him hiccuping and see his movements through my belly!

Normal breakfast

I wanted to say again how relieved I am to be done with that glucose testing.  I am so thankful that is not something I was diagnosed with and I'm going to continue to try to be as healthy as I can be with my eating habits and exercising habits.  At this point I am focusing on having as much protein as possible and walking everyday for 1-2 miles.  Most mornings I have cottage cheese, fruit, whole wheat toast and jelly.  Lunches are typically some sort of subway sandwich (even though I am SO sick of subway) and dinner is rice with veggies and meat.  

In addition to walking, I did my last "distance race" of this pregnancy on Sunday, March 25.  The Shamrock Shuffle was super fun.  I started the race off with Karen P. and Caroline K. (expecting and at 18 weeks!).  We had a great time at the race with some unexpectedly beautiful weather.  I finished the 8k race in 1hr and 8 minutes (avg. 13min & 40 sec mile) and felt great afterwards.  I did struggle a little bit with some cramping and slight braxton-hicks contractions during Mile 2 - which led me to walk about 1 mile through the race.  Overall, with walking and taking one bathroom break, I was pretty please with my time!   However, unless a random 5k comes up, this will be my last race until after X is born.  

28 weeks

29 weeks

Here's a few hump day bump day pix.  Of course pregnancy brain got the best of me and I missed a week 27.  Looking back I can't believe how quickly this belly has grown.  I feel huge.  I've started to have some swelling in my hands, feet and ankles.  I sleep with my feet up on pillows and wear compression socks through the day which has helped.  

My darling Xavier - I cannot believe you are only a few weeks away from being in our arms.  I love that you are so active in my belly and I can feel you every day. I'm going to miss having you with me all the time, but I can't wait for you to see and experience so many things in this world.  Your dad and I are working really hard on organizing your room and getting our place organized so you're not brought into the chaotic whirlwind we were living in.  So far - your room is by far the best room in our house ;).  We love you and can't wait to see that cute little smile in person.

Time for a strawberry sundae :)

So this morning I went in for the dreaded 3 hour glucose tolerance test (OGTT).  The test consisted of fasting from midnight, then getting up super early (6:30am) to head to Swedish Covenant to have the testing done.  When I arrived they do an initial finger prick and blood draw to test my fasting levels.  Then they give you a 100mg glucose drink (aka the most digusting stuff on earth) to drink in 3 minutes.  From there they drew blood every hour, three more times.  It was a miserable experience - this world really needs to find another way to test for this, because it's just cruel to not let a pregnant woman eat =P. 

The max levels vs. my results are:

Fasting: 95mg/dL vs. 87mg/dL
Hour 1: 180mg/dL vs. 190mg/dL
Hour 2: 155mg/dL vs. 126mg/dL
Hour 3: 139mg/dL vs. 103mg/dL

So I did fail one of the tests, but to be diagnosed you need to fail 2 of the 4, so I passed!!!!  I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am.  I feel like the effort I've put into staying healthy has not gone to waste :). 

I'll be honest - I'm going to have ice cream today to celebrate ;).

On a side note - when I found out the news and got excited - X started dancing in my belly.  He must know how happy I am.  I love that little guy.

Sugar sucks

I had my 1 hr glucose test done last Friday and just received the results.   Standard range is 60-139 and I scored 147, just enough to fail the test.  So, next step is to do the 3 hr glucose test, which requires you to fast starting at midnight (not hard since I'm sleeping by then!), head to the hospital first thing in the morning (I'm going tomorrow at 6:30am) to have 4 samples taken over the course of 3 hrs.  If I fail 2 or more of the tests, then I'll be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. 

This has been one of my worst fears through pregnancy since high blood pressure, diabetes and preeclampsia all run in my family.  I've done my best to maintain a decent diet (I know I'm not perfect, but I'm not eating McDonalds for every meal or anything!) and I continue to walk at least 1-2 miles everyday/every other day.  Sometimes people are just more prone to things than others and I guess I need to be even more careful than other women with what I eat and do.

I'm just going to pray tonight that the test goes well tomorrow. 

Cankles, doulas and dogs... oh my!



26 weeks


Xavier is 26 weeks old now!!  He's over a foot now, is about the size of a head of lettuce and is around 2 pounds!  His eyelashes have just about grown in and he's getting ready to open his eyes (do you think they'll be big or small? =P).  He has been kicking a ton and doing a lot of dancing in my belly - especially around mealtimes. 

My pregnancy brain has gotten the best of me and I forgot to take a 25 week picture, but I remembered my 26 week pic!  I really can't believe how quickly time is passing by - 3 more months and we get to meet him. 

I thought I'd be able to avoid the dreaded symptom of swollen hands, feet and cankles... but no luck there for me!  I'm lucky enough to have a hubby that will give me foot massages at night - but he did admit last night that he wishes I only had one foot.  Over the cruise my hands had swelled a bit and I can't wear my engagement and wedding ring anymore - so Matt bought me a replacement that fits so I don't look like a pregnant teenager when people see me. 

Last weekend Matt and I attended a Childbirth Education extensive weekend at Birthways.  We received a ton of information on how to execute our birth plan and watched more videos that I'd ever imagine in a weekend of children being born.  I'm doing my best to not fear what is a natural process, but I have to admit - I get really scared about whether or not I can really do this and make it.  To help us through our process we've decided that we plan to use a doula to help keep us on track and focused on what is most important - keeping Xavier and myself healthy!  We are waiting to hear which doula Birthways plans to place us with.  The program there covers 2-3 prenatal visits, full labor support and one post natal visit. 



"Hi Xavier!" says Agnes



Very randomly - Xavier already has his first pet - Agnes Lee.  She was an abandoned toy poodle that we adopted and we're so excited for them to meet each other.  Hopefully he has a childhood friend from her.  She already loves trying to sit on my belly - so I'm hoping thats a sign that she'll protect him when he's here!

Next update will have some 3d pix of Baby XL since we're heading back to First Peek Ultrasound during our 28th week to see who he looks like!!

Xavier - I can't believe that you are just a few months away from being in my arms.  I'm already dreading having to leave you and I can't wait to watch you grow up.  Your dad and I have been talking a lot lately about your future, where we hope you go to school, and how we hope you'll act.  We've learned that we just want you to be safe, figure out what makes you smile in this world and focus on your passions.  Keep on kicking little man!