Man, I Feel Like A Woman :)

Ok seriously, words can't describe how much fun this was and how impressed I am with our photographer. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to get maternity photos and I'm SO glad we did. If you are considering it - DO IT! So.Much.Fun!

Shout out to Moxie Images in Spokane, WA for doing our shoot - Nikki Belyea is the owner and she does some fabulous work! Here's a sneak peak of what she has posted on her blog:

 

I hope I don't get in trouble for posting those?! But I give her full credit! She's awesome!

We actually got a whole package so we've got a whole year of photos to look forward to!

Here's the package we got:

Baby Package

Includes 4 Sessions:

• Maternity Session
• 0-3 Month Newborn Session
• 6 Month Session
• 1 Year Session
• 60 of your favorite images in a 20 page coffee table book
• 1 printable digital file from each session

Bonus:

• 15% Off Baby Announcements
• 15% Off One Year Birthday Cards

So seriously if you are in Eastern Washington and need photo's done, check her out!

35/35

35 Weeks Down - 35 Days to go that is :)

35 days?????? Holy Crap!!!!!!

Here's what Landon is up to this week:

Baby's now the size of a honeydew!
From now on, baby's growth is mostly in the plumping up department -- though he won't get much longer, he'll put on a pound or more of baby fat before birth. (He's about 15 percent right now and will be about 30 percent by full-term.) His hearing is totally developed (tip: baby responds best to higher pitches), and if he really is a "he," his testes have probably completed their descent.

Non-Stress Tests

This week was the first of my new hectic work/doctor appointment schedule and I have to say, it wasn't that bad!

If you remember, Dr. C recommended that twice weekly I am to be scheduled for non-stress tests in addition to my regular (now every two week) OB appointments. I'm really thankful that my job is accommodating me during all these appointments and letting me change my schedule from 8am-5pm to 7am-4pm however getting up that extra hour earlier this week was brutal! I'm sure I'll adjust to that quickly though.

I was a little nervous about starting these appointments just because of the nature of them - basically having GD considers me in the High Risk Pregnancy category and also because, I've never been to the hospital... ever... for anything...

Anyway, I made it down there ok, found parking, paid my $2 for said parking, and proceeded to wander around the Women's Maternity Center of the hospital until I finally gave up and asked where the heck I needed to go. Adam gets irritated with me because I'm like a man - I hate to ask for directions - so I'm glad he wasn't with me :)

So I finally figure out which part of the hospital they had me scheduled in - the Women's Center for Fetal-Maternal Medicine - and I took note since I'll be spending a lot of time there in the next 5 weeks. They hooked me up to a monitor that they told me would be similar to one they'd use up in L&D when I actually go into labor. Someone freaked me out and told me that these NST's would be simulating a contraction - that's not the case! Basically, one strap around my belly monitors Landon's heartbeat and another strap monitors if I'm having any contractions. The tech also gave me a little clicky deal that I had to push every time I felt Landon move. She said that they'll monitor him for a minimum of 20 minutes and they need to get at least 2 good movements with significant raises in heart rate. Apparently when a baby moves their heart rate raises and that's what the whole test is about.

Of course, it couldn't just be that easy right???

Landon was asleep... at BOTH my Tue & Friday appointments... fabulous. Both days they let me sit there for the first 5 or so minutes waiting to see if he'd wake up. He didn't. So first they try and have you drink a cup of cold water to see if that would help. It got him going a little bit but on Tuesday but it wasn't enough so they used a little device that uses a combination of vibration and sound to really wake him up. The tech said it won't hurt him in the slightest but the second that vibration hit my stomach I got the hardest kick I've ever felt. He was awake!!! :) After that it was kick after kick and HR rise after rise. I did end up having to sit there for 10 extra minutes because I guess once he was awake the cover line of his HR was bouncing from 140 to 135 and without 10 minutes of a consistent cover line I'd have to keep sitting there so they could monitor. Today, the water alone did the trick and and his cover line was consistent at 135. 

They must have noticed that I was nervous though cause they did put my mind at ease telling me that they wouldn't let me leave their office if they thought something was wrong. If they did think something was up - they'd either call Dr. C or send me straight up to L&D, or both.

Today (and every Friday from here on out) in addition to the test above I got an ultrasound to measure the amount of fluid he's living in. To my surprise, it was a 3D ultrasound!!! It was awesome! While I REALLY was hoping to get yet another confirmation of Team Blue - Landon didn't want to show us the goods. But the fluid level looked good and he's got some chunky little cheeks :) He was also sucking his thumb at one point and he's also in the perfect head down position... so hopefully he'll stay that way :) Here's a glimpse of our little man! He's very flexible :)

Olive Garden Chicken Castellina

I don't know why I don't make this more often... oh wait... probably because it's REALLY super gooey and yummy and I'm sure it can't be healthy. But man, is it OH.SO.GOOD! It's also no longer on the Olive Garden menu - they won't even make it special order... boo. So I googled and found that while they don't offer it anymore, they do give the recipe right on their website!!! I've had the recipe for some time now just in case it falls off their website... here's their credit...

So my sister was in town this weekend and while she HATES mushrooms, I decided we'd make it anyway - she picked them out :)

While it I thought it would do NOTHING for my blood sugar numbers, suprisingly, we made this along with a huge salad and some garlic bread (which I only had 1 small piece of) and my numbers turned out fine... so I had leftovers for lunch the next day :)

We ate it so fast that I didn't have time to take a picture... oops! Next time :) Enjoy!

Ingredients
Chicken Ingredients:
1/4 tsp Salt
1 oz Cornstarch
--
2 oz Sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp Fresh rosemary, chopped
3 oz Butter, cubed
1/2 tsp Salt
2 oz Grated Parmesan
12 oz Milk
1 1/2 lb(s) Cooked pasta
--
8 1/2 oz Can sliced artichokes, drained
2 oz White wine
Fresh parsley, chopped
12 oz Heavy cream
1 1/2 lb(s) Skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut in 1 to 1-1/2-inch pieces
2 oz Pancetta (or bacon), diced
1/4 tsp Pepper
3 oz Mushrooms, sliced
6 oz Flour
1/4 tsp Pepper
--
Sauce Ingredients:
3 oz Smoked Gouda, chopped
1 1/2 oz Olive oil
1 tsp Garlic, chopped

Procedures
Sauce Preparation
- In a 3-qt sauce pan or large pot, sauté pancetta (or bacon) over medium/high heat until crisp and golden (not dark)
- Lower heat, add butter and melt
- Add garlic and sun-dried tomatoes
- Sauté for approximately one minute stirring frequently (do not brown)
- Whisk in cream, milk and cornstarch. Raise heat to medium/high
- Whisk in Parmesan and Gouda
- Once cheese melts, add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil stirring continuously
- Remove from heat and let stand uncovered


Chicken Preparation
- Mix flour with salt and pepper
- Coat chicken in seasoned flour, shake off excess flour
- Heat olive oil in large sauté pan
- Add chicken in a single layer and cook until golden brown on both sides (it should take approximately seven minutes). Using a meat thermometer, make sure the internal temperature of the thickest piece of chicken reaches 165 degrees
- Begin pasta in a separate pot according to package directions
- Add wine to chicken in pan (caution: there will be a low flame in pan). Toss gently until wine is evaporated
- Once reduced, add sauce and bring to a boil on medium/high heat
- Place 6 oz of cooked pasta on each plate
- Evenly distribute chicken and sauce over pasta
- Garnish with chopped parsley

I Wanna Quit the Gym....

Haha remember that episode of Friends where Chandler tries to cancel his gym membership??? LOL - that's what my afternoon reminded me of....

Photo Credit

So I know what you're thinking - this girl has gestational diabetes, she's 33 weeks pregnant and she should be spending at least a few hours a week getting some exercise and she should NOT be canceling her gym membership. Yeah yeah!

I didn't really try to cancel my membership - I just tried to put it on hold for a few months. I figure it's starting to get light out earlier at night so I'm going to start taking walks after work with my two other pregnant girlfriends. (That should be a funny sight!) Also, once Landon is here I figure for at least a month or two I'm not going to be spending much time at the gym. They do have a daycare but I don't think they take infants - also, since it'll be spring time and I'm in LOVE with my jogging stroller, I'm going to try to make good use of that while I'm on maternity leave.

Anyway, I go in and tell the front desk girl that I'd like to put my membership on hold. She asks why and I explain that I'll be having a baby in 6 short weeks and I don't feel I'll be using it as much as I'd like in the next few months. She tells me that this shouldn't be a problem as they do it all the time however they will need proof that I'm pregnant. At this point - the front desk girl gets the SERIOUS side eye from me...

... said side eye doesn't faze the girl whatsoever.

So I say to her - "Proof?" - as I turn sideways showing her my 33 week belly? "Seriously? This ain't a beer belly lady!" She barely breaks a smile and tells me yes, they need a doctor's note and as soon as they receive it that they'll be more than happy to put my membership on hold.

Wow... I just laugh and say ok. Even my doctor laughed at me today when I called for the proof! She joked that I should POAS and bring it in for them... now there's a thought!!! :) I told her something in writing should be sufficient. :) tee hee!

32 Weeks and an OVERLOAD of info...

I keep finding all these new recipes that I want to try however... the nutritional information listed for each has prevented me from doing so. Sad... because there are some really good ones! Especially with Super Bowl being on Sunday - I found a bunch of snacky recipes that would be perfect for this party we are going to but I couldn't eat them so what the heck is the fun of making them? Is that selfish??? lol - I don't care :)

In other developments... I had my 32 week appointment with Dr. C yesterday. It went pretty well - minus the fact that my back has still been killing me and she keeps giving me all these "suggestions" when all I really want is a referral to a massage therapist who specializes in pre-natal massages. Don't get me wrong... Adam does a good job... but I can only imagine the real thing.

Anyway, I got to do the usual... pee in a cup - check... blood pressure - normal... Landon's heart beat - 150 and he kicked the doppler yet again... tape measure to the belly - right on track (wohoo - not big!!!)... then she started in on the Gestational Diabetes talk. First of all she apologized to me because as I distinctly remember she said I was one of her patients that she believed would "have nothing to worry about." Yeah right... it was nice she remembered saying that though. Apparently, as noted before my number for the 1 hour test was only slightly elevated and come to find out technically I didn't even fail the 3 hour!!! She showed me my numbers and if you recall from this post to really fail the 3 hour you are to fail 2 or more of the 4 blood draws... I failed one... but another of my numbers was 1 point (1 POINT!!!!) below the cut-off so she decided to cautiously diagnose me with gestational diabetes.

Honestly, I'm fine with it - if any of you have talked to me in the last few weeks since dealing with the GD Dx you know that I feel better than ever. I have a ton more energy, I've actually lost a few pounds, and I'm really considering continuing this diet plan (although a not so strict version) after Landon is born. Who woulda thunk??? :)

She did give me some more information as far as being induced early. The nutritionist had mentioned that a lot of doctors don't let patients with GD go past 38 weeks so I definitely wanted to ask her about this. Dr. C says that the EARLIEST she'd induce me is 39 weeks and that's ONLY if Landon starts to grow out of control. With my body frame, height and weight... she said there's probably no way a baby larger than about 9 lbs is coming out of... well... there. So there'd be a higher chance of C-section if she let me go. Also, she said that she won't let me go past my due date. So... March 29th it is :) If he's not here on his own by the time I hit my 40 week appointment, I'll be going sometime that week for induction. EEK!!! Scary! But oh so exciting!!! :)

Also (I swear I'm almost done!), starting at week 34 I have to go in for two (count them... two) weekly appointments at the hospital for non-stress tests. This is ALONG with my regular appointments - which are now every 2 weeks and at 36 weeks every week - with Dr. C. I'm not 100% sure exactly what these NST's entail but she said one is some kind of test to measure his movement (while simulating a contraction?!) and another test will be an ultrasound to measure the fluid levels. Apparently another side effect of GD is that the fluid around little Landon could get low if my blood sugars are not controlled which could either mean: 1. bedrest or 2. early induction. So while it's kind of cool I get to see him on the big screen on a weekly basis - what a pain!!! I've asked my work if I can switch my schedule from 8am-5pm to 7am-4pm so at least I won't have to take time off, I'll just head over to the hospital and hope that they can fit me in before 5. Fingers crossed...