Well, so far, I've received no phone call regarding my glucose screening, which might mean good news that I am not gestationaly diebetic. It's been almost a week, and usually they call within the week if anything is wrong. We'll wait a few more days before the final determination.
The doctor's visit last Tuesday went about as expected. They told me I was gaining too much weight and told me I needed to go on a diet. Eh. Luckily, I am somewhat numbed to them saying it now, so it didn't have the effect it did the first few times. :P The baby has grown quite a bit since my last visit, too, though, so it's not just all me! Anyhow, I'm now sitting around 27 weeks according to the size of the baby, and they said it's about time for me to start doing exercises to make the baby turn. She's sitting in a breech position right now with her head snuggled up near my rib cage and constantly kicking my bladder. It's so strange to have so much information this pregnancy. I wouldn't have known if Tay was in a breech or otherwise position until at least week 36 or so...and probably wouldn't have worried about it. Now I'm doing daily exercises already to get this little one to turn...but I think there's still too much room in there for her to stay in the head-down position. A few times after the exercises, I'll feel her kicking up in my rib cage and think, oh, she's turned, but then later on that day, she'll be right back down by my bladder kicking away. Maybe I should just wait a few more weeks before trying to get her turned...in the mean time, she seems to be just fine rolling around in there however she feels like rolling.
I've also tried adjusting my diet a little, mostly snacking on grape/cherry tomatoes - my latest "craving" persay. It's hard trying to eat only healthy alternatives...for me, I think it's mostly portion control that I have issues with...and preventing myself from eating whatever is available at the time...
In other symptomatic news, I have had minor bloody noses for the past three or four days in the morning. I think it's because our air conditioner finally works in the bedroom, so it's drying out my nasal passages, but I am sleeping a whole lot better since I'm not sweltering...is it worth the tradeoff? Perhaps. My lower back is also bothering me quite a bit, but I think that is mostly due to my sciatic nerve and carrying around Tay everywhere. She doesn't feel heavy to me, but I can feel the ache in my lower back after I've carried her for a while and set her down.
Another thing that has been on my mind lately is what Saint's name to give to little Riley since she will be baptized in the Catholic church shortly after she is born. I'm hoping that she will be able to be baptized while my parents are still here visiting after her birth. Some of my favorites with the September month association are Seraphia and Teresa, while Sophia is also one I like. Also, who can we ask to be a God-parent for her? Religion is increasingly important for me these days...I'm not exactly sure why...but I just feel the need for God's presence in our lives, and I want to raise our children with an awareness and understanding of God and His love for us.
Oooo...another improvement from last week is that my crazy sweets craving has subsided, mostly, so I'm not craving chocolate every minute of every day. :) I am satisfied with a piece of fruit or even a cherry tomato! Thank goodness. Maybe I can finally get this weight under control...ha ha...
Anyway, I got my fit-to-fly memorandum for our vacation! We fly on Saturday so I'm hoping for the best. I never flew so far into my pregnancy last time around, so this should be interesting. I hear I should walk a lot to prevent clots and swelling...I'll see what I can do. Also...will they let pregnant women take snacks on board?
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Pregnant Beauty
Never during my first pregnancy did I ever think my pregnant body was...too fat or too ugly or too anything...except perfect. I can't say that I didn't have any of the typical pregnancy symptoms like breakouts and fat rolls and funny skin color changes, but NEVER have I ever felt "unattractive" because I knew my body was growing a beautiful human being inside of me and that she was healthy and I was healthy. It didn't matter that I gained weight every second I breathed and it didn't matter that I didn't stay under the recommended weight gain for a "healthy" pregnant woman...I still felt BEAUTIFUL and happy with my physical body...literally the entire pregnancy. I might not have been emotionally stable throughout it, much like this current pregnancy, but the emotional instability was more focused on what I was going to be doing in the future, what kind of mom I was going to be, if I'd be a good mom, etc. Not about my body image.
This pregnancy, I think 90% of my stress is coming from how "fat" I'm getting and how much I weigh. I stepped on the scale yesterday, to psychologically try and prepare myself for my next doctor's appointment tomorrow, and nearly fell over in shock at the number on the scale. Honestly, I probably weighed more than that with the first pregnancy at 25/26 weeks, but all I could hear in my head was, YOU ARE GAINING TOO MUCH WEIGHT, YOU ARE OVER OBESE, YOU NEED TO STOP EATING...
I keep telling myself I'll adjust my diet, eat less, no more sweets, etc...but constantly worrying about my weight is actually making me crave the sweets and unhealthy foods that I need to be avoiding! Why do I do this???
I don't feel "unhealthy." I did just jog a 5K fun run in 40 minutes and 45 seconds and felt fine (my leg muscles were sore for a couple days after). I do walk fairly frequently, although not the recommended three hours a day from my doctor. I never charted my weight gain the first time around, but for this pregnancy, I have been keeping track, somewhat, but not religiously like my doctor recommended (to ensure I gain only 11 pounds this prengancy, ha!). Sadly to say, I have already burst the bubble on those recommended eleven pounds, but I'm happy to report that I have been steadily gaining one to two pounds (most weeks, two pounds) throughout this second trimester. My understanding is that is an okay weight gain for someone who was in the normal weight range before I got pregnant. According to my current doctor, though, I started out my pregnancy as an obese person, so I was not supposed to gain the "normal" amount of weight for this pregnancy. Blah blah blah...so I weighed more than 100 pounds when I got pregnant. I'm not the "typical" Korean woman. Give me a break.
This next doctor's appointment will be my last with this doctor. I'll be transferring to the hospital where I am planning on having little Riley - the same hospital where I had Tay. And I'll even have the same doctor if everything goes as planned. Maybe they'll give me a break about my weight and just be happy for me that the little life growing inside of me is healthy and strong and that she will be just as lovely when she's born as my first angel was...:)
Tomorrow is my glucose screening...yay. More to follow after the test. Hopefully I'll have a better self-image by then...:P
This pregnancy, I think 90% of my stress is coming from how "fat" I'm getting and how much I weigh. I stepped on the scale yesterday, to psychologically try and prepare myself for my next doctor's appointment tomorrow, and nearly fell over in shock at the number on the scale. Honestly, I probably weighed more than that with the first pregnancy at 25/26 weeks, but all I could hear in my head was, YOU ARE GAINING TOO MUCH WEIGHT, YOU ARE OVER OBESE, YOU NEED TO STOP EATING...
I keep telling myself I'll adjust my diet, eat less, no more sweets, etc...but constantly worrying about my weight is actually making me crave the sweets and unhealthy foods that I need to be avoiding! Why do I do this???
I don't feel "unhealthy." I did just jog a 5K fun run in 40 minutes and 45 seconds and felt fine (my leg muscles were sore for a couple days after). I do walk fairly frequently, although not the recommended three hours a day from my doctor. I never charted my weight gain the first time around, but for this pregnancy, I have been keeping track, somewhat, but not religiously like my doctor recommended (to ensure I gain only 11 pounds this prengancy, ha!). Sadly to say, I have already burst the bubble on those recommended eleven pounds, but I'm happy to report that I have been steadily gaining one to two pounds (most weeks, two pounds) throughout this second trimester. My understanding is that is an okay weight gain for someone who was in the normal weight range before I got pregnant. According to my current doctor, though, I started out my pregnancy as an obese person, so I was not supposed to gain the "normal" amount of weight for this pregnancy. Blah blah blah...so I weighed more than 100 pounds when I got pregnant. I'm not the "typical" Korean woman. Give me a break.
This next doctor's appointment will be my last with this doctor. I'll be transferring to the hospital where I am planning on having little Riley - the same hospital where I had Tay. And I'll even have the same doctor if everything goes as planned. Maybe they'll give me a break about my weight and just be happy for me that the little life growing inside of me is healthy and strong and that she will be just as lovely when she's born as my first angel was...:)
Tomorrow is my glucose screening...yay. More to follow after the test. Hopefully I'll have a better self-image by then...:P
Monday, June 7, 2010
Overdue...post.
There have been a lot of thinking on my part about this pregnancy, but I haven't had the time or motivation to write it all down, so here I am trying to capture some of my thoughts after about a month's hiatus.
I am now around 24 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good. Mostly I am tired from lack of sleep, but usually my pregnancy sleepiness hits around 1:30 or 2 and really makes me tired so I like taking a nap around then for an hour or two (or three...if I can get away with it).
As for some other symptoms, I have recently started having lower back pain and some of it I'm sure has to do with me carrying around Tay all the time still (she's now around 32 pounds!) but some of it is definitely sciatica pain that comes with pregnancy. I had some of it with Tay, too, so it's a familiar kind of pain...ugh. My hands and feet are also now constantly hot...which doesn't help at all now that the weather's also getting extremely hot, day and night. The fact that our AC units in our new apartment aren't functioning well also doesn't help...especially when I try to sleep at night. People have started saying that I just have this great pregnancy glow these past few days, but I think they are just mistaking my constantly sweaty skin for the "glow"...or maybe they're just trying to be nice. I am showing significantly in my belly, of course, and there also has been quite a bit of growth in my behind and cheeks as well. Welcome back, chipmunk cheeks. Will there be photos? Maybe. I haven't decided. I probably ought to get some taken of the belly at least for posterity. I feel huge already, and I am not looking forward to getting even more huge as the summer progresses, but what I AM looking forward to is seeing all my family in a few weeks at Calloway Gardens! I'm sure I'll be sweltering there, too, but at least I will just be relaxing and spending some fun time with family and friends on wonderful-looking resort grounds...:) Another thing I'm looking forward to...finding and buying some summer maternity clothes! There just isn't much selection here, and all my maternity clothes from when I was big with Tay are winter clothes since I had her in March!
Ah, another big development in the pregnancy is that we have decided on this little angel's name: Shinah Riley Ryals! Jeff and I had been talking about possible names for her for a while, and we finally agreed on Shinah, which means "beautiful faith" in Korean, and it is like her big sister's name in that Tay's first name is Shingil, which means "a path to faith" in Korean. Her middle name is just a name we had always both liked and we had contemplated between the names Riley and Raegan before choosing Riley. I'm not sure if it's normal to announce the decision of a baby's name already, but we did the same with Tay, so here it is. She will be called Shinah Riley Ryals.
Riley is quite the active one. We can already see her wiggling, jiggling, and kicking around in my belly...enough that you can see it from the outside. Tay felt her kick for the first time and now she refers to my belly as "the baby." She seems to be most active at night time right before I go to sleep, which doesn't help me fall asleep, but it's a nice way to drift off to sleep as I feel her kicking around in there. She doesn't seem to have a regular awake and sleeping period like Tay did, though, because most of her movement is sporadically throughout the day. She'll be really still for a bit, and then she'll be really active for about 10-15 minutes. Sometimes her movements will go on for almost an hour, at which point it feels like my insides have become all jumbled and I get a little nauseous...:)
My eating habits have not improved...I am trying to curb my appetite, but all I crave these days are sweets...and anything chocolate. Disturbing. I did have a hankering for watermelon, to which Jeff brought home a huge DELICIOUS watermelon. We've eaten half of it (perfect for this stifling weather, too!) and I imagine I'll prep the rest of it for eating tonight. I have also loved the taste and smell of cumin and chili powder as well as any and all kinds of salsa, so Mexican/southwestern dishes have been my foods of choice lately. Luckily, I found a GREAT and easy recipe on smittenkitchen.com for Southwestern pulled brisket, which I've already made two weeks in a row. Guess what's for dinner tonight? :) What I love best about it is that the prep takes about 20-30 minutes, and then you throw it all in a slow cooker for 8-10 hours (I usually do this overnight or prep it first thing in the morning) and dinner is ready for two-three days! The delicious smell that fills our house as it cooks is just...::sigh::...I love it...and so does the rest of the family, including Tay and Riley. Looks like it will be a staple at my house for a while.
My next doc appointment is scheduled for 15 June, and it will be for my glucose screening. Not looking forward to drinking the orange stuff, but hopefully all will be well and I will not be gestationally diebetic.
Ah, another thing to note that I didn't mention before is that I tried Zumba for the first time a couple weeks ago! It was a GREAT class and I felt absolutely ridiculous (mainly because I'm not super coordinated) and because gyrating hips and I don't get along so well, especially in public in front of giant mirrors...and with a giant belly. hahahaha...it provide much amusement, though, for me and everyone else in the room, I'm sure. :) Definitely want to go back, but need to find a class time I can make on a regular basis...I will definitely try and make that part of my post-baby routine, though - awesome workout.
I'm still debating whether or not I should merge this blog with the currently blog I keep for Tay...I like the separate blogs for now, and I think the entries may get too long if I merge them, but maybe in the future, I'll merge them to simplify...we'll see. If I feel motivated, I'll post some pictures of the bump and some of the ultrasound pics.
I am now around 24 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good. Mostly I am tired from lack of sleep, but usually my pregnancy sleepiness hits around 1:30 or 2 and really makes me tired so I like taking a nap around then for an hour or two (or three...if I can get away with it).
As for some other symptoms, I have recently started having lower back pain and some of it I'm sure has to do with me carrying around Tay all the time still (she's now around 32 pounds!) but some of it is definitely sciatica pain that comes with pregnancy. I had some of it with Tay, too, so it's a familiar kind of pain...ugh. My hands and feet are also now constantly hot...which doesn't help at all now that the weather's also getting extremely hot, day and night. The fact that our AC units in our new apartment aren't functioning well also doesn't help...especially when I try to sleep at night. People have started saying that I just have this great pregnancy glow these past few days, but I think they are just mistaking my constantly sweaty skin for the "glow"...or maybe they're just trying to be nice. I am showing significantly in my belly, of course, and there also has been quite a bit of growth in my behind and cheeks as well. Welcome back, chipmunk cheeks. Will there be photos? Maybe. I haven't decided. I probably ought to get some taken of the belly at least for posterity. I feel huge already, and I am not looking forward to getting even more huge as the summer progresses, but what I AM looking forward to is seeing all my family in a few weeks at Calloway Gardens! I'm sure I'll be sweltering there, too, but at least I will just be relaxing and spending some fun time with family and friends on wonderful-looking resort grounds...:) Another thing I'm looking forward to...finding and buying some summer maternity clothes! There just isn't much selection here, and all my maternity clothes from when I was big with Tay are winter clothes since I had her in March!
Ah, another big development in the pregnancy is that we have decided on this little angel's name: Shinah Riley Ryals! Jeff and I had been talking about possible names for her for a while, and we finally agreed on Shinah, which means "beautiful faith" in Korean, and it is like her big sister's name in that Tay's first name is Shingil, which means "a path to faith" in Korean. Her middle name is just a name we had always both liked and we had contemplated between the names Riley and Raegan before choosing Riley. I'm not sure if it's normal to announce the decision of a baby's name already, but we did the same with Tay, so here it is. She will be called Shinah Riley Ryals.
Riley is quite the active one. We can already see her wiggling, jiggling, and kicking around in my belly...enough that you can see it from the outside. Tay felt her kick for the first time and now she refers to my belly as "the baby." She seems to be most active at night time right before I go to sleep, which doesn't help me fall asleep, but it's a nice way to drift off to sleep as I feel her kicking around in there. She doesn't seem to have a regular awake and sleeping period like Tay did, though, because most of her movement is sporadically throughout the day. She'll be really still for a bit, and then she'll be really active for about 10-15 minutes. Sometimes her movements will go on for almost an hour, at which point it feels like my insides have become all jumbled and I get a little nauseous...:)
My eating habits have not improved...I am trying to curb my appetite, but all I crave these days are sweets...and anything chocolate. Disturbing. I did have a hankering for watermelon, to which Jeff brought home a huge DELICIOUS watermelon. We've eaten half of it (perfect for this stifling weather, too!) and I imagine I'll prep the rest of it for eating tonight. I have also loved the taste and smell of cumin and chili powder as well as any and all kinds of salsa, so Mexican/southwestern dishes have been my foods of choice lately. Luckily, I found a GREAT and easy recipe on smittenkitchen.com for Southwestern pulled brisket, which I've already made two weeks in a row. Guess what's for dinner tonight? :) What I love best about it is that the prep takes about 20-30 minutes, and then you throw it all in a slow cooker for 8-10 hours (I usually do this overnight or prep it first thing in the morning) and dinner is ready for two-three days! The delicious smell that fills our house as it cooks is just...::sigh::...I love it...and so does the rest of the family, including Tay and Riley. Looks like it will be a staple at my house for a while.
My next doc appointment is scheduled for 15 June, and it will be for my glucose screening. Not looking forward to drinking the orange stuff, but hopefully all will be well and I will not be gestationally diebetic.
Ah, another thing to note that I didn't mention before is that I tried Zumba for the first time a couple weeks ago! It was a GREAT class and I felt absolutely ridiculous (mainly because I'm not super coordinated) and because gyrating hips and I don't get along so well, especially in public in front of giant mirrors...and with a giant belly. hahahaha...it provide much amusement, though, for me and everyone else in the room, I'm sure. :) Definitely want to go back, but need to find a class time I can make on a regular basis...I will definitely try and make that part of my post-baby routine, though - awesome workout.
I'm still debating whether or not I should merge this blog with the currently blog I keep for Tay...I like the separate blogs for now, and I think the entries may get too long if I merge them, but maybe in the future, I'll merge them to simplify...we'll see. If I feel motivated, I'll post some pictures of the bump and some of the ultrasound pics.
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