Gestational Hypertension Woes

I've hesitated to write this post, mostly because I don't want to sound ungrateful.  So I will start with how truly grateful and excited I am that I am pregnant and have a little one growing inside me. Pregnancy truly is a miracle, and I couldn't be happier to welcome our little boy into the world in a couple short months.  I know that any of the struggles that I go through now will be totally and completely worth it when we get to hold our little babe in our arms and cuddle him and love him.

But pregnancy hasn't been all peaches and cream for me.  I was sick all day, every day from week 7 until about week 24.  The sickness has subsided a lot over the last seven or so weeks, but up until last week, I was still throwing up several mornings a week.  On top of that, I've had the most horrible acne, had to deal with the stress of the bright spot on the baby's heart (that they will recheck in an ultrasound at week 37), and I've developed pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel, so my hands go tingly and numb throughout the day.  I get to wear lovely wrist splints while I sleep, which has helped the numbness at night, so that's good.

The hardest part for me, though, has come more recently.  When I went in for my regular checkup a couple weeks ago, my blood pressure was high.  The doctor was concerned I might have pre-eclampsia and so I had some blood work that was sent to the labs to check on that.  Thank goodness they came back clear, but she has since diagnosed me with gestational hypertension.  Basically, from what I've read, it's high blood pressure without protein in the urine.  It can cause complications with low blood flow to the placenta.  I've also had lots of swelling.  I feel like an elephant and my new running shoes don't even fit on my feet anymore!

Sooo... I don't know exactly what all this means.  I do have to start weekly ultrasounds and twice weekly non-stress tests next week so they can keep a close eye on the baby.  And from what I've read, they will often induce labor at 37 weeks (which is just 6 short weeks away!).  I don't know if that will be the case with me - I assume it will all depend on the baby's growth and overall health.  My doctor has also asked if I can cut back on my hours at work, so I have a call into the HR person to talk about that.  I just pray that our baby will be fully developed and healthy when the time does come to deliver!

Sibling Preparation Class

As much as we are excited to welcome a new little one into our family, we want this to be a special time for Kylee.  We want her to feel extra love and attention, and to know that she is just as important as her little brother.  We also want her to know her important role as a big sister and to get any questions answered that she might have... which is why we signed her up for a sibling preparation class (or big sister class as we called it).  St. Luke's puts on the class and I think they did an excellent job.  In fact, not only was Kylee learning, but I was as well!  It was funny to think that this was the first time I had heard some of the information they were sharing (like the baby is cold when it's born and there is a machine that helps warm them up, how to swaddle a baby, etc.).  Overall Kylee loved the class.  And loved getting McDonald's for lunch after the class :-)

Kylee was such a good listener!

Here is Kylee showing us how the baby is curled up in my stomach right now.

Kylee learned how to swaddle the baby.

A Piece of My Heart

It's always sad on the days Kylee goes back to her mom's house.  She's been gone for five minutes and I'm already missing her like crazy.  I know it isn't easy for her going back and forth, and it probably will never be.  But I don't think it will ever be easy for me and Matt either.

Kylee has a pretty good internal clock.  She typically wakes up between 6:45 and 7:00 each morning.  She knows that I like to sleep until 7:00 (even though I should probably be getting up by 6:30 to make it to work on time!), and we've had a rule for quite some time that she needs to stay in bed until her clock says 7.  Well lately, Kylee's been getting out of her bed when she wakes up, bringing a blanket, her pillow pet, and her pet cow and laying down on the floor just outside my bedroom door.  She will just wait there for me until I get up to come get her and help her get ready for the day.  I think it's a little precious.  Except for the one time I didn't see her and almost tripped over her!  Regardless, this sight makes me smile.

I've posted before about Kylee missing Jesus.  This isn't an uncommon thing for her to say.  The other day we were driving past a cemetery, and she told me that's where old people go.  We talked about when you die, that you are buried at the cemetery, but that we will get to live with Heavenly Father.  Kylee told me how she couldn't wait until she could live with Heavenly Father again (to which I responded that better not happen anytime soon!)... but a couple minutes later she started crying big crocodile tears.  I asked what was wrong and she said she was really going to miss her animals when she went to live with Heavenly Father.  I asked what animals she was talking about, to which she responded her Twilight Sparkle and her other stuffed animals.  Oh my.  I didn't tell her she probably wouldn't even care about her animals in a couple years, let alone when she dies :-)  I told her I'm sure everything would be okay and that heaven is a happy place, and then we changed the subject!  Tonight Kylee told me that she loves the church and she wishes we could live at the church or that at least it was right next door to us.  I think that's a pretty good sign that she feels happy at church and feels the spirit!

One final thought before I close this post (and start another one!).  Kylee is super independent.  She loves playing in her playroom. By herself.  Or watching Netflix on the iPad. By herself.  If we go into the room to hang out with her, she will ask, "Can I be alone?"  Funny girl.

One of her favorite places to watch Netflix is in the sitting room behind the chair.  I know she is in there when I see the glow of the lamp spilling into the hallway (she never turns on the overhead light).  That and the sound of My Little Ponies coming from the unseen corner of the room!  Kylee also likes to just go into the sitting room and "read".  The funny thing is we don't have any kid books in that room.  In fact, most of the books in the sitting room are church books.  Kylee always picks the same couple books to "read".  I sure love her.

Crafting

I really enjoy crafting and was excited to have a dedicated craft room in our new house.  The only problem is that I have hardly spent any time in my craft room since we moved.  I blame that on a couple things.

1)  I have been busy.  Or sick.  Or both.  I got pregnant just shortly after moving in and didn't feel like doing anything (besides laying around) for months.  If I had tried to craft at all, I wouldn't have enjoyed it.  I also studied for (and passed!) my project management certification exam.  That was no small feat.  And finally, since I've been feeling better, I've been focused a little more on this coming baby... like scouring Craigslist for a dresser, painting a small end table white to match the room I pictured in my head, etc.  Oh, and I decided to get my personal training certification.  It's an idea I've been toying with for the last year or so and decided to just do it.  We plan on turning part of the 4th bay of our garage into a home gym and I would love to take on a couple clients after I have this baby and get back in shape.  But that means more reading and more studying and another test.  Speaking of the garage, Matt and I finally started epoxying the floor.  We had hoped to do it before we moved in, but they didn't finish the house in time.  Anyway, we finished two of the four bays this week and it looks great!

2)  My craft room is rather uninspiring right now.  It wasn't top on my list for setting up and decorating since the room isn't one of the main living areas.  The rooms people would see took my attention first.  Which, by the way, I've decided most of my house doesn't feel very homey.  I'm going to work on fixing that.  But back to my craft room - who wants to craft in an uninspiring space??

Needless to say, I've got some work to do.  I do have a bit of a vision in my head of what it can look like, though.  I've looked through plenty of photos on Pinterest, but I also have a great example in my friend Mandy!  I went to her house a couple weeks ago to make cards.  It's always fun to get together with her to craft.  Here are a couple pictures of her craft room (which happens to be a converted garage bay).

Looks like I've got a lot of work to do... maybe I should get off the computer and get going :-)

Two-Thirds of the Way to Baby

I'm officially in my 3rd trimester - wahoo!  Less than three months until Baby Hudson will be joining our family, and we can't wait. 

Once again, not too many changes since last time I posted... 

• I'm still sick almost every morning and I'm still covered in acne.  Yuck.  Hopefully just three months (or less!) of this left.  I think the acne bothers me more than the sick part.  It makes me totally self-conscious.
• I had my glucose test and my blood work came back normal - hooray!  So glad to hear that I don't have to worry about gestational diabetes.  Several people had told me how awful the glucose test was, but I didn't mind it at all!  I thought the drink tasted like orange soda. Sure, it was sweet, but I don't mind sweet, and was able to drink the entire bottle in like a minute.  No problem. :-)
• At my doctor's appointment this week, my doctor told me that my weight gain and measurements were perfect.  I'll take that!
• I don't have any swelling in my legs or ankles, although I think my legs look fatter.  I guess that could be due to my weight gain during this pregnancy.  I have noticed my fingers look gigantic and when I tried to take my ring off a couple nights ago it was completely stuck.  Maybe I'll try again this weekend.  I've also started to get a little tingling in my fingers every once in a while, mostly when I'm laying down.  Probably because they are so fat...
• I sure wish our baby moved more.  I've had several people say how at some point I will wish him to be still... but I don't know about that. I don't feel like he is super active, but I don't like when I don't feel him move. The movement reassures me.  The doctor told me if I get worried to do a "kick count" - lay on my left side and I should feel five movements in an hour.  I haven't gotten to that point yet, thank goodness!  One cool thing is I was actually able to see my belly move one night last week when the baby moved!

Beyond that, I'm still trying to work out with Brandee as much as possible.  I'm hoping if I continue to work out throughout my pregnancy that the baby will be healthier and that I will have an easier time getting back to a "normal" size after the baby is born.  On that note, Mandy and I walked a 5k a couple weeks ago - the Celebrate Women's Fitness race organized by my friend Tonya Cutler.  We came in second in the walking group with a time just under 45 minutes (a little different than what the results say, but all but one person who finished in front of us ran at least part of the race).  Here are a couple pictures - the second is of the number wrapped around my belly!

And along those same lines, I got new running shoes this week - aren't they so cute!?!