Pica, Picking Names, and Passing Out

So I haven't been too good at keeping this thing updated, so here's a quick recap of the past several weeks.  Everything seemed to be trucking along smoothly until I went to zip up my boots one morning and could barely get them over my calves.  It was like I had gained 10 pounds overnight!  I came into work and asked one of the lovely nurses that I work with to take my blood pressure because of the swelling.  She said she could tell I was swollen the day before too.  Sure enough it was pretty high so I called the Dr's office and told them I was really swollen, my blood pressure was elevated, my vision was blurry AND I was soooo thirsty that I just could not get enough water.  They said to come straight in.  I didn't have any sugar or protein in my urine which was great, but my blood pressure had risen even more and I had gained A LOT of water weight over the past week.

What the Dr. told me was nothing short of shocking and albeit to my dismay... heartbreaking.  After asking how many cups of water I had consumed the day before (answer: 25) he said I have developed a Pica for water.  I know right!?!  WATER!?!  He told me that drinking that much water had caused my blood pressure to sky rocket, the swelling, and even the blurry vision.  He said that I wasn't thirsty... that it was just the same thing that made some women eat dirt.  The heartbreaking part came when he told me I could only drink 64 oz. of water a day.  You would have thought he had just told me my dogs have died!  I started boo-hooing and couldn't stop!  I didn't realize how addicted I had become to water until I was restricted.  LOL Jeremy and I had to sit in the room another 10 minutes just so I could calm down.  I mean, seriously, I thought I was being a very healthy pregnant woman.

So I had to go back a week later for a follow-up to make sure I was staying on track with my water consumption.  Much to my chagrin I have lowered it to 64 oz. a day and my blood pressure seems to have gone down a little, but my blurry vision and swelling have definitely gotten better.  Unfortunately though I failed that one-hour glucose tolerance test by four stupid points, so I have to go on the 21st to do the three-hour test.  He said I'm probably fine since I was just four points over and that it's really more of an inconvenience now.  So if anyone is bored on the morning of the 21st you can come keep me company.  :-)

Oh I don't think I've announced the name we've finally decided on.  Drum roll please.... Asher Blade.  We were watching one of our favorite shows one night and one of the character's name was Asher.  We were both like Oh that's cute!  So that was that.  And Jeremy has always liked the name Blade so being the most wonderfully terrific wife that I am, I gave into it.  :-)  I actually think it sounds really cute together.  We're definitely going to have to do some of his newborn photos with one of our guitars with a name like that.

Asher is doing very well and is growing!  We have our 4-D ultrasound scheduled for Feb. 22nd and I can't wait to see what he looks like and how big he is.  He is quite the little gymnast now always moving and turning.  I'm also anxious to see if he's turned yet since he was breach last ultrasound.  I think he has, but it's hard to tell since he's so active.

We are still working on the house trying to get the guest room done so we can move onto the nursery.  I bought the fabric for the bedding that I'm going to make and can't wait to get started!

Jeremy and I went to Childbirth Class Saturday.  OMG I thought I was going to pass out.  I got all hot and sweaty and just knew at any second I was going to fall flat on that table during the video.  Both of us keep our eyes closed quite a lot during that thing.  It all grosses me out so much!  I may be the first person who actually passes out during her own labor!  I wanted to know though and I was afraid it was scare me so that's why we went a few months before I'll actually need to know those things b/c now it's over and done with and I knew that if we waited until right before time to deliver I would be scared to death.  Hopefully I'll forget some of that stuff over the next several weeks.  :-)

Ok I think I've covered everything that's happened!

These were taken this Saturday at 26 weeks.

20 Week Check-Up

Ok well Jeremy and I went for our 20 week check-up today.  The baby is right on track and weighs 11 oz.  All of his anatomy looks great.  He has all his bits and pieces!

Everything looked good with me as well.... until I stepped on the scale.  I've gained a lot of weight this month (which I'm blaming on my stupid orange juice addiction).  I could care less about ever eating a meal for the rest of my life if you'll just let me have my orange juice!  I seriously feel like a crack head when it comes to that juice.  I drink it in the morning, I drink it with dinner, I drink it at night, I drink it DURING the night.  I mean we're not talking about some little "craving" ladies and gentlemen... we're talking about a live, uncontrollable, wake me up in the middle of the night addiction!  I even tried to freeze some of it so that I could still enjoy the taste without chugging it, but all that did was frustrate me because I couldn't eat it fast enough!  And I just ate all of the cups I had frozen and before I knew it half the gallon was gone!  So tonight I will attempt another reduction method: Operation Water Down.  I am going to go get the frozen mix from the grocery store and make my own orange juice and water it down so I can, fingers crossed, satisfy my addiction but limit my calorie and sugar intake.  So... we'll see.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Profile picture showing the umbilical cord and his manly bits.

Fun in the womb... Blowing bubbles.

 

16 Week Check Up

We had our 16 week check up today with Dr. Gentry and he said everything looks good!  The heartbeat has definitely slowed down.  It has been running between 175 and 180, but today it was 156.  He said it sounded great.  We showed him our 4D pictures that we had taken at Baby Waves in Columbus, GA on the 19th and he was really impressed with the quality.  He said from what he can see that the baby looks very healthy and is developing about 5 days ahead of schedule from all of his measurements so he may be big, but at least he's proportioned!!!  :-)

I was really nervous going into the office for this check up seeing as how I was going to have to "weigh-in" after my Thanksgiving meal weekend!  I told the nurse that they should give me a couple of "free" pounds.  I mean who doesn't gain a pound or five over the holidays!?!  But, shockingly I've only gained 2 pounds since my last check up!  It must be those miracle shoes I've been walking in everyday... the Sketcher Shape-ups.  :-)  And he said my blood pressure is the best it has been the whole time.  I didn't tell him this, but it's most likely because my boss is not in the office today!  He did have to give me some medicine for the migraines and nausea, but I'm hoping once I get this migraine knocked out that has been coming and going for the past 4 days that it won't come back.

I'm not sure if their office will be closed the week between Christmas or Thanksgiving or if it's because the baby is measuring almost a week ahead of schedule, but he scheduled my 20 week check up for 3 weeks from now... Dec. 20th.  Thank goodness I'll get "weighed-in" before the Christmas meal!  They will do an ultrasound to make sure he's healthy and developing on track.  I sure will feel relieved after that!

And we haven't decided on a name yet, but we have narrowed it down quite a bit... from about 3,000 names to only 23!  But that was the easy part.  I'm really nervous about naming him because as Mom said it's the most important decision I'll ever make (no pressure, right?).  I want it to be really cute.... something that girls can go home from school and say "Oh I met the cutest guy at school today. His name is (insert cute boy name here)."  But it also has to be something manly and strong... but not scary strong.  I want to have something chosen by Christmas and I'm thinking maybe once I start to feel him move that I'll have a better connection that will make choosing a name a little easier.

Baby Bump ~ 14 Weeks