T minus 12 hours until the show

I can't believe this is it -- my last post before our baby girl makes her debut! David and I are both anxious, nervous, excited, pretty much anything you can name. We have waited so long for her and it's finally time for her birth day. We will be going in to the hospital tonight at 3 a.m. for an induction, and with any luck, she'll be here about this time tomorrow (as predicted by the doctor). At my last prenatal visit on Friday, I was 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced, which the doc was very pleased with. She also predicted that Olivia would be about 7 lb 8 oz. We'll see if all of the doctor's predictions hold true!

Getting Antsy

We've decided to schedule an induction for September 21st, but honestly I hope Olivia decides to come on her own before that. It's only two weeks away on the calendar, but it's a million years away in my brain. Don't get me wrong: I loved being pregnant. I feel so blessed to have been able to go on this ride considering the medical professionals were telling us that it was highly unlikely that we could, especially without any intervention. However, I am uncomfortable, irritable, and really just anxious to meet our miracle baby. I know that when I look back, I will realize how quickly this has all gone by, but right now I'm just too ready to be done with the pregnancy thing and move on to the Mom thing to really care.

Saturday is the Buddy Walk to benefit the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. Olivia and I are going to walk with her buddy Gabe, and maybe, just maybe, that will get this party started :)

An interesting option to think about

I went to the doctor for my weekly check yesterday and got to meet the new Nurse Practitioner; I really like her a lot, and she brought up an interesting option. She asked me if any of the doctors had approached the idea of inducing labor at 39 weeks and whether I had any thoughts on the subject. No one had mentioned this before yesterday. She said that with Gestational Diabetes, they often consider induction a week before the actual due date to prevent the baby from growing too large. She then went on to say that my measurements were right on for the week that we're in and that nothing indicates at this point that Olivia is any bigger than average. She's engaged in the pelvis, and I remain at 1cm and 50% effacement from last week. I have been thinking about it, and I sort of like the idea of knowing when we'll go in to the hospital and being able to schedule induction at the end of a week so that David will be able to have a whole week at home with us (as opposed to having the baby on a Monday or Tuesday, not getting out of the hospital until later in the week, and then only having him home for a few days before he has to go back to work). I also like the idea of letting nature take its course and getting to experience "going into labor"--however, it wouldn't surprise me if this didn't happen anyway. David was 3 weeks late and I was 2 weeks late; I haven't been able to find any evidence that this could be a hereditary thing, but it just wouldn't shock me if she didn't come on time. We'll wait and see what happens I guess. We know we don't want her to come next week because we have concert tickets, and the following week David is taking his certification test for work. Maybe we'll shoot for the end of the 39th week...maybe we'll wait and see if she's late...I'll definitely be asking one of the doctors about it at my next appointment since this was the first time I ever met with the NP.

36 weeks down, 4 to go!

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone -- it seems like yesterday when we found out we were expecting. The showers are finished and we went to the store the other night and bought a few things that were still left on the registry. The car seat bases have been installed, everything's been unboxed, untagged, washed, and put away. I guess we're ready for this baby, but I still feel like a fish out of water. I feel like I don't know what the heck I'm going to do with her when she actually gets here! I'm trying not to stress about it because I know it's counter-productive, but I feel like there's a huge final exam coming up and I have no idea what's on it.

I really need to learn to fly by the seat of my pants and just roll with the punches -- not an easy feat for me by any means, but I have no other choice!

And the hits just keep on coming

Well, I failed my 3-hour glucose test--just barely, according to the nurse. So now I get to go spend two hours next Tuesday "learning" how to test my blood sugar (which I already know how to do--and teach others how to do), and meeting with a dietitian. I'm not sure how credible the information on the Internet is regarding accepted values for the tests because they change all the time, but according to one source, I DID just barely fail. I had to pass each blood draw; I missed the first one by just a point or two, but I made the other two. So, I don't think I have been officially diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes, but I definitely have impaired glucose tolerance. It shouldn't really surprise me given that I had been diagnosed with PCOS before I was pregnant (and who knows how long that went undiagnosed); it's still really disappointing. I feel like I must not have been taking good enough care of myself, and that's why I have to do all of this now, but I know intellectually that that's not the case. I have been trying to watch what I eat and how much, and I haven't gained any more weight than I should have. I know everyone's just being cautious, and it's always better to err on the side of caution, but I feel as though I have this big "Fail" label stamped on my forehead.

Boo to Glucola

I can't believe it's already that time; this week marked 28 weeks which means two things: the beginning of the third (and last!) trimester, and the Glucose test. I have been feeling great throughout the entire pregnancy, but for some reason I have been dreading the GCT. So I went to the doctor yesterday and took the test. The drink wasn't great, but it wasn't as nasty as I was expecting. They drew blood after an hour and then sent me home. I got a call from the nurse this morning that I failed the test. The cutoff is 130, and I was something like 150 or 151. So now do I not only get to go back on Friday and sit in the office for 3 hours and get stuck 3 times, but I also get to freak out about it until then. The card told me I could have breakfast as normal yesterday morning, but to avoid fruits, juices, fast food, and cereal. I made 2 pieces of toast with a little margarine and I asked the nurse if that would boost my number 20 points, and she said it wasn't likely. I still wonder though; I ate those pieces of toast in the car on the way to the appointment. Well, my new card says I have to eat 3 extra servings of carbs (more than your normal) 3 days before the test (technically yesterday--and I think I may have had one or two extra since we had tacos for dinner and the tortillas were carbs I usually don't have at dinner), and then fast after midnight tomorrow night, so hopefully I pass this test. The nurse seemed to think I probably would pass it. I'm half-tempted to check my blood sugar at work a couple times today just for my own peace of mind, but I don't know if I will--I've never stuck my own finger before :).

Mother's Day presents

We had the families over to our house yesterday for Mother's Day Dinner and had a great time. Our nieces and nephew loved playing outside with the dog and are very excited about their new cousin on the way. Our 5 year old nephew told his mom that the baby needs to be a boy because there are already two girls and only one boy, so we need another boy to make it even. Our 4 year old niece was ready to swear on a stack of Bibles that the baby is a girl. She was so adamant about this that I was afraid that if the baby does turn out to be a boy, I would have to go into witness protection. David gave me flowers for my first "Mommy to be" Day, and my Mom and Dad gave me a sweet Precious Moments figurine.

We went to our 20 week ultrasound and check up today. The ultrasound technician went over every inch of this baby with a fine tooth comb and we were ecstatic to learn that everything looked good and was developing right on pace. She also told us that we're having a girl! I was so excited--I have had a feeling since right after we found out about the baby that it would be a girl. I had a dream that I was sitting in a rocking chair in my parents' house holding a baby in a pink blanket. I had so many people telling me they thought I was having a boy that I started to doubt my feelings--I was so worried that if it was a boy that I would have been a little disappointed. I don't think I would have been, but it's hard to say at this point. The main reason I was so glad it was a girl was because I LOVE the name we have picked out for a girl, but I wasn't as excited about the boy name. We can't wait to welcome Olivia Hope into our family--she will be one spoiled little girl.