26 week comaprison

 27 weeks with Reese (above) and 26 1/2 weeks with baby boy (below)

26 weeks

I had my 26 week appointment today. I also had to do my gestational diabetes test (1 hour), and I will get the lab results back this week sometime. Baby's heart rate is good (150) and I am measuring at 25 weeks (1 week smaller than I am.) My doctor also told me that I will be needing to do 2 more ultrasounds in the upcoming months. It turns out that at my last ultrasound (the one to determine if I had a band or not), they actually noticed that the umbilical cord is not connected at the middle of the placenta (which it should be.) It is connected on the lower half, meaning that the blood supply to the baby is not as great as if it were connected in the middle. So, we have to keep an eye of his growth and monitor it through further ultrasounds. I was already a bit worried when she said I measured a week smaller than I am, but she said that is no concern of hers right now. My next ultrasound will be in a few weeks, and we will monitor the growth better at that point. The only reason they would have to "take action" is if the ultrasound showed that his growth is not increasing. She said many times the cord connection on the lower half of the placenta means that the baby is still growing,  but just at a slower pace than a "normal" baby, so I may end of up having a tinier baby than I did with Reese (that's ok with me, since she was almost 9 lbs!!!) If my amniotic fluid were to drop, or again, if he was not growing at a decent pace, then we would discuss options (we didn't even go into that, so I don't know what "options" she means.)

In other news, I had a FABULOUS girls weekend in Chicago with my friends. We did a spa day (manis/pedis), went to a winery, out for dinner, and then had a great night catching up with each other. We also hit up the outlet mall on Sunday morning (always a plus!) I will be seeing them more this summer since 2 of them are getting married this fall...lots of bridal showers in store! This upcoming weekend is packed full. We have visitors coming up and we are headed to the Dells to soak up some sun and play in the water!

Flavor of the Week

This week's winner is...pineapple! I am referring to my many cravings I had had thus far in this pregnancy. A complete opposite of what I was used to when I was pregnant with Reese. I only ever had 2 cravings strike with Reese (one day I wanted hot wings, and for about a week I wanted Sour Skittles everyday.) This boy is sure testing my ability to not want to eat constantly!! Since I had so few cravings with Reese, I am shocked at how bad my body actually wants something once it gets in my head. Here are a few I have had recently:
-Last week I wanted Subway for lunch for 3 days in a row
-A few weeks back I wanted a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream every night (not good for the scale!!)
-For the past 2 days, I swear I could eat a whole pineapple at one sitting if I tried
-Early on in the pregnancy, I craved Jolly Ranchers (these also helped subside my "morning sickness")
-I have also gone through spurts where I randomly crave salads with hard boiled eggs and shredded cheese

And these are just a few. It sure doesn't make life an easier when I "have" to have it either! I'm sure there will be many more in the next 14 weeks ahead.

Tomorrow I am headed to Chicago for a girls weekend with my 3 (minus 1) best girlfriends from college. Even though most of our get-togethers are revolved around drinking and catching up with each others lives, I am still excited and have prepared myself and bought my bottle on N/A wine to take along with me so I can fit right in :) I have not seen them most of them since last July for Reese's 1st birthday, so I am super excited to get in some girl time!
I have my 26 week appointment on Monday and will post about that next week! Have a great weekend and enjoy this GORGEOUS weather!!!!

Mothers Day

I must say this past weekend was fabulous! I took last Friday off to A. spend the day with Reese and B. do some garage sailing. I accomplished A, not B. Instead I chose to take Reese to the zoo because it was SO nice out and I just wasn't in the mood to garage sale (imagine that!) We had a blast. She always loves a trip to the zoo, and so do I since the Madison Zoo is free :) Saturday we hosted a cookout for our neighborhood friends so Reese was super busy playing with her friends, Ada (3) and Grayden (1 1/2). They must have worn her out, because before they even left (around 8pm), she was asking to go "ni-ni" ((night, night).
Yesterday was a great day for Mother's Day. Kyle and Reese treated me to a delicious brunch in the morning, and then a trip to Home Depot to pick out my flowers for all the planters I have. We got home in time for Reese to nap and for Kyle and I to spend the afternoon outside planting flowers and a couple of shrubs we bought. We spent the rest of the day playing in her water table, grilling out and going to the park. It was a fantastic day, I couldn't have asked for more! I even got a gift card for a 1 hour massage, just what I need!
Today I ended up taking Reese to the doctor after her snotty nose (all weekend) turned green and she complained of her ears hurting. Turns out she has a sinus infection (ears were clear) and was put on antibiotics to help her head feel better. Her eczema is also getting worse now and I had him check it out as a few spots on her legs looked like ringworm, but they are not. He said the sun can really dry the skin out, and most people only assume eczema is bad in the winter, but it can be just as bad in the summer as well. So, our trip to the dr. was worthwhile, and Reese enjoyed her princess sticker she got at the end :)

I am now 25 weeks and am feeling baby boy move a lot now. One difference between him and Reese is the positioning of movement. Reese was always much higher in my stomach, but when baby boy moves, it sometimes feels like he is right down low and going to kick his way out! HA! He is right on my bladder, and when he kicks, I feel like I have to rush to the bathroom to avoid an accident (it hasn't happened yet, and I am sure hoping it doesn't!!) That would sure be embarrassing.

23 week ultrasound

I had my 2nd ultrasound this morning, and the "band" they were seeing is actually not a band. AMEN! Baby boy is 100% healthy and doing well. It was a tad intimidating this morning to go to my appointment because it was at the hospital instead of my normal clinic. When I got to the right "wing" it was for High Risk Pregnancy. Well if that wasn't enough to make my heart beat a little faster! It was neat to see him again though on the ultrasound, and I even got a wave out of him! I also had her show me his "boy parts" :) since we had not seen them before and just got his gender written down on a piece of paper. It is definitely a boy, and I have a picture now to prove it :) I am so thankful that everything is ok, and that I won't have to be labeled a high risk pregnancy at this point.

Garage sale season is back, and I am on the hunt for clothes for the new little man! Reese and I debuted our season by going to some sales in Verona last Saturday, and Reese came home with a new Cozy Coupe Car that she is in LOVE with. This weekend, I am mapping out my plan of attack as the Sun Prairie city sales are happening and they are known to be good. I just can't fathom paying for new clothes when there are SO MANY great things out there in terms of chilren's clothing.  I just love this time of year :)