32 weeks

week 32 is wrapping up, and it's been a long one!  mainly because my mother was out of town and she provides the majority of our work-related childcare, so everyone's schedules were seemingly upside down this week.  add to that the usual chaos of family life, work schedules, and pregnancy and everyone has been pretty worn out!  fortunately, there have been no changes to the pregnancy other than the standard moving and growing.  however, for some reason i became extremely anxious this week that this child will come early (like her big brother).  i had horrible dreams about my water breaking, having contractions, no one believing me that i was in labor, and having to deliver this baby by myself :(  

i'm not sure why week 32 was the trigger for this...maybe because a little more than a month (i.e. 5 weeks to get to full term) seems like a long time to hold this baby in when i had no control and no warning signs last time around.  hopefully as the weeks progress and we get closer i will have less anxiety and more genuine excitement about the arrival of this little one.

for those who are curious, our little girl should now weigh around 3.75 lbs, be more than 16 inches long and have fingernails, toenails, and some baby hair on her head.  in the next 7 weeks she will gain 1/3 to 1/2 her birth weight to prepare for life ex-utero!

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~11 lbs

maternity clothes: no changes from last week 

sleep: bad dreams :(

best moment this week: having a tuesday off was nice :)

cravings: nothing in particular

what i miss: cooler weather, cool breezes, comfy yoga pants instead of shorts!

what i'm looking forward to: week 37...full-term!

weekly wisdom: "it was just a dream..."

milestones: made it through the week without our regular childcare....i think that counts!

father's day

we celebrated father's day in the usual way this year: chicken fried steak with all the homemade sides at my parents' house.  the only difference was that we actually celebrated *on* father's day, not the week after like we typically do.  it was nice, but also gave me one less week to plan any sort of father's day gifts/activities this year, which is what i'm blaming my last minute gift-getting on!  

matt's gift was actually pretty hard to get.  i wanted to get him a bluetooth earpiece for his phone (the only thing he's actually requested), but the one that i wanted to get him is sold out everywhere! he ended up with an IOU and an apology :(  so, later in the week we went out to cheesecake factory for lunch as a family, and last night i surprised him with a trip to see the avengers at the movie theater.  matt said that was the best gift i could have gotten him for the following reasons: 1) it was a *total* surprise to him (yay!) 2) we never go to movies anymore, in fact, neither of us could remember the last time we went to the theater (definitely >16 months ago!) 3) he has been talking non-stop about seeing this movie and 4) it gave us some time together that didn't involve just hanging out at home after noah went to bed. it helped that we both loved the movie, too! i want to say a big thanks to my baby brother, jared, who agreed more than a week ago to come "babysit" noah for us after bedtime so we could go out. 

all-in-all, i think it was a successful, wonderful father's day.  i know i am very thankful to have a wonderful father of my own and to be married to an *amazing* man who is an awesome father to our son, and who is ready to be a father of two this summer! :D

matt and noah enjoy some father/son time with the kindle fire

 (free kids apps are the best!)

my family :)

making chicken fried steak

the guys enjoy time outside

my mom, who makes the *best* chicken fried steak... with a smile!

seating to accommodate our family

brie wanted to play with noah, but noah was just interested in the truck!

checkers with papa john

time for presents

the dads before dessert

noah with his dad and papa john

(yup, they're a pretty handsome bunch!)

what would i do without these guys?

all 4 miller kids with our dad

(hey, we're a pretty good looking bunch, too!)

happy father's day, to all the dads!

june bug

yup, our little june bug is 16 months this month and is growing and changing so rapidly i can hardly keep up!  some days i wonder what happened to that sweet, tiny little baby we brought home, other days i am just completely amazed at how inquisitive and intelligent this toddler is!  of course, other days i wish he was just a little older since we are expecting a new little one in less than 2 months...
besides being his usual cheery self, noah has been adding words to his vocabulary daily.  he now easily says all of the following words and knows their meanings: belly button, belly, bye-bye, night-night, cow, "key" for money, donkey and keys, book, cracker, block, clock, eat, and up.  and those are in addition to all the words he's already been saying!  he's at a point now where if we tell him a word he will repeat it back to us, so we add new words all the time.  this also means we *really* have to be careful what we say around him.  noah has also been practicing learning his body parts and can readily identify for you his: hair, ears, cheeks, nose, teeth, mouth, belly button and belly, toes and feet.  it's so cute to see him understand what we are saying to him, but it's also frustrating when i can tell he's just choosing not to listen....welcome toddler years, right?

speaking of choosing to listen... mostly, noah is very good about picking up his toys and putting things "back" when we ask him to. the other day i told him we were ready for snack and he was so excited he went to his high chair and pushed it out of the corner we keep it in, then said "eat, eat!"  i told him we had to put all the toys back first, so he ran around the living room returning everything to the proper buckets before returning to the high chair.  it's amazing how much he understands and how willing he is to help.... when he's in the mood. ;)

other skills noah has mastered this month include climbing on and off the couch and other furniture -- talk about a big step towards his independence -- and walking backwards.  yes, backwards.  i'm not sure why our son started moonwalking, exactly, but my guess is that it might have something to do with the fact that he spends a good part of his day pal-ing around with lexi, our lab.  because we have hard flooring through most of our house, our big silly dog doesn't have much traction when she walks, so shortly after we installed the new floors (a couple years ago now), she began walking backwards through parts of the house.  whatever works, i guess.  and now our son will randomly walk backwards through the house as well.  i should probably also mention (so i don't forget years from now) that our son also barks when he gets home.  yes, he barks.  noah used to hate riding in the car and it was a relief for all of us when we would *finally* arrive home (even if the trip had only lasted 5 minutes).  during the months with nicer weather lexi would stay outside during our outings and she would start barking when she heard the garage door open.  we always asked noah, "who is that?! is that lexi dog? is she barking because you're home?!"  and since the first animal sound noah learned was "wff, wff" he would oblige us with a few barks to answer our question...and stop his fussing.  so now, without being asked and without any prompting at all, when noah realizes we are pulling into the garage he barks...every time.  thanks, lexi.
in addition to all of the above, noah has also continued to accompany me to OB appointments and spent father's day with his daddy and papa john.  we tend to stay pretty busy around here, i can only imagine what adding one more to the mix is going to do!  check back soon for more updates!

2012-06-25

31 weeks

trucking right along through this last trimester, and realizing that this pregnancy is very quickly winding down! sad to say we don't have *anything* ready and only own 3 little girl newborn size onesies -- that i have yet to wash.  matt already told me that we would be putting the car seat in *before* 36 weeks this time around, based on our experience last time ;)  hopefully in the next few weeks we will start pulling things together and figuring out where things need to go to accommodate this sweet new little king when she arrives in august.
the best news this week, though, was that i passed my glucose tolerance test! after much fear (again, because i have too much medical knowledge of *all* the possible risks/outcomes) and a few tears (thank you, hormones), i went for the test on monday.  noah and i hung out at the birthing center from 9 am - noon where i had to drink a *nasty* drink, then have my blood drawn every hour.  noah was awesome and enjoyed the extra attention during the day and was especially impressed with the construction vehicles digging up the road directly in front of the birthing center -- it proved to be an excellent distraction for him during the time we were there.  i was so proud of his behavior, especially while he sat on my lap during all 4 lab draws!  i found out that i had failed my first test by 1 measly point, which was both frustrating and somewhat of a relief, because it helped me rationalize that it was much more likely i would pass this second time around. by the next morning they called with my results and told me that i had passed all 4 parts of the test -- and i only had to pass 3 to be considered non-diabetic. yay!  i'm so excited and relieved that that is behind me and i can go back to enjoying every minute of this pregnancy as much as possible without the hassle of dealing with diabetes.  thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers!
on wednesday we went for a regular check up and everything looked good! our little girl is measuring appropriately, moving lots and has a strong heartbeat.  my blood pressure and weight are healthy too (even though i had actually *lost* a pound between the last two visits?!), and my iron levels (which were checked at the last visit) are showing no signs of anemia.  yay!  now we are just praying that this baby girl of ours hangs out in the womb until at least 37 weeks so she's full-term when she arrives.

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~11 lbs

maternity clothes: no changes from last week 

sleep: nothing special to report.

best moment this week: passing the glucose test!

cravings: subway.  doesn't that sound good?!

what i miss: the mobility that comes with having a smaller stomach.  i love being pregnant, but trying to play on the floor with noah is much trickier these days because it's hard to move around a lot as quickly as he wants me to!

what i'm looking forward to: making it to full-term with this little one!

weekly wisdom: enjoy it all: time with my one year old before i have to juggle the demands of two kids, time with my husband before we have another baby, and time being pregnant!

milestones: i passed my test! 

30 weeks

30 weeks along and continuing to enjoy my part in this miracle.  nothing specifically new to report this week, especially since i don't go for my repeat glucose test until next week.  until then i'm bound to be fairly nervous and very anxious.  luckily i have a wonderful support system and people who are willing to pray with me and for me regarding the outcome.
our little should now weigh somewhere around 3 lbs and has the ability to open and close her eyes.  i find myself at the point now where i'm getting excited about meeting her and actually getting to hold her, but we have conversations all the time that she needs to "outlast" her brother and stay in there until at least 37 weeks of gestation.  i'm probably the *only* pregnant woman in the state of texas praying that she goes to full term with a due date at the end of august... it's better than the alternative, though!

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~12 lbs

maternity clothes: still not requiring more than shirts, but one of my pairs of shorts is pretty much out of my selected wardrobe now...the snaps are too uncomfortable. 

sleep: weird dreams, and waking up with a bit of anxiety over that next glucose test

best moment this week: getting to spend time with my husband after not having a day off with him for 4 weeks in a row! it was nice to enjoy some time with our little family of three! (three and a half?)

cravings: hardly wanted to eat anything because i'm so fearful of this glucose test.  trying to eat a ton of protein and avoid sugar, carbs, etc.  it's tricky and not much fun :/

what i miss: a carefree pregnancy, free of worries over my blood sugar levels!

what i'm looking forward to: obviously, getting that silly test out of the way!

weekly wisdom: healthy mom, healthy baby....that's the most important thing!

milestones: 30 weeks! 7 weeks till full-term! :D

29 weeks

29 weeks!  another week of pregnancy has come and gone and along with it another check-up.  everything with my measurements and the baby look great, and i got to do my nasty glucose tolerance test this week, which is probably one of my least favorite parts of the whole pregnancy.  yes, really.  i honestly think i would rather be in labor...
anyway, i found out a few days afterward that i did not pass this time around, which was *very* disheartening to hear.  i was sad, and then scared, mostly because my medical knowledge doesn't allow me any ignorance on topics like this.  at their request, i scheduled an appointment for the following monday to sit for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test -- ick! they did say that i "just barely failed" the first time around, so i am desperately hoping and praying that i have no problems passing the 3 hour test.
in actual baby news, our little one should now be around 2.5 lbs and measuring around 15 inches long.  she is *very* active, which is increasingly more apparent as she loses room in my abdominal cavity and kicks my lungs out of the way ;)

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~10 lbs

maternity clothes: no changes

sleep: mostly side sleeping, and i can't even pretend to get away with stomach sleeping!

best moment this week: just enjoying my pregnancy!

cravings: nothing in particular

what i miss: sleeping on my stomach

what i'm looking forward to: being done with this glucose tolerance test stuff and getting back results that say i'm *not* diabetic so i can enjoy my pregnancy without any fear!

weekly wisdom: already in the 3rd trimester, it will be over soon so enjoy it now!

milestones: well, i got my first glucose test out of the way...too bad i'm not done with that yet!

peek-a-boo!

noah figured out how to play peek-a-boo this past week.  like so many other things, by the time i attempt to record it he doesn't play for nearly as long as the first few times, but you can see how happy he is about this new game.  i love that mischievous little smile he's got :)

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