HEARTBEAT OF BB2
I had a checkup with my O/B, Dr. Cummings, today. It was just a regular checkup so was pretty fast. I have felt pretty good and still feel BB2 move at night from time to time. However, the past few days I was really eager to hear our little one's heartbeat - just to ease my mind. 4 weeks between appointments at times seems so long with this pregnancy!
The moment the doppler touched my belly that precious heartbeat sounded in my ears - always a beautiful sound! BB2 has a strong heartbeat in the 140's, right in the needed range of 120 bpm - 160bpm!
NEXT APPOINTMENTS
I get to see our midwife, Joni, next week on the 15th! I look foward to talking with her about the health symptoms I'm having (see below) and seeing what supplements might assist as I adjust my eating. Plus, I'll get to hear BB2's heatbeat again!
As far as our next ultrasound, we are still waiting to find out if the partial placenta previa resolves itself. We will know more about this at our next ultrasound at our appointment next month. I go back for an ultrasound and checkup on June 12th... oh how I wish it were sooner! 4 weeks would be the week of June 4th, but Dr. Cummings is out of the office that week, so the 12th it is!
MAMA'S HEALTH
I've been having some odd feelings that I thought I should share with Dr. Cummings. After I eat, usually about 15 to 20 minutes, I'll start to feel bad - this odd "sinking" feeling where I'm "tingly" and feel like it's harder to breathe and my head is very light-headed and there's tingling in my hands and legs and I feel somewhat nauseous. It will last sometimes a couple of hours. I was concerned that it might be related to blood pressure - my blood pressure was always fine when I was pregnant with Jacob, but I had other pre-eclampsia symptoms, so I'm just wary. I described what I had been feeling to the nurse and she instantly thought it sounded like an insulin reaction. She said we would talk to Dr. Cummings about it. He came in and instantly agreed that it sounded like my body having a glucose/insulin reaction and asked if I was eating a lot of carbohydrates. I had to confess that I have been.... even though my goal had been to eat only protein and vegetables with a few, lower-glycemic fruits... well, in cooking for family and a toddler, I fall on what I know which usually includes pasta, rice, etc... and some sweets from time to time. Wanting to have special Saturday breakfasts with things like pancakes and such have not been helping my food choices. I told Dr. Cummings that I could do it - eat like I know I should anyway - when I HAVE to, just like I did for Jacob's dairy/soy intolerances... he looked at me and said, "then you HAVE to!" He said the diet change should be all that is needed to avoid any issues later on, such as gestational diabetes. Oh how angry I'd be at myself if I didn't avoid something like that when all that is needed is food/eating discipline! He told me that, if he could keep women pregnant, he could keep them healthy... he pointed out that women will give up most all vices from alcohol to smoking to drugs to caffeine, etc. for their unborn baby... but as soon as that baby is born, many go right back to bad habits. He's a great O/B who makes really compelling points when we talk about health and pregnancy.
So, I'm frustrated and irritated with myself because I've KNOWN how I should be eating. It's really how I should eat ANYWAY with my hypoglycemia and tendency to carry more weight than I want. I've already put on more weight with this pregnancy than I'd like... I know introducing dairy back into my family's diet in December, mixed with the holiday season and then a challenging, emotional first trimester has lead to weight gain and poor food choices more often than not. I've felt convicted over the weeks that I should eat just the way I now "have" to. It's overwhelming because I worry that I'll "fail". But, I ate dairy free for almost a year for Jacob and that was overwhelming at first... I CAN do this! I know God can give me wisdom I lack and I've asked for just that when it comes to meal planning for me and my family and taking care of both of my babies.
My new "diet" / food lifestyle will be just what I've known it should be - high protein, vegetables, limited fruits that are lower on the glycemic index, low to no carbs and definitely no sweets! Bring on the chicken, turkey, asparagus, zucchini, carrots, spinach, bok choy, etc.!
In fact, tonight's dinner was chicken (cooked in my crockpot), baked zucchini and some sweet potatoes. Jacob loves the sweet potatoes but wasn't a fan of the zucchini - but I'll keep trying!
In fact, tonight's dinner was chicken (cooked in my crockpot), baked zucchini and some sweet potatoes. Jacob loves the sweet potatoes but wasn't a fan of the zucchini - but I'll keep trying!
SUMMARY & GRATITUDE
BB2 is doing well! We are SO very grateful! We are getting eager for our next ultrasound in June and hoping to find out if BB2 is a boy or a girl! We'll be about 24 weeks when we finally know... talk about delayed gratification! We've been so tempted to do an independent 3D/4D place that does gender scans... but know spending the money is unwise. As we look at the timing, we know mid-June is perfect, as we don't plan to share the gender news until we go to Nashville at the end of the month to visit our Nashville family. We want to do a small gender reveal party with family there since we found out Jacob's gender when we were in Texas. A few friends and family have asked when/if we'll find out if BB2 is a boy or girl - yes, we certainly hope so! In about 5 weeks! But mums the word until later in July.
Thank you to all who have prayed alongside us during this pregnancy and who continue to offer love and support as we step through one day at a time and eagerly await the arrival of our 4th Bruffey!
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