Happy New Year! Third Trimester Starts!!
Well, at 28 weeks my gestational diabetes finally took a not so great turn. My morning fasting glucose numbers have finally gotten high enough to warrant nightly insulin injections! Thankfully I only have to do the injections once per day. But still, being terrified of needles, it was a tough thing for me to accept. But I actually have been preparing for this for two years now. Ever since my first pregnancy, I have been told that I will have gestational diabetes with subsequent pregnancies and the onset will be sooner and more severe. So off I went to learn how to inject myself with insulin! Grandma Weir insisted on accompanying me and offering emotional support, which helped a lot. There was another woman in the insulin class and she was pretty nonchalant about the whole process. That helped to ease my nerves a bit too. We first tried out the syringe on a rubber pad. Then we each had to do a real injection on our stomach. Thankfully, the other woman went first. When she came back into the classroom, literally within two minutes, I asked her about the pain. She, again, was very nonchalantly telling me that it didn't hurt one bit. When it was actually my turn, I surprised myself at how quickly I was able to do the injection. And much to my surprise, it really didn't hurt much. So it's been a few weeks of self injections now. I still hate having to do it, but it's not horrible. I can't wait til it's all over though!
Other updates, I'm up to 120lbs now. Baby Girl is super active still. She is definitely a kicker and a tapper. I am also constantly running to the restroom these days as Baby Girl also likes to sit on my bladder. My hips have started to hurt in the morning again, maybe the end is near!
Happy Thanksgiving!
At 22 weeks, Baby Girl is SUPER active! Every evening, when I settle into bed for some TV and web time, she starts to play soccer. This baby is perhaps even more active than Sean, if that's possible! When Sean was in the womb, he loved to just stretch and shift around. But this girl likes to kick! Last night, Brian was able to feel her move. I'm also getting bigger by the minute. Perhaps she really enjoyed all the Thanksgiving pies I've eaten (including cranberry tart, pecan pecan, and apple pies.)
Pregnancy Symptoms
This time around, there are some similarities and some differences in my pregnancy symptoms. The most obvious similarity is that I have gestational diabetes again! This time though, it started much sooner. Hopefully, I won't need insulin injections but it's not looking good. Just like last time, I didn't experience much morning sickness. I only got one bout this time. The major difference this time is my cravings. I don't crave sweets like last time. Initially, I craved very spicy foods. Now, at 20 weeks, I'm not really craving much. I can eat pretty much anything that doesn't drive up my glucose level. Last time, my palms itched. This time, my back has been itching for weeks now!! I feel like a big bear wanting to scratch my back against a tree all the time! I am also experiencing annoying leg cramps in the middle of the night. My back is also feeling more pressure this time, not sure if this baby is simply bigger or that I'm just getting older.
It's a GIRL!!!
On November 4th, we went in for our 19-week ultrasound. During the scan, Brian had to wait in the waiting room while the tech was busy taking all the necessary pictures for the doctor. I just lie there quietly letting him to his job. In the mean time, there was a couple next to us also getting their ultrasound scan. But then they were told that they are having a girl. When I heard this, I really thought that they had taken my girl luck! I had been so nervous about finding out the sex of our baby since this is our last baby. Although we will be happy with either a boy or a girl, I did want one of each. Either way, this will be our last baby. After 20 minutes of patiently waiting for the scan to be performed, the tech finally said that we can bring Brian in. Then we started to look for the sex of the baby. Right at that moment, I suddenly had a feeling like it was a boy. But then the tech told us that besides the umbilical cord, there was really nothing visible between the legs!! He was pretty certain that it was going to be a girl! We couldn't believe what we were seeing, or not seeing rather!! At that moment, I started to cry!! I couldn't believe that we were going to have a little girl. Brian also teared up! We gave each other a hug and the idea of having a little girl is still slowly sinking in. When we got home, I told Sean that he was going to have a baby sister. To which he responded, "Baby siser!"
Positively Amazing!
On July 30, 2011, after waiting patiently for a little over two weeks, I took a pregnancy test in the moring and got a big positive!! We were super excited and I quickly booked a doctor's appointment to verify the good news. Then two days later, at the doctor's office, I took another urine test and the doctor informed me that I was not pregnant!! He asked me when I got my positive result, with the tone of "I think you made a mistake." I was shocked and disappointed, but didn't entirely believe the result at the doctor's office. I just had a feeling, like a mother's instinct! So I insisted on getting a blood test. But when I left the doctor's office I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. That evening, we read the blood test results online and it confirmed that we are indeed pregnant!! But since the blook test result only shows the level of the human growth hormone rather than "positive" or "pregnant" we even had to look up on the internet to see what those numbers mean. And just to be 100% sure, I emailed the doctor to confirm the pregnancy result!! So about three days after our first pregnancy test, we were finally able to celebrate!! :-) Thinking back, most urine pregnancy tests tell you to take the first morning sample to be accurate. So when I took the urine test at the doctor's office, I believe it was in the aftrnoon. In any case, we were happy as can be!
Big Brother!
Since telling Sean that he's going to be a big brother, he's been taking the matter seriously. Now that my belly's getting bigger, I've told him that there's a baby in there. So Sean has been pointing at my belly and saying "Baby!" He'll even try to lift my shirt up to look at the baby! It's too cute. He'll still point at himself when I ask him who's baby? But eventually, he'll have to relinquish that title to his little sibling. Maybe I should introduce the word "Toddler" to him...
Baby Tap!
At 17 weeks, I felt a baby tap, tap! Yup, twice the tap. I was leaning towards my computer screen reading in my office at work when Baby 2 decided to do a little tap, tap. :-) It was very cute.
Random Guesses!
As we share the news of our new baby, people have been speculating on the sex of the baby. My friend Chih Ping studied our ultrasound picture and decided that baby is a boy. Sean's daycare teacher Grace thinks that we're going to have another boy because Sean has been very well behaved at daycare these days and she thinks that he would be very jealous and upset if we are having a girl. The Chinese gender predictor tells me we're having a boy. I'm guessing it's going to be a girl because my cravings are completely different from my pregnancy with Sean. We shall see who's right!! Either way, we just want the baby to be healthy and happy!
Big and bigger!
I'm at week 17 and feeling quite large! Baby 2 was conceived in July, but by August, only about 8 weeks into my pregnancy, a few co-workers already suspected that I was pregnant! A male co-worker actually asked me out right!! But I kept quiet and didn't officially announced the pregnancy until we got the results of the Nuchal Translucency test at 13 weeks. I also felt baby bubbles (baby moves) at 14 weeks, only because this time I knew what they feel like and the baby just happened to be very close to my hip. Then I didn't feel any baby moves for several more weeks. As for my gestational diabetes...it's back with a vengence. This time, I forgo the 3 hour glucose test and just told the doctor that I will start monitoring my blood glucose level again. I still remember the whole routine and remember what food I can and can not eat. Thankfully, this time I only crave spicy and tart foods. So I don't have to fight that internal battle for a milk shake everyday! For now, I still can control my glucose level through diet but the doctor warned me that I may need insulin injections at night as the pregnancy progresses...boohoo. But other than that, I feel great. Only had one morning sickness incident before bedtime in my first trimestser. Hm...I wonder if craving different food this time means we're going to have a girl??
April Fool's!
Our baby number 2 is due to arrive on April 1, 2012, no fooling! We're all super excited to have a new addition to the Weir family. We are also happy that Sean will soon be a big brother. We have not broken the news to Toby yet but we're sure he'll be happy to know that there'll be someone else to entertain Sean. :-) At the end of 13 weeks, I already felt "Baby Bubbles!" Baby has been kicking around all day long, but likes to hang out on my right side. Baby's heart rate is at 155 beats/min. Wonder if this means Baby is a boy or a girl?
