I love this man

This made me cry like a baby. I love this man!

Bedrest

So, on Wednesday, I went to my normal 38 week OB appointment, feeling fine, no worries. I had met earlier that morning with the dietician for a normal diabetes visit (all blood sugars have been great!). When the medical assistant took my blood pressure in the doctor's office, it was in the high 140's over 90's, repeated again by my doctor, and still high. So, she sent me down to labor and delivery triage to check serial blood pressures as well as lab work. My blood pressures went down with me lying on my side for 2 hours, but my platelets had dropped from my 28-week CBC = concern for pre-eclampsia/beginnings of early HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets). So, she sent me home on strict bedrest for the next two days with orders to come back on Friday for a repeat CBC to see how the platelets were trending, also with the understanding that we might get induced that Friday if blood work wasn't better. So, I came home and lied on the couch for the next two days. I started my FMLA leave from work that Wednesday and tried to come up of a list of things to do from the couch. Those of you who know me know how difficult it is for me to not be doing something ALL the time!! I am such a type-A person, needing to be productive all the time, with check-lists in hand. Thankfully, our friends and family have stepped in big-time and helped out with grocery store trips, visits to the house and meals for Mike and I, which has been a huge blessing. We went back today for my lab work and to see the doctor- my blood pressure was slightly higher in the clinic (had been fine at home, but it shows that moving around will elevate it = pre-eclampsia!). My platelets were essentially the same as what they were on Wednesday, which is great. Due to the high blood pressures, I will continue to be on bedrest today through the weekend and we are scheduled to check into labor and delivery on Sunday evening to begin the induction process. So, unless Peanut decides to come before then, we should meet him or her hopefully sometime on Monday! It was a little surreal, though, today, to go to the hospital with our bags packed, not knowing if today would be the day, or if we would wait until our previously scheduled induction date (the 17th) or what would happen. It is nice to know a final date- we should have a baby on the 11th. My prayer is that the induction will go smoothly, that the baby and I would both be healthy and safe. We are so excited to finally get to meet our little one, find out if it's a girl or boy and get to hold him or her!!

On being babied...

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33 weeks...

35 weeks...

Can't believe that we are 37 weeks today-full term- crazy!!

This pregnancy has, for the most part, been pretty easy. However, I will say the hardest part came around weeks 28-30. I failed my one-hour glucose tolerance test (screening test to see if you have gestational diabetes). So, if you fail the initial one-hour test, you get the pleasure of taking the three-hour test (getting your blood drawn a first time, drinking the double amount of the sugary orange drink, and then getting your blood drawn every hour on the hour for the next 3 hours. No fun, and your arms look like you are a drug dealer or something).

Due to our fabulous icy and snowy weather which occured in early February, I kept having to have this test rescheduled (I think three times!)- it finally got done the Wednesday before I left to go to NYC with Mike. Fortunately, my doc was going to be out of town the rest of the week, so I didn't have to worry about lab results until she came back (and subsequently, could eat whatever I wanted to in NYC!).

Well, it turned out that I do in fact have gestational diabetes- I royally failed the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. And it's so ironic, as I work with diabetics every day! It was a hard adjustment, though, and completely overwhelming, initially, because I had to completely change the way I ate- I can only have certain amount of carbohydrates at meals and snacks, have to make sure I get enough protein and fiber to keep me full and have to check my blood sugar 4 times a day. Even though I'm around all of this all the time at work, it was still hard when you're the one cooking, going to the grocery store, trying to figure out what in the heck is okay to eat, especially in restuarants!

After about a week of figuring this out, it got a lot easier. I've gotten used to poking my fingers 4 or 5 times a day, I've gotten organized- Sundays are my prep days, where I measure out all of my food and snacks into little snack baggies for the week. I know about how many carbs are in the common foods that we eat and where we go out for meals. My blood sugars have been great and I haven't had to go on insulin. Majority of women with gestational diabetes have normal blood sugars essentially right after birth and the problem is gone, which is what we're hoping for!

The other good thing is that the baby isn't quite so large any more! Before I knew I had gestational diabetes, our baby was measuring in the 90th percentiles, due to all the extra glucose he/she was getting. I just thought our baby was big because it was a Frizzell baby! :) Now, with the dietary changes I've made, he or she is back in the 50th percentiles, doing great (measured 6 pounds, 6 ounces last week at 36 weeks!) so, it makes me feel better that the baby is looking good (and hopefully I won't have to push out a 9 pound baby!).

Not going to lie, though- there are hard days for sure, especially the past week or so- I've become a whole lot more tired (feeling like I'm back in the first trimester!), working wears me out, my back, hips and pelvis are hurting and aching, and I feel like I'm constantly having Braxton Hicks contractions. My emotions have been ALL over the place (poor Mike!!). I'm getting tired of having such a restrictive diet and having to be dilligent with counting carbs, when all I really want sometimes is a big piece of chocolate cake, not sugar-free pudding with whipped cream. :) But, they tell me it's worth it. And I know it will be.

I can't believe we're in the home-stretch. Our bags are packed. The car seat is installed, the nursery is finished, the bathroom is finished. Stroller is in the back of the car. We've taken all the classes (Infant CPR, Prepared Childbirth, Breastfeeding Class, and Transparent Class at Watermark). The pack and play is out and ready to go, as is the swing and bouncer. All the clothes that can be washed are washed, hung up or put away. I even think Bella knows that change is in the air.

So, here we go. We are so excited to meet our little one very soon, to finally know if it's a boy or girl, to see who he or she looks like and to finally hold him or her.

Showers!

We have been SO incredibly blessed by our friends and family, it's ridiculous! Here's a recap of the showers that were so generously thrown for us!

In February, our families threw us a shower at Willa and Mike's house:

(notice the onsies- Vandy, Samford, A&M and SMU)

The beautiful cake Jules made- complete with a cute sugar-spun birds nest and egg on top!

The Frizzell side (minus Sergei and Daniel!)

The Serna Side (minus Alex!)

Me and my Baby Daddy

In March, my good friends threw me a shower at Monica's house. And I am so sad to report that I don't have ANY pictures of this event!!! (if anyone reading this does have some, please send them my way!). It was a great shower, though- lots of friends from church as well as old friends from the past and some work buddies!

The following Monday, my co-workers threw me a surprise shower at work! And, again, no pictures. SO SAD! I am going to have to do better with this once the baby arrives. But, they were SO thoughful and even had all the food labeled with how many grams of carbohydrates were in each one (another blog post about that). Plus, I work with some incredibly crafty people and they made some beautiful baskets, diaper weath and diaper cake- so pretty that I still haven't undone them yet.

Catching up... Mini-Trip over Valentine's Day

I have a feeling that in a couple of weeks the blog will be inundated with pictures of our soon-to-arrive child, and I am waaaay behind in updating what our life has been like since about January, so here is an attempt to try to catch up!

So, back in June, we had planned to go skiing during the week of Valentine's, so I blocked the whole week of for work....and then we became babied. So, no skiing.

We couldn't decide what we wanted to do during that week- there was a possibility of going to London for a work trip with Mike, but then that fell through about 2 weeks before the trip. So, then we thought about going to San Francisco or somewhere in Florida (as the previous 2-3 weeks had been full of ice and snow in the Dallas area)... then we decided we'd just stay in town over the weekend, go to a hotel, have a nice dinner, etc.

Then, it ended up that Mike was going to be in NYC the week before and week of Valentines, so I ended up flying to NYC last-minute the Friday before Valentine's- our plan was to spend a great little weekend in NYC, eating, going to a musical, etc.

I arrived to New Jersey on Friday night (where we actually stayed) to a sick hubby with 102 degree temp. Booo. Went up to 103 degrees even with Motrin in his system, so we added Tylenol to the mix and finally broke the fever by the time he had woken up on Saturday morning.

So, Saturday morning, we laid low (and I was so glad there was a Starbucks in the hotel lobby!) and then decided to go to Hoboken, NJ (we were staying in NJ) for lunch. We had fabulous Italian food and even drove past Carlo's Bakery (from Cake Boss!)- the line to go in there was ridiculous- about a block around the bakery.

Sunday, we decided to go into NYC- Mike bravely drove us from NJ to NYC in the rental car - I will say I was glad I wasn't driving. There are truly crazy people out there on the roads!! Since we'd done NYC touristy things several times, and he wasn't quite 100% (and I didn't want to go into early labor in NYC!), we decided sitting on a tour bus for a 2 hour tour would be a good option.

It was a little chilly on the bus!

After our tour, we then decided we'd go through Hell's Kitchen and eat our way down the street. We stopped in a Cajun restaurant and had a fabulous gumbo and cornbread for an appetizer.

Then went to another Italian place for our main course- the waiter came to our table and said, "May I bring you some....waaa(then glancing down at my belly)...water?" Yes, kind sir, I would have loved a glass of wine, but water will work for now. Dessert was back in Times Square at our hands-down favorite NYC place for cheesecake- Junior's Cheesecake, the one and only.

Even though the trip was altered a little due to illness, it was still a great time away!

I didn't take many pics on the camera (have a few on my phone and will try to upload, but I'm truly not computer literate)....

someday

Someday I will update this blog. Right now, feeling quite overwhelmed with everything going on right now- not enough time to even sit down and think, it seems....

But, 32 weeks along! (I stole the pic from my sister's blog...glad someone has time to update!)

Trip to the South

About two weeks ago, I ventured down to The South for a fun girls weekend!
My trip started in Birmingham, where I spent some of the best four years of my life! I spent some time back on Samford's campus that afternoon, totally reminiscing, walking through all the old buildings, going through the nursing school, the Caf, the library (and tried not to totally face-plant while walking down the black marble steps!) the courtyard, Beeson Woods, Vail dorms, the bookstore (and picked up a Samford onise!)
Here's the chapel:


Later that evening, I met up with Joe and Melissa Dentici, dear friends from Samford days- had dinner in downtown Homewood (which has been totally renovated and quite cute!), and then went back to their house to spend the night. Melissa and I had a great time catching up- so thankful that our friendship has continued all these years!

On Friday, Melissa and I went to O'Henry's Coffee House- one of my favorite places to go when I lived in B-ham, and had breakfast. Quite delightful. We then met up with more fun Samford friends- Jenn and her cute baby Evie, and Steph! We then went to The Summit and had lunch and shopped around. I hadn't seen Jenn or Steph in over 3 years, so it was great to see them again! Amazing to see how we have all changed and what all we've gone through in 3 years (marriages, babies, grad school, job changes, moves, etc....)



Me and Jenn

Me and Melissa

On Friday afternoon, I drove my rental car to Nashville. Note to self- the next time you get a rental car and decide to make a trip longer than 30 minutes, make sure your car has cruise control and the AC adapter works.

Oh, well- got there safely, and that's what counts, right?

When I arrived in Nashville, I headed to Julia and Tim's house and had dinner with them. Julia and I used to work together at Children's ER back in the day- then she moved to England with her hubby and son- then they all moved back to Nashville 3 years later. Thankfully, we've been able to meet up over the past 6 years in all of her various living locations! She graciously hosted me on a couple of occasions when I was in Nashville for grad school- always a good time catching up with her!

After dinner, I headed to Melanie and Cliff's house in Franklin. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out, playing with Kaylee, her very cute daughter, and catching up. Melanie and I were roommates in college for 3 years and survived nursing school together at Samford. She also graciously hosted me multiple times when I would come to Nashville for grad school (and was a source of encouragement, as she had also gone through Vandy's PNP program!).

On Saturday, I headed downtown to Vanderbilt and wandered around the campus (quickly, though, because the high that day was 24 degrees. I'd forgotten what frozen ears felt like). Also, I had to buy a Vandy onsie. Gotta represent.

I met up with my Vandy PNP friends and we had a fabulous late-afternoon lunch!

Both Britt and I are preggers and we had a little baby shower at Lauren's house after lunch. So fun! Crazy to think that 2 years ago, we were all in the midst of clinicals, papers, tests, MAJOR stress.... so glad that insane year is over, but so thankful to have been able to catch up and see these girls again!

Saturday night I headed back to Mel's house and we had a relaxing evening at her home.

Here's her little girl, Kaylee:

Cannot believe how big she is!! I remember when Melanie was pregnant with her when I would come to Nashville during grad school! And now she's 2!!

Here's me and Mel- both preggers! It was so great to see she and Cliff again!

On Sunday around lunch, I drove back to Birmingham to catch my flight back to Dallas. Well, right after I got into Birmingham, it started to sleet and ice. Mind you, Birmingham is in the South- there's not a whole lot of preparedness for ice and snow (ex-they ran out of de-icer at the airport). So, needless to say, my flight was cancelled and I was stuck at the airport with about 1000 other angry passengers.

Thankfully, Joe came to the rescue and picked me up from the airport, and we drove (very slowly and cautiously!!) back to he and Melissa's house! So, blessing in disguise was that I got to spend another night with the Dentici's! So thankful that I was stuck in a city with good friends!

I ended up having to cancel my Monday morning clinic at work (since I was in a different state!) but thankfully I was able to get on a flight later Monday afternoon to come back home.

Definitely a fabulous trip!! So glad that I was able to go and see so many friends at one time.