More....

I am 25 years old and have been married for a little over a year now. My husband and I are both expecting our first baby around August 18th!!! I say around because I am diabetic and the babies of diabetic moms are usually delivered early due to being larger in size, but I am still very excited!!!! I am an Intervention Specialist(fancy way of saying social worker) at our local school districts Suspension Center. I really like this job and it is a major step up from the type of work I was doing before I completed my education (In-home health care). I am glad to be working where I am now that I am pregnant. I found out for sure on December 17th and have been excited every since!!! That is a little of an overstatement because I seem to stay tired all the time.

This pregnancy is a miracle in my eyes because my husband and I have not used any kind of contraception since we have been married and after the fist few months of not getting pregnant, I turned to the Internet. Needless to say, the Internet had me freaked out and I just knew that according to the Internet, I was NOT going to be able to have a baby and I just KNEW all the reasons why!!! Glad it turned out to be wrong. :)

Name?: Cheryl
Age?: 25
Height?: 5'6"

About The Father
Name?: Booker
Age?: 26
Height?: 5'9"
Are you still together?: Uh....yes (married)!

About Your Pregnancy
Is this your first pregnancy?: Yes
When did you find out you were pregnant?: 4 Weeks exactly
Was it planned?: Well...we were not trying to prevent it!!!
What was your first reaction?: I thought they got my blood pregnancy test mixed with somone else!
Who was with you when you found out?: Nobody!!! (my appt was for something else)
Who was the first person you told?: My Husband
How did your parents react?: SOOOO EXCITED!!
How far along are you?: 12.5 weeks now
What was your first symptom?: Nausea and sore Ta-Tas.
What is your due date?: Around August 18th, 2008
Do you know the sex of the baby?: No-Too early
If so, what is it?: ??????
Have you picked out names?: yes
If so, what are they?: Girl - Aasyria Elizabeth Boy - Booker Tremaine
How much weight have you gained?: None - Too early
Do you have stretch marks?: None I didn't already have!
Have you felt the baby move?: Not yet, can't wait!!
Have you heard the heartbeat?: YES and it was great!!!

About the birth
Will you keep the baby?: *YES*
Home or hospital birth?: Hospital
Natural or medicated birth?: Going in open minded for either one
Who will be in the delivery room with you?: My husband
Will you breastfeed?: I will if I can!!!
Do you think you'll need a c-section?: shouldn't, have HUGE hips!
Will you cry when you hold the baby for the first time?: Most likely!
What's the first thing you might say to him/her?: I really don't know
Would you let someone videotape the birth?: IDK, but my husband wants to.
Are you excited about the birth, or scared?: REALLY excited, haven't gotten scared yet

We Are Having A ...

June 26th - Well, it has been two days sine my last appointment and NST. It now turns out that I have to drive to Cape twice a week for a NST and I never know if that will be the trip that keeps me there. My BP has also started to go up...well the bottom number has been jumping into the 100's, but then it goes back down so I really don't know what to expect from one visit to the next. My doc. said that I will probably be in and out of the hospital over the next few weeks until the baby is born. He also put me on bed/couch rest for the duration of my pregnancy. All I can say is I am ready for these last few weeks to fly by so I can start to get my body back!!!

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June 14th - This entry comes about 4 days after my last appointment with both of my doctors and everything is still going great. My mom got to go with me this time and this was her first time getting a close up of the baby. We found out that Aasyria now weighs exactly 3 pounds which is very good considering my condition. Also, all of her organs are in the right place and functioning correctly. We even got to see her chest rise and fall on the screen which means she is practicing her breathing for when she finally comes out!!! I do have to go back in two weeks to my OB, not the Perinatologist, just for a check up and then he is going to send me over for a fetal non-stress test to check on her. I will then have to get these done every week until she is born. A little bit of a pain and the gas is really expensive right now to make that 1.5 hour drive, but I will do anything to make sure she healthy. Besides, I knew these weekly appointments were coming soon anyway...I am now 31 week. Also, I found out that he will probably induce me somewhere between 36-38 weeks which is fine with me if that is what it is going to take for Aasyria to continue to be safe. We got a peek of her face with the 3-D U/S this time!!! I have been waiting for that probably for the past 2 months...at least we got that within 2 months of me being curious...took 3 months for him to tell us the sex. Anyway, heatbeat was 143 and she was very active. I will update again in two weeks after the non-stress test...

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May 15th - Well, I had my appointment on the 13th and we found out that the baby is doing very, very, very good! The baby is measuring within 4 days of my due date and weighs 1 pound 12 ounces! I tell you though, at times it feels like a lot more, but I still have not gained any weight and I am 26 weeks!!! I suppose my body is losing weight here and there and the baby is gaining so just as long as the baby is doing fine I am happy. Oh, I suppose I can stop saying the baby and finally get to acknowledge that...

It took my perinatologist long enough but we finally know that it is a girl 100%. We had picked out two names, Assyria Elizabeth and Aaliyah Chanel, but we are going with Assyria. Well, we are not sure on the spelling yet because kids can be very mean and that is one less thing I want her to worry about. In the Bible, the original spelling is with two s' but I think we are just going to leave one of them out and spell it Asyria or Aasyria. Not sure yet, but we are just happy that she is doing so well and we can finally decorate the nursery with pink !!! Well that is it for now, my next appt is June 10th and then I will have to start going every two weeks! Time is truely flying, but to be honest, I wish that it could move a little faster. I am ready to meet this little lady that kicks the mess out of me all day long!!!

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April 21st- Well, it has been a long while since I have updated! I am now 23 weeks pregnant and time is really flying by. Honestly I feel stuck at the 14 week mark for some reason. Since I last wrote, I went to my appointments and was told by my Perinatologist that he was like 95% sure that we were having a girl, but he also told us not to go out buing all pink things just yet. I was pretty content with that response at 18 weeks, but when I went for my appointment at 22 weeks, he told me the same thing!!!!! I this doctor kidding me!!! He is SUPPOSED to be a specialist and at $500 a visit he ought to be telling me something. I thing he is just dragging it on, but I would really like to have the nursery done BEFORE it gets hot which does not take long in Southeast Missouri!!! Plus, the hubby and I just want to know, but I have to be honest, since he has told me that he is 95% sure it is a girl, I have purchased a few girl clothes, but nothing major. I am trying to be good, but I also don't want to be wobbeling through the stores at 8 months pregnant trying to shop for what I don't have because he wants to wait to the last damn minute to tell me the sex of the baby!!!

Anyway, baby is doing very well and moving around a lot. All organs have developed normally which has been my biggest ordeal with controlling my sugar. She responds a lot to the sound of her dads voice which is really exciting for him. I always let him know that baby heard you talking because now she is jumping around in there. I have been feeling really good and have no complaints. I do sometimes have some stretching pains, but nothing major to deal with. I also have not gained any weight, but my stomach is poking out a little. I had gained 10 pounds and lost it all when I got sick last month and have not put anything back on. I am not too worried with the weight gain as long as the baby is doing well. If the last bit of weight I gain is hers and water, I will be good to go when it is time to deliver! Well, I probably won't update gain until my next appointment on May 13th unless something happens, but I am praying it won't!!!

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March 10th- I am now in week 17 and things are a lot better. I actually can move and not have any pain, but sometimes I am still cautious of what I do and how I do it because I remember how painful it was just a couple of weeks ago. I seem to have more energy than in the first trimester...I was wondering when that was going to kick in to gear! Believe it or not I actually did some house work that I have been wanting to do for a while now, but only had the energy to walk past it and get into bed and sleep. I also have lost the 10 pounds that I gained during the first trimester. I don't think any of that weight had to do with the baby as much as me piggin' out during the holidays! Anyway, the baby is fine despite the weight loss so I am fine with that. It actually puts me back at my pre-pregnancy weight, but I was not small to begin with. Next week Tuesday I go for my two appointments so maybe I will get to find out if I will be out numbered in the house (a boy) or if there will be 2 ladies running the house (a girl)!!! We shall see and I will update then.

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God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

February 29th- What a horrible week this has been ! This is week 15 and I am in soooooo much pain I can hardly stand it. I can't walk, sit, stand, cough, laugh, breath deep, or drive over a bump in the road without having some sort of pain!!! It feels like my insides are going to rip apart if I try to stand up straight and rolling over in bed is out of the question!!! My poor husband feels bad for me but there is nothing he can do. I just about cry everytime I have to move, but I am lucky I don't have to move too much at work, but I can't burst into tears at work everytime I have to do something!!!

(Late Entry) March 1st...Ended up going to the hospital yesterday afternoon at the advice of my doctor and I was in even more pain by the time I left, but at least I knew what was wrong! While I was there I had a fever so they started treating me for that and the next thing you know I had to get blood drawn, give a urine sample, get a pelvic exam, 2 cathetors, an IV and an extensive ultrasound that hurt like hell because of the pain I was in. The best part of it all was finding out that my baby has a sence of humor...regardless of all the pain I was having during the ultasound, the baby was waving and moving his/her fingers and stretching like crazy!!! This made it more difficult for the tech to check the baby, but all was well. The did find out that I had a fibroid on my uterous that is not affecting the baby, but they were starting to talk surgery if the pain was from the fibroid. Ended up being a UTI so I got an antibiotic through the IV and a perscription to take home, but we still have to monitor the fibroid. The things we go through... :)

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February 20th- Well, had both of my appointments yesterday (OB/GYN & Perinatologist) and all of my prayers were heard for sure!!! The baby was fine and the heartbeat was 143!!! The baby was also very active which was a good thing to see. The docs don't really know what caused the bleeding but they said it was probably a blood vessle or something. Placenta was intact and in the right place and the blood flow to the baby was very good. The only thing that was off was that my blood pressure was a little high, but my god I had been worried for the past 9 days wondering if my baby was okay! I can actually rest now that I know everything is fine. Next appointment is not for another four weeks, but I have to have labs, and Alpha Fetal Protein (AFP3) done in two weeks. This is supposed to test for down's, neural tube disorders, and something else I can't remember right off...another chromosonal defect. Anyway, things are now smooth sailing (for now)!!!!!!

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February 18th- It has been a long two weeks since I have written last!!! Let me tell you...I was getting all excited because I was almost finished with the first trimester and would be able to breathe, but then on Feb. 10th I ended up going to the ER because I had some bleeding. Talk about a scary moment...this whole pregnancy thing is new to me and even though people say some bleeding is common, I didn't really care because it was happening to me. Anyway, after arriving the lobby was full of people, keep in mind this is like 9 PM on a Sunday night, but I didn't have to wait long before they pulled me back to draw blood and run labs. I ended up waiting for an hour to get the results back which were all normal, but what I really wanted was an untrasound to confirm that my baby was ok. And what do you know, the local hospital known for its bad reputation, tells me that they are not equipped to do an ultrasound at night!!! I basically end up going home not knowing anything more than when I left home in the first place, other than that my hcg was in the normal range and my basic blood workup was all normal!!! I call my OB the next morning and my Perinaologist and they all seemed so calm about everything and I was wanting to go in right then and there (I have to drive 1.5 hours to get to them).Though this may be common for them, it was terrifying for me. They told me to have some bed rest for a few days and then they would see me at my next appt on the 19th of Feb!!! What... are they kidding?!?!?!?!!!! They are going to make me wait for another entire week before I get to SEE that my baby is okay!!! Though I have felt that the pregnancy is proceding just fine, there is nothing like SEEING your baby and HEARING the heartbeat!!!! I was so tempted to drive there anyway and say, "LOOK, I am here and I want to see for myself that EVERYTHING is okay"!!!!! Well, my bad luck just kept on coming because as I was making up my mind to shower, get dressed and make that drive, we had an ice storm come through so I never would have made it there and even if I had, they both had closed their offices due to the weather!!! So, this past week has been killing me and my appt is tomorrow with my OB and Perinatologist. I am just praying for the best!!!

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February 5th- Been a little while since my last update so here it is. I think in comparison to others I have been feeling ok so I shouldn't complain, but in the afternoons I feel REALLY louzy!!! I get light headed and tired and the only thing I can seem to focus on is when I am going home so that I can lay down and that does not make for a good employee. Sometimes I wish I worked 2nd or even 3rd shift because that is when I feel the best. I really don't sleep well and I toss all night so maybe 3rd shift would be good!!! Too bad that is not even an option for me. I am in the 12th week now and I am ready to be done with the stresses of getting through the 1st trimester. I still have not had any morning sickness (***knock on wood***) but I know there is always a chance that it could fire up. I hope I won't be that lucky!!! So I guess my biggest complaint is that I feel really crappy in the afternoon time and that is right in the middle of my day at work. The shots have gotten easier and I am even considering staying on insulin for at least 6-10 months after the baby is born so that I can breast feed or at least pump. I will probably pump due to still having to work and baby has to eat even if mama has to work (I obviously can't leave work every 3-4 hours). My next appt with my Perinatologist and OB/GYN is on Feb. 19th. I moved the date so that the possibility of hubby getting to come is better. He has missed the first two appts., but he won't miss anymore...he is looking for a local job at home so that he can be here for me during the pregnancy and after the baby is born. I am in a high risk pregnancy and it has been really hard without him here, but that is now one less thing for me to worry about!!! I will update againg after my next appts!!!!!!!!

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January 23rd- I have been feeling very good this week overall. I don't seem to be quite as moody to my family or even to myself for that matter! I went to my appt. yesterday and had another u/c and they baby's heartrate was 160 bpm. I also got to see him or her jump around in there, but I just wish I could have felt it too! I didn't realize that they could move so much this early, but this is my first pregnancy so what do I know. Everytime I go to the doc. it is like a treat for me. Husband couldn't make this appt. either due to being on the road driving that darn truck, but we are hoping he can make the next one (3rd appt.) on Feb. 12th. Nutritionist said that I am doing very well with everything and to keep up the good work. She referred to my journal as a textbook due to the details of it, but pretty much, because everything is going so well, I only need to chart 3-4 days a week instead of everyday! Sugar levels have been running excelent, but unfortunately I found out that as my pregnancy goes on the insulin dose goes up! I don't really care as long as my baby is healthy! My reuglar OB says that everything feels fine so far and he will see me in 4 weeks. All my labs were normal and so I think I can breath a little easier now that I know everything is finally smoothing out and the baby is active. Actually, he or she is a little stubborn already! The baby was bouncing all over the place until the doctor wanted to take a close up and then, what do you know, the baby was still like he/she knew we were waiting! Oh, well, maybe next time, but I still got a picture where you can see the outline of the face (eyes, nose, mouth, head) and I believe I can see two feet sticking up!!!

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January 17th - Days have been a lot better since the 14th and I haven't been about to have a huge crying spell from frustration while trying to give myself a shot!!! I thought it was impossible, but it has actualy gotten easier now that I am giving myself the shot in my let instead of stomach. I have to go to the Perinatologist and my regular doctor on January 22nd. I'll also have to meet with my nutritionist at this visit, but hopefull they won't change too much and HOPEFULLY the baby is doing fine and growing well. We shall see!!!

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January 14TH- Felt VERY bad today and had to leave work early!!! I was a little light headed and nauseaus and just felt like laying down. Then to top off my day, after calling in my blood sugar levels to my doc. (which are still in the process of being under control), he increased my insulin dose which now causes me to have to take 3 shots per day!!! I about freaked out because I have to spend 5 minutes holding the darn needle trying to amp myself up enough to take the shot and NOW I have to do this 3 times a day!!! This is a lot more than I expected, but surely it will seem to all be worth it when I am holding my baby right? I have to go see my Perinatologist on January 22nd and also have to have the nutritionist review my food/sugar level journal. I then have to see my regular OB/GYN on January 28th. Like I said, this is my husband's and I first baby and we always wanted to have at least 4 kids!!! I don't think this is going to happen now because I just don't hink I can go through all of this four times!!! He drives trucks and is gone for like 3 weeks at a time and when I am having a bad day (like today) I end up boo-hooing on the phone because I want him home, but he is way across the country. Then he feels bad because he wants to be here for me due to knowing everything I am going through!!! Plus he missed the 1st doc. apt. with u/s and he wants to make the 2nd one, but don't think it is going to happen so he is upset about that. Wew...enough ranting for today, maybe tomorrow will be better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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JANUARY 9TH - Saw and heard the baby's heartbeat today and it was great!!! My Perinatologist also showed me the flow throught the umbilical cord and the crown/rump lenght. If they let me go to term, I will deliver on August 17th or 18th. Having diabetes usually means big babies so sometimes you can't carry to term (It is important for diabetic moms to deliver naturally so they won't have to recover from surgery). So, basically, the bigger the baby, the less likely I will be able to deliver naturally so I will be getting a lot of u/c's to monitor the baby's growth.

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JANUARY 8TH - Have to see a perinatologist today at 1 PM and I will get my first ultrasound. Don't know what to expect, but I hope that everything will be fine!!!