OMG! I started my third trimester today!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? Im officially in my third trimester! Where has the time gone? In 10 weeks they will be removing my cerclage and I could give birth at anytime. I could still go to 40 weeks (or later) but I could also go into labor that same day. It's all happening so fast! Im nowhere near ready for Chase to arrive. I still have so much to do. AHHHHH! Im so excited though.

Our baby's name...

I've been wanting to post this for a LONG time, but I didn't want to until DF and I spoke with his parents. See, THEY wanted this child to be named a certain name. The same name as DF, DF's father and DF's grandfather. It's fine for them to HOPE that's what's gonna hapenn, but it's another thing to make a woman feel pressured into doing that. I am not ok with that. I helped create this child, I am carrying this child, and i've been through hell for this child (several hospital visits, cerclage surgery, aches and pains, internal exams every 2 weeks for the ENTIRE pregnancy, etc). I am entitled to have a say so in this childs name.


DF and I have discussed this over and over again in depth. After much discussion, we were able to come up with a name we BOTH love. We are well aware that his parents are gonna be upset when we tell them, but I can't let that stop us.

WE created this child. WE came up with a name for him. WE love the name...and WE are the ones who are the parents. So WE have the say-so.

DF has been delaying the discussion that we need to have with them about this. It's been quite a while now and it needs to be said. I know they can read every word I am writing but I can't deal with calling the baby "him" or "little guy" any longer. He has a name and it's not Andrew Paul.

This little boy's name is Vincent Chase. A name we both love and came up with together.

Anyway, if they aren't reading this now, they'll soon know our decision. Im sure they'll be mad, and possibly blame me for "MAKING" DF go along with it, but that's ok.

I've talked to my son's therapist about this numerous times and she too agree's that we are the parents, and we made the decisions. We've made a decision and that decision is to name him Vincent Chase (but we just call him Chase). She also said that grandparents (on either side of the family) have no right or place in choosing the childs name.

I wanna hurry up and tell DF's parents. I've been wanting to tell them for so darn long that it's been eating at me. He kept putting it off cause he knew it would upset his father, but that's just too bad. I don't wanna upset anyone, but this isn't about them. This is about US and OUR BABY.

Anyway, I just needed to get that off of my chest.

Did I call it or what?

I failed the Glucose tolerance test. I knew I would. I didnt eat anything except 2 hershey kisses before doing the test. I knew I was gonna fail. So now I have to do the 3 hour test. Yippie! ***rolls eyes***

I wasn't expecting to get the test done yesterdday. They told me that they were gonna do it on March 6th. So this was a completely surprise. Had I known the test was gonn abe yesterday I would have eaten breakfast (with carbs) to help my body breakdown the sugar. Now im stuck doing the test over again, but this time I have to spend 4 hours at the hospital so they can test me before I drink the glucose and while my body breaks it down over the following 3 hours.

So I guess the test in 2 weeks will tell more.

Im gonna be a doula!!!

I did it, I decided what I want to do. After working so closely with my own doula, it's really made me see that being a doula is perfect for me. Originally I wanted to be a midwife but this is so much better. I dont have to go through years and years of schooling (which is damn near impossible with 3 kids) yet I still get to be part of the woman's pregnancy and delivery.

Not only is the pay REALLY GOOD, but it's a very rewarding field to be in. Just knowing that I would be helping other women ebarking on parenthood, really makes me smile inside.

Step one is to do the training workshop. It's a 3 days workshop so I need to pay for a hotel too but that's ok. I wanna do that before the baby comes because it will be VERY hard to get away once he's born and im breastfeeding. After that I work towards certification by reading a lot of required books and attending births.

IM SO EXCITED!!!!! Once i'm certified i'll be able to add "C.D" behind my name (same as doctors who have M.D behind theirs". WOOOHOO

Appointment and glucose tolerance test yesterday..

They kinda sprung it on me and all I had eaten before hand was 2 hershey kisses lol I have a feeling I will be taking the 3 hour GTT lol. Been there, done that. I've never failed legitimately though.

I had a NEW flavor!! It was fruit punch!!!!!!! SO GOOD!! Never had that before. I've had the orange, the lemon-lime and the cola (GROSS), but this is by FAR the best one!! It's like hawaiian punch mixed with koolaid!!

If I don't get a call by the end of the day today, that means I passed and wont need to do a 3/hr test. As yummy as the drink was, I am not a fan of being stuck with needles. Not to mention gestational diabetes. It's just not something I would wanna have to deal with.

My appointment was good too. I'm up another 3 pounds (a total of 9) and i'm measuring just right. Baby's heartbeat sounded great too! As always though, I go back in ANOTHER 2 weeks for a checkup. Oh... in 10 weeks I get my cerclage out. So anytime after that I could go into labor!!!! OMG! This pregnancy FLEW by! Im still not done getting ready for this little guy. I guess I better get my butt in gear huh??

Today was great!

Today wa my prepaired childbirth preparation class. Though i've been through labor and delivery 2 times now, it's nice to have a refresher course, ESPECIALLY since things have changed so much since I last gave birth.

We got there early this morning (at 8:30am) to meet my doula. We got our passes and headed up to the 8th floor (labor and delivery). The instructor (Diane) was wonderful. She was very open and honest about everything...not to mention detailed. I felt so comfortable there.

We talked about labor, possible interventions, breathing techniques, breastfeeding and more. I was so happy to come away from this class, knowing that my hospital is proactive about natural childbirth. They are so open to things that other hospitals wont allow. Like birthing balls, using no IV (they put a hep lock on instead), laboring in the shower, changing positions, NO EPISIOTOMY'S, and so on. Im THRILLED about that. I also made it clear that I don't wanna hear "PUSH, PUSH". I want my labor and delivery to be a relaxed and calm environment. This isn't a sporting event. I wanna labor and birth calmly.

I was very forthcoming with my questions. Apparently i am the only one who's been through labor in this class so I knew what to expect to an extent. This helped me to be more open and ask questions that I KNEW the other women would wanna know but were to afraid to ask.

All in all it was a wonderful experience. The day just FLEW by! I can't WAIT to give birth (even though I enjoy being pregnant). I feel better about delivering at this hospital after learning their views on everything. Even the tour of labor and delivery was appaealing. We were able to see a birthing room and there were already birthing balls in there, showers with stools to sit on, bassinetts, etc.

So YAY for UVA!

Preggo pics

Ok... im baring it all! Please don't laugh..it took a LOT of guts to do this but the way I look at is.. A woman's body is a beautiful thing, especially while pregnant (no matter what size you are). So, in order to stand by my words, I stripped down!

So, here ya go :) Oh..please excuse the water marks on the mirror. DF shaved last night and didn't clean his mess. That's a no no!


BTW, Im 25 weeks and 3 days pregnant..

I think I found her....

A doula that is! This is something I thought about for quite a while but wasn't sure how I would afford it. Medicaid doesn't cover doula's so I was afraid i'd have to come up with the money on my own. Well, I was pleased to discover that there are doula's that don't charge.

About a week ago, I sent an email to a local doula. We wrote back and forth a few times and decided to speak on the phone last night. Well, after our 4 HOUR CONVERSATION (yeah you heard me right lol) it's clear that she's the one. We sat and talked about everything and anything. It was a very nice conversation. I feel so comfortable with her. Her views are the same as mine and I really feel that she'd be able to assist me and DF during the birthing process.

She and I set up a meeting for tomorrow afternoon. We're gonna meet face to face and discuss some of our options like positions for labor, natural pain relief options, and my birth plan. I can't wait!

I'll let you all know how it goes :)

Yesterday's appointment

Had another transvaginal u/s to check my cerclage. Everything looks great. His exact words were "you have an award winning cervix". WOOHOO! I apparently have a cyst on my anterior cervical lip but they said it's nothing to worry about.

I've gained a total of 6 pounds (im finally gaining weight), and baby's heartbeat sounds great. In about a month they're gonna have me do the glucose tolerance test. Im sure i'll pass that. Haven't had a problem with it before.

I haven't been sleeping so they wrote me a scipt for ambian. I spent an hour at the pharmacy just to leave empty handed. Medicaid wont cover it so im stuck without rest. Im gonna collapse soon if I dont sleep.

Anywho, when measuring my funday height, it came out to 23. Isn't that a bit small considering im 2 days shy of 25 weeks? Im told it's nothing to worry about but it's hard not to worry.

Oh..I found out that I can take unisom while pregnant so that's what I did and I slept the WHOLE night. Im still exhausted from not sleeping for a ocuple weeks, but i think i'll be good after a few nights of rest. Im already feeling a little better with just one night's sleep.

SO, tomorrow i'll be 25 weeks. WOOHOO!!! Im past the critical time where IC can take over. So im pretty good to go. The rest should be smooth sailing form here on out. Of course, that doesn't mean im 100% out of the red zone. It just means im closer to perfection. As long as I can make it past 36 weeks i'll be happy :)