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Monday, June 13, 2011

Third Trimester

How did I get here? I JUST peed on that stick that surprisingly gave me two pink lines to freak out about. Now I have this huge belly with a mind of its own and we're a mere 10 weeks away from Baby B's due date. I'm not sure I'm ready for this, but being that these things don't tend to reverse, I guess I had better get there! Don't get me wrong, we're SO excited about our growing family and meeting Bennett, but I'm a bit nervous about the transition for Maxton and for us as parents trying to tackle two wild boys ;)

We'll survive. Heck, we may even enjoy it. In the meantime, here's the ever growing belly. First photo is roughly 26 weeks, next is almost 29 weeks!




I've actually been feeling great! This pregnancy has been significantly easier than Max's. No bladder infections and the gestational diabetes debacle is easier to cope with this time around. In short, I refused testing again in leu of just testing myself at home. I've had a few high numbers here and there (sushi, is sadly a no-no) but for the most part I can maintain eating what I'd like (within reason) and do just fine! If I do have GD this time, it seems to be a much less severe case (and it wasn't even that bad with Max, so that's saying something!). The memories of what being labeled with GD entailed for a hospital delivery with Max started us talking about whether or not we wanted to be put in that position again. I almost made it without an epidural last time and would LOVE to experience a natural delivery. In the hospital, if you have GD, you are required to be hooked up to an IV in case you need insulin, the periodically test your blood sugar to make sure you're not too low from not being allowed to eat, and they require more frequent fetal monitoring (meaning you're hooked up to a machine that makes movement difficult to say the least). For anyone who's had or witnessed a natural birth you KNOW that you do not sit there. You move, you rock, you sway, you moan, you're up and down and in the water and out and basically you never sit still. All of the above mentioned methods of monitoring GD in the hospital really limit your ability to move as a way of pain management.

Don't get me wrong. I believe that GD is a very real and very serious condition that absolutely requires extra monitoring IF YOU CANNOT CONTROL IT WITH DIET AND EXERCISE. There is my stipulation. If you need insulin, suffer low blood sugar crashes, have given birth to a very large baby (9.5 pounds +) in the past or a baby with blood sugar problems then YES you absolute need to be monitored more heavily. I have zero problems controlling my GD with diet and exercise, have never had low blood sugar or a need for insulin, and Max was a tiny 7 pounds 7 ounces. All of those securities led us to explore a home birth with a midwife.

The midwife model of care understands that a woman tends to develop more resistance to insulin in pregnancy and therefore can experience higher blood sugar than normal while she's pregnant. They like to monitor this with a glucometer (at home monitor) and help their patients modify their diet and exercise to stay within a healthy range for mom and baby. That's exactly what I already do, without the help of any health professional. When speaking with midwives we both began to feel so excited about giving birth in the comforts of our home and not having to leave Max for an extended period of time. So, we pulled the trigger and hired a midwife. Luckily my fabulous OB Dr. Kendrick (who I really do love) agreed to be a backup should I need to transfer care later in the pregnancy for any reason. I love my midwife so far and the knowledge about nutrition and my own body that I'm gaining is a wonderful lifelong tool.

Anyway, that was the long version - haha! All in all we're very excited about our birth now and cannot wait to meet our son. I'll try to be better about updating with pictures and any new info as we quickly progress towards D day.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

San Diego Trip

What can I say about this family vacation we recently took to San Diego? It was better than words can describe, really. It was everything you would hope a vacation would be. It was exciting, relaxing, slow-paced, delicious, entertaining, and full of family. Just the three of us. I'll let some of my favorite pictures show you how it went for the most part, with a bit of captioning to go along...

We started our first day by exploring the zoo and some surrounding San Diego areas.
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Little Italy was a FANTASTIC suggested place by our wonderful friends Kirstie and Nick and we had the best food ever there. Seriously, pizza is ruined for me because I'm sure (unless I ACTUALLY make it to Italy one day) that I'll never have pizza that delicious ever again in my life. Ever.

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Max started this super charming grin whenever we asked him to see his "big smile". I love that kid. He seemed to really sprout this vacation. His vocabulary took off (including "hey-ca-ca" for helicopter, of which we saw at least 10 a day) and has been booming ever since!

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This boy is the happiest I have ever seen just being outdoors on the beach. Or walking freely on the Coronado Island streets amongst happy strangers passing.

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See what I mean? Happiness, baby.

Coronado Island was where we wound up after one day of exploring the San Diego area. Our first hotel didn't work out and we had quickly fallen in love with this small beach town straight across from downtown San Diego so we made our way there and stayed in this charming hotel located above shops in this corner plaza.
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There were many quaint coffee shops to visit.

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And there was plenty of personality in this little gem of a town.

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We fell in love and basically didn't leave the island for the next 2 days.

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How amazingly handsome is my husband? 5 years coming up this month and I couldn't love that man more.

And this one?
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Don't even get me started.

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Our last day we had to travel north a bit for our family photo shoot with the FABULOUS Amanda Patrice. On the way we went to Ritchie's favorite brewery - Stone Brewing Company.

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When we got to Oceanside Harbor we had a little time to spare so we took Max on his first boat ride!

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All in all a great day that ended with some fantastic photos and a tragically awful stay in a hotel that we will NEVER stay at again. Shudder...

The next day, on our way back home, we stopped to see the aforementioned Kirstie and Nick and, of course, sweet little Roman. I just love this family and was sad we didn't get to spend more time with them on this visit. We'll be planning another trip after Ben's arrival to be with them more!

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How sweet is little red-headed Roman?

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And how cute are the two of them together??

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Sharing like a good friend should. Max didn't share... we're working on it. At least Roman has good manners!

That's all for our trip. Coronado Island is a place we will most definitely be traveling to again. It was so charming and the Lincoln family is thrilled to have found this sparkling gem by the sea to frequent in the future.
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