Eight Weeks and counting.....

That's right. I hit 32 weeks this week. Unbelievable! My last check up was good. I had lost a pound (don't ask, I really have no idea), my blood pressure was GREAT (yay!) and I had spent the last two weeks checking my sugars on a glucometer because I hit the cutoff number for passing the one hour glucose test, but didn't want to do the three hour test...for a few reasons. I'll explain. (briefly....maybe :-))

Because I have a few reasons to think that I'm at risk for developing diabetes (the number one reason being that my mother was a type I diabetic and her brother-my uncle-is also a type 1 diabetic....so its in the genes), I wanted to take this opportunity to not just take another three hour glucose test (that I passed easily with my pregnancy with Owen)...but to really take a look at how my body was dealing with sugars. I knew that my ketones had looked good. Every time I visit the OB I leave a urine sample and they test it to see if I'm passing any sugar....and I hadn't been. That was a good sign. So, the cut off for the one hour glucose test was 140...and my number was...yep...140. I told my OB that I'd rather "pretend" for the time being that I was a gestational diabetic and check my blood sugar four times a day. "Lucky" for me, a co-worker had an extra glucometer and I've been able to easily check and record my sugars for the past two weeks. This is what I've found: I'm not diabetic. :-) My sugars (both fasting and after meals) have almost ALWAYS been waaaaay below the cutoff (fasting is 90---I'm usually at 68-72 and post meal cut off is 120...I'm usually between 99-109). I took this log to my last OB appointment and she happily agreed with me that I'm not at risk. Personally, this was a good decision for me. I wanted to know how borderline I really was...and for now, it looks good. I'll continue to check my sugars on my own 3-4 times a week to make sure nothing is going crazy wrong...but I'm relieved to know where I'm at and move on from here :-)

So, I have bittersweet feelings about this pregnancy coming to a close. I LOVE being pregnant. Even though this pregnancy has been much more difficult than Owen's I love every little movement (and every BIG kick too :-)) and just LOVE knowing that our baby is growing in my belly. I even love maternity clothes and HAVING a belly. Weird. Its also very hard for me to think about this possibly being my last pregnancy. Josh and I haven't decided for sure, but we think that two might be the right number of kiddos for our family....of course we can't exactly know what GOD thinks about all that...so we'll see. I refuse to take drastic measures until I'm at the age where they consider you high risk (which is 35) so we'll spend the next couple of years trying to figure out if we are done adding to our family (or not). I'm NOT going to miss waking up multiple times during the night trying to decide if I really have to pee bad enough to get out of bed...or to just wait it out until morning :-) I also won't miss waddling, heart burn, CRAZY lower back pain....and gagging. Yep. I'm still gagging. It just won't leave me. I weigh all of this against the sweet time that pregnancy truly is and its definitely worth it. Just some days are harder than others. I can't really fit behind my desk at work without my belly being scrunched...and I'm about to make a declaration that if ONE MORE THING falls on the floor...that's it. Its over for me. I'm NOT picking it up. Still...I will MISS THIS.

All that being said....I just cannot wait to meet this little person. Sometimes I wonder if there is any way that I can love another child as much as I love Owen. I admit, it hurts my brain. Sometimes I think....this baby is for him. So he can have a sibling and not be alone. I already have the love of my life and there is no way I'll feel the same about another baby....but I know that my heart will grow and God will give me grace to feel the same amount of good feelings for this one as I do for my sweet, love-y first-born.

Owen is doing great. I'm not sure how much he gets that his life really is about to change...but I know he will be happy to stuff pacifiers in the baby's mouth, and bring me diapers, and...he really wants to give the baby a bath. Like right away. He says that will be the best thing he can do. Ha! We've been talking about how our baby will be born at a hospital and that mommy will have to be gone for a few days...but he can come and visit me while I'm there. We've also addressed the concept of breastfeeding :-) ha ha...I think he'll do fine with it, but he's used to seeing MOSTLY bottle fed babies around here and I didn't want to freak him out by not giving him an introduction at all about how some babies are fed by their mommies bodies.... He seemed ok with the overall idea :-) We'll see!

So, Josh's first official day with students was TODAY. Craziness. His first soccer game is next Monday, and his travel team has their first tournament the weekend of Aug. 21. Yesterday I made a spreadsheet schedule and...wow. Its a bit overwhelming. :-) We could definitely use prayers as we navigate this crazy time.

I have a few new pictures to put up, so I'll get back on and do that soon. Know that we are doing well...keeping busy and looking forward to meeting our new baby! Soon enough I'll be putting pictures up of that! We are blessed :-) Enjoy what is left of your summer....I know that I am ready for FALL!