Baby Plus System just a gimmick?

I started using the baby plus prenatal monitoring system at 18 wks. The lessons are suppose to be in the language of your heartbeat. There are 16 lessons total and each lesson increases in tempo. The directions are to play a lesson for two hours a day at roughly the same time of day. Each lesson is an hour, it automatically shuts off after an hour. Depending on when you start using it you play the same lesson for about a week or two. At the beginning I was very good about keeping a schedule and documenting the lessons. However it is loud when I play it and it finally drove Chris crazy. So for awhile I tried to not play it around him but that became difficult to do so of course I eventually just stopped using it. Now I play it every now and again when I think of it. I am not so sure that this is a good idea since now it is not a scheduled thing but oh well. I like the idea of of being able to play it for Grady in his crib so it will be a familiar sound. The product has good reviews and supposedly produces calmer babies who are quicker to learn things. Yea yea I say it is all just a gimmick. Of course I won't know now because I am not using it properly and who knows I am probably creating a monster by not playing it on a schedule. Hmm at least he will hopefully recognize the sound out in the real world which is really my only purpose at this point.

Our second year Anniversary!

We celebrated our second year anniversary last night 6/24/08 at our favorite restaurant Nicola's! We really splurged and did the seven course tasting menu which actually turned out to be 8 courses because Christian threw in something a little extra for us. The tasting was exquisite as we thought it would be! We love having the excuse to eat there! The only downside is how uncomfortable I became after the meal, I must not ever eat that much again! Of course I say this after every time we eat there. Really though it was pretty impressive how tight and big my belly got! I could have spontaneously combusted, good thing I didn't!

Grady is spoiled already!

Thank you PawPaw for our Bugaboo stroller and thank you Yola and Tom for the Bloom High Chair! We couldn't be more excited about these two items! The bugaboo is great because it is so versatile which is exactly what we were looking for in a stroller. We can't wait to test it out on the beach in Florida, it will be great! I think we are going to refer to the Bugaboo as the chuck wagon in honor of PawPaw :). The Bloom is also very versatile it's more then a high chair. It tilts back to act as a cradle so Grady can start using it right away. It also becomes an infant high chair as well as a toddler high chair! We are all about the baby gear serving more than one purpose so the Bugaboo and Bloom are perfect! We tested them both out on the baby of the house right now and he gives them a paws up :) !

3rd Trimester

I have now officially begun the 3rd Trimester! I am 26 weeks pregnant. My lower back and tail bone are constantly bothering me. I get restless leg syndrome at night and sometimes I get those nasty calf cramps! Ugh they are just awful and I am trying my best to not get them! A good tip is to not flex the foot. I also get pretty knotted up in between my shoulder blades. I am long over due for a message! I am taking yoga, swimming classes, and still working out. The yoga makes me feel great right after the class but then by the time I return home I am reminded of all my aches and pains. The swimming is great because you are weightless in the water so I feel like a normal person. My regular workouts are getting harder due to the growing belly. For all those who don't think I look pregnant here are some belly pictures for you! Now you can clearly tell that I am pregnant and I certainly feel pregnant! Oh which reminds me I had my first hot flash today, it sucked. I was getting a facial and suddenly I got really hot and then super noxious, thought I was going to pass out or get sick. It went away though as soon as I got up and drank some water. I think it was a combination of how hot the room was and what the devil lady was doing to my face. I don't know if you have ever had extractions done on your face but it really hurts! This is why I call my esthetician the devil lady under my breath while she is performing the extractions.

Glucose test results

Thursday I took the 3 hour glucose test to determine if I have gestational diabetes or not. It was a a long morning! After not eating for 10 hours I went into the hospital at 8am where they took my blood and had me drink a syrupy orange drink. I got a little noxious after drinking the stuff but it really did not taste that bad. After an hour of finishing the drink they took my blood again, and then again an hour after that and once more in another hour. I have a wonderful husband who came with me, we watched a movie in between blood draws. When it was all over we went out for a big lunch! My arm is pretty sore since they stuck me four times! Today the results came in and I passed the test! No gestational diabetes for me. The next time I am pregnant I am going to try my hardest to eat better before that initial glucose test taken at the Dr.'s office. I really want to avoid having to ever do this 3 hour test again. It was a pain.

First Baby Shower!

A big thanks goes out to the St. Louis crew who threw us our first couple's baby shower over Memorial weekend. Grady got some cute stuff and we got things we will most definitely be using a lot! Grady is ready for his first bath, which is exciting to think about! As you can see I was not the only pregnant lady there. Katie and Danielle are having boys as well and it will be a third for both of them! Congrats ! Chris did the math and after this round of babies between all of his college roommates there will be 18 kids! WOW that's impressive!

Glucose Test

I had my sugar levels checked by taking the glucose test on Wednesday. This is a standard procedure for all pregnant women. It entails drinking an orange syrupy drink and then having your blood drawn exactly one hour from when you finished the drink. They just prick your finger which is so much better then having to give a full blood sample. The test is done to determine if you need further testing for gestational diabetes. Unfortunately for me my sugar levels were high at 170, normal levels are around 140. I now have to do a longer 3 hour test at the hospital. I will have to fast for 10 hours then they take blood, wait for another hour and they take blood again, then I drink and even sweeter syrupy liquid and in an hour they take my blood again! I don't know if you kept track people but that's 13 hours of fasting! How can they do that to a pregnant lady?! I will pass out! Hopefully I will test negative for gestational diabetes but either way it's not really a big deal. Many women get gestational diabetes and it is corrected with supplements and a diet. I am more worried about starvation then anything, wish me luck! I take the test on Thursday.