Growing Kids and Growing Baby Bump Last Few Days of 2nd Trimester

Dear Nathan and Hannah, 

This post is going to cover the parts of the past 2 weeks when I was with you. I went to Baton Rouge for 5 days for a training with the National Math and Science Initiative and while I was gone, Auntie Momo came over and played with you guys. 

From what I heard, you guys absolutely loved making things with the shrinky dink paper and loved going to the pool. I received a report from Daddy telling me that you both did a great job eating at dinner and not only did you both eat a lot, you ate pretty quickly too. 

Hannah, you are definitely growing up to be a girl now. No longer are you a little toddler. You are getting to be quite coordinated in both fine and gross motor skills. 

You are able to pump yourself on a swing.

You are able to climb fearlessly up tall ladders. (And jump down from high places too)

You know the purpose and function of screwdrivers.

But with all this growing up also comes sass, blatantly saying "No, I don't want to do that!" and full blown tantrums where you loudly exclaim, "I wanna ____ , right, now!"

I find myself losing my temper with you a lot these days and have to remind myself that you are 2 years younger than Nathan and I can't expect you to behave as maturely as he is. You've also regressed on potty training, having several accidents a day. Again, I need to remind myself that Nathan didn't become fully potty trained until 3.5, almost 4 years old.

With the weather heating up, and my pregnancy hormones starting to kick in full force, we've been spending more time inside. One day we made monster boogers.

And another day, while I was cooking, you guys were just going nuts. I quickly improvised, handed you each a pair of scissors (very exciting for Hannah) and let you guys create your own dinner plates. I had about 30 minutes to cook in peace.

Auntie Momo came down on Saturday and we went on a sister date to watch my friends who made the premier league play roller derby. Auntie Momo may even play some day.

The next morning, I flew to Baton Rouge. During the day, I trained middle school teachers on science curriculum and helped them brush up on their content. The first day was rough because the teachers felt very overwhelmed with the math that I was having them do. The next day, I went back to basics and started from square 1. By day 4, the teachers were tutoring high school teachers using the math skills that they had learned to analyze data! I have not felt that sort of rewarding feeling in a long time. I'm very glad that I continue to work with NMSI, because each summer I am reminded that I really do love to teach.

As a bonus, I also got to try a bunch of yummy oysters, cooked in different ways. Baked, Grilled, Fried...

This is a sampler plate of all the different oysters this particular restaurant had to offer. Probably my favorite meal at Baton Rouge.

I also got to go on the trip with one of my very good friends who also happens to be due around the same time I am. We explored the city for awhile after dinner until our bladders told us that we needed to go find a potty.

I also had my fair share of beignets and other yummy desserts.

I got back late on Thursday night and on Friday, we had our monthly service family night at church. You two did a great job with opening packages and along with your friends did a great job with packing up 35 gift bags filled with picture frames, a onsie, and little baby items for TruCare Austin.

Afterwards, we had a little talk about what we did and how our presents will bless others. I could tell that most of the kids had this "I'm proud of myself" look on your faces. It was too precious.

This week is another busy week for Nathan, as you get to attend our church's VBS program. Each day, you come home excited about the snack, the craft that you made, and you usually are unable to recall the bible story that was covered for that day...which is very untypical for you, since you are usually able to retell details from a story very well.

While Nathan is at VBS, Hannah, you and I run errands, I've gone to the gym a few times, and we even had a playdate with another little sister whose brother is also at VBS.

As far as the pregnancy goes, I have a feeling that I've reach the tip of the iceberg. I am probably the most comfortable that I'm going to be and that from this point, it all goes downhill. My tummy is getting larger and it seems like this past week it has expanded significantly. I am feeling baby girl kick a lot, especially at night when I am trying to fall asleep.

After my weight lifting day, I usually get sciatica pain the next day, which really only lasts for a day and then goes away. Not sure why that happens, but for the past 3 weights day, which I am taking it really easy and using light weights, I've been experiencing the pain.

Today in Zumba, I felt less mobile because it felt like baby girl's head was stuck in my pelvic region and I didn't want to salsa too freely because it just felt very weird. I slowed things down a bit and did most of the moves in half time.

Good news! I passed my glucose tolerance test. At my last prenatal visit, the midwife told me to eat a normal amount of carbs the day before the test because eating a low carb diet can cause one to have a false positive. Well, after my experience with Hannah's pregnancy, I didn't want to have to go through all of that again (I was convinced that I was misdiagnosed) so I had all the sweets and carbs on my trip. Beignets, fried foods, sugar in my coffee, and I even enjoyed dessert at every meal. On Monday they called me with the results and I passed with flying colors. So, if you normally eat a pretty low sugar/carb diet, I'd try eating more carbs and sugar a few days before. If you end up being diagnosed, they you probably have GD, but if not, you have saved yourself from a lot of unnecessary finger pricks and carb counting.

My iron levels are a bit on the low side, not terribly low, but low enough for the midwives to suggest that I take additional supplements (on top of my prenatal vitamins) to increase my iron levels. My level was at 10.9 and the cutoff was at 11, so I'm just going to try to increase my uptake of heme-rich foods since minerals from real food are absorbed more readily than stuff from a pill. In a few weeks, they'll draw my blood again, and we'll see if I need to take additional supplements.

27.5 Weeks

24 Weeks

Well, that's about it for the week. Next week we have 4th of July and then Hannah will start swim lessons with Ms. Cathy. 

Until next week, 

Love, 

Mommy (Who prefers her kids to follow directions the first time..ahem, Hannah).