Sentences

Harrison has been saying a few sentences here and there, 3 or 4 words long.

Today he said "Ooops, oh no, broke it!"

He didn't actually break anything, he says broke it sometimes when things don't appear quite right, and sometimes for reasons I don't know! What goes on in a 19 months old brain is sometimes a mystery.

Ill try and remember more sentences, but I keep forgetting to write them down!

Harrison's pointy teeth seem to be finally through!

Hallelujah!

I know I've said this a million times, but he seriously is the slowest teether in the world! They started to come down way before Christmas and the final one of four is just now poking through the gum now. They have been traumatic for everyone :)

Now we get a break till 2 year molars!

Hurrah!

Ice Cream is my Saviour!

I have now met with the GD nurse and Dietitian, and things are going fairly well so far. The diet is really not that hard to follow, but I miss my chocolate!

My Meal plan goes like this.....

Breakfast: 3 servings-45g carbs with protein

Snack: 1 serving- 15g carbs

Lunch: 3 servings-45g carbs with protein

Snack: 1 serving- 15g

Dinner: 4 servings-60g carbs with protein

Snack: 1 serving- 15g carbs with protein

A serving of carbs is 15g about a slice of toast, a small serving of fruit, 1/3 cup cooked rice, 3 oz potato etc. I can eat as many non starchy veg and salad as I want.

So I can eat pretty much all day, I often have to eat when I am not hungry at all, and then cant eat when I am hungry! I take my blood sugar 4 times a day, once upon waking and then two hours after each meal. I have sore fingers!

My morning blood sugar levels should be between 65-95 and 2 hours after each meal needs to be under 120. I am only struggling with my evening and morning numbers so far, the day works out easy! I'm used to having a larger evening meal, so its hard to cut back, and eating a snack right before bed (unless its chocolate!) is the last thing I want to do!

I cant eat anything too sugary, like chocolate, candy or juice, but I can eat ice cream! Just a tiny scoop, Ive been eating it most nights before bed with nuts for protein yum!!!

A typical days food is something like this.....

Breakfast: 2 slices wholegrain toast with egg or turkey bacon and a cup of milk.

Snack: cereal bar or apple with cheese

Lunch: Sandwich with ham/turkey and cheese, with salad or fruit or chips(crisps)

Snack: Apple or crackers and cheese/ham

Dinner: BIG salad or pile of veggies to fill me up with pasta and meat sauce, or rice and chicken.

Snack: Ice cream and nuts!!!!

Its really not that hard, and I haven't gained an ounce since I started this diet, so I am hoping that means baby brother has slowed down to a normal weight gain. I have to test for ketones each morning, its a sign I'm not eating enough and therefore burning fat for fuel and that can be bad for the baby. I keep a food and blood glucose diary to so I know what foods I react to. Potatoes are BAD!!!!! Did you know that potatoes have a higher effect on blood sugar than actual sugar, in fact the only thing higher on the glycemic index is pure glucola! In fact, during my research I found that there is a link between eating too many potatoes and type 2 diabetes. I also never realised that carbs can be just as bad for your diet as sugar, i never thought I ate much sugary foods, but to my body carbs are just the same, especially those white ones. As I now have a 60% greater chance of getting type 2 diabetes within 10 yrs there's a big motivation keep carbs to a sensible amount.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Harrison is about anything that moves right now! He is so into Thomas the Tank Engine, he will ask to "otch Thomas" all day long. Of course we don't let him!

Matt got out his old toy cars, planes etc from the basement and Harrison's has been having a field day with them! He thows a tantrum when its time to eat, sleep or do anything away from those cars. He takes some everywhere he goes.

While we were shopping the other day we found a Thomas puzzle mat and a Thomas train tent, which of course we had to get for his play room!

When we move Harrison to a big boy bed (which we think we will do before baby arrives) he will be getting a Thomas bed set for sure!

Chopsticks

Who'd have thought chopsticks were a great way to get your toddler to eat!

A few weeks ago we ate Chinese take-out (probably the last for a while, its not carb friendly!) and Harrison decided he was all done. So I gave him some chopsticks to play with, and he started stabbing food with them and eating it! He loved them and thought it was hilarius he could eat with sticks :)

Another pregnancy update!

I do have gestational diabetes! Which is actually a relief to know that something manageable is causing me to feel strange after I eat, and causing me and the baby to be bigger than we should be. Id rather not have it of course, but there are a lot worse things that can happen in pregnancy. And I would rather have my blood sugar under control than have an 11lb baby because I was not diagnosed!

Since my gestational diabetes test I have been monitoring some of my blood glucose levels on a monitor at home (fasting and 2 hours after meals), because i felt ill every time after I ate I wanted to be able to watch my diet more closely so I would feel better. I noticed when I ate a carb controlled meal my numbers are great, if I eat whatever I want then they are high. I shared my blood glucose readings with my doctor , she said that the higher readings I have when I do not watch my sugar or carb intake are not normal. The fasting glucose test can miss GD, either because you don't quiet have it yet (its progressive and gets worse as you near the end of pregnancy) or because the test results can vary day by day depending on what you ate the day before.

She is going to go ahead and treat me for GD and I get to see a dietitian soon to help me better understand how to control my blood sugar with diet.

The main complication of Gestational Diabetes is that the extra sugar in your blood goes to the fetus, causing an abnormally large baby at delivery. It can also cause an increase in amniotic fluid. My doctor did an ultrasound today and baby brother is around 4 1/2lbs which is around 90th percentile for weight. Anything 90% or greater is considered large for gestational age. I also do have extra amniotic fluid as first thought. These two things put together create my big ol'belly! Other than being big (and long too she said!) the baby looked healthy and fine. He is moving around loads because he has plenty of water to swim around in, which is why he feels like a soccer playing octopus :)

Thankfully, neither baby size nor too much amniotic fluid are cause for alarm, I will have another ultrasound on February 15th to check how big baby brother is, and to see if he is manageable for me to deliver. My doctor said there is no reason to believe I will have him early, unless he gets too big to carry to term. Right now, if I can control his weight gain with my diet, he will probably end up 8 or so lbs. I think he may skip Harrison's newborn clothes altogether!

Ill keep you all posted and let you know how my appointment with the dietitian goes!

Sentences.

During the last week Harrison has started to say more and more 2 word sentences. Its a big breakthrough for him, with such a large vocabulary it opens up all sorts of communication breakthroughs, and I just now now its clicked in his little brain there's no stopping him.

for the longest time Harrison would come up and say "More", but it was hard to figure out more what.

He has now said sentences such as....

More Grapes, More milk etc.

red Car, Blue train etc.

Watch Thomas, Watch Wall-E Etc.

Bye Bye Dada

He is also rambling longer sentences but I have no idea how to translate those just yet :)

Hugs.

Over the last month or two Harrison has got very cuddly! Its such a nice phase. He will say "hug" run up to you and give you a big bear hug, with his head resting on your shoulder.

Needless to say Matt and I are loving it.

He will also snuggle up to you on the couch, or sit on your lap quietly and watch tv or just hang out. This makes things allot easier when your almost 7 months pregnant!

Lost in translation....

Harrison is leaps and bounds ahead in his vocabulary. It makes my life so much easier now he can communicate his needs! The trouble is you need a special Harrison dictionary to translate all the words that don't yet sound quit right!

Here are some of the popular ones.

Grape- Bup

Step - Bup

Helicopter- hebopter

Plane- Main

Train- Main

Bunny- Nunny

Snack- Ack

Shoe- Ooosh

Wall-E - Ol-eeee

Watch- Otch

Sometimes its tricky to figure it out!

The good the bad and the ugly~ A pregnancy update.

The Good.

I have a wonderful baby boy bouncing around inside me! And boy do I feel him, I think its an octopus! So far this pregnancy has been a lot easier than with Harrison, losing some extra weight before I got pregnant I am sure has helped. Even though I am huge, at 30 weeks my heartburn is barely there, my hips don't hurt and I'm as comfortable as someone with a 20lb bowling strapped to her tummy can be.

The Bad.

I am currently measuring 6 weeks bigger than I should be. For those who are not informed on all things pregnancy, your fundal height is the measurement from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus. After week 20 you have this measured at every doctors appointment, in a normal pregnancy this measurement is the same in centimeters as it is in weeks. So at my 28 week appointment I should have measured 28cm. I measured 34cm. Being within 2cm is considered normal- being 6cm larger is not! I had 10 weeks of growth in 4 weeks, no wonder I feel/am huge! My doctor thinks I have excess amniotic fluid, which in most situations has no cause, it just happens. It can cause some complications, pre-term delivery, umbilical cord problems, breach or unusual presentation of the baby-thus a higher risk of C section. All of these things are not good, but the main thing is the baby is fine and it shouldn't cause him any problems. In very rare cases it can mean there is a problem with the babies kidneys or swallowing mechanism somewhere, but because I have already had 2 level 2 ultrasounds this is very unlikely.

We have an Ultrasound scheduled soon to check everything is going ok, and if I still have too much amniotic fluid, as apparently it can correct itself. We have a lot of questions for the doctor so I am anxious to see her!

I have also been tested for Gestational Diabetes. My results came back boarder line, but negative, which is great. I have to avoid sweets and sugary foods and eat more often with more protein. I am sure feeling a lot better since I started doing this! With a boarder line test however it does mean I may still get GD later this pregnancy.

The Ugly.

My belly! Its HUGE! When people ask me when i am due, or how long I have and I tell them 10 weeks I get a very strange "you have to be joking" look! I am about as big in the belly now as I was with Harrison when I delivered. It is not very comfortable, I just hope I don't have to grow another 10cm. My clothes are all getting too short over my tummy, if you look closely you will see.

In all seriousness, even though I am huge, and its getting difficult to do day to day things like put on shoes and chase around after Harrison, its truly a joy to be pregnant.

And I would rather have a big ol'belly than the swelling I had last time!

I just wish pregnancy was easier and plain sailing like it seems to be for some people. Having said that, Ive not met one lady yet who said pregnancy was easy, so maybe they don't really exist!

Please keep our baby boy in your thoughts and prayers.

I love Elmo.

Happy New Year!!!

Harrison in his new jammies hugging Elmo :0)
Sorry for the lack of blogs, lots of updates to come soon!