Its Good to be Negative!

There is a bacteria that almost all women carry, it isn't always active, but when it is it can mean serious problems if passed to a newborn.  It is Group B Streptococcus and pretty much all pregnant women are now screened for it.  If it is active in your system when you give birth there is a chance you can pass it to your baby during delivery - which could cause all kinds of complications including pneumonia.  To avoid these complications, if you are an active carrier, the doctors want you to come into the hospital sooner than they usually would so they have enough time to give you at least two rounds of antibiotics before the baby is born, which takes about four hours.  In case you are one of the lucky few who delivery quickly, this means they want you to come in as soon as your water breaks... and you could be stuck in the hospital a LONG time if you aren't one of the folks who delivers quickly.  I really want to labor as long as I can at home.  I am comfortable here, I feel safe, there are no needles or monitors to put up with, I have lots of options for distracting myself and I can eat!  So needless to say I was dreading the test to determine if I was positive or negative for Group B Strep.  The good news.... I'm NEGATIVE!!!  I am so so so so soooo thankful!  I may have to go in early for other reasons, but at least this won't be one of them!  Praise God for His provision even in the 'little' details!

Gaming guidence

As I was working on one of my papers earlier this year, Chris came and sat next to me while he played.  Kitty saw a perfect opportunity to snuggle with both of us at the same time!  In the process she gave Chris some pointers.

Temporary Bling

One of the many things that has changed during my pregnancy is my ring size.  As my body started accumulating more blood and water late in my second trimester my wedding rings began to get tighter and tighter.  Finally about six months they hit the point that it was uncomfortable to keep them on all day, especially at the end of the day when my hands were the most swollen.  I went without them for a few weeks but just felt really naked - plus the funny stares I got just from being pregnant on a college campus seemed to pick up once I wasn't wearing them.  So Chris helped me pick out a new one!

 No, no, its not real, but 14 dollars of glass is a marvelous stand in until my real bling fits again!

Pregnancy's Dirty Little Secrets: Part 2

Welcome to part two of the many things I wish I'd known to expect about pregnancy!  In case you missed it please see the disclaimer in Part 1 before reading ahead, because you will probably learn a little lot more than you ever wanted to know about me and I want you to be prepared!

1.) Acne may return with a vengeance...
      Most of us were fortunate to leave our serious acne behind with high school.  But when you get pregnant it can come back!  The return of acne in pregnancy is for many of the same reasons it reared it speckled-y head in the first place - hormones!  As mentioned earlier, your body is dealing with a lot of different (and powerful) hormones that help your body handle the pregnancy, but also bring some undesirable side effects.  This isn't a problem for everyone, but I have noticed an increase in skin issues with this pregnancy, so just FYI, it could happen to you too!

2.) You might find yourself suddenly more voluptuous!
      In response to those wonderful pregnancy hormones, your mammary glands start getting ready for their created job - feeding babies!  In the process they get bigger... and bigger!  This growth can also be accompanied by some twinges and pains in your breast tissue, but apparently this is just part of that tissue changing and getting ready for their new job.  While this is great for your self-image (and can be really fun for your husband), it can be frustrating for your wardrobe.  Be sure that you keep bras your size(s) on hand, but don't get too many because you may change again in the process of your pregnancy, and you will definitely change again once the new bundle is born!

3.) Leaking, leaking, here, there and everywhere!
      While many of these are awkward, this one is more so for me, just letting you know!  Along about month six I found my body getting ready in a different way to feed our new baby, it started making a little colostrum - which meant I started leaking!  This was easy enough to prevent, nursing pads don't cost very much, but it was still a surprise.  Additionally, your body starts making a discharge to keep your cervix clean - good for baby and Mom's health - not good for underpants. Again easy enough fix, just unexpected...  Finally, in the vein of leaking, you might find yourself a little sweatier than normal too!  With all that extra water you've been drinking and blood you've been making, you have more water to get rid of and more of your body to regulate temperature for, thus more perspiration!

4.) Does anyone else feel like a pincushion?
      So its not really been that bad - but depending on how many tests you plan to, or need to, run there is a point in time where you kind of feel like a pincushion! Between that first draw to check blood type, iron levels and such, to the second glucose tolerance test, to the finger prick to make sure iron is staying where it should one can start to understand what being around a porcupine might be like!

5.) 'Pregnancy Brain' is REAL!!!
       I had heard a lot of conflicting reports on this subject with some doctors saying the absent mindedness experienced during pregnancy was just due to the new experience of being pregnant and the new concerns and thoughts that brings.  I am here to say they were WRONG! I regularly find myself wondering why I'm in a particular room, forgetting keys and losing my train of thought while still talking!  Fortunately I haven't found my mail in the fridge yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if I did!  I read an article that made me feel a little better though.  According to the authors, women's brains are 4% smaller while they are pregnant!  not because they lost brain mass but because the extra blood volume in their  system puts more pressure on the brain!  So my absentmindedness is medically justified!

I hope this installment was informative for you!  Tune in soon for more unexpected pregnancy side-effects!

Lab Rats...

During my whole project Chris has been of invaluable help to me.  During the last two weeks his help in the lab has prevented me from despairing at the seemingly unending list of work!  He has kept me on track and provided lots of entertainment!

Last week we were working on blending all of my frozen peach fruit samples and getting them ready for Brix, pH TA analysis.  Essentially last week we were making peach smoothies, separating off the juice from the 'pulp' and freezing the juice.  This week we are taking that frozen juice and testing it with instruments to get an 'objective' understanding of the aspects of its flavor.  pH gives us the acidity, Brix an approximation of the sweetness and TA a slightly different understanding of the acidity.  This basically gives us numbers to the flavor differences between the fruit to help us see if the treatments we are using are have an effect (good or bad) on flavor.  This is the final in a long line of tests we have run this year on fruit quality - AND I AM SO EXCITED FOR IT TO BE FINISHED!!!!

As I said this all would have taken MUCH longer without my generous husband's help!

Flowers from Hubby!

 My sweet husband bought me flowers this week!  Aren't they so Christmas-y?

Catch-up on 37 weeks of pregnancy!

So I obviously haven't done a very good job keeping you up to date on my progress so far, but I'm hoping to make up for lost time in this post!  Here are the photos I have of my and Eb's progress through the weeks!

 <-As best as we can tell, Eb was 5 weeks old when we took this picture!

 When we were visiting Susan and John in Arizona we were about 8 weeks along! ->

 <-We were 14 weeks and had heard Eb's heart beat for the first time at this point!

 At 16 weeks Eb took his first ride on a sedgway! ->

<- At 18 weeks Eb was in Glacier!

 Still at 18 weeks - couldn't help showing off my pregnant hubby again! ->

 <- 19 weeks at the 1880's town!

 21 weeks, slowly growing! ->

 <- 22 weeks and the last time I fit into this dress - for a while at least!

 Pandora thought my belly was a comfy perch from 23 weeks on! ->

 <- 23 weeks without Pandora.

 24 weeks! ->

 <- From 26 weeks on I had to graduate to mostly maternity pants, the jeans in the next picture still worked if I wore a long shirt and pants extenders!

 27 weeks and still growing!  Most of my non-maternity shirts really don't fit at this point, the few I can wear need a really long undershirt! ->

 <- Here we jump to 32 weeks at a picnic at Lake Alice!

 This one is also 32 weeks, but a little further in the week at one of our wonderful showers! ->

 <- Playing shadow puppets at 33 weeks!

 35 weeks and starting to feel the weight! Around here I started to have some swelling, up until this point I was very blessed not to have to deal with much water retention! ->

 And that bring us to today!  37 weeks and Eb is officially considered full term, although it would still be good for him to wait until his due date he is developed enough now that if he were born he wouldn't need any extra time in the hospital!

So thrilled and thankful for a healthy pregnancy thus far, and ready to meet our new little man in three short weeks... or less!