The last week

James has been sick for about a week now.  Between a high fever (104* at some points) and sore throat, to be closely followed by a very runny nose and cough, my little guy was kind of a mess for awhile.  He seems to be doing better this morning, but his nose and cough are still bothering him a bit.  While I try not to take daycare for granted, being home with a sick toddler is not for the faint at heart.  He is stubborn, head strong, and moody (not unlike his mother, ha!).  Add in some sickness and he's even grumpier, not in the mood to eat, and clingy to boot.
Okay, now I'm done complaining.  I really do feel bad for the little guy, I would take all his ills if I could, but it doesn't work that way.  Hopefully he will continue to feel better, at least for his parents' sake.
Tomorrow is our annual trip to pediatric cardiology, so that should be interesting.  This year I'm not nearly so amped up about it as much as I'm dreading having to hold James still for his echo.  The child barely holds still for a diaper change.  But they usually play a movie, so hopefully his love of "Melmo" will help some.  Wish us luck!

16 weeks

This week the baby is as big as an avocado.  Which seems weird to me, because in my head, avocados are smaller than navel oranges, but I will go with what thebump.com says.
In two more weeks, we'll hopefully find out if we're having a boy or girl.  And four weeks after that we'll have a fetal echo done on the baby's heart. Hopefully this little peanut does not have the same heart murmur as their big brother.
The statistics say that the chance of another heart defect baby is only 2 - 3%, but those stats are for non-diabetic mommies.  Although, the reason behind James' heart defect may have been elevated blood sugar in the first 7 weeks, my A1C (an average of your blood sugar for 4 to 6 weeks) during that time was around 7%.  The first month of my pregnancy this time had my A1C around 6.7%, so we'll see if that 0.3% really makes a difference.  James' VSD could also be a fluke and not have anything to do with his diabetic momma.
This pregnancy is definitely reminding me that I don't ever want to do this again.  I have been fairly uncomfortable and having a terrible time sleeping lately.  My brain has been having a very difficult time turning itself off, which is funny, because I wasn't nearly so stressed with James.  After Adam and I ran down our finances for the 87th time and I was assured that we weren't going to be homeless, I was just excited to meet my little boy.  This time I am not stressed about finances, per se, just trying to wrap my head around the fact that I will need to give 100% of my attention to two little creatures.  I'm sure we will get it all sorted out in no time, but right now its scary.  I want to do the right things for James, not transition him out of his crib too soon, not move his bedroom too soon, not pressure him to potty train, and overall just not force him to grow up too quickly simply because we have another baby coming.  I can't imagine if he was any younger, I think the two under two crowd might be on drugs, because that is just madness to me.  So there's my vent for the day!

15 weeks

The baby is the size of a navel orange this week, which seems kind of huge to me.

She (I'm just picking a pronoun this week) didn't seem that big on the ultrasound, but I know she's gaining a lot of weight every week.

More info on the baby at 15 weeks:
You probably can't feel it yet, but she's squirming a ton.  (Actually, I have felt a few flutters of baby movement, even though its early.)
She might even be hiccuping in there.
She's making lots of progress: her joints and limbs can all move now.

It's been a few weeks since I answered the pregnancy survey, so I figured I would update it.

How far along? 15 weeks.
Total weight gain? about 7 pounds.
Sleep: Sleep is starting to get difficult, I have been up peeing or with low blood sugar just about every night this week.
Best moment this week? Making my neurology appointment so I can get some headache relief!
Movement? Tiny flutters.
Food cravings? I am always craving something, this week I've been thinking about Chinese food, my mom's enchiladas, cheese steaks, and chocolate.  I also crave food not pregnant though, which is probably why I'm so darn chubby...
Labor signs? No.
Belly button in or out? Its in still, but my tummy is getting a bit round.
What I miss? I'm not a big drinker, but I could have used a margarita this weekend.
What I’m nervous about? Finding out the sex of the baby.
What I’m looking forward to? Relaxing this weekend, something we haven't done in awhile!

He's a peeing machine

I haven't updated much about James and potty training, because there really hasn't been a lot to report.  He will use the potty once a day, usually.  He still isn't communicating his need to potty, but we are still taking it slow.  This morning, I thought we hit a milestone.  James woke up and asked me to potty.  He pointed to the bathroom and said "Potty?" So we high-tailed it in there, got his pajamas off (James thinks he needs to be totally naked to potty) and got him on the potty.  James sat.  He sat.  And sat.  And sat.  For 10 or so long minutes.  Nothing.  James looked up at me from his NFL magazine and said "All done."  I, of course, knew he couldn't be all done, he hadn't peed and his overnight diaper was dry.
I asked him to sit and try a bit longer.  James looked at me and smiled.  Then proceeded to pee all over the bathroom.  When I told him that we pee on the potty, he stopped peeing, looked at me again, smiled, and STARTED to pee AGAIN.  As I was cleaning the bathroom floor, he made a few more stops, in the hallway and in his bedroom, once again, to pee.
So that was fun.
I told James in a stern, but kind voice, that pee goes in the potty or in a diaper.  As we sat on the floor to get a diaper on, a very contrite (and still naked) James snuggled into my lap.  I think he thought I was mad at him, and honestly, I was a little bit.  But I didn't yell or shame him, because really, its just some pee and I didn't want to be counterproductive.  After a struggle, James let me diaper and dress him and we were on our way for the rest of the morning.  As I brushed my teeth, James stood and clung to my leg, again probably thinking I was mad.    He really is a pretty sensitive kid and he knows when someone is upset.  At that point I wasn't really upset anymore, so I gave him a big hug and told him that I wasn't mad.  I don't think this incident will hinder our potty training and I think it was a good sign that he wanted to sit on the potty first thing in the morning.  I just need to keep him on there longer!

Appointment update

Well, I'm a little late, but here is the update from my appointment with the OB on Monday (14 weeks, 3 days).  I have gained 3 more pounds, so I'm up about 6 or 7 total, which isn't really bad at the moment.  My BMI is already "high" according to them, so I'm hoping there isn't confusion with the insurance, like with James.  Basically, high BMI is my tertiary diagnosis (after diabetes and pregnancy), so with James my insurance denied a bunch of claims because they don't pay for weight loss programs.  I am not trying to lose weight, obviously.  So they had to recode and rebill a bunch of stuff, which was eventually paid.  Hopefully that isn't an issue this time.  Everything else looks fine, blood pressure, etc.  My blood sugars are starting to creep up, as is expected with the second trimester, so we're monitoring my sugars carefully and increasing my insulin doses every few days.  The doctor attempted to find the baby's heart rate with a doplar, but could only get it for a second or two.  So off to the ultrasound room we went.  I'm glad that going to the Perinatal Center means that there is all this equipment available.  Then again, if you sneeze funny during a high risk pregnancy, they do an ultrasound.  The baby's heart rate was a rapid 173, which is a good thing.  James' was always down between 140 and 150, which isn't unusual, just a difference between the two.  Adam, of course, asked the doctor if she could see any little boy or girl parts.  She took a look, but the baby wasn't being super cooperative, tummy down and back rounded, kind of like a little kitten!  Anyway, the doctor said "maybe a boy" but didn't want to give the odds anymore than 50/50.  If the baby was tummy up, waving its little legs, we would have had a better shot.  But at least we asked and got to see the little peanut for a few extra minutes while the doctor checked things out.
I am trying not to totally freak out at the thought of two little boys.  When I talked to Adam about it later in the day, I was in the throws of some hormonal craziness, I was pretty upset, but I really feel like we dodged a bullet with James not having Becker Muscular Dystropy.  The thought of going through the testing, etc. with another little boy makes my heart ache, but I have to get over it.  What's done is done and I can't change the little baby inside me, nor would I want to.  Part of me really thought I could will this child into being a girl, but we will see, it is still a possibility!
The only other thing of note from this appointment was that I will be going to see a neurologist.  I've been having migraine type headaches for the last couple of weeks and the doctor would like to get them under control before I get farther along.  Obviously, my comfort is a big part of that, but headaches are also the big indicator of pre-eclampsia.  Since I had severe pre-e with James, they would go into emergency mode pretty quickly if I was beyond 24 or so weeks and having a headache.  If we get things under control with the migraines now, we'll have a better indicator for high blood pressure later.  So I go to see a neurologist on August 6 and we'll get things sorted out.
On August 13, we will go have our monthly follow up with the OB and have our anatomy ultrasound done.  Since James is getting his eyes dilated that morning, just a few minutes away from the hospital, he will be joining us for the appointment, so hopefully he is in a cooperative mood!

14 weeks

Hello second trimester!  The first one flew by and here we are.  The baby is about the size of a lemon, he or she is probably sucking his or her thumb and wiggling his or her toes.  His or her kidneys are making urine, and his or her liver and spleen are doing their jobs, too.  And he or she is growing lanugo, a thin, peach-fuzz-like hair all over his or her body - it will help him or her keep warm!  I have a check up with the OB on Monday and will update more then!

I just want to take a nap

Hi there!  What a crazy few weeks its been ( I realize that I say this a lot).  But between having no power for 4 days and having James home from daycare for a week, it has been crazy.
Today, Adam and I are back at work and James is at daycare.  Things seem to be back to normal, but then I called and made James' annual eye exam appointment and his first real dental exam.  Adam tried to take James to our regular family dentist, but apparently they're big wimps and decided to have him see a pediatric dentist.  Apparently, the dentist handed James a mirror, which he proceeded to whack himself in the head with and giggle.  So the dentist decided not to even try to look in his mouth.  He was in a great mood and laughing a lot, I think the dentist should have at least tried, but that is just me.  Had I been there, I would have said something, but I know Adam did what was best at the time.  Anyway, this lead me to checking our calendar and realizing we have a quite a few appointments between the two of us in the next 6 weeks.  James' annual heart check up, my OB and endocrinologist, my own dentist, and now two more appointments for James, which leads into our anatomy/gender ultrasound in August.  Does it ever end!?
Then today, Adam also mentions that he now has to go to THREE technical conferences for work (that are 2 to 3 days out of town a piece).
I know that it makes sense financially with the new baby on the way and logically needing to save time off for said baby's arrival, not taking a vacation this summer was the way to go, but really...
I JUST WANT TO TAKE A NAP!

13 weeks!

This baby is getting huge.  I feel like I should be bigger, but I suppose all in good time...

Glucometer by candlelight

We here in lovely Maryland have had no power since Friday evening.  Its been a long, hot weekend.  I am back at work today, Adam and James are with his dad, where power has been restored, and we are still waiting.
Did you know that if its over 100 outdoors, its probably 85 - 90 in your house?  That's pretty hot!
Hopefully, we will get power back today, but I'm not holding my breath.
As my title indicates, I've been doing a lot of blood sugar readings by candle light.  I miss television and I am truly a spoiled, first world resident.  Its just so hot!
That is all for now.  Updates will come as they are available!