Little Miss Jauregui

We have now hit the 28 week mark, which means I’m officially in my third trimester.  I am surprised at how quickly my pregnancy has flown by.  I am grateful that up to this point things have been pretty smooth sailing but I’m definitely starting to feel more and more pregnant.   I have a waddle to my walk and I can’t do any kind of exercising without having to pee once or twice throughout the workout.   Probably the most tragic occurrence is that my shoes are no longer fitting.  I have been delegated to tennis shoes, one pair of Chucks and flip flops.  I’m lucky that summer is upon us so I can start wearing sandals that are more forgiving than closed-toed shoes.  I am told that my feet will permanently stay this big and may even grow 1-2 sizes.  Either way, it means I get to go shoe shopping which is never a bad thing. :)

On Tuesday I went in for a two hour Gestational Diabetes test during which they make you drink a very toxic colored sugary drink and then take your blood every hour to see how your body is processing the glucose.  I am happy to report that I passed with flying colors and my glucose levels were very low.  I hesitated telling this to Tom because he will use it as ammunition to bring more candy into the house (it’s become a pregnancy weakness of mine)!  They did discover that I am very slightly anemic.  It is very common in pregnancy for women to become anemic because the baby is appropriating all the mother’s nutrients and the increase of blood production requires more iron.  The solution to this is to eat more iron rich foods and to take an iron supplement.  I already feel like I eat a lot of iron rich foods (spinach, broccoli, beans, etc.) but I’m not that big of a meat eater.   I’m also not that fond of the iron supplement because it can cause my stomach to feel upset and I’d rather get my vitamins through natural sources.  But what the heck, it’s all in the name of a healthy baby and making sure I have enough blood to get through delivery.

After my lab tests, I went to see my doctor for my 28 week visit and ultrasound (finally!).  The baby was very cooperative this time and there is no mistaking it - the ultrasound very clearly showed baby GIRL parts!  Of course, my doctor couldn't say she was 100% sure (because no doctor can be) but she did say "If I am wrong about this, they should take away my medical license!". I'll take that as a good sign that she is pretty darn convinced.  

Sweet baby face

It's a girl!

 We are very excited to be having a girl for many reasons:

• There are all boys on both sides of our family
• Baby girl clothes are much cutter than boy clothes
• We didn’t have any boy names picked out that we really liked
• Girls tend to be easier as babies/toddlers – it’s just the teenager years you have to look out for!

It doesn’t change anything for us, but I feel very relieved to finally know what gender we’re having, if for nothing more than finishing the baby's room.  Now that I know she’s a girl, my pregnancy feels like a reality (as if the swollen belly wasn't proof enough). She has adopted a personality and I feel much more attached and bonded with her.  Whereas before we used to refer to her as "baby", we are now getting used to using “her”, “she” and “our daughter”. It's a lot easier to imagine ourselves as parents in just a few short months.  I think that she looks like a very cute combination of Tom and I, but Tom thinks I'm crazy if I can tell that from the ultrasound photos.  He still has a hard time picking our her face and other features.  It's probably my crazy mom hormones making me fall in love her.

Speaking of names, we have several that we are debating but have decided that we won’t reveal the final choice until we get to meet her. Stay tuned!