Google is Evil

Society has taught us that when we have a question, we should "Google it."  For example, when we heard that Kristen Stewart cheated on her vampire boyfriend (for shame!), we immediately go to Google or similar search engine, or when we have a national tragedy, like the horrific Colorado shooting, our eager minds want to find out more information and immediately we go online. Well, the same goes for pregnancy. When I have a weird feeling, symptom, or other odd pregnancy things happening to me, I am somehow drawn to the World Wide Web (WWW). And I'll tell you what I've learned: You can only believe a VERY small fraction of what you read!

Believe it or not, out of the TONS of things I've read online, it seems like there's ALWAYS someone or some site that is telling me if I don't get it checked out, either I or the baby will suffer horribly. Come on people, do you really believe that my headache is probably a brain aneurism, or my stomach ache is more than likely a life threatening placental abruption? I really feel sorry for those women that read these articles and immediately head to the ER, only to be told it's gas or constipation (how embarrassing for them).

I've also come across many websites that have a forum set up, in which moronic women are posting comments such as, "I'm five months pregnant and I'm bleeding so much and it won't stop. What should I do?" Well, "LilMama2012," I'll tell you what you need to do: GET OFF THE COMPUTER AND GO TO THE HOSPITAL!! By the time it took you to log on to your computer, find the forum online, and post the question, you probably could have made it to the hospital. (And who knows how long you have to sit there to wait for some highly unqualified stranger to respond - Chances are the respondents are probably a 500lb man living in his mother's basement or a 12 year old that thinks they know everything.)

I don't mean to blame Google for some people's stupidity, but it does allow for women/hypochondriacs to receive false information. Ladies, you're pregnant. What did you expect? No one ever said pregnancy was easy. There is A LOT going on with our bodies, and a lot of it doesn't feel very good! You just need to learn to deal with it!!

Now, I do agree that what you read online could be true. Yes, SOMETIMES sharp abdominal pain COULD be placental abruption or gallstones or some other problem that must be addressed, but don't jump to conclusions! You shouldn't rely on the WWW to diagnose yourself; that's why we have doctors! Let them give you a thorough examination before you freak out! :-) 

I'm sure you're now wondering, "Well, Sandy, how do YOU know these sites are there, unless YOU have been that moronic pregnant woman looking for answers?"  The answer is yes, I HAVE been that woman. I have looked up different symptoms that I've experienced. Lucky for me, I have common sense. I basically look at these sites to put my mind at ease knowing that other pregnant women are having the same problems/issues.

July 17, 2012: 29 weeks pregnant

July 17, 2012: 29 weeks pregnant

Avery's Nursery

There’s still a few things that we need to complete the nursery, but I’m excited to finally reveal the hard work that we’ve put in to this room!

To view a slide show of the progression of Avery's room, click here: http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow/d2965482k3783173o1/averys-room 


Or you can view the images at your leisure here: http://s1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg615/nealandsandy/ 

Breakdown of items:

• Crib: Graco - Charleston
• Dresser: I can’t remember the brand, but it was a pain to put together!
• Toy storage: ClosetMaid Cubeicals. We plan to use orange drawers as well (They’re on our registry!)
• Glider: Babyletto Madison Swivel Glider – Slate (It’s very comfy!)
• Storage Ottoman: Target 
• Curtains: We bought fabric at Hobby Lobby and my mom made them!
• Crib skirt: My mom also made the crib skirt!
• Rug: Ikea
• Mirror: Ikea
• Tree wall decal and birds & owl above mirror: www.dalidecals.com (It took my mom and me three hours to put the tree up, but it was worth the time!)
• Wall Paint: Behr Premium Paint Color: "Porpoise" (Neal did a wonderful job painting the room!!) It took us about two months to finally decide on a grey shade that we liked! I had five different colors of grey samples on the wall and just couldn't commit! They all looked blue or purple to me!
• Avery’s name: Wood letters from Hobby Lobby (I painted the sides of the letters pink & orange to give a fun effect)
• Frame around name: We purchased crown moulding from Home Depot and our neighbor, Brandon, helped us cut it. We glued it together and nailed it to the wall (we saved about $80 doing it ourselves!) – I then painted the orange and pink stripe inside of the frame to give it a pop of color – It surprisingly took me two days to finish those two lines. Thank goodness they came out straight!

Failed Glucose Test

So I failed my glucose test... by ONE point! I scored a 136 and the cut off is 135. Now I have to take the dreaded three hour glucose tolerance test (GTT). I have to fast the night before (at midnight) and I can't eat or drink anything until after the test is over. I will have my blood drawn as soon as I get there (8 am) to test my "fasting blood glucose level" and then drink the sugar drink. One hour later they will draw my blood, and every hour for the next three hours. I will be bringing Neal to keep me company, as well as books and my iPad. This is going to be extremely tough for me, as I have never had to fast while pregnant before (it's tough enough to fast WITHOUT a growing baby inside of me!). Word to the wise: You may want to avoid speaking to me, calling me, texting me, Facebooking me, or ANY other form of communication on Friday, July 20th as I will be a VERY MOODY MAMA! :-) Poor Neal! Wish me luck!!! If anyone is in the Sugar Land area on Friday morning and they hear thunder, don't worry; it'll probably just be my stomach rumbling because I'm going to be STARVING!!! :-)

Failing this test has put me in a "Debbie Downer" mood, so to try and cheer myself up, I was looking at photos from our vacation and came across this shot I took of my "beach belly" and it made me smile!

Avery and I chilling on the beach in Key West!

Baby Dreams

Before I talk about my dreams, I wanted to let everyone know that I created a website that has my blog link, YouTube channel link, registry info, and some photos all in on convenient site! Check it out: http://sandynealbaby.ourbabychannel.com/  Don't forget to sign the guestbook! 

I (or even Neal) have not been having those crazy dreams that people talk about. You know the "My baby was an alien" or the "Immediately after I gave birth, my baby started talking" or "My baby was a 35 year old man."  But I have had two dreams that I'll share with you all. They're nothing crazy, but they did involve the baby or my pregnancy. I probably haven't been dreaming much about baby because I really haven't been sleeping long enough at night to go into REM to actually HAVE a dream (Between my night time potty breaks, heartburn, Avery kicking & moving, my arms going numb from sleeping on my side and the hubby snoring, it's a miracle I even had these two dreams!).

I can't remember when I had my first baby dream, but I know it was before we found out we were having a girl, so I'd guess that it was sometime in March or April (between 11 weeks and 17 weeks pregnant):

I had a dream that I gave birth, but I gave birth to triplets. For some reason, the doctor never suspected that there were three babies in there, so we were all shocked.  I had 2 girls and a boy. I'm at home, and I was holding one of the girls, looking at her and smiling. Then, I started freaking out because we weren't prepared for THREE babies!! My mom suggested we go to the store to buy clothes, formula, cribs, etc. So I said, "What do we do with the babies?" My mom's response, "We can put them in a box and leave them on the porch. They'll be fine. It feels nice outside, and they could use some sun." I was fine with that, so we left them on the porch... WTF?!?! I woke up and thought I was going to be the WORST mother in the world!! Who would leave their children on the porch??? I also thought because I was holding a girl, that we were going to be having a girl (I was right!).


I had the following dream (July 9) when I was 28 weeks pregnant:

I've been really nervous about my upcoming doctor appointment on Friday the 13th (my glucose test),  and I had a terrible dream about it! I dreamt that I forgot to drink the sugar solution one hour prior to the appt. and the nurse was really mad at me. When she weighed me she told me I gained 23 pounds in four weeks. I started crying telling her that I'm eating well and walking, so I shouldn't have gained that much. She then told me my current weight was 283 pounds! Because they were so mad at me (and VERY rude to me!), they put me in one of the rooms and walked out. I sat there for what seemed like hours, so I walked out of the room to find out what was taking them so long, and the hallway was dark. Everyone left for lunch and left me there! I started crying again because I wanted them to check on my baby to make sure she's doing ok. I woke up and immediately thought, "I need to change doctors! They are rude!!" Once I REALLY woke up and realized it was a dream, I had to laugh. But I stepped on the scale, just to be SURE I didn't really weigh 283 pounds!! Haha!

27 weeks pregnant

27 weeks pregnant

Friday the 13th Doctor Appointment

I have a doctor appointment this Friday (Friday the 13th.. EEK!) that I am really freaking out about. I have to have my glucose test done. I'm so worried I'm going to fail it and have to do the three hour glucose test. If I fail that test, they will diagnose me with gestational diabetes. Between 2 and 5 percent of expectant mothers develop gestational diabetes and is one of the most common health problems during pregnancy.

When patients arrive for the test, they're given a sugar solution that contains 50 grams of glucose (I chose the orange flavor). However, at my last appointment, the nurse gave me the drink to take home with me. I will drink it on the way to the doctor appointment so I won't have to sit around for an hour! After an hour, they will take a blood sample to check my blood sugar level. The idea is to see how efficiently your body processes sugar. If the reading is too high, which happens 15 to 23 percent of the time, my doctor will have me come back for a three-hour glucose tolerance test to see whether I really do have gestational diabetes.

I will also be given the RohGam shot. I will have to have this shot because my blood type is Rh Negative (B-). Here's the importance of this shot:

When Rh negative blood is exposed to Rh positive blood the Rh negative person begins producing antibodies to fight the invading blood. Antigens trigger your body to produce antibodies. Antibodies are usually a good thing and serve to protect a person from foreign invaders. Now the problem lies when a pregnant woman is carrying a baby that is Rh positive. If the mother has antibodies to the Rh antigen, those antibodies can attack the baby's red blood cells. This can lead to complications to the baby including anemia, jaundice, and other blood related problems. Rh factor incompatibility can be prevented by administration of the RhoGAM shot.

So, there you have it, my boring "medical blog." LOL! Ok, so I pulled the information from babycenter.com.  Bottom line is, I haven't been nervous about a doctor's appointment since our first visit to find out if we were really pregnant! Wish me luck! I'll need it. Remind me never to schedule another doctor appointment on Friday the 13th. On the bright side, at least I won't have the results of my glucose test until AFTER my birthday, so I can indulge in some cake without feeling guilty! :-)

Photo taken 4th of July (27 weeks & 2 days pregnant)