28 week appointment

I had my 28 week appointment this morning with my glucose test. I managed to drink it all in 5-6 minutes, I was supposed to do it in 5 minutes. Not bad considering that I never drink anything that quickly. I am now up 10 lbs. for this pregnancy, and I measured at 28 cm and the baby's heart beat was right around 140 bpm. Everything looks good and seems to be going well. I should be fine to go CO next month, but I will see the doctor one more time before then too. I am now down to visits every 2 weeks, and I have every appointment scheduled from now until my due date too.

Round 2

Carissa started getting the rash on her checks yesterday, so now I guess both kids will have had fifths disease. Besides having the kids be more tired and therefore grumpy preceding the rash, this really hasn't been that bad. The rashes don't look very good, but mostly they don't seem to bother the kids at all. And, this is one of those illnesses that is better to get as a child than as an adult too. So, I guess that it is good that they are getting through it now.

Fifth's Disease

Sunday, Gabriel got a little rash on one of his checks and with our family's history of allergies and sensitive skin I figured that it had to do with that. I made sure I washed his check, and I waited but it never went away and actually got worse and spread to his other check by the end of the day. I still thought it would be gone by the next morning, but it was all over one of his checks and a small area of his other check. Then I thought about fifth's disease, and looked it up online. I was pretty sure from my past experience in daycare and the articles online that was what he had, but I wanted to confirm one way or the other with our doctor. So, we got an appointment for late Monday afternoon. My biggest concerns were whether or not Gabe could go to school, since everything I read said that once the rash starts they are no longer contagious; and whether or not I should be worried about the baby, since it can cause miscarriages in pregnant women. I was pretty sure that I was tested and told that I already had the antibodies for fifth's disease when I was pregnant with Carissa, which would mean that Carissa was safe and any other babies that I would have would be safe too. The doctor's said that Gabe's rash wasn't the typical looking case of fifth's disease, but they pretty much ruled out all other possibilities. And, then yesterday he got the rash on his body. It has been really interesting to watch, because the rash spreads and gets better as it goes so it never really covers his body.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year, Carissa and Gabe both made presents for me at school. Gabriel made me a book mark with a picture of a flower with some "bees" around the flower by painting with his finger. There is a little poem on the back too, which was very nice. Carissa made me a flower basket card, and then a small poster which also has a flower on it that was made from Carissa's hands and feet with paint. On the back was a fill in the blank kind of thing where she said things about me like the thing that I'm the best at is cleaning the dishes. Carissa also made me a little picture while she was at Grandma's house. She said that it was a picture of the baby's crib and her holding the baby, and that she and the baby were sending me love from upstairs. Carissa said that was all because she is going to take care of her baby sister once she is born.

Carissa's Gymnastics Festival

On Saturday, Carissa had her first big gymnastics festival. She got to do a routine on the floor, vault, beam, and bars. Then at the end they all got a medal. Carissa was a little confused when they had all of the girls do a warm up together, but then they split up into 4 groups by age/ability. And then one group was performing in one of the 4 areas at all times and they rotated around. I missed getting a video of Carissa's floor routine, which I was kind of sad about, but apparently I didn't push the button hard enough and then it was over. And, I couldn't get the whole vault routine, because I couldn't get to anywhere that I could see well enough.

Bar Routine

Beam Routine

26 weeks

I am now 26 weeks, and after I finish taking my finals this week I will be done with school for the summer. I'm very excited to get started on cleaning and re-arranging the house, and getting all of the baby stuff ready. I want to get started on everything as soon as I can, since moving around will just get harder as I'm getting bigger. In the last 2 weeks I've gained 4 more lbs, so I'm up to a 5 lbs gain now. Carissa and Gabe keep telling me how big/huge I'm getting. And, last night Gabe pointed at my belly button and asked, "What's that?" I said, "What do you think it is?" He said, "Your belly button? But it is getting so small and poking out. That is because your belly is getting so big." Also, having the placenta cushion some of the baby's movements is kind of different this time. Because, now I can feel her moving on the top sides and bottom of where the placenta is, but I can't feel movements in the middle. I don't know where the placenta was with my first two, but it wasn't like this. The baby also doesn't seem to want Carissa or Gabe to feel her move, because every time I tell them she is moving she stops and she won't move again until they get bored and leave.

Gabe's Gymnastics Festival

Gabe right after he got his ribbon Gabe had his gymnastics festival on Wednesday evening, and Grandma, Aunt Alyssa, Carissa, and I were all there to watch him. All the kids in his class did little routines in each of the 4 different areas, and then at the very end they all got ribbons. Videos of 2 of Gabe's routines.