Tuesday, November 20, 2007

7-month pregger checkup & more

Haven't written in a while, since checkups have been uneventful, but I figured I'd give an update anyway. I'm measuring perfectly, baby Connor is VERY active, and his kicks are now embarrassingly visible from across the room. ALIEN INVASION!!! Last night Robby laid his head on my belly and felt Connor kick him in the ear! Then he heard my stomach rumble, and told me that Connor had farted, hahaha... I'll try to get some new belly pics up soon... along with the 40,000 other things on my to-do list, that is. I've gained back all the weight I lost plus 10 lbs! I now weigh as much as I did when I gave birth to the twins! AHHH!!! I told my midwife that people were remarking about how SMALL I look for 7 months, but after she examined me and saw that everything was fine, she told me to tell people to "bugger off" (she's Scottish). Awesome.




So, somehow I PASSED my 3-hour glucose tolerance test, meaning that even thought my blood-sugar goes up, it comes back down within a reasonable amount of time. That's good; I don't have to watch my diet quite so closely. And I'm glad, because the strict diabetic diet gets REALLY depressing after a while. My midwife told me that when they got the results from the lab, the nurse came running down the hallway yelling "She passed, she passed!" Apparently they were happy about that, since if I hadn't passed they would have had to boot me out of midwifery and up to the OB doctors, and NONE of us want THAT, haha.



Drew finally got a job, and I am enjoying being back in my housewife role again, although last week I think I wore myself out a little with all my pent-up enthusiasm. I know he feels better now, too, being back in the manly-man breadwinner role. ***Proud of you, hun!*** <3



Probably the biggest news of all regarding our *little* family, is that we have taken Robby off his AD/HD meds. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, due to the negative side effects (e.g. NO weight gain, and a crabby disposition), but have been putting off because I was nervous about all the changes that we would have to make. But he got a bad cold about 3 weeks ago, and I didn't give him the meds while he was sick, since they were unnecessary and interfered with his recovery. By the time he was well, the "withdrawal" period was over, and I liked all the smiles and laughs I was seeing. So I read up on it, and even though it was sudden, we have implemented a bunch of lifestyle changes to accommodate his "special needs." These include more structure/routine, less TV, more outside play/exercise, stricter discipline (NOT to be confused with HARSHER discipline), and enormous amounts of patience on everyone's part. I also started him on some vitamin/mineral and herbal supplements that are formulated for AD/HD, which DO actually seem to help, and he has started seeing a behavioral therapist.



Robby is like a whole new little boy. He is eating better, sleeping better, smiling and laughing more, and coming up to me and hugging me, talking to my belly, and telling me that he loves me ALL THE TIME! It makes me sad that the meds were suppressing this sweet kid for so long. But I can't let the guilt get to me; I was desperate when I put him on meds, alone with 2 babies and an out-of-control preschooler when my husband left me for 11 months to go to Iraq. And it's good that I'm making these changes before too much damage was done. Robby has grown and matured and is more responsive to the discipline, even though the symptoms of his AD/HD are still QUITE apparent. I'd rather have a happy, affectionate, hyperactive child than a whiny, miserable, relatively compliant one. But he sure can be exhausting!



That's all for now. Next week we are having a 4-D ultrasound (anniversary present from the in-laws), and I will be sure to post the pics as soon as I can!