28 weeks - "It's not a tuma!" Well actually it is.

(May 13th)

28 Weeks! Look at us go!

In this post I will tell you about a few of my not so favorite things about being pregnant. Get excited. And for whatever reason they all decided to rear their pretty little heads around the same time.

As I mentioned, I'm backtracking on a few posts here so I'm looking back at my calendar to see what was going on during this time. Lots of fun stuff happened. I went to a Coldplay concert for free, went to a San Jose Giants game with friends, got the bed to myself again while Chad was away for a few nights, had friends visiting from SoCal stay with us, watched a couple of friends marry each other, worked on getting things done in baby's room, realized how close we are to the end of this whole pregnancy thing and got even more anxious and excited to meet this little person that's been kicking me for what seems like years now, almost barfed while getting my glucose screening test, was diagnosed as being mildly anemic, linea nigra showed up on my belly, developed a "pregnancy tumor" in my mouth, and paid $500 and got shots in my mouth to "help" said tumor that didn't actually help at all. Well I did say it was mostly fun stuff right? :)


Let's start with the not so good stuff and circle back to the more enjoyable things. I had my glucose test during that week which is something you get between your 26th-28th weeks. For this you just fast 12 hours before, drink a really sweet drink, and get blood drawn to test your glucose levels. This can tell you if you have (or are at risk for) gestational diabetes. Every woman I've spoke to about this told me it was a 1 hour test.....for whatever reason, my doctor's protocol just changed to a 2 hour test. There really wasn't much to it and I didn't mind the drink so much when it was going down. I've heard some women can't stand the taste of it. It tasted like a really sugary and flat orange soda to me. They did the initial draw before I drank it, I sat in the waiting room, drew more blood after an hour, and again an hour after that. Because I also did the SMA blood test at that time, when I left there I kind of looked like a drug addict that had shot up a lot recently. Between 30 minutes to an hour after the test I was not feelin so hot. My hands had the shakes, I had a pounding headache (the one that is literally pounding and you can feel your heart pulsing through your head), and felt really nauseous. The only thing really stopping me from barfing and getting it over with was the knowledge that if I did, I'd just have to come back another day and do it over again. So I took deep breaths and tried to keep my eyes closed. Not sure what it was but after the first hour I felt fine again. Pregnant or not, I don't really drink soda, caffeine, or much of anything besides water (unless I'm in Missouri where I can be found with an IV of my momma's sweet tea pumping into my veins). I'm thinking the jolt of all that sweet sugary stuff on an empty stomach is what did it for me. In fact now that I think about it, if I drink a whole can of soda I feel a little out of sorts....gives me a headache and I feel like I can't focus. So maybe that was it? For anyone doing it in the future, I definitely suggest making your appointment as early as you can in the morning (which I did) that way you can fast before going to bed at night and won't have to go throughout the day without eating. That made it much easier for me. Oh, and as an update...my glucose levels came back normal so I'm good there. :)


Another thing they apparently tested for at the same time was anemia. My doctor told me at my next appointment that I was "mildly anemic" and needed to go on an iron supplement. Apparently this isn't a really big deal and they test this during your first trimester (which came back as normal levels) and again at the end of your second trimester (because it can change in between that time like mine did). It makes sense because there is more blood pumping the further along you get in the pregnancy. My first question was "does that mean the baby hasn't been getting what he/she needs in there?" And because I'm just mildly anemic the answer is no.....it basically means that baby is getting all of the supplements and nourishment he/she needs, it's just momma that suffers from the lack. Man, the feti (I love to call baby "the Feti") isn't even out in this world and already demands so much! :) So I've been taking iron pills daily since then and actually noticed a difference in my energy levels right away. I had been really dragging and tired during the couple weeks leading up to that and have felt much better since. Probably a good indication that it's helping. :) Several people told me that an iron supplement can make you constipated (something that's always freaked me out) but thank goodness I haven't had any situations in that department! I know, I'm glad you know that now too. :)


What the heck is linea nigra you ask? Well it's a "line" a few shades darker than your skin that can sometimes show up on your pregnant belly. For the women that get it, sometimes it just goes from their belly button down to the end of their uterus and a few lucky others get it below and above the belly button. I'm one of the lucky ones I suppose. :) Oddly enough, for me there's also a cute little circle that goes around my belly button too. Apparently this "line" doesn't have to be completely centered either because mine is just to the right side of my belly button. I think it bothers me more not because I have it, but because the damn thing isn't centered. It's so strange. Besides being a little annoying and not in the least bit attractive if you ask me....there aren't real side effects from having it and it's said to go away following the birth. There isn't a real reason you get it either, some women just do and some women just don't. I think I started noticing mine sometime around 17 weeks when I completely freaked out because I thought it was a huge stretch mark. I was just beginning to show signs of a belly at that time so the theory of it showing up because your skin is stretching is definitely not accurate. I did a little research, found that it actually had a name (linea nigra, although I'm still not sure how you pronounce that), and was happy to hear that it almost always goes away in the 1-12 months following giving birth. At that time it was just from my belly button down and Google searches told me an old wives tale says that's a sign of a baby girl. Fast forward a few weeks later (probably sometime around week 25 or something) I noticed a faint sign of my little line going from my belly button up as well. According to the old wives tale, I had at that time just sprouted a boy. 

Granuloma of pregnancy. Doesn't that sound pretty? It's actually just a dressed up name for a scary name, pregnancy tumor. And the scary name is not as bad as it sounds so that must be why someone insisted they give it a prettier name. I've read the pregnancy books and I know about all the crazy things and "side effects" you can get as a pregnant woman. Thank the high heavens I have actually been incredibly lucky with most things. Granuloma of pregnancy was one of those things the pregnancy books say you "could get but very few women do" and it takes up about a paragraph of space in one of the 593 pages of said books. Hooray for me not being in the majority, right? For lack of a better word, I noticed a little "bump" that I could feel on the right side of the roof of my mouth. Not sure what to think, I made a dentist appointment for a regular cleaning and to get things checked out. Here's where it gets a little sketchy because as Chad thinks, I "got upsold by the dentist." During my checkup I was told I had healthy teeth (no cavities, woohoo!) and gums and everything looked good..........BESIDES my little "situation" as I like to call it. The dentist freaked me out a little bit by saying it could be nothing at all, just a benign non-cancerous "tumor" and a side effect of pregnancy but there's also a small chance of it being cancerous and something that will need to be removed. If that wasn't enough she also said it could be some sort of infection that could spread to the rest of my mouth and make my entire mouth swollen and painful. She suggested they do a deep cleaning as soon as possible and if it was a sort of infection that should clear it up. Um, yes...please do that asap I said. Then I find out this lovely procedure will involve 2 appointments (one for each side of my mouth), I'll need local aesthetic (aka about 8 shots on each side), and will cost $250 each side WITH my insurance. I don't care I say...as long as it takes care of this annoying situation in my mouth I say...

The first appointment was actually a cake walk. I didn't mind the shots in the least bit and was kind of giggling the whole time. What, you don't giggle when you're getting shot in the mouth with a needle? Oh, well I was giggling because I don't spend much time lying flat on my back (another thing the pregnancy books will tell you because it's not ideal for pumping plenty of blood to the baby) but I was lying fairly flat during the procedure. Baby was going nuts. NUTS. I think the little thing was so excited to have the kind of space I was giving him that he was just taking full advantage of the new position. I felt flips, rolls, turns, and everything in between. To feel a real human do a flip inside of you and know what it is...is something pretty unexplainable. Anyway, after I was finished I asked if it was necessary to come back for the other side since she got the side with the "situation" on this visit. I was told they recommend getting both sides to "help protect the whole mouth." Alrighty then...so I come back in 3 weeks with another $250 to give them and with the same small bump in my mouth. Not only did the first procedure not get rid of it, but in the middle of this appointment the dentist informs me that it looks like everything is fine and it's nothing to worry about and will disappear after giving birth. It'll just be something I have to deal with until then. (Later, a nurse told me "It's just one of those fun things you can get with pregnancy. I got varicose veins and acne...you got this.") I'm sorry....why couldn't you have told me that $500 and 16 shots ago? This appointment was not as much fun as the first. My belly was decidedly bigger this go around and no longer felt comfortable lying on my back. So they gave me a small pillow to prop under my belly and I positioned my lower half awkwardly to the side while my top half tried to remain straight. For whatever reason, this time the shots hurt going in and didn't really seem to numb everything like the first time. I was feeling a lot and finally spoke up and she gave me a few more shots to numb it up again. Well I didn't really feel like any of them kicked in until about 5 minutes before I was finished (it's about 45 minutes long) and then......I couldn't feel my face. The whole left side of my face felt completely paralyzed for like 5 hours after. Why couldn't that have happened during the hour I was sitting in the dentist chair? It did this weird thing to my nose where I felt like it was huge and swollen and didn't have holes in it to breathe through. I mostly panted like a dog the rest of the day. Which isn't all that different from being pregnant and short of breath anyway, so it was fine.

For the actual fun stuff that happened.....here are a few picture recaps....

I seriously love Coldplay. Their music makes me so happy. They were really great live, the passion and energy they put into their music is so awesome to see. I thought for sure baby would be going crazy in my belly during all the loud music at her first concert...but shockingly enough she didn't really move a muscle the entire time. Does this mean she'll sleep through anything? Goodness I hope so. Chad and I are loud people. And she'll be an infant during football season this year. And if you've ever watched a game with Chad and his brother Ryan....you'll know why it's important that she sleep through the loudest noises you've ever heard.

Here's me and baby Kendall during the San Jose Giants game (minor league baseball). She wasn't a huge fan of the bright sun in her face...but look how sweet she is!

Maria and I walking into the game with big sis McKenna. :)

I mean really....McK is so "tute!"

You may be asking yourself...."What in the hell is going on here?" Well this is after the game at Mark and Maria's house when I was snuggling with sleeping Kendall (is there anything better than a sleeping baby on your chest??) and Baby J was going crazy in my belly. I'm actually surprised it wasn't waking Kendall up. Pretty funny to think about Kendall's future little buddy saying hi to her before he/she was even out in this world!  Anyway, Maria had yet to feel Baby J kick so she had to sneak her hand in an inconvenient place to feel. As you can tell, I don't think Kendall minded. And don't worry, baby has said hello to "Auntie Madia" lots of times since this picture! :)

I had Brittany take this picture of Kendall because I remembered a similar picture I took about 2.5 years ago with her big sister....

2.5 years earlier with (now big sis) McKenna. Laukat's make cute babies. Fact.

Umm Brit and Madia.....apparently we didn't take any pictures of the three of us.

Chad and BF Justin at Kurt and Kristin's wedding

Kristin the beautiful bride coming down the aisle

LOVED their yellow and black colors and all the pretty tulips everywhere

Kurt and Kristin Haygood :)

Me and my baby daddy

Super cute centerpieces. And they had custom golf balls and tees with their monogram as wedding favors.

Too bad half of Randi's face is blocked in this picture cuz it's real cute!

There may have been a little drinking during the reception... 

Perhaps you remember my obsession with getting Dave to kiss me on the mouth? I've blogged about it before, no big deal. Anyway, still no luck on that front but he'd had enough drinks for someone to convince him to kiss the "baby". 

Well sort of. He kind of just licked my belly. But it's basically the same thing. You can see I was excited.

I kinda love this man.

Chad and Dave...my Asian lover.

Here we are at the photo booth. In case you can't read the sign I'm holding, it says "I am the only sober one." 100% fact. 

There's so much to love about this picture but perhaps my favorite aspects are...Randi's bonnet, Matt taking a short nap, and the MJ glove "holding" the baby.

The boys with the groom. These boys have known each other a LONG time.