Wah-Wah, Wah-Wah, Wah-Wah

It's a broken record. I am talking about my last visit with the high risk doctor this past Tuesday. The baby's AC-Abdomen Circumference, is still measuring 2 weeks ahead and my fluid level is up. The fluid is being increased because the baby is peeing a lot, she said. Again this is because of sugar intake.

Dr. Palmer once again suggests I continue to limit my sugar and starches and EAT MORE PROTEIN. She is also saying that I should have a bedtime snack.....of meat! Gross! Honestly, meat is the one thing I could easily give up. It is my least favorite food group. I could say I am trying to give back to nature and earth, by skipping a few meat filled meals, but I just naturally prefer, for example, cheese enchiladas over beef, and opt for the vegetarian burrito at Chipotle. My family of four can eat out at our neighborhood Mexican restaurant, Las Lomas, by sharing a bowl of queso and Fajitas for 1. Yes 4 can eat for 1 because I usually only put 1 piece of meat on my taco. So adding more meat to my diet is a challenge, but I have been trying. The bedtime snack, a leftover meatloaf sandwich (that Mark suggested last night) is not my idea. I opted for a protein bar and will try again tonight. I don't know if I can choke down real meat right before bed. (I would have rather ate one of Cort's leftover cupcakes, but I refrained---aren't you proud)

The baby is otherwise healthy. He weighs 3 lbs 12 oz. I think this is right on track. I did ask if the AC could only be suggesting that he may be a big baby. She said no, because he would be measuring big from head to toe, not just his abdomen.

Seriously, I just wish I could enjoy my last pregnancy without all the nit picking. I am being made to feel like my choices of food will some how damage my unborn child and it will be all my fault if something is wrong with him. Cort was born 6 weeks early. He was robbed of the last gestational weeks to develop and he turned out perfectly fine. How can I being harming this child? A girl I work with, younger than me, confessed she smoked her entire pregnancy!!! I just want to splurge here and there on a dessert.

I know I am complaining a lot, but pregnant women revolve around food. Every time I am hungry or think about eating, faced with the choice----what I want or what I should eat----I almost just want to skip it altogether.

Maybe next time I should just wear ear plugs and smile away at the baby on the monitor. Because yes, there is a next time in another 4 weeks.

So some of my fans out there might say, go ahead and splurge. And tonight I will. We are headed to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Cort's birthday, just the 4 of us. Since Mark is on a strict diet, by his choice, and Keaton can't eat pizza (we get him a hot dog), Cort and I will be sharing a pizza. I love ChuckE's pizza! And I might even have a cupcake!!! And then I will try to eat that leftover meatloaf at bedtime. :)

It's a Celebration!!

Today is your Birthday!!!

I can't believe you are 5!!

I AM SO GLAD YOU WERE BORN!!

Cort 'Cougar' Roberson

My preemie the day we took him home

I loved to watch him sleep Having fun with brother in the wagon

He was serious about his passie!
Poor little nose. This is one of the many times he ate concrete with his nose.

Oh, if I could go back to these days. I had so much fun staying home with these little guys!

Gotta love the hair!

Smiley!

Can't believe he is turning 5!

Hope you enjoyed a little trip down memory lane. I thought in preparation for Cort's birthday, I would share some interesting, although random, facts about Cort.

1. Cort could ride a Razor Scooter before he was 2!!! He didn't want to be left behind big brother. And we just took his training wheels off his bicycle last week.

2. Responds with 'I already know dat' after you tell him something.

3. He had a full blown, screaming, kicking, tantrum that lasted an hour right before his 3rd birthday party at Pump It Up. I had to sneak him a pacifier to calm him down. (We had already given up the pacifier and given them all to Santa) It was the only way I could calm him. Thank goodness he has mellowed out now that he is older.

4. He didn't like it when his food was broken. For example, cheese slice, pop tart, breakfast bar. If it was broken, he would want a new one and have a meltdown. The above #3 began when the slice of cheese tore as I opened the plastic wrapper.

5. Pitter Patter goes the rain--Cort went around saying this one day and it stuck. Every once in a while someone in our family will just say it out of the blue and we bust out laughing.

6. 'Ba' as in the sound the letter B makes-Ba----Cort once made Keaton cry just because he wouldn't stop saying 'Ba' in the car on a long road trip. Then we threw in 'Pitter Patter goes the rain' and I was almost crying from laughing so hard. This may have been the same road trip, Keaton tried to convince us he could speak Chinese.

7. Cort could chew gum at 2 1/2. I specifically remember giving him gum on our way to Disney World on the airplane. It didn't take him much longer before he could blow a bubble.

8. Cort could count to 12 at 18 months. Listening to big brother pays off.

9. Cort calls our china cabinet, the chinese cabinet. (And one day he even referred to it as the Japanese cabinet.)

10. Cort I think understands time, but has somehow mixed up how he refers to time. For example, he will say yesterday when talking about something that happened a long time ago or last year when talking about something that happened yesterday. It is also cute that sometimes when we wake up from a nap he will say he wants breakfast, like he thinks it is morning. Sometimes he will refer to tomorrow as 'after this night'.

11. Cort goes full force at everything he does. There is no thinking about it or 'testing the waters'. This can make a momma very nervous, especially one who doesn't deal with blood very well. Good example, riding his bike now without training wheels. He just takes off and goes super fast! I am so afraid he is going to crash. He even tried to do some tricks like big brother. I try to explain Keaton has 2 years more experience, but I don't think Cort cares about that logic.

12. Cort has lost 2 big toenails. He lost the one on the right foot at age 2 when Mark opened the bathroom door at McDonalds on his little foot wearing sandals. Then last summer, Cort opened a mini refrigerator door on the big toe on his left foot while at a friend's house. Luckily they have both grown back with no permanent damage. The toenail fairy even came to visit him the last time!

13. Cort says 'LOOK IT' when he wants your attention or is showing you something.

28 Almost 29 Weeks!!

Knowing the baby will be delivered via Cesarean by 39 weeks, I can now say there is only 10 weeks left!!! I am definitely getting excited to meet this new little Roberson boy. And yet, I wish there was some way I could stay pregnant forever. I know, how weired, but I do love being pregnant and this will be the last time....pretty sure.

I saw Imtiaz yesterday for a quick and routine visit. All seems to being going great. Total weight gain 24 lbs. I am okay with this.

I told her my migraines, for lack of better diagnosis, were getting better. I almost made it a week without an episode. I think by saying that, it put a jinx on me and I had one yesterday afternoon. It was not as intense and only lasted for 15 minutes, so I am hoping they will become farther and farther apart until they completely stop.

This baby still needs a name.....any suggestions?? I might have to go back to Kiptyn, Kirby, or Cullen if I don't come up with any other ideas.

Not much else going on right now. We are getting ready for Cort's 5th Birthday. Mark took the boys to the Boat Show and I will try a post some pictures soon

Doctors, Doctors, Tests, Tests

Well, a lot has happened since my last post December 31. I just haven't had the energy to put anything into words for a post. But I'll try.

First, the good news, I went for my Glucose screening 1/6 and I do NOT have Gestational Diabetes. I am very excited about this news, although thought if I was diabetic, it might explain the other issues going on. I am, however, anemic and started taking iron supplements this week. This doesn't surprise me, I was also anemic when pregnant with Keaton.

I mentioned before I was having episodes of flashing lights in my eyes. I have already seen an eye doctor and chalked it all up to be 'optic migraines' as she said. The problem.....they keep happening and closer and closer together. I have had a total of 7 episodes, including 3 last week and 2 so far this week. After once again discussing with my OB, she did suggest I go ahead and see a neurologists. I met with Dr. Washburn at Northwest Neurology on Monday. I passed the physical neurological exam she did on Monday and then returned on Tuesday for an EEG. The EEG also was clear. For the most past we can rule out anything as serious as brain tumor. She said she has never had a patient with a brain mass pass the physical exam or EEG. Although she has recommended that I go ahead and have a CAT scan.

Her thoughts are that it is most likely the optic migraines, which she calls Migraine Aura. It can also be called ocular migraines, eye migraines, or silent migraines because it presents itself with just the light show and no headache. In definition, a migraine is not a headache, the headache part is actually just a symptom of the migraine. A migraine is a neurological disorder, or a spasm of the blood vessels that supply different parts of the brain.

Her other worries are that it could be partial, simple seizures, small seizures in a specific part of the brain, or Optic Neuritis, which could be an early sign of MS.

So a lot to process. Do I go with the diagnosis that it is just Migraine Auras and hope that they are being caused by the changes my body is going through in relation to the pregnancy. Wait for delivery and see if they stop? Or do I take the next step and go for the CAT Scan.

I have tried several self concocted theories of what could be causing these episodes. The first my contacts. Maybe my eyes were rejecting my contacts due to pressure changes going on in my eyes. I know that your eyes can change during pregnancy. Even experienced a prescription change during my pregnancy with Keaton. But this theory was thrown out the window after I had been wearing my glasses for over a week (and I hate wearing my glasses!!) and still had an episode.

I then moved on to my next theory that it was because I was anemic and my body needed more iron. I began the iron supplements on Tuesday and was episode free Tuesday and Wednesday, but had an episode this morning. So that theory is out the window.

I also thought maybe it was triggered by a dip in my glycemic index. Most of the episodes do happen in the morning. So I have begun eating breakfast as soon as I wake up instead of waiting until I am ready for work. It doesn't seem to be having an effect since again, I had one this morning.

I wish I just knew what caused it. Is it simply the increased blood circulation in my body or the increased hormone level???

I plan to just observe the next few days and make a decision about the scan next week. I think it is safe to have it done being pregnant, mainly the decision lies in do I want to pay for something that might not give me any answers. I know that it would relieve some fears again by ruling out anything major.

It brings me back to when Keaton's pediatrician suggested we have an ECHO and EKG done on him when he was 9 months old. (Remember this was just a few months after he sent me to a neurologists for his head shape) We had to go to TCH and they had to put him under for the procedure. I just knew nothing was wrong and we were going through the motions, but found out that he did in fact have a small heart defect.

I see Imtiaz again Jan 20 and have another ultrasound Jan 26. In the meantime, I think I deserve some Tiramisu---my new craving.