Monday, April 30, 2012

Liam Isaac: 30 Weeks!

30 weeks!

The past couple of weeks have been a life lesson of the importance of resting. It turns out, I'm not very good at it. I love to be productive in my jobs and personal life...I love to get lots of work done and never fall behind in anything...I like to live up to my own expectations of myself. And the past couple of weeks I've begun to realize that sometimes I just can't do everything that I expect myself to do (or that I think other people expect me to do), and that's okay.

With this new trimester has come some new symptoms, the most concerning of which has been a major case of being lightheaded and beginning to black out at times. Fainting is not a new thing to me...I've dealt with this since adolescence. I've fainted at home, at the doctor's office (on multiple occasions), at church, and backstage during a play, to name a few. I've never dealt with chronic lightheadedness before though. Normally it's just been a one case thing, and then I've been fine. But for the past couple of weeks, I've felt dizzy and lightheaded on multiple occasions almost every day. And since I'm carrying our precious boy, this has been especially concerning.

I went to my doctor's office last week, and because of my being lightheaded (along with some other symptoms), they wanted to run some more tests to make sure everything was alright. When the possibility of bed rest was mentioned, I almost freaked out right there and then.

I don't have time to be on bed rest. I have way too much to do! There is way too much that is expected of me.

So far, none of my test results have come back with anything concerning (and bed rest hasn't been brought up again), and I thank God for that! :) But even though nothing seems to be seriously wrong, I still haven't felt very well. And I'm having to learn to listen to my body and rest when I need it. This has not been an easy lesson for me to learn. I may be sweet, but I can also be stubborn and set in my ways. And God is helping me with that. :)

Too often I will rest one day, feel like I earned my gold star for taking care of myself, and then when I'm feeling a little better the next day I push myself 2x as hard to make up for the time lost when I was resting...and then I end up being in worse shape than before. Not cool.

I go back to the doctor this week, and hope to get some more answers from her on what's causing all of this. In the meantime, God is helping me learn that rest is not a bad thing, and I shouldn't feel guilty about it...it's necessary. It's especially crucial since the way I treat and take care of myself while pregnant directly affects our baby...and that little mister's health is SO important!

All in all, I am doing GREAT! Even with these minor things, God has really blessed us with a healthy pregnancy...and a very healthy baby! I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. :) And I am very thankful for my sweet husband who has reminded me to rest and who has helped take care of things when I can't. Thank you, husband!

Now for an updated baby bump...


Our little mister is getting bigger and bigger. At this point, it's hard to say how much he weighs exactly...but I'm guessing he's at about 3.5 lbs right now. 

Here's a little glimpse of life lately (via instagram! username: tiffanyzajas)

1. The other day, we had a tornado come through Franklin...and it touched down right around the corner from our house (where we go for all of our evening walks!) It was a little scary, but I'm so glad God kept us and everyone else here in Franklin safe.

2. We've stopped at a couple second hand children's stores (Kid to Kid and Once Upon a Child) and have found some super cute clothes for Liam at amazing prices. 

3. The sunsets here have been so beautiful lately!

4. I'm continuing to crave guacamole and yummy burritos...so we've gone to both Chipotle and Baja Burrito (our FAVE!) in the past two weeks :)

5. We went to a couple soccer games to see some of our students rock it on the field. 

6. Made a trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up some supplies to make fun artwork for Liam's room. Can't wait to finish them and share with you later!

I cannot believe that we only have 10 more weeks to go! We are so excited for Liam to get here!

How's your week going so far? What have you been up to lately?

Love and blessings!

-Tiffany




Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Liam Isaac: 28 Weeks!

Why hello there, 3rd trimester! You sure did come quickly now, didn't you?

We are now officially in our third trimester, and I cannot believe it. Only 12 more weeks to go! :)

Here's an updated baby bump picture to start things off...



I still think I look the largest in week 22's picture. That striped cardigan was quite the optical illusion! I promise I didn't shrink since then. He's been growing steadily and healthily each week. :)

A couple weeks ago we went for our 7 month doctor's appointment. We got to see our little man again, and that always makes me so happy! It's been so cool getting to see how he's grown from month to month and is starting to look even more like a real baby. He's been pretty photogenic in all of his ultrasounds, so it gives me high hopes for the future (this child will be photographed a lot!). 


When these pictures were taken (which was almost 2 weeks ago), they said he weighed 2lbs 9oz and that everything looks "perfect".

At our 7 month appointment, I also had to do the 1-hour glucose test. I drank the super sugary and not-so-great-tasting glucola drink, and then they took my blood (eep!).

A couple days later, I got a call from the doctor's office saying that I failed my glucose test and that I also have anemia. For those of you who don't know, the glucose test is done to determine if you have gestational diabetes...and anemia is when you have a low red blood cell count which is often due to an iron deficiency (which basically makes you super weary and tired). The nurse told me the next step to determining if I had diabetes was to do the 3 hour glucose test as soon as possible.

Hearing this news shook me up a bit. Jonathan was out of town, and I really hadn't heard much of either of these conditions...so I didn't have a gauge to know how bad it really was (and let me tell you...looking things up on Web MD is never a good idea, haha). After talking to and praying with my mom and my pastor's wife, I felt much better. My mom said she had anemia with all of her pregnancies, and it was manageable and not serious. My pastor's wife said she failed her 1-hour glucose test during all of her pregnancies, but her 3-hour glucose tests always came back normal. Talking to them both really reassured me, and I knew that God had it under control (he always does).

I went in for my 3-hour glucose test...which was quite eventful, I must say...ha! I have a history of passing out in doctor's offices, and the fact that I wasn't able to eat or drink anything for 12 hours and then they took my blood 4 times in the course of 3 hours...well, let's just say I was a little woozy! :) The staff at my doctor's office is AMAZING though, and they took good care of me (and Jonathan was there to hold my hand and get my mind off of the whole blood thing).

I got the call from my nurse yesterday with the test results...and she said my glucose test came back as NORMAL! Praise God! :) 

Life lately has been very good. I feel so blessed by all that God has done to take care of us. 

Here's a little glimpse at some highlights...

1. The glucose drink I had to drink...twice. Don't know if you would call this a highlight, but I won't forget it, that's for sure! :) Tasted like SUPER sugary, flat sprite. Blech.

2. We've been going on lots of walks lately (often a highlight of my day), which makes my heart so happy. During one of our walks, we came across this little baby turtle. He was about the size of a quarter! Ah, this turtle completely made my day.

3. My good friend Cat gave me this book, Baby 411, this weekend, and I am so thankful! I've been reading it the past few days, and it's helping me feel more prepared and not so overwhelmed with everything. If you're looking for an easy-to-read yet informational baby book, I highly recommend it (from what I've read so far).

One of the questions I get asked the most from people is...what are you craving right now? Well, friends, I will tell you...


To put it simply, I've been craving breakfast foods like crazy! Specifically: eggs, orange juice, and decaf iced coffee (Dunkin' Donuts is my FAVORITE!).

I make eggs almost every day for either breakfast or lunch (speaking of which, I think we're out right now...*tear*), we've been buying orange juice in bulk from Costco, and husband has treated me to some yummy iced coffee a few times (I really need to learn to make it at home!).

It's really funny that breakfast foods have been a major craving for me. I never used to eat breakfast, until I got pregnant (I know, shame, shame...). And I never really liked eggs before...I would eat them, but they would never be my first choice for something to eat. Now, I just can't get enough!

Well, that's a little update on how things have been going over here. I hope you all are doing wonderful! 

Love and blessings,

Tiffany







Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Liam Isaac: 26 Weeks!

Hello friends!

It's so hard to believe that we're almost into our third trimester! Where has this pregnancy gone to? I've had people tell me from the beginning that "just you wait, it'll start dragging soon and you'll feel like it'll never be over." haha. I'm sorry, but I don't think that's going to happen...maybe at the very end, but honestly, I feel like he's going to be here before we know it! And I couldn't be more excited!

The past couple of weeks have been good! I've finally kicked the cold that I had hanging on for about a month. I now have days where I have tons of energy, which are great! I try to get as much done as possible during those times. Then I have days where I feel like I could sleep all day long and never get enough rest. But all in all, things have been going well!

This past week, we actually had some free time where we were both at home so we were able to start working on the nursery. It's still a major work in progress...still looks like an office at the moment...but we made some leaps and bounds last week. The closet in Liam's room was originally a storage closet for us. It was filled with boxes that we placed there after we moved in...and then kinda forgot about. :) So, we took every box out, sorted through them, and got rid of lots of stuff. It was such an AMAZING feeling getting that done!

The weather here has been pretty perfect the past week. We've gone on lots of long walks in the park, which have made me so happy!

Here's an updated baby bump pic...


Liam is growing so fast now! He now weighs approximately 1.75 pounds and is about 14 inches long (from head to toe). He's getting so strong too. I love looking down at my tummy and seeing him move all around. And it makes me happy when he presses his head up against one side really hard, so I can pat his head. :) I am so looking forward to holding him in my arms!

Have a very blessed week! :)

-Tiffany