26 Weeks/Monthly Survey

What a nice weekend we had! We had a really wonderful time just relaxing with no set agenda. I feel a lot less stressed out than I did last Thursday.

  I just want to take a moment to say that John is amazing! He treats me like a princess and I'm starting to like it! I couldn't imagine going through this with anyone else. He's keeping me sane and I'm so thankful for him. I love him so much!

  Now I'm sick. I have a little cold, but the congestion is making it hard to move around much and I'm tired. Because I'm congested, I have to be extra careful about which way I'm lying. I've been bad and have found myself sleeping on my back and right side. It hasn't bothered me too much, but since I'm having trouble breathing I feel like I'm smothering unless I'm on my left side. 

  I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions. I felt this really weird pressure and I couldn't figure out what Denali was doing to cause it. After a few times I realized she wasn't moving, but her container was! Very strange feeling!

  Denali...is growing like a weed! I can feel her head on the right side of my abdomen and then she is kicking me all the way across on the left! I think she takes after her daddy and has really looong legs! I'm predicting she's going to be long and chunky. Anencephalic babies weigh less than  normal newborns because they are missing a large part of their body. So, I'm thinking she's going to weigh around six pounds and would have been an eight-pounder if she were normal. I was a short, fat baby and John, per his mom, was a long, skinny baby. Put us together and I think we will have a long, fat baby! Maybe I should start a betting pool, hee hee.  

  Yesterday John and I went to the church picnic and we ended up sitting across from a retired Air Force dietician and his wife. We chatted while I munched on two helpings of chips. I asked him about folic acid metabolism and explained why I wanted to know. He pointed me to a good nutrition resource for healthcare providers. I found some excellent diagrams that explains folic acid's role in nueral tube defects. I thought I would share them:

  I found the bottom chart to be the most helpful. I have a mutation in the methyltetrahydrofolate reductase gene which encodes an enzyme (MTHFR)  that converts 5,10-methyltetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, one step below this diagram. That means that I don't create methionine which interrupts the whole cycle. So, it didn't matter how much folic acid I took. :(

  We have an OB appointment tomorrow. I actually got John up early today and we drove to the hospital only to discover that I was a day early for the appointment. Mommy brain ftw! At any rate, I have to do the glucose screening test tomorrow. Blech. I did the four-hour version of the test (the one you take if you flunk the screening test) a few years ago and it was rather horrible so I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. I'll post an update tomorrow. 

How far along? 26 weeks
Maternity clothes? Obviously. Even my baggy old t-shirts are getting too small
Stretch marks? Not that I've noticed.
Sleep: It's been okay. A lot of night sweats and nightmares.
Best moment this week: It's only Monday, but we had a really nice, relaxing weekend
Miss Anything? My family

Movement: She's so big now that I can see her moving when she really gets going!
Food cravings: Coke and Cherry ICEE mixed together. Same as last month and the month before. Also craving apples and peanut butter.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not eating
Have you started to show yet: I'd say so
Gender prediction: Still a girl
Labor Signs: Nope. I think I'm having some Braxton Hicks, though
Belly Button in or out? In

Happy or Moody most of the time: Stable
Looking forward to: Our OB appointment tomorrow. Get to drink some Glucola! Maternity photo shoot!