Baby had been kicking alot more the past 3 days but still not as active as Madelyn was.

My tolerance is now 325 mg phe daily. I’ve been enjoying low orotrim grilled cheese for lunch and baked pasta with roasted veggies for dinner. I can sure appreciate how we often take food for granted. The strength it takes to remain complaint to such a restricted diet for not only the health and safety of your own body but as well as your unborn babies is not ever lost on me. It’s certainly easy to stay motivated and avoid all temptation when another life you have created relies on you. If not for this little baby I totally would have failed and given up by now.

My levels are steady and stable at around 2.0 mg / dl so nice and safe for baby to grow and thrive.

We head to Vancouver on Monday evening to prepare for a full day of appointments on Tuesday. 930 am we have our meeting with my pku team . 11 am is our fetal echo / cardiogrsm and anatomy ultrasound at bc women’s and 1 pm is our appointment with the maternal fetal medicine specialist. I feel like I hold my breathe till this scan is over. When we finally get a glimpse of this little babe. When we count fingers and toes. See all limbs and systems . It gives me great reassurance that all my effort is paying off when I can see my baby is healthy and fully formed and no abnormalities. I pray for the same this time. When I can see that and it’s confirmed then I read a little and can enjoy the rest to come. Fingers crossed baby cooperates and we can see what he or she is !

Baby center says I should be gaining about a pound a week but I have yet to gain anything. My PKU team noted that this week to me in an email. Saying that it was weird that I still have not gained. I lost 10 lbs and im maintaining that.  I have back up 1 lb in the last 2 weeks. I weigh in each monday and email my weights to the pku clinic.

Because I started off with a higher BMI then most and am considered obese the healthy weight gain for me is between 11 and 20 lbs. however my midwife is quiet happy with my progress and my measurments and im right where i need to be!

You may want to look into a childbirth education class if you haven’t done so already. Whether you are a first-time parent or want a refresher course, you will benefit from a structured class either way. No matter what the philosophy behind it, a prenatal class can help prepare you for the rigours of labour and delivery. You should plan to have completed the classes by 37 weeks, when you’ll be considered full-term and labour could start at any time.

Be extra vigilant about getting enough iron.Your baby needs it to make red blood cells, among other things. In fact, it’s almost impossible for you to get too much from food alone without overeating.

( *source babycenter.ca)

On Monday before we leave for Vancouver I need to head to the lab and have my 20 week lab work done to check my iron levels, blood profile , and nutrients so they can be analyzed by my clinic to make sure my low protein diet is adequate for my growing baby.  Then we will know if we should make any changes or if i need to increase my iron supplements. I currently take 2 iron pills a day, an omega 369 and a folic acid. I do not need prenatal vitamins because of my formula. I struggle with iron deficient anemia though so we carefully monitor my levels even when not pregnant but even more so now.

Check back later this week for a summery of our appointments and ultrasound results :)