Oh, baby... Nanna's home!!!

Yup ... my mom is here now, and all is well with the world. Even the oppressive heat and humidity we have been experiencing in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area is G-O-N-E!

The baby's Nanna came with gifts in tow, meat for the freezer, and a warm and loving hug. Ahhhhh. Everyone needs a mom, ya know what I mean? Today, my mom and dad took me out to lunch... they are so thoughtful like that... and then they went to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner tonight -- since I currently have 2 spring onions, one tomato, some humus, 1 rotten cucumber, and 1 rotten bag of lettuce in my refrigerator. Oh yeah ... and crystal light. None of that would make a very nutritious meal for 4, huh? What can I say... I've been out of town, AND I'm 28 weeks pregnant. Swollen, tired, fat and lazy. That's me!

Any way, she also ran by a department type store to "scope out" the supply on cribs, and we're headed there this evening... after dinner, of course... that she's cooking. Man, I love this woman.

So ... tomorrow it's lunch at an aunt's home in Georgetown (yum... good food) and more shopping. What a nice weekend!

As for my GD, I started on insulin last night. I spoke personally with my perinatologist... love him, he's so nice... and he walked me through it all. I have been so fortunate to have good doctor's on my side. Yes, the nutritionist freak scared me a bit, but I'm starting to warm to the idea of a c-section. Really, I am. And what I mean by this is... if it comes down to a c-section, I will be fine with that, but I won't insist on it. I see my perinatologist on the 2nd, and he's going to be measuring the baby growth at that time. I'll be sure to pepper him with a ton of questions. Also, I am now officially seeing my OB every 2 weeks. I LOVE my doctors, they are both great... and let me just say, it's a good thing I'm a happily married woman! Know what I mean?

Did you see the great links Liz provided me with? How awesome is she? AND... she's carried her twins to ALMOST TERM! You go, girl! Amazing, simply amazing. I'm going to be praying hard for her that she has an easy labor and delivery. She deserves it after taking such good care of her twins! It should be any time now!

If anyone wants to share their c-section stories, feel free to do so... Thanks!!!

Why, oh Why?!?

Do you ever wonder why things work the way they do? Why one person can try so hard ... so very hard ... to get pregnant, and go through pain and discomfort to get pregnant (yeah!) only to be slapped in the face while pregnant with something like gestational diabetes?

Oh, it just isn't fair. I had resolved NOT to complain during my pregnancy, but be thankful that I'm pregnant and having this long awaited for child. But alas... it seems like all I've done is complain.

I got a call from my doctor on Monday, while I was out of town, to tell me that I have GD. I received in the mail supplies to check my blood sugar while I was away, and began my first full blown testing yesterday. I saw my doctor yesterday, and he was quite alarmed at how high my numbers were. He wanted me to start insulin yesterday. Well, one thing led to another, and I wasn't able to get a visit to my home from a traveling nurse to teach me how to draw the insulin, so I'm going over it on the phone this afternoon with my nurse. Lovely. Can't wait to start giving myself daily injections.... 4 times a day... again ... I thought that all was done with after I completed my round of progesterone (sp?) in oil injections. But no. It's not done with yet.

At least I can understand why I wake up every 45 minutes (yeah ... literally) to go to the bathroom every single night. My body is trying to get rid of all the extra sugar it's carrying. So, maybe I can look forward to only having to get up every 2 hours instead. Man---I don't know how I'll handle all that extra sleep! I'll be spoiled!

And to top it all off, the nutritionist called me last night about my diet, and asked me if my doctor had discussed my c-section with me yet. You know what my reaction to that question was? "I'm sorry, my WHAT? C-Section? No... no one has even MENTIONED a C-Section." To which she replied... "Well, they like to deliver big babies by C-Section, so prepare yourself." Great. I'm going to deliver a giant.

So, as I mentioned earlier, we were out of town for the last 5 days. We went to stay with my sister in her beach house on Topsail Island, NC. It was so nice. The weather stunk because it was so freakin' hot and humid, but it was so nice to spend precious time with my sister and her 4 kids. They are just lovely children... so well behaved and loving and cuddly. I could just kiss them all day long. I miss them already. And... my sister sent me home with a baby bassinet ... very cute! I set it up yesterday in my bedroom, and I love it.

Did I mention the fact that my 7 year old niece has Juvenile Diabetes? She is so brave and strong. She is inspiring. She carries on daily and never complains. She's a champ. Okay ... I guess if this little wisp of a child can deal with diabetes that is totally worse than what I have (she's completely insulin dependant), than I guess this big ol' wimp can too.

So, my parents arrive today (they are coming in from Winston-Salem, NC) to spend close to two weeks with us. I can't wait. My mom hasn't seen me since May, and boy, has my belly popped! She'll love to see that. And, you can actually feel as well as see the baby moving around!

I never really realized how much I love my parents until I became pregnant. I'm told by other women that they felt that too. It really makes me appreciate them so much, but saddens me that they live so far away.

My mother will bring me a bit of sanity and peace. She'll calm me down. She'll help me get ready. She'll speak her words of wisdom. She'll hug me and dote on me. She'll be my mom.

Hot, Humid, and Disgusting

This weekend was hot, hot, HOT! I'm not exactly sure what the actual temperature was, but if I had to guess, I'd say about 500 degrees. Actually, it really felt like the heat index was up in the 100's. Hot, humid and sticky. It was so humid, that it hung over the mountains so thick that you could barely see them. Okay... foot hills in comparison to other parts of the country, but still ... YUCK.

We had a pig roast to got to this past weekend, and while I was actually looking forward to it, my husband kept saying, "Honey, are you sure you want to go? Have you actually gone outside yet? I'm not sure you'll be able to stand the heat!" He was right. We scrapped the Pig Roast and went to a movie instead.

We got tickets to see Cinderella Man, but we were 1 hour and 25 minutes early, so we went to Hamburger Hamlet and got an appetizer and drinks. Well, not really drinks as in DRINKS, but a coke and water. Although, "drinks" would have been quite welcome at that point! The movie turned out to be really, REALLY good. The time just seemed to fly by. And after the movie, of course, we went out for dinner. I was starved by that point, and we went to Carrabas, but we ordered an appetizer (Calamari, of course!), a side salad, and a bowl of soup. That was plenty, too. I was stuffed!

I love going out to eat. Why? Well, because I don't have to do anything, of course! No meal planning, no shopping, no cooking, and best of all... no clean up! We ate out for lunch on Sunday, and I felt guilty so when we got home, I turned around and went to the grocery store for some food. Did I mention how hot it was this weekend? Well, it was. And I will N.E.V.E.R. go shopping by myself again. I'm well passed the "I can do it alone" stage in my pregnancy. Ugh. It's hard to give up control. But let me tell you, I about passed out by the time I got home, unloaded the groceries, and crawled to bed for a nap. Who really cared about cooking dinner at this point? See why going out is so nice? Yeah.

I Just Can't Take It Anymore!

Well, I'm deep into 26 weeks of pregnancy, and let me just say, I'm in a world of hurt, people!

It hurts way down deep inside... a bone crunching pain ... as in, my pelvis bone. I think it's separated. I've had several women tell me about "their experiences" with that, and yup... that's what it sounds like. And... to add insult to injury... my feet are swollen. Especially my right one. Just like a blow fish. And it hurts around the ankle. And... my wonderful, loving, and most devoted husband snores. Loudly. Every night. Every STINKING night. In every position he lays in. Snore, snore, snore. And because of the pelvic pain... it's impossible for me to get comfortable, relaxed, and sufficiently pain free so that I can drift of and sleep. But once I do find a comfy position .... I hear a loud, constant SNORE coming from my left.

He is such a good husband, though, and always offers to go to another room to sleep. After all, we have four bedrooms, two queen sized beds, and our own king size bed... and soon ... a crib. So, it's not like he's sleeping on the hard floor, but I feel so bad to kick him out of our bed. I hate that. Plus, he wakes up at 4:15 every morning, and I hate to put him out. He needs his rest.

But then again, I wonder if he'd get more sleep if I wasn't constantly shoving him and shaking him every 15 minutes, or screaming out loud every hour or so, "OOOOH, for the LOVE of everything that is GOOD, would you PLEASE STOP SNORING." (As if he can help it) Plus, it startles him out of his peaceful deep and sound sleep. (yeah, I'm feeling really guilty right now.)

Yesterday, this very same good and wonderful husband rode out of his way to pick up a prescription for me for Tylenol with Codeine, and he went and filled it for me. So, at least, it took the "edge" off of the pain, and I was able to cope a bit better. BUT... the snoring is killing me. I'm so tired by the afternoons at work because between all that I've mentioned above, PLUS the lovely fact that I have to get up every hour and a half to two hours to PEE, I'm not getting any sleep. None. Okay, maybe two hours between 4:30 and 6:30 (after he's gotten up and left for work). A good nap, one would call it. But I need a whole night. ALL night.

Okay ... I've made up my mind ... Tonight, he sleeps in another room. I love him dearly, but I just can't take it any more. And, I'll still feel guilty.

Ramble Fest

I'm 25 weeks pregnant ... correction ... I'm going on 26 weeks of pregnancy...

I have so many emotions right now, I don't know how to put them all down, so it's just going to be a ramble fest for now...

I'm hurting! Oh, I'm uncomfortable, and it's only going to get worse! My belly, my abdomen, my hip, my feet ... they all hurt like crazy, and for various reasons. My belly and abdomen I think are hurting because my ligaments are stretching, but when the baby kicks... ooooooo ... it hurts! My hip hurts because it keeps popping out of location (thanks to those loosey-goosey ligaments). It's a raw, boney pain that I can't find any relief from. Especially at night. Tylenol just doesn't cut it. My feet hurt because they are just a wee bit swollen... ON THE BOTTOM! Not much, but enough to cause discomfort. But, the bottom line is... I really don't feel like I have a place to complain. Wednesday evening, my pastor said something that was very profound, and hit me like a ton of bricks... I just can't remember exactly how he put it, but basically, he said that "things don't always seem to be what they are, and that's okay." In other words, even though I should be ever so thankful that I'm pregnant with a healthy child, and of course, I am... I still have a right to feel the discomfort of being pregnant. And trust me when I say... I'm feeling the discomfort. But again, I am ever so thankful to be pregnant, going on 26 weeks, with a healthy and moving child. Enough complaining.

Now --- at 25-ish weeks, there are still some things that I just can't really face. It's sort of like I'm sticking my fingers in my ears and screaming at the top of my lungs ... "la,la,la,la,la" ... For instance -- The nursery isn't "the nursery" it's the little room. Or, the yellow room. We still haven't ordered a crib, purchased a dresser, or retrieved the glider my sister is going to loan me. In fact, my DH is supposed to build bookshelves for our little one, but he hasn't quite started them yet. It's sort of like we're going to jinx everything we've worked so hard for if we start to really put the nursery together. AND WE ONLY HAVE 15 WEEK LEFT! So right now, we only have a room that's painted yellow, with absolutely beautiful murals painted on the walls by my mom, and two tiny crib sheets still in the package, lying in one corner of the vast and empty room. It's so empty, it echoes. And no light, either. No need for it right now! We keep the door closed, but secretly, I like to step in every now and then and just look around and imagine what it will look like when it's done. (I used to sit on the floor, but I can't get up by myself any more.) Then, I step out very, very quickly.

Then ... I actually "forget" I'm pregnant. Except for the fact that my clothes are very limited to maternity clothes, and that the baby kicks every now and then, I rarely remember I'm pregnant. If I dwell too long on the fact that I am pregnant, I get very distracted.

Every now and then, I loose my mind and get a bit giddy about the prospect of being a mom... like when my DH and I registered at Toys R Us an Buy Buy Baby for "the shower" (how overwhelming was that!), or when the baby is particularly active and it suddenly dawns on me that it's not just gas, or when my sister-in-law begs me to get a list of names to her for "the shower." Those are the times when I think to my self "this is really happening... right?" (notice the bit of doubt creeping in). Then, the rest of the time, I can be pretty forgetful of the whole pregnancy thing... sort of like "out of sight, out of mind." It's not forgetfulness because I'm an idiot, but rather, "selective forgetfulness" so that I'm not constantly obsessing about whether the baby is alive, or healthy, or if it will continue growing until 40 weeks, etc.

Have I ever mentioned how TICKLISH I am? In fact, sometimes when the baby is moving around, it actually tickles me and I laugh out loud!

Also, did I mention I failed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test? My levels were 206. No where near the limit of 140. So now, it's on to my 3 hour test. I'll be taking it on July 21... the day we leave to go on a short vacation with my sister and her family ... 2 parents, 1 aunt (me), 1 uncle (DH), 4 kids, & 1 nanny = a very, very full beach house. But we should have fun.

So any way... I'm done rambling for now. Nothing ties together, and nothing probably makes sense to the normal pregnant woman. But then again, I'm not the normal pregnant woman, am I?

Have a lovely weekend.