Saturday, January 29, 2011

Major Want

Even though forest animals are no longer the "theme" of the nursery doesn't mean I don't love 'em! I love love love this wet bag by modmomMe. The hedgehogs are so cute.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Dearest You,


 I have been sick most of the week with a cold. It’s been difficult to accept that I was just going to have to rest it off. I just feel like there is so much left to do before you make your debut. I want to be ready. You will quickly find out your mama is a planner. I have been trying to read 3 books simultaneously to prepare for your arrival on top of getting a head start on schoolwork. Plus, all that I am trying to get done around the house. And I wonder why I got sick? It is about time I learn I can’t do it all. Especially now that I have you to take care of.

While being sick was frustrating it gave me the chance to get some things in order. I washed all your new clothes and put them away, as well as the cloth diapers we received. I slept in between transferring loads. When everything is in your closet I worry you don’t have enough clothes but when put in baskets you have enough for a light load and a separate dark. I think that’s more clothes than your Daddy has. :)

As I was putting away your clothes yesterday I came across my favorite piece in your wardrobe: your swimsuit. It’s my favorite for many reasons: it’s yellow, my favorite color; it has ruffles on the butt, but most of all it speaks to me of all the water adventures we will have. It is the one piece of clothing you have that brings to mind the excitement of discovery and activity. I can’t wait to spend days this summer at Uncle Heath’s apartment pool or 4th of July at Cousin Rick and Lori’s.

I wonder if you will take to water right away like I did or hate it and scream until we take you out. I hope you enjoy it. It’s a joy I’d like to share with you. I can imagine yearly family vacations to Port A and going to Sea World and other water parks. Those are some of my most treasured childhood memories, including just going to the city pool. I want those for you and so much more. This is why a little yellow swimsuit makes me smile.



P.s. It was a present from your cool aunt, Auntie Hi. And yes, she bribed me to say that. ;)

Mia's Room (Sneak Peek!)

Mia's Room Currently...
I haven't made a lot of progress in getting this room together yet. The main problem is I have too much STUFF. Yeah, just stuff. I don't do anything with it. It's just there in case someday I do want to do something with it. Well, that's not totally fair. I do have a lot of craft supplies for my school projects, but the majority of stuff in this room are things I will more than likely never get around to using, especially now with Mia on the way.

Slowly I am getting rid of it, very slowly. I was proud of myself for putting up a note on facebook offering any fabric and yarn I have to my many crafty friends today. I am hoping this will help me get some of this stuff a new home where it will have a chance of being used. :) I am also hopefully getting rid of the desk in the corner and the twin bed very soon.

So, now about what I have done. I've decided on a completely different direction than I originally planned for the decor. It was mostly inspired by the idea of using things I already have and love. There is no real "theme" which I like better. It's less limiting. I have decided on a color scheme and I'm committed because Mia's GiGi is in the process of making her a baby blanket inspired by it.

The colors are red, aqua, yellow and little (teeny tiny) touches of pink. The majority of the furniture is going to be brown with the exception of Mia's changing table/ chest of drawers which is black/brown. Here are a few of the things that inspired me:

I still plan to use the letters that my friend Brittney made us and I am still debating whether the blue chair will stay in this room. It may find a new home in the living room and I may adopted my sisters wooden rocking chair. I have several fun ideas for wall decorations which will be cheap and easy but will give it that lived in feel I really want this room to have. I will post the final product once it's all done. I am hoping that won't be too long from now...

Monday, January 24, 2011

Let the good times roll...

I have been sick since Saturday night with some kind of head cold but I really wanted to post something about our shower before too much time passed. Saturday we had a wonderful shower held for us by my sisters and several dear friends. It was really so much fun getting to see everyone. I asked that the shower be co-ed and I guess no one had ever heard of that before. I was a little disappointed that the guys complained about being there but I wanted to include as many people who love Mia as possible. Oh, well you live and you learn...oh gosh now I am sounding like a diaper commercial.

I want to give all my hostesses props because the food was really amazing. They were even considerate enough to make several things that were low-sugar so I could chow down and not have to worry. Although I did have a cupcake! :) I have already seen the recipe swapping on facebook.

The games were a lot of fun and I have a great keepsake to make into a little book for Mia, full of warm wishes for her future. The play dough babies were the funniest game I think. It was so hard for me to pick just one win! Everyone was so creative. Speaking of creative the decorations were super cute too! I loved the oneies that spelled out Amelia and the adorable diaper cake. :)

Before the party got started Curtis and I got a chance to sneak away with Rachel for a few quick maternity photos. This is my favorite. :)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

8 months, wow.

Mia Monkey (nickname given by Auntie Rachel) has been just that this morning. She has been squirming and moving so much that I couldn't sleep in even though this is the first chance this week that I've had. I guess she is preparing me for the future. ;)

I had two doctors appointments back to back on Thursday this week. Since being put on the insulin shots my blood glucose test numbers have greatly improved so I will be continuing with them. It's gotten a lot easier to give them to myself. I think that I just needed to have my freak out and then accept that it is just something I have to do. It's become more of "let's just get this business over with." Well, except when I bruised myself and didn't realize it and then tried to stick myself with the needle on the bruise. That hurt but now I look in a mirror to see what I am doing, so it's easy-peasy. I think I actually struggle more with making sure I eat every 2 hrs. I think I am going to have to start setting myself an alarm, especially now since school has started.

My OB appointment went well also. Although, I lost another pound. Curtis makes jokes about it now. He told me the other day not to start thinking that pregnancy was a new weight lose program. The OB didn't seem surprised I guess because I am still adjusting to the new diabetes diet. My fundus height was correct and Mia's heartbeat was loud and strong. The most exciting part of the visit was when the ladies who handle the financial side of the doctors office told me that next visit will be our last payment. So, in two weeks Mia will be partially paid off. :)

I can definitely tell Mia is getting bigger even if I couldn't see it in the growth of my stomach. Her movements have changed. I no longer feel strong kicks or flip flops from her somersaults. She still moves all the time but now I can feel she is much more cramped. I can feel (and see!) her shift her weight from one side of my stomach to the other and poking out her feet and arms out like a baby wrapped tight in a blanket.  I enjoy these new movements, they are much more interactive.  You push on her and she pushes right back, but sometimes I miss the little kicks and flutterings.

Wow, this is quite an essay. I have much more to say but I'll save it for another day. I had only planned to do a quick update. Ha! We are having our first baby shower today. I will try and put up pictures and such tomorrow.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Can you believe it?

After posting that last entry I realized today is exactly 2 months from Mia's due date!

Warning: Whining Ahead...

In 2-days the real world beings again (i.e. school starts for the semester). Even though I did accomplish a lot over this last month it's not nearly as much as I had hoped. I spent a lot of time with family and friends which I do not regret for one second because you really have to grab onto those opportunities since we are all so busy with our lives. It just meant that I spent less time cleaning and organizing. I was also hindered by the fact that I can't really lift much these days. So, even if I cleaned for several hours I'd eventually get stuck in my progress by the growing mound of trash/things to give away/resale/donate.

I am kind of freaking out now because with school starting, that basically means all cleaning/prep for Mia will stop. Unfortunately, my major is that time consuming and I have to stay ahead of the game in case Mia decides to come early. So, yeah. I am kind of panicking, but doing my best to take it all as it comes. My mom suggested she and a friend could come help me clean and I am seriously considering letting them. I might actually throw a "cleaning party" and provide food and beverages to whomever can come help me out. I think I can maintain the house if I could just get it back on track to start with. I just can't decide if I am comfortable having people help me in this way. Would you let your friends clean your house if they volunteered?

I'm also not sure I can get my husband to go along with this but seeing as it needs to get done and we certainly haven't made it happen I may not give him a choice.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Mommy Lessons: Love can help you do many unpleasant things

I have a thing about needles. I don't like them. It's partly that they hurt but mostly the feeling of something metal under my skin is just uncomfortable to me. I knew that while pregnant I was going to have to face this issue. I just thought that the worst would be over shadowed by labor pains and therefore make the little needle iv under my skin irrelevant. I didn't imagine that I was going to have to battle this issue 5 times daily.

At my appointment yesterday I was told that even though my glucose numbers are mostly good a few were high which is cause for concern for Amelia. It is important that she not grow too big too quickly. It can cause unnecessary c-section and other delivery issues. So, I have been put on a low dose of insulin 5 times a day. After the doctor informed me of all this the nurse came in to show me how to use the insulin pens and I had to mentally talk myself out having a panic attack. I just kept thinking, "I can't do this." Then I remembered I don't have a choice and Amelia's health (and mine) are far more important than a stupid little needle. I still cried out of frustration once I reached my car.

So, this morning was the first dose and I did it. It went a little something like this:
I pulled the pen out and attached the needle and then adjusted the medicine dial and ensured the insulin was coming out as it's supposed to. I decided that my leg should be the easiest place to inject myself so I put the needle to my skin. Then I quickly pulled it away.

Me: I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this.

I then looked at myself in the mirror, right in the eye.

 Me (to mirror): You can do this. You will do this.

At this point I did try to inject myself in the leg but couldn't b/c it hurt too much. I never realized that my thighs are still mostly muscle even though I never workout anymore. So, I decided to try injecting myself in the fatty part of my upper arm. I debated a little about whether watching the needle go into my skin was making it harder to do and whether I really needed to watch it. Luckily since I choose my arm I could only partly see it going in which made it much easier and a few clicks later it was done. It was a struggle for sure and took much longer than it had to but it's done. One time down, just 4 more to go...today.  I just keep telling myself it's only for a month and a half. I am thankful it's not for the rest of my lifetime.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Appointment with Dr. Lyon

Well, actually it was more of an appointment with his office b/c I never actually saw Dr. Lyon. When I arrived I first met with his nurse and learned to use the blood sugar monitor. I've seen one in use before but I didn't realize I was going to have to stab myself with a needle this much (6-8 times daily.) It is all high tech though and stores the info for me so I don't have to keep a log. It can just be plugged into the computer and the information can be downloaded. I love less paperwork. :)

After meeting with the nurse I met with the dietitian. It's going to be a serious life change and if I was only going to continue it for 2 1/2 months I would be majorly annoyed. I have to follow a system that basically is like counting calories but it actually counts and manages grams of carbs. I hate math. I hate having to plan ahead for everything. Of course the more I think about it I guess I should get used to it. Babies don't really allow for spontaneity.

The hardest part really has been the needle thing. I did it for the first time this morning and I had to poke myself 3 times until I got the setting to poke deep enough that I got enough blood on the strip to be read. That was about an hour and a half ago so I get to do it again in half an hour. Oh well, at least I only have to continue the monitoring for 2 1/2 months. I meet with Dr. Lyon on the 12th to go over my numbers. I am crossing my fingers my numbers will be low enough not to require farther action. That was not the case for the first reading of the day.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Diaginostic Glucose Test Results: FAIL. blah.

I won't lie and say I am surprised. Gestational diabetes does run in my family, as well as adult on-set type 2 diabetes. So, my chances were not good to begin with. Plus, I admit I have done a horrible job eliminating soda from my diet. I did great the first trimester, but somewhere in the middle of the second I gave in and had one, and then two, and well you get the idea. So, now I have no choice in the matter.

Before I got pregnant I had been adjusting well to a gluten-free diet, in an effort to get some relief from my allergies. It was working. I was feeling better. Only, it was such a pain! I hated having to constantly think about what I ate. Then, I got pregnant and I craved pizza, bread, and pasta and I thought, what can it hurt to try it again? Surprisingly I have felt really good. I haven't had any of my old symptoms. I figured after Mia was born I would go back to the gluten-free life but I was looking forward to having a break for nine months.

So, when I failed the test I was discouraged at first. After reflecting on things this afternoon I realize that this could be a good thing. I am getting to see a dietitian and a diabetes specialist to educate and assist me in this adjustment. I will be learning how to eat healthy for diabetes which if I continue to follow once the pregnancy is over may help me avoid developing type 2 diabetes later in life. I am choosing to see this little set back as a blessing.

Other than failing the test the rest of my visit went great! Mia is growing along perfectly my Fundus height is right where it should be and her heartbeat was 151.  :) I will hopefully get a chance to update sometime tomorrow about how things go with the specialist, if not tomorrow Friday for sure.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Blah

I will talk about the New Year and what it will bring another day. Right now, I just don't feel up to it. I've been cleaning all day, trying to get everything in order so I can start preparing for Mia. It's odd that it has taken so long but I am finally feeling pregnant, like the horribly exhausted uncomfortable pregnant. It is so frustrating not to be able to do things that before I didn't give a second thought. I kept dropping things or needing to pick up something from the floor and it was such a pain to bend down. Seriously! Just to bend down was a pain and then it's also harder to move quickly (I'm still not sure what this is about...extra weight maybe?) So, while I accomplished what I set out to do today (cleaning the bathroom) it was kinda deflating that it was all I got done. I'm used to being able to do so much more. I guess this is just another lesson in mommyhood. Be thankful for the small victories.

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