29 weeks!!!

29 weeks and I'm feeling terrific!! I know I just did my bare belly shot at 28w5d, but here is my 29 week belly shot, clothed this time to spare your eyes.

So another work week is done, yippee!!! I'm loving these 4 day weeks and now I've only got 5 more weeks to go until my last day at work. Another yippee!!! I am really looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) so I won't be shedding any tears on my last day (though I will miss some individuals there.)

What else is new? Well, I'm really enjoying exercising. Yep, you heard me right...exercising. My SIL lent me Summer Sanders' Prenatal Workout and wow, I love it! It's actually a great fitness DVD. Up until the last couple of weeks my exercise was limited to walking my dog. But now that we've made it past the critical weeks I'm feeling more comfortable adding some fitness into my routine. So in addition to the many walks my dog requires, I've been doing one of the sessions every other day and on my off days just doing some stretches or light exercises. Thanks SIL, I'm really loving this and it's making me feel awesome!!

I also forgot to share with you a story from Sunday. Let me just say I'd like to send out an apology over the airwaves to those who had to try to read the thank you notes I sent them. Sunday morning I woke up and sat down with my thank you notes and addresses and started to write. I don't think I realized how challenging this would be with my hands that fall asleep. About two thank you notes in, my right hand was completely asleep and I had to put my wrist braces on (which of course limits the range of motion I have in my hands.) So with a right hand that couldn't fully move thanks to the brace and was fully asleep thanks to this carpal tunnel, I wrote out just over a dozen thank you notes. Now mind you, my penmanship without carpal tunnel and a wrist brace sucks - just try to read one of the notebooks I use when I'm on conference calls for work. But wow, add in these two additinal factors and these thank you notes were beyond horrible penmanship. They were atrocious! So hopefully those that received them have magical abilities to read really lousy handwriting.

So tomorrow I'm off from work and yet I'll be waking up before dawn to watch the royal wedding. Call me crazy but I've always loved the royals. Then, like I mentioned the other day, I really need to tackle the nursery so I can walk through it. There's a small TV in there from when it was a guest room and that's gotta move out. But I can't get far enough into the room to unplug it. There's a big TV in the corner that just needs to go away permanently...DH will have to do that heavy lifting. Our vaccuum's in there somewhere but has a date with the dumpster since it stopped working this past weekend. Beyond the pack-n-play there's a desk with my printer. I really need to get to that desk next week for some trainings I need to do...once it's freed from breast pads, pumps, rattles, and such. The changing table is piled high with clothes. And I must find homes for things like the stroller, car seat, pack-n-play, swing, toy box, bathtub, and such so we can actually access this room with it being a danger zone.

So that's it for me. I'm still super excited about my visit to see my girlfriends in RI on Saturday. Wonder how many times I'll have to stop to pee on that trip? My guess? WAY too many!! Ah well, such is life. Hope you all have a great weekend and I'll check back in after my little adventure.

28w5d - My funny looking belly

Coming up to 29 weeks in just a couple days, woo-hoo!!! I've had a couple quiet days here with not much to report and really have nothing earth shattering but thought I'd check in with the latest.

My sugars have been really good. I had one more bad reading on Sunday (a 176 when I want to stay under 120) but that was because we went to the diner for lunch. I was dying for some french toast with syrup so that's what I had. 2 slices of french toast, syrup, bacon, and decaf - and it was DELICIOUS!! I was surprised to see that reading of 176 a full two hours after eating so I don't think I'll partake in that meal again until after the baby arrives. But it did taste good and I guess it was my weird "reward" for not having any Easter candy. Yeah, that's messed up logic, huh? Anyways, I emailed the nurse my results for last week and she said they looked good and just to watch what I eat (I did note for her what I ate on both occasions that my sugar was over the limit so I admitted to my guilty pleasures.)

The baby's room is now officially full of stuff. All of that furniture I assembled over the weekend? Yeah, it's now all piled in the nursery. As is the new stuff UPS just delivered yesterday, like the swing and the toy box. I think on Friday I'll spend some time organizing things a bit. My in-laws are coming to visit next weekend and while the former guest room is now the nursery, I'm hoping to at least clear enough space to put an air mattress in the nursery for the visit. And if that doesn't work, we could at least fit luggage in there and we'll be having them camp out in our living room. Sometimes having a small apartment does have its cons.

I'm getting super excited for this Saturday. I'm going to spend some much needed time with my friends A, K, & M - all Army wives or girlfriends in RI who I've missed soooo much while being down here in NJ. I see M on a pretty regular basis when she comes to visit her hubby down here but I haven't seen A or K in so long. It will be great to catch up with all three of them, laugh a lot, and relax my pregnant self while I still have the opportunity to relax. And I really want to see them while I'm still feeling well enough to make the trip up.

So on to the subject line of this post - my funny looking belly. Up until now, I've shared my belly shots but they've always been a clothed belly. Well today I'm treating you (or scaring you with) the real thing. I swear I have the weirdest pregnant belly - my belly button sticks out now which is to be expected. But I also have a big indentation around my navel. Then I have a part of my belly above the navel that sticks out (that's where I may have that umbilical hernia.) The whole thing is just bizarre looking. As you can see my old faded stretchmarks are still hanging around but no new ones yet. I'm hoping I've already had enough for a few lifetimes - I really don't need anymore. So here it is - my funny belly:

28w2d - Assembly day

What started as a rainy day here has turned into a real beauty! Wow, I'm actually sweating it warmed up so much. I'm sure you really wanted to hear about my sweat, sorry.

I used the rainy morning to my advantage though and decided to assemble some baby furniture. Holy shit that was hard! Now mind you, I've assembled an entire apartment full of IKEA furniture, plus about a million entertainment centers, tables, chairs, dressers, bookshelves, etc in my lifetime but nothing was more complicated than the stroller and pack-n-play. I repeat, holy shit!! The instructions included no words and horrible diagrams but somehow I muddled through and they are now both assembled and ready for baby. And they do look awfully cute so in the end they were worth the aggravation. Now the challenge becomes "where do we fit all of this baby furniture???" I also made up the crib with the bedding I'd washed yesterday and washed a load of receiving blankets, washcloths, and hooded towels. Things are starting to come together.

So far my glucose readings have been awesome. I had one really high reading after lunch yesterday but all other readings have been below the cutoffs. Yesterday's lunch was within the carb limit I'm allowed, but apparently my body did not know what to do with the corn dog, 10 french fries, and juice-glass of skim milk. Therefore my level after 2 hours was 162 when we wanted to see it under 120. But other than that one meal my levels have been super so I'm interested to see what the nurse says when I email her my levels on Monday.

Well, must figure out dinner soon so I hope you all are having a great weekend!

28 weeks - YES!!

We've made it to 28 weeks and that deserves a big YAHOO!!! Awesome stuff! Should be 10 or less weeks to go at this point. To think our little one should be around 2.5 pounds now is just amazing. She'll be packing on the pounds these last couple months (and hopefully I won't do the same since I've got that goal of no more weight gain from the doctor.)

So today I had my diabetes class at the doctor's. I thought the class was very good. There were 4 of us there and a nutritionist took us through what to eat/what not to eat. She showed different combinations of things to eat, serving sizes, etc. The diet is pretty similar to what I've been doing, though I'd consider it a bit more liberal so it may open up additional options for meals for me. Then the nurse came in and gave us our glucometers (model was based on our insurance) and showed us how to use them. I got the Accu-Check Aviva and it seems really easy to use. They also called in more test strips and lancets to the pharmacy so we could pick those up later in the day.

Now when I did my level there, I hadn't eaten breakfast yet so it counted as my fasting level and it was 90 - which is great! Just needed to be between 60-95 so I was super happy with that reading. Others in the room weren't so lucky - one lady had a 241 (she had eaten but had done a fasting level earlier in the day and that was somewhere in the 150s.) So after doing my fasting level first thing in the morning, I take 3 more readings throughout the day (two hours after each meal.) Those levels should be under 120. So far my post-breakfast and post-lunch levels were also awesome - 89 and 98 respectively. I'll take my post-dinner level at 8:55 tonight but if it follows suit, it should be pretty darn good. As I take each reading I log it on a sheet they gave me, then every Monday I email them my readings and the nurse will call to discuss them. I'd be REALLY, REALLY happy if my levels stay so good that they say I don't need to worry about it anymore. :-)

As of tomorrow, I'll have 6 weeks left of work...ahhhhhhh, how I love that thought! This weekend, one of our friends is coming to town so I'm sure we'll spend time with her and her kids. Other than that, I should really start organizing things in Maribel's room. She's got so many clothes already she's going to be like a soap opera character. You know how you never see a TV character wearing the same outfit twice?? That's going to be Maribel. And according to my in-laws they've bought her lots of clothes. It's a good thing we got her a good sized dresser for her wardrobe!

I did make a few more purchases this week - you knew I would, didn't you? But hey, we're getting down to the wire - I only have a few more paychecks before I'm out of work. And I think people prefer to get "fun stuff" like cute outfits and such so I don't mind getting the "not so fun" items. Honestly I have to agree with shoppers, the baby girl clothes out there are irresistable and sooo fun to pick out!! So I grabbed the dishwasher basket, the soft-sided toy box, and the swing. We originally were going to use DGD's swing but she loves it so much, she may not be done with it in time for Maribel to use it. So a new swing was in order. I also had a gift card to use at Destination Maternity so I ordered a few things for me - a couple of nursing bras, a nursing gown with robe so I'm not completely hanging all out of hospital gowns, two pairs of drawstring maternity shorts (they looked soooo comfy), and a cute summer dress (figure that will help me get through the summer when I'm pregnant and then still oversized post-delivery.) My breast pump arrived today too, yippee!! Man, I seriously sound like a shopaholic but I'm really not. I just want to make sure I get the necessities while I'm still collecting a paycheck. And hey, I'm still socking money into the savings and keeping UPS busy so it's all good.

Well, that's all I have to report for now. Have a good evening all!

27w5d - Officially joining the GD club...boo!!!

Yep, I officially have gestational diabetes. Blah!! I was hoping when Dr D said my level after my 1-hour glucose screening was a little high, he was being overly cautious. But no, my level was 151. Not good! Combine that with my level on Saturday (SIL had her meter handy and we checked my level 1 hour after eating...135) and level is remaining high. So he's added gestational diabetes to my list of issues. Thursday morning I'll go to a diabetes class and get set up with my glucose meter. Hopefully I'll be able to control my levels with diet and exercise and not have to move into insulin land. Dr D could tell I've been working hard with following the GD diet when my weight stayed where it was 4 weeks ago. In fact it went down 4 tenths of a pound. He's set a goal for me to stay at this weight for the rest of the pregnancy. If I can stay where I'm at, that would put my total weight gain between 15-16 pounds. That sounds great to me!!

In other news, he was quite alarmed to see how much I've butchered my skin with scratching my eczema. He saw a patch on my torso when he was checking Maribel's heartbeat and I said "oh yeah, it's my itchy eczema. I've been scratching all over." Well once he saw my back (that looks like I've been attacked by a tiger) he really got concerned. Then he saw my beat up legs, shoulders, etc and said we have to do something. His concern is with infection setting in. I already have a slew of little sores from the eczema, some with redness around them already so we have to do something that will stop the itching. Long story short, I'm now on methylprednisone twice a day. The dermatologist had wanted to do a similar treatment but was worried with me being a high risk pregnancy. Knowing my perinatologist has prescribed the treatment, I'm feeling ok about taking it.

So other than my diabetes class on Thursday, I'll go back to see Dr D on 5/19 for my next prenatal visit. At that appointment we'll also have a growth scan done to see how big the baby is. This will be especially important with the GD diagnosis as GD can cause big babies. I can't wait to see how big Maribel will be at that point. I'll be exactly 32 weeks at that appointment.

Three cool things from my appointment. 1) My BP was 112/68...glad to see THAT doesn't have to be added to the list of issues. 2) While in the waiting room, I was flipping through a year-old issue of NJ Monthly. And as I turned the page I see my aunt's smiling face looking at me. She's a chef, cookbook author, and former test kitchen director for Gourmet magazine and there was her picture and an article about her. Pretty cool!! 3) As Dr D was walking me out he wanted to introduce me to someone in the waiting room. A young woman was there for her TAC consult. She told me she'd lost 3 babies due to incompetent cervix and was so thankful for the TAC. Seeing me with my TAC at 27w5d made her smile...after all, who doesn't like seeing a real-live success story. And it warmed my heart because here's a woman who has been through 3 losses telling me she'll say an extra prayer for me. What a sweetheart and I'll be hoping and praying for her TAC success story too.

27w4d - What a WONDERFUL baby shower!!!

Wow, who knew how exhausting a baby shower could be! :-) We drove up to my parents' house in NY on Saturday and drove home last night so that could have something to do with my exhuastion. Maybe it was all the excitement, smiling, talking, and laughing at our shower. But wow, I can't remember the last time I HAD to take a nap because I couldn't move my body for another second. Today, I was wiped out!

The weekend was WONDERFUL!! We were glad to get up there Saturday and spend some time with my parents and my brother & SIL who are expecting in May. My SIL & I been messaging a lot during the pregnancy so it was really nice to spend time in person, us two preggo ladies. She's been tackling gestational diabetes and was a sweetheart to lend me a prenatal workout DVD since exercising after meals helps keep her sugar down. She also gave me some delicious chocolates from Trader Joes that are low carb and oh, so heavenly. After all, you have to treat yourself to a little desserty treat to not feel completely deprived. We checked my sugar on her meter after lunch Saturday and mine wasn't so great (135 when we wanted to see it below 120) so again, I'll be interested to see what Dr D says tomorrow about my glucose levels at my next prenatal visit.

Saturday evening my sister and her family arrived and as a massage therapist, she treated me to a prenatal massage. I'm a big fan of massage and my goodness, this one really delivered. She found sore spots I didn't even know I had and taught DH a couple things he could do to help me get those sore spots out and try to keep my edema in check. It just felt sooooo wonderful so thanks J!

Sunday morning we went to our local firehouse pancake breakfast. They hold it 4 Sundays a year and in our family it's a tradition to drag your butt out of bed early in the morning and get there to feast. While I've been good with my diet, this was one splurge I wasn't going to miss. And I'm glad I didn't, those pancakes were AWESOME!! A little later that morning, DD & DS and their DDs arrived before the party so we could all spend some time together before it got crazy. Those DGDs of mine are growing up so quickly!! And then later that afternoon it was time for the party. Here are some pics:

Here's a couple pics of the proud parents-to-be (me & DH) taken before the guests arrived:

The shower itself was amazing! My younger sister J made us a gorgeous diaper cake and I must say my sisters, mom, and DD outdid themselves with the food. It was delicious! I got to spend time and visit with relatives and friends I hadn't seen in a very long time. It was so nice to catch up and just smile and laugh at stories and updates from everyone. And I really liked having a joint baby shower with my brother & SIL. It's so cool that there will be cousins born just a few weeks apart. Combine that with my 2 DGDs and we'll have babies everywhere at the holidays, yay!!

Here's a pic of our little family - 3 generations and our last little addition on the way. DH, me, my DD and her DD, my DS and his DD.

All of the gifts we received were so thoughtful and beautiful. We loved every one of them! We got our crib bedding (can't wait to wash that and get the crib made up), the travel system, bathtub and all the supplies we'd need to bathe little Maribel, adorable white and colorful onesies, sleepers in shades of pinks, the cutest little summer dresses and outfits, booties, socks, and slippers that make you go ooh and awww, toys, a picture frame (that holds an ultrasound pic and a baby pic), a fabric wall hanging where you can insert pictures of "first" events, bibs, a little sheep that plays sounds (like a heartbeat, whales, etc for baby's room), diapers, burp cloths, and wipes. All amazing stuff!!! Here are a couple shots (had to take two pics to fit everything.)

My friend M who I went to highschool with (she attended my very first baby shower 22 years ago) has been a faithful blog reader and supporter of ours during this pregnancy and I was so happy she could be at our shower. One of her gifts just touched my heart because, Maribel, you really are kind of a big deal sweetie. Thanks M!!

All in all, it was a fantastic shower and a fantastic weekend. We're so thankful for everyone and everything. Hugs to you all xoxo!!

Tomorrow is my next prenatal visit with Dr D so I'll report in tomorrow night to let you know how the appointment went.

27 weeks - sad last few days

27 weeks today, yippee!!! 10-11 weeks to go!!! And only 7 more weeks until my last day of work, also an exciting milestone I'm looking forward to. Today I submitted time off requests to take one day off per week, so in addition to my countdown I can look forward to 4 day work weeks from here on out. Heavenly!!

I'm in a pretty crappy mood and don't want to pollute cyberspace too much with my whining and pissing and moaning. But I'll pollute it a little. Work ticked me off today and that lead to my eczema itching out of control which led to blood getting all over my pantleg which led to me having to take a shower early this evening so I could put a fresh batch of ointment on my newly clean skin. Sucky afternoon, that's for sure.

It's been a sad few days this week for some of my message board friends. T, who had her tubal reversal surgery 7 years ago, got a BFP last week. She's had 3 miscarriages in the past and no take home babies post-surgery. And this week she found out this pregnancy was an ectopic. Luckily, last I heard it was resolving itself without surgery, but it's still a painful loss. M, who is about 23 weeks pregnant with twins just found out yesterday that her smaller twin has passed away. Thankfully her other twin is doing fine, but it's a terrible loss. Especially when she lost her son when he was a week old, just one short year ago. Then I've been emailing back and forth with E who lives in Spain. She is traveling all the way from Spain to NJ in July to have Dr Davis place her TAC (another testament as to how far people will travel for Dr D's expertise.) She has lived through 3 second trimester losses - all between 20-23 weeks and all in a 3 year span. What strength this woman has to make it through 3 losses that far along. I pray for a safe trip for her in July and that her surgery allows her and her husband to finally experience parenthood - they so deserve it. If you have a spare prayer or positive thought available, T, M, and E could always use an extra prayer.

Wanna hear something silly? A stupid car commercial is compounding my sadness over the heartbreaking stories from this week. You may have seen the ad, but the wife walks into the room with her positive pregnancy test and says "we're going to have a baby." The man goes out to the driveway to "stretch" out his sports car to fit their growing family. Damn, it's that easy?? I wish that the women I know could see a positive pregnancy test and know they're going to have a baby. But when you've dealt with infertility and/or multiple losses, a positive pregnancy test does not equal "we're going to have a baby". It means "we have a positive pregnancy test." Even as far along as I am, now at 27 weeks, I still guard myself at times. I think once they put Maribel in my arms (or I get to kiss her little head as I lay there getting stitched up from my c-section) then I'll really feel like we're going to have a baby. Oh, what a spectacular day that will be.

26w4d - The registry shuffle

Wow, it is BEAUTIFUL weather here today!! Low 80's, sunny, little bit of a breeze, just perfect! DH is at softball practice (this year he's wearing 2 hats on the team, player & coach) and I just finished a pretty steady but uneventful day at work.

Our baby shower with my side of the family and hometown friends is coming up this weekend. It will be a joint shower with my brother & SIL who are due mid-May. I'm soooo excited to see everyone!! In checking my registry I noticed that a number of things I had on my registry were "temporarily unavailable" - I hate when that happens. And I realized a good number of things had been bought and we still have friends/family on the RI side of the house that want to do a get together before the baby arrives so I needed to add some additional options for people. Plus I like to have a lot of different priced options on there so people can pick and choose what they want to get without breaking the bank. So some additions and removals were in order.

I added some more fun stuff like freezer trays for baby food (heck, I make my dog's wet food and treats from scratch, you know I'm going to make my own baby food), dishwasher baskets for baby stuff, a spout cover so baby doesn't knock their head on the spout in the bathtub, a swing (since DGD loves hers so much now we don't think she'll done with it before Maribel arrives), breastmilk storage pack, bottle dryer/organizing rack, a soft sided toy box, and a teether/toy set. Then I took off the manual breast pump I had on there (which had gone to a "temporarily unavailable" status) and just bought myself the Medela swing pump I'd finally decided on. It's a step down from the one DD got, but she'll be pumping a lot more than I will since she'll be pumping at work. I'll just be pumping so Daddy can have a share in the fun & bonding of getting to feed Maribel too.

I'm also super excited because my cousin will be bringing me a sewing machine that she's had and only used once. I won't be trying out for Project Runway, but I would like to be able to sew some basic things. My first project will be making my own cloth wipes. I really don't feel like buying pack after pack of disposable baby wipes so I want to make a few dozen cloth wipes before the baby arrives.

And from what I've read, they'll be a nice easy first project for me. I'll just cut out squares of cotton flannel and do a decorative stitch (think zig zag) around the edges to prevent fraying...that's it! Then when it's time to change the little one, we'll have a little spray bottle of solution to spray on the wipe and wipe that cute little bottom clean. Dirty wipe goes in the wash with the cloth diapers and we reuse, reuse, reuse. Going green and saving money - those are my goals. I'm still comparing wipe solution recipes - some call for a mix of things like baby oil, baby wash, and water. Others call for olive oil, baby wash, water, a couple drops of tea tree oil, etc. There are literally dozens of recipes out there so I'll continue to research and read feedback and figure out which one I want to make first and see how Maribel reacts. With my skin issues, I know I'll be going as natural as possible.

Well, that's my update for the day...exciting, I know. Now I think I'll take my furbaby out for a nice walk around the neighborhood to enjoy this beautiful day. Later friends!

26w3d - A meltdown and some great soccer

26w3d and we're inching closer to 3rd trimester! Some say 27 weeks starts the 2nd trimester, some say 28 weeks...all I know is we're almost there. And that's a terrific thought.

So I've had a mixed weekend. Friday night was horrible! I had one serious fucking meltdown. I mean a meltdown of epic proportions! What was I so upset about? Maybe one should ask what WASN'T I upset about. Part of my problem was trying to figure out something to eat for dinner. Nothing sounded good. I was sick to death of PB toast and pickled eggs. I was also out of some of my staples - cold veggies, my yogurts, and no sugar added puddings. After getting aggravated, I decided we'd just order out from our favorite pizza/Italian place. After perusing the menu for no less than 45 minutes straight I couldn't find a single thing that sounded appetizing. So I went and grabbed DH a cheesesteak and got myself nothing. (I eventually ate a plate of PB toast and slices of monterey jack cheese.)

Another part of my problem was my itchy leg. I've had some really wicked patches of eczema flare up on my legs over the last week. I've got patches above each ankle bone and my right hip and thigh are actually bruised from itching. Anyways, my left leg started itching so bad I couldn't stop. I'd taken my Benadryl, I'd put on my ointment, I'd sat here with an ice pack to cool down the hot/itchy area and NOTHING was touching the itching. Nothing was even coming close to helping. I wanted to just shave my skin off, it itched so bad.

And so I burst out crying. I threw things. I shut myself in our bedroom to cry some more. Then in my anguish, I realized I wanted DH to hug me and tell me it would all be ok. But did I tell him this? No. Did I just walk up to him and give him a hug? No. I guess I expected him to become the ultimate mind reader and somehow KNOW that a hug would make me feel better. (Meanwhile he's sitting there in anguish because he feels helpless and doesn't know what to do to help me.) Anyways, when I didn't get a hug I yelled at him and he yelled back. Within a few minutes, we were both apologizing and I was soaking his shirt with tears and snot as we hugged. And just so you understand how odd this scene is for us - we've been together for almost 4 years and this is the 2nd time either of us have even raised our voice at each other. It's not that we don't ever disagree on things, we definitely do, it's just that neither of us are fightin' folks. So in taking after our only other loud disagreement in the history of "us", this "fight" lasted a total of 20 seconds. To my wonderful DH, thanks for tolerating your hormonal mess of a wife and I love you!

Saturday in comparison was outstanding! I restocked my kitchen with food I'm allowed to eat, made a trip to the library, got my car washed, got a pair of cushioned flip-flops for my swollen feet and went to a MLS soccer game. We're big fans of the Philadelphia Union and we rejoiced in watching them beat the NY Red Bulls. Awesome, exciting game (Union won YAY!!) and it was great to get out and enjoy a night of soccer. Maribel must have been wondering what the heck was going on outside the womb, what with the roar of the crowd and mommy jumping up and down when the Union scored. We also couldn't resist getting our girl the three-pack of Union onesies for her wardrobe shown at the top of this post.

Today has just been for relaxing and I'm loving it! The weather is nice, so pup & I have enjoyed a couple nice walks. And my voice is recovering from all the cheering from the game last night. Hope you all are having a great weekend (with no meltdowns in your worlds.)

26 weeks!! Approx 11-12 weeks to go!!

WOW, 26 weeks!! It's a great feeling to have made it to 26 weeks. According to the baby sites online, our little Maribel should be around 1 and 2/3 pounds and about 14 inches long. I wish I could look inside to see her right now.

I hear some moms say their baby kicks all day long (one mom on a board I frequent said she counted 40 kicks in one hour from her little guy!) Maribel isn't THAT active, that's for sure. She still likes to kick really low - always below the navel - and some hours I don't feel her at all (must be her naptime.) But when she starts a kicking spurt, let's just say that girl has got a good strong kick! I've got a couple of weeks left until I start having to do kick counts so I'm not worried about her little gaps in kicking.

My new menu is bringing my mood down. Oh hell, to be quite honest it sucks ass!! It's only been a week and already I'm so sick of cheese and nuts and such. Thank god I like peanut butter because peanut butter toast (with low carb bread) has been my main staple. I am loving these Pink Lady apples I picked up (crunchy and tart - just the way I like them) but I am getting a little sick of having to pair my delicious apple with some cheese or nuts. I've tried to eat more meats but blech - I gave DH half of my tilapia on Monday night and half of my chicken Tuesday night. I tried some cooked green beans one night but could only stomach 5 of them before I dumped the rest in the garbage. I've behaved though - there is a FULL bag of Chips Ahoy cookies sitting in our kitchen since last Friday night and I haven't had a single one. Now, that's truly a feat for me!! I seriously, seriously hope that "little high" glucose level was a fluke that day and I can go back to eating normal foods again. Next appointment with the doc isn't until 4/19 and then I'd probably still have to be retested so at a minimum I've got a couple more weeks of this shit and at a maximum, 12 weeks (or whenever I deliver.) [Insert obnoxiously loud sigh here.]

Tomorrow I go back to the dermatologist for a re-check on my eczema and hives. It's definitely been better with the latest topical so that's something to be thankful for. I get 1-3 new patches of itchy eczema per day but at least I'm not covered like I was previously. So this will probably be a pretty uneventful appointment (I hate coughing up a co-pay just to tell them it's doing better) but I may as well get another prescription for my ointment while I'm there.

My online shopping (well browsing) for this week has been focused on two things - breast pumps and diaper sprayers. My DD just LOVES the breast pump she recently got. It's one of the electric Medela backpack ones so she can pump easily when she goes back to work. And since it does 2 boobs at once, she can pump in no time. So I'm considering getting that same model now that I have a real-life testimonial for it. And with the diaper sprayers, I'm just at the stage of reading reviews and comparing prices. So far from what I'm reading most people love them and who can blame them. I love the idea of having a sprayer hooked up to my toilet to spray the poop into the toilet instead of having to do the dip and swish. I remember the dip and swish and they're not fond memories, yuck!

Well, that's a lovely topic to end on right? Yeah, I'll get your mind off poopy diapers by showing you the latest belly shot. Here is my 26 week shot from this morning.

Notice how my boobs have not grown at all??? If anything, they look like they've shrunk. I'm still fitting fine in my B cups. Isn't that weird???

25w3d - Baby stuff and food

Hi folks! Hope you're all having a great weekend! Mine has been good so far - shopping, errands, the usual.

I did pick up a few more things for Maribel over the last few days. Amazon was my retailer of choice on Friday where I nabbed a pack-n-play, an extra pack-n-play sheet, and a Bumbo chair. The pack-n-play has the bassinet on top so we'll be able to keep her in our room with us those first few weeks and it should be useful for trips to see the family. I kept hearing great things about the Bumbo chair so one of those was in order too.

On Saturday, I ventured to Target (what a shock, right?) But I behaved and didn't buy too much. I grabbed a couple of lined baskets for the changing table to hold the cloth diapers/inserts and onesies. And I've been waiting for the floppy baby sun bonnets to come out and yesterday they were there, YAY!! I of course wanted to buy her one of each color, but just bought one white eyelet design. Since she'll be born right at the start of summer, floppy sun bonnets will be a must so that may become her primary fashion accessory.

Food shopping wasn't quite as enjoyable as baby stuff shopping. In fact, I felt quite depressed as I walked through the bakery section and ice cream aisle. The shopping trip took me quite awhile as I checked the carb count on every single label of every food I bought. Phew!! In the end, it's not going badly so far. Don't get me wrong - I'm seriously missing some of my favorites - ice cream, pancakes with mom & dad's syrup, Chips Ahoy cookies, etc. But my carb cravings haven't been making me too miserable...yet. My SIL and a message board friend with gestational diabetes both sent me how they break down their carbs throughout the day so I'm following their lead. They also both sent me food lists and examples of meals and snacks that they eat so there seem to be quite a few options.

I was also happy to find some "desserty" options on my shopping trip that won't kill the carb count - the small containers of Light and Fit yogurts, Kozy Shack No Sugar Added rice or tapioca puddings, Breyers no sugar added fruit bars - so as long as I can have something that feels like a dessert, I'll be ok. Snacks I'm doing fine with - I bought lots of nuts, different kinds of cheeses, small fruits (plums, apples, pears), peanut butter & almond butter, the veggies that I currently like, etc. For meals so far, I've been enjoying my caprese salads with a little meat on the side, made some turkey chili last night, and I bought a lot of canned meats for chicken salad and ham salad sandwiches. Lastly, one food swap that I'm really loving is the switch from half & half to heavy cream for my morning cup(s) of decaf. LOVE it! Half & half had 4g carbs per serving and I didn't want to waste my carbs on that. Heavy cream however, has 0g carbs, and you only need a teeny-tiny bit in your coffee to make it nice and creamy. So I'm all in favor of that swap!

The good thing, like I mentioned the other day, is that as of right now I don't have gestational diabetes. The doc just said my glucose levels were a "little high". Hopefully these adjustments in my diet will keep things from getting any higher so that's the goal here. And honestly, this is forcing me to eat healthier so really in the end it's a win-win...though I think I'm going to need to keep reminding my carb-craving mind of this often. And with that thought, it's actually time for a snack so I'll talk to you all later.