Church Baby Shower

Last night was our baby shower at church. Melissa was the hostess for this one, and she did a beautiful job. I want to save the details until I get pictures from her so until then I will leave you with a couple I took on my phone before I went to bed last night.

Beautiful flowers. Melissa found these in green, yellow, blue orange, purple, and pink. This picture doesn't even do them justice--they are so pretty and vibrant and they even have sparkles! I think the flowers were my favorite touch. I got to keep these and another arrangement that is yellow, blue, and orange.

These are the gifts that the ladies at church got us. (The stuff in the gift bags) While I am very much the person that would've unpacked it and washed it and put it all away as SOON as I got home, I excercised my self-control and left it in the nursery. One, so that Nathan can see what we got when he gets home, and two because it was already ten at night and I had to get up for work today! But I got quite a few things that I needed, and some that are just really cute! Praise God!

Wedding Weekend

This weekend was our "girl's weekend", the weekend that I went with Melissa to help her photograph a wedding.  It was a lot of work, but fun too!  We made the three hour trip on Friday when I got off work and had a little time to check into the hotel and primp before the rehearsal. 

After we photographed the rehearsal we were invited to the rehearsal dinner at Applebee's.  They did a champagne toast, but I opted for apple juice like a good mommy.

On Saturday Melissa spent the day with the girls while they got their hair and makeup done.  I went for a swim in the hotel pool when I woke up, and let me tell you, it was AMAZING.  It felt so good on my bones. I wish I had regular access to a pool!  Then I went to Walmart and got a few things that we needed for the wedding. I was in with the boys while they were getting ready for the wedding, and let me tell you, that "bachelor" room STUNK!  Beer, fart, and other unmentionable scents. Thankfully, being men, they were dressed pretty quickly so I wasn't with them for long.  We had to be at the wedding venue by 4, and were there until a little after 9:30 at night. Melissa spent the entire day and I spent about 3/4 of it taking pictures, and we were both exhausted by the end. I felt a little bad because I felt like I wasn't able to give her as much effort as I did at the last wedding, but holy COW it is difficult to be on my feet all day at this point. After the wedding we went and had a much-needed dinner at the Mexican restaurant next to our hotel.  Tamales+Sopapillas=Happy tummy!

On Sunday we woke up to snow. Now, the last week at least has been sunny at in the mid-70's.  And then, this...

30 Weeks

30 weeks, wow! Can you believe it? 3/4 of the way through. And BIG!!

The hospital called me to schedule my diabetes education this morning. I was supposed to have a 90 minute one on one with a dietician, and a 60 minute one-on-one with a RN to go over how to test and get a meter and everything. The soonest they could get me in was April 14th, which I wasn't thrilled with, but better than never.  Then I had to call the preadmittance counselor to find out what my crap insurance would pay. Eventually she called me back to say that my insurance would pay nothing, and that each class was going to cost me around 500 dollars.

For REAL!?!?!? Obviously there isn't any way I can do that. I can't even buy frigging groceries, which is probably why I ended up with GD in the first place, and they want me to shell out close to $1000 to learn how to eat? Thanks, I'll keep the money and buy something to eat. When I can. And yes, I have applied for Medicaid, and Chips, and goverment assistance, but guess what? I'm an actual citizen, and Texas is so over-freaking-populated with immigrants that there isn't any aid left for me. But if I quit my job, yeah, I could live off  all y'alls tax money. I'm angry, and frustrated. Supposedly they are going to see if they can get me some in-office education and maybe they could bill it as an office visit. That would be good. That would help. But today, right now, I want to be mad for a little while.

I'm not all mad though. I'm really excited about my baby showers this week and weekend! I'm praying that through the showers God will provide the things we need before Piglet comes.
How Far Along: 30 weeks, 2 days
Sleep: Not terrible. Not great.

Best Moment of the Week: Having the weekend away.
Belly Button: In. Might be popping a little

Labor Signs: LOTS of Braxton-Hicks.

What I look forward to: Baby showers! March 24th (church) and 27th (family/friends/coworkers)

I have no problems...

I know, two posts in one day. Overkill, right? But whenever I think I have problems God usually gives me an eye opener. So, I encourage you to go read this beautiful, beautiful story a woman wrote about her second child. And make sure you have a box of tissues nearby.

FAIL #2

Fail.

Again.

I have the diabeetus.

GD.

Say it out loud. Doesn't it sound like some sort of horrible STD?

And yes, I do know how to pronounce Diabetes. It's just more fun to call it diabeetus. It rhymes with fetus.

Anyways, Carol, my favorite of Dr. H's nurses, called to tell me the news and kept calling me sweetie and told me not to worry that it would all be ok. Lol. IT'S NOT OK.  I WON'T BE EATING ANY MORE JUNK FOOD!!! HOW IS THAT OK?!?! And I'm pretty sure N will not be ok with it either, because I ain't gonna bake it if I can't have any of it.AND HOLY MOLY I DON'T WANT A TEN POUND BABY! Which is why I will be following what they tell me to eat. AND DADGUMMIT THEY CAN'T INDUCE ME I AM HAVING NATURAL DRUG FREE LABOR!!! Which is why I will put my faith in God that whatever happens is His will.

I think my freak out is over. But man this sucks. Pardon my vernacular. But it's true. The bright side, come on Pollyanna, what's the bright side.  The bright side is that I will be getting extra sonograms and my Dr has 3D built into his machine, if I get the right one. The bright side is that I can request Angie to do my sonograms, because she is a really sweet person and will give me pictures. The bright side is that I won't gain much more weight, because I won't be allowed. The bright side is that I won't be allowed to have a ten pound baby, because they would induce long before then. The bright side is that if they did induce, my mom could be here when the baby is born.

What Carol said is that they are going to send me to classes to learn how to eat for GD. I will have to take my blood sugar several times a day (um, fun. not.) I will have to keep track of my numbers and call them in.  I will be going to the Dr. more frequently. I will have sonograms and NST's (Non-Stress-Tests) to monitor Piglet.That's all I know right now.

Randomness...

I think Piglet had a growth spurt this week, because he is seriously up in my ribs now! I started noticing last weekend that I could feel his body from the outside (well, I don't know which is head and which is butt, but I can feel them both and his little body) and throughout the week it has gotten more and more obvious.  He seems to prefer my right side, with either head or butt under my ribs.  I think my days of leaning forward are over because that seems to really wedge him up in there. He will get out sometimes if I rub him gently, but he seems to really like it up there. It's really neat to be able to feel what part is where instead of just a random kick here or there. So far he's not doing any rib breaking but I am sure that is coming. It's not comfortable to have him up there, but it's another neat feeling in the miracle of baby-growing! And let me tell you, it is a WIERD feeling to have somthing moving around UNDER your ribs. Way different than in your belly. I believe he is between three and four pounds at this point, and around the size of a 5 lb bag of taters so he's got to be getting a little smushed. That's a lot to stuff in your midsection! ;)

Yesterday I had to stop at The-Armpit-of-the-Earth for some hamburger and the (very nice) checkout lady looked at me and said, "Honey, you must be just about ready to pop any second now!" I snickered and told her I wasn't due until the end of May. I saw surprise, horror, and a little embarrasment cross her face and she finally said, "Oh, well I guess he'll be a big baby then huh." Snicker Snicker. Guess so. Also, I had a man (from our church) tell me, "Holy crap you're getting huge!" this weekend.

Now, I realize that a lot of preganant women find both of these things offensive. But really, I am getting big. And there's nothing wrong with that! It simply means that I'm growing a healthy baby in there. As long as the doctor says everything is good, then I refuse to be concerned about if my belly is larger or smaller than that of other pregnant women. I measure exactly right for how far along I am. And as long as people are saying these things with nice intentions I don't see any point in getting upset. Just laugh it off! They are just showing their concern for you.

I do, however, still draw the line at belly rubs by strangers...

And for a final piece of randomness, I woke up yesterday and realized that if Piglet comes at what is technically full term, 37 weeks, which I have given him my permission to do, he could possibly be here in under eight weeks. Eight. Weeks! Yikes! No wonder people have been asking me if I am ready. I guess it is pretty close. Realistically since I am a first time mother it isn't likely that he will be here before 40 weeks, if not later. But it was still like a bucket of ice water in the face. That is NOT VERY MUCH TIME!

29 weeks and the 3 hour test

I had my three hour test today. They drew blood when I got there, then gave me the drink. I got red this time instead of orange. I think it was better.  Then they drew again every hour on the hour for three hours. I should know the results in 24 to 48 hours. I am hoping and PRAYING that I don't have the diabeetus. It was really hard to keep the drink down this time and it was not much fun to go without eating for that long. I would recommend taking something to eat as soon as you are done--I almost passed out when I left. That's why I took Nathan! I guess the test wasn't too bad in the grand scheme of things.

As for blessings, God always shows himself to us in little ways. I have a light jacket that is a velour zipup hoodie from Liz Lange. I got it when Mom and I went to the O.nce U.pon a Child in Ohio. It's the ONLY jacket I have that is a maternity jacket and closes over my belly and it's very light so it's perfect for TX. Well I was wearing it to my Dr. appointment last week but took it off when I got warm and put it through my purse straps. Unfortunately when I got home I realized that I didn't have it. I was really bummed because I liked it and I don't have the money or the inclination to buy another one.  I really didn't believe that I would ever get it back but I went back to the office a couple days later anyways to check. And guess what? Some kind person had hung it on a doorknob right inside the door, so it was the first thing I saw when I walked in.  Thanks God! It made my day.

How Far Along: 29 weeks 2 days

Sleep: Not terrible. Not great.

Best Moment of the Week: Finding my jacket

Movement: Piglet's new trick is to wedge his head/butt up in my ribcage on the right side. If I rub it I can actually distinguish parts. It's not exactly comfortable, but pretty cool to know I'm really touching my baby!

Food Craving: Nah. Got Chipotle's for lunch today though. That made up for the glucose test!
Food aversions: None, but feeling pretty nauseous.

Gender: Team Blue!!

Belly Button: In. But getting shallower by the week

Labor Signs: LOTS of Braxton-Hicks.

What I miss: I don't know. I am really just trying to enjoy being pregnant, aches and pains aside. To be really honest, I miss smoking. But that is a blessing in disguise, because I don't think it's a very good testimony for a Christian to smoke anyway and I needed to quit because as we all know, it's extremely unhealthy and really not. It's also a blessing because N has finally quit as well. And no, I won't be starting again once Piglet is born. (With God's strength--I'll want to!)

What I look forward to: Girls weekend with Mellissa this weekend!!!!! Yay! We are going out of town—she does photography and was hired for a wedding that weekend, and I’m her handy assistant! We are going to have a BLAST. Baby showers! March 24th (church) and 27th (family/friends/coworkers)
Milestones: His head getting stuck in my ribs--funny!

FAIL

I just got a call from the Dr's office. I failed my glucose test, dadgummit! Now I have to take the three hour test. Do you know how many times they draw your blood for that test? FOUR!!  I'm going to ask them to put a catheter in my hand and leave it. If they try to stick me four times in the elbows I won't be able to move my arms! Ugh! I have to go for the test on Monday.

I went to lunch today with some of the girls from work. One of the girls in the office is Laos and she has introduced me to a lot of ethnic food, including a Thai noodle soup called Pho. Pho is pronounced Fuh, like in "funny".  Well we went to a new (to me) place today and as we drove in I noticed that the restaurant is named Pho King Way. Say it out loud but pronounce Pho the right way, how I described it above. I thought it was hilarious.  Innapropriate, but hilarious!

28 weeks 5 days

28 Week belly...

The way I see things...

28 weeks, whoo-hoo! I had a Dr. appointment yesterday. It was THE day, the day of my 1 hr glucose test. I wasn’t overly fond of the drink, even though I chilled it. It tasted like overly sweet, flat, orange Fanta. With a gross aftertaste. I didn’t have trouble so much with the taste as I had trying to keep it down once I drank it. It made me really sick to my stomach. But overall, it wasn’t as horrible as people make it out to be. Wussies! ;)

 Then at the Dr they couldn’t find the vein in my elbow to do the blood draw, which has been a problem my entire life. Since it is a time-sensitive test they couldn’t send me to the lab to get my blood drawn, so they finally decided to draw from the back of my hand. I have a large, visible vein on the back of my hand that pops fairly easily. They managed to get all their vials of blood with no problem, and I thought it hurt a lot less than in the elbow because it is so difficult to find the vein there. I also have no bruising, swelling, or pain in my hand. When techs try to take it out of my elbow I invariably end up swollen and bruised. So in the future I think I will just request that blood be drawn from my hand. In the case of this test no results are good results; they only call you if you failed the test. So I’m hoping to hear nothing back. And if I pass this test, Dr. H said I don’t have to get my blood drawn again. Yay! In other news, Piglet is good, I am good, and since we are both doing so good I go back in 4 weeks instead of 2! Dr. H said we can wait until then to start the 2-week visits, unless I have some kind of problem. Which I won’t, please God.



I spend the weekend working on art projects for Piglet’s room. I painted a Piglet on a little plaque…

And painted all of the letters for his name. I won’t show you all of them since we aren’t telling his name on the blog yet, but here are a few of the letters so you can get an idea.

Oh, and in other news...you should see me trying to paint my toenails! Ha!

Nursery Furniture

Like I mentioned in the last post, we picked up the nursery in a box from W.almart late Friday night. It was a very large, bulky box and I’m guessing it weighed between 150 and 200 lbs. A guy at the store helped load it into the truck, but it was kind of funny watching Nathan unload it by himself. He ended up sliding it out of the truck and into the house. He slid it to the end of the hallway and that’s where it sat until Sunday after church. (I was trying to be patient)

Sunday we dragged the box into the living room and started to unload it. You should’ve seen Nathan’s face when he saw all the parts. In all fairness, I DID tell him that it didn’t come assembled. And I DID tell him that even if we had bought a high dollar crib from BRU he STILL would’ve had to assemble it. But apparently he was still a little surprised. And not thrilled, as you can see by his face in the pictures.

Lots of Hardware

The big box it came in

He's thrilled, can't you tell?

Lots of parts

We put the crib together first. Then we carried it down the hall to the nursery, and realized that there was not ANY way, no matter how we twisted or turned the thing, that it was going to make the 90 degree turn into the baby’s room. So we had to take it apart and put it together again in the baby’s room. At that point we took a break as some of our friends had invited us out for the evening.

Monday we ran errands all day and were busy until late in the evening. When we finally got home I put on some coffee and we put together the changer and the dresser. By then the cats had made a HUGE mess all over the house with the Styrofoam—they liked to get in the big box and scratch at the Styrofoam until it flew around, then roll in it and get it all over everything. Marcus, the dummy, ate some of it and barfed. Ugh.

The flooring in our house is completely industrial vinyl tiles. Easy to clean, but not exactly homey. The rooms are echoey and sterile looking so we wanted to get a carpet for the baby’s room. I had been saving the gift cards I got at our baby shower in NY so we decided to go see what we could get a Wally World. (This is around 1pm, mind you). We ended up finding a nice brown carpet, and Nathan loves that it has a pattern of Vines on it.

****Enter PB****

When we got to the register to pay I pulled the gift cards out of my pocket and swiped the first one. No problem. I swiped the second one. It wouldn’t take it. I tried again. It wouldn’t take it. The very nice checkout lady tried to swipe it. Nothing. I said, I know the people that bought this card, and I know they wouldn’t just give me a blank card! She called a manager to come try to figure out what was wrong. While we waited for the manager I asked her to throw away the used up gift card. She suggested that maybe she should try to swipe it before she threw it away, just in case I had mixed them up. Well, guess what. I mixed them up. Ahem. Embarassing? Yes, I think so. Nathan thought it was funny, and I do too. But I still felt pretty stupid. Thankfully, the cashier was one of those sweet southern ladies who “Honey”s everyone and she didn’t make me feel bad about it. And now it’s just a funny story to tell!

The carpet we found covers nearly the entire floor and really warms the room up. And I am very happy with the quality of the furniture. It's very sturdy, WAY sturdier than I expected for what we paid. I think it will last past one child. We arranged the furniture and took a few pictures and voila! We are done! Well, we are done until I get his bedding and paint his name and his art and…! Ok, we are not done. We are just done with the basics. Mama’s very happy!

You can sort of see the vine pattern in the rug

Behind Nathan is the cradle that my parents used for me and my siblings. It will go by our bed when Piglet is born.

27 weeks and some change

Thanks, Amber, for reminding me to post! Wow I can’t believe I’m in the third trimester (according to some books your third tri is at 27 weeks, and according to others it’s at 28 weeks. I’m going to split the difference and call it good.)

We went to W.almart late last Friday to pick up a few things and on a whim Nathan volunteered to go see if our furniture was at the site to store pickup. It was sitting there, freshly delivered, not even in the system yet. But they let us take it! Yay! I will write a post about that later.

We also went to visit our friends Mellissa and Thomas in the hospital last weekend. T is having a few ongoing medical issues that aren’t resolving very well, so he was there for a few days. It was good for me to spend a few hours there, get used to it a little. He was released, but they couldn’t figure out what was wrong so please pray for them.

How Far Along: 27 weeks plus.

Maternity Clothes: Always. I’m probably going to remove this question next week.

Sleep: The middle of the night bathroom runs are coming back. Blech. I hate having my sleep interrupted. I’m looking forward to having Piglet in every aspect EXCEPT having to get up with him at night. God, give me patience. And make my husband a lighter sleeper.

Best Moment of the Week: Getting the nursery furniture put together and in the nursery! Pictures to follow in another post.

Worst Moment of the Week: Thomas going to the hospital.

Movement: All the time!! I’ve found that my stomach makes a great book rest, but it’s kind of hard to read when Piglet is making the book jump!

Food Craving: Mmm. Food. Although I’m hungry a lot, I’m also getting full pretty quickly again. (I’m beginning to see a pattern here…First trimester, Third trimester.)

Food aversions: None, although I’m feeling a touch of nausea here and there. Oh, please, don’t come back morning sickness.

Gender: Team Blue!!

Belly Button: Definitely in. But shallower than pre-pregnancy. And, HELLO!, weird black hairs growing all around. No linea nigra still.

Labor Signs: LOTS of Braxton-Hicks.

What I miss: Not having pelvic pain.

What I look forward to: Glucose test next week. Girls weekend with Mellissa on the 19th. We are going out of town—she does photography and was hired for a wedding that weekend, and I’m her handy assistant! We are going to have a BLAST. Baby showers! March 24th (church) and 27th (family/friends/coworkers)

Milestones: Beginning the third trimester.