Getting ready

This week has been a very busy week full of just about every emotion imaginable. We started off the week looking forward to our third anniversary on Wednesday. We didn't have much planned other than having our yummy cake (we have our cake top recreated every year) which we were going to enjoy on Friday. Unfortunately the morning of our anniversary we found out the father of a very, very close friend of ours had passed away the night before. We decided to cancel the plans we had made for that night and spend the evening together after all. We probably should have done that no matter what. But sometimes life makes you think you have to pack so much into it that you forget to take the time to enjoy each other. We decided that we were not going to take for granted the time we have to spend together.

Since we have a long weekend we decided to take advantage and start preparing our little girl's room (yeah, we need to pick a name real quick! Calling her "little girl" all the time will get on my nerves shortly I'm sure). First we headed to Babies R Us to pick up a crib sheet. We had decided on a bedding set and we want to match the paint in the room. The next day we picked up a bookcase and a mirror to go in the room. We starting with the little things that we can afford right now and hopefully we be able to buy the bigger things later.

Today we cleaned out our attic to make room for the contents of our former spare bedroom now known as baby girl's room (see! It's annoying!). After that was set we started taking down the walls and ceiling! OMG! There is so much insulation in that room! The thing is it's crappy insulation. Plus the room has crappy windows. All things that will soon be replaced.

Now that we have a good idea of what is behind the walls I was sorely disappointed. Ben had planned on making me a built in diaper changing station that could be switched over to an entertainment center. Well the room is part of a dormer. The dormer slopes the wrong way for us to fit the changing station where we wanted it. We were thinking it could go on the opposite wall but Ben banged a hole in that to see how much room we have. Now my closet has a hole in it! LOL! So there won't be the lovely built in changing station that I longed for. The good news is the walk in closet will be made bigger*!!! That's just what every little girl needs!

All in all the pregnancy is going fine. I've been feeling the tiny one move around every now and then. Nothing too strong but she does let mom know that she's there. My health is good although I'm still struggling to gain some weight. I think my body is still adjusting to the lower amount of carbs I'm eating. Ben plans to start reading us stories at night very soon. I found my book of Grimm's Fairy Tales. I have another book either packed away here or at my mom's house that I absolutely loved as a child. I want to find it so we can start reading that one together too. (I know, mushy right! LOL)

*Update: After talking last night we decided to put the built in changing station in the closet! We have plenty of room to make it in there. Plus no one wants to see where poopy diapers are changed anyway! LOL!

Talk about some exciting stuff!!

Yesterday was the start of week 15 in our pregnancy. This was also the same day we made our first trip to the high risk doctor (Dr. B). It was a long appointment but it was well worth it. All in all everything is going perfectly! Not too shabby for a "high risk" pregnancy if you ask me (or even Dr. B). We were able to see that our little girl has a nice strong heartbeat of 142bpm. Oh yeah! You read that right! WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!

Ben and I have had strong "girl" feelings from the get go. Ben actually had known from the start. The pregnancy test had barely said positive and he was already positive we were having a girl. I took another week or so to have that feeling but it was there nonetheless.

We went into the appointment knowing we may find out what we are having but not getting our hopes up. We were fully ready to wait another 5 weeks. Dana, the ultrasound tech, was so great at explaining what we were looking at, why she was doing so many measurements and what it was all going to mean in the end. Well she was focused in on one area and looking pretty closely. To my untrained eye it looked like a butt with 2 legs. LOL! Well I was right. A few seconds after I asked if those were legs I was checking out she asked if we were going to find out the gender. We couldn't get the yes out of our mouths fast enough! That's when she confirmed what I thought I was looking at: those were little girl parts between those tiny legs!

We couldn't be any happier! Our little girl is measuring right on schedule. She is the perfect size for her age. Also the rest of the appointment went well too. My blood pressure is excellent. My sugar readings are pretty darn awesome and I was told my chances of ending up on insulin are 10 to 15 percent. Those percentages may change but I'll take them right now! The only "issue" we have is that I have lost weight instead of gaining it. The challenge presented to me by Dr. B (the man already knows I love a challenge) was to gain 10 to 15 pounds by the end of my pregnancy. That's a few pounds each month. I can do that. Bring on the full fat cheeses! LOL!

So all in all it was an excellent appointment. Now we're on to picking out names and setting up the nursery! All more fun then a barrel of monkeys!

To boob or not to boob?

For those who may not want to know about my internal struggles with a sort of personal issue (read: guys that don't want to hear about breastfeeding whoas), you may want to stop reading here. If you think you may have some advice for me (guys included) then read on.

Before I ever got pregnant Ben and I decided that we would formula feed our children. This was perfectly fine in our minds since we know plenty of children that were bottle fed and have no issues once so ever. I never had the want to breastfeed. I still don't.

So now here I am trying to decide what to do. I have no urge or want to breastfeed my child. BUT I have read all of the benefits that breastfeeding can have not only for the child but also for me (especially with gestational diabetes).

Now I'm torn. I still really don't want to breastfeed or pump but I want to to what's best for me and my baby. It seems like every article I read or every person I talk to (I have not talked to my doctor or our pediatrician about this yet) about this makes me feel horrible for even considering not breast feeding for at least a couple of weeks. I feel even more selfish then I originally did.

It's been weighing heavy on my mind lately. I was just about in tears over it the other day. I feel very helpless with this decision. If I breastfeed, I'm doing something I really don't want to do. If I don't then I'm labeled a bad mom and not looking out for my own health. I really don't care what other people think. These are the struggles going on in my own head.

This is the one area Ben isn't being very helpful. Who can blame him though! He wants to do so much with the baby. He admitted he would like to spend a little more time then I do with the baby each day for a while so he can get that great bond that I'll already have. He will love me no matter what my decision is and he's told me it's completely up to me. Any how there's no real point to this post other then for me to get this off my chest. Feel free to offer me any advice you may have. Maybe it will help guide me.

A girl with a curl

No. We don't know what the sex of the baby is yet. I'm referring to myself.

You see I grew up with ridiculously straight hair. I HATED it! Back "in the day" I would perm it. WOO boy! Those were a bad ideas. Perms weren't so nice back then. I ended up always looking like Sideshow Bob (as my lovely brothers would call me). Then I embraced my straight hair and just let it hang. That was fine and dandy for my alternative/rocker stage. As I got older I didn't necessarily want curls but just a little body to my hair wouldn't look so flat.

A little over 2 years ago I gave in and had another perm (my first in many, many years). Thank goodness perms are so much more forgiving now then they were back in the 90's. I loved my curly hair. It was almost too much curl. It was fun while it last......over a year!

I decided to let my hair grow out and see how it went. Eventually my hair grew out enough that all of the perm was cut out of my hair. So why then did I still have the smallest bit of body? Hmmm. It wasn't enough body to make a big difference but I can tell you it wasn't exactly straight either.

This year I noticed it had been getting harder and harder to keep my hair straight. By the middle of the day I would end up with random ringlets in my hair of very wispy ends. I was starting to get frustrated with it all. I couldn't seem to control my hair anymore.

Well now that I'm pregnant the curl has become much more pronounced. If I tried to wear it straight my hair looks as if it was fuzzy and fried! Last week I found some curl creme I had left from my perm. I put a little in and OMG! The waves I have! I was in shock! I was thinking it was a fluke and maybe the humidity was a little higher that day. So I tried it again. Same curls and lots of them!!

So I called Tracy (she's my awesome friend that does my hair) and had her pick me up something to boost my curls. I'm loving my curls while I have them! I'm not sure if they'll stay but they just might. After all my mom has naturally curly hair. Maybe my curls were just very, very delayed. Thirty years for curls is better then no curls....right? LOL!

So don't be shocked when you see me. I didn't go out and put a bunch of chemicals on my head while pregnant. Those curls have been making their way to my head for about a year or so now. I'm just thinking the baby helped them pop out! Hmmmm.......maybe we are having a girl. After all a boy wouldn't care about his mom's hair. LOL!

Hey! How'd that horse get in there!?!

Today we had our second doctor's appointment. When we arrived I was told my regular doctor was out for a delivery. They had me see another doctor. Knowing that they were short handed we were prepared for a long wait. Thankfully it was only a few extra minutes.

Back we went to do the usual pee test (for sugar & protein), blood pressure reading and weight check. The nurse frowned when she took my weight, looked at my chart and said "What's going on with you?" I replied that nothing was going on, I was feeling fine. She told me that I had lost 5 pounds in the last 4 weeks. Ben and I both replied "Great!" she was not as enthusiastic. Basically I was scolded for loosing weight. We didn't think much of the scolding since I spoke with the doctor about loosing weight a long time ago. When there's an issue I'm sure the doctor will let me know.

So into the room we go. Ben fussed with the chair to get comfortable. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention he hurt his back somehow. We didn't have to wait so too long in the room either. In walked the doctor and he proclaimed "We get to hear the heartbeat today!" So after a few minor checks we put the doppler up to my belly. We heard lots of swishing and then it was there. Our baby's heartbeat. It sounds much more like a horse then a heart. To be specific it sounds like the clanking of coconut halves to make a horse sound. We were told the rate was a strong 165.

Next was question and answer time with the doctor. First question came from Ben. Over the weekend and on Monday I felt like I had gas. The only problem was it was different then gas. It was much more of a rolling feeling. So Ben asked if it was possible for me to feel the baby so soon (at 13 and a half weeks specifically). The answer: yes! It's very possible that I can feel the baby! Wow! Just.......Wow! We're not sure if that was it or not but it was noted on my chart.

The next question was about my sugar readings. The doctor was very open with me on his opinions. He asked about my history and told me what his feelings were on my case. He did admit that gestational diabetes was not his specialty but that was his feelings. We were informed that our high risk doctor is very aggressive in treating gestational diabetes. After some more discussion the doctor advised me to go and talk to the high risk doctor. He said if at any time I'm not comfortable with them then we'll look at getting a second opinion. He was very sympathetic to my concerns and told me they were valid concerns to have. Needless to say having a doctor hear me out and validate my feelings made me feel very good. Once again we were very impressed with our doctor's office. It was nice for the doctor to hear out not only me but Ben as well.

Well that's all I have for now. Oh! In case you didn't notice, we're now in the second trimester! Yay! Off to bed for this momma. Baby needs some rest!

Blog Update

I've added a blogroll of some of my favorite blogs to read. Feel free to check them out. Be on the lookout for additional blogs to the list.

FYI: The order of the blogs on the roll will change based on who updaed their blog last.

Week 13!

Today we start week 13! Woo hoo! Sunday is the start of our second trimester. It's hard to believe it's already been 3 months! The baby is about 3 inches this week or the size of a peach. The eyes and ears are almost to their permanent position (they start out further to the sides).

I have good news on the sugar front. The last few days I've had some awesome readings! I'm very excited about them. I think all of the exercise I've been doing is FINALLY making a difference. I've added walking at lunch everyday and that's been great. Not only is it good for me but I seems to make the day go by a little faster. Getting fresh air is great!

On Tuesday I start my prenatal water aerobics class. I LOVE it!! It doesn't seem all that hard while your working out but boy do you feel it the next day! I can't wait for them to start up the Saturday class!

On the cravings front I've been wanting a Slurpee for about two weeks now. Unfortunately I know that will make my sugar go nuts! I suppose I could get a small one and make Ben drink most of it. LOL! That could be his way of helping.

So not true!

Everyone thinks that pregnant women have clear, glowing, beautiful skin. It's SOOOOO not true! I really need to figure out what I can do to get my pretty skin back!

On a nicer note - My sugar readings have been great today! I'm hoping that all of my exercise is catching up to me! I'm trying not to get too excited but with readings like these it's pretty hard not to!

I'm such a Taurus!

This week has been an interesting week. On Monday I was told by the nurse at the high risk doctor's office that I would probably go on insulin sooner then what I was thinking. Apparently my morning sugar numbers aren't low enough. It's frustrating since I know my after meal numbers are right where they should be.......or so I thought.

Apparently when you're pregnant they want your sugar readings lower then if you were not pregnant. Great! If I had known that I would've made some changes sooner! The nurse also had me very worried about the actual numbers. Thankfully that same day I went to visit a diabetes dietitian. She cleared up some questions I had. Unfortunately it made me doubt the doctor's office.

After giving serious consideration of getting a second opinion I had a breakdown. Let me tell you what: those are easy to come by now-a-days. After a lot of thought and a ton of research I decided to stick with my current high risk doctor. I know the actions we are going to have to take will only be for the best of the baby.

Here's where the Taurus part comes in. I decided that even though I've resigned to the fact I'll be on insulin, I'm going to make sure I'm not on it after the pregnancy is over! I'm watching my carb intake so closely people probably think I'm doing Atkins (I'm so not doing Atkins. I think that diet is a bit too extreme). I'm still working out with Erin. I'm picking up a prenatal water aerobics class (once a week right now but it will be twice a week after Labor Day) and I'm going to be signing up for a Zumba class. To top it off I'm hoping to find some extra money to start taking a prenatal yoga class. Right now that's the most expensive class and money is tight in our house. I'm not helping things by taking all of these class but I HAVE to. The way I look at it it's a matter of living a good life or living a miserable life.

So that's been pretty much the whole saga this week. On a lighter note we took our newest furkid, Ella, in to be spayed. She was just so mean that it had to be done right away. The night of no food or water for everyone the night before her surgery left some pretty amusing stories. Well, maybe not to others but they were hilarious to me. I think I just really needed a good laugh.

On Thursday we entered week 12 of our pregnancy. Many people think that this is the start of the first trimester but it's not. If you divide up the 40 weeks we actually have to go to just over 13 weeks to clear that goal. Not too much longer and we'll be there!

I think nesting is starting to kick in. Yesterday I cleaned the whole main level of the house. It needed it bad!! I'm looking at doing some windows and dusting down the walls soon. Today I took apart my fridge and freezer and gave that a good cleaning. It looks like a brand new fridge on the inside. I have plans to start tackling the basement tomorrow. Later during the week I'm going to clean out the walk-in closet in the spare bedroom (soon to be the nursery). After that my closet and Ben's closet are going to be gone through. My cupboards need to be cleaned and I have some junk drawers that are going to get attacked too. Every hour or so my to-do list gets longer.

This week Ben and I discussed some baby names. He wasn't too thrilled with the ones I've wanted for years. Ben made a suggestion that I wasn't too thrilled about either. So I did a little thinking and some research and I came up with a couple of names. We both really like the options but we're not going to set anything in stone yet. It's a start to even talk about names though. Ben has pretty much refused to even think about them up to this point.

We started making plans for the nursery too. Right now we have two themes in mind. We'll probably decide on one in a few weeks. We are going to be tearing out the walls and ceiling in that room. Right now it's a horrible combination of cork board and paneling. When we get done we'll have nice new walls, a new ceiling and a built in changing table/entertainment center. For our immediate purposes it will be a changing station but it will be suitable to use as a entertainment center in the future. We figure this will save us from spending money on a piece of furniture we won't be using all that often. Plus it gives up a little more floor space in the room.

Well I fee like I've written a book! It's getting late and this momma needs to head to bed. I hope all is well with everyone! Oh! Please feel free to leave me comments! You don't need to have an account. You can do the anonymous or name/url (which you don't have to put a url) options. I love the few comments I get so I thought I would stump for more!