Lots of stuff, and not really that much stuff.

I had 2 baby showers, one was given by the ladies of the church, and then I had a slightly more fun one given by 2 friends. 

The first one was very plain,  we had angel food cake with strawberries, fruit and cheese trays, I opened gifts, held them up and everyone ooh'ed and ahh'ed, and then we we all went home. I had several people tell me how nice a shower it was. (this is me smiling and shaking my head). The invitation even said no kids. It was just older ladies. no games, no sillies. Lots of gifts! it took about 1 1/2 hours to open them all.

The second shower was thrown by my friends. There were kids, there was pin the sperm on the egg, there was who can drink the juice out of a bottle fastest (the 7yo won that competition), there was a fruit baby, a small watermelon cut into the shape of a basket with a melon-baby with grape eyes and a pacifier. Only a handful of ladies, but much more fun! 

These 2 events left me with lots of gifts, all of them in bags. So I had MSJ put all of the gifts into our extra bedroom. except that Dad is coming tonight to help MSJ finish the floor, and he needed a place to sleep. So all weekend I've been sorting through all of the gifts. A little at a time.

My stamina is shot to hell, so doing laundry is too much for me, and MSJ is so busy with so much that it's too much. There's a lady at church who really wants to help, so I kept a few things for us to wash here, sort of sentimental items, and the rest, a full laundry basket and a medium-ish box, full of clothes, towels, washclothes, burp clothes, and blankets, to this lady so that she can wash them all. That way at least when little man comes we have clothes for him to wear.

MSJ also went yesterday and bought the pack and play with the bassinet, so little man also has a place to sleep.

It seems like a LOT of stuff, but really, it's not that much stuff. It looks like a lot of clothes, but really, it's not very much. 

Man, I hope we're ready for this.

35 weeks~

I'm such a bad blogger.

Here I am, on bedrest, well, it's actually couch-rest at home, and I'm still not blogging.

So far it's been an eventful pregnancy. I'm gestationally diabetic, which I've been controlling well with diet, but my fasting numbers were a little too high for Dr. H, so I take glyburide, but it bottoms me out so I can only take it every other day, and only with LOTS of protein during the day, otherwise my sugar drops below 50, and that feels yucky! shaky and sweaty and hot and cold, can't concentrate, it sucks.

About 2 weeks ago my blood pressure began slowly going up. I was told to start tracking my blood pressure at home, and if it got above a certain level I was to call. I did a 24 hour urine collection (oh boy!) to test for protein, to test for pre-eclampsia/toxemia. it was negative, but Doc kept an eye on my blood pressure. then last week I gained 8lbs in a week, and my blood pressure spiked at my appointment, so the doc put me in the hospital for 24hr observation and another 24 hour urine collection. still no protein, but was sent home on modified bed rest. On Tuesday i had a bad reading, so she sent me home on full bed rest, and ANOTHER 24hr urine collection. I turned that in this morning, so hopefully it will still be negative, but my blood pressure is still rising. the doc gives me about 2 weeks before she thinks I'll either go into labor on my own, or my blood pressure will force an induction.

I'm at 35 weeks tomorrow, everyone's goal is to make it to 37 weeks. It's not great, but the longer peanut is inside me the better it will all be.

So I'm being a good girl, sitting on the couch with my feet up, watching tv and reading and being bored. Ladies from the congregation have offered to come sit with me, but since I'm not in that great a mood, sitting with someone that I have to be nice/kind to isn't really that enticing. 

I'll just have to take it a day at a time and see how next week goes. I have dr appointment this afternoon, and then 2 next week again.  No guarantees, but I'll try to post again soon.

My poor husband!

Perhaps, for some of my IRL friends, this may be TMI. This is a post about sex.

Poor MSJ.

With the pregnancy I have zero sex drive. ZERO. NONE. no interest at all. It doesn't hurt or anything, but I don't really have any interest in it.

Normally I have a pretty active sex drive, and that has worked well for both of us. And I'm not necessarily opposed to sex, I'm just not going to seek it out. That puts MSJ at a bit of an impasse. He wants sex, but he knows I'm just going along for the ride, I'm getting nothing out of it. That feels sort of wrong to him, like he's using me, and that isn't sitting well with him. He wants me to be actively engaged, and I try, but really, I'm not.

On Sunday he tried seducing me, but it was so obviously not working. Mostly he was just annoying me. That made me laugh, which made him sigh. I told him I loved him, and that it would get better after I have the baby.

So for now, he's having to make do with rather perfunctory sex, I'm involved merely as a spectator. It's a bit disheartening for both of us.

Someone please tell me my sex drive will return post-partum!

I don't understand...

I don't have a problem with hunting. I really don't.

I understand hunting deer or elk for food, and antlers, but most use the meat, so I understand that.

I understand hunting predators if you're a rancher. I don't always agree with it, but I understand the motive to protect your investment. I really hate hunting wolves and large cats because mostly they don't take out cows and sheep, but if they are preying on your livelihood, I do understand.

I'm not a huge fan of hunting for furs, but I understand that, too. You have to make a living, and people want furs. Hell, I want a fur coat, I can't condemn someone for making a living killing things that I want turned into a coat.

But seriously.

A zebra?

You're not going to eat it. You're probably not going to use the skin. The most you're probably going to do is cut the head off and mount it on the wall.

And how hard is it, really, to take down a zebra? And I KNOW you didn't go to africa, so that means you took it down in a hunting park. With a fence. Now, minor props because you used a bow, but still. A Zebra??? You could have accomplished the same thing by waiting for one to die naturally, then cut the head off and mount it.

I just don't understand...

It's been how long??

I'm not sure how that happened. Time goes by fast.

I'm 26 weeks pregnant. only 14 more to go!

I found out 2 weeks ago that I have gestational diabetes.

My hands have also started swelling, which is often an indication of preeclampsia, but my blood pressure is still low, so they don't know what that means. It might just be that I'm retaining tons of water (which I am, I'm wearing the 15-20mmHG diabetic compression socks), and that the hand thing is an extension of that. Still, it makes me worry.

I thought I was handling it all ok, but yesterday I fell apart in the OB's (Dr. H) office, so I guess maybe it's stressing me out more than I think. Based on a couple of my fasting sugar numbers, there's a good chance that I will have to go on medication before the end of the pregnancy. yay. because I need MORE medication!

It's a big pain in the butt. I have to take my blood sugar 2 hours after each meal, and 1 fasting. That's 4 times a day. I usually do the fasting one first thing in the morning. I have a nutritionist, but I'm not sure about her. The diet she put me on increased my calories by about 250/day, and she added more carbs to my diet. Really? Because apparently, I wasn't eating enough carbs! I know, sounds crazy to me, too. Which is one reason I'm not sure about her.

She asked me to track my meals and sugar. So, little miss OCD that I can be sometimes, I found an online tracker and starting recording my sugars and diet. Then I printed the reports and emailed them to the nutritionist, and took a copy of them to my ob/gyn. She was so excited and impressed to get all the information. I thought everyone did that, but I guess I'm a bit of an outlier on this.

Anyway, fell apart in the OB's office yesterday. Dr H asked my worst case scenario, which for an older mom with gestational diabetes and the potential for preeclampsia (though slight at this point), and the worst case scenario is a still-born. Makes me cry if I think about it too long, so that's the last time I'll even mention it. She reassured me, and told me that for the next few weeks she'll have me come in once a week to make sure baby is still doing ok. The next worst thing is a C-section. I can't express how much I don't want a C-section. I'm willing to do a lot, a LOT, to prevent that. Including exercising up to the day of delivery, and sticking my stupid fingers 4 times a day.

Dr. H also referred me for a second size scan ultrasound. (Did I mention we're having a boy? No? Oh, we're having a boy!). He was in the 93rd percentile for size at the first ultrasound, and Dr H wants to make sure he's still on the right track. I'm guessing that if he starts to get too big they might induce early. But medical induction (by all accounts) hurt a lot worse than natural induction. And then maybe I won't be able to do the whole no-med thing.

MSJ and I went to our first Bradley Method class last night. It was good, I'm not sure I agree with all of it, but it seems like good information, and anything that will help before the labor is good. That means I have some exercises I have to do each day. I figure since we're paying for it, I'm going to learn something. If absolutely nothing else, learning to relax should help the anxiety I've been having lately. Plus, the lady wasn't personally offended that I still might consider pain relief if the labor goes on for too long. She's also a lactation consultant, so that's a good resource to have on hand.

I haven't really gained any more weight. I gained about 20lbs in the first 4 months, but I haven't really gained since then. That makes me happy, and as long as peanut is still growing well then all the better. He can suck all that excess fat off of me.

Dr H told me I had to stop CrossFit, said it was a little too high impact. We had modified it down, but she still said no. So I went to a YMCA that's not too far from us, and I've begun swimming. Although it might be raining today, so I might not get to swim. However, because I am sometimes a smart little cookie, I also have workout gear in a separate bag so I can walk/run/weights if I can't swim. They have childcare starting at 6 weeks, so it will be good after peanut is born, too.

I guess that's it for now. I hope I'll be back soon.

'57 Chevy Bel-Air

The whole time I was growing up, my mom wanted my dad to try to restore an old car. Not for her, but she always thought that dad would enjoy it, taking something old and making it new again, and he always liked tinkering with cars and stuff. But we always had stuff going on, so dad never did. Mom gave up after awhile, though she did bring it up again after he retired and recovered from the cancer stuff. But Dad just wasn't ever really interested in it.

Not long after mom passed away, my dad found an old car and had it restored, 'Because momma always wanted to have an old car restored!' Well, sort of, mom always thought that Dad would get a kick out of restoring a car, not that mom really wanted a restored old car. But regardless, dad found an old junker and had a local auto restorer work on it.

It turned out beautifully, a candy-apple Red 1957 Chevy Bel Air. Dad is so proud of this car, he got a little plaque that said it was in memory of mom, and he took a picture of mom from high school and has it hanging from the rear view mirror in a frame. He took MSJ and me for a ride in it in Memorial Day.

He told us that he has entered it into 2 car shows, he won 7th place in 1 and 3rd place in the other, and he has plans to enter it in several more. In the end, having this car has opened dad's world a little, he's going out and meeting people, interacting and making at least acquaintances, possibly friends. He is just a whole other person than he was after mom died. I know that we won't ever forget mom, but I'm glad to see that both dad and I have gotten past the worst of the mourning. I can't really speak for my bro, since we don't really speak anymore. But that's a whole other post.

Klutz strikes again.

Last night I went to get groceries. Upon unloading the groceries at home, I had my hands and arms full, but I managed to get the last bag out of the car. I didn't want to have to come back out, so I used my first 2 fingers on my right hand to try and pull down the back gate of my car. I felt something snap in my wrist, and it hurt! But I didn't give it too much thought.  Until this morning, when I can hardly put any pressure on the wrist at all. I bought a wrist brace to help, but since I'm retaining so much fluid right now, my right hand is all swollen and puffy compared to my left hand. It's sort of funny, but a little painful!

Hello, a small rant, and then 2 stories

So, lately every day I've had something I could blog about, but I seem to have lost the discipline I used to have about this blog. I have decent things to write about, but I'm having a hard time sitting down and writing them.

This is my complaint about the country, and even the developed world right now. No Discipline. We do the easy thing. Congress passes short-term transportation band-aids instead of sitting down and doing the hard work of coming up with a bi-partisan, practical, budget friendly bill. Families are eating fast food because it's easier than finding recipes, making a list, going shopping, cooking meals, and then eating the left-overs. We just put things on our credit cards instead of saving money for a project and then not overspending on said project. It's too easy to do the easy thing right now. And there's no incentive to do the hard thing, the financially smart thing, the morally correct thing.  The Right thing.

Ok, off the soapbox.

In funny stuff, yesterday my husband was mowing the yard and brushed past the joint where the city water connects into the house. And Snapped the pipe off clean. Yes, my husband broke our water yesterday. With his mom and grandparents arriving on Wednesday. He thought he fixed it, but when he turned the water back on the pipe into the house hadn't just snapped, it had cracked. Too far into the wall to be fixable from the outside. So the plumber came in this morning and put in a whole new joint (is that the right word??). Yay! I told him, several hours later when he had regained part of his sense of humor, that I was really glad that it was him and not me! He would have never, ever let me forget it. He laughed, and agreed.

Along that same vein, I noticed on saturday at 3:30pm (the vet closed at 3) that Howler had an open sore on his belly between his back legs. So this morning I had to take him to the vet. $300 later, he has a puncture wound, but they didn't do an x-ray (which is ok, those are expensive!) so they aren't 100% positive it didn't puncture the abdominal wall. They put a drain in and we'll let it heal as an open wound, and we'll hope for the best. He's on heavy antibiotics, an e-collar to keep him from messing with the drain line, and house-bound for several weeks. In the summer. With the in-laws coming. Yay!

Can you keep a secret?

Here we go again.

I'm a little over 7 weeks now. Already my feet swell up mightily some days, I have had a couple of days where you actually couldn't tell where my leg ended and where my foot began. And out of breath, oh my gosh. I walk more than 20 yards and I have to stop and catch my breath. And those inches I'd lost, they're slowly creeping back on. But in a good way.

I'm out of most of my pants, and I needed to go buy more, but I looked online and you can buy lots of maternity clothes cheap, so I'm buying maternity pants 2nd (or 3rd or 4th, whatever) hand rather than on new non-maternity ones that I will still outgrow in a few months.

I am hesitant to put this on here. I feel like I'm tempting Fate, and those were some bitchy gods.

Besides, MSJ and I mutually decided to not tell anyone until the end of the first trimester. That's 2 more weeks, and I won't make it that long. As it is I have so much going on inside my head that I had to get some of it out.

So IRL FRIENDS:: DO NOT LET ON THAT YOU KNOW THIS INFORMATION!! No random excited squeals, no excessively long hugs, no knowing winks or questions or advise or anything.
 
I told MSJ last night that I wasn't sure if buying maternity clothes was a good idea, because if we lose another one it will have been a waste of money. He said he thought that it wouldn't be an issue, that we would be fine. So I'm placing my trust in his Faith, because mine is pretty weak at the moment.

I'm trying not to worry,

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life...Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6:25a, 27, 34

or be terrified every day

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9

but some days it's hard. Every ache, every little cramp, every strange feeling, every time I need to go poop, and my first thought is OH NO!

Once we get past the 9 week period I think I'll get better, I lost our first one at about 9 weeks.

Are you kidding me?

Some Questions:

1) If it's the middle of the night, and you come to a red light, do you stop and wait for it to turn green?

2) Is it ok to engage in physical assault a person if they do physical damage to your possessions?

3) Is it ok to break a law you don't agree with? Specifically regarding underage drinking?

I don't really like my lab manager. He's an ass. A huge ass.

I haven't liked him for awhile. I finally realized WHY when he let a door close on me after he walked through it. He knew I was there, too. RUDE! No Manners!!

Answers from above, re my rude manager:

1) Of Course not! Laws are mean to be a guide, and that if it's a dumb law you don't have to follow it.

2)  Regarding a story he told, a friend's car was side-swiped by someone, he chased them around Large City, cornered the car, went to the other car and punched the guy a couple of times.  !? WHAT???

3) He didn't see a problem with this one. Again, You don't have to follow a law if it's stupid. I said something about being responsible for other people's children getting drunk, and that if I knew another parent was allowing my child to get drunk, and it was a habitual thing, I might get the police involved. It would depend on the situation, but it is NOT ok to let kids drink, even 16yo's, mostly because it was ILLEGAL. Period. Beginning and End.

All in all, I don't like this man.