Registering & Getting Ready for Baby

Well,  Baby Elise should be arriving in 25 days.  We've already had the baby showers and we're at the point of doing the final preparations of getting her room and all the needed supplies before she comes home.  I had a great time seeing my family and friends despite the fact that I am not always comfortable being the center of attention.

The showers were the fun part, registering however when you're not around babies all the time can be a stressful experience.  Did I register for all the things I need, did I register for enough or too many big ticket items (keep this in mind for people who go in on group gifts),  will everything I register for be available by the time the shower rolls around?  I decided to register at Babies R Us and Amazon.com.  I have had nothing but wonderful experiences with Amazon, plus we have Amazon Prime, so free two day shipping is always handy.  I waffled between registering at BuyBuy Baby & Target, but settled on Babies R Us because there was no BuyBuy Baby close to my out-of-state relatives.  Thinking back on things, I wish I had registered anywhere besides Babies R Us.

Gestational Diabetes Fun

It's been a month and a half since I was officially diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.  My sugar levels have been pretty normal so far, except for the few cheat days I've been allowed (work picnic, baby shower, Memorial Day BBQ.)   Even when I cheat I haven't been able to make myself be terribly bad, I haven't had a piece of cake since my diagnosis.  I've never really been a sweets craver except for my Americone Dream ice cream, I do miss tortilla chips like crazy though.

I've lost 8 lbs. since being on the low carb diet, which seems crazy to me.   The diet is pretty restrictive, for example, breakfast can't exceed 30 carbs,  two hours after I need to check my blood sugars and then I can have a 15 carb snack.  Lunch and dinner are 40 carbs and my snacks after each meal and blood testing are also 15 carbs.  I have found that if I eat closer to 20 carbs for my late night snack that my fasting blood sugars are below the 94 that the dietitian set the limits for.  I have done some reading and found that if you don't have enough carbs your liver will produce extra for you at night and that can spike the sugar levels and cause an increased reading in the morning.

I do have a list of forbidden foods that I'm looking forward to eating once the baby is here.  I want a rootbeer float and onion rings from A & W (there is one on the way home from the hospital.  I joked with the hubby that I want him to stop off before we get home with the baby.)  I have also wanted sushi, so that is also on the hit list.  Lastly, a large bag of lime flavored Ann Arbor Tortilla Factory chips and a bowl of guacamole and a tall glass (or pitcher) of lemonade would rock my world right now.

My midwife told me that as long as my sugars stay normal that there should be no problem with having the baby as natural as possible, which is the ultimate goal.  I would feel like a failure if I had to have a C section (unless the baby is breech or is in serious danger) or if I had to use painkillers.  Hopefully nothing changes before now and mid August. *keeping fingers crossed*

Views from my garden...

We've had two warm and muggy days here in the Magical Mitten State.   I was able to enjoy the A/C and do some nesting because a co-worker wanted to take my shift.  I also was able to snap some pictures of my garden's spring blooms.  

Eventually what I hope to have is a cottage-look garden.  Lots of foxgloves, columbines, perennials that will spread and fill in for minimum maintenance. I have a long way to go, but I think that by documenting the garden in photos this year will help with planning the mass planting for fall bulbs and next spring's perennial planting.  Hopefully next year I can work on my shade garden where my hammock hangs too. 

Columbine

Please excuse the lack of proper mulching and sad looking yew behind the columbine.  When we first moved into the house, the yews had been gnawed down by the neighborhood deer population.  Thanks to spreading coyote urine around the yews, it looks like they may actually resemble a bush someday.

When asshats attack or people say the darnedest things to you when you're pregnant..

I'd like to say that I think of myself as a pretty mild-mannered person.  I try to be polite to strangers, for the most part if I come into contact with someone I've never met I tend to be quiet and observe.  I guess that's why I've been so floored by some of the ignorant and ridiculous things people have said to me since I began showing my baby bump.

I work in retail, so I come into contact with people all the time.   I don't know if perhaps because I am so available to them they feel so free to say things, or if I have a "humiliate me, I enjoy it" sign on my back.  My first awkward encounter happened during my fifth month, my bump barely visible.  An older man approached me, asked where something was and as I started walking him to the item's location, he said,"Oh you don't need to take me over there in your delicate condition."  I brushed off the comment told him I was tough and took him over to the product.  After he thanked me for helping him he grabbed my stomach and asked when the "blessed event" was.  I normally don't get grabbed like that, if someone is grateful I've helped them I've gotten hugged, but that's the extent of it. I was flabbergasted and if I wasn't at work I probably would have reacted much worse than I did.  I backed away and told him that I had personal space issues and to unhand my unborn child. 

I thought because I didn't have any strange things happen during my sixth month that I was home-free.  Well you know what happens when you assume and boy did I get hit with a barrage of stuff during my first week of month seven.   This merely was just the quiet before the storm.

It's done!

Okay, so it's been a few weeks, but the Pepto Bismol nightmare is now over.

Pink, pink, PINK!  My eyes!

Now here's the more serene color...

 

Ahh, much better. :-)

Excuse the mess on the floor,  I forgot to vacuum before I took the picture.  The next couple of things we need to do involve buying a crib, which is easier said than done, buy and apply the tree decal to the wall, and paint the dresser, desk, and chair.  I can tell that the nesting is starting to set in, I want to clean all the time, which is driving the hubby nuts.

Here is the decal I am thinking about ordering for the room:

I found it on Etsy and I like the fact that it has a growth chart on it.  I'm thinking I'll change the main tree to dark brown, but not sure if I want to have the owl to be pink still or perhaps green or orange.  I guess I should allow some pink in the room.

Glucose nightmare

I had to go in to take my glucose screening test today.  Let me start by letting anyone who hasn't had the "privilege" of drinking the stuff they give you before you go in for the blood draw that it tastes very similar to McDonald's orange drink that has been sitting out for a week and is starting to turn.  This liquid must be consumed within fifteen minutes of starting to ingest it and an hour after finishing it, not eat or drink anything until after you have your blood drawn.  Sounds like a good time, right?   Halfway through the hour of waiting to get my blood drawn I began to get nauseous.  Normally I would combat this with oyster crackers, but alas, eating not permitted.  Luckily the last half hour went by quickly and I was called in so the phlebotomist could do her thing.  She must have noticed that I was uncomfortable because she asked if I was feeling well.  I made it through the blood draw process and then promptly lost my cookies in the parking lot.  I am sure if some random stranger stumbled upon the neon orange splatter in the parking lot they would think some kid went crazy eating pop rocks and then lost it.
 

One of the Extreme Couponers and her "stockpile."  This is one of three rooms she has full of stuff.

I was still feeling crappy when I got home so I vegged out on the couch and took a nap.  I woke up to the television showing Extreme Couponing.  I felt my blood begin to boil and shaking my head at these people.  I am all for people saving money and having adequate supplies of toilet paper and soap.  What really got to me was the woman who bought 300 toothbrushes and what looked to be 200 two liter bottles of soda and no plans to give them away or even use them.  It was merely the thrill of the deal and a sad sense of security of having three rooms filled from floor to ceiling with their stockpiles.  Very few of them bought produce of any kind to feed their families, most of it was processed crap.  I got so worked up I had to change the channel and I can say I would rather watch anything, even 16 & Pregnant than ever watch that hot mess again. 

Cravings

I hate sounding like a stereotypical pregnant person but I'm afraid I'm going to.  I always thought it was cheesy the way people would say that you get particular cravings when you're pregnant.  Just a coincidence, not true, that will never happen to me.  I'm here to admit and tell you, I was wrong!

Around week 14 of the pregnancy, I noticed I was really wanting ice cream a lot more than normal.  I guess I should have prefaced this by stating I am not a sugar-a-holic.  Quite the contrary, I love my salt, which is another pregnancy story for another time.  I would go to the store and pick up a couple of pints of Ben & Jerry's Stephen Colbert Americone Dream and enjoy them wrapped up in my throw on the couch.  Week 16 marked a turning point in the noticing I was suffering from cravings.  I had been eating spicy Indian food like crazy, and maybe another coincidence I found myself craving guacamole and tortilla chips.  According to those baby size tracker websites the wee lass growing inside of me was the size of an avocado.  I felt a little creepy about wanting guacamole so much while the baby was that size, almost feeling like I had just ate my young.


The guac craving seems to have subsided slightly but my intense of love bacon has been coming back to me.  I hadn't eaten it since the beginning of the first trimester because just the smell of it cooking made my stomach churn. My new want to eat all the time but I know I shouldn't is a BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado) sandwich made on a pretzel croissant.   I am proud of the fact that despite these cravings I haven't ballooned up to the size of a house.  I just hope in the last three months of all of this that I am not McMansion size bound.