Thursday, February 28, 2008

What's in a name?

As we come closer to the arrival of the new baby, I came across this cool search in a fellow CTMH consultant's blog. Pretty cool. There are two people in the US with my exact name - first and last. There are 8 with Twinkletoes' name. So far there are none with DinoBoy's or the new baby's name. Just for fun - I'm adding the link to the side of the blog so that you too can have a little bit of fun with it if you've got a few free minutes on your hands! :-)

Have a great day! The weekend is ALMOST here!!!

PS - the icon is screwy. at some point in time I will fix it. :-)

Sunday, February 24, 2008

After the snow

OH I GIVE UP!!! I just had my entire post done - went to highlight the entire thing to change the font size and blip - away it went. No commands can bring it back. I've tried everything...now I have to settle for trying to recreate the entire thing! UGH!

Ok, after the snow, and I'm the only one who hasn't uploaded her pictures yet. Bad Mommy. The way I figure it, I'm pretty lucky that I even took pictures anyhow. The way it went on Friday was like this ... school was cancelled for me and for the kids and the husband was out working. The kids had breakfast and got dressed in all of their snow gear -- only to be put outside in the RAIN. yuk. They definitely made the best of it, playing outside for over an hour until I called them in to dry off and warm up. I was afraid their fingers might fall off from playing so long in cold, wet gloves. They did get to play outside again, after the mess from the sky had basically let up, in the afternoon - when their Dad got home and took them out front to clear the driveway and the walkway. A fun job for them!! Then they even built a snowman out front, behind the pear tree. Maybe I'll take a picture of it today since it is still standing. :-) Of course, they came in crying and pouting because they (he) wanted to play outside for longer even though it was getting dark out. Next year, I'll be sure to get them proper "snow wear" and "snow gloves". Maybe their Dad will teach them how to ski next year so they're not bumps on the log at the lodge with a cup of coffee and a good book -- you know, like me!

Yesterday was my SIL's baby shower!! It was very nice. Unfortunately, although planned well and in advance, they had to call her and tell her that it was her shower and where and when to show up. Why?? She is sick!!! Of all the days to have to get a pregnant butt out of bed and put on a happy face -- man oh man. I give her a lot of credit. I doubt I would have been as gracious and pleasant as she was if I felt like crap! She got tons of stuff!!! I remember our first baby shower - we needed a trailer to get all of the stuff home. It was an exciting time though!! Now, its funny. Although we're excited, bringing a ton of stuff home to our house for the baby isn't appealing. We've got way to much stuff in here now!! I've definitely got to declutter.

We've got a new high chair in the living room, right next to the new stroller and infant seat. In the foyer, a box of clothes that we bought at the store last weekend. In the hall upstairs, the box holding the travel swing. In the kids bathroom, all of the bedding and the mobile to match Twinkletoes' room. Now there is just the simple issue of making room for the baby. In the living room, in the toy room, in the bathroom, and her bedroom (Twinkletoes' room). Why am I so unorganized? Lazy I guess. Even though I get 100 messages a day from the Fly Lady on what to do to get my house organized, I simply click and delete without giving them a second glance. Maybe I should really open them, read them and give them a spin. Only 15 minutes a day from what I understand. I'm sure I spend at least that long yelling at my kids (which I've probably already gone over that timeframe this morning.)

Ok - GD is somewhat under control. Met with the nutritionist on Tuesday. She gave me a bunch of options other than what I was doing wrong (and right) so I think that we're gonna be okay. This will also, I'm sure, help me out with losing the "after baby" weight. Bring on the OBX (Yes, we're going and I'm just kidding - I can't imagine that I'll have the baby weight off by the 4th of July!!) I go back to the endocrinologist on Tuesday for another "check up". Remind me not to have the "less sugar" oatmeal that I had this morning that drove my sugar through the roof. Can't imagine what the "real" stuff would be like.

Have a fantastic day!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

GD

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes, that is only suffered by pregnant women.

In Gestational diabetes, a woman’s blood sugar is higher than normal because of the other hormones pridcued during preganancy interfere with the insulin that is produced naturally.

Gestational diabetes usually becomes apparent during the 24th to 28th weeks of pregnancy, and, in most cases, disappears of its own accord once the baby is born.

Women with gestational diabetes usually do NOT have an increased risk of having a baby with birth defects.

Generally, sufferers of gestational diabetes have normal blood sugar levels during the critical first stages of the preganancy. While there can be complications caused by gestational diabetes, these can usually be managed by careful attention to nutrition and blood sugar levels.

Approximately 3 to 5 percent of all pregnant women in the developed world suffer from gestational diabetes.

2/13 - just a bit of info just in case you didn't already all do your research on g.d. I am now the proud owner of a blood sugar testing kit and have to test three times a day for now. Ugh. No sugar – no cookies – no candy – no real soda – no ice cream. Luckily for all of us this baby is due in just ten short weeks. Hopefully there will be no bloodshed from sugar withdrawl in the meantime.

I go to see the nutritionist on Tuesday, the OB on Tuesday and then the endocrinologist the following Tuesday. Hopefully, I keep all appointment times straight and don't wind up in the wrong doctor's office. (Not that the trip to the endocrinologist's office was a walk in the park - geezoman - those women have got to find new jobs where they can be nasty to other people!!!)

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Fish and Hermit Crab

I've been so worried about myself that I forgot to post that our "boardwalk fish" - a blue and red beta fish from two years ago - finally died. FINALLY. We noticed before Christmas that it had started to grow some sort of tumor on its stomach and it just grew and grew and grew and grew. Over two months this fish lived with this tumor. Finally on Thursday it took its last breath. It definitely was a trooper. Who'd have "thunk" that a fish that DinoBoy won on the boardwalk two summers ago would have survived the ride home from the beach, let alone two years in our house??

On the flip side - Twinkletoes' hermit crab kicked the bucket this week too. We noticed it last night. She wasn't too upset (like DinoBoy was about "fishy") - she just wanted to know when we could go to the pet store to get a new one. She did help Dad bury the hermit crab next to the fish -- we've got quite the pet cemetary going on in our front yard (if we put them in the back, I can only imagine which dog would dig them up and EAT them first - eggghk!)

Today, we took a break from me working after church and went for a ride to the pet store. I had my fingers crossed that they wouldn't sell hermit crabs in the middle of winter - they did. Fortunately, Twinkletoes didn't want an "army" crab (the one who looked the liveliest in the bunch was in a green and white/tan shell) so she grabbed a couple of guppies to put into DinoBoy's tank. DinoBoy got three (he calls them a "herd") neon fish (tetras) and two albino cory's (kind of like a catfish). They all survived the ride home! Which is pretty cool considering when we left for the store it was 43 degrees outside and when we got home it was in the low 30's. Brrrr. Now, three hours later, we have a happy tank once again. (for now - the fish all have a 14 day "live" guarantee - who wants to take a dead fish back to the store??)

Wish us luck - so far, they've both decided that I can continue to feed the fish in the morning when I let the dogs out - like I did with the Beta. Hopefully it will continue to be this easy but with these two, I doubt it.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Just breathe ....

Ok - we have an appointment with the endocrinologist on Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. I've been told that this doctor will probably refer me to a dietician that specializes in diabetes treatment and management. I'm kind of confused. I don't feel any different than I did - if I'm "sick", shouldn't I have some type of external symptoms? The only thing I'm feeling, besides scared, is angry!!! And I should be happy that the doctors and tests caught this right? How can I fail a one hour GTT one week and pass it the next? If I were just given a repeat of the one hour test, I'd have passed it. But with the three hour test, I failed only the two and three hour portions of it.

And, there is so much conflicting information on the internet on "what" to do - but there are no specifics. So - what do I do in the meantime but get more and more frustrated? I've tried to cut out as many extra carbohydrates and sugars as I could -- I'm an ice cream and bread FREAK -- so this is hard! Harder than starting and sticking to weight watchers. At least in that, they give you the flexibility to "cheat" and enjoy some of the things you love. I'm thinking that with this diet that I'll be on, there will be none of that. But - since who knows when I will actually get to see a dietican, I don't know that for sure.

I guess if CRANKY is one of the "symptoms" of having GD, I've got it and I've got it bad!

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Gestational Diabetes

I guess we'll all be learning a bit more about Gestational Diabetes in the next ten or so weeks. The reason? I flunked my second glucose tolerance test last week. The big one - the three hour one. What I don't understand at this point is: I failed my one hour test by three or four points. With this new test, the doctor's office advised that I passed the fasting portion of it, I even passed the one hour portion of it but I failed both the two and three hour portions of it. How can that be? How can I fail a one hour test one week and pass it the next? Doesn't make any sense to me.

Now, I am sitting here, waiting for the endocronologist to call me back to tell me they were able to rearrange a schedule somewhere so that I can get into their office asap. When I first called, they told me the first available appointment is April 30. That is one week after the baby is due to arrive. A little too late. So - my test results were faxed to his office yesterday afternoon so that he could see that I really did flunk the test and am in need of his services asap. I think that I will have to see a dietican too. Ugh.

From what I have been reading (trying not to do too much research - too much information will probably make me a bit more neurotic) I will have to follow a strict diet and exercise program until the baby arrives and then some. I think that this can only benefit us both - while in utero and after she arrives. Maybe it will help me get back to my pre-pregnancy weight sooner.

Only time will tell. Any advice is gladly welcomed!!!

Happy Thursday!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

I'm still alive ....

and, planning on going back next year for some reason!!

The weekend crop was fantastic!!! It was held at the Flanders Hotel in Ocean City - not such a bad place!!! We had a one bedroom "suite" I guess is what you would call it. Living room/dining area, small two burner stove/kitchenette/with full fridge, one bath and one bedroom. Wireless internet access from the couch - pretty handy since my cricut was set up on the kitchen table. Food - good food and lots of it. Drinks a plenty - the kid-friendly kind for me (and Ocean City, which is a dry town). The girls got to have their margaritas, mom had her 7&7 and pina coladas - I'm sure Barb had something in her covered container too although I don't know what it was! I was up until after midnight both Friday and Saturday nights -- a big accomplishment for me. And, I was able to get all of my pictures onto pages that I took when we went out on the boat over Labor Day weekend with friends.

Good news = Mommom was released from the hospital into a "home" for rehabilitation. Big steps up these days. She desperately wants to go home but until she is in better shape, the answer is "no". I'm sure she only has so many days at this "home" that her insurance will pay for so she'd better hurry it up and get 100% better soon!

What else? I think that is it for now. Keeping very busy at work and at home - working for the husband. Getting all of the stuff ready for his financial statement compilation next week. Dino Boy is almost finished with wrestling and Twinkletoes starts her "big girl" gymnastics class next week. It's all good!