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6/5/06 Well, this will probably be the last entry for a while. (Sorry for the delay in entries - I was on my parents' couch while the former study's ceiling was being repainted. I got a lot of reading done - but not much web stuff.) Anyway, I think I know what a contraction feels like now. Not as bad (yet) as I thought it would be. I had a bunch of them yesterday around 4, then they slowed down & around midnight I went to bed. I figured that if it was almost time, the contractions would be stronger and wake me up. So I woke up this morning around 5:30 with no baby yet feeling pretty rested.

It's pretty weird - I've been waking up almost everyday this early. It's definitely baby related because before this week - that never could have happened.

So, I'm having some contractions and the Pod feels like it's packing up all of its stuff fir moving day. Wow, is it moving. The room looks pretty awesome/ After I came home from my parents with contractions, my sweet and loving husband miraculously had a second wind and fixed up a few more things in the room, so it just needs a few more touchups and it's complete. Hooray! (That man is going to crash really hard really soon. I'm hoping he'll be awake for the birth!)

Let's see, as far as Dr visits fo, I've seen them all in the past few days. I had a regular checkup (blood pressure hihg...no, wait, it's fine now go in for more tests,) endocrinologists (blood pressure high, no, wait, it's fine now. Eat more carbs,) collected urine for 24 hours and then gave blood (no results yet, but lemme tell ya - that teset was not designed for females!) We met with a pediatrician and thought he and his practice were great (although they forgot to put our name down for the appointment. Should I be worried? )

I had the most lovely bed-resting anniversary ever. I wasn't allowe to go out, so my sweet an dloving husband brought home dinner from the Noodle and (Ack! contraction right now = 6:31) two cards - one for me and and for himself that I could fill out and give him. We watched Sneakers and had a lovely night.

Okay, Baby wants a latte now. Gotta go cuz these are getting a little more painful. Wish us luck!

5/28/06 Baby/Mom Watch: Well, that was exciting! Here's the recap:

Thursday: We went to a regular checkup (boy, I'm glad Gary came to this one!) They took my blood pressure (a few times) and made concerned faces. That combined with a lousy urine test got us sent over to Labor & Delivery (NOOOOOO!!! NOT QUITE READY YET!!!!!!) for more testing and a 90% chance of inducing that night. After many hours of waiting (and blood tests, monitoring & another urine test) we were told that everything was fine, go home - we need your room. My Oby/Gyn who happened to be on duty that night anyway told me to take it easy & be done with work till the baby came. I got permission to do another 1/2 day (to pack up & backup my stuff) and to go on short shopping trips for necessities for when the baby comes for real. So we got home mighty late & I went into work the next morning.

Friday: Work was a little exciting because I was training my replacement (really really fast), recording 3 classes of students for their finals, and trying to backup/packup all my stuff by the time I went for my 1:00 Non-stress test. Oh yeah, EVERYONE called or came in to say goodbye! Well, packing didn't get finished (but I made quite a dent in it) and I planned to finish up over the extended weekend. Then I shot over to the NST (non-stress test for those like me who said huh? the first time they heard that.) I was about 10 minutes late. I would have been there faster, but it's about as far as you can get from the parking garage and I'm not moving so fast theses days. Anyhow, Gary met me there (yay, no work for him!) with a carton of milk (I was starving by then & needed to pump up the blood sugar a bit, so I called him and gave him a head's up. The test went fine & the kid even got the hiccups to show off to its Dad how it can blow up a test. :-) After the hiccups, it got a gorgeous report (hee hee! Makes me laugh everytime!)
Then Gary and I went and had a nice lunch in the coffeeshop. After lunch we went to the Dr's office and had an ultrasound...and they said that we were going back to Labor & Delivery because of "low-normal" amounts of fluid in the amniotic sac (NOOOOO....STILL NOT READY!!!) Luckly, the got my Dr. on the phone who said to take my blood presusre again and get back to her. The blood pressure turned out great, so she changed her order from "take it easy" to bedrest (lying on my side and only getting up to pee) until Tuesday where I'll have another ultrasound & NST. If the fluids go up, then they'll reassess. If they go down or stay the same, they'll probably induce the baby.

So here I am, day 2 (and a bit), lying on my side. I have an amazingly supportive family who have called, brought food, and run really essential errands. Poor Gary seems to be surviving, but it's got to be a bit of a shock to his system to have to do almost everything for me. That, and lying around all day gives me time to think of more things that need to get done.

As far as my daily schedule goes, I wake up, test ketones & blood sugar, give myself insulin, wait for breakfast. eat breakfast & do an hour long fetal kick count, test blood sugar again, wait for a snack, eat a snack, wait for lunch, eat lunch & do another hour long fetal kick count, test blood sugar again, wait for a snack, eat a snack, wait for dinner, give myself more insulin, eat dinner & do another hour long fetal kick count, test blood sugar, give myself more insulin, eat ice cream & go to sleep. As you can see, my days are packed. I keep thinking that I have to go to work in the morning, but that's not going to happen again for a while. Weird. The other weird thing is doing everything on my side. I can't see much & everything is sideways. I guess I'll get used to it, but if I drop anything it's really hard to find again. I'm being a lot more careful now. :-) So, feel free to call or text or email (although I'm worse at replying sideways to email, I still like reading it!) I'll be here.

5/25/06 Baby watch: Okay, okay. I sit corrected. Mom says that I dropped a few days ago and I'm walking funny. I figured that it was because of my feet being puffy. So...We're closer. Weird weird weird. Guess what I just learned? For bouncy seats - the PARENT does the bouncing - not the baby. That makes a lot more sense to me now. ANyhow, the baby is inheiriting a bouncyseat, highchair and swing this weekend. This is cool because I keep reading about how some babies really don't like those things, so don't spend too much money on them. Worst case scenario - if the baby really likes them and I don't, we can get a new one and have the old one as a backup.
Mom watch: Look out for pregnancy brain! So last night I grabbed a new box of test strips beacuse I was running low...and left them beside the other boxes at home. Duh! Now I have to run home before Ben's event this evening (and go to a checkup and get cash and pickup a happy graduation sign and make sure the restaurant exists.) One less thing to do would have been nice. Oh well. I'm sure this will be nothing compared to having a Pod on the outside of my body. My coworker and I were talking about how I'm going to die this summer with dial-up as my connection speed. She may be right. Hmmm...I might as well add that to the wish list! So...Dish + DSL or Comcast Cable? I've heard lousy reviews about Comcast, but Dish? I dunno.

5/24/06 Baby watch: More updates from the non-stress test - I took an informal poll of the nurses and they all like and approve of the choice of Dr. Greis as a pediatrician. The baby is still bopping around, getting hiccups and the like. One of the staff members at my school said I've dropped. I have? I can't tell. I kinda thought it would feel uhm...lower. She might be wrong. Luckily, I have 3 more checkup/tests this week.
Mom update: Maybe Saturday wasn't so much of a fluke. I had leftovers last night and my numbers were high again. I think I'll stay away from twice baked potatoes. I also accidentally skipped snack. Maybe that screwed it up, too. Speaking of snacks...I think I'll have one.

5/23/06 Baby watch: I have a gorgeous baby - at least according to the non-stress test nurse. When I asked if she could tell if the ears stick out too much (a big worry in my family) she gave me a funny look. Anyway, she hoped all of her tests went as beautifully as ours did this morning. Yaay, baby! A lovely mural got painted last night in the room formerly known as a study. I can't belive they did it in 3 hours. It looks great, and everyone will have to come visit it someday.
Mom watch: So, if you happen to be putting large amounts of alcohol on your skin in the same place, say, 3 times a day, that may cause your skin to dry out and HURT LIKE THE DICKENS when someone tried to stretch there.Yeah, it took me a little while to figure that one out. After a generous application of lotion (thanks for the advice, Mom) I'm feeling much better. I called in my insulin results and I don't have to add anymore...yet. They're chalking up Saturday's numbers to a "glitch."
Today I've been cleaning my desk. You can't tell, but I have been. My garbage can is full full full. Now...what to do for dinner...?

5/22/06 Baby watch: Oww owww oww! Someone is hurting me. I guess that means that he/she is healthy and doing well, but OWWW!! The appointment went well on Saturday. I still have a very average baby. :-) Yay, baby! Keep up the good work. We're going to be checked on FIVE times this week by Friday. (2 non-stress, 1 OBGYN, 1 endocrinology & 1 ultrasound.) Oy. My poor work. We have an appointment to meet the pediatrician Sat. June 3rd (Okay, baby, you have to wait till after that to come out, alright?) We have a carseat & an extra base & the playpen are on their way. The muralists are working tonight and I've pre-registered with insurance & the hospital. Am I forgetting something?
This weekend my lovely husband read some children's stories to the Pod. I married a pretty cool guy. I actually fell asleep during them, but I'm sure the Pod listened. (He/She seems to stop moving while his/her father talks to him/her.
Mom watch: Well, Friday night fast acting insulin was added. That means 3 shots a day. I thought they were making my side sore till I realized that's not where I'm giving myself shots. Duh! Hey, baby, be nice, okay? Numbers were up, but they're calming down now. I call in tomorrow to get my new insulin assignment. (I bet they'll add more fast acting insulin...and maybe a little more slow in the morning.) OH! This weekend I went to Walgreens to get more syringes for the fast acting insulin, but apparently it hadn't been called in by the Dr's office. (sigh) I've been thinking though...If I can scam another pack of freebies from their office the next time I go in, I think I'll make it till the baby is born without having to buy any. This could work out.
I'm mostly packed for the hospital. I need to do one load of laundry, shop for certain undergarments, and prepare my mix CD! (I'm working on that now.)

5/19/06 Part II: Baby rocked the non-stress test! What a cool kid. There was a new lady that was learning about giving NSTs and she did well, too. :-) I had my first contraction (that I know about) during the NST. Okay, they told me that I was having one. I'll have to belive them. They said I've been having them, I just don't know about it. It's fine - it's the ones that I can feel that count. Oh, I heard back from the endocrinologist - doh...I have to add fast acting insulin to my life. 3 shots a day total - 2 slow acting ones and 1 fast acting one. (Which to me is still better than mixing cuz I'm worried about air bubbles in the syringe.) This evening will be my first attempt. Wish me luck!

5/19/06 Baby watch: I'm a bad bad Mom...but it's not my fault! I had the hiccups last night for (it seemed like) an hour! Of course, it was in the middle of the night. Poor baby! That can't be a fun ride. So, this morning the Pod made one half-hearted wiggle, then has been pretty quiet since. I think he/she/it is making up for the lost sleep (which is kinda nice, actually. Now if only I could make up for the lost sleep, too!) Non-stress test this afternoon. It's our second of the week. I hope this one goes as well as last time.
Mom watch: Hooray! Decision made - Oxford Blue is going to be the pack n play color. Both Gary and I liked that one best. I bonded with Graco again last night (this time with the catalogue phone number) and they were very nice and very unhelpful. Yep, you can't actually order things from the catalogue even though they have operators standing by 24 hours a day. Would I like a Little Tykes catalogue? As far as the diaper organizer goes, I don't NEED it, so it's going on my wishlist. I'll pick up a carseat today or tomorrow. All that's left is a pediatrician. Groovy.
Last night I had my first low blood sugar episode. (My numbers were really wonky - high then low - weird.) Lemme tell ya, I still like Smarties. I can't wait to go back to them. They worked really well. I'm calling in my numbers after this, so I'll find out what's going on...maybe.

5/18/06 Baby watch: Hmmm...Pod's slowing down. Must be running out of room. I've heard about this. He/she/it still does ths stretching business that feels funky, but less of the full body moving around. Dr.appointment tonight got moved till Saturday morning because she's delivering a baby. Fine by me!
Mom watch: High-ish number today at lunch...which kept getting higer and higher - then dropped suddenly. Yeah - I thought I had a hang of this, but maybe not. I'll call in tomorrow anyway. Speaking of calling, I called Graco at lunch to put in my order for stuff to be delivered to Mom & Pop's. They told me that you can't order that stuff over the phone - I just have to find a store that sells it. ...but they're in the catalogue you sent me!! Whatever!! Then they told me the accessory that I wanted won't fit the playard even though I have an email from them saying that it will. WHATEVER!!! So this weekend I may go shopping to real live stores and buy stuff and drop it off at Mom & Pop's.
At class last night (CPR & first-aid) they mentioned that it may be a 3 week wait until you can get someone to check if the carseat is installed properly. PANIC! I called the fire department today (who told me to call the police) who told me that they don't take appointments & it's first come - first serve - if you pick the day that one of the two officers that check seats is on duty. One of them works the midnight shift. Luckily, I'm awake then! I think that will work out - once we get a carseat. I'm going to buy it from Right Start in Highland Park because I saw the model that I want there. (No one else had the exact model on display.) The playard will come from Baby Depot...I think. They have the accessory that I want (diaper organizer) and an okay pattern (Mystic model 9451.) Oooh or $10 more for a nicer pattern (and maybe a carrying case? I don't see it included in the Mystic one...) from Amazon.com. I'd still have to get the diaper organizer at Baby Depot. Just checked - they both have carrying bags. Aarrgghh!
Tonight I get to see my ...my...grandmother's sister. :-) Title her what you want - she's just cool. She's in town for a lousy reason (see entry about visiting relative in hospice) but it's great to see her anyway! It is funny that a year or two ago she said that she wouldn't leave her Florida climate & she's been up twice in the past few years. (It's fun to visit her in Florida, too.)
Our dishes are done, the garbage & recycling went out & I married a wonderful guy 'cuz I didn't do any of it. (I'm slightly suspicious of the woman he chose to marry that hasn't done much work recently, but I hear growing a baby takes a lot of energy.) Anyhow, the house is looking more presentable. I think I'll head there now and try and make some more progress...Oh, hey! I went grocery shopping last night!! I did do something! (But I didn't do most of the food putting away.)

5/17/06 Baby/Mom watch: Hey, I'm off-center! I lump out more on the left side than the right. The Pod is growing significantly...which caused a major freakout last night. Around midnight last night it just got a lot harder to breathe. Phooey. It does explain why I've been ravenous these past few days. So I hung out in our new glider until I felt better. Hooray for Gary for assembling it last night! Good timing.
Last night's accomplishments? I delgated dishwashing. That was about all that got done...not that it got done, I just delegated it and I'm not going to worry about it any more. Oh! Bondingtime. I got to hang out with the G-man. :-) That was lovely. Tonight is our last baby class - First aid & CPR. Garbage & recycling need to go out tonight so they're empty when the in-law gang arrive this weekend. That - and laundry. Sheets & towels. I wonder if I can get another pair of overalls before class tonight...although I was called a farmer this morning. Grrrr...Mr. G, you're lucky I luff you! Baby checkup tomorrow evening with Dr. Kim...Okay - Pediatrician options...
Also - freaking cool link I don't want to forget: Authorized link

5/16/06 Baby watch: The baby kicked butt today at the non-stress test. I think it's been studying. It started with a "beautiful" wiggle, rested, then repeated 3 more times. We were done in record time. :-) Did you know its resting heart rate is 145?
Mom watch: I'm slowing down. At my top speed - I'm being passed by turtles. It's very frustrating. My numbers are going okay, though. That's a plus.
Today I've been coming up with a list of food I'd like to eat. Here's my list: Authorized link.
There's a no assembly required glider in our livingroom in pieces - big pieces, but pieces none the less. I'm very excited to have it. It's super-comfortable.
Must clean bedroom, grocery shop, do dishes, find pediatrician, order Graco furniture, do laundry, put away laundry...(is it nesting if I don't want to do it, but it has to be done?)

5/15/06 Baby watch: The Pod is still moving around. That's a good sign...it's also waking me up at night a bunch in regards to our bladder disagreements. (It still thinks bladders=prefectly good furniture.) I hear I'm getting prepared for life with the baby on the outside, but I don't think I'll be awake enough to remember.
Mom watch: This weekend we hit baby furniture stores & picked out a glider. Gary & the Pod had a poking match with me in the middle. Hey, cut that out! Sheesh.
Tonight I'll pick up the glider & visit family in hospice & have dinner with my family. Right now I'm making a playlist of songs to bring with me to the hospital. They have to put up with my choices 'cuz I'm the one going to be in labor. Ha! At lunch I had crazy high numbers - but I had a drink of water, washed my hands & the numbers dropped dramatically. I think I'll try doing that in the the first place next time...if I remember.
Ooh! No mixed insulin yet...but it's starting to look inevitable. The couch (and old carpet) got out thanks to my parents showing up in their fancy clothes. Boy, they're nice! That and Mom brought me steak & spud leftovers. (I can eat that!) Yay! Dang I'm hungry again &...well...other stuff that doesn't need to be posted...again.

5/12/06 Baby watch: We have an average sized baby! Hooray! (Oooh! It's wigging out right now. Time for a snack.) Anyhow, the baby looks good, so I'm happy.
Mom watch: Ron of Japan was awesome!!! My plan to ease up on the rice was unnecessary cuz I had great numbers! AND I was so hungry, I ate everything...and some of Gary's, too. I hear that insulin and growing babies make you hungry - so I got hit with a double whammy.
I turned in my get out of jail free paperwork today & I'm off to an endocrinology appoinment. I'll find out about if I have to take mixed insulin or not. I'd rather not. It's a pain involving syringes and other gross stuff. Tonight the couch has to magically go out for junk day. I'm not sure how that's going to work....

5/11/06 Baby watch: Today we get another (the last?) ultrasound. I bet it will move during the ultrasound. That'll be exciting. I almost want to know if it's a boy or a girl because they have a really pretty Graco pattern for girls...but Lynn pointed out that unless I'm planning to only have girls...it's best to stick with gender neutral stuff anyway. She's pretty smart.
The Mom watch: The baby, Gary, & I get to go to Ron of Japan. Last time we had a Ron of Japan adventure, I swelled up like a balloon the next day. I wonder what will happen if I'm already swollen. Has anyone ever exploded before? I think it's worth the experiment. ROJ - here we come!my numbers have been kinda high today. It kinda stinks cuz I was looking forward to the entire ROJ experience. I guess I'll go light on the rice...and maybe test just before hand in case my numbers have gone down.

5/10/06 Baby watch: The baby partied all night long. Unfortunately, I was the designated body, so I had to be up all night, too. Oh well. I hear it's good experience.

5/9/06 Baby watch: The baby moved a lot this morning. Then it got the hiccups. Now it is napping.

Shopping <--- authorized link

Local info for those interested in visiting <--- authorized link

Helping <---authorized link