Sunday, November 28, 2010

The holidays have begun!

I do not feel at all prepared for this holidays business. I imagine things will feel differently next week. Speaking of, I am SO excited to be done with work soon! My last day at the high school is Friday and I have no idea how I am going to get through the next week of school. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my class and my mentor teacher but I am so tired. That and I am down to three shirts that are long enough to cover my growing child.

Thanksgiving was nice and relaxing. First of all, it was wonderful having the whole week off. I got a lot done, including submitting my final teaching portfolio, grocery shopping, a small amount of Christmas shopping, and lots of cooking. (Maybe too much cooking, it took two days to clean my kitchen and now I am having to clean out my overstuffed refrigerator as well.) Thanksgiving morning was also our anniversary so I made a batch of half cream cheese iced, half orange glazed cinnamon rolls for our anniversary breakfast while Mac made sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving with his parents later that day. After exchanging gifts (Mac had my wedding dress cleaned and persevered!) we got dressed and headed out to Aledo for Thanksgiving lunch with Alan, DeAnna, Maggie, Peyton, John, Carol, Nikki, Kelly and Kaitlyn. It was a FULL house. Kelly and Nikki brought their new, adorable, puppies with them so between them and the babies there was a lot of giggling and cuteness going on all afternoon. Around 4:00 we headed to Corinth to have dessert with Mom, Rock and Beth. That was nice, especially when Mom, Beth and I went into the study to talk and laugh like teenagers.

One would think that being pregnant on Thanksgiving would be pretty rad; eating as much as you want with no regrets. Let me tell you, it's not. I actually have a hard time eating very much lately, it always feels like my stomach is in my throat. I am also finding that my blood sugar changes very rapidly these days which means I can go from fine to starving in about 5 minutes time. I only ate a little bit of lunch on Thanksgiving and then nothing at my mom's house, which I ended up paying for all night long with severe stomach, leg and foot cramps accompanied by the nausea of very low blood sugar and extreme heartburn. I am doing my best to stay on top of eating now and trying to eat more little snacks more often.

I don't think I am very good at nesting, I am too tired! It took me all day to dust because I kept taking breaks to rest. This may be because I am a little anemic. I have a doctor's appt tomorrow afternoon so maybe I will find out if I am still anemic. Luckily I have Mac around. He put up the Christmas lights and the tree this week AND he is upstairs painting the nursery as we speak.

Oops, it's almost 6 and I need to eat dinner. Wish me luck at my appt tomorrow!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Test results

Woowoo! Got my gestational diabetes test results back today and I am in the clear. What a relief! I am however, anemic. What are the odds of Snickers bars being involved in rectifying this situation?

Friday, November 12, 2010

GD test

Gideon has been super active the last couple of days and it is obvious that he is getting stronger. Mac felt him last night and agreed that he is getting feisty and I occasionally feel like there is a dance party going on in my body that I wasn't invited to.

Today we went to the doctor for my GD (gestational diabetes) test. I was slightly nervous about it because we also brought our Birth Preferences list with us to discuss with the doctor and while I really love my OB I have never been clear on where he stands on things like Pitocin and Episiotomies. We were also hoping to have an ultrasound today as it has been 2 months since out last one and I want another peek!

Our appt was at 9:10 this morning and before then I needed to eat something (high protein, low carb), take my glucophage, drink the Glu-cola exactly 45 mins before my appt and remember to shower. This is a lot for a somewhat absent-minded pregnant woman, so when we actually arrived on time I had to give myself a little pat on the back. I went to get my blood drawn first and discovered they wanted 5 vials. FIVE. And not the small ones either, these were large vials. Just before they finished up with the last one a nurse comes in with a GIANT shot and says "You are getting your Rhogam shot today too." Huh? No one had mentioned Rhogam to me before today. The phlebotomist finishes up, I get weighed and my blood pressure checked and they put us in the room to wait for the doctor. On the counter is the giant shot. This thing was huge! My heart was racing and I felt a little light headed from the glucose drink and blood loss which of course gave me a serious case of giggles right around the time that the doctor came in (it didn't help that Mac was reading to me from a magazine in silly accents). I mentioned to the doctor that this was the first I was hearing about my being Rh- and he seemed surprised but said something along the lines of "sometimes they don't tell people right away so they don't freak out about the shot." Not that I am challenging my Rh- status, my mom is Rh-, I just hate being told things at the last minute. I also don't like being TOLD instead of CONSULTED. Next we asked him about birthing classes and a hospital tour and he said that all of that information was in the packet we got on our first visit. Turns out we didn't get that packet. I told the doctor that I had fallen and sprained my ankle and couple weeks ago and was hoping for an ultrasound but he said we would not be getting another one for a month. Then it was time to go over the birth preferences. He quickly read the list making comments along the way that were all very positive and in the end said he felt it was all very reasonable and doable. Phew, thank goodness. I asked if he was for sure going to be the person who delivered out baby and he said that he delivers 85-90% of his patients babies and unless we were admitted at 3am on a night when he wasn't on call and delivered before he could get there than we should be fine. On the way out of the office we picked up the hospital packet we had somehow missed the first day (it was VERY helpful and answered a lot of our questions) and made an appt for two weeks from now. That's right, two weeks, cause guess what, its the THIRD trimester. For REALS.

So all in all a good appt that started out annoying but ended up positively. Afterwards the day draaaaaaaged on for what seemed like several weeks, if not months. My mentor teacher and I both are kind of burned out right now; I have to admit the weekend came at just the right time, we have been getting pretty punchy between classes. After work the rain held off long enough for me to pick up Stella from radiology and get home (Stella is afraid of the windshield wipers so I was grateful for a stress free ride home). Hopefully things will only be getting better from here (especially Monday when I get my GD test results back)

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Quick update

It has been a stressful couple of weeks:
-I fell and sprained my ankle
-I was observed for the 3rd time (first time at high school)
-One of my students collapsed during class (she is okay now, thank god my very capable mentor teacher was there)
-Mac was rear ended
-The insurance company decided Mac's car was totaled and we had 4 days to find another car
-We bought a new dining table and now have to sell the old one
-Stella started her radiation treatments for her Stage 3 Mast Cell Cancer (will continue daily through Thanksgiving meaning I have to drive across town everyday after school to pick her up)
-I have grown out of many f my maternity shirts and all of my maternity jeans
-The weather has turned cold and I have all of two long-sleeved shirts and no coats or jackets
-Mac knocked my wedding ring off of my desk and it is now gone :(
...and I am sure there are other things I am blocking out due to stress overload. Being pregnant has really made all of these inconveniences even more inconvenient and frustrating. I am, however, adjusting to my never level of energy (low) and have started making myself more productive on the weekends. Today I dusted and scrubbed toilets but I am still freaking out about the amount of stuff all over our house. We have to get organized or I am going to lose my mind, for reals.

On a more positive note, Chloe has taken up residence on my belly and its pretty adorable.