32 weeks

So here we are with 2 months left. I don't know which seems shorter or freaks me out more in terms of leaving my classroom unprepared. 8 weeks? 2 months? Either way, I'm still hoping to work up until I go into labor or my doctors refuse to let me work. And either way, it freaks me out because I'm so busy and focused just trying to get my lessons for the next month all squared away and pull off our school's first medieval festival that I haven't had time to put a schedule of lessons for long-term (and as yet undetermined) substitute. Things were so much easier when I knew I was having my baby in the summer. This not knowing thing is awful in the middle of the school year. I go to the doc on Wednesday.

So here's some updates:
Baby B still has no potential names.

He is now the size of a squash, but what does that mean? I know he's definitely bigger than any summer variety squash (like zucchini or crook neck). But does it mean he weighs the same as a squash or that he's the length of a squash? Acorn squash are small but dense. Is he a spaghetti squash? a butternut? (I love butternut squash). All this talk of squash is making me nostalgic - acorn squash puree was Liam's very first solid food!

Home scale says I'm only slightly up from my pre-preggo weight. Only about 1-2 lbs on avg. I made a specific point to ask my high-risk clinic nurse when she called a couple weeks ago for my blood sugar report. My doctor hasn't said anything about the weight. The nurse said that if I'm eating right (following my diabetic diet), snacking frequently, and not feeling hungry or deprived then it's okay to not gain weight. She said I was overweight to begin with (I know) and that the doctor would probably only want a 15lb gain overall. She also reminded me the fastest gain will be in the last 2 months, when I'll probably gain 1lb. week.

Speaking of diet . . . I've been bad lately. I've been sneaking in sugary snacks here and there and everywhere. So this last week I decided I needed to monitor my sugars more than my required 3x week. The worst thing is that my fasting glucose levels have been sneaking up. They're supposed to be <100 and preferably <90. Well, this week I've had several levels higher than 90 and the last two days were just over 100. I'm gonna get in trouble. I MUST have a late night snack of only protein!!!

Aches? The sciatica is easing. A lot in fact. At the beginning of last week it was so bad that I could barely stand. But I think I've finally gotten used to the new mattress (which is heavenly by the way). Since about Wednesday, the pain has just gone away. Ahhhh! I did get some stretching ideas from a coworker who is seeing a PT for his sciatica. They help when I do feel some twinging.

Weirdest moment this week was watching B spin somersaults around my belly. Jon got one of those weird-cool kicks out of it. I just liked watching him go-go-go. He's very active. Doctor said last time that this one might be our athlete...great.

Cravings? Many, but all things I really shouldn't have. Ice cream. Candy. The best was my idea was lays potato chips dipped in See's chocolate.

random thought on a tweet I read

The key to getting older (and wiser) is to learn from your mistakes, not repeat them, and to keep making new mistakes for the sake of novelty.

Him: So you're saying we were a mistake?
Me: No.
Him: So you're saying you're just going to use me for entertainment?
Me: You're assuming you'd be a mistake.

popeye

Yesterday I did really poorly in terms of my diabetic diet. I was supposed to be monitoring my sugars (Tues, Thurs, Sunday) but completely forgot to take my fasting glucose and then started my day off right with a giant chocolate chip cookie made by Jon the night before. I spent the rest of the day maintaining a diet of higher carb:protein ration than I'm supposed to. I also spent the day napping which was probably an effect of too many carbs.

So by dinner time, I was feeling icky and Jon made me a dinner of asian-flavored chicken breast and a spinach & tomato salad. Liam got plain seasoned chicken breast and nothing else as he doesn't normally eat any veggies and is very particular about his carbs (my kid doesn't eat noodles - what toddler doesn't eat buttered noodles?!!!). But he came over to my bowl of salad while I was eating it and reached right in and grabbed a spinach leaf. Wuh?! I don't use dressing; this was a plain boring spinach flavored spinach leaf. He gobbled it down. Then he grabbed more. Liam spent more time eating my salad (he had a couple of tomato slices too) than he ate his chicken. Too funny. The only other time we've seen this is when we went out to Black Angus just before meeting Santa Claus and he was eating ice berg lettuce off of Jon's and my mom's salads. Those were covered in dressing so we figured it was the dressing he liked. But no, maybe it's the crunch of the leaves. Can't say I'm complaining about a toddler who'll eat his leafy greens.

30 weeks today and still hovering around my pre-pregnancy weight. Sciatica is getting OUCHY! Home stretch now...7-12 weeks left; time to start planning my leave

bath!!!

Apparently this was a desperate plea for a bath last night. I was home from work. Jon was cooking up a little bass for dinner. Liam had managed to score one of the earasable markers that came with a set of mark-able books. But he was really good and was keeping it on some old copies of Jon's resume. He then got absorbed in Go Diego Go and must have been wiping at his nose because I looked up and he had marked red all over his face. No biggie since I knew the marker was washable too. But Jon took the marker from him and gave him another washable marker (don't know if Jon knew the red one was washable). So now my child is running around with a turquoise marker too. But did he draw at all with it? Not much. He pretty much went straight for his face. I managed to get one good pic.
Then he tried to play with my laptop (I was blogging about the new beds) and threw a fit when I told him "no." So I got these shots too. All-in-all, Liam ending up getting a bath last night and he did a good job washing his own face. :) Oh, please excuse my crazy-eyes.

I guess we're more regal now

Well, we finally did it. We upped the size of our bed. Jon's been moaning about getting a king-sized bed for more than a year now. He claims we are really uncomfortable in it. At his birthday in April, I asked him if he would rather have an e-reader or a bigger bed. He voted for bigger bed. But he ended up with neither since we just couldn't swing it financially. Well, the New Years sales were our godsend. Thanks to mega sale at Sears and my mom having just opened a Sears charge, we were able to purchase our big new bed(s).

We got a Cal-king for us. Liam got a twin (but my mom paid for that mattress). Both new beds are actually the same model. Yeah sure it was the 2nd cheapest in the store, but aside from frugality, we both liked the feel. It was firm enough for support, but the euro-top makes it squishy. Liam loves his new bed, but he's also very wary of sleeping in it; it's rather big for a little guy.


So this morning I woke up with a marked increase in my sciatica pain (oh yeah, that symptom is back...on the other side than what I had during my first pregnancy). I know it was from sleeping in a strange bed and that I'll feel more comfortable in a few days. Jon said he felt like he was in a hotel bed or sleeping at Grandma's house. It just felt weird for all of us. Can you blame Liam for waking with whimpers just 2 minutes before my alarm went off?

It was tiring to work with my back/hip/leg pain all day. But not as bad as yesterday when I had a bout of contractions in the middle of an afternoon class. Not too much to worry about; I'm assuming they were braxton hicks. But I felt really low and slow before my class began and then about 30 min in I had definite tightening and discomfort in the abdomen. I realized I can't tell if it would be early contractions/labor as I never went into labor on my own with Liam. I walked around for 2 1/2 weeks being dilated to 3.5cm and 90% effaced on my cervix and still needed to have my water broken and pitocin.

Can't wait for this 3-day weekend of king-sized bed bliss.

sweet heart friend

I just have to say I have a most wonderful friend in WA. When I got home tonight, Jon said Kara had sent me a package. I thought it might be some of her maternity shirts since she gave me 2 while she was visiting over New Years. She's smaller than I am and definitely not as wide across the shoulders, but still...free clothes right?!

Well, I open the package and there's a shirt, a PINK sweater, and a cardigan all with tags still on. Oh man, stuff she never even wore? Jon found a gift receipt and said it must have been some stuff she was gifted at Christmas and didn't want. But NO! The receipt was dated 1/10/11. She literally just bought the shirts on Monday and sent them to me. Holy cow! What a friend! I feel like a little bit of stress has come off my shoulders - someone heard my woes and responded with a super surprise.

LOVED!!!