Better get busy!

I know it's been a while - again - and I know I keep saying it, but I'm really trying to make an effort to schedule my blogging in.  There are SO MANY things I would love to share other than just on facebook, so many things I think could be helpful to others if only I could get them put in writing.

Many of my friends warn me that maybe I need to slow down a little bit and take a step back from some of the things I'm doing.  I know it would be crazy to bite off any more right now!  

My appointments for Baby are currently bi-weekly.  Can't believe Tuesday will put me at 20 weeks!!  19 more to go!!  It's no fun having gestational diabetes, pricking my finger 4 times a day (when I remember to do it!), taking pills 2 times per day, and closely monitoring my food (most of the time!! lol!!)  I'm having my A1C tested again on Monday.  My 2 hours post-meal blood sugars are coming back fine, but my fasting is still too high.  Doc said I may end up on insulin injections before the end of my pregnancy.  Because of the diabetes, I was also told that I will not be going to my due date, which is April 1.  If I don't go on my own before, I'm going to be induced during my 39th week.  That means March 25th or later.  Beau is really hoping for earlier.  She wants to share her birthday with her little "sister" on March 24.  (Or so she says - we're not finding out what we're having :) )  The concern of going to my due date is having too big of a baby.  Hopefully he/she isn't too big!!  And hopefully my VBAC goes without a hitch!  Monday afternoon my hubby and I are going in for my next ultrasound.  Can't wait to see the little stinker who's been kicking me :)

Homeschooling has been a little bit trying lately.  Scrappy has very interest in his spelling words, yet he loves trying to read to me.  Last weekend he read book 9 of Cat and Rat to me - such a proud Mommy moment!!  I try explaining that the more spelling words he learns, the more he's going to be able to read.  I don't spend much time focusing on sight words - I'd rather he knows how to spell them out.  We've also been working on basic addition and starting on subtraction.  He does really well with his shapes, colors, and number.  Sometimes, though, it's just hard to get him to focus because he is too busy wanting to do other things.  I try to get at least 20 minutes, if not an hour, of reading in most days.  I signed him up for the Book It! program through Pizza Hut.  We set a goal of 480 minutes per month, or 8 hours.  I've been working on a lot of hands-on learning stuff with him.  Last week we made butter from heavy cream.  It was a learning experience for both of us.

Got our heavy cream, jar, and lid.

Filling the jar about half full.

Making sure we have the right amount.

Put the lid on and shake, shake, shake!!

Our first attempt was with cold cream which, of course, resulted in - WHIPPED CREAM.  After shaking for 20 minutes, we realized we weren't getting any butter, so Google to the rescue! Missed one important step - the cream had to be brought to room temperature :)  Our next batch turned out better, although it still wasn't quite right, but was really good on bread with our goulash at supper time! 

We have a whole bunch of other fun projects we're planning on.  We're using the book Colonial Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in the New World for our current lessons. (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the public library??)  I got about a dozen books about Thanksgiving, Pilgrims, and Colonial times, along with some other 'fun reading' books.  We try to get to the library about once a week, and this week we got the closest we ever have to the book limit.  We have 45 of a possible 50 books checked out!  To try to keep track of them, I try to return any we've read any time my husband or I will be going by the library.  I'm glad they have a drop box because they aren't open Friday or Saturday and only open a couple hours on Sunday.  I'm going to try to post more of these as we go!!

Of course, every week I still have my TOPS meetings.  And I LOVE my TOPS group :)  A few of my friends there are a little bit concerned about my lack of weight gain with this pregnancy.  Lack of weight gain?  I should say, with my weight LOSS.  At almost 20 weeks, I am down about 13 pounds right now.  My doctors aren't concerned since we have frequent ultrasounds.  I wouldn't be too sad if it keeps up either!  I'm less than 10 pounds from my lowest TOPS weight so far.  I'm going to try really hard to keep it off this time!  We have group walks scheduled 2x per week.  I try to get to them.  I hope to make it to more of them and hoping we get the stroller fixed.  One of the tires won't hold air, but I can't find the leak.  Hopefully hubby can fix it soon!

Every other week I'm busy with Girl Scouts still.  I'm a little disappointed with a few of the girls I have because it doesn't seem like they all want to be there and they don't want to put in the effort.  At the level I teach, the girls are responsible for completing their own badges.  They can do as many of as few badges as they want.

Then there's my business.  When I'm not doing one of the above (or even when I am), I'm usually working on something or another for work.  I'm really loving working for myself - REALLY for myself and not doing direct sales and only getting paid a fraction.  Plus at craft shows/vendor fairs, people want the instant gratification of getting their items immediately and I'm able to take custom orders so people get exactly what they want.  So far so good - I'm just hoping over the next couple shows I do that business takes off a little bit more.  I'm still working on building up my inventory a bit and feeling people out for what they are looking for and what is going to sell well.

Scrappy just finished these projects a few minutes ago.

I think it's time we do a bit of reading now.  Mama's gotta get some meal planning done too....

Mi Vida Loca!!!

My crazy life - it's the name of the game.  I don't know what I'd do if it wasn't crazy - and crazy busy!!

I am homeschooling Scrappy this year, and probably the next few years, because of his Cystic Fibrosis.  We are on Week 3, although we don't have a super strict schedule right now since it is canning season.  And canning we have been!! 

Scrappy doing his vest treatments

Salsa!!

Peeling apples in between swimming

Just this last week, we did 27 pints and 14 quarts of applesauce, 21 quarts of whole tomatoes, 4 quarts of tomato juice, and 55 pints of salsa.  I still want to do another batch of applesauce, which I was hoping to do this weekend, but now I'm not so sure about.  I have all next week too..

School starts on Tuesday for Beau.  We decided it was better for Scrappy to start a little earlier than everyone else because he's going to get a couple weeks of for spring break, which Beau only gets a few days.  But once our new little bundle of joy arrives, I'm going to need a little break from home school.

Yup, that's right! We're expecting!!  We originally figured my due date to be March 27, but Dr White said I'm measuring a little bit small, putting my due date closer to April 10.  I have an ultrasound coming up on Sept 24 and she thinks we'll have a better idea then on my due date.  Unfortunately we've already found that my blood sugars are running high again, which means a bunch of finger pricking and changing eating habits.  I guess it's not so bad, since I lost weight once I got on track last time, but it's a huge change away from the pasta-based meals that are so easy to go to and depend on.  So my next series of recipe posts will be diabetic friendly ones.

My business has also launched.  Mama's Gift Corner is all about homemade, hand made gifts.  Since I've been canning, I haven't been doing as much work as I had before, but it's only for a few weeks.  I want to get my inventory built up before the fall craft shows start so I can hopefully get into a few and start selling!!

Well, I need to get some breakfast.  Have a great day!

A whole new life...

is going to be starting tomorrow.  I went to meet with the dietitian today.  Exactly what I thought would happen was confirmed. 

I got a phone call from the doctor's office last night.  When he ordered the blood draw, they measured my A1C, which has to do with blood glucose.  My results came back at 6.1, which they told me is at the top of the normal range. 

Today the dietitian told me that it puts me into the classification of 'pre-diabetic.'  I already knew that my chance of Type 2 is higher because of having gestational diabetes with my last pregnancy.  Now, being pre-diabetic, I'm back on the diabetic diet.

Except it's not a diet.

It's a permanent change.

Goodbye pasta, mac and cheese, and instant mashed potatoes :(  Only a total of 45 g of carbs allowed per meal.  But the carbs add up quick, considering there are carbs in milk.  I need to start looking up recipes that are low carb/no carb.  This is going to be HARD!!!  And giving up most of my soda too!  Just one can a day.... better start stocking up on the Mio and generic brands of it too!!  (Can't have Crystal Light cuz it has aspartame, which gives me migraines.)

Well, gotta get some homework done now.  Did some canning today - 21 quarts of spaghetti sauce!  Lots more tomatoes to do tomorrow after TOPS too!!  Gonna be a BUSY day :)

First Admission

I had a checkup for baby yesterday since I'm on 2x per week checkups now.  There were 3 parts to the checkup:  First the non-stress test (NST), then the ultrasound, then meet with the doc.  We saw Dr W again this time.

The NST went much like the last one we did, in spite of my attempt to get Baby to wake up by slamming part of a bottle of Coke for my morning carbs.  I started out on my back, then the nurse had me roll to my right side and propped me up with a pillow.  We noticed my blood pressure spike quite drastically when I was on my back - I was giving off readings of 148/94, which is MUCH higher than what they want to see.  Baby seemed to be sleeping throughout the test again.  After 20 minutes, the nurse took a buzzer and put it on my stomach to wake baby up.  Then she explained a little better what exactly they're looking for since she was training a new tech.  They need Baby's heart rate to increase by 15 beats per minute and stay elevated for at least 10 seconds.  Baby has to do this at least 2 times in 10 minutes for the test to be considered 'reactive,' which is what the goal is.  The buzzer really seemed to do the trick - I got the living daylights kicked out of me for the next half hour! lol!!

We had another ultrasound to measure the fluid levels around Baby.  We were told the level is in the 'normal' range, although it's on the lower side of the normal.  This is another thing they're really keeping an eye on.  We got a pretty cute face shot of Baby though :)

Next we went to see Dr W.  She asked about my sugar levels, which have been really good since I've been on the Glyburide.  In spite of me overdoing some of my carbs a little bit now and then, my numbers are staying in range.  I've noticed quite often I underdo my carbs too, though.  Anyway, Dr W was very concerned with how high my blood pressure was.  She sent me over to Labor and Delivery for additional monitoring.  She didn't know if they were going to keep me overnight or if I'd just be there for a few hours.  It was dependent on how my blood and urine tests came back and how the monitoring came out.

We went over to the L&D Triage center and I got admitted.  After giving them a urine sample, I spent the next couple hours laying in the bed with the NST monitors and a blood pressure cuff on.  They checked my bp every 5 minutes for the first hour, then every 10 minutes for the next hour.  Hubby and I watched a movie to help pass the time.  With the docs and nurse coming in and with the monitor going off, plus having to contact people to keep them posted (my sister since she had my kids, and my mom and grandma), I missed quite a bit of the movie. What I did see what pretty good though.

In addition to the other tests, the OB on call in L&D did a pelvic exam since I haven't had one since about 20 weeks or so.  We found out I'm dilated to 2, 50% effaced, and even though Baby feels like he/she is sitting lower, is still at -3 station. (I've included these couple links for those who are unfamiliar with the terms.)

Obviously after this additional time added to my appointment, hubby didn't make it to work as planned :(  He had been planning on going in around 11 or 1130, but since we didn't get back to town until about 2, he said there was no point in going in.  Unfortunately that means he gets to spend all day Saturday working and putting in a few extra hours during the week...  He's been putting in up to 2 hours extra a night during the week.  I don't think he has any idea how much it means to me that he's been so supportive and so involved in this pregnancy.  This all would have been a lot more difficult if he wasn't so supportive.  I'm so lucky I found such a wonderful man!!

My bp mellowed out and my labs came back alright, so they decided to send me home.  I have to go back on Tuesday for another NST, ultrasound, and checkup.  They also sent a jug home with me with orders to collect urine for the next 24 hours (YUCK) so that they can check the protein levels in it.  Which means we actually have to go back this afternoon to drop it off.

Hubby really doesn't want me to go by myself just in case something happens, even though it's just straight over there and back.  I asked my best friend to ride with me, but she has to help her dad move today.  I can't go until after 3:30, which is about how late hubby was planning on working anyway, so we decided that I would just wait and we'd go when he gets home.  I had to move the seat back in my car, too, cuz my steering wheel was rubbing against the baby belly.  It's a little more difficult to reach the pedals now, so I try not to drive out of town if I can help it.  Since a friend had asked, here's a belly shot.  Not so flattering.  But I am still down a total of 8.25 pounds.  Yup - I gained 3 pounds this past week.

Next week I have to be back 2x again.  The plan was to go on Wed since Scraps has an ENT appointment then, but that doesn't work into their 2x per week schedule.  They said one appt has to be Mon or Tues and one has to be Thurs or Fri.  So next week I will be at Mayo Tues, Wed, and Thurs.  We were having a hard time figuring out how to do this since it would be super hard for hubs to take that much time off, so Grammy is going over with me on Wed for Scrappy's appt.  We don't have to be there until 945 for that one, and my appts are at 8am so it would be harder for her to go with to those.  I would prefer that hubby is with for mine anyway in case I get kept or anything happens.

And the more that things are going wrong, the more the docs are talking about induction.  Hopefully we find out a definite answer very soon.  As much as I love my babies and I loved being pregnant, this one has taken quite a toll on me.  I'm ready to meet this little one and have some strand of normalcy back in my life.

Mixed Emotions

Yesterday's appointments didn't go quite as well as we had hoped for.  I'm riding an emotional roller-coaster right now because of everything going on and all the stress and emotions involved with pregnancy.

My first appointment was for the non-stress test.  They let Scrappy come in with us for this one since he was being pretty mellow.  For those who have never had one, a non-stress test is one where I sit back in a recliner with my feet up.  The nurse puts 2 straps around my   stomach with monitors on them.  One was put at the top of my stomach to monitor for contractions and the other is placed over Baby to monitor movement.  During this I also had a blood pressure cuff on that would periodically monitor my blood pressure.  The test can last anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how the baby responds.

We seem to have a pretty stubborn baby.  I was hooked up for the entire 40 minutes. Baby's heart rate was in the lower 150's.  During the test, the nurse monitors how many times the baby moves and what the baby's heart rate does.  The goal is that when baby moves, his/her heart rate is supposed to go over 160 and stay there for a short period.  Baby did NOT want to cooperate.  We listened to hiccups for a while, which was the extent of the movement we were getting.  The nurse pushed on my stomach and had me change positions, rolling over to my left and rolling over to my right side.  I pushed on my stomach.  Scrappy yelled at and talked to Baby and pushed on my stomach.  Daddy pushed and shook and rubbed his hands on my stomach.  In spite of my carb restrictions, I even ate part of a granola bar to see if the sugar was going to get Baby moving.  We got a few kicks here and there, but not a lot.  Baby is most active around supper time and bed time, or really early in the morning and is pretty mellow throughout the day.  I was concerned, though, when I saw what my blood pressure readings were.  Throughout my pregnancy, my bp has been about 110/65-70.  My last appointment, Dr R said it was running a little high.  At this appointment, it varied with the top ranging from 128-138 and the bottom running from 83-92.

My second appointment there were no kids allowed, so Daddy and Scrappy had to wait in the waiting room during that one.  The ultrasound tech didn't do any measurements on how big baby was, just concerned about checking how much fluid there is and a few other measurements the doc needed.  She said Baby was 'face down' so she couldn't get a good profile shot.  But here you can see Baby's face, shoulder, and hand.

Then it was on to my third and last appointment - seeing the doc.  We didn't see my normal doc, but we got to meet another (Dr W), which is good just in case mine isn't there when we go in.  She was very brief and to-the-point.  I don't think we were in the room for more than 10-15 minutes with her.  She looked over my glucose readings since the medication started and looked over the non-stress test and bp results.  She was not happy with my bp being up since it's been so low until recently.  Of course she said she was concerned about pre-eclampsia and now wants me coming in twice per week.  Normally, she said, she wouldn't be so concerned about my bp since it's not horribly high, but because of the gestational diabetes AND the bp, she'd rather I come in more often.  She said if it stays high, she would like to induce me at 36 week.  I told her that Dr R had talked about induction at 34 weeks if it was high.  She didn't agree with that.  But I guess in the end it's up to what the two of them decide.  We're going back to see Dr W on Friday for a follow-up.  I'm not sure how she wants me to handle 2x per week after that since my next 2 appointments after that are on Wednesdays to coincide with Scrappy's.  We'll just have to see what happens.  On the 9th, we're scheduled to see Dr R again.

And after some discussion, my husband and I decided to stop down and change my registration.  We upgraded to a private room.  I'd rather not have someone else's newborn keeping me up all night or have to deal with their family visiting if I wanna nap during the day. 

I guess I'm as ready as I'm every going to be for this baby to come.  I'm kind of nervous because so many things have gone wrong already and I'm afraid of what else can go wrong.  I'm excited to see the little angel that's been kicking and hiccuping and growing in me for the last 32 1/2 weeks.  I'm terrified of the possibility of Baby needing surgery.  But we're seeing some of the best doctors in the country at Mayo.  We just need to put our trust in them....  We really can't do any more to prepare...

I'm getting restless and sore and craving everything I can't eat because of the diabetic diet.  I swear if I could, I'd chug a gallon of high-pulp orange juice right now!!!

Weekly Appts

We're at that point now - we are going to Rochester weekly to monitor baby.  The last couple weeks have been typical, and crazy.  After failing the glucose test and being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, Dr R had me meet with a diabetic specialist nurse and a dietitian.  I had to monitor my blood sugar for the next week until I went in to see him again too.  For some unknown reason, even though I've been very adamant about adhering to the strict carb count they put me on, my morning blood sugars were still high.  Throughout the day there were a few times here and there that they would spike again.  Dr R wasn't very happy with this last week when I went back for my checkup. (He said that most people cheat and don't fill in their real numbers on the chart - he was happy to see that I was!)


I'm still monitoring my sugars 4 times a day and now I'm also taking a pill every evening to help control my blood sugar.  Since I've been on it, my morning sugars have been right on target!  My fasting level is supposed to be under 95 (right when I get up in the morning) and then under 120 when I check it 2 hours after each meal.  They are very strict on exactly how many grams of carbs I'm to have for each meal and for snacks 3 times per day.  It's been hard to stick with, especially since I LOVE pasta and mashed potatoes.  The big surprise to me was that there are carbs in milk and yogurt but not in cheese.  There is also a list of veggies that have carbs and count against me.  So glad green beans aren't on that list since they're my favorite :)  Cooking has been a bit of a challenge for me, but I've been doing some experimenting, which has been coming out pretty good for the most part!


At my last appt, doc also gave me a prescription heart burn medication.  I've been having such awful heartburn that wakes me up in the middle of the night, I feel like I'm going to be sick!  Thankfully this medication has been working really well :)  Almost no heartburn since I started it. 


Next step is to get my blood pressure down.  Normally it's about 120/80 or a little lower, but when I'm pregnant it usually runs about 110/70 or somewhere in that area.  My last appt it was 130/85.  This worried our doc.  He said if the top # gets above 140 or the bottom goes over 90, they're going to look at inducing me at 34 weeks (I'm 32 right now.)  With the complications we've had, high blood pressure is coming out to be the final straw.  If we do go early, though, we suspect very few complications other than the echogenic bowel issue.  In the last ultrasound, the baby was practicing 'breathing,' so the lungs are looking good.  Based on the ultrasound, the baby weighed in at about 4 pounds 7 ounces.  That's a huge jump in 2 weeks from the 3 pounds 4 ounces they estimated then!!


Tomorrow we go in again.  Our weekly appts are non-stress test, ultrasound, and meet with the OB.  We'll be meeting with a couple others besides the one we've been seeing.  My sister has to work, so we are going to have to take Scrappy with us.  Beau has school, but we'll be able to drop her off and pick her up since we don't have to be in Roch until 930 and we'll be done before noon.  Hubs is planning to try to get to work in the afternoon if we get back in time.  Maybe then he won't have to work as long on Saturday.  I know he needs to make up the time, it just seems like I hardly see him when Sunday is the only day he's home because we always have so much to do.  It would be great to have a day to just relax and spend time together.


Since this is the number one question I'm asked: As of Thursday, my total weight change with this pregnancy:  Down 11.25 pounds still.  I've been asked often if I'm having twins.  I suppose since the baby is gaining weight and I've overall been losing weight, my baby belly seems to be protruding a bit more than with the other two.  My darling hubby told me that from the back he can't really even tell I'm pregnant cuz I seem to be carrying it all in my belly up front.  He's so sweet :)

Just Livin' Life...

I do well with my blogging for a while, then I notice I have some big gaps in my entries.  Life gets in the way at times.  I just don't seem to realize how much and how often life happens :)  The last month has been a little chaotic, but when isn't it when you have two crazy kids running your house?? LOL!

We spent a week with sickness going through the house.  Beau had strep and an ear infection.  Scrappy caught a bad cold and had a sore throat.  Hubs ended up with an awful head cold, bad enough that it kept him home from work for a day.  In the middle of all that, we still went to a benefit for our friend who has terminal cancer.  We didn't stay long, but we did make it there.  After everyone else had gotten over being sick, I got hit with a head cold.  My balance is horrid as it is just from the pregnancy.  Add the vertigo that comes with severely clogged sinuses does not help.  And the additional dizziness, which we thought was from low blood sugar from what the doctors said.

My weekends have been super busy with the kids and with hubs working Saturdays and church and Sunday school on Sundays.  It's been so busy that I even gave away the 10 gallons of tomatoes that I had picked a week ago with the intention of making spaghetti sauce.  I still have 3 bags and a box of apples sitting on the table out back that I haven't had time to do yet.  From my dizzy spells, I've decided it's something I can't do if hubs isn't here.  Maybe this weekend I'll have a chance to do at least some of them.  On Sunday that is, since he's going in to work on Saturday.  My car has decided it doesn't wanna work right - almost sounds like the spark plugs are misfiring or maybe something with the fuel injectors, but it shakes and jerks so awful when it's idling.  He's going to see if he can figure out what's wrong with it.

An update on baby:  My last appointment, on Tuesday, baby weighed in at about 3 pounds 4 ounces.  My previous appointment baby was about 2 pounds, so he/she is growing really well!!  We still see echogenic bowel, but we weren't too surprised by that.  The blood pocket is still there too.  When I went to TOPS yesterday, I finally gained 2 pounds.  Doc said I SHOULD be gaining about 1/2-1 pound per week and baby should be gaining 1/4-1/2 pound per week.

Shortly after we got home, the doctor's office called.  It's never a good thing when the call after you leave....  I had my blood tests and glucose screening done, so they were calling with the results.  My hemoglobin is about 12.4, which is great since I'm normally borderline anemic.  My thyroid levels were good too, so that means the higher dose of levothyroxin is working just as it should be doing. 

Then the bad news - I failed my glucose test.  Dr Rose has said that 140 and under is considered to be 'normal', 141-189 is 'inconclusive' and warrants a retest which is a 3 hour fasting test, and 190+ is considered having gestational diabetes.  Well, I tested in at 191.  Yay, another complication.  For the next week, I'm supposed to log all the food I eat.  They sent a few prescriptions over for me to get filled.  One was for lancets, one for a glucose monitor, and one for test strips.  I go back to Rochester next Thursday to meet with the dietitian and diabetic counselor.  They are going to show me how to check my blood sugars and when I'm supposed to do it.  From the sounds of it, they don't think I'll need medication and I should be able to control it just by what I eat.  We'll see what happens.  Hubs is taking the afternoon off to go with me.

The nurse I spoke with on the phone gave me a 'heads up' on a few other concerns.  When a mom has gestational diabetes, the baby usually has a higher birth weight.  Babies born at term are closer to 10 pounds, which she said can cause complications in itself.  There is a chance of shoulder dysplasia and an increased risk of C-section.  Baby also runs risks from his/her blood sugar dropping after birth and will have to be more closely monitored after birth.  It sounds like I will be going in for weekly appointments after my appointment on Thursday so they can monitor the baby with non-stress tests and to watch the baby's weight and the amount of fluid.  I guess this really isn't such a bad thing since we're getting closer to when the doc figures the baby will come.  As of right now I'm almost 29 weeks.

My wonderfully amazing husband talked to his boss after I called to tell him about my upcoming appointment.  He asked if I wanted him to go with me, and after some discussion, he told me it was best if I don't travel that far alone (it's over an hour drive to see our doctors, but they ARE specialists and some of the best in the country!)  He told his boss that my appointments are going to be weekly.  One of the great things about him working for a small shop is that his boss is much more flexible than most.  His boss has a child with medical issues also, so he's pretty understanding about all this.  He said it's fine, but that hubs is going to have to make up some, if not all, of the time somehow.  So that means he'll probably be working Saturdays, or possibly just staying a couple hours late most nights.  I'm ok with that, especially since he's really doing it for me.  Isn't that just the sweetest thing??  I know I sing his praises quite often, but from my past relationship experiences, most of those 'men' wouldn't have been so supportive.

Speaking of my wonderful husband, I got some 'alone time' out with him on Saturday (after he cleaned up the branch we lost during Thursday's wind storm!)

We had a sitter come for a few hours while we went out for a few hours.  It was his birthday, and there was a big 'We Love You' party for our friend with cancer.  I was the designated driver, obviously.  We went for him to have a few adult beverages and to visit with friends, then out for supper.  We had just asked for a 'to-go' container when the sitter called - Scraps was vomiting :(  She sat with Beau while we took him into Urgent Care since he was already on antibiotics but was still running a fever. 

These past almost 2 weeks, I have be very tired besides dealing with the dizzy spells.  Hopefully after Thursday we can get all of this under control.  But my house is falling apart.  My kitchen is a disaster.  I don't have the energy to get caught up with it.  I've fallen way behind on laundry.  I can barely stay awake enough to do my homework.  I've been doing all my errands right away in the morning after dropping Beau off at school, and by the time I get home I'm completely wiped.

One of my current classes, stress management and wellness, has given me some tools to use to help combat stress.  I've actually been practicing some of the meditation methods and found them useful.  Some are more difficult to do with small children around, but I make due.  I'll be sure to post the ones that are working best :)  I'm actually thinking of using some of the meditation methods for labor when baby comes!  Yes, I'm planning to do this delivery all natural again, so we'll see what happens!