The End of Summer

Today marks the first day of school here.  I don't know where the summer went, but it seems it went by too fast.  It's also canning season.  We seem to have more tomatoes this year than we did last year, and unfortunately I am low on jars and on freezer space, so freezing isn't an option.  I've put off doing any more applesauce for a while because we have been doing salsa and one batch of spaghetti sauce (so far).  Use up what we raise before we do what we buy, right?

I finally went to the doctor last week - saw a new one since I'm not too happy with my normal one.  He hasn't been listening to me, which is what a doctor is supposed to do.  I explain why I'm there, and he only addresses one concern and sends me on my way.  This one listened and addressed my concerns.  One was about my blood pressure since the last 2 times I was in the ER it was higher than normal.  He recommended I meet with a dietitian, which I already have an appointment scheduled for.  He also recommended I ease up on both caffeine and salt.

I can't believe I just sent Beau off to 4th grade!  She is growing up way too fast.  She decided she was ready for a new style, so last week she had her hair cut SHORT.  I think it looks really cute on her - she looks like a pixie :)

Next week my Scrappyman will be starting preschool.  We have orientation on Monday, then he starts next Thursday.  I can't believe he's already 4!!  Where has the time gone?!?!? (He thinks he's old enough to shave, too, since his uncle bought him a play shaving kit.)

Friday Scrappy had a doctor's appointment.  After his appointment, we went for lunch, then Daddy went to get some ink done and I took the kids to Silver Lake Park to chase the geese for a while.  The geese are pretty aggressive and kinda scary!! 

His 4th rose for Cystic Fibrosis - one for each birthday Scrappy has

Saturday we took the kids to the Minnesota Zoo as our last "hoorah" before school started.  The dolphins are going to be leaving next week, so we got to see them one last time.  They have a new penguin exhibit, which we liked.  Scrappy loved it too because one of the penguins was chasing his shoe laces along the side of the glass.  It was super cute!!  There is a new black bear exhibit that is in the works and not open yet, but we could see the black bear behind one of the other cages.

I'm starting to wonder if Scrappy doesn't get motion sickness.  Most of the time he does pretty good in the car, but when we went to St Cloud, several times when we've gone to Rochester, and on Saturday when we went to the zoo, he got sick in the van.  This time he did have a fever when we got home, which lasted through Monday, but not the other times.  I'm going to ask about that next time I talk to his nurse...  As a result of his fever, we spent the rest of the long weekend just hanging out...

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!

Sabatoge?

Of course I'm a little behind with this along with everything else I'm doing.  BUT there is a good reason. 

A VERY good reason. 

And until today, I had fallen off my plan and my workouts.  Yeah the eating has been good, but not so much on the exercise.

On the April 28th weigh in I had a gain.  A horrible gain.  Ruined my losing streak.  I was drinking tons of water and unfortunately retaining all of it.

I gained 4 1/2 pounds on the April 28th weigh in, bringing my total weight loss to only 1 1/2 pounds.

The reason behind the gain????

I'm pregnant!!  Baby #3 is due on Christmas Day!!  We are so happy and excited!!

Huge amounts of nausea has kept me out of the gym - I could hardly function without feeling like I was going to lose everything I'd eaten.  Fortunately it only lasted about 2 weeks and I'm over it by now.

May 5th weigh in?  A loss of 1 1/2 pounds!! Yay!! 

I was no longer snacking and munching to combat the nausea.  I still hadn't been as active as before, but I was able to eat a lot healthier and not all the time.  I've actually gotten to the point that I can't eat much at each meal without feeling uncomfortable.  Small meals and a few snacks.

And today I got a HUGE amount of activity in.  We did the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides walk which is a 10k walk.  The backs of my knees ache pretty good, and we had to take a few breaks on the walk, but man do I feel GOOD!!  Plus the weather was beautiful - pushing 70 degrees!!

We are getting ready to go on vacation this week - leaving for 4 days.  We went to Trader Joe's in Rochester for the first time today and picked up some freeze-dried fruit and other things for snacks.  The fruit was more reasonably priced than online.  The granola bars and cereal bars were cheaper too!!  I'm planning to make some healthy trail mix to take on the trip.  We bought some fruit and other foods to take too, so we can pack most of our meals. 

I'm trying to plan on eating breakfast at our cabin and one packed meal, and we can eat one meal out.  That will save us a lot on both money and calories. $100 for 8 meals, a whole lotta snacks, and food left over.  Considering just getting Taco Bell costs us about $25 (let alone anything at any tourist spot) I think that's doing pretty good for us...  This includes a case of water too :)  I'm determined to not let the vacation deter my efforts.  We'll be doing a lot of walking on our trip too, so that's a plus!!

Of course, how does pregnancy affect TOPS?  What are the rules?  Well, I need to get a note from my doctor to see how much weight is ok for me to gain and get it put in writing.  They've noted my pregnancy already, so gains are not counted against me.  I'm allowed to gain throughout the pregnancy and still be 'in good standing' as long as I stay within the guidelines that the doctors set for me.  I'm not sure who my doctor is going to be - I'm seeing Lombardi for now since Thorn is on leave, but may see the new doctor that starts in July.  I know Thorn's guideline is "unlimited, as long as mama and baby are healthy."  We'll see what Lombardi says.  I see him in about 5 weeks (when I'm at 12 weeks) and get my first ultrasound then.  I go back to the nurse in 3 weeks.  (Hopefully I can get the insurance figured out by then!!)

I met with the nutritionist on Monday.  Her recommendation is to gain no more than 25 pounds.  With my daughter I gained 31, with my son, 36.  But then again, with both of them I was pregnant in winter when it's so much easier to sit around and do nothing.  I'm determined to stay active this summer!!