Broken Record...

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but just incase you're still holding out hope to find out the baby's sex, like we are, still nothing to report. We had another doc appointment today - we're at the stage that the appointments are every 2 weeks now. Baby STILL did not cooperate on showing off his or her "goods". Even our doctor is surprised we still do not know. LOL You know what, though, as frustrating as it is, if our biggest problem this pregnancy is that the baby insists on modesty, then I'm fine with waiting. After the blood pressure roller coaster last pregnancy and Sean waiting until the final minute before he wants to arrive, this is a cake-walk.

Everything is good and healthy. Baby is growing well. Still measuring a couple weeks ahead but I'm beginning to think that's ok. I've already told the doc that the original Last Monthly Period date I told her was wrong by about 10 days, which would put the baby at just about the right size. She wants to continue using the "wrong" date though and I'm not arguing with her on it because if the baby decides to be late, I dont want her pushing me for induction or worse c-section.

I just got a phone call from them, apparently I was supposed to stick around for a heart rate monitor on the baby - oops! I misunderstood and thought I was done at the end of the appointment. No biggie, they said. I will get it done next appointment. I'm actually going to be seeing the other doctor in the office next appointment (my doc's going to be out of town) so fingers crossed - maybe he'll have better luck with the ultrasound?! LOL

In other news (lol): we might be having extra company for Thanksgiving this year. We should be finding out for sure on this soon but right now it's a little up in the air. Our church hosts a bunch of missionaries on Thanksgiving and they stay for a few days for conferences, touring, fellowship, etc. Well a few of the families still dont have a place to stay. We offered up our house since we have an extra bed and a few air mattresses. The family that would be staying with us is just husband and wife and their bringing an older daughter with them. I think it'll be great fun to have them stay with us but we live pretty far out from Stuttgart and the church so the Pastor is going to make sure it's fine with them and let us know. :)

Sean has a field trip coming up this week to a pumpkin fest. I wish I could go with him but I can barely walk around in a store for an hour let alone be on my feet all day with a bunch of 3rd graders. LOL I got him a disposable camera today, though, so he can HOPEFULLY take some pictures. I just hope he remembers to use it LOL.

Well that's all for now. The weather is getting colder and rainier here. I even think we're expecting a rain/snow mix to show up this week. O.O eek!

P.I.N.

Yep, P.I.N. (Pregnancy Induced Narcolepsy), that's my excuse for falling away from writing lately. I am just having the worst time staying awake lately. I sit down in the recliner, laptop in lap ready to write and SNORE!!!!!!!!

Nothing too exciting has been going on lately anyway. It's been dark and dreary, rainy weather, which isnt helping the snore-fest going on here.

My newest craving has surfaced and it's taking some real effort to keep this one in control. LOL All I want is CREAM!! Last night, after fixing dinner for the boys (left-overs night), I made guacamole for me... well not your traditional guacamole, I also threw in an entire tub of sour cream with it HAHAH! So basically sour cream dip with some avacado in it. That was my dinner. (and had some ice cream for dessert) Then today for lunch, I could not get cornbread off my mind so I made some cornbread muffins slavered in butter, lots and lots of butter. Oh! and dont even get me started on the Eggnog I managed to get my hands on the other day. O.O

The boys are getting ready for Halloween next weekend. Sean says he wants to be Spiderman again and Ryan wants to be a Ninja Turtle, both costumes we already have. We're trying to figure out how this is going to work though. We're guessing that we'll just go to base and trick or treat for a little bit there. We "hear" that they trick or treat in town but we're not so sure how it works over here, yet. LOL

Well I better get off the computer before P.I.N. strikes again! Enjoy your weekend!

Knitting projects

I've been searching and searching for the perfect "coming home" outfit for baby and I think I finally found it! I just hope it's not too late for me to get it finished in time... *slow knitter alert*

Here's some pictures of it. I discovered this website with tons of gorgeous baby patterns today of course all the ones I want arent available yet but hopefully soon. But this one I found that I've started is from the same "people".


If you click HERE you can see the picture better and up close... and see the pattern too if you're a knitter ;). Isnt that just gorgeous? It's a bit lacy for a boy but meh! at least it's not pink! LOL The gown part is optional too... it's more like a back-opening jacket that goes over the jumper.

This first part is a killer though. I hate hate hate knitting on double pointed needles (basically knitting with 4 needles at a time) and the pattern is calling for it to do at least the legs so far.



Oh but so far I did actually finish another baby item. And it only took me about a week *shocker*. This is a wool baby soaker I just finished. I like to use these over their cloth diapers at night... they've got to be so much more comfier than those plastic covers. It's wool, but it's not the itchy kind, plus I lanolize it to make it super soft and water resistant.

The Results Are In....

I PASSED!!! I called the doctor today for the results of the glucose test I took on Weds and she said it all looks normal, no problems at all. She did warn me to stay away from too many sweets, soft drinks, etc... no problem. I really haven't had an overly huge desire for that stuff anyway - well except for the occasional bowl of ice cream ;). What would have REALLY bothered me though, and I was fretting about it this morning, is if the results were bad and I would have had to give up my orange juice and oranges. It would have been a very painful 2 months LOL.

Well I just wanted to give a quick update and now I'm going to go celebrate by enjoying a nice cold glass orange juice.

Tchüss!

Doctor update

Just giving a quick update from my doctor's appointment yesterday. I had to go back in for that Glucose test - blek!! It was just as terrible as I remember! The doc told me last week that "oh you'll just drink a cup of a sweet drink," holding up her fingers showing the size of the cup around about the size of a Dixi cup. WRONG!! I go into the lab yesterday and she slides me a bottle about the size of coke bottle. *whimper*

"I have to drink ALL THIS?!" I say.

"Yes," the lab tech says very matter of factly.

"This is going to stink!"

Lab tech *laughs*

They put me in a room so I could lay down, after choking down the solution, and they also put the baby on a monitor to watch the heartbeat. It was nice to lay down during the test.

As for the other issue of why I was there, my blood pressure, the doc says she's not worried. My week long 3 times a day record looked good to her.... AND because I got to actually RELAX during this appointment, my BP was even fine while I was in her office. :) So no worries there! YAY!!! I was just asked to continue to monitor it once a day and record it for her to see but no need to do anything more.

I was so sick yesterday after the test. Thankfully I have a supportive husband to stay with me. :) I am supposed to call tomorrow (Friday) for my glucose test results. Hopefully everything turns out ok and we can go back to a happy worry-free pregnancy... if that's possible. ;) The doc was staying positive and for the first time mentioned my weight (bless her)... in a positive way. And said the fact that I havent gained any weight this pregnancy should help the results a lot. As much as I lament over my Frosty cravings, I'm sure glad fast food isnt so easy to find over here. :)

Much Ado About Nothing

The boys had a super long weekend. They had both Friday and Monday off but, as always, it just seemed to go by so fast. Dennis still had to work on Friday so the boys and I pretty much just stuck around the house. Super exciting! ;)

Saturday, we took a drive out to Robinson (one of the 4 or so bases in Stuttgart) on a mission to get a new bed. We decided to explore and try and take a different route. We must be getting better at these roads because I think we only had to turn around twice. lol The bad thing about Robinson is it's the only base with the furniture store AND it's so far away on top of being smack dab in the center of the city which means traffic, traffic, traffic. Well traffic is terrible everywhere here but going through the city traffic is a nightmare. And with the furniture store being a PX, well, most of us know, you cant count on anything being in stock or what you're going to get when you get there. It's a big gamble, you can drive all that way and come back empty handed - which we've already experienced with our last attempt at getting a bed.

Anyway, we got out there and to our surprise they were having a bed clearance! AND they had king size (box spring too) in stock. yay!! So we have a bed, due to arrive on Thurs, now we just have to pray that it fits through our doorways. ROFL!

Sunday was a pretty exhausting day and I'm not quite sure why. We did our usually Sunday thing, Dennis got up and fixed breakfast :) and we all got ready and headed out to church. For ONCE we were on time and not late. It was a good thing too because the pastor spoke all about being on time and coming to services more than just Sunday morning. So, we decide we should try and make church Sunday night, especially since the boys dont have school on Monday. Normally night church is out for us because the boys need to get up so early in the morning to catch the bus and we're a good 1/2 hour away drive to church. So, time comes to start heading out for the evening service and low and behold, we're LATE!! UGH!

Monday, most of the day was spent working on Sean's science project. He had to collect 10 different leaves, identify them and then fill in a chart asking for color, how many veins, size, etc. It was due today (Tuesday) yay for the family of procrastinators. The real pain in the butt wasn't finding the leaves or filling in the chart and making a display; the problem was identifying these things. What a pain!! A third grader doesn't know how to search leaf characteristics and identify trees online.... well our third grader doesn't at least. He knows how to use the computer, in basics, but heck, we even had problems figuring out what these leaves were. So the heart of the project essentially became the parent's job. Sure, Sean helped (ie watched) us search online but there's no way he could have done that on his own. Don't get me wrong, I love helping him with his homework/projects but that is also project number 2 of 3 due in a weeks time.

It didn't help that I was going through the pregnancy emotional roller coaster this weekend either. Poor Dennis, I think every time he looked at me I was crying over something. He was a good sport though, gave me lots of hugs and kisses and helped out with the things that needed to be done.

By the way...

After all the moaning and groaning the other day about my doc appointment, I forgot to mention some good stuff that has happened this week. I *believe*, apart from clothes, I'm actually finished getting all the baby gear we need. On Tuesday, after the appointment Dennis had some running around to do on one of the bases so I tagged along to hit up the thrift store. Shockingly they had a baby crib there for $75!! (We also got a dresser and some end tables but those werent for baby! hehe) That was the final piece of furniture I need for the baby... I think... I wasnt even planning on buying a crib for a few months after the baby comes since he/she'll be mostly be sleeping with us or in the bassinet.

I finally broke down and bought an infant carseat online. I struggled with whether I wanted to get one or just get a convertable carseat that would grow with the baby but stay permanently in the car. I dont like lugging those infant seat things around, I rarely did but they are useful on cold days to get the baby bundled up in the house and then carry the seat to the car.

I also got a swing on the way. Did you know, it's near impossible to find wind-up swings?! *sob* Call me old fashion but I miss those. I hate eating through batteries constantly. BUT!!! I found an actual swing that comes with a plug in adaptor.. WOO HOO! Now I just need to find another transformer LOL

I'm not planning on getting a stroller, we'll see but I'd probably never use it if we did. It's just easier to use a sling. I do have my eye on a "new fangled" wrap sling. I already have a pocket sling that I loved with Ryan but there were times, especially when he was super young that I didnt feel as secure with it. This one, it's basically a giant piece of cloth that you tie around and it not only secures the baby in real good but it also distributes the weight of the baby so it's not as much strain on your neck like the sling I have now gives. You can also tie it in a bunch of different ways and position the baby facing in or out (when they get older) or laying down for Breastfeeding. I like this color in particular ;)

The boys are both doing well. They have an extra long weekend. They have Friday and Monday off so I need to think of things we can do to keep them busy and my blood pressure from hitting the roof. Sean has a project due on Monday where he has to collect leaves and record them in a book so maybe we'll go out and do some trail walking.

Tschüss for now!

Baby Update: Here we go again!!

Yesterday was another doctor's appointment and unfortunately things didnt go very well. I get up to the office, do the whole "pee in the cup" thing and no sooner to I get to sit down and their calling me into the lab to do weight/BP. For normal people, that's a good thing to get seen right away. For crazy nervous freak-out-in-the-doc-office people like me, not so good. My BP was elevated at 155/90. Normally it's elevated when I go into the office but it doesnt get over 140/90ish so my doc has never worried. But since it's even MORE elevated this time, now I get "the talk".

Of course, I'm my worst enemy when it comes to this stuff. I saw that number and my mind starts racing. The doc decides to test my pressure again this time it's worse 160/115!!!! So I go on to tell her my history (for the billionth time) and how my BP was all over the chart with Ryan and we're not even sure if this was because of real hypertension or the doctor freaking me out. Because of this I always keep a record of my BP in my "Mutterpass" (it's a little booklet you keep on you that has your complete pregnancy record incase you need to go to the hospital). I take my BP at home and it's always around 125/80 something. She really seems to be understanding and is definately putting my doctor anxiety into account. I have to take my BP three times a day now (oh the joy of hearing a BP machine all day long) and keep a record for this week. I have another appointment to see her next week to review this all.

OH!!! but I'm not done.... OOH NO NO NO! Let the bad news just keep on rolling in, all to help my blood pressure, you know. We also had scheduled to do a "measurement" ultrasound. I asked her if she would mind also trying to find out the baby's sex, she really gave a true and honest try this time. Unfortunately (you're going to laugh) AGAIN baby is not cooperating *insert temper tantrum*. The baby's legs were together and straight out almost like she was saying, "not uh! no peeking." But you could definately make out those cute little legs! ;) Oh but that's not the bad news I was speaking about. Nope!

The doc does the measurements and the baby is measuring in a whopping 5lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is average if you're around 34-35weeks pregnant but I'm only 29. So now here comes the Gestational Diabetes talk. I have no history of GD but while I was pregnant with Ryan I got tested about a 100 times for it because he was so big, everytime I passed. I've never been tested this pregnancy for it (though they do check your urine for sugar and have tested glucose in blood tests) but my doc said they didnt test me for GD because I had no history and had been tested in the past. BUT because the baby is measuring so large, when I come back in next week, I get the joy of having the "oh-so-yummy" glucose test. I'm telling you, I hate, despise, loathe this test!! It makes me so sick and I feel like garbage the whole day, but I guess we gotta do what we gotta do. At least this time Dennis will be with me, I wont have a 2yr old that I have to entertain in the waiting room and I wont have to drive home feeling like I'm going to faint the entire time.

You can imagine, though, how all this is helping my blood pressure. So here I sit, mind racing a million miles an hour, trying to relax and use this blog as therapy and about to throw my BP machine out the window because I cant get a good reading on Day 1 of the 3x's a day, week long BP record. ARRRGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just need to relax right? stop thinking about everything? HAHAHAH!! yah, tell my hormones that! Ive been trying all day, they're not listening.

I did it!! Finally!!!

I've been going stir crazy the past week or so worrying about running out of time to have everything I need ready for when the baby comes (nesting instinct I think it's called ;) ). I know, I know, I have 3 months to go yet but over here that's not a whole lot of time. Any of the local stores are over the top expensive, not just because of the exchange rate either. 400 euros for a stroller is expensive no matter what exchange rate it is. I said "400 euros?!! that thing better push itself!!" The PX, of course, is absolutely useless they have one carseat and it's pink and not a cute pink either. LOL Everything else is either pink or blue in there... that'd be great IF I KNEW WHAT I WAS HAVING!!!!!!!! HAHA! Anyway, so that only leaves me with buying things online and hoping they are what I'm expecting when I order them. So that's why I've been going stir crazy.

I did something about it, I finally made my first smallish "major" baby purchase last night. Well, technically our second, we bought a soothing chair and Boppy (nursing pillow) at a Fleamarket last month but those are nice-to-haves not necessaries like what I need to be buying.

I'm a cloth diaper fanatic (ask Dennis) I think they are fantastic! I know, weirdo.. but they are WAY cuter on a baby's bottom than those papery disposables, especially when you get those cutesy adorable printed covers. I already have a supply from when Ryan was baby but I needed to replace some that the elastic had worn down. Plus, when I bought Ryan's diapers I was "new" to that world so all I bought were boring white and one or two printed or colored ones. This time I'm going for the cute ones. I got a Dr Seuess pattern like One Fish, Two Fish and another that's little froggy pond and a few others with some neutral patterns. It's killing me not knowing if our baby is a girl or boy. She also had an ADORABLE pink camo pattern one. I almost bought it anyway but... sigh... I'll wait and see.

I know, how can someone get so excited over something that's going to get pooped on? I just cant wait to see that little bottom in soft fleece and cute patterns. Now to start working on finding a car seat and a swing... yes, a swing is considered a necessary item LOL!!!