Something smells fishy

A catch up of what's been going on around here....

Funny story -- last week, on Monday, I went to go get a cookie sheet out of our kitchen island and thought something smelled funny. Didn't say anything or think too much about it. Well, by Wednesday, when I went to get something out again, the smell was drastically worse. I started avoiding opening the island and finally remembered to tell Jonathan on Thursday. He pulled everything out to see if there was something in the back and couldn't find anything. By Friday, you can't even imagine how bad the smell was so he started pulling things out one piece at a time. That's when he found it. The broiler pan had gotten put back into the island BEFORE it had been washed from the last time we used it. Can't remember what we had cooked on it last....Jonathan is the smelly-things-cleaner-upper around here (I can't stand strong smells even when I'm not pregnant but smells really set me off while I'm pregnant) but I could still hear him trying to get through cleaning it up. Oh well, at least we found it! =)

We've made it to 31 weeks....if we make it to full-term, that means we only have 9 weeks left. Yikes! Things still seem to be going okay, not great, but okay. Last check-up last week, I thought for sure they'd change my diabetes medication but they only said to take it at a different time during the day. I had put on a few pounds in the short 2 weeks since I had been there last and I know it's because I'm eating more and I'm eating more when my sugar drops, usually every afternoon. I'm trying to adjust so that I won't have another weight gain (at least not too big) between now and next Monday when I go back. My BP was still borderline when I was there so we're still just watching and waiting on that. They'll do another ultrasound on Monday so that'll tell us if things are changing that show we're headed toward preterm labor and tell us an estimate of how much the baby weighs which is a big worry of mine. John was born at 32 weeks, 5 days and weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces but at the 28-week ultrasound, they had assured me his weight was normal. They said Timothy was just shy of 3 pounds at his 28 week ultrasound. I'll also start non-stress tests next Monday. Not that big a deal -- nothing painful by any means. They put 2 belts around you, one measuring the baby's heartbeat and one checking for contractions. What they want to see is 1) no contractions, 2) that the baby's heartbeat is between 120 and 160, the norm for babies, 3) that the baby is moving adequately (I push a little button that marks when I feel him move), and 4) that when he does move, his heart rate responds appropriately. Contractions would be a not-so-good thing for obvious reasons. If there's a problem with the heartbeat or if he's not moving often enough or if his heartbeat isn't responding right after the moves, then that's a sign the baby is in "distress", that he doesn't like his environment any more. I've never had a NST where they told me they thought the baby was in distress and I've had NST's with every pregnancy. However, it was at my first NST with John that they noticed I was contracting...that was 9 that morning and John was born at 7 that night -- and that's with heavy meds to try and stop labor. He'd probably have been born before noon if they hadn't at least succeeded in slowing things down! I'm a little nervous....I don't mind the NST's but they sure are a pain for other reasons. 1, the take so long (a minimum of 20 minutes, sometimes as long as an hour) and 2, they do them twice a week which means 2 times the gas to and from the hospital and 2 times the sitters for the kids. And, my one sitter has agreed to watch the kids on the Thursday/Friday appointments each week but she is just a little more pregnant than I am! She could deliver as early as Thanksgiving week but is due 12-15 or so! On the other baby fronts, we got the crib, swing, car seat, etc out of the attic and all clothes are washed and almost put away. Crib isn't together just yet but that's okay. Still have to wash the fabric parts of the swing, car seat, and bouncy seat and wash blankets. All I can say is they better not be wrong or this little girl will be wearing an awful lot of blue for a while! =)

Speaking of gas, I heard this morning that they expect gas prices to stay around $3 for a long time. They also said that gas is really close to $100/barrel and that if it reaches that mark, we can expect gas prices as high as $4/gal by next spring/summer. Isn't that nice?!?!

Well, let's see -- I don't think anything else has really changed much lately. The kids are okay although the little 3 are having a rough time with the weather changes. Their noses finally stopped running but in the mornings, they just sit here and cough. We did take them to church on Sunday night. Caleb & Elizabeth will perform some Christmas songs the evening of 12/9 and Nathan's choir will perform on 12/16. Homeschool co-op (Nathan's art class and Caleb's preschool class) only has 2 weeks left! I hate to say it but I'll be glad when they're done this time. It's been a bit tiring. School is okay -- not getting as much done as I'd like but that's okay. Flexibility is one of the benefits of homeschooling. We can catch up after this little guy gets here and the holidays are over. Nathan is into technology and wanting to learn about it so keep an eye out for the announcement that his own blog is up and running. We're still working on getting it set up right now. He's also excited to be emailing a few (chosen) people. I'm hoping that will help with spelling/grammar. I guess that's really about it. I'm sure there's more I could ramble on about but do you really want to read that??? =)

(PS -- since we signed Nathan up for a blog, when we log in, it shows both blogs; it changed all our posts to say Nathan posted them which, I'm sure, you can figure out he didn't do!)