It's a.....

BABY!

Ha -- I'm having too much fun with this!

Okay, so seriously, they did do an unexpected ultrasound today. However, that was just to verify the hearbeat, not to do a full blown ultrasound. So they didn't look very hard or long but they did make a GUESS. BUT, not wanting to cause any confusion, I think I'll just keep this guess to myself. Everyone only has 14 more days to wait. I think you can handle it!

Otherwise, things looked surprisingly "normal". Blood pressure was normal, weight down 2 pounds (yipee!), cervix length was normal and everything is thick and closed, as it should be. Fasting blood sugars have been high so they've put me an a pill called Glyburide which wasn't a surprise. I can't get it filled until tomorrow because of insurance and I want to take it when I'm sure Jonathan will be here in the mornings. I have to take it at bedtime and I have fears of it causing my sugar to drop too low so I want to make sure I have someone here to get me help should I need it. Pray that the medicine will do its job but not work too hard and cause me to get sick. I don't want that for me, certainly, but I don't want to scare the kids in any way. Go back in 3 weeks, unless something happens. And of course the big ultrasound in 2 weeks. Anyone want to make a guess as to what you think they told me the baby is?!?! Could be fun.... :)

Talent?

Nathan's latest art creation. What do you think?

"Flowers on an October Day"

by Nathan Stevens

Just call her Chef Elizabeth

Cute story that I just had to share! Elizabeth and John were at Candace's house for preschool today and we had just returned home from picking them up. It was time to start lunch but I noticed I had a few emails. I said my usual "what should we have for lunch today" and Elizabeth said she'd just check the freezer. She said she'd like to have chicken nuggets and I said fine. She then said she'd get the pan. I turned around mid-way through my very few emails and saw her with the broiler pan. Told her that was the wrong pan and to put it back. I then turned around to hear her getting out a cookie sheet. Then, while concentrating, I neglected to notice her actually pouring out the nuggets onto the sheet. Next thing I know, I hear the oven door open (thank goodness it wasn't on yet!). She had gotten the chicken nuggets out of the freezer, found a cookie sheet, put the nuggets on the cookie sheet and placed them on the cookie sheet into the oven, all in the time it took me to read 7 emails! After a lesson in not going near the oven when it's hot (something I've said a millions times), I turned the oven on to bake the nuggets. It's so weird to realize how closely she's watched me do that in the past and that she knew exactly where to go and what to do. At least she's imitating something I'd actually want her to imitate!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Did that title make you look? Well, guess what? It's true!! :)

But I didn't say it was MY baby, now did I? (excuse me while I laugh outloud....there, I'm better). Okay, so seriously, it is a girl but seriously, it is not my baby (meaning we just don't know yet). My brother and his wife found out yesterday that they're expecting their 3rd little girl! Kinda hoping for a little boy since they plan on this being the last one but they are thankful for a healthy mom, healthy baby. As for me, I'm seriously planning on hearing the opposite at my ultrasound....just assume it's a boy and be surprised, that's my philosophy.

Onto more good news -- my liver enzymes are down, completely in normal range! BP not a problem (at least for now). Everything thus far seems okay. Having a hard time adjusting to the diabetic diet but it's mostly because of the food we currently have in the house and the fact that we're midway between pay days (and yes I realize I should have already been following the diet so please refrain from yelling at me over that one). Can't really go buying a whole new set of groceries so I'm trying to do what I can. Monitoring my BP here and it's been normal. I am beginning to suffer from those side pains I've had in the past. With John, I was plain ol' miserable! Thanks be to God for answering prayers, I didn't deal with them too much with Timothy but if the drs are right and it's muscle fatigue, then it stands to reason I'll have them more with this baby because my body has had zero time to recover between pregnancies. I was expecting them but I am highly disappointed that they're already starting and I'm only 17 weeks. :( Also with being with a new dr/new hospital, I'm afraid if I complain too much they'll start running a bunch of tests that reveal nothing and I'm already spending enough time at that place!

In other news, first day of "preschool" with Mrs. Candace seemed to be a hit with Elizabeth and John! Thanks, Candace, for taking this on! The kids had a great time and are looking forward to seeing you again in the morning!

Mixed bag

....of updates, that is. Nathan's tooth extraction went smoothly! :)

My appointment today went smoothly but took a dreadful amount of time! :( Poor me? Think "Poor Candace" at home with 7 kids! Anyway, not-so-great news right up front -- blood pressure way high. Drew some blood to check my liver enzymes to compare with the levels they drew back in August. If they're going up, we might be in some serious trouble.... Good news, though -- cervix measured over 4cm (40mm)!! Dr. Iames said "Normal with a capital N!" And as his resident said "Stay boring!". Glucola test was dreadful but yielded a result of 193. Thankfully, Dr. Iames was merciful and said that was close enough to 200 to declare diabetes without the 3 hour test! Can't tell you how exciting that is! So then I ran around meeting with the dietician and the diabetic clinic's nurse. Normally, I would have come back on a different date to do that. I thought it would be better if I could get it all done in one hit and they were very accomodating. The diabetic clinic's nurse, Cathy, is scratching her head and was really wanting that 3 hour test. (WHY? It's not like it's going to yield a different result!!) This is her point -- Normally, a placenta doesn't start excreting (sp?) enough hormones to cause gestational diabetes in a woman until around 24 weeks which is why the glucola test is normally given around 24-28 weeks. So that's why she asked me to have my A1C drawn a few weeks ago. Her question -- if my A1C was 5.5 (a perfectly normal result which should indicate that I don't have type 2 diabetes) then why am I testing positive for gestational diabetes early (now being only 16 weeks)? To her, something doesn't add up. I'm with her and wouldn't quite frankly be surprised to learn that I have type 2 diabetes. However, her answer certainly doesn't lie in that 3 hour test! We already know how my body reacts to the 50mg of glucose (sugar) in the drink I drank today. There's no possible way it would act differently with the 100mg of glucose they give you to drink with the 3 hour test. The question really is -- do I have type 2 diabetes? How do we find that out, if the answer doesn't lie in my A1C? I have no idea! I'm sure they'll come up with some other test(s) to do on me when I go back. That's one bad thing about going to a university hospital....they're blood suckers!

Bottom line -- no signs of preterm labor. Exactly what we wanted to hear. Repeate cervical length scans every 2 weeks; level 2 ultrasound (gender time!) on 11/14.

How do you like them apples?

With a 20# bag of apples, I've been trying to figure out different things to do with them besides apple pie ('cause I am not a baker!). Have several recipes that sound good but I don't ever seem to have all the ingredients on hand. Then I tried this recipe and the answer to the question is -- we LOVE them apples!

*apples, peeled and cored (I used an apple wedger to make wedges but I'm sure you could even chop them), approx. 6-8 medium (I used golden delicious)
*1/4 c butter
*1/2 c brown sugar
*1/4 t cinnamon
*1/8 t nutmeg

Melt butter in skillet. Add apples then add sugar and spices. Saute' 15-20 minutes 'til done!

And it was just as simple as it sounds. Now the only thing missing is some ice cream!!

Updates

Much better night for me! Still feeling wiped out, though. Many thanks for any and all prayers! 2 things I want to point out today for those of you keeping up with us:

First, Timothy's hearing aid evaluation has been moved to this Wednesday. Long story but I'm happy with the earlier appointment.

Second, I've talked with the preterm labor clinic today about my suggested course of treatment. Starting this Friday, they will do what's called cervical length scans. Not a pleasant experience but necessary to make sure we do everything we can to keep this baby in where he/she's supposed to be for as long as possible! Imagine a zipper -- we want the zipper to be nice and long (4 cm would be a great result; 3 cm is acceptable but not necessarily a good sign; 3.5 cm is average) and for the zipper to completely zipped up, not starting to unzip at the top (very bad!). Depending on my results on Friday, this will be repeated either in 1 to 3 weeks (and always on a Friday). Pray for a good result this week most importantly for the sake of the pregnancy but also so I can keep my sanity by not having to run to the drs office all the time! This week, they'll also be doing a Glucose Tolerance Test. This is the test that will tell them whether or not I have gestational diabetes. Expecting a bad result there. And this may sound like a weird request but pray that it's either really good (like less than 150) to where they'll either declare me not diabetic (unlikely) or they'll tell me I can repeat the test in a few weeks OR pray that it's really bad (like 200) to where I'll have the diagnosis. That's for 2 reasons -- 1, I avoid the awful, awful 3 HOUR test and 2, the earlier I know I have it, the more I can do to keep things under control. They will not be doing an anatomy scan this week so don't expect any boy/girl news this time. They will be doing that in 2 or 3 weeks, depending on when I have to come back for another length scan. And last but not least, I will be beginning progesterone injection therapy. More than likely, that will start 11/1 or so and a nurse will have to come to my house once a week to administer the shot. Thankfully, though, my insurance will pay for the shots and for the home nurse.

That's it for now!