Anniversary!

Happy 30th Wedding Anniversary mom and dad! Too bad we couldn't find jars for pears today, because I do have a little something for you guys. I look forward to another 30!

jamie

Reality Check

It seems that the last 28 weeks have been surreal. I didn't have morning sickness or any of the "typical" early pregnancy complaints. Sure I've switched from oral medication to insulin, but it's become so routine now that I don't think about it much (I know, she pokes herself seven times a day and doesn't think about it? Ha! But really, it isn't so bad). I have baby stuff strewn about our apartment and nailed to the walls. I finished my baby registry with Lynnette a few days ago. But my reality check has finally come.

It wasn't any one thing specifically. More a few things. First was starting the labor and birth classes. Then there was the issue with my blood sugar becoming more volatile. Then a combination of feeling Kaylee kick so vigorously at night that I giggle myself to sleep and waking up this morning and almost falling flat on my face because my right knee gave out. I gimp around like a cripple since my hips hurt all the time and my belly is finally sticking far enough out to get in the way. It's weird. I suppose I had to get some of the bad thrown in with all the good.

Want to know the strangest thing of all? Knowing that there will be a little girl to call me mommy.

jamie

Registry Complete!

Lynnette and I went out to Target today and finished off my baby registry as well as picking up baby shower cards. So exciting! I picked out three new maternity shirts as well, since I'm running out of my old shirts that fit. I've been fighting with my blood sugar all this last week, it's been too low and amazingly volatile. Here's the difference. Breakfast consists of a bagel with cheese and a 1/2 cup of cranberry juice. Normally I just have a bowl of cereal, which is a lot less carbs, so I take 12 of my insulin. It makes my blood sugar after breakfast around 100. This is good, it's what I want. So when I switch breakfasts, I stay with the same dose and adjust according to my blood sugar. New breakfast shoots me up to 180. Not good. So I increase my dose to 14 the next day. Blood sugar drop to 80. Notice the difference of only TWO points in my insulin. Yeah, go hormones. Hence the daily struggle to find a balance.

Which leads us back to Target! I didn't know if I was just tired, the day was hot, or what, but I was warm. Too warm. It could also mean my blood sugar was too low. Tiny dizzy spells lead me to believe it was my blood sugar, so I got a little candy from Lynnette and figured I'd be fine for the next 10 minutes so we could get out of the store. Whee! Instead I freak out my sister by almost falling over and blacking out. It musta been on my face or something, because I couldn't convince her I was fine for a little bit. Hehe. Love you sis! No dots, no dizzy, just eyes suddenly roll up and I start to fall. Now I had plenty of consciousness left to catch myself, and I really was fine after that. Just scary.

On the plus side, I got a cherry icie on the way out. I love those things, they turn your tongue red. Not often I get to drink pure sugar! Oh, and I checked my blood sugar when I got home. 122. This means I was probably down in the 50's since I drank that much pure sugar. 50's aren't good. 40's are worse, and 30's means you pass out. Sooo... I cross my fingers and hope it was 50's!

>.>

BABY STUFF!

Oh, and Kaylee only likes to kick Lynnette in the head. It's official. *grins*

jamie

Banunus!

So I just spent the last 10 min laying on my side cuddling with kitties and giggling over how much I was getting kicked. There were double kicks really fast down low together, and singles up higher. Almost like she was throwing a tantrum, hehe. Last night I think I had my first fake contraction. I was sitting on the couch eating a muffin after dinner and got this ache in my lower back that quickly spread throughout my abdomen and then up my spine. It didn't last very long, a min or two, and then my spine just ached. It was strange, but not painful. More uncomfortable, and made me very awake and aware of what was going on. On the bright side, for the last three nights in a row I've felt baby movement every time I wake up to use the bathroom. We're talking, three or four times a night. I wake up, she's moving. I lay back down, she's moving. It's reassuring and kinda cute, unless she really goes nuts and makes me roll over.

Happy 40th birthday Allen!


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jamie

28 Weeks

Huzzah for making it to the third trimester! Kaylee is rather industrious in her kicking now, and every time I woke up last night to use the bathroom, she was moving. Or kicking. You know, whatever strikes her fancy. I'd say 95% of the time she acts up when I'm making a meal as well. Either she hears my tummy grumbling or is just hungry too! :)

Galen and I finally got things straightened out and we're all set to move. Now begins the long process of sorting all our worldly possessions and getting them in boxes. We'll be taking as much furniture to the dump as moving actually. Our black chair has been broken for over a year (nothing stops it from reclining backwards), our couch smells like cat pee, and we have 3 desks to ditch. That leaves us with our bed, two big dressers, my desk and our entertainment center to move. Not bad, huh? Not sure were we'll be getting our new couch, but we've got 3 weeks to find one.

I was going to buy a new glider rocker type chair from Sears since I could get a cashback bonus on my Discover card (I had demanded a comfy chair for holding/feeding/etc. and Galen was fine with it). Dad heard me taking about this when I was over at their place yesterday and went diving downstairs to emerge with exactly what I was talking about. Still in the box, never opened! As it turns out my Grandma Church was supposed to have it, but somehow it never got used. When she passed away, it ended up with my folks. So in a way, Grandma gets to give a gift to her first great grandchild. Thank you Grandma!

jamie

ps: I can't get enough of the funny kitty pictures, so you're all subject to them! Mahahaha!


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Moving Time

It's official. We pulled the plug on the condo since there was almost no chance of getting the paperwork done on time, and will be putting our saved funds towards a new apartment. We'll only be moving a few blocks, so that Galen can still walk to work, but it's a much nicer unit. Moving day(s) will be October 11th and possibly 12th if we need it. Of course, it falls on the same weekend that Galen has Earth Dawn scheduled, but oh well. At least we'll have a committed group of people to move boxes! It will be a downstairs unit, so no worries there, with washer/dryer in unit and more sq. ft.

YAY we're moving! I get a nursery now!!

jamie

Here it is...

Okay... here's the belly. I'll get better ones later, but Galen was "kind" enough to take this of me while we were at the beach.



edit: omg I didn't realize how well my "shelf" stood out too. *laughs* I only hope they won't get any bigger!

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Deal Time

So Galen estimates we have about a 5% chance of things working out on Monday. As much as I hate it, I agree. SO. We are going to move anyway. Within the same 5 blocks or so of his work, but to a nicer apartment. I made him agree that we will have The Jar now, and it will collect $20 each week for the next few years, and eventually it will hold our down payment for a house. I don't plan on enforcing this until after he goes back to work in January though. One way or another, we'll be moving in October.

jamie

Update

In regards to the condo: I called CJ today, and it seems the bank is STILL sitting on their thumbs whistling innocently. If they don't say yes by Monday, we won't get the place. Stupid, just so stupid. And since we have no way to come up with $10,000 for a down payment, chances are we'll be stuck in an apartment for those two years.

jamie

27 Weeks

Our beach trip was quite nice and relaxing. Our hotel was neither fantastic nor horrible, and I admit the free breakfast was a really nice perk. I just miss having a deck to watch the waves from. Galen got a chuckle from the front desk gals when he went to pick up our breakfast both mornings. He explained that he had a pregnant wife back in the room, and was reassured he could come back as many times for food as he wanted. *grins* I'm not sure if he or I took more advantage of that! We did find a yummy restaurant called Pier 101 in Lincoln City, had both dinner and lunch the next day there. The best server known to man is named Missy, she was wonderful. It's kinda nice that people can recognize that I'm preggers now, instead of just fat. Whee! My belly is rounding out pretty well actually.

Wednesday night our little darling went bonkers. We brought along season two of House to watch in our room, since I can only do so much walking around. While we were winding down after dinner she decided to just have at it. Kicking so much that I could watch my belly jiggle. Galen got to feel her kick for the first time as well! My poor bladder...

The weather left much to be desired. It seems we left the scorching heat back in Vancouver and got nothing but clouds at the coast. Solid, low to the hills clouds. Not a single ray of sunshine until we were packing the trunk to leave on Thursday. Figures, huh? So no beautiful sunset pictures this year, but I did get some of Galen climbing on the rocks. I'll post those once I find my camera in the mess of the living room.

Nothing was waiting for us when we got home about the Condo. I plan on bugging CJ sometime today and see what's new. I want to hope so much that this will work, but we're definitely running out of time now. Almost to that point where we need to start emptying the second bedroom and prep it for baby. I really didn't want to be in an apartment still, but if we're stuck here, then we're stuck. For two more years minimum, maybe three, until we can get all our debt paid off and apply for a traditional mortgage. Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket and just keep hoping.

jamie

ps: blogspot seems to be freaking out, I swear I made this post Friday morning!

We're Back!

We're back from the beach. I'm tired, so will update you tomorrow. In the meantime, be entertained:



jamie

Ouch

Today was toasty. 88 or something around there. Thankfully we have a very good AC unit because of my parents, which keeps the living room almost chilly, and the back bedrooms quite nice. Even still, I like to have ice in my water. It's just a little thing I enjoy. Well apparently my coordination is going out the window and I dropped a full tray of icecubes. They made a wonderful crash and mess across the floor, but in the process I definitely messed up my back. Or the muscles in my back, something. Either way, I know tonight isn't going to be any fun trying to sleep. As if my hips weren't bad enough! Good timing for our vacation starting Tuesday. Go me! /groan

jamie

Fetch!

For some reason this made me think of Mr. Ben (my parent's dog). Hehe...

jamie

26 Weeks

We've made it to the safety zone. If for some reason she was born tomorrow, there's a very good chance she'll live. Frightening to think, at only 26 weeks isn't it? But my little darling seems much more content to punch my insides lately. She's decided that there is no set time of day that is awake or sleep time. So I get jabs and bumps all morning (like right now) with the afternoon tapering off (usually) and then more after dinner. Goodness child, what ARE you trying to do?! I'm getting jabbed left and right, hehe. Not to mention up and down!

Everything I've read says that her eyes are no longer fused closed, but no matter her race they are blue right now. Since both my parents and both Galen and I have blue eyes, there's a good chance she will too (not sure about the Fishes). As for pregnancy symptoms, it feels like my hips are attached loosely in an upside down T to my spine. I swear I creak when I walk. I always have to pause after standing to make sure everything stays attached! I also think my allergies are taking me for a whirl, or it's just more preggers stuff. I get itchy spots on my neck and collar bone. No idea why, other then Tux rubbing on me there. It just takes a wet washcloth to make it go away.

And good lord this child is going nuts this morning. Kaylee! Take a chill pill!

jamie

Susie

What? It's called sleeping. Now shush, human.

99!

Wheeeee! Down to two digits! Anyone else feel that? Yeah, she's taken to bumping me in the morning. Nothing big mind you, more like a "good morning!" Hehe.

Still nothing about the condo. I've already gone insane from the waiting, don't worry. At least this time next week we'll be at the beach.

And a funny picture to amuse you, since it amused me. What's with cats IN clothes? Then again, Tux loves clean laundry.


jamie

The Strangeness of Pregnancy

So for the past 25+ weeks I've been almost symptom free of the "normal" pregnancy complaints. All I've had are achy hips from sleeping on my side and sometimes amazing amounts of gas. Which I'm mildly proud of since it's about time Galen got a dose of his own medicine. But today was weird. It was as if my heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest. Sitting at my computer or on the couch, didn't matter. As if I was walking fast while sitting down. The only thing that helped was actually lying down in bed and taking a nap. Four hours later and I wondered where the time went. Yeah I know, weird. Feel fine now thankfully, just thirsty as all hell. Score one for the strangeness of pregnancy.

jamie

Hello From Sidney!

No no, not Australia. The person! I haven't heard from this globe trotting gal in quite some time, but surprise! A phone call today. She says hi! And Sidney... we need pictures, pronto!

jamie

Countdown!

Ten more days and we're off to the beach for our anniversary! Five more days and I'll go from triple to double digits for my due date. Eee! Butterflies anyone? I have plenty to share!

jamie

25 Weeks

Kaylee has been quiet for the last few days compared to before, but I get the little nudges and bumps still. I bet she's running out of room! According to Parenting.com: "She can make a fist and reach her feet, and may already exhibit a preference for her left or right hand. Your uterus is now about the size of a soccer ball." I've noticed the swelling in my feet and ankles already too. When in the kitchen my feet ache something horrible after about 10 minutes. I mean, the wincing hissing pain when I put them up to rest. I wonder if I can find some sort of supportive inhouse shoe to help. The problem is I'm warming up now too, and if I wear my normal shoes I'll overheat. More money! Oyii!

I've tackled our food budget after keeping track of how much we spent over July. It wasn't very pretty. So I'm inching us back bit by bit and trying out $80 a week. This includes all food, medications (which are about $80 a month), and cat food/litter. Thanks to this wonderful website I've gotten so many new ideas and recipes that I've been reading everything I can get my hands on. Simple things like, 1/4 cup of white vinegar on the rise cycle as fabric softener instead of the expensive store version. I made this recipe tonight and Galen loved it. Woo! I also made this Waldorf Salad this afternoon, which was much praised as well. While there is more time involved in living cheaper, it's worth it. Nothing beats a home cooked meal!

jamie

If Only...

I can see Tux getting himself stuck like that, and Susie just snickering on the side watching him struggle. Typical cats. Always doing something to amuse me!

We finally had neighbors move in the apartment next to us. It's only been vacant for a minimum of six months. They were kind enough to mark up our front door from moving their furniture in. I wonder if the marks will "disappear" on their own, or if we gotta clean it.

Oh, and I hurt my big toe somehow. It doesn't like being walked on. Amusing cats help balance annoying pains.

jamie