Thursday, June 30, 2005

Doctor appointment....

It was an uneventful one just like we like them. Granted I had to wait an hour before being seen, but it's one of a few times that has happened. I know they'll spend as much time with me as I want/need them to so that helps having to wait. The OB was in surgery so I got to visit with the MW which is always nice.

I gained back 3 of the pounds I lost last appt so am up to 211 now. I thought I'd gain back a lot more with all the junk I've been eating trying to up the glucose lows I've hit. Also with this heat that 3lbs could be water weight although I'm not terribly swollen. Either way I can't complain since I'm under my starting pg weight. Gee, when I talk about my weight I start to feel guilty that I do. Sometimes it would seem that I'm TRYING to lose weight. I'm not fighting losing it. But I'm not doing anything that I shouldn't to do it. Just eating healthier (for the most part). I often wonder how much I'd have lost if I'd also started the exercise portion of this wellness thing I always thought I'd start. Oh well, that part is going to wait for a few months.

My blood pressure was 116/64. WHAT at that dr office is making my pressure so low. I can't blame it on the nurse's technique since all the nurses have gotten those readings. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Just curious...I'll definitely take it! Maybe sitting in a chair for an hour before it's taken helped. At home though it's been running in the mid 120's - 130's/mid 70's -80's. Guess I have the opposite of white coat syndrome. ;o)

If I can say nothing else about this baby so far, it's that it's consistant! The heartrate was 153. I don't think it's ever been out of the 153-157 range since we could hear it. She didn't measure my belly but I'm ok with that now. Anyways my next appt in a week is going to include a sono! Woohoo! Another peak at her!

We talked about my insulin needs. The MW said there are a few things that could be contributing to them lowering. I've lost weight, the heat, and I'm not eating enough...especially protein, so my sugar is jumping up and then falling down quickly (and that's a real possibility). She wasn't too concerned with the lower dosage needed but was going to show the OB my numbers when he was back in the office. So he may decide differently. I'm not concerned about it now, being at 20 units seems to be ok for me. I asked about my A1c (3 month average of my blood sugars) that was taken before my last appointment. At the beginning of the pregnancy it was 5.4 which is good. I thought for sure it would be higher...it was 4.9!!! Wooohoo! She told me I'm doing something right and it's working. :oD I'm wondering if the A1c change would indicate that I was pre-diabetic before I got pregnant or if I recently became Type 2.

She informed me that I have to have one visit to the perinatal center (more the Peri's request/demand then the OB's) during my pregnancy. So I'll be getting a letter in the mail soon with details of that appt. Oh joy! That place is a madhouse! Wonder if I can keep rescheduling it until I have my baby. lol I realize it's to cover themselves (the peri center). I wouldn't want to work on a pg lady I'd never met and have NO clue to her prenatal history. At least if I do have to deliver in the bigger city they'll have me in the computer. (although they should have info on Olivia's pregnancy since I saw them a few times during it)

I had my first huge bout of BH contrax last night. They were really irritating! Especially since I was hungry and my sugar was low (wondered if that could have contributed to it). I had also been running all day. It would have been ok to deal with if I was home and could have gone to lay down or at least be by myself. As it was I was in the middle of a feast at church and had to deal with all the kids by myself. D came up and asked if I was ok so it must have shown on my face a bit. She told me I should have jumped in front of the food line, pushing and shoving everyone else out of the way! I felt like I was inhaling my food once I got it. It must have looked so ladylike. LOL

On Tuesday Tom and I hit our 22nd wedding anniversary! I would say we celebrated it but we didn't. Tom is on call until the 5th so we couldn't go out anywhere. Maybe next week we can do something. At least we both remembered! It's not often that either of us does much less both of us! A neat thing about this anniversary. It is the exact calendar year as the year we got married (1983). So the 28th fell on a Tuesday just like our wedding day. I know...who gets married on a Tues? We do!

This weekend is suppose to cool down a LOT (high of 75 one of the days...20 degrees cooler) I thought it would be a great weekend to get things accomplished around here in anticipation for the grad party. Seems life has other plans for me. Tom told me on Tues that we're invited to a guy at his work's house for a COSTUME party! It's a combination 4th of July and Halloween party. So now I have to figure out, find and dress everyone up. My uncle is also having his annual 4th of July cookout on Sunday. Tom can't go there as it's too far from work so I'll have to do it on my own. I almost forgot that Carrie has a KNOT (kids now off therapy) clinic appointment tomorrow! So that day is shot for working, it's an all day thing. I'm trying not to let the normal "what ifs" set in. I guess it's a good thing I haven't remembered because then I haven't had time to think about it.

I'm making a list! We WILL get stuff done today!!!! It's the only day I'll have until Monday or Tuesday. Now where's my megaphone and bullwhip?

Monday, June 27, 2005

The rest of the weekend....

For the first time in weeks I slept past 6am on Sunday! :oD Well I woke up at 5:30 to use the bathroom but unlike other days...I fell back to sleep! I woke up at 8:30 and rolled back over until 10:30. I can't remember the last time I did that! Although it makes for a short day. Especially when I have to be out the door at 2pm for a graduation party.

Tom stayed home from the grad party so he could get some yardwork done (since he had to let it go the day before). Only the adults and youth were invited so I went with Luke and Liz. It was a nice relaxing day talking with my church friends. Having lots of nice food to go along with good fellowship helps too.

I guess I should update on what's been going on with my insulin. I didn't take any Friday night or at all on Saturday. I ate what I wanted (read that...a LOT of carbs!) and still stayed close or under my BG limit. Sunday I dropped my morning dose down to 20 but still didn't stick to my diet and was fine all day. At least there weren't any lows! Before bed I had a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a bit of raspberry jam for flavoring, 1 pc of twizzler and half a regular hershey bar. 1 hr later I was 126 (suppose to be under 140). I took 20units and went to bed...hoping I wouldn't bottom out during the night. Luckily I didn't and woke up to a 78 at 6am (had been awake but in bed since 4:30! UGH!)

I did 20units again this AM and ate my regular breakfast of 2pcs of peanut butter toast. 1hr later I was 124 so I guess instead of calling the dr and trying to be seen, I'll just stick with my diet and see what happens at this insulin level. My next OB appt is on Wed, so not too far away.

OH and Val probably DID have a stomach bug, since Carrie woke up at 6am today and proceeded to throw up! I just hope it's a quick moving bug and my dad has been spared from it.

So looks like the first day of summer vacation where NO ONE has to go anywhere or do anything is off to an interesting start. Funny how almost everyone was up before 8am on the day I figured they want to sleep in the most! LOL

It's going to be a scorcher again today, and the next, and the next... Our pool is getting filled slowly but surely. My BIL redid the timer on the supply pump yesterday so it's pumping more frequently. We ran it into the house well all night so we're fine there. Today will be concentrated on the pool. I'm hoping this new system will let it be filled by the end of the week instead of the end of the summer! ;o) I'm just hoping it doesn't turn chilly and raining after we get it filled...like last year. LOL

I'm hoping to get into the basement and organize all the clothes down there (including storage). Unfortunately I have about 7 or 8 loads waiting for me in the hall too. So I guess it's laundry day today! Good thing the well is filled. LOL

YIKES!!! Jake just started screaming. It seems that he was sitting on the couch drinking hot cocoa (which he's not suppose to do!) Carrie's foot hit his hand while he was in the middle of a sip, getting hot cocoa all over his face and neck! He's laying on the couch now with a cold towel covering his face. I'm pretty sure he's ok.

What a great start to summer vacation!

Saturday family fun

Earlier in the week my dad had invited us into his house on Saturday. It was the annual firemen's field days at the end of his street. They were having a special...pay $10 and ride all the rides from 2-5pm, he wanted to treat all the grandkids to it.

My brother, sister and I decided since Sunday was his birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!) that we'd turn the day into birthday party. I made macaroni salad and cooked a pork loin roast in my 18qt roaster which we sliced up and served will rolls for sandwiches. My brother brought sweet and sour kielbasa in the crockpot and a pineapple jello salad. My sister brought tossed salad and chips. Instead of birthday cake I bought the fixings for strawberry shortcake. We also had tons of treats for the kids, including sparklers for the evening.

All the kids had a ball at the field days! It was extremely hot out so we stayed there for about an hour, went back to my parents, rehydrated and cooled down a bit, then they went back down for round 2 of rides (I ran to the store for some things we needed for dinner). Olivia came running home bragging about how she almost threw up on the Octopus!!! ROFL She was fearless. My dad said he was laughing watching her almost throw up on it. It made his day to see them have so much fun. :oD

I started wondering if Valerie was throwing up because of heat exhaustion the night before or not. She was still a bit off in how she felt on and off all day. She even went upstairs and laid down a few times during the day. I HOPE it's not a stomach bug and that we gave it to my dad!!!! He has trouble yawning and coughing without pain due to his bypass. I couldn't imagine how he'd fare with having to throw up.

We didn't have a bonfire at night (so didn't use Patrick's S'more fixings) but sat out listening to the band at the field days as long as the mosquitos allowed us to. I think we got home about 11...might have been midnight. I didn't look at a clock...just went right to bed!

Friday night excitement and scare

It was our 3rd graduation ceremony Friday night at 7pm. I was NOT looking forward to the actual ceremony since it was held in the gym and it was 95 out. (no air conditioning) We arrived at the school at 6:15 because Michelle needed to be there by then. I decided I was going into the gym to stake out the best seats that I could. I found some seats in the last row in front of the huge fans. Being in the last row kept the surrounding bodyheat to a minimum. The huge fans weren't blowing right on us but at least moved the air by us. That is as long as people weren't standing in front of it...being HOGS! LOL Val decided to sit up in the bleachers with some of her friends.

Past experience had us leaving everyone else home for the evening. We knew the ceremony would be packed full and take over 2hrs. Each grad is allowed 4 seats on the floor. All others have to sit in the bleachers. I wasn't about to sit in the uncomfortable bleachers for 2hrs with my little kids! From what I've been told they didn't mind...even if they didn't have any power for the majority of the time we were gone. LOL poor things! I'm just glad the school wasn't involved in the outage also.

All day Friday I kept thinking....3 down, 8 to go. Then I'd laugh because LAST year I was saying...2 down, 8 to go. Will I ever say 7? ;o) After the ceremony we hung around, gave all the kids we knew hugs, congratulated them and took pictures. Click on Michelle's picture below to go to her graduation album.

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The scare came AFTER we got home from graduation. Actually as soon as we pulled into the driveway. As soon as Val got out of the car she started throwing up and couldn't stop. I thought she had heat exhaustion. She was totally out of it and I was really concerned she was so dehydrated that she needed IV fluids. I kept trying to decide whether or not to take her to the ER or not. I HATE that part of parenting...trying to decide if a situation is in need of professional help or not. We both fell asleep in her bunk about 3am and she was doing better in the morning. PHEW!

She unfortunately missed an X-box party at M's house after the ceremony. I'm sure Michelle was really wishing she was there since she ended up being the only girl there! When I woke up to go to the bathroom and check on Val at 5:30 I realized Michelle still wasn't home. I had my cell phone and the house phone on the headboard of my bed incase she needed a ride. We called M's house at 9am (was afraid to call too much earlier) and found out she was still there. Her excuse for not calling was...I didn't want to wake you up. I informed her I'd rather miss out on a few minutes of sleep to be told she wasn't coming home anytime soon. Then to have to sit around the house worrying if she was still where I left her and if she was ok for hours on end! Guess I COULD thank her for being thoughtful to my needs. LOL

I'm posting a pic of Michelle, Tom and I since I did for Pat's graduation. It's not a good pic but it's the best I have of us. Michelle said she could put her gown on and we could retake it at a later date...pretending it was graduation day. :o)

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Friday, June 24, 2005

Happy 1yr anniversary to me!!!

Today is a year from when I started this blog. I guess I have Chris over at the The Big Yellow House to thank for encouraging me to start this. She just recently celebrated the same anniversary a few days ago. I remember having recently discovered the multitude of blogs out there and talking about it in a TOK chat. Chris told us about how she started one and it jump started my desire to start.

Writing I sometimes feel like I'm being deceptive. Not that I lie about things that happen. I just tend to not share ALL the information. (could you imagine how lengthy my posts would be if I did! yikes!) Some people think I share TOO much though. Part of the reason is to protect people's idenities (those that aren't members of my household that is) and privacy...I hope I've done a good job of that. It's a constant worry. Other reasons is that I'm just not comfy sharing some parts of my life, mostly the religious side. I know I've shown glimpses of it here or there but to me it's a very personal thing. I guess some would say I'm not doing my Godly duty by being a mouthpiece for my beliefs. I tend to think that actions speak louder then words. Unfortunately in a blog actions can't be seen too readily. It's just not a direction that this thing ever took and it seems weird to change directions at this time. I'm not saying it won't ever happen...I just don't see it happening in the future.

It's been a great thing for me to have a place to come to and let things out...whether anyone else reads/understands it or not. While writing I think about the past. Unexpectedly I find myself thinking more about the future though. How things will be different once the baby is born. How as the kids grow up and move onto better things (like grandkids! but not in the too near future of course), my house will be host to even more craziness. How hopefully in the near future I can report how much better I feel because of eating well and exercising regularly. I'll probably still be more ambitious in my mind then I really am. Hopefully there will be SOME improvement in that area. I certainly don't want to stay the same and hope to grow right along with the kids.

To all those out there that have followed along on my long winded journey and offered support....THANK YOU! It means a lot to me to know that there are others that think about and care what happens in my little corner of the world.

Here's to many many more years of musings, ramblings and all around blathering! (add in vents and whining too lol) Not only from me but from all those that I visit and have come to care about online as well.

Today does seem to be a better day...

I woke up with my fasting at 88 again. I decided to eat my normal or almost normal breakfast this morning to see what happened. I had 2pcs of toast...one with peanut butter and one with raspberry jam (a bit heavier then normal) and a glass of vegetable juice (don't normally have). I was 135 after an hour so took my morning dose but adjusted it down to 25units instead of 30. An hour later I'm sitting at an 80 and about ready to have my morning snack...so ok. :o)

We've been busy already this morning and it's encouraging. It helps that my sciatica isn't bothering me as much as it's been the last few days. Everyone has at least started their chores for the day and most have completed them. I gave Luke, Jake and Tom a haircut this morning. Yep, Tom is home today. He forgot to tell me he took the day off. He wasn't sure if he was going to use it for a vacation day or not. He's on call next week and will be on call through the 4th of July holiday. This means he won't be able to get a "day off" until July 11th. (his birthday!) Word has it that he took the whole week off before the graduation party. UGH! I just realized that lately I've forgotten about Michelle's grad party invitations. We'll have to have them out by the end of the month at the latest.

The pool filling is on hold while the supply well is running into the house well and filling it up. I'm working toward going to laundromat. Tom thinks we can do it here but I don't want to stall the filling of the pool any longer then I need to. I have a LOT of laundry to do. I've been lax in that department since there's no school. Now that I think about it, it might be worth spending what I'd have spent at the laundromat and having some water delivered into the pool instead. Hmmmm...guess I need to call the water guy and have a conversation with Tom.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Pulling the hair out of my head!

It's hard to explain to everyone about my sugar levels and my need for insulin. It's so technical and even those that understand it aren't sure why what's happening to me happens at times.

I didn't take any insulin last night and woke up with a decent fasting level of 88. I ate breakfast, got my glucose levels to a decent level and then took my dose of insulin. All day I was chasing lows. So it was a day full of eating and testing.

When I go low I get irritated and snap at everyone. Not a pleasant situation. I also start feeling nauseated and don't want to eat so have to make myself eat.

I tested before dinner and was at a 62 (had a bunch of 60s today). I then gave myself the go ahead to eat as much as I wanted of the mashed potatoes and applesauce....and I did! I'd been really missing my mashed potatoes. An hour after dinner I tested and was at 177 which is too high. I decided NOT to do any insulin again tonight and see what happened again. I figured tomorrow might be easier if I started a little high. Within 15 minutes I was down to 108 and as of now I'm back to a 67. Guess it's time to get a nighttime snack!

I'm afraid if I call the dr they'll talk about admitting me for monitoring (both baby and glucose levels). I CAN'T be admitted now...Michelle is graduating tomorrow!! I thought since the baby was really active and there's no other reason to be concerned for her, I was ok with waiting to call. BUT I'm getting to the point where I'm really wondering if it's such a great thing to wait to do...especially with the weekend coming on. I wish tomorrow was Thursday!!! I need another workday (sorry everyone who's looking forward to the weekend). Guess I'll have to think about it tonight and see what tomorrow brings.

Other news around here...the pool is taking FOREVER! Not only that but the house ran out of water tonight. It's going to be a tough balancing act to run the well enough for our house and to quickly get the pool done. I realized tonight while talking to Tom that we're hitting the same timeframe as last year. Looking back it seems I was saying the exact same things and was just as impatient for the pool to fill. Bad me, I couldn't help thinking....if we'd done what I wanted when I wanted...this wouldn't be an issue right now. Oh well, it is and that's that.

Not sure what and how much to do tomorrow since I need to be able to survive going to school and sitting through the grad ceremony that night. I do know that I'll have to do at least ONE load of laundry as all my clothes are dirty. That means I may have to run to the laundromat. I'll have to check the well before making that decision.

Time to make sure my sugar is at a decent level, then off to bed. Will try to update tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have graduation pictures to post too! :o)

It's in!!!

Last evening we installed the pool liner. Now we hurry up and wait for the well to cooperate and fill it! Looks like we'll be getting our exercise these next few days with all the running up and down the cellar stairs to turn on and off the pump. At least we'll have a cool place to wade in when it's sweltering out.

We received a letter from the town's building inspector. We never obtained a building permit for our pool. OOPS! So now we have to pay for a permit, then pay for an electrical inspector to come and make sure the pump is up to code. Of course it's not...we've been running an extension cord from the outside of the house to the pump. Luckily one of Tom's brothers knows the code laws and can do the work for us. We wouldn't be able to afford to hire someone to do it this year if we had to. I think all the fees are bad enough!

Michelle is off to take her Math Regents exam. She's been studying so hard lately. She said last night..."I think I studied too much. I feel like I'm going to walk into the test and everything is going to be stuck in my brain but can't get out". LOL Poor thing! After her test is graduation rehearsal until 3pm, then just the graduation ceremony at 7 tomorrow night. YIPPEE!

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

3rd trimester musings

I'm getting to the point of thinking of having this baby. Not that I WILL have this baby anytime soon. (nor do I want to!) Just that I'm starting to think about it and need to start getting ready for it. Technically from here on out I COULD have this baby if things turn on me. They usually don't but I've always been told to be ready because they could...especially concerning the blood pressure issues.

Going early scares the pants off of me. Without induction I tended to go to 41 or 42 wks. Most of my pregnancies when blood pressure and gestational diabetes were an issue, I've been induced on my due date. When they told me they were inducing Olivia at 38wks I thought for sure it would be like she was really 3 to 4 wks early. I was scared senseless! Luckily I was wrong. I'm still not so hip on being induced wks early though. This time I've been told...Our goal is to GET you to 38wks. Not...We'll most likely induce you at 38wks or we WILL induce you at 38wks. The idea of not getting to 38wks has me quaking in my boots.

I remember when I first went online and came in contact with other pregnant ladies. The amount of women getting induced boggled my mind. Then to see most of them WANTED to do it really sent me for a loop. I don't understand wanting/trying to have a baby at 36, 37, or 38wks because they were uncomfortable. The ones in the earlier weeks still leave me shaking my head. I could understand it if that was their normal pattern to birthing but most of the time it's not the case.

Am I not seeing something here? Has medical advances made it so that 36wk babies now are the same as 38 to 40wk ones years ago? How can people be so confident that encouraging a baby that early will turn out fine? In my mind...one day in the NICU is one day too many! Having had a 40wk baby with an initial APGAR score of 2, I can say it's a really scary and upsetting thing to experience. The increased possiblity of that happening again....I don't even want to think about it!

I don't know...maybe I haven't felt as uncomfortable as these ladies have. I tend to think that I have. Maybe I'm selfish...wanting to keep the baby all to myself too much to try to coax it out NOW. (I will admit to fleetingly wishing it here or there lol) Maybe I'm too lazy, seeing as it seems less work to carry the baby inside then to be up all night and try juggling a newborn's needs along with all the other kids at the same time. Maybe I'm too chicken...trying to avoid labor for as long as possible. LOL I guess I'm just going to have to accept that it's something I'll probably never understand. Chalk it up to...to each his own and hope that if the ladies get their wish that everything goes well with them and their baby.

Enough thinking...onto how things are going for me. The heartburn is still relentless. I've found I'm not eating like I should and it's not a great thing. Because I'm not eating as often as I should...or as much...my glucose levels have been low when I've checked them. Last night I realized I hadn't taken my insulin or even eaten dinner at 10pm (kids had fixed themselves mirco'ed eggs)...it was a 74! I wish I could have found something really yummy and fun to eat that I'd enjoy...like Edward's Key Lime Pie. But instead I had a bunch of boring not so fun things. Although I did have some green ice tea mix that I've been wanting but couldn't because it was presweetened. By the time I went to bed last night I'd had my insulin and my sugar was up to 160 an hour after injecting it. I woke up at a 69 again today. So I'm back to the same problem as last night. I think I need to go shopping for some yummy treats for me! Maybe I'll make some cookies or cake. LOL I'm hoping to keep to my eating schedule for the next week so I can see if this is a matter of how I'm eating or a decrease in my insulin needs.

My blood pressure continues to stay on the increased level, although it's not dangerously high. It was 136/82 this morning. I just have to make sure to watch it and lay a few times a day. Problem is I REALLY want to get this house going back in order!!! I ended up hanging outside with Tom last night while he planted our back flower garden (wildflower seeds didn't take like I knew they wouldn't). So no extra work got done here like I had planned on it happening. I'll have to get the kids moving before it gets too much later. At least it's going to be 10 degrees cooler here today. :o) We HAVE to get the pool liner in today/tonight! The forecast is for it to be back into the 90s by Friday. Drew also brought home my can of ceiling paint he borrowed. So I can start painting SOMETHING. What to do, what to do?

Oh and so much for sleeping in because it's summer vacation. I was up and alert before Tom's alarm went off at 6! I usually don't have to drag myself out of bed until 6:30 or 6:45. LOL Oh well, hopefully that means I'll have a looong and industrious day.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Hello Summer....Goodbye School!!!

It's here! The last day of school! Woohooo! 5 kids (middle and elementary school kids) are now completely done with school. Valerie has a regents (state) test tomorrow morning. Michelle has to go to review courses all day tomorrow, Thursday will be a regents test in the morning and graduation practice in the afternoon. I'm not entirely sure if the girls will need rides to and from school the next few days or not. I also have R here...the girl down the street that catches the bus from our house. She'll be here today and tomorrow.

I'm reminded of my first ever blog entry when I write this. It was on the very same subject...last day of school I could just rewrite the post as it's all still true, but I won't. I'm SO looking forward to NOT doing the morning push out the door though! And yes, the kids are already doing schoolwork they've brought home. LOL

Unlike last year though I'm also looking forward to getting some semblance of order around this place! Yeah we'll be doing the first days of summer vacation cleaning. We'll also be more diligent in following our chore list. It worked really well during school breaks earlier in the year. I know once we get used to being back into the habit it'll go fine. This place is falling apart right now though and I can't really do too much of anything...especially bending over and picking up!

I finished the book...The Poisonwood Bible today. I hate how once I get into a book it's really hard for me to do anything else but read. So I'm glad it's done and over with. This meant I also didn't do anything I wanted to get done today. Tonight we'll be hitting bedrooms and then hopefully the main living area. We have some catching up to do and then it should be easy going for the one assigned to that area.

Last night Tom and I planted the front flower gardens. I guess I should say TOM planted them. I started to do it and found that working the shovel wasn't too easy for me. He started moving things around and putting in plants and just kept going. Of course I supervised him. Strike another thing off my grad party todo list. I'm hoping to start painting by the end of the week and have it all done in a week. I might be too ambitious though. I also want to start SEWING!!! It's getting to the point of no return for my maternity jumpers! LOL I'm aiming for Thursday to start that.

Pat got out of work early Monday, called Michelle and Val and told them to be ready to go to the beach. They got about halfway there when I got a phone call from Pat....his/our car was acting weird. He brought it home and I think it's the catalytic converter...oh joy! Looks like he'll be paying out some moola for that one. For now though he's driving MY van to work, AGAIN!

Tom's mom is HOME! She's still not feeling so great but I'm sure for her it's much better to be feeling like that in her own house. I talked to her on the phone briefly today, I'm hoping we can go in and see her really soon.

Well need to get off here if I'm going to get anything accomplished upstairs. How long will it be before I'm asking how many more days until school starts again? ;o)

Monday, June 20, 2005

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Just a quick note to say Congratulations to my online friend Ma Who just had baby #11! I can't wait to get a chance to talk to her or chat with her. Much less...get my hands on that little thing (hopefully before MY baby comes!).

Whoa Nelly!!!

It's been positively insane here lately! My dad came home Thursday and we went to visit him on Friday. Before we got out the door we got a call that Tom's mom was admitted to the hospital for chest pain Friday morning. She barely sat down in her dialysis chair before it started bothering her again. Tom went to visit her Friday night while I stayed at my parent's house with the kids. I then went up Sunday afternoon with a few of the girls and saw her. Hopefully she'll be home on Monday after her dialysis is over. They're waiting to see how she does during it to decide if she can go or not.

We never got the pool liner installed. Tom worked into the wee hours of the morning on Saturday to get the water and liner out of the pool. BY HIMSELF!!! I thought we'd install it Saturday afternoon but it never happened. Part of it was my fault (explain in a bit) and part of it was the fact that we are out of duct tape so can't cover potentially pokey parts of the pool wall. Hopefully Tom will get some tape Monday during/after work. My schedule today left me with NO time to stop and buy some.

So why was it my fault that we didn't get further with the liner then we did. Because for some reason I got all weepy, achey, exhausted and felt like I couldn't catch my breath. Tom went to lay down after everyone got up on Saturday morning. I decided to curl up with him. While snuggling I started to think...BAD decision!!! I realized that him and I are in a REALLY great place right now in our relationship! So much so that I was overcome with how much I really love the guy and started bawling. It was kind of like when we were first together and seemed "addicted" to each other. Only now it's more mature. Back then it was tons of kissing and such. Now I just feel like I physically need to be near him whenever I can. Snuggling with him I felt like even if I crawled into his skin it wasn't close enough. It's one of those awesome yet scary feelings. It was really weird telling him I was bawling like a baby because I love him. You'd think that news would make someone HAPPY! I just happen to be happy to the point of hysterics. LOL This all totally wiped me out for the day! All I wanted to do after that was nap! I did manage to do some of the everyday day to day stuff around here though. Just didn't get any major accomplishments done like I'd envisioned. :o(

For some reason I also had an achey area across my belly. I don't think it was a torn muscle but not sure what it was. Luckily it faded away later in the day. My blood pressure was still hovering along borderline high on and off all day. About 9pm I decided I'd had enough of the day. I grabbed the book I'd started in March when Val was in the hospital...The Poisonwood Bible, and jumped into bed. I didn't get very far before my eyes slammed shut for the night.

Having gone to bed so early meant I was destined to get up really early too. It was 3:30 or 4am when I realized I wasn't going to go back to sleep. I got up and had leftover pizza from dinner, checked things online quick and then climbed into bed with my book again. I read until about 5:30 and then fell back to sleep until 8. I read again until 9:45 and then hit the floor running and haven't stopped until now.

I left home at almost 11AM. Went to church and sat through a presentation ontop of our regular meeting. Had an enjoyable lunch at church!
Left church at 3pm....ran kids home and went into the city to pick up Liz at my sister's house.
While in the city I visited MIL at the hospital, then stopped by my parents to give my dad his Father's Day gift. We were blessed to be invited to dinner of KFC with them! :o) I hated to be rude and eat and run but I had to be back home so I could go to another meeting for church at 8pm! I got near where the meeting was at 7:30 and realized that I wasn't going to make it home and back to the meeting place in half an hour (woulda took an hour). So I dragged the 4 girls I had with me to the meeting. Stuffed them into a room with a few games and told them to be QUIET! Poor things sat in that room for almost 3hrs!! For the most part they were really good although I did have to go straighten somethings out once or twice.

Liz was exhausted from staying at my sisters and was in tears by the time we left the meeting, claiming she didn't feel good. She HAS to go to school tomorrow. It's their last full day and she has the last part of her French final to do. I HATE running against a schedule! It just seems to demean? everything...especially visiting those you love. I WANT A STOP THE CLOCK/WORLD BUTTON!!!! Anyone know where I can get one?

I'll end on a note of excitement. Most of the kids only have 1.5 days left of school! Woohooo! Full day Monday and Half a day on Tues. Val needs a ride to or from school on Wed for a test. Michelle is going all day Tues, Wed, and Thurs. Luckily she's big enough to get herself out the door though. :o) Graduation ceremony is Friday night!!!!

Friday, June 17, 2005

My 28wk dr appt...

Ok...I was only 27wks and 5 days...close enough! LOL

On Tues I'd gone and gotten some bloodwork done. (A1c and blood counts). I found out at my dr appt on Wed that I didn't get them all done...so had to go get it redone on Wed. (CF screening, RH negative antibodies) I also got my Rhogam shot since I'm RH negative and Tom is RH positive. I'll also get another one within 72hrs after delivery if the baby is positive.

I lost 6lbs in the last 2wks! I'm down to 208...I haven't been under 210 in a while. The nurse announced my weight was 228 when she first looked at the scale. I said...are you sure!?!?! She saw that that meant a 14lb jump for me in a short time and rechecked. PHEW! The dr is ok with it and so am I! :oD He told me I could expect to lose 30lbs after delivery. I'm not sure if he meant because of delivery or given the fact that I continue following the diabetic diet. Either way...I'll gladly take it. I can't remember when I was under 180lbs!

My blood pressure was low....116/64. It wasn't even the low reading nurse that took it! The heartrate was 155...right around where it always was. She kept kicking and pushing back on the doppler and was playing...catch me if you can with the nurse when she was trying to find the heartrate. It was some of the biggest movements she's made in the last week or so. I was going to ask why the dr never measured how big I was. Before I could do it though he had measured me to be 27cm! So just about on target.

When talking about my glucose levels he asked if I had had any lows. I let him know I was chasing lows on Sunday including hitting 48 around my snack time. He decided to drop my insulin 2units on each dose. I haven't done it yet.

When I came back from getting the bloodwork done (had to have it completed before I could get my shot) the dr was sitting in the exam room looking over my chart again. He said...obviously pregnancy agrees with you. I said...yes, at least this one does! :o) He then had me bend over and gave me my rhogam shot in my tush. He's SO funny! HaHa! Olivia thought it was hilarious and had fun telling everyone what the dr did to me that day.

Wouldn't you know it, today hasn't been such a great day for my blood pressure. I'm hoping this isn't signs of things to come. Most of the day I got readings around 140/90. It did go down to really low like yesterday's dr office reading after I took a bit of a nap. Unfortunately it went back up into the 130's/90 again. I'm trying to make sure I lay down at least once a day. It's a bit hard considering the temperature has cooled down and I have so much I want/need to get done in preparation for Michelle's graduation party.

Oh yeah, and to add to everything....I've had heartburn constantly since Sunday!!! I'm popping antiacids left and right lately. Sleeping isn't so easy or fun.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

My Dad

On Sunday I went into my parents' house for the night. My dad was scheduled for by-pass surgery at 7:30. He had to report to the hospital at 5:30! They took us upstairs at 5:45. They had my mom and I go into the waiting room for a few minutes while they got my dad settled in and prepped. His nurse came and apologized twice because it was taking so long. We never got to go in and wait for his surgery time with him. We only got to say I love you and will be here when you get out in the hallway on the way to the OR. GRRRR! I'm sure my dad was NOT happy to be spending almost 2hrs before his surgery alone and without his wife!!!

By the time he went into surgery my brother, and 2 of my dad's sisters were there also. After walking him to the OR hall we decided to go get some breakfast and coffee in the cafeteria. It was nice talking with my aunts who also have TOK (one has 5 kids and 3 older step kids that didn't live with them...another has 6) They are both on diets...one for diabetes and dialysis (hasn't started it quite yet though), another is on the South Beach diet due to increased glucose readings. So we talked quite a bit about food. :o) I got asked the question I knew I'd hear from my relatives....I thought you were done!!! I said yeah, so did we. My mom caused my jaw to drop when she immediately said...Well, God had other plans! My brother had me steaming mad and trying to stop myself from slapping him when he said...Kim...they invented these little things called condoms...maybe you should use them once in a while. He is such an ASS! I'm sorry I don't normally say such words but it's the only way to describe him sometimes! He was in top form this day too! When we were walking back to the Cardiac ICU waiting room to wait for word from the OR, my aunt and I were lagging behind the group. She started laughing at me and all my sighing and eyerolling. She let me know I was doing a good job though. LOL She also said she had teeth marks in her tongue from the condom comment....especially seeing as it came from an unmarried man with 2 "accidents" of his own!!! LOL never thought of THAT!

It was a looong day of sitting and waiting. (and tolerating my brother's loud opinionated, know it all stuff) We did have a good time visiting though while we waited. My mom's best friend and another of my dad's sisters showed up to stay with us. My sister was upset that she couldn't be there but I assured her we understood. She didn't have any vacation time to take off due to her dh needing pain treatments the last few months for his back. She also took time off for his back surgery that was on the 3rd of this month.

At 2:30 we heard that he was getting stitched back up and did great! It was a loooong surgery due to it being his second time around. The dr had intended to do 2 bypasses. He could only do one of them but used an artery instead of a vein so he'd have tons of circulation. The other one was too small and delicate to attempt. He may have to do angioplasty on it later (which I know he'll LOVE to hear!). We all got to go in and see him for a few minutes then we were kicked out. He was totally out of it. We were surprised to hear that they'd be trying to wake him up and take his breathing tube out that night. Last time he spent 3 days in ICU.

When I called my mom on Tues she told me he was up and eating his breakfast. They had a regular room for him and they were moving him that afternoon!!! AMAZING! I didn't go visit him on Tuesday because of Liz's birthday. After my dr appt on Wed I went to my mom's and rode up with her to visit him. Olivia brought her magnadoodle and drew Grandpa pictures....including a huge star for doing a great job on his breathing exercises. LOL

The really amazing thing is...he's HOME!!! He came home about 1pm this afternoon. I can't believe how fast they are moving them out. One of the reasons he got to leave early was that he agreed to a visiting nurse who will be there Friday morning. I think he wanted me there because there'll be a teaching session on food and diet. He said something yesterday about my grandmother and me being there to learn what he can and can't eat. I'm just hoping he listens this time. Granted he made SOME changes to his diet after his last surgery. He's still a loooong way off to eating a proper diabetic diet much less and diabetic AND heart heathly one. I'll have to call early tomorrow morning and talk to him. I called tonight, my uncle and his family were visiting. My dad asked me to call back later...it didn't happen. I got busy with the kids and forgot until it was too late. He did sound great and a LOT happier then he did yesterday! I'm hoping that it being nice out and his gardens are coming along beautifully will help him keep the depression away and make recovery go quickly! Not to mention uneventfully.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!!

Yes, it's another late posting of a birthday/birth story. Life has decided I don't need very much online time right now.

Her Stats...

Elizabeth Anne
June 14, 1991
10:25pm
8lbs 1oz.

Elizabeth is my 5th baby. Even though I told the dr after Valerie's delivery I'd be having a baby in my spare time....I was still a bit surprised to see the + HPT when Valerie was 7mo! Normally AF didn't return until the baby was 9 or 10mos old. I was concerned about them being so close together. I was concerned how I was going to survive it. I was concerned how my family would react. They were at the point when they started to wonder if I was really going to have all those kids like I said I was. They also didn't think it was the greatest idea in the world...although they loved the kids after they came. I still caught some flack when I announced a pregnancy and it didn't make me want to announce it any too quickly. I can't keep secrets though and wanted to get it done and over with. I got the....Congratulations...I guess...line. Along with a few slight groans.

I saw the same dr that delivered Valerie. During my inital exam he thought it was prime time at the improv. I heard...you know if you wanted to visit us so badly, you could have just made brownies. He also made a comment that left me a bit on edge, especially since he was doing my pap smear at the time. He said...BOY! I wish you were MY wife! I'm not sure if he wanted more children and she didn't. Or he was making a wisecrack but the sex that it takes to have a baby. I chose to ignore it...especially in the position I was in. I have to admit though...my respect for him diminished a bit that day.

Elizabeth's pregnancy went well until about 28wks...then my blood pressure started creeping up. I was put on Aldomet again and told to rest as much as possible..yeah right! LOL It managed to behave and it was decided that I would be induced on my due date.

I arrived at L&D bright and early (6am)on the 14th. We had to wait for the shift change until they could really get me hooked up and going. Pitocin was started about 9am. While the pit was going I was stuck in bed. Much different then Val's delivery. It lasted ALL day long. I started complaining of feeling more discomfort about 6:30pm. The dr started to check me and jumped back, exclaiming WHOA!!! It left me a bit confused. He then explained that someone had just shook his hand! She had her hand ontop of her head...palm up...elbow next to her ear. The dr stood back and started thinking aloud. He explained with a complex presentation such as this that it might be best to do a c-section. I said NO!!! I can't go home and take care of 4 kids after having a c-section!!! He said he'd have to think about it for a bit and would return to discuss it some more. I grabbed Tom by the front of his shirt and told him....do NOT let them do a c-section on me. The dr returned about half an hour later and said that since she was my 5th baby and I was probably stretchy down there....we could give a vaginal delivery a try. He also let me know there were NO guarantees. I said I was willing to take my chances. PHEW!

I was feeling pressure into my back and hips and getting a bit grumpy. Tom was in lala land and was engrossed in his favorite show...Jeapordy. I wanted to throw the bedpan through the TV! I put Tom to work applying counterpressure on my hips and it seemed to help. About 10pm I announced I felt like I had to push. The dr appeared and he told me to go ahead. She was born with a few pushes...hand still ontop of her head. She was a blue baby though and needed oxygen to get things moving. Her apgar scores were a 2 and an 8. It was quite scary at first. The dr said that if I'd had pain medications they would have blamed her slow response to that. I didn't realize I hadn't asked for pain meds until then! :oD

My blood pressure continued to be a problem for a while after delivery. It was still a bit high at my 6wk PP checkup. Luckily I returned another month later and it was back to normal.

Saturday, June 11, 2005

HOT and Muggy with a touch of A/C

The todo list has totally been ignored since my huge day Wednesday, I'm blaming the heat. It's been in the mid 90s here with high humidity. My feet seem to tolerate this heat less and less each day. Last night when went to take the kids to swimming and a bonfire at church I noticed my Birks were TIGHT! This lovely weather is suppose to last for at least 3 more days.

LUCKILY our A/C unit in our room is working like a charm! THANK YOU in-laws!!! Yesterday Val came in my room while I was lounging and immediately fell asleep, she slept until about 10pm when Tom kicked her out so he could go to bed. LOL It's funny how you think the room is freezing when you first walk in but quickly feels normal. I've even lowered the temp on the unit when I went to take a nap because it didn't feel cool enough. The more we use this, the more I think we need a bigger unit in the livingroom!!! Call me greedy. At times I feel guilty for having such a comfy room while everyone else is sweltering. I'm trying to share it...honestly! I told the kids they may get to sleep on our floor tonight. Tom's not too excited (and neiter am I) but I think they've dealt with muggy nights enough to deserve a break.

I JUST ordered a pool liner!!! WOOHOOOOO!!!!!! I was determined to get the liner patch on this AM. While Tom and I were talking about it I climbed up on the deck and almost started crying. I whined to Tom that the rip had gotten bigger AGAIN! He said he knew but he was going to pull it together when he patched it. I gave him THAT look and said...you think? He tried to show me what he was going to do, then he asked what the new liner prices were again. It was his turn to let out a heavy sigh as he told me to go ahead and order it. YEAAAAAH! Hopefully by the end of next weekend we'll have our pool up and running!

I woke up EARLY this morning and realized Tom wasn't in bed anymore. I finally got up at 8 (about 3hrs later) and decided to see if he was ok. Not only was he ok, he had been super busy all morning long. Which means he's in a really decent mood. :o) He'd be in even a better mood if I'd get everyone moving inside the house. Which I will...as soon as I get done here. I don't really have a set plan on what to do besides basic housekeeping stuff. This means that my mind is wandering and doing a zillion things in my head, making myself exhausted before I even get outta my chair. LOL I'd really like to start painting in here but with the humidity I think it might be better to wait until next week when it's SUPPOSE to cool down into the 80s.

I'm happy to report that our vehicle situation is now complete. Drew and my part of the DMV took TWO days to complete instead of just Thurs but at least it's done. We had a bit of problem with a new insurance broker Drew was going to use. We decided to stick with our old one and luckily they could help us like we wanted. It's so much easier dealing with people who are familiar with you and don't treat you like you're an idiot! I walked out of the "new" insurance place on Thurs. while restraining myself from slapping a witchy worker there across the face. It was amusing to see Drew walk out of the DMV with HIS license plates in his hands. He claimed he was fine with owning the car but it being registered to us. But still, knowing it's ALL your's is something else...even subconsciously. I mentioned something to him about how good it feels and he didn't seem to realize how puffed up he looked when he walked out of the office.

When we got home from the DMV I helped Drew and MM pack up some things to go camping. They're canoeing to a primitive site on a HUGE reservoir in the Adirondacks. It's the same place Tom went alone last fall. It makes me nervous as it can be a pretty choppy lake...especially for canoes. They didn't like that I MADE them tell me when they were coming back. I told them I needed to have a timeframe of when to start sending out a search party. LOL I know they're 21yos now really I do. I assured them I'd be demanding the info from ANY adult that was going up there. It's just a rule of the wild....let someone know approx where you're going and when to expect you back.

My house is being overrun by school papers!!! It's on the disadvantages of being the end of school. EVERYTHING at school has to come home between now and then. Unfortunately it's times 7 here and it shows. It seems like there are papers on every flat surface of the main living area. And of course EVERY paper is something someone wants to save! Which always sets me up to be the mean mean mommy who insists most of it be trashed.

I find it funny that around this time of year I start thinking about making up a schedule for day to day activities here. ME who HATES living by a schedule...instilling one into the house. LOL IF I did, it wouldn't be rigid, just...breakfast, chores, reading time type of thing before going outside or into the pool. I'm not holding my breath though. I always start thinking this way right about now. It never materializes though.

Well enough rambling, time to get to work before it gets too hot in here again. It's pretty toasty already, maybe I need to go lay on my left side while the kids do their chores! ;o) ROFL!!!

Thursday, June 09, 2005

We got a present today!!!

My FIL bought us a small room air conditioner for our bedroom! Woohooo! Looks like the summer just got a bit more bareable. Although I do have to say, I think I've been doing a bang up job of dealing with it so far on my own.

Today hit a high of 94 degrees with tons of humidity and I had another great and productive day. Granted I got into bed in front of a fan about 1:30pm and didn't get up until almost 5! LOL BUT before and after that I made up for it. Olivia and I painting the front porch. MY BIL gave us a partial gallon of slate blue deck paint/stain. I have to admit...I liked it better primer grey! It's a lot more blue then I figured it would be. It's a bit different and will take some getting used to.

After my nap I made dinner and we hung outside in the backyard. I replaced 2 livingroom screens and the back patio door screen! WOOHOOO! Scratch some more off my todo list! I'm liking this!

I don't know what's going on. I don't feel pregnant. It makes me a bit nervous at times but I am feeling the baby move here and there. I'd like the movements to be bigger and appreciate a good kick to the bladder every now and then. But at least I'm getting something to reassure myself! I still feel like I'm carrying smaller then I was last week...it's so weird. I'm going to have to have someone take a new belly shot of me soon.

BIL fixed the brakes of the Olds!!! I now have my van back! YIPPEE!! Pat's pretty happy to have "his" car back. We still have to set up a payment plan for it to be officially his though.

Tomorrow is DMV day. Drew and I are going into one office so he can register the Saturn in his name (he bought it from us a while ago...just never transfered it). Tom is going into a totally different office to register the new van. We've been driving it with the temp plates (expire on the 25th). Poor Pat got pulled over last night because the police officier didn't see the temp plate in the window. Luckily there was no other reason he stopped him and he didn't get a ticket.

I also need to run to the grocery store for the kids' school birthday celebrations. With it still being in the upper 80s and humid I'm thinking...bite size cupcakes, juice boxes and ice cream cups or italian ices. I'm not sure I want to do ALL of that for approx 48 kids. But I'll do either the juice or the ice cream for sure. I also need to pick up some of my meds. Tomorrow night Carrie and her class have to present a project proposal to the school board. So we have to be back at school by 6:45. Did I mention it was going to be a calm week this week? What was I thinking?

Oh well, it could be worse...I could be feeling LOUSY while having to do everything. LOL

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

It had a few glitches but was a good day!

The glitches happened very early and late into the day. The first being that my washing machine is not draining! I had thrown in a load of laundry before bed the night before. When I went to switch them in the morning...they were still soaking wet and sitting in disgustingly dirty water. Hopefully it's just a clogged pump impeller. It's a front loader and the pump is easy to get to. I'd fix it myself (and have) if I wasn't pg. I can't even get to the outlet behind the machine to unplug it before working on it. Now to get Tom to find the time to help me. Usually I start the job and he HAS to come help in the middle of it...no choice. LOL I may just wait until the weekend and hit the laundromat tonight so everyone has clean stuff for the next few days. Luckily I was faily caught up on it before this happened. (mostly have a huge load of lights...which is most of the little girls stuff) The other glitch will come later.

Even though it was up to and/or around 90 yesterday I was feeling GOOD! Too good. I feel like my belly has gotten less cumbersome and maybe even smaller. If this baby wasn't moving around so much I'd be really worried. Maybe she's just made herself a little nest more inside then other ones. I don't mind being smaller though...just makes it easier to carry.

My ankles actually look like they did before I even started on my water pills. I thought I'd be bloated/swollen and lethargic with all this heat. Quite the opposite has happened though. Yesterday I got a few things off my todo list done!!! WOOHOOO! Olivia and I scrubbed and primed the front porch...it looks so much better already. Hopefully when I'm done here I'll go and paint it. I also weeded my front garden. I had been avoiding it because of my sciatica. Amazingly there was no signs of sciatica at all yesterday. Amazing what you can get done when you don't feel like you're legs are going to give out on you at any time. Not to mention being painfree. After painting the porch I'm hoping to finish up planting and moving some things in there.

Pat got sent home from work again today because they have 3 machines down. Bummer on him getting a short paycheck. He doesn't seem to mind though. My BIL came out last night and is staying in MIL's trailer. Hopefully in the next day or so he can fix the Olds's brakes so I'll have my van back. I'm tempted to grab the van and go do some things since it's here. I need to go to the grocery store and buy some things for Jake and Eileen's classes on Friday. They are both celebrating their summer birthdays that day. I also have a long list of home repairs/improvements I want to do so could go grab some things for that.

I got the huge pile of pattern pieces I found organized yesterday too! I'm so happy! Just wish I had the prepared material to use for it. I've been tempted to just sew on unwashed fabric anyways...but I know it can be a waste of time and material if it shrinks too much in the wash. I guess I could make something for Carrie and pass it down to Eileen if it shrinks! ;o) I guess I'll be patient and just concentrate on the other projects I have to do around here for now.

Even after doing everything I did last night I felt great. I was worried because we had Michelle's senior dinner to go to. We'd only bought 3 tickets so Tom, Val and I went. It was a pleasant time with a high carb dinner...which I knew beforehand. Yep, here comes the last glitch. I hadn't eaten my afternoon snack before leaving because I knew it would be high carb (baked ziti, bread, salad and dessert bar). I also didn't give myself any insulin becuause I wasn't sure how long we'd be there before we ate and I already was feeling a bit low from not eating when I should. I was STARVING when we finally ate. Luckily the ziti portions were just about what I was allowed for 2 carb allowances. Technically I shouldn't have had the bread or any desserts but I couldn't help myself! *blush* I thought I was restraining myself at the dessert bar but there were so many delicious looking things!!!

Anyways, by the time we helped clean up, got home and settled things down here it was 3hrs after I ate. I finally tested my sugar and got my insulin out. My sugar was 193!!!! YIKES!! I almost had a heartattack. Got my insulin into me and figured I'd retest in an hour and maybe add some more insulin to my nighttime dose if it was still really bad. Luckily an hour later it was down to 105. PHEW! I'd hate to see what my levels were at 1 and 2hrs after dinner. I think it's the highest I've ever been this pg. It proved to me how much I need the insulin. I was worried about what I'd wake up to find this morning. I'm happy to report that it was a beautiful 82! Haven't seen that number in a while. :o) Post breakfast was good too!

Well guess I better get outside and work before high noon comes around. Intend to be smarter and work during the cooler part of the day today, unlike yesterday. LOL

Monday, June 06, 2005

A good time was had by all

Well the all that I'm concerned about at least, can't speak for EVERY kid at the prom. Everything managed to come together nicely in the end. We had a few glitches...like the back brakeline on the car Pat was planning to drive (our Olds) going out. But J's mom let them borrow her car for the night. :o) (Pat didn't want to drive the huge van lol)

Here's a picture of Pat and Michelle together...
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This one is J, Pat, Michelle and M...
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They all went to the After the Prom party where M won the grandprize of $250!! YIPPEE!! Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Michelle won a bath gel/lotion basket. That party was done at 4am and they headed to breakfast at Denny's (Michelle and M did at least) They got home about 7am with Pat following close behind. Michelle slept about 4hrs...Pat tried to sleep ALL day! He finally called me on his cell (from his bedroom!) and asked if I could take his tux back for him before 4pm. He claimed he didn't want to drive the big van in all the traffic but I know he was just being lazy. I didn't mind since it was sweltering here for the second day and the van has A/C.

My MIL was visiting for the day so I took her with us. As Michelle on down were getting ready to go, Luke managed to slice his finger open on a hanger. After working on it for over 20mins I couldn't get it to stop bleeding so had to call Tom in from outside. It was decided that Luke would stay home, Tom would assess him and then if need be...my BIL (who drove MIL out to visit) would take them to the hospital for stitches. Tom managed to get it to stop bleeding so no stitches.

We dropped off the tux, hit Walmart for an hour while Michelle and Val waited for their disposable cameras to get developed, then we went to a chinese buffet for dinner. My MIL had given each of the kids $5 while at the house so they decided they wanted to use it for the chinese buffet they'd wanted to go to the night before but couldn't. Poor Michelle....she was complaining that she didn't realize we were going to be gone so long and that she had her senior collage to do for the next day. We did manage to get home before 7pm but it still wasn't enough time for her.

I got the kids to bed and decided that I was beat and couldn't breathe very well. I climbed into bed in front of the fan about 9:30 or 10pm to cool off and went right out! I woke up about 1:30 and found Michelle wrapped up in her blanket asleep on the livingroom floor with her collage half done. I woke her up and helped her finish taping her pictures down...took us about half an hour. She went to bed but I was wide awake, so I puttered online until about 4am. Wasn't mentally alert enough to write here, plus I wanted to get the pictures up before I posted.

It's the 3rd sweltering day here in a row. I'm hoping this isn't how the whole summer is going to be! AT 3am it was still 71 with 78% humidity. Right now there sounds like thunderstorms are headed this way. I seem to be managing through the heat ok. There are times when I feel like I have difficulty breathing but it doesn't last long. Each day though I start off a little more swollen then the day before but it hasn't gotten too bad. YET!

My sugar control seems to have gotten better. I think my insulin pen had gone back and wasn't working correctly. When I switched pens everything improved. I still haven't been so great in monitoring...the weekends stink for that! Oh well, there's always today and the next, and the next, and the... My blood pressure this morning was on the higher side, but nothing dangerous...just higher then I've been in a while. So I'm taking it easy and retook it few minutes ago...it's back to where it's been. :o)

I didn't get too much more done on my todo list but the kids did a bangup job of getting some work done on Sunday morning before Grandma came. LOL I heard a few kids mention that it was easy and we should do this all the time. That's encouraging for summer vacation! I told them if they worked once or twice a day for 15mins on their chores. This house would look GREAT! Only 2 more weeks until they'll all be here for the day and we can implement it!

I'm without a vehicle during the day again (that was shortlived huh?). I let Pat take the van to work this morning. I'd rather be without a van then have him dead due to no brakes. Hopefully it'll get fixed in the next day or so. I have to drop of somethings at school on Friday for 2 classes! I guess I could always drive Pat to work and pick him up if I have to. Well, let's just hope the other car gets fixed expeditiously!

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Emotional start to the day....

but it seems to be going along well now! As of this morning Michelle still hadn't made plans with J about the prom. She wasn't even sure if he was going. I had her call first thing this AM. His little sister answered and said he couldn't talk right now and he'd have to call her back. I said that's unacceptable and took over (I'm such a busy body! LOL) I called his mom and asked her what was up, whether he was going. Answer...NO! He didn't get his grades up so he can't go. I let her know I understood, I was just asking so Michelle could stop being in limbo here. Michelle immediately went to her room and I started tearing up. I went down to talk to her and saw her crying...that did it for me. The waterworks broke open and we were both hugging and crying.

Pat decided he'd drive Michelle and I told her to call one of her bestfriends M to see if he could drive her home from the After the Prom party (Pat wasn't sure he was going but M was going only to the party). I then joked...why not ask M to go to the prom with you with J's ticket? With that suggestion Val then took over. She called J, asked him if he'd mind if Michelle went with M...using J's ticket. He said he didn't mind (he knows they've been best friends forever and he's a good friend of M's too). So Val then called M and asked if he wanted to go. He said sure! LOL

M is a little outside the norm. When we asked if he had a suit to wear he said yes...it's olive green. LOL We asked if he wanted to try on one of Tom's suits and he said he'd see. About 20 minutes later he called and asked Michelle what color her gown was. We figured he was going to buy her a corsage. Well Pat drove Michelle to the mall so she could get her nails done, his treat...what a sweetie! (we had bought fake nails but he thought she'd be better off with them professionally done). Pat called me a bit ago to tell me that as they walked into the mall, M was walking out of the mall with a tux in his hands! YEAH!!!!! M to the rescue! It's so great that she has a friend like that. We always joke with them saying...if you guys are 50yo and neither one has been married...you HAVE to marry each other! LOL

While this was going on I was also getting a few things done around here. The new blinds are up and a huge pile of old toys and bikes were taken to the dump. I'm still working on a few other jobs on my todo list, but it's starting to get pretty hot out there. At least my feet and hands aren't swelling up into overstuffed sausages.

Friday, June 03, 2005

ARRRRRRRGH!!!

I have NO idea what's going on with my glucose levels. This morning my fasting was the worst EVER..well since I've been testing 22wks ago. I got a 127, which I had ONE time in the week before I started on insulin. Last night I tested before I went to bed and had a 130. 1hr after breakfast I was 157. :o( So now the question is...

Is my insulin bad? Not working? I'll change insulin pens tonight. I really wish I had some fast acting insulin available to counter these numbers NOW! It bugs me that I have little I can do until tonight.

Did my body just not take care of the glucose I had last night? Am I starting to hit big time insulin resistance? Do I need to bump up my insulin yet again?

Did I bottom out in the middle of the night and rebound that high this morning? I've never gone that high before even when I knew I'd bottomed out. I guess I'll have to make sure I get up and test. Then again it's kinda hard when I went to bed at almost 2am already. (not out of the normal either)

In the last few weeks I've found myself being surprised at how well things are going. How smoothly everything is. ONE incident and it's all shattered. While I don't wonder WHY I thought I could do pg ok. I do wonder what the future holds. I know I shouldn't be anxious for that and just deal with today, but still...it's there.

Two days ago I was thinking I'd be flying through this pg afterall. Now I'm wondering just how far I'll get. When I see numbers like I've been seeing the last two days, I see the baby being blown up/inflated. Like how they do it in the comics....mouth to thumb and blow! LOL

Last night was the elementary spring chorus concert. I was NOT looking forward to getting ready and going, especially since it was quite warm out. It was going to be sweltering in the auditorium! Tom called and begged out of going so he could run to the farmer's market with his brother and buy some plants. I was nice and let him go. LOL As usually getting there is half the problem. Once we're there it's a pleasant time. I had Eileen in the 1st grade, Jake in the 2nd grade and Carrie in the 3rd/4th grade chorus...so one in each group. Here's a picture of the 3 songbirds and Olivia.

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Front row (left to right)...Eileen and Olivia,
Back row...Carrie and Jake

After the concert I decided to take everyone to the mall so we could do some of Michelle's preprom running. The engine of the van sounded LOUD and it was bugging me so I pulled over outside of the next village. I was messing wiht the engine cover and Pat pulled up thinking I had broke down. (he was on his way home from the mall) It was a lucky moment because he paid back what he owed me so I had cash in my pocket! (seems like a rare treat nowadays lol)

I got the cover on which quieted down the engine a LOT! Then I decided it was too late to try to get to the mall and get things done, muchless dragging everyone with us. Michelle and I decided to wait until tonight to ram around. I then took the kids to the local diner/ice cream shop for a soft serve cone. My niece (#6 of 10 kids) took our order so I didn't get a huge reaction out of ordering 10 cones. LOL We sucked the machine dry!!! OK, maybe it was the huge crowd of concert goers before us...but... In the middle of our order the soft serve machine ran out of goods. Some of us had to get hard packed ice cream...poor us. LOL

We dropped the kids and cones (for those that didn't go to the concert with us) home then Michelle, Val, Liz and I headed back out to Walmart. I had a few WIC checks to cash before they expired at midnight and Liz needed oil crayons for her art project. How does that place manage to suck the money out of my pockets!?!?! My quick run cost me over $130!

YIKES! I just got the daylights scared out of me! Pat came walking down the hall, I had NO idea he was home. He called in sick to work. It seems he hurt his neck and shoulder at work while trying to work a faulty machine door yesterday. I told him he HAS to tell them about the injury. Being a temp though it might not be such a great thing to do. They treat them like they are a dime a dozen.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. We don't have anywhere to go and I want to get a bunch of things done around here! Cleaning bedrooms, fixing window and door screens, painting, gardening. Yeah, yeah....I know....heard it before. I'll be VERY happy if I can report half those things done on Monday.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Back to square one

Well I woke up to a not so great thing this morning. After upping my nighttime dose of insulin, I woke up to a really high (for me) fasting blood sugar of 112. I haven't been that high since the first few weeks of pregnancy when we were trying to initially regulate my insulin doseage.

I have decided to get back on track with the testing and tracking of my diet. This morning even though I'd vowed to test regularly from now on, the one hour post breakfast testing timeframe came and went without me noticing. Looks like my digital timer is going to be my best friend again.

I'm pretty sure it's dawn phenomenon although it could be that my body didn't take care of my bedtime snack. I decided to have a last hurrah before I started back on track today and had a huge piece of pizza with a glass of vegetable juice (V8 type drink). I guess I'm going to have to start testing before I go to bed again and maybe even setting my cellphone's alarm clock to get me up in the middle of the night to test. Normally I wake up at sometime during the night but last night I slept like a log!

I told Michelle that I'd take her to get her shoes for the prom which is Saturday (she just wants some white flipflops lol). It means a trip into the suburbs, hitting the mall and going to Old Navy. We've looked all over the other stores and haven't found white ones. Whodathunk? When I told her that I didn't process that I have to have everyone fed dinner, washed up, dressed neatly and out the door by 6:15 for the elementary spring chorus concert tonight! GRRRR! I hate when I do that! (and I do it often) I hate to put it off until tomorrow night and be stressed about it but it looks like it's what I'll have to do. She's NOT going to be happy!

I don't know how she's holding things together these days. Her boyfriend J didn't buy a prom ticket when they were being sold. He said he would and can buy one off of a certain person but hasn't yet! (we've even offered to pay for it for him) He won't have a tux (it'll be a miracle if he does) for Saturday. I have to wonder if most of this is his parents doing. They are great people and I know they don't have anything against us personally. I babysit their 11yo (who's been Carrie's bestfriend forever) before school most days and have babysat after school in the past. I'm not sure if it's a matter of not wanting to help their kids grow up too quickly (although he is a 19yo senior), for all I know he may be grounded and hasn't told Michelle. I'm hoping it's not the fact that they aren't so hot on them as a mixed race couple. It was kind of inevitable since he is in the very small minority around these parts.

We've invited him over many many times and there always seems to be an excuse for him not to come over (babysitting, chores, etc) He's been here once since they've started dating and it was when he walked here on Senior Skip day and he left before the first bus got home. (they live 1.5 miles from us so not too bad of a walk) They have gone out on a few "dates". Which means the movies or bowling as a group, with Drew or Pat driving.

Tom just called and asked about whether J has his ticket yet or not. We've decided when Michelle comes home I'll talk with her and see if she wants me to talk to his parents about this. We're willing to buy his ticket and he can wear Tom's really nice suit if need be...I think it'd fit him ok. Hopefully I can talk to them after the concert tonight. The only ok thing about this is that Michelle seems ok with going solo if need be. I know I'd feel a bit better about it if I knew she had another solo friend to hang around with. Maybe there is and she just hasn't mentioned her yet.

To think I thought parenting would be EASIER once they got older and more independent. LOL Quick...count them...did I gain any gray hairs since yesterday?

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

I love my midwife!

Actually I love the whole OB office! :o) My appointment was a good one. I admitted I did horrible with monitoring my blood sugar the last 2wks. The midwife said....you've been tracking it for so long, it's fine to be lax for once. Just don't make it a habit. LOL PHEW! I thought I'd be in trouble. It did make for a tough decision on what to do with my insulin though. She talked with the dr (who was doing a u/s and couldn't see me....why I got to see the m/w instead) and he decided to up both my doses to 30units. It'll be interesting to see how that goes.

I stayed the same weight I was 2 wks ago (214...my starting weight) and my blood pressure was good at 118/80. The nurse was laughing before she took it and told me....DON'T tell me what you got this morning. So I guess we have a new game. She was happy we were both in the same ballpark again. I had gotten 124/76.

I don't go in again for another 2wks when I'll be about 28wks!!! WOW! That's weird to think of. The dr won't be there but I'll see the MW again. I also have to go in for some bloodwork again. It'll be interesting to see what my A1c does (3month average of my blood sugar level). I think it'll be higher, but hopefully not too much higher. I also have an appt for my next u/s on July 6th. Can't wait to take another peek at this baby!

I took it easy this morning and luckily left a bit early. The reason being is that my van was giving us a hard time starting again. Tom had woke up late so called in sick this morning so was home. He tapped the starter and it started right up again. I begged him to go with me but he was too sweaty and had too much work to get done in the garden. I whined that I couldn't be crawling under the van and smacking the starter everytime I needed to go somewhere. We decided to call Drew to see if he was available if I needed help. Found out he was at the mall and his car was over at Allison's (around the block). So I borrowed his car!!

I ran by a pool place to price out pool liners and couldn't believe my ears! They would only sell me a .25 gauge with a 20yr warranty and it was $525!!! Oh and I had to wait for delivery which would hopefully be in a week. I said NO THANK YOU! I can get the same thing online for $150 cheaper and walked out! They were probably going to order it online and mark it up on me anyways. Tom and I have decided we're ok with ordering a .20 gauge (thinner of the 2) with a 15yr warranty. It's $100 cheaper (almost half the liner I'm looking at) and I know from my dad's experiences....those warranties aren't that big of a thing. They prorate the liner and you end up getting back little value on the old liner.

I then ran by the auto parts place and bought a new starter for the van and a repair manual/book. I hate going into those places. Even though I tend to know what I'm talking about, I tend to feel like I really don't.

From there it was onto Walmart. I bought Jake and Eileen a new outfit for their concert tomorrow (all on clearance of course! lol) I forgot that Carrie was also performing. I was oogling the adorable onesies/bodysuits in the infant department. :o) I decided to wait to buy too much more, especially if it's for full price. I'm afraid this baby is going to be a hunker even if it's 2wks early. I forgot to buy garbage bags, which we can't live without. Also Liz informed me that she needs craypaas (sp) for her art project, so looks like I might be heading back there tonight. At least now I can drive my van since Tom's already replaced the starter and it's running like a charm again! YEAH!

Last night I managed to plant my flower beds. I did the back one with a container of wildflower seeds that my MIL gave me. MY front garden is done with tons of specific seeds. Just hope that I did it decently and it'll turn out like I want it to. I still have to plant my Glads and the plants my dad brought out last week. Hopefully that'll get done tomorrow. I'd also like to prime and paint the front porch while the threat of rain isn't in the forecast. Then again, I also want to sew. LOL Oh yeah! I found a bunch of patterns I'd been looking for in the library/craft room. Drew had stuck them into a basket when he moved back into the room. So I'm really happy camper now!

Have I mentioned lately that I can't wait for school to be over with!!! Only 3wks left! I LOVE SUMMER VACATION!!!! It's getting hard to get the kids up in the morning. Not to mention how difficult it is to make them do their homework while it's BEAUTIFUL outside. Or how hard it is to get them into bed at a decent time when it's still light out at 9pm! I'm on Carrie and Luke's case now to get their work done and it's not going too well. Guess I need to go sit on them!