I am still alive

We gotta stop meeting like this.  I'm such a better friend than that.  And I do consider you my friend!


I have been lazy with pregnancy.  And then third trimester hit and the laziness went away because, oh my god, we're having a baby soon and I need to get my shit together!  But here's the thing- there is so much around me that got neglected, I'm still WAY behind!  And holy wow, people.  Third trimester is THE HARDEST to get things done.  Ok, maybe I'm forgetting all the sickness and exhaustion of first, but... I'm going with it.


AND ON THAT NOTE!


Pregnancy news!


As of today I am 37 weeks 1 day.  :)  This means full term, people!  We are all on baby lookout around here.  Not that you really want to know, but I am 1 cm dialated, and the baby's head has dropped.  This thing is for real.


And that also means that I have of course survived what I may have described as a hellacious gestational diabetes diagnosis and diet.  I won't lie, it's been hard at times.  Especially after the first few months when you start getting bored with what you eat.  But for the most part, I'm enjoying the food I can actually eat, and I'm honestly trying to think of ways to incorporate this style of eating (which is super healthy) into my every day life post baby and post GD.  It's really good for you.  And it's really been my saving grace.  I've only gained about 34 pounds, 30 of which I had gained BEFORE BEING DIAGNOSED.  That means for the entire third trimester I have gained 4 pounds.  Don't worry about the baby- he or she has been gaining in a very healthy way.  At my 36 week appointment (and ultrasound... I get them weekly now thanks to the GD) they estimate the baby to weigh 6 lbs 2 oz.


But with all said and done, I have a list of foods that I will be eating post-baby.  Included are spaghetti, a hot fudge cake from frisch's, and my birthday dinner, including cake.  Oh, and eventually pumpkin pie.  pumpkin muffins.  and breakfast foods.  I miss cereal and biscuits and french toast.


So that's the majority of the pregnancy stuff.  More to come.


Books- 


Apparently the last thing I read was the Song of the Lioness Quartet?  That really can't be true, can it?  I love to read.  I read all the time.  No way.  I said I was going to read Harry Potter... Did I do that?  I can't remember, but I honestly don't think so because I don't remember nearly as much as I would had I just read it... So I guess I need to read that (again).  BUT to help me catch up on my reading (which I thought I was behind before... that's nothing now!!!) my wonderful husband got me the Kindle for my birthday.  I'm so excited, and I have already downloaded several books.  None of which I've finished yet, but I will soon!  And happily I will be updating my 11K in 2011 list here shortly with the pregnancy book that I have read not once, but actually TWICE.


Work-


The main reason I have been so lazy!  I thought the 4 months of training for the job was a little much and kind of overwhelming.  BOY WAS I WRONG!!!  So I guess they like me?  Because they gave me a lot more work than expected... It was supposed to be temporary while someone was on leave.  But then she came back, and never took back the work!  I love it, though!  My job is so much fun, and so interesting.  Yes, I plan the production for our making systems.  Yes, to some people that probably would be very boring.  But my job is far from boring.  There are issues every day, and the schedules are ALWAYS like putting together huge complicated and sometimes incorrectly cut puzzle pieces.  Now that I'm finally adjusting (and have only 4 days before maternity leave) I can tell that the work has been a major cause behind my exhaustion.  Not that pregnancy has been enough!  It's gotten a lot easier on me now, though.  I know my job better.  I'm at that stage where I'm ready to learn the next step (believe me... I'm still on a basic level at work).  But obviously with maternity leave starting in FOUR DAYS I'm not moving on until I return.


In other news- 


My house is a wreck still.  But it's majorly improved.  Remember how I said I was lazy?  This is where it's been the worst.  I have finally gotten most of the upstairs cleaned up.  Our bedroom is by far the easiest room to maintain in our house, and I've successfully done so now for over a month.  :)  The guest room is probably just as easy and I've been doing well with it too.  I haven't gotten the office cleaned up, but I at least get in there and dust, vacuum, and clean the window every now and then.  And of course the nursery.  It's been well worked on!  More on that later.  The bathrooms have been more difficult to maintain.  My husband is messiest in the bathroom, and it's honestly a crappy bathroom to begin with.  It's definitely near the top of the major remodeling project lists.


The downstairs, however... is a disaster.  I got the dining room cleaned up last week, though.  And I got the fall decorations out- I just need curtains.  I imagine I can keep it clean enough.  My kitchen is still a mess, and I haven't even touched the living and family rooms.  Both of which have been swallowed whole by books, fabric, papers, yarn, more papers, bags (and bags and bags) and shoes.  Oh, and empty boxes from all of the baby stuff.  But the living room is seriously on my hit list tomorrow.  It's going down.


Mike, a job, and childcare-


So my wonderful hubs found a wonderful (and well paying) job!!!!!!  It's full time (I could sing) with not only benefits (yay!) but AWESOME benefits (YAY!!!).  So we are just thrilled around here.  We're both working on the same shift now.  That's a plus.  We get our weekends together!  And seriously.  I haven't even looked back to the days where we didn't.  How did we seriously manage that for so long?  This is so nice.


And with his new job, and a rather long commute, we had to get rid of his car.  It wasn't reliable.  And definitely not functional as a family vehicle.  So with the new job, and shiny new paycheck, we traded in the little coupe for a CR-V.  :)  We had been planning this purchase for a long while, I'll admit.  Don't think we're rich or anything (we certainly aren't).  But we knew we'd never be able to afford a car payment until Mike had a better income.


There are downsides to the new job, though.  One of which is childcare.  Our baby will be at a daycare center 40 hours a week.  But it's literally down the street from my office, so I can go see him or her at lunch time if I wanted.  And we found a daycare that I'm really excited about.  They stress education.  They start teaching them in classroom style ish at the age of 2.  Geography, Music, Math, Science, and Writing.  There may have been others too.  I can't remember.  They play too, though.  And still have nap times.  They were very organized, had lots of information and were real exciting people.  The kids were all happy, and you could just tell.  It was a good place.  


The only other downside is our poor puppy is not used to us both being gone all day.  I can tell he hates it.  But we're trying to make sure he gets a walk in the evenings or at least something.  And he needs to get used to less attention- a baby is coming after all.  It's just sad to watch.  He's adjusting well, though.  No bad behavior.  He really is a big sweetheart.  You can't help but love him.  I don't care what people say, I don't think my feelings towards him are going to change much after baby arrives.  


Ok, so I've bombarded you with TONS of information tonight!  I'm going to write another post on the nursery, and maybe if you're lucky I'll include a post on Puerto Rico (cuz who doesn't want to see THOSE pictures?).  And maybe, just maybe, I'll get something read here soon and I'll update my reading challenge.  I'm scared to look at the numbers, though... I was so close to caught up.

11k in 2011- Song of the Lioness Quartet

I'm getting desperate for pages.  I'm SO FAR BEHIND!!!  So I'm cheating abusing the system a little bit.  But they are still legit pages, people!


I have read this quartet probably a thousand times.  It's definitely a good set of books for any young girl to read who is coming of age.  It breaks stereotypes.  The author is fantastic at building a whole world and all the characters in it.  I can actually picture most of them as if they were real and alive.  She's wonderful.  And she has several quartets out there (and sequels, and prequels...).  I still have a few of hers I've never read before, so maybe I'll get on that too!


So I won't give you the whole "back of the book" for all 4, because it would give away the whole story!  But here's the details on the 1st book- "Alanna The First Adventure"

The Back of the Book:

"Alanna of Trebond is no ordinary girl- her dream is to become a knight.  So she disguises herself as a boy and begins training at the palace of King Roald.  Alanna quickly finds out that the road to knighthood is not an easy one, but her skills and stubbornness help her become friends with Prince Jonathan and his followers.  At the same time, Alanna makes an enemy of the prince's uncle, the overly charming Duke Roger.

Here begins Alanna's first adventure- one that will lead not only to the fulfillment of her dreams but to a magical destiny that will make her a legend."

(I'm going to add that I don't like most of the back of this book.  Way more cheesy than the book, I promise!)

The Bibliography

Pierce, Tamora.  Alanna The First Adventure.  New York, New York: Random House, Inc, 1983.

Book two's bibliography

Pierce, Tamora.  In The Hand of the Goddess.  New York, New York: Random House, Inc, 1984.

Book three's bibliography

Pierce, Tamora.  The Woman Who Rides Like a Man.  New York, New York: Random House, Inc, 1986.

Book four's bibliography

Pierce, Tamora.  Lioness Rampant.  New York, New York: Random House, Inc, 1988.

You can purchase the box set here, or find it at your local library (support the libraries!!) - also, it might be cheaper to find them sold seperately.  $266 for 4 books?  holy wow!!!  I'm pretty sure my set was a gift years ago... probably for way less.

Book 1 pages: 216

Book 2 pages: 209

Book 3 pages: 228

Book 4 pages: 308

Total pages: 961

Total pages read in 2011: 4,476

Total pages remaining: 6,524

Up next- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (again- but the first time this year!) (yes, I'm very desperate.  But look- I'm just over a 1000 pages away from the half way mark.  In July!)

An update

Oh hello.  Remember me?  I know I haven't been around much other than the few books here or there.  It's been a busy time for me.  I'll just give you one huge update, mmmk?


All things pregnancy
Pregnant life has not been a happy life for me.  I'm trying my darndest, but it just seems that life refuses to be nice on this journey.  (I really just have WAY too much going on).  Anywho- I failed my glucose screening.  And then I failed my glucose tolerance test.  So I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and told to take an education class (I did) and start testing my glucose levels 4 times (that's FOUR FINGER PRICKS) a day.  


Ok, so I got the news in the middle of a rough week, and it's been pretty stressful, and I cried a lot.  No lie.  But it wasn't bad.  The diet wasn't even that hard to follow, even though yeah- it sucks to give up your carbs.  I like my carbs, especially in the morning.  Cereal?  Milk?  Fruit?  I can live without sweets.  But cutting carbs wasn't easy.  But I did it.  And I was proud of myself!


Until my glucose levels rose again.  The diet stopped working.  So I talked to my OB, and she put me on an even stricter diet with a follow up this Friday.  I started Friday evening.  I cried.  A lot.  It's a really strict diet.  I could probably name what I'm allowed to eat quicker than what I'm not allowed to eat.  As in- eat at all, not just reduce intake.  I'm allowed whole wheat bread (only 1 piece for breakfast).  I'm allowed peas (at least she didn't say anything about them), apples, berries, milk (2 glasses a day, NOT at breakfast), greek yogurt, pears (again didn't say anything about them), oranges that aren't too sweet.  And then I'm supposed to eat tons of protein and fiber.  So leafy greens and meat it is!  Good thing I'm still allowed peanut butter.  I'd die without at least that.


But my numbers were down again!  yay!  Except today, but I think I know why at least.  I didn't eat a good bedtime snack last night, so I started off rough.  Then I had a protein bar instead of a real food for a snack, and I think it shot my numbers up... So no more of those I guess.


But all in all, everything is going well!  We aren't finding out the gender (even though we've had 3 ultrasounds and the doc said we'll have another at 36 weeks).  We have names picked out.  We have done a lot of prepping, and when baby comes I'll do a nursery post (because it won't be finished until after we know baby's name).  We have a good amount of cloth diapers.  At least for at first.


Oh, and the stats- I'm 27 weeks.  I've gained 27 pounds.  The doc doesn't want me gaining any more and says with the restricted diet I probably won't.  I'm not so sure about this... But what the hell, right?


In other news
I spent another 2 weeks in Puerto Rico (another reason for the blog hiatus).  This trip was a lot more stressful.  I had to go with a guy I'm not very fond of at work (and he's not very fond of me).  It makes it difficult for a pregnant woman, especially when you need help.  The work was also different.  We weren't just learning about the plant- we were shadowing for our actual position and doing some real work.  Plus, I used my Spanish a lot more.  You wouldn't think it, but it takes a lot of energy to do that.  I was exhausted!  


Oh, I got to use my first aid training AND Spanish all at once!  It was a horrific story but it's perfect for blogging.  There we were in a traffic jam. On a 4 lane road with a 4 foot median (ish).  When we get up to the front of traffic, there is a man lying in the road with a helmet on.  Not moving much, and very much hurt.  No motorcycle in sight (which to me, is bad...).  So we stop for a second, and I immediately jump out to help (hello CPR/First Aid training!).  I let someone who actually LIVES in Puerto Rico use my phone to call 911 and the guy's family while I spend the next 30 minutes keeping the guy calm and still.  Lucky his helmet saved his head.  His arm was destroyed, though.  But very little blood, so at least I didn't have to worry about that, nor did I have to provide first aid for it.  The guy's name was Alex, and for the rest of my life I'll never forget him.  He probably had a concussion.  Later his family texted me to say thanks and informed me that he had a broken arm (probably both the radius and ulna) and a broken leg.  It was one of those moments where you just react, and then afterwards you really feel proud of yourself.  My story-telling doesn't at all do it justice.  


So... pregnant woman helping an injured motorcyclist... It had to be an interesting moment for everyone else too.  And even if they are the craziest drivers I've ever seen (seriously), they certainly care for each other.  No one in traffic cared about the pace.  Several got out to help and make sure he was ok. It was very nice to see such a great culture.


And on that note I think I'll end right there.

11k in 2011- The Lost Symbol

While I enjoyed the writing style and overall story of the first two more than this one, I really loved the villain!  He was... very well written.  I also must add that after reading this book I think I can now actually read the Bible and probably take something away from it with an open mind- something I've yet to accomplish.  It may be a fictional story, but the message is a good one.

The Back of the Book:
"In this stunning follow-up to the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown demonstrates once again why he i the world's most popular thriller writer.


The Lost Symbol is a masterstroke of story-telling that finds famed symbologist Robert Langdon in a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths... all under the watchful eye of Brown's most terrifying villain to date.  Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol is an intelligent, lightning-paced story with surprises at every turn.  This is Dan Brown's most exciting novel yet."


The bibliography:
Brown, Dan.  The Lost Symbol.  New York, New York: Anchor House, 2010.


You can find it here or at your local public library (where I bought my used copy).  Support the libraries!


Total Pages: 639
Total pages read in 2011: 3,515
Total pages remaining: 7,485

11K in 2011- Secrets of the Baby Whisperer

To be very honest, this is the type of book I normally laugh at.  I wonder why people buy such things and really think that parents who read this type of book are probably desperate for help or crazy.


I was given this book from someone at work.  I read the back and the cover and laughed thinking it was some joke, like all those self help books that really don't get you anywhere.  But then I started reading it, and holy Wow it's awesome.  It makes sense.  It's really not even that challenging.  It's flexible.  It doesn't say you should breastfeed.  It doesn't say you should bottle feed.  It doesn't say you HAVE to do anything, except... getting your baby into a routine.  I highly suggest any parent or parent to be read this book.  It's really that good.  It's not telling you what to do, honestly.  It's just a nice little common sense instruction manual on how to get on the right track for YOU.


Without further ado, here is: 

The Back of the Book:


When Tracy Hogg's Secrets of the Baby Whisperer was first published, it soared onto bestseller lists across the country.  Parents everywhere became "whisperers" to their newborns, amazed that they could actually communicate with their baby within weeks of their child's birth.  Tracy gave parents what for some amounted to a miracle: the ability to understand their baby's every coo and cry so that they could tell immediately if the baby was hungry, tired, in real distress, or just in need of a little TLC.  Tracy also dispelled the insidious myth that parents must go sleepless for the first year of a baby's life- because a happy baby sleeps through the night.  Now you too can benefit from Tracy's more than twenty years' experience.  In this groundbreaking book, she shares simple, accessible programs in which you will learn

• E.A.S.Y.- how to get your baby to eat, play, and sleep on a schedule that will make every member of the household's life easier and happier.
• S.L.O.W.- how to interpret what your baby is trying to tell you (so you don't try to feed him when he really wants a nap).
• How to identify which type of baby yours is- Angel, Textbook, Touchy, Spirited, or Grumpy- and then learn the best way to interact with that type.
• Tracy's Three-day Magic- how to change any and all bad habits (yours and the baby's) in just three days

At the heart of Tracy's simple but profound message: treat the baby as you would like to be treated yourself.  Reassuring, down-to-earth, and oten flying in the face of conventional wisom, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer promises parents not only a healthier, happier baby but a more relaxed and happy household as well.

The Bibliography

Hoggs, Tracy with M Blau. Secrets of the Baby Whisperer.  New York, New York: The Ballantine Publishing Group, 2001.

You can find it here or at your local public library (support the libraries!).

Total pages: 276

Total pages read in 2011: 2,876

Total pages remaining: 8,124