Cleaning

Ok, so as you saw earlier, I mentioned that it was too early to be nesting, but can someone tell me then why the Hubs and I are infatuated with cleaning? Yes, I realize I used the word infatuated, and yes, I meant too. We both work full time M-F and last weekend was the first time in 6 months that the Hubs and I had a weekend off together. It has been since then that we started cleaning, and now we plan our visits with family, or trips to pick out paint to make sure we have enough time to get home and clean. When was the last time you scheduled your day around cleaning? Don't get me wrong, I love a good house cleaning, and really, it was well overdue, but I can't wait until we are finished and then all I have to do is run the vacuum. I know that soon enough our house will be filled with everything baby, actually, it was until last weekend when we cleaned out the baby's room and organized the stuff in there, now all the baby stuff is in her room. Hubs has some more organizing he wants to do, which may or may not involve the dvd collection, and I have some last minute boxes to relocate (we collected stuff we didn't want and are making a generous goodwill donation). It's actually nice to come home from work to a place that looks like people live here and not a place that looks like it was visited by a tornado. So, as the days turns to weeks, and the countdown gets closer to when our precious angel blesses us with her presence, we have few details to take care of. For example the Hubs and I picked out the colors that we want for the nursery (although we are still waiting for some things from my sister J before we are a go ahead on the color scheme). We also managed to pick out the colors for the living room, kitchen and bathroom. We have decided, that if we have too we will stay here until our babes is ready for school (what 5 years?) or until we are ready to buy a house (hopefully less than 5 years). Either way, the white walls of the apartment have been a real downer, and we want to make this place look like people live here and aren't just squatting. Have a great Thursday! I am 23 weeks and 3 days today!

Nesting ?

I can't possibly be nesting already? I still have 2 weeks until I make it to the 6 month mark. So please tell me why? Why do I feel more motivated to stay home and do housework then head off to work? Why do I want to get the sweet babe's room ready now, when I am not even 6 months pregnant yet? Why am I afraid that I won't get the room ready in time? Is this normal? My everyday priorities have already changed and are focused on the baby. Is this normal this early on? Well, I guess I can't even say early on anymore, I am now closer to the finish line than when we started. Ahh all the questions that are jumping in my head right now.
As some of you may know, I am now on insulin. I have been on it for 2 weeks now. I am still hoping that it is only until baby comes, but I am only taking it one day at a time. I have to tell you though, that insulin is not that bad. The needle for checking my blood sugar hurts like a 1000 times more, this needle is nothing. I know that it doesn't mean that I can now eat whatever I want, but it does make me feel a little "freer" with what I eat. I am still trying to grasp the gain weight aspect of this pregnancy. I had lost about 20 pounds since I got pregnant, and at my last appointment with the nutritionist she said she wanted to see me gain some weight...ugh! So, they increased my carb intake with the 2 meals that I take insulin and I am guessing both is working. The insulin has controlled my sugars so they are now less than 135. There are still some things that bring my sugars up, but not above 135 anymore. Sometimes I just wish I could be normal.
Well, I better go. I have Church in 10 mins. Hope you have a great day!

Love letter

My dearest daughter,
Please, take your time and grow. Sorry about today, mommy didn't mean to get all worked up, maybe part of me was missing you and just needed to hear your little heart beat. They tell me not to worry that I might not be able to feel you move all the time, but really, they won't be able to monitor that for another 6 weeks. Can you believe we only have 18 more weeks go to?!? Mommy is so excited, I can't wait to hold you and kiss you. You are going to be the best Christmas present yet! Daddy even quit smoking so he can be healthier for you, and he also agreed to go to Church with me (even if it is only one Sunday a month). There are a lot of people eager to meet you, but no offense, we don't want to yet. Mommy has a lot more stuff to do to your room to make it your space, and then, when it's time, mommy's world will change and you will now be the center. I can't wait to take you on vacation next year and let you hang out with Peanut and Joey, but let's take it slow. Let's make it to your birthday and then Christmas, and then we will go from there. Speaking of Christmas, mommy is trying to find you the sweetest little dress to wear, Daddy already bought you cute little shoes. Hmm, maybe we need your outfit to bring you home in. No worries, between Nana and your Aunts, we have nothing to worry about. Mommy needs to go now and do some homework. Know that you are loved very much, and mommy can't wait until she feels you kicking. Keep growing Kiddo...Mommy and Daddy have all the love in the world for you.

Love always,
Mommy
XOXOXO

This week

A lot happened this week...

This week in this area, or well last week until Sunday is Musikfest. Musikfest is this huge festival that happens in Bethlehem PA and lasts 10 days. They have lots of concerts and food, and people from the area showcasing their special talents for a profit. Tuesday we went to Musikfest and we saw Scythian. They are a Celtic rock group that neither Penguin or I had heard of, but since my husband claims to be more Irish than anything else, I knew it was something that he would like. And it turned out that they were GREAT!!! Amazing, awesome...yeah, can't describe it enough. We had filet wrapped in bacon for dinner, showed him around because he was never to Musikfest and I think he liked it. It was a great day.

Wednesday we went to see an Iron Pigs game. The Iron Pigs are a local affiliate of the 2009 National League Champions Philadelphia Phillies. I used the connections I had and scored some awesome seats! What was so important about this game was that my niece's best friend was there playing.

Yep, that is right, no need to adjust your monitor. That is Shane, the Flyin Hawaiian Victorino! He was spending a couple nights with the Iron Pigs rehabbing before he went back to Philly. Can you tell how good our seats were? And nope, this is not zoom;) I cannot thank my friend AT enough for the tickets.
Thursday I had a doctor's appointment where we heard our daughter's heart beat. She was moving around A LOT!! I still can't wait to feel her. We also talked about the next steps of the pregnancy, IE frequency of doctor's appointments since I am considered high risk. We also discussed my continued weight loss which apparently made the Nurse Practitioner happy or at least not concerned. We scheduled our next appointment for 2 weeks.
Friday was a day of a different color. I met with the Diabetic nutritionist and we discussed my need to go on Insulin at this stage of the pregnancy. At one point my diabetes was diet controlled and now it is not. It is however the hormones to blame, and there is nothing I could do to prevent it. I will still have to maintain the diabetic diet, I now just have to give myself some insulin 3 times a day in hopes to control the meals that are the most troubling to me (breakfast, dinner, and my fasting sugar). The nutritionist also told me that she wants to me to try to gain a 1/2 pound per week from here on out which is about 9 pounds for the rest of the pregnancy. I guess being told to gain weight is such a change for me. Last night was my first time with dealing with the insulin, and I have to say that the insulin hurts nothing like the actual checking of my sugar. That hurts like something terrible, where the insulin you don't even feel it. I mean you do, but it is over before you know it. Last night I had by best dinner sugar since I think I get pregnant, or at least in about a month. It didn't really help my sugars this morning or after breakfast, but it will take some adjustment. I know that it is in our daughter's best interest for me to use the insulin to make sure she is healthy, so whatever it takes I will do.
I am hoping today brings in time to hang out with family on top of doing homework for work. There are actually NO doctor's appointments next week, but there will be one the following week and again the following week. I will hopefully be able to update with fun and exciting stuff...in the meantime...Have a great weekend!

Thinking

Dear pregnancy hormones,
I do not appreciate that you can make me cry at the drop of the hat.
I do not appreciate how every comment gets internalized.
I do not appreciate how you make me feel beautiful one moment then fat the next.
No, not this girl.
I do not appreciate how I take everything personal, I did before, but now I think it is worse.
I do however at the same time appreciate you.
I do appreciate everything that you are doing for our little girl
I do appreciate how important you are to this whole process.
I do hope that you give our daughter some "good" hormones where she will cry when supposed to, but also have thick skin like her father.

I am aware that it is crazy to write to my hormones, however, I feel better after writing it. I have now been able to take some of the things that have been weighing on me and now I don't have to worry about them anymore. Thanks for reading!

On this day...

I married by best friend.

One year ago, Penguin and I tied the knot. It was exactly 3 years that day that we were dating. It was the happiest day of my life. I felt absolutely beautiful.


It has been a great year, although I can't believe it has only been a year. Wow how much has changed. I can't say I pictured us to be where we are today, but this woman has no complaints. It has been an interesting ride, but a ride I wouldn't change for the world. For better or for worse, thick and thin, you are the person that I know will always be there for me. When the world seems to be pissing on me, I know I can count on you to grab the urinal ;)

You are my best friend. You always bring out the best in me, and always make me smile. You make me feel like I am always young at heart. You make me forget about the stresses in life, and I feel safest when I am in your arms. I know I can always count on you to make me smile.

As we begin the next year of our life, I know that it is going to bring us great changes. Our daughter will always see the love we have for each other, and while it will not always be roses, there has to be a thorn now and then to protect the roses, and to slow us down so that we savor the moments. So, not only today, but everyday, I want you to know how much I love you and how much you mean to me. You are my one and only Yankee (wink, wink). Thanks for a great year, here's to many many more.

What have we been up too?!

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. My precious babe had the first ocean swim, albeit still inside me (not quite time to come out yet), and even survived a family vacation. The water was too cold on some days, so I couldn't stay in it long, but it was really nice to see the ocean again. One day my mom and I saw some dolphins, and while it was awesome to see, I wasn't able to take some pictures :( However, I am glad that my mom saw them too otherwise I would completely think I am loosing my mind. This was the first time as a family we went to Harvey Cedars, and let me tell you, it was absolutely gorgeous! The house we stayed at was perfectly located between the bay and the ocean, each a short quick walk. The wee ones even had a park to visit, which, I think they visited a bazillion times this week. My sister R took like over 8 gigs of pictures, so check out her site here and enjoy the photos. We also went to Seaside Heights and walked on the boardwalk. There I had my first zeppole, and also bought some sugarless saltwater taffy. Also included on this trip was a mental breakdown on my part, but I recovered because my sister J only gave me 30 minutes to get over it. (Thanks J!) I got to spend a lot of quality time with my niece and nephew, and I just cannot get enough of my nephew saying my name. It is the sweetest sound I think I heard. My niece tried to dig herself to China (what kid hasn't tried that) but also enjoyed being covered neck deep in sand. I think the adults enjoyed that one more than she did. WOW, and that is just an overview.
Penguin even made it down to the beach for a couple of days, and even went in. Penguin hates sand, so the fact that he came on vacation was a bonus, but when I returned from a walk with my cousins (I think they tried to walk me the entire length of the island) I saw Penguin actually in the water! What a surprise that was!! Anyway, our vacation was ended yesterday because of a doctor's appointment. And what a great day it turned out to be! Yesterday, we learned that our baby is a sweet baby girl! We no longer have to call her Femus, although Penguin says he still will. After the doctor's appt we headed to Babys R Us where we started our registry, and I think Penguin had more fun shopping for girls clothes than me. Anyway, now that we know what we are having, the adventure as great as it is now changes. We have agreed to start working harder on the nursery now, even picked out paint colors. I know we have a long time, but actually we only have 4 months left! Holy smokes! I can't believe that we are 5 months pregnant already. Anyway, have a great weekend. Can't wait to blog about our newest adventures!