28 week Doctor visit

Got my test results for blood glucose et al. OBGYN said I'm borderline gestational diabetes patient...which just FRUSTRATES me...NOT another pill/condition/ailment please! I also had a very low iron count.

But luckily there were no pills prescribed...Doc said to just cut out the carbs and actually gave me specific directions to eat one red meat meal a day and alternate spinach/leafy greens every other day. He basically said no white rice, no pasta, no white breads. Increase dairy (I already drink so much of it, hence I'm so fat!).

I make white basmati rice almost daily because both G and I like eating it with Indian dishes (as opposed to the traditional indian breads such as roti). Roti takes longer and more work to make, plus I'm no where NEAR experienced enough in making perfectly round rotis and kneeding the dough.

I grew up in a house where we have at least one meat dish a day, but after getting married and having to cook I really haven't adhered to that. So anyway since I really don't like the taste of red meat I just need to increase my chicken intake. Also going to try out brown rice varieties instead of basmati....I think it'll be good for G as well!

Otherwise baby is doing fine and kicking like crazy. My hips are slowly breaking down...I feel this numbing sensation down the left leg as the uterus pinches into my nerves. By the end of the day I'm limping like a 90 year old woman with hip replacment surgery. The freakiest thing? The small toe on my left foot started cramping...so STRANGE! I swear pregnant ladies get the oddest of symptoms, and you get to feel sensations you've never felt before.

Nose is same as before, except now I've added Nasacort to my list of meds. Both the OBGYN and the pharmacist said the cortisteroid amount is so minute that it shouldn't affect baby since I'm must spraying it into my nose and not actually ingesting anything. Nasacort is supposed to actually CURE the problem instead of dealing with my symptoms. It should take 10 days before the swelling in my passages goes down. My fingers are crossed that this works!

Ladies who preach to me "Well when I was pregnant I didn't take ANYTHING" annoy me. When they realize the pills I am taking they look at me like I'm this bad mother. Well I'm pretty sure that those ladies who say that had a fairly decent pregnancy, with milder symptoms. If I didn't have the nose issue, I would be a happy camper. Getting 3 hours of sleep nightly for 9 months due to choking on mucous is probably not good for the baby. I'm not taking any meds for my hips, I'm suffering through that because I refuse to add another pill. And, I always get doctor approval before I ingest anything. There is a difference between a light sinus cold and a SEVERE rhinitus congestion that inhibits daily functioning such as sleep and eating. I hate when people tell me "oh just take some steam" or "get a humidifier" Don't they think that I've tried everything under the sun before resorting to medications? A cold during pregnancy is NOT the same as a regular cold. Symptoms are magnified. When I'm plugged, I can't breathe, taste, smell, or sleep. When I'm runny, I have to blow every 2 minutes (which inteferes with anything I happen to be doing at the moment). If it weren't for the nasal sprays and occasional cold meds, I would be bedridden and miserable.

Week in Review

So this past week before Memorial weekend I've been at my parents house in Minnesota chilling while G was in China for a work related trip. It was hectic, because we moved out of our apartment and into a rental home 2 days before we each left for our flights.

I would definetly recommend hiring movers. We hired ours off of Craigslist and they were relatively decent priced for what they were willing to do (pick up basically anything I point to, including trash bags full of clothes that ripped open). Somehow, despite me not carrying a thing and even having lunch that day at a neighbor's house, I was EXHAUSTED. My legs and back ached from standing too much and not changing positions frequently. At night we went back to the apartment and cleaned out as much as we could. We figured they would charge us a cleaning fee anyhow so why go nuts. The next day I spent unpacking the monstrous amount of kitchen items we own, and also managed to set up one of the bathrooms. Then we had friends over for an easy dinner, and the next morning G and I packed for our trips.

Reaching Minnesota after a grueling week was nice...I chatted with my family way into the night and slept snuggled next to my adorable puppy. The next day we watched all of our wedding DVDs from G's side. Staying at home overall was okay, but after some time you remember WHY you didn't live with them during college and WHY you are happy to set up your own home with your own rules. Dad still watches evening TV at full blast, dinner is still eaten really late..etc. Now add to the mix a brother that's home after college and jobless, who is maturing at a really slow rate (compared to me...at his age I had a job offer, was graduating law school, had purchased a car, and had met the man I was going to marry). I'm terribly critical of his habits. I think I'm even worse now with pregnancy due to hormones. I can't stand irresponsibility. I forget things all the time, I'm a total space cadet, but once I realize something needs to be done I'm all over it. Bro hasn't really grasped such a concept yet. Mom says he will mature at age 30...let's see. Anyway so there was some nice brother-sister clashes that left me yoga breathing for baby's sake.

I also managed to hang out with my friend George a few times. We went baby clothes shopping at the Mall of America (poor George!) and the sales ladies believed we were a couple because I had forgotten my wallet and he had to whip his out like he's the Dad. :-) Then we went to the Minneapolis Museum of Art, which I thought was a really relaxing, cost - free way of spending time with a friend. After all that walking we met up with my old roomate Liz for dinner at the University of Minnesota's Dinky Town. It's funny hanging out with single friends who love to ask "So how's married life like?" and "So we've heard the good, now what's BAD about married life?" The same thing goes with pregnancy, asking "So does it hurt?" etc...I think it's their way of feeling comfortable in their single-dom. :-) I was pretty honest though, yeah marriage has it's good and bad, but I think the good outweighs any bad. I really don't miss the struggles and drama of being single and looking. Most of my single girl friends either have serious drama in their current relationships or are extremely lonely and frustrated with not finding anyone.

Liz asked me (after complaining about her current BF) "So how did you KNOW that G wouldn't be like the other boyfriends and would be a good husband?" Hmm...I really couldn't answer that. For one thing there were no hard examples of bad behavior on his part to make me hesitate...sure he could do certain things better but then so can I...sure I had doubts with him as well that were gradually relieved during our dating period. But he pretty much met all of my non-negotiables (per Dr. Phil). There are some things you just CAN'T compromise, and too many single women are blinded by love/lust into thinking things will change so it's okay to compromise for now.

Anyway back to the week...Saw Harold and Kumar Escape to Guatanomo Bay with Bro...of course thought the first one was better, although we had a few laughs with this one. Harold is much better in this sequel...the first one we liked Kumar better.

Went to my old work place to talk to my manager about the remote work I'm doing for him and also to just catch up on things...I really do miss working in an office sometimes!

Saw an ear, nose and throat specialist for the never-ending saga with my nose. He was really thorough and it was relieving to finally have someone take my complaints seriously and look inside all my head cavities with funky machines. His diagnosis was severe rhinitus caused by pregnancy. There is no infection (makes sense since no one has caught what I have), there is no sinus swelling (there goes the Neti-Pot!) and nothing except for steriod sprays will really work. Of course I'm going to avoid steroid use until after baby is born, until then I have to just keep using my addictive Afrin Nasal Spray that the doctor said is not great but at least it's giving me some form of relief so I can sleep/eat.

My parents hosted a brunch for the friends who traveled to India for our wedding back in November. Ida showed up in one of the saris she purchased while on the trip, and Dad got to feed George more green chillies. Bri learned how to make chai from Mom.

Stuff that makes Pregnant Ladies Cry

Okay I'm not a weepy type person (not to imply that crying is in any way bad, in fact it's healthy). I can be very sad and not shed one tear. Usually I cry when I'm angry, and the frustration will come out in waves of angry tears.

However nearing the end of my 2nd trimester, with the hormones raging through my body and the general feelings of illness increasing profusely, I've noticed several crying triggers. Since I love to make lists, here we go:

1. I cried on the day we moved from our apartment to our new rental home (just last week). I was so exhausted from packing & cleaning (I didnt do heavy lifting) and the odd eating schedule coupled with my mind racing with things that needed to be done.

2. While visiting my folks in Minnesota, I cried when my brother came into my old bedroom and started annoying me. My Dad freaked out and bitched my brother out, and now my parents are on his case to not upset me in any way, however minor. They are worried about the baby!

3. While showing my parents our reception DVDS (they arrived in the mail months after our actual wedding reception) the scene where the bride (me) hugs everyone and leaves with hubbie (G) was dubbed with a really sad song. In reality I was extremely happy on my wedding day, and although it was sad to see my Mom shed tears while hugging me I couldn't wipe the huge grin off of my face. However when I watched all of this on the DVD just 2 days ago, the combination of the song, the scene of hugging Mom/Dad, and the fact that I was sitting in my parents living room 6 months pregnant (which is surreal in and of itself) just let all the water pipes in my head loose. Below is the song that was dubbed over the scene, for those who don't speak Hindi the actress is saying "Dad why did I grow up?" and asks what's the hurry to get married and leave her house when she loves her Dad so much. The Dad responds similarily but also mentions that she must leave she can't always just live with him.

I don't have such a lovey dovey relationship with my parents as the girl in this video does, but I do love them and being married and pregnant away from them definetly makes me miss them. I feel more sad for them than I do for myself...I have tons of new stuff going on, and can keep myself very occupied. My parents, however, are about to have empty nest syndrome (once my bro leaves). My dad took out my baby pics and that just made me sadder...he remembers EVERYTHING about my birth, my toddler years like they were just yesterday. He can recall stories to the smallest detail. He told me about a dream he had of me and my brother as toddlers following him around. My parents just go to work and come home and cook and watch TV...their lives were pretty much centered around raising us, so I become concerned when I'm not around them because I know seeing me makes them happy.

4. Reading or seeing any stories about a dog dying. SERIOUSLY. Like this one:
http://www.kunstler.com/mags_chloe.html It's long but if you scroll down to the end the ever faithful dog survives cancer but manages to get hit by a car and perish in the hospital when her owner wasn't near her. AAACK too sad!

Motivation

Club Foot Schedule of Events

So after our little bundle of joy is done cooking, here is the schedule of appointments and surgeries that will take up our lives for the next 4 years:

1 week after birth: Initial orthopedic appointment to get fiber optic casts put on both feet and legs (upto the groin).

Once a week for 4 weeks following: Cast removal and change of cast.

Week 5: Remove casts and have surgeon determine whether baby falls into one of three categories:

• 5 % at this stage are CURED, no more casts etc.


• 5 % at this stage have no difference in the feet, massive surgery necessary.


• 90 % (most likely for our kiddo) the collagen has changed but the achilles tendon is still in the clubbed feet position thus making it tough for him to turn his feet upwards (necessary for walking). Will require cutting of the achilles tendon, then 3 months of a cast while waiting for new achilles tendon to grow.

Month 5: Cast for achilles tendon removed, shoe and bar braces are introduced. For 3 months baby will wear the braces for 23 hours out of the day.

Month 8: Brace time is reduced to only during sleep and naptime. This continues until about age 4 with regular checkups to see progress of collagen and achilles tendon.

Year 4: Braces are removed and babies feet are totally normal, can't tell difference b/w them and a non-club footed 4 year old.

I know you're out there...

so de - lurk and start adding some comments! I've finally allowed anon and non-blogger comments.

List of Love

I love when (not in any particular order):

1. I find a comfy & colorful pair of pajama pants on sale for 5 bucks, that I want to live in all day.

2. My hubbie offers me part of his orange, whether he's sitting next to me or if I'm in another room.

3. I complete all parts of a work project.

4. My hubbie kisses my stomach.

5. I can actually breathe for 5 minutes during the day (without aid of nasal sprays).

6. My hair is clean and straight.

7. I feel baby somersaulting to the sound of TV or music in the car.