Stuff

My OB appointment went well. I did not gain a lot of weight at this appointment, which was a good thing. My vitals also looked good. I hope that my glucose test comes back all right. I am actually a little nervous about it. I guess I have reason, though. I will know the results in a couple of days.

I did not measure any bigger than my last appointment, and Dr Sweetness wanted to make sure that everything was all right. So I got an ultrasound while I was there. (Oh darn!) The little guy is doing fine, apparently. Though he is no more cooperative than the previous ultrasounds. Sigh. He was apparently sitting in a breech position. All I could make out was a tangle of arms and legs. No face shot this time. He measured 1 pound 7 oz, which is right on schedule.

My first day back at work was uneventful. Apparently the belly is showing through the scrubs. A few people noticed today and commented on it. That was sort of nice.

I also put in application for a job. It is a teaching position at a local LPN school. They do have full time day shift positions, and I may be able to do some of the work from home with online classes, which would be nice. They apparently have 5 week sessions, so I could potentially start before the end of the year. We will see if anything comes of it. It would be nice to teach again. It is an awkward time to switch jobs, but I figure it is worth a shot. I probably should have done this earlier. Keeping fingers crossed that things work out how they are supposed to.

Vacation pics.

Finally uploaded our vacation pics. We are not avid photographers, so we so not have a whole lot of pics. But I am posting the best of what we have.

For most of the week, the beach looked similar to the pic below. Surfers were sort of enjoying it. The waves were not huge, but there was enough surf to actually surf. Most of the surfers at our beach were not that great. If they were up for a few seconds, it was pretty impressive. But at least they were having fun. Because the surf was what it was, I did not feel confident enough to go past the breakers and actually swim in the ocean. By the end of the week, I decided that it was all right. I am pregnant, and it is perfectly acceptable for me to be cautious. Most of the time, we just sat by the beach, with occasional trips to the water to cool off. The water felt really nice.


Because we were doing a lot of sitting by the beach, Hubby decided at one point to play with the camera. I have about 6-7 photos of this little bird. We never did decide what it was, and we were too lazy to actually look it up. (10 points to the first commenter to actually tell us what this bird is, and end our dispute.) The pic below is the best one of the bunch. Hubby actually shot some short video of the bird, but I cannot figure out how to get it off my Can.on Power.shot, and onto my Mac. (Any suggestions would be helpful.) We also tried to get a pic of a pelican bobbing in the water. Unfortunately, I now have a whole bunch of pics of random surf on my computer. (I opted not to post those pics.)



We were at the south end of Hatteras Island, and we were really close to the Ocracoke ferry. This was sort of fun, because we got to go to Ocracoke twice during the week. The first time was a quick trip, as we left late in the day, and everything was closing by the time we got there. The second time we went, we left earlier, and I got to poke around a little more. Hubby got hot and tired really easily, though. It was hot and crowded the second time we went, and Hubby has no patience for either condition. For that matter, I do not tolerate heat right now. So I guess it was not a bad thing. The pic below was taken on the ferry ride back from our second trip. The trip was on the Pamlico sound, and it is a nice trip.




And one more thing...
While on vacation, I found a great t-shirt! There was an ice cream shop called Happy Belly. Their logo has a budda-like figure holding an ice cone. I told Hubby that if we went there, I wanted a t-shirt. We finally got there toward the end of the week, and I got my t-shirt. One of my only disappointments was that the budda logo is not on the front. But it is still a great shirt. I had to get a 2X because they were out of XL. It is huge on me, even now. I think I will be able to use it as a sleep shirt after the pregnancy.

Now we are back home, surrounded by our cats and dogs. The beach is a nice place to visit, but I am not sure I really want to live there. I liked returning home and sleeping in my own bed. I have my 1 hour GTT tomorrow. Sigh. Hopefully it will go well. Keeping fingers crossed.

Starting to feel human again.

I knew I needed this vacation. I knew I needed a vacation pretty badly. I feel so much better after getting away for a while!

I loved the pregnancy massage. Apparently pregnancy massage involves a lot of pillows and not lying on your back. If I was ever uncomfortable, I could have told the massage therapist, and she would have worked with that. I was really tied up in knots. Some of those knots have gone away, thanks to the massage. Others, I think I just need to deal with. One thing I realized during the massage is that I am really freaked out. I have really been trying to take a zen attitude with this pregnancy, and that is the appearance I think I give to the outside world. But underneath it all, I am really scared. Neither my husband nor I do well with change, and this one is a biggie. I think it is all right to be scared and freaked out. It seems to be normal reaction. But it does loom large. This baby is coming at some point, and we need to adjust to it. I went online this morning and ordered a whole bunch of books on baby's first year from Amazon. They may be there by the time I get home. I do not know if reading about it will help me, but it may give me a better idea as to what to expect. I also bought the Caveman's Guide to Baby's first year for the hubby. Hopefully that will help him, too.

I am 24 weeks today. I am a little unclear as to when third trimester starts, but I must be getting close. Really need to get started on that nursery. Sigh.

Sand in my Bathing Suit... Finally!

I am such a water baby. I love water, and I have been itching to get in the water since I got here. Finally yesterday the weather and the water were both perfect, and I could not resist going and playing in the surf. I did not go out far, but I got wet, and it felt great. I was a little nervous to go past the breakers without a swim toy, though. I also realized that I think my perspective is changing. I am not only worried about me, I am worried about the little one, as well. I think that worry prevents me from doing things I would love to do. My balance is funky, and I get out of breath so easily, and I do not want to do anything which presses on my belly. Not to mention, it is difficult to bend over. I guess there is good reason to be freaked out. I spent a lot of time and money getting in this condition. I do not want to lose this little one because I did something stupid. So I guess no surfing lessons for me. Sigh. They looked like they were having so much fun...

I am too lazy right now to upload pics. We have taken a few. Eventually I will get them up. Really.

Looking very forward to today. I get my toes done, and I get a massage. I have never had a pregnancy massage before. I have had a regular massage, but this is the first time I have been pregnant when I got a massage, so this will be a new experience for me. Another first.

I am beginning to think that Hubby does not realize how much of a change the baby will be. It is a little frustrating. I think it is not really real to him yet. He has felt the baby kick and move, but we have not set up a nursery. It may be time to get him a baby's first year book. I think there is a lot he needs to learn. He does not tolerate change very well, so he may need time to adjust to what will likely happen. Right now, I think that he is thinking we can "board" the baby with family, like we board the dogs. I have already warned him that I am not comfortable doing that the first year or two. A weekend, maybe, but not a whole week. I want baby time as much as possible.

Finally Friday!

Thank goodness! I only have to get through 8 more hours and then I can get started on getting out of town. Hello, vacation!

My OB appointment yesterday was quick. Baby is apparently doing well, and things mostly seemed to be coming along well. But she is concerned that I had a larger weight gain than expected. The two words I did not want to hear popped up during my appointment. Gestational diabetes (GD). My 1 hour GTT is the Monday after I get back from vacation so we will see what happens with that. My urine was fine, so if I do have GD it is still really early. The OB told me that I should avoid carbs, if possible. (There go my potatoes and bagels!)

After consulting Dr Google, I realized that it is no surprise that I would develop GD. I have three of the risk factors: I am 35, I have PCOS (so I am already insulin resistant), and I am overweight. I know my mother had GD with both me and my sister. Knowing all of this, I sort of feel that developing GD is going to be inevitable.

I also asked the OB if there was anything to keep in mind while traveling on vacation. She said we should stop every couple of hours to stretch our legs. I have an increased risk of blood clots. Usually we would stop about every 3-4 hours. He likes to keep going as long as possible. That is not going to be possible this trip. He seems to be taking it stride, though. He is willing to do a lot for me because I am finally pregnant. Well, except have a lot of sympathy when I complain. He is really enjoying the fact that I am pregnant.

Almost...

Thank you for all of your wonderful thoughts on names. For the moment we are sticking with Alton. Though I may try to change hubby's mind over vacation. Hopefully he will be more receptive then. We will see.

The rest of the week will hopefully be downhill. I am off at 3PM today and tomorrow. I have an OB appointment today, and my last dog class with Oscar is tonight. I hopefully can start packing somewhere in there. Hopefully.

Tomorrow Hubby and I are switching cars for the day. He is taking the day off, so he will be able to drop off the dogs for boarding. Hopefully he can get my oil changed and the car cleaned out, as well. I would like to pack the car on Friday evening, because Saturday morning, we are out of here!

Oh yeah, we also have internet at our beach house, so we should be able to stay connected. Hooray!

Can you tell I am very excited about vacation? I think we both need it!

Will try to update later with how the OB appointment went.

The Name Game

Baby Smiling in the Backseat had a couple of great thoughtful Thursdays. The one that got me thinking was the Thoughtful Thursday from last week about naming children. Naming a baby is not something we thought about before we got pregnant. We figured we would have plenty of time to choose a name for the child while I am pregnant. We tossed some names around not long ago, and quickly came to the decision on a name for this child. But for some reason it is not sitting well with me. I thought I would be all right with it, but now I am not so sure.

We looked to family for name ideas. Boy names can be so difficult. We did not want anything too common, and we wanted to honor our relatives. The name we came up with is Alton Carrick. Alton is Hubby's grandfather's name. Carrick is my grandfather's middle name. For a boy's name it sounds nice, and sort of flows really well. My husband also likes how the initials look with our last name, just in case he decides to go into law.

I think what I am having trouble with is nicknames. It will shorten to Al, which will make it easy to learn to spell in elementary school. Or he could go by his initials, A.C.. Or we could call him by his entire first name, which I sort of like, but seems a little formal. I have a hunch that if we name him Alton, he will end up going by Al, which may not be so bad once he is a little older. Hubby hates the idea of the child going by Tony. He says it is too Italian.

Maybe what I would like is a first name which will shorten to something nicer, and less blunt. I would like to keep Carrick as a middle name, because I think Carrick is a solid middle name. And I have no problems with Alton as a middle name, as well. I have two middle names myself, so two middle names is fine with me. I like the idea of honoring both of our grandfathers.

Maybe I should start thinking about some different possible first names. Maybe look to literature or mythology. That was an idea I always liked. Naming the child after a Greek, Roman, or Norse god. Though both Hubby and I agree that Mars and Thor are not in the running.

On a side note, we considered telling people a fake name for the baby, considering all the crazy things people will name their children. Something like Cherokee or Sequoia. Just to annoy people and throw them off our trail.

Yesterday was not too bad. I got to work with a wonderful pediatric opthalmic surgeon, so I knew the day was going to be good. I got to carry around babies all day. I was not quite sure how I would do, but I did fine. I was trying to think of it as practice. All the babies were really cute, but they were mostly born prematurely. I really hope my child is not born early! He needs to stay in there and cook until he is done. Our last patient of the day was a NICU baby born at 25 weeks. He was so tiny! He had retinopathy of prematurity, and were trying to make it so that he could hopefully see later. The little guy just was not a fighter. It was really sad to see that he would likely be intubated for a few weeks after the procedure. He apparently took several weeks to wean off the vent last time he was intubated. It was a choice between pain medication post-procedure and keeping him off the vent. The surgeon and anesthesia went with pain control. That would have been my choice, too.

I apparently was very tired last night. I fell asleep on the couch before 8 PM. Hubby had to wake me up to tell me to go to bed. Sad, but I guess that is what I get for running myself into the ground. At least I have the weekend to rest and try to put myself back together. I doubt it will happen all in one weekend, but at least I can start.

Because I went to sleep so early last night, I was up early this morning. I got done some of the paperwork I have been putting off. I now have a lot of stuff to be mailed, and no stamps to mail it with. I also discovered I need a new ink cartridge for my printer. I apparently do not use it very often, and it dried up.

OK... Just in case you are interested, here is my to-do list for the weekend. As I said, it may not all get done today.

1. Clean bathrooms. (Top priority, most likely to get done this afternoon!)
2. Change sheets and de-clutter bedroom.
3. Put clothes away in dressing room.
4. Try to get hubby to move boxes containing non-maternity clothes downstairs to the basement.
5. Mail back returns to Motherhood.
6. Air out or wash dog throws. (probably wash. They are fairly stinky.)
7. De-clutter living room.
8. de-clutter dining room.
9. Clean kitchen.
10. Vacuum.
11. Errands: a. Post office: buy stamps, mail return package, b. Goodwill to drop off stuff, c. Shoe store: to get sneakers which do not tie, and can be easily slipped on! d. Target: Ink cartridge for my computer, sheets for bed in yellow room, and anything else I can think of! e. Used bookstore to get rid of some books and get some reading material for my upcoming vacation!

I think that is a lot, and I will try to get done what I can this weekend. I also need to take some time for myself. That is important too.

Off to bathe and maybe get the day started! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Thank Goodness!

I have almost survived the week. One more 8 hour shift, and then I can come home and collapse. I am exhausted!

Not much to report since I posted last. Work, couch, bed. That has been my routine all week. I really need to shave, and trim my nails, but it will likely have to wait until this afternoon or tomorrow. Too tired. (Sorry if that is TMI!)

Belly is getting rounder and tighter! Belly button is starting to stretch, too. Cocoa butter does seem to help, but it cannot help the tight feeling. I guess I get to live with it.

Baby is starting to kick. I can definitely feel him moving around in there. On Monday, Hubby and I were lying in bed, and I felt some definite kicks. I grabbed his hand, put it on my belly, and asked if he could feel it. I think he felt something move, but was not sure it was a kick. It felt like a kick from my point of view. It may take a little more time for movement to be more apparent to Hubby.

Next OB appointment is Thursday morning. No ultrasound at this one. It is just a regular monitoring appointment. Hopefully it should be fairly quick.

One more week of work, and then we are off to Hatteras for our vacation! Hooray! We both need it!

Back home!

It feels good to be home! And I get a day off tomorrow, which means a shorter work week for me. And two weeks until vacation. I have a few things to look forward to. I could try to take my other two bereavement days for the burial service in November. I may try to get that in writing, though.

In my frustration with work, I forgot to tell you all what happened with my wedding band. They did find it at work, which was great. But I was not able to call the hubby until the afternoon, after he had already bought another wedding band for me. He did not return it, and gave it to me that afternoon when I got home from work. He even proposed again! (I think it was easier this time. He had a better idea of the answer.) It is a beautiful 14 K plain gold wedding band. I like it better than my other one. It definitely fits a little better, too. I am thinking of continuing to wear it.

The funeral service for my grandfather was really nice. It made it more real seeing him lying in the casket. He was a member of the Freemasons, and they had a small service before the formal funeral service. It was really interesting. The friend and family rememberances during the service were really wonderful, and I know my grandfather would have loved all the family participation during the service. Family was very important to him.

Hopefully now that the funeral is over, my grandmother and my aunt can start learning to adjust to life without my grandfather. I do not think it will be easy for either of them. I think the closure with the funeral service helps, though.

Will likely post more tomorrow. I do have more thoughts rolling through my head, and more happened over the weekend.

I think it is official...

The management at my job are idiots. They apparently cannot distinguish between the following sentences:

1. My grandfather died recently.
2. Hubby's grandfather died recently.

Now I know the above sentences are amazing similar, but there is a distinct difference in the very first word of the sentence. I think it is a very clear difference.

For some asinine reason, management thought that the grandparent who died was not related directly to me. I suspect that is why they gave me a hard time about taking time off. I was talking with the person in charge of making the schedule, and she did not realize it was MY grandfather. Not my hubby's grandfather. Another thing happened which makes me think this, too. Things were so bad at work that they had to call in the person who was covering my two hours. She wanted to make sure that I was going to get off when she came in. Apparently the idiotic charge nurse was under the impression that it was my husband's grandparent. Apparently my managers are idiots who do not listen to their employess. But I guess I sort of knew that already.

Yet another reason not to come back after maternity leave....

A little bit of a vent...

Feel free to skip this if you really want to. But I am going a little crazy and had to let this out...

I am sort of frustrated with work right now. Supposedly my employer gives 36 hours of bereavement leave. This leave does not count against you as an attendance occurrence, and does not come out of your PTO. My job gave me Friday off, which was really nice. But when I asked to leave 2 hours early on Friday so that I could start heading out of town for the memorial service, they told me I had to find someone to cover those two hours. I was not asking for the day off, I was asking to leave early. I already had to track down someone to take my call shift that Saturday night! (Do you know how hard it is to find someone to take call Saturday night on Labor Day weekend?) Just let me have those damn two hours! Honestly! Just give me the damn two hours without making me go on a wild goose chase to find someone to cover for me for two friggn' hours.

Here is what I finally did, because almost everyone is already working until 5 PM or 7 PM that day. I have a co-worker who is not working that day graciously agree to cover those two hours. Which means, if they need the coverage for those two hours, they have to call in someone. For two hours. It just seems asinine to me.

It is not my fault they are understaffed, and do not have the staff to run the rooms.

Why the hell is it so damn hard to take leave when you need it? Crap like this really makes me not want to come back to this job after my leave is over. It just sucks. This is just one more complaint in a mountain of complaints I have about my job.

Oh yeah, and just to give you an idea how crazy I am getting lately... Between mourning my grandfather, working full time, and being pregnant. I have a lot on my mind right now.
I scrubbed in and set up a case at the end of the day today. I had to take off my wedding band and my watch in order to scrub in. As I was leaving, I noticed that I did not have my watch or my band on. I retraced my steps, and checked where I dumped my scrubs, but I never did find it. I was not really worried about the watch, which was around $10 at either Wally world or tar.get. I was most upset about losing the wedding band. Hubby took it in stride, and promised to buy me a new band tomorrow. I feel awful, though. That is not something I want to do again, if I can help it. I guess I will have to keep a giant safety pin on my badge so that I can pin it to my bra for safekeeping.

I probably really need a day off, but it apparently takes an act of congress to get one at my job, and I do not have the energy for that right now.

I have to work tomorrow, and then I am off to Charlottesville, then Reston for the memorial service on Saturday. Thank goodness I get Monday off. I need a day to catch up, I think. (Probably more than one day, really.) My vacation is coming up in a couple of weeks, too. I think I really need it!