Weekly Update 9/20/09

I'm going to make a serious effort to shorten the blog this week. I got comments from multiple friends about it this week. They were things like, "Your blog is very detailed" or from Laura "That was quite long," (she's English). Anyways, this is my attempt at a succinct one. We'll see how it goes!

Monday night was my Enlisted Spouses Club meeting. I'm the treasurer but haven't gotten the stuff from the temporary treasurer (I was in the states when the last permanent one transferred out) so I haven't actually DONE anything yet. But the meetings are always fun and it's a few hours out of the house, so that's a plus. We had a bunch of new members and as usual it was a great time!

On Thursday (LOOK! I completely skipped Tuesday and Wednesday!) I had an OB appointment. Lots and lots of questions since I hadn't seen a doctor since I found out about the gestational diabetes. No earth-shattering information, though. That is, until the end of the appointment when she informs me I'll have to have weekly appointments from now until I have Alex. Ummm... that's like 12 weeks. YUCK! And she also said that later on they may have to do twice-weekly non-stress tests. DOUBLE YUCK! Luckily I found someone to trade babysitting with, so she's going to watch Jackson on Thursdays for me, and I'm going to watch her son (Xavier, 10 months) another day of the week.

This coming week is actually kinda busy especially with another baby party for Alex on Saturday to get ready for!

Jackson showing off his stacking skills for Daddy (on the webcam)


Refusing to get out of the bath despite the lack of water.

Weekly Update 9/13/09

You know I sit down to write these blogs and think, we were SO BUSY this week. Then I start to write about what we did, and it doesn't seem all that busy. Maybe it's just daily errands to the BX/Commissary/Post Office, etc. that make it seem busy.

Tuesday was speech therapy. Jackson was very very cooperative. He seems to have more patience each time Holly visits. This was the first time they played with all the things she brought. Usually one or two things end up getting skipped because he's done sitting and playing before they get to them. His favorite this week was a discovery toy called Hammer Away. Once he figured out he had to hammer the balls down instead of pushing them with his hand (which was easier, but not the point) he had a blast and played with it independently while Holly and I talked towards the end of the session.

One concern she had was that he says, "bing bing" instead of "bang bang". That's not a big deal by itself but he messes up quite a few vowel sounds. She said at this point he should be doing most vowels correctly, but still messing up some consonants (especially hard 2-consonant combinations). I've been working on a list this week of vowel sounds he does incorrectly to see if she has suggestions on how to help him improve. She said we'll watch it for a while and if by the time he's 2 1/2 it isn't any better we'll reevaluate and try to find the cause.

I also got re-tested for MRSA on Monday which came back negative. So now we've both had 2 neg cultures and are completely cleared. YAY!

Friday was Jackson's dental appointment. He did awesomely, as expected. He really likes to brush his teeth! The dentist was pleased with the fact that Jackson doesn't drink juice or use a sippy cup (except the on in his bed with water in it), and is already brushing his teeth twice a day. Since from now on he has to go in March (they do it in the birth month of your sponsor) the dentist said he doesn't have to come back until March of 2011 if we don't want him to.

It just so happens that the dentist, Holly's office, and our playgroup are all in the same building. Holly comes to the house, but every time we go to playgroup we stop to visit her. So walking up to the door, the first thing Jackson says is, "Holly!" No, we're not here to see Holly. Off to the dentist we went. After his appointment we walked to Holly's office to see if she was there, but she wasn't. To get to her office you have to walk towards the playroom where playgroup is. As soon as that was in sight, he said, "Play! Play!" No, we're not going to play. We're going home. Sometimes I wish he didn't have QUITE so good of a memory.

Friday was also my meeting with the nutritionist on base. She gave me a new diet which is eating 6 times a day with 30 carbs at each meal/snack. That is much less complicated than what I was doing. And it also lays out when I should eat milk vs. bread/starch vs. fruit carbs so that I can be sure and fit in all the nutrients, too. My sugar has been fairly stable but one thing I'm struggling with is calories--I'm not getting enough. I basically just need to eat more meat is all it boils down to. I'm never hungry anymore, mostly because I'm not going more than 3 hours without food. I lost weight this week and didn't gain ANY last week, which is not good for Alex, especially since I'm now well below the recommended weight gain. (I've gained 12.8 pounds and should've gained 16.5-23). We'll see what the dr. has to say about that at my appointment this week.

Saturday I got a haircut, manicure and pedicure. All were momentous things since it's only the third time someone other than Mom has cut my hair, I've never needed a manicure since I always bit my nails, and I usually do my own pedicures but can no longer comfortably reach my toes. They did a great job with all three. It was a fairly relaxing 2 hours (without Jackson).

Other things going on this week....
I'm working on a floor covering for under the table so I can put Jackson in a booster seat instead of keeping him exiled in the kitchen in his high chair. But before I buy that, Mike and I decided we need to get a new table. (Can't buy flooring until we know how big of a table to buy for). So I ordered one at the BXtra today that we've eyed before but didn't have room for in the 2 bedroom. It has an L-shaped booth on two sides and one chair on the other two sides. It won't be in until mid-late October, so perfect timing for when Mike will be home. I was bummed to find out it had been on sale last week (sale ended Thursday I went in on Saturday), but when they rang it up today it rang up for the old price-YAY!

One morning Jackson decided we needed to hang out on the balcony. It was really nice out and it was the time when everyone was taking their kids to school. We can see the school from our house, so we just chilled and people watched. He played on his slide some.

We got to watch the OSU game on T.V. today. A disappointing loss, but I was still glad to be able to watch it. It's weird to watch college football on Sunday morning, but oh well. After it was over, I apparently dozed off. Don't remember this happening, but I do remember waking up. Thank goodness Jackson hadn't gotten into any trouble (that I know of). And this is what I woke up to... I have no words to even describe it:

I know that prior to falling asleep all 6 coasters were in the holder, the remote was on the arm of the couch, the water glass was on the table (just on the tile, no coaster) and the cars were on the floor. Part of me is a little concerned but mostly I'm just impressed. =)

I've also decided on Picasa to use as our new photo web place. Dad recommended it and it's a google application just like blogger is, so the pictures from all the past blogs are already on there. It makes it nice that I only have to upload them to one place instead of two. I have a feeling it'll fill up fast and then I'll either have to start taking some pics off, or find a web service that we can pay for because most of the free ones have similar limits. September Album.

My blood sugar has been all over the place this week. I'm trying to get a handle on it and it's been much better since I met with the nutritionist. It won't be long before I start figuring out what things make me go really high and what things are okay. Everyone has different things that despite being the right number of carbs, still cause them to jump. Anyone who knows me well at all won't be surprised to learn that I've made an Excel spreadsheet to track my food and blood sugar. It turns green when I hit my target range (carbs, calories, and blood sugar), blue if it's too low, and red if it's too high. I'm pretty visual so it's been helpful for me. The nutritionist said she'd never seen anyone do something like that before. She sounded a mix of impressed and a little scared. But she did say I could just email it to her next week the day before I call and we could do all our stuff over the phone and avoid a trip into her office.

Oh, and Jackson had to get a shot one day, too. I went into the immunizations clinic to check and see when his next shots are due. I was trying to coordinate his appointment with his shots, because you can't do them even one day early and last time I ended up having to bring him back to the clinic like 3 days after his appointment to get the shots. Turns out there aren't 2 year-old shots, but he needed one to play catch up. The HIB vaccine went on shortage right when he was getting started on the series as a baby. It was a 4-shot series but due to the shortage, they dropped it to 3 shots, all of which he eventually got. Once the shortage was rectified they changed it back to a 4-shot series so he needed that last one. He's such a trooper though, he hardly ever cries about anything. He's had numerous bumps on the head, black eyes, etc. etc. etc. and rarely cries for more than a few seconds. He did have a hard time sleeping that night, but other than that, no ill effects.

On the Alex front, he is MOVING! Today he actually moved violently enough to cause me pain. I'm in for a long 2 1/2 months! Add hiccups to that and he's doing his best to be a constant reminder that I'm pregnant. His bedding came this week so his room is almost totally done. All that's left is when Mike gets home we have to hang all our pictures throughout the house and for the moment they're all in his room. Plus if Jackson's not potty trained we'll need a second changing pad for his changing table. Oh and my friend is making curtains for both boys' rooms and they're not done yet, so obviously I still have to hang those once I get them. Other than those minor things, it's done and I'm very glad it is!

I volunteered to make breakfast for Mike's squadron for tomorrow morning. They're doing readiness exercises this week and working 12 hour days. So we (the spouses) are making breakfast and dinner for them tomorrow. Got everything together tonight and just have to get up at 0430 to put it in the oven. I will definitely be napping with Jackson tomorrow!

If you're not on Facebook, you should be. If you're on Facebook but not my friend, you should be. I update that daily with little blurbs so it's much easier to keep track of what's going on with us (and much shorter to read because they limit how many characters you have).

That's all for this week!

Weekly Update 9/6/09

What's this? An on-time weekly update?! Wow. Things must be slowing down in the Deiderich household. Yes. But only a little. Here is our week in review:

Monday--Jackson had a speech therapy appointment at 9. But Holly showed up at the door with a stack of files instead of her toy bag. Apparently the therapist before her didn't do all the paperwork she was supposed to when we first entered the program. So that meant our scheduled time was spent filling out forms and we had to reschedule his therapy for this coming week. Jackson was extremely angry that she did not have fish with her. And then proceeded to spend the next three days begging and crying for "Hah-yee". Nice.

We also got re-cultured for MRSA and those both came back negative. So Jackson is now officially MRSA-free and I will be after one more negative culture.

Tuesday--Nothing too major. We had to go to the WIC office for more vouchers. They give them to you 3 months at a time. So when we scheduled our next appointment, she said, "And make sure you bring the baby with you because we'll need to weigh him unless he's been weighed at the doctor the same day." Totally said it in passing like it was no big deal. I, on the other hand, about hyperventilated. The baby?! Three months?! Holy crap I'm gonna have another kid by the time these vouchers are done!

I mean, okay, so yeah, I'm pregnant and all. But I also spend literally 24/7 chasing an almost-two-year-old. I don't have time to think about the fact that I'm pregnant. Alex frequently demands attention by trying to shove his head and/or butt out the side of my stomach, or getting the hiccups. But there are still times I look in the mirror and am surprised to see a belly. So she sort of shocked me with the casual mention of him.

Wednesday was the lab. Oh the joyous lab. Three hour glucose test. Doesn't that just sound dandy? I diligently followed my >150 carbs, >2,200 calorie diet on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Then fasted (i.e. didn't eat breakfast Wed morning) and got to the lab bright and early. They drew blood four times. Once before we started, then every hour for three hours. It's still the same drink, but it has twice as much glucose in it (but not twice as much liquid). I seriously thought I was going to throw it up. Until close to the two-hour mark, I was very concerned about this possibility. If you throw up you have to do it all over again a different day. I soooo did not want to have to re-do this. I managed to keep it down and by the time she drew my blood after hour two, I was feeling much better. I kept myself occupied with my Nintendo DS and two books that I brought along. Once the three hours was up, I headed home to Jackson and Trysta (neighbor/friend/babysitter). I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. That's one of the top 10 most tired moments of my life. Jackson had been asleep since 9:45 and I got home at 11:15 so I figured I'd better not try to lay down because he'd be up any minute. He slept for another hour. Of course. Then I was trying to make lunch and I could barely spread the peanut butter on the bread because my hands were shaking so badly. That test can kiss my butt! Oh, and Jackson's extra-long morning nap meant no afternoon nap, which meant no nap at all for Mommy. I think I FELL into bed that night!

Thursday--Final inspection in the old apartment. We passed, yay! I'm not sure we should have, because I know there were some things not all the way done. But the inspector knew the whole situation with Mike gone, pregnant, toddler, etc. So I think he had pity on us and passed us anyways. Granted, it was CLEAN. But they want it to look like no one has ever lived there. Not sure it met those standards.

Friday--Considered making an earthquake kit. Started making the list for everything we need for it (according to some list made by someone in San Francisco) and decided it was going to cost at least $200. Then I found one online for $100 already put together. So I'm still debating. And maybe I should just get a big thing of water and call it good.

Saturday--Birthday party. We went to a party for one of my friends' daughter who turned three. That was definitely interesting. Jackson had a lot of fun running around and playing with the other kids. I had fun talking to the other mommies. He came home with a knot on his head (from running into the bracket that holds the railing onto a ramp they were running up and down--he bounced), and a bloody lip (umm....not really sure how he got that exactly). He's such a tough kid though he barely cried at all when he got the knot. And today it's pretty bruised and definitely still a knot. There were also bubbles and t-shirt painting (we focused on the bubbles and skipped the painting). So a few hours of lots of fun!

Today--POOL! It was the last day the outdoor pool is open this summer and we hadn't been once. I decided we weren't going the whole summer without taking advantage of it, so today we walked over and played for about an hour and a half. I was bored out of my mind, but he had a great time. The best part was the kiddie pool is 21" deep. Most are more like 6"-8" deep. So it came up to Jackson's chest. It made it much more fun for him (but also a little scary for me!). I think it used to be a hot tub just because of the size and depth of it. The big pool is way too deep even at the shallow end to take him in and you're not allowed to use floats, so we're limited to the kiddie pool. We'll definitely be going back on a regular basis next summer!



The big news this week was my glucose test. They called the day after the test to tell me I failed. Which means I have gestational diabetes. I went that day and picked up my monitor (and testing supplies) and am now testing my blood sugar four times a day. I'll meet with the nutritionist (hopefully Tuesday) to go over the diet they want me on. I'll follow the diet for a week and then the doctor will reevaluate to see if that's good enough for controlling my sugar or if I'll need to go on insulin. In the mean time, I've found some guidelines online that I'm trying to stick to. Basically counting carbs and having 30 for breakfast, 15 for snack, 45 for lunch, 15 for another snack, and 60 for dinner. I'm also basing my blood sugar goals from a few things I found online. <95 when I wake up, and <120 the other times I test, which is 2 hours after each meal. The nutritionist may change those numbers, but if I've got them right (or at least close) then I'll have a 5-day jump on the week-long diet trial. So far my numbers have been pretty close to those goals. The one after the birthday party (where I didn't eat any cake!) was 126, which kind of bummed me out since I tried to be pretty good. Now I've just got to work on finding good breakfast and snack options. Dinner is pretty easy and lunch isn't too hard either. But since I don't like eggs, and am allergic to nuts (two commonly recommended items), finding breakfast plans under 30 carbs and snacks under 15 is pretty tough. And I'm staying under the carb limits, but I'm hungry. A lot. I was worried when they first told me about the diet that since I normally eat a fairly healthy diet that changing wouldn't be enough and I'd have to do insulin. But since following those guidelines, I found out my diet might not have been too unhealthy, but I was eating a bunch of carbs and didn't know it! Now I'm thinking the diet alone will probably be good enough.

As it is, I've only gained 13 pounds this pregnancy (3 pounds below the minimum of what I should've gained by now--5 below the normal), and not any this week. My concern is that this diet is going to mean even less weight gain and possibly losing weight. Neither of those things would be good. But obviously not keeping my sugar under control would be worse. The nurse that showed me how to use the machine said basically as long as I keep things under control, Alex should be fine. They'll still monitor his blood sugar for the first 24 hours after he's born to make sure it doesn't bottom out since he'll still be producing extra insulin but won't be getting the extra sugar anymore. But if I don't do a good job controlling it, he could be big which could increase his chance of respiratory problems. Obviously it's pretty important to stick with this!

So that's our week in review. Tune in next week to hear about Jackson's first dental appointment! =)

Oh, I forgot to put these pictures up on last week's blog. Probably because I was too exhausted to think about it. So here they are (better late than never!)

Jackson's backpack from Daddy:


Jackson "helping" Mommy pack boxes: