It's a BOY...

Nicholas Eldon
November 28, 2006
7:58 am
7 lbs 11 oz
19 1/2 in

We found out that the hospital does have a wireless network, so I decided not to make you guys wait any longer. Bob, Nicholas and I will be in here until Friday or Saturday. We are doing great. Sophia seems to really like her new role as Big Sister. I will give you guys the details after we get home.

I hope all is well!!

For those of you keeping track...

...the new baby arrives tomorrow.

Look for an update in a few days!

Hope you are all well!!!

A little Christmas cheer...

I was blog tagged by Claire over at Cooking is medicine. This was a fun survey to do and made me think about the upcoming Christmas holiday. By the way, check the bottom to see if you have been tagged by me. I would love to see your responses on your blog.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Our presents are always wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? We used to have all white lights on our Christmas Tree, but after Sophia arrived we switched to color for her benefit. It looks pretty nice, though.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No. My Grandparents used to hang it between the living room and dining room when I was a kid.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the first weekend of December, but this year, it may have to wait until the second week, since this coming weekend will be the first with our new baby.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? In my family we usually had a Thanksgiving type dinner. I always make brunch for Christmas morning now. I loved Egg Nog French Toast.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I loved going to my Mother’s parent’s house. I grew up in PA and they lived in MD. It was always fun to see my cousins that lived in MD. One year I swear we watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer something like 20 times.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I can not remember. I am sure it was because I saw something that my parents had bought that I later got under the tree. I would think I was probably like 8 or 9.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We always open one gift on Christmas Eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Our Christmas Tree has a very “Old World European” feel to it. I think at least 70% of our tree is glass ornaments. Each year I try to pick up something new that is very unusual or of a color that I don’t currently have on the tree. I love the way the lights look on the glass. We also have Victorian tin tinsel on the tree. My husband hates to put tinsel on the tree.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love to look at it, hate to drive in it. This is mostly because people don’t know how to drive in the snow.

12. Can you ice skate? No, but I’ll bet you would have fun watching me, if I tried. I have never been very graceful.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? This is a hard one. Each year Bob manages to get me something that is really surprising. I love things that are sentimental, like a charm for a bracelet or a little girl necklace pendant that Bob bought me when Sophia was born.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family and going to mass. Before Sophia arrived, I loved going to midnight mass, the music and feeling made everything seem so magical. Now that we have Sophia and soon to have another, we go when we can, it is just to hard to take little ones to a late mass.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Christmas cookies, especially these deep-fried Polish cookies (Chrusciki) that we make every year. They are covered in powdered sugar and go great with a cup of tea.

16. What tops your tree? Needle point angel.

17. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Giving, especially to kids. We buy a bunch of stuff for Toys for Tots every year.

18. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I love “Oh, Holy Night” and “Carol of the Bells.”

19. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?? Yum.

20. What do you serve for Christmas dinner? We usually hang out at home, so we keep things simple. We usually have shrimp salad, rolls, potato salad, pasta salad, chips and cookies. We do this so that everything can be done ahead of time and when somebody wants to eat they can just grab something. It makes it easier to sit back and enjoy time with your family.

Okay, so here are the people that I tag...

Ray of Pulses, Verses and Other Flotsam
Rev. Brandy of Bemused Musings from Baltimore
Christy of Wishy Washy Wonderland
Ryan of Smile Like You Mean It
Kat of Kat's Random Thoughts
Mimi of Mind of Mimi

Now get to work!

5 days to go...

So right now I really feel as though I have been eating all day. This is not a good thing for a Diabetic, but damn it, there was some great food today. My mother in law made the turkey, saurkraut, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, bread and pumpkin pie and I made dressing, sweet potatoes with a pecan crust, green bean casserole, broccoli, a pear gingersnap crisp and a toasted coconut chocolate chunk pecan pie. I would have been fine if I would have left the pecan pie alone, but I just could not help myself. It was so yummy. Thanks to my overindulgence the baby probably gained a pound today.

On the baby front, things are going well. Our non-stress test this week went well. I saw my OB doctor yesterday and we went over all the things that I need to know for the delivery next Tuesday. I am not really scared for me at all. I figure if I could survive being in labor for two days with Sophia, followed by a c-section, I can get through anything. That being said, there is always a bit of aprehension when you go to have a major surgery, anything can go wrong. It is funny what you think about in the few moments before you are administered any kind of anethesia. I don't think I will really be worried until Tuesday morning. I have never been good with any kind of needles, so getting an IV is always a challenge. Hopefully, things will just go smoothly, with giving myself insulin injections four times a day, I should be used to that sort of thing by now.

I do worry a bit for the baby. There are some complications that can arrise from both Gestational Diabetes and a c-section. About 25% of babies born by c-section can have some kind of breathing issues. Sophia had this problem and had to spend about 24 hours in the special care nursery. Once all of the fluid cleared from her lungs she was able to come back to the room with us. As far as the Diabetes goes, the baby could have jaundice, breathing issues or hypoglycemia (very low blood sugar). These things can be a bit scary, but I am prepared for them just in case. I am just hoping that we have no issues.

The house is still not quite ready for the new baby, but we have made progress. Poor Bob is working around the clock. He drives about 50-60 minutes each way to work, works eight hours, only to come home and do work at home and help with Sophia. It has not been easy for him. He is one of those people that needs some time to himself to regroup, but he has not had this in weeks. I sort of feel bad about this, but I do know that it is only temporary.

Sophia has been very bratty lately. I really think that this is because she knows she is about to get a sibling. I think she realizes that I can not keep up with her right now and fully takes advantage of that. Some days I am just so tired, I really just would love to crawl back into bed and sleep all day, but gone are the days of sleeping in. When I was pregnant with Sophia, my last day of work was September 5 and Sophia was not born until September 21, so this gave me about two weeks to relax and rest. I would love to have that now.

My friend (Sophia's Godmother) took me to brunch last weekend, because she knew that it would be awhile until I have a chance to get out on my own. We went to Gertrude's at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The food was wonderful. It would be a great place to take a date. After brunch we walked around the museum. It was nice not having to worry about chasing Sophia. It was just nice being away from home for an afternoon and great to have some adult conversation.

I feel really bad about not posting sooner. I tried to post the other day, but my whole post went missing. This is the second time in a row that this has happened to me. To be honest, I get so pissed off when this happens that I get stubborn and will not post. It seems that I have had these sort of problems since I switched to the Google Beta, I am hoping that the problems will decrease soon.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I did.

13 days and counting...

I had actually written a post the other day, but some how or another, it was lost, I was discusted and decided to wait to post.

Sunday a group of my friends, my mother-in-law and Sophia all threw a surprise baby shower for me. They took me out to my favorite Chinese restaurant and gave me lots of wonderful gifts. I was so embarressed when I got to the restaurant that I actually turned around and started to walk back out. I don't embarrass easily, but I am not surprised that often either. Bob's mom picked up a cake from my favorite bakery (very yummy with chocolate mousse between the layers of cake). I splurged and had a piece, and despite the high blood sugar it caused, it was so worth it. I don't realize it every day, but I am so lucky to have such a great group of friends.

Bob found out the sex of the baby Sunday morning, so at least we are moving closer to a baby's name. I will keep it a secret from you guys for now. It will give you something to wonder about. For those of my readers who do know the sex, please keep it a secret for now. I will be in the hospital for four days, so don't look for a post until after 12/1 or 12/2, unless the hospital has wireless, which I don't think that it does, but I would love if it did.

I am getting pretty excited. I did finally start to pack my bag today. I have so much to do around here, but am totally slacking right now. I do things, but at a very leisurely pace.

Monday I went for my second fetal non-stress test. The baby did not cooperate, so it took twice as long as normal. I was trying really hard to hear the baby's heartbeat, but the woman in the bed across from mine had her TV on so loud, I could barely hear. The nurse eventually went over and turned down the TV, so that we could hear. She was watching some trashy Maury Povich show. I hate those kind of shows, anyway. The test results were great, we just had to work for them.

I am still dealing with the diabetes thing day by day. Yesterday was a perfect day as far as blood sugar goes. So far today has been good, too! They have made some adjustments to my insulin and I have to contact the Diabetes educator every other day to give her my results. I have lost a few more pounds this week. I was holding steady at my last appointment, but I did not feel well on Monday and I think that might be when I lost weight. I was giving myself an injection at lunch today and noticed a nice size bruise on the left side of my stomach. I try to rotate the area where I inject, but with a huge stomach in your way, a new spot seems hard to reach. A few of my friends are totally grossed out that I have to inject in my sides so close to the baby, but I keep telling them that it is really not as close as you think.

I had a slight scare the other night. I had not been feeling the baby move for awhile, so I started to count kicks and after about an hour or so, I finally got a few movements out of the baby. He/she must have been very tired. It was scary and I think I scared poor Bob to death. This was on Monday night, but yesterday and today, the baby has been very active. Now Bob asks me all the time if I have been feeling the baby move. I guess this is the hard part of being an expectant father.

Well I have gone on long enough. I hope you are all well!!!

Misc...

We still have no definite baby names. With today being exactly 21 days until the new baby arrives, we need to get on the ball. Girls names are easier and we are pretty good there, but I feel bad if the baby is a boy, he will have no name!

I am still having Diabetes issues. Currently, I am taking four injections of insulin a day and checking my blood sugar five times a day. The injections are not as bad and the finger pricks for the blood checks. I could not imagine living this way the rest of my life. I went for my first non-stress test at the Family Birthplace at the hospital yesterday. According to my doctor, our results were perfect. This was great news! I have to go for the non-stress tests for the next two Mondays and see my doctor on Thursdays. He wants to see me twice a week now that we have moved on to insulin injections.

I am totally not ready for the baby. The room is not ready and I don't even have my bag packed. My friend says that I will start nesting anytime soon and I will be ready. As tired as I have been feeling lately, I doubt it. I ordered a new robe and as soon as it arrives, I will pack my bag.

I did vote, but not today, I did an absentee ballot. Apparently our little rural county had over 6,000 people request absentee ballots. I had a hard time deciding who to vote for as I think most politicians suck. It is a shame that I feel this way, but I am positive I am not alone in the sentiment. So I guess we will find out all of the results tomorrow, unless the absentees create some doubt.

I forgot to mention that I watched the Dukes of Hazzard movie the other night. While it was somewhat entertaining, I felt my IQ dropping by leaps and bounds. I am usually pretty choosy about movies, but it came on and I was too lazy to surf the HBO channels for something else.

That is about it for now.

I hope you are all well. Do me a favor, go and eat something sweet, I totally need a fix.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

I just wanted to share a photo of Sophia in her Halloween Costume.



She adores the shoes and plays with them every day now. She is a little girl who loves all things that sparkle.

What a week...

I am sitting here more tired than you can possibly imagine. On more than one occasion in the past week, I have fallen asleep in the chair where I now sit, to be woke up to the sound of, "Wake up Mommy" or "Why are you sleepy, Mommy." I wish that I wasn't, but it can not be helped. I would love to just have two days to do nothing, but sleep, but that is not going to happen any time soon.

I have been so busy since last week. I volunteered at preschool again last Thursday. The kids are all so sweet. It is funny to see how each of them have these adorable little quirks. One little girl is obsessed with the color pink. She is so obsessed that she will actually pocket something if it is pink and take it home with her. Another little boy loves vacuum cleaners. He will walk around playtime with a vacuum, even if he plays with other toys it stands guard right beside him.

Friday night we went to a friends birthday party and we did not get home until after 2:00. I had to be up by 7:30 the next day, so I was so tired. I am not used to being up late, especially right now. I am sure that it will be different in about six months. It was great to be around some other adults. I had a good time talking about things other than the children's TV programs that are currently playing or arguing with Sophia about what to eat for lunch. It was a much needed diversion and was worth it, even though I was so tired on Saturday.

Saturday night Sophia had a Halloween party to go to. She had so much fun. She loves a party. She danced, played games and of course ate food that was bad for her. She actually got sick twice during the night. I am sure that this was because she ate too much candy and other sweet stuff. She definitely loves to eat sweets.

Sunday we went to mass and then I had some special stuff that I had to do for the Christmas Bazaar at the Church. This consisted of going through what seemed like a mountain of junk and getting it ready for the White Elephant sale during the bazaar. Again, I was wiped out.

Monday was spent getting ready for Halloween. Bob's parents,a few friends and their kids and Sophia's Godparents stopped by to help us celebrate. Sophia had fun walking around with her friends and loved getting candy. I had made some yummy party type foods, but as usual, Sophia was not interested in them, she really wanted to eat junk. Once again, she threw up. This time it was all down the front of her very pretty made by Grammy Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz costume. It was pretty yucky. Thankfully, it was not very smelly.

On a pregnancy note, the Gestational Diabetes is still kicking my ass. As of tonight I have to start taking Insulin injections at bedtime. I had a class at the hospital today that went over how to do the injections. I am so nervous about it. I keep telling myself that I only have four weeks to go and that I will be able to handle it. I know one thing is for sure, I could never be a drug addict who uses needles.

My crazy mother called me at 7:00 this morning. Anybody who knows me knows that I am never up that early. If I would have known it was her, I would have let the call go to voice mail. Keep in mind that this is the first time that I have really spoke to my mother since April. She has known about me being pregnant since August, but has not said anything until now. She wanted to come for a visit, I told her that it would not work, because I had a class at the hospital today, but did not tell her why. I know it may sound horrible and selfish, but I really can't and won't deal with her right now. I just want to get through this pregnancy without any drama from her. She makes me so uncomfortable that I really don't want her to be around. I really just wish that I could explain to her why she bothers me. I have tried in the past, but it always falls on deaf ears. Her condition, much like an addicts, can only be helped if she can admit that she has problems and she is so trapped in her own little dream world that she just won't do that. The sad thing is that I really don't want to hurt her feelings.

Well, wish me luck, I have about an hour until I have to take the insulin. I will probably be freaking out!

I hope that you had a wonderful halloween. Take care!!