sleepless.

every night, now, it seems i get up around 4 am & stay up for an hour or two. sleeping gets just too painful. my hips, belly, & everything else just hurts too much to continue lying down, and i'm just not tired. so i get up, surf online a bit, & then get back to work on a teaching project. i have yet to have found a scale book i like for my students, with the fingerings i want, and i'm tired of wasting lesson time marking in fingerings & writing things out. so my big pre-delivery project is creating my own, using the "sibelius" software. it had a bit of a learning curve to it in terms of figuring out how to adapt it to my needs, but i think i have everything ironed out now, after some long searches on chat rooms. it's a rather large project... something like close to 66 pages i need to create, and each page can take up to an hour. it includes one octave & 3 octave scales, arpeggios, 3rds, 6ths, & octaves in each key, major & minor. lots to keep me busy before junior arrives. my hands & arms are already sore from this weekend's typing. fun times. and i didn't help things by peeling & slicing this summer's harvest of apples from our apple tree. they were too wormy & small to prep using the apple peeler/corer/slicer, so i had to do it all by hand. so far it's made 3 fillings worth of apple crisp. i froze the fillings in freezer bags, but molded into 8x8" glass pans, so all i have to do is take them out of the bag & dump on some crisp topping & then bake. ready-made dessert for after baby mothra is here. of course i'd much prefer to eat them now, but that's illegal with my diet, so i'll have to wait. j was super busy this weekend, mainly occupied with trying to fix some problems created by an electrician, installing the infant car seat bases in our cars, assembling a cradle loaned to us by friends, & other random chores. he got a lot done, though, and got to play at beacon rock all sunday. i hope i can sleep soon. my teaching schedule, although lighter than last year, is still enough that i feel i barely have the energy for it, especially with my sleeping. i'm lucky to be able to sleep in in the morning if i DO have really bad insomnia, but it still makes me feel groggy for the rest of the day. the little monster has been really active lately. lots of hiccups, and lots of squirming around.

moby-vinny wrap

we just got a moby wrap in the mail. it's the type of baby-wearing carrier we'll use when baby mothra is first born. here's a picture of my very very first attempt to follow the directions of wrapping it into form, and vinny is trying it out. it held him pretty securely, but i obviously did an AWFUL job of wrapping it, and need to practice a lot to improve my technique (and time!) before junior arrives. and having a big baby belly makes it that much more awkward. it's a really really long piece of fabric, and i really wanted to get one in a burnt orange color, but i figured this sand color would show less cat hair & spit up & whatever else. it'll be handy for shopping outings, but clearly i'll need to wrap it all up around me before leaving the house, as getting that thing on in the car or outside in the rain would be really frustrating. don't worry - baby mothra will be slipped in on-site AFTER riding in the car in the car seat. we also have a mei-tai for when the monster gets a bit older, which has three different changeable panels.

sunriver wedding

here's a pic of me in the sunriver hot tub. of course, i never got in farther than just standing up, for junior's safety. my maternity bathing suit no longer covers my huge belly. :(
i'm afraid to go swimming in public now. i don't know if it's appropriate to bare one's belly...

sunriver wedding

last weekend we drove down to central oregon for the weekend. we stopped in bend to see b, c, & j, and had lunch with them. my j had lots of fun playing with little j... he's going to be a great father! c & b gave us lots of baby clothes & a bassinet, so we're all set for junior to arrive. after lunch, we drove to sunriver. we were sharing a house with two other families, all there to celebrate our friend c's wedding. there was a bbq on friday, and the wedding was on sat. here are some pics... little j on the run with his stroller, a poor injured deer we saw on a walk (one of three - they're all over the place in sunriver!), little baby k on the run, some pics of the married couple, my handsome hubby, us, and our friend k.

g.d. update

i haven't been blogging much, because i haven't really been doing much. just teaching, trying to organize the new school teaching schedule (have included half hour breastfeeding breaks for after baby mothra arrives), & get the baby stuff in order. weekends have mainly been filled with chores or movie watching. i had a midwife appt last thursday, and she gave me the go-ahead to just check the blood sugar once a day, at varying times. she also said i could be a little more lenient with the diet. i'm measuring normally, so the little monster isn't getting too big. a friend tipped me off this week about a diabetic bakery in town, and i immediately checked it out. they had huge napoleons that had 4 carbs, and cream puffs that had 11 carbs, so i picked up a few to try. so far they haven't affected the blood sugar levels, so i guess they're ok to eat. they're really good, although a little cream heavy, and will help get me through the end of the pregnancy. 5-7 weeks to go. he's due oct 18, but i bet he'll come on nov 1, just to make me as uncomfortable as possible...

italia

here are my parents, before their trip to italy. they just returned on tuesday from a rick steves tour to venice, florence, and rome. it was their first time to italy, and they had a fantastic time! their puppy, pepper, was really happy to see them when we picked her up.

g.d.

this is my glucometer. the test strips are in the container on the bottom, and they go in the thing with the screen on the top. the thing in the middle is what pokes my finger, and on the left side are replacement pokes. it's fun.

burgerville

this is how i eat hamburgers from burgerville - with fork & knive, as the buns (& ketchup) are illegal on my diet.

...

so i saw a dietician today, ordered by the midwives, for the gestational diabetes thing. she gave me a machine for reading blood sugar levels. i have to prick myself 4 times a day - when i first get up in the morning, after breakfast, lunch, & dinner. if the readings are fairly normal after a week, i'll only have to draw it once a day after that. and i have to eat a low carb diet. i'm allowed 3 servings of fruit a day (as snacks), and have to limit breakfast to 30g carbs, & lunch & dinner to 45 g carbs. basically the atkins diet. and i thought dieting was bad when pregnant.
i can't sleep right now, and am starving, but i can't eat anything because it will throw off the readings for the first blood draw - i'm supposed to have fasted for 8 hours. and i don't want to have to do this 4 times a day thing for more than a week. still super mad about it. not happy one bit.

:(

i have gestational diabetes.

i am not happy.

glucose.

i had the test this morning. got there around 7:30am, after fasting for 10 hours. had blood drawn, drank the yucky stuff, then had my blood drawn 3 more times, in hour increments. my left arm didn't fare too well, and it was bruised to begin with, from the first glucose test on monday. :( right arm isn't as bad...

glucose.

boy, oh boy, do i love being pregnant.

because i'm pregnant, i get to fast for the next 10 hours, then have my blood drawn, down 100 grams of straight glucose in under 5 min on the lovely empty stomach, hopefully not vomit (or else it will all have to be repeated at a later date), and then have my blood drawn 1 hour later, then another hour later, and then ANOTHER hour later. blood drawn 4 freaking times. and i'm not allowed to walk around. i have to just SIT there. fun oh fun.

and the possible outcome of all of this?

no f$%!ing vices left.

no sugar.

and to imagine, after their wives go through multiple pregnancies... some guys still have the gall to complain about vasectomies...

paulina lake '08

last weekend, we drove down to paulina lake in the newberry national volcanic monument for some camping. some friends of ours were supposed to come to (along with some friends of theirs), but one ended up getting sick. at the time we left, they were going to try to show up on saturday, but they weren't sure. as it turned out, they never ended up coming, because our sick friend had a fever & ended up in urgent care on saturday, resulting in antibiotics. they were going to bring wood, so we had to buy some extra wood when we got to the campsite to supplement the small amount of piano wood we had left to burn. one of the pieces we purchased wasn't quite split small enough, so here are a couple amusing videos of j deciding how to split it in two pieces.
unfortunately, i forgot any & all reading material, and j forgot to bring the slack line, so there was lots of time for idle amusement. this forgetfulness resulted in our making a list of things (which is now on our computer) to bring camping, to hopefully avoid this situation in the future!

paulina lake '08

this is dinner #1. i was concerned about many things before going on this trip, but one main concern was being able to eat well for baby mothra. i think we succeeded. we still had mozzarella & heirloom tomatoes left from the caprese salad we took to a bbq on wed, so i brought along a mini-baguette with which to finish off the last bits. it was missing a spot of olive oil & balsamic vinegar & basil, but was still pretty gourmet camping eating. we also had chicken skewers & red peppers. lots of veggies & protein for the baby!

paulina lake '08

this is a self portrait of my belly, which is housing baby mothra for the next 11 weeks. i took it to show how far my thermal smartwool shirt fits over the belly. the top shirt (white) actually did fit all the way, as it was a maternity t-shirt, but i pulled it up to show the shortcomings of the long underwear, and just how rotund i am! scary!
i discovered the 2nd night that it works much better putting the white shirt on first, and then the black thermal one. didn't ride up nearly as much that way.
our trip to paulina lake last year was a much colder one, because i wasn't the proud owner of such high quality thermals, nor did i own at that time my puffy down jacket. i came prepared this time, and it made a huge difference in comfort!

paulina lake '08

this was the absolute last of the piano wood - left from the destruction of the broken piano in our basement - and we burned every last bit of it. a symbol of the end of our lives without kids, perhaps...

paulina lake '08

night #1. marshmallows roasted over an open fire, j as meisterroaster.

canadian p, aren't you proud of us & our canadian booties you got us? see? we're using them! they're perfect for camping at paulina lake.

that's where the fun ended. night #1 was hell. at first my air mattress wasn't full enough, so i had to wake j up to do the honors. i tried sleeping, but soon got sore, because a pillow between the legs did not fit in a mummy bag. i was up at least every two hours, having to use the latrine & simply because the pain in my hips got too bad. and it was freezing out when i had to get up. i was so thankful to have my (down) puffy jacket, and thankful i had gotten a large enough size to barely fit over my belly. i finally got up around 5am & went for a walk. when i came back, j was up & starting a fire, worried about where i was. we ate breaky, & then i tried sleeping again. j smartly suggested i try putting his folded up sweatshirt between my knees to make the sleeping more comfy. it wasn't quite as nice as a pillow, but was good enough, allowing me to get a decent 3-ish more hours of sleep. i woke up in a MUCH better mood. earlier in the morning, i was ready to make him drive me home. i was a trooper, though, & toughed it out, & things got better. i think i earned some wifey points with this trip...

paulina lake '08

wow! i just discovered that vertical pictures will now post vertically here on blogspot! yay! anyway, on saturday afternoon (after my nap), we made the hike around the lake to the hot springs. it was actually pretty warm outside, and the springs were hotter than normal, so i could barely put my feet in. it was still worth the hike, though. really slow goin'... at 6000+ feet, i got out of breath pretty easily in my prego state. poor j had to keep stopping to wait for me. i was just doing my best...

paulina lake '08

here's dinner #2, in all its beauty - rib eye steaks & roasted red peppers. we also had carrot sticks, sungold tomatoes, & cherries left from the previous day. of course, we roasted marshmallows over the fire for dessert. it was our last night camping as a family of two. sad, but exciting at the same time.

paulina lake '08

sunday morning, true to form, i woke up again around 5am, but this time, i had slept straight through! i stayed in bed for about an hour, trying to sleep more, but finally decided to get up & go for a walk. the lake was misty & beautiful, and lots of fish were jumping. by the time i got back, j was up & starting a fire. we ate breaky, & then went back to sleep for a couple hours, before packing up camp & leaving. i'll never go camping again in the 3rd trimester of being pregnant, but i am glad i went. paulina lake is always beautiful, and the air at 6000+ feet is always clean & clear. despite obnoxious neighbor campers, we still had a great time.