Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving

On Thursday it was Thanksgiving and I was invited over to my friend Brittny's house to spend the day. It was nice to get out and meet some new people rather than sit at home by myself for the day. We had a great meal. Brittny's husband made turkey which was really yummy!! There was also stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce. It is a little different to what I'm used to coming from Australia, but it was good just the same! I was a good girl and left before dessert too, so my sugar levels were ok for the day.
I've had a quiet weekend. I'm slowly working through getting the house ready and just taking things easy. I've been getting very tired these days and I make sure I take the time to have a nap when I'm feeling like that. Maybe it's my body allowing me to get all the sleep I can before the baby arrives!! Today she has started to dig into my ribs which at times has been quite painful, so I guess she is running out of room! I'm beginning to feel uncomfortable for long periods of time, so I guess next Monday can't come soon enough for me.
John is doing fine and still at sea. He has been calling me almost daily on the satellite phone which has been really reassuring for me. Now that she's so close to arriving it's starting to get tough knowing that he's not here. I can't wait for him to come home!! I have had the time to adjust to the idea of the inducement and in a way I'm looking a little forward to it. It will allow John to spend all the time he can with her before he has to go back. I will definitely admit that I'm very nervous, if not scared of labor, but the uncomfortable feeling I have now is getting a little old!
This week I have nothing planned apart from appointments. I really want to go see Australia, so I'm going to find the time for that!! On Tuesday I have my tour of the labor wards and that area, so I don't go in there totally not knowing what's going on. Wednesday is my fetal assessment appointment where they check on the baby's movement and see if I'm contracting or anything like that. Then on Thursday it's my regular appointment with my usual doctor so as you can imagine I'll have a million questions for him! I still feel fine driving and all that, but my plan is not to go too far from home in this last week. I think it will all be about taking things easy this week. If anything changes I'll update you all on the blog!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Baby Update!


Me at 37 weeks and 4 days...getting ready to see the New Kids on the Block!!

So Yesterday was my regular doctors appointment and I had to go see a doctor I've never seen before as my regular doctor was out for the Thanksgiving holiday. It all started out with my getting really frustrated because I was kept waiting for over an hour! I finally got into the exam room and it's just like every other appointment I go to. He looked at my sugar levels, listened to the baby and measured my tummy. As we are talking he asks me where I come from. When I tell him I'm from Darwin he tells me that his daughter was on the USS Mercy and his wife met her in Darwin. At the end of the appointment he tells me to come into his office to look at some photos. I go in there and look at the photos of their time in Darwin, then the doctor drops my bomb shell. He asks me when is my induction date? I tell him that I don't have one and he says that I need one because with my diabetes they don't normally allow mothers to go full term. He looks up his little date thing and tells me December 5. I tell him that John won't be home until the 8th and his reply is, "Well he'll come home to a new baby." As you can imagine I'm starting to freak out a little because the last thing I want to do is go through child birth on my own!! I tell him that I really want my husband there, so he relents a little and tells me that I'll be induced on the 8th of December!! Poor John will arrive about 10:30 in the morning and we need to be at the hospital by 3:30 in the afternoon. I've told him that he needs to get all the sleep he can on the plane! So there is my news; I'll be induced December 8th. Our baby will be here either that day or the next!
I'm still kind of processing it all. Of course I need to verify with my regular doctor if this is what's going to happen, so I'll let you all know for sure next week. I knew that she was coming, but to have an actual date was a little over whelming! With time to sleep on it and John knowing about it I'm beginning to feel better about it. For me, just knowing that John will be there is what is keeping me together. It will also be nice for John and I to have that time together with the baby before the family gets here.
So last night the baby got to go to her first concert! I survived going to see the New Kids on the Block and it was fantastic!! I got to relieve my youth a little along with all those other middle age women! The baby didn't mind the music, but all that screaming she did not like! She gave me a bit of a hard time after a while, because as you can imagine all those women didn't stop screaming at all! Anyway they sang all my favorite songs and I had the best time!!! I can safely say that I'm still a huge New Kid fan!!


The girls I went with (they dressed up 80s style) Krista, Chrissy and Marisa



Me and Cassie!


The New Kids!



Singing the Right Stuff!!




Singing I'll be loving you forever!!!

Monday, November 24, 2008

My Last Week of Work!

I made it! Friday was my last day of week and I am very relieved to be done with it. After the stomach bug I started to get a head cold so I think in the end it was probably the best time to leave. I think I need to be away from all those germs you can find in a child care center for the remainder of my pregnancy. I can't believe she's almost here!!
My final week went quickly. I got to go home early for some days which was great. On Thursday the girls had a surprise pot luck for me so that was nice. Friday, my last day was a long day. All the babies were a little demanding for my final day, so I was glad to call it a day in the end. Saying goodbye to my friends was fine. I told myself and them that I would be seeing them soon, so it wasn't like it was a final goodbye. I'm actually going to be seeing some of them tomorrow, so I haven't even gone a week without seeing them!
So now that I'm not working I'm taking things easy. I'm getting the house organised slowly, and making sure I get plenty of sleep! I believe the baby's room is ready. I'm sure there is something I've forgotten, but I guess I'll find out when I need it! We are having some really nice weather at the moment which is also making me feel a lot more comfortable. I'm hoping that it remains like that for the remainder of my pregnancy.
This week is still a busy week for me even though I'm no longer working. I have three doctors appointments; my regular appointment, my visit to the fetal assessment unit and an ultra sound. I have one appointment tomorrow and the other two are on Wednesday. Everything is still going great. My sugar levels are doing well and the baby is still moving about, especially when I want to sleep!
Also this week I have the New Kids on the Block concert and Thanksgiving. Tomorrow is the concert and I'm really looking forward to seeing them. The doctor gave me the ok, so hopefully the baby will enjoy herself. For Thanksgiving I am going to a friends house for dinner. My friend Brittny has invited me over, so it will be nice to have some company. I'm bringing over some pumpkin pie, which I'm still not used to eating. I've tried it, but coming from Australia I still think of pumpkin as a vegetable! Give me some roasted pumpkin any day!!!
John is doing good and will be here in two weeks. I'm counting down the days till I get to see him! At the moment he's away again which is making me extremely nervous. He's assured me that he'll be back in Bahrain in time to catch his flight, but I don't think I'll be entirely confident until he's on the plane! I just hope that this is a really quick trip!
So to all the American side of my family and friends who read this I hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day! Enjoy your turkey, family and friends!!

Monday, November 17, 2008

My Worse Night Ever!!!

This weekend I got really sick! I either had food poisoning or the stomach bug that was going around work, but whatever it was I was as sick as I have been in a very long time. It all started around 11pm as I was about to go to bed. My stomach didn't feel right and the diarrhoea began (sorry to gross you out). I was up and down all night. Then at around 2am I threw up. Thank goodness that only happened once. The unfortunate part was that I didn't make it to the bathroom in time so I made quite a mess. It took about an hour to clean it all up. It was horrible!! I'm just glad I didn't get any on the carpet. Once I had everything cleaned up, including myself I was able to get some sleep. Yesterday I basically spent the day sleeping and trying to recover. I haven't eaten much, but I'm making sure I drink plenty of water to keep myself hydrated. According to my pregnancy book none of this affects the baby, but I need to make sure I stay hydrated which is what I've been doing. The baby has been moving around quite normally so I don't think any of this has really affected her!
So as you can imagine my weekend didn't really amount to much! I was aiming to knock out a lot of my Christmas shopping in an effort to be organised before the baby gets here. I managed to get a lot done on Saturday before getting sick so I am on the road to having it all done! This week is my last week of work and I'm looking forward to finishing up so I can take the time to relax a little. Saying goodbye to the kids and my friends will probably be tough, but I'm looking forward to not having to get up at 5am every morning! I'm wanting to get the house organised before the baby gets here so it won't be all rest and relaxation.
This week I did get to meet up with my cousin which was really nice. The last time I ever saw him was when he was a baby, so as you can imagine it's been a long time!! He was at the end of his world trip which had taken him to places like Paris, Amsterdam and Las Vegas to name a few. We had dinner and caught up on life, and it was really nice to meet up with him after all these years. After San Diego he went back up to LA then on to San Francisco and now I think he's on his way back to Sydney.

My cousin Danial and I.

John is doing well and has finally made it back to Bahrain. I found out yesterday that he is going out again, I believe at the end of the week which had me in a little bit of a panic. I began to stress out that he wouldn't be able to come home, but he reassures me that this trip won't be long and he'll still be home on the 8th. This deployment has been tough. With him coming and going all the time it gets hard to stay positive. I miss him a lot and I'm really looking forward to spending these three weeks with him.
So that's all the news I have for this week. I'm going to go now and have an early night so that I continue to recover from this stomach bug...hopefully I'll have better news for next week!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Jennifer's Baby Shower


Me at 35 weeks




Jennifer and I as our bellies grow!



Jennifer with part of my gift...I got the same doll for our little girl too!

Today was Jennifer's baby shower and it was a lot of fun. Like I've already said she is about three weeks behind me so our babies will be friends!! My friend Brittny drove up there because Jen lives probably about 30 minutes away from where we live. Today has been a bit of a crazy day weather wise. It's cold (which I'm enjoying) and it rained when we were driving there and back! Anyway it was a good time catching up with my friends. We ate, played some games and looked at all the gifts Jennifer got. I even managed to win a game!! It was the diaper game where they placed a bit of chocolate all smashed up into a diaper and you have to guess what kind of chocolate it was. I was surprised that I got most of them right, especially when I haven't been able to eat chocolate in months!! It got this cute little candle set which I think I might set up on my scrap booking table.
Everything is going well with me and the baby. My doctors visit was good and he is very happy with my sugar levels. I'm now onto my weekly appointments so my next one is tomorrow. I also have another appointment tomorrow with the fetal assessment unit. (I think that's what it's called) I think they are just going to listen to the baby for 30 minutes or so to see how she's going. I also have another ultrasound booked for my 38th week, so hopefully I'll get one last picture of her before she comes.
Work is fine, although I'm getting really tired these days. Luckily for me I have been getting sent home early most days which I'm really grateful for. My boss has also given me tomorrow and Tuesday off too so I'm looking forward to that little break. I now have only 8 working days left. I'm going to miss my friends, but with my back and hip hurting as much as they do I'm looking forward to finishing!!
John is doing fine and I think is on his way back to Bahrain. I got an email on Friday telling me that it was the last one from that address that I was going to get, so now I'm just waiting to hear from him again. It is now basically four more weeks until he comes home for the birth so I'm really looking forward to seeing him. Fingers crossed the baby can wait until he gets here!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Halloween


Our bear and Yoda waiting for the parade!

Friday was Halloween and it was a lot of fun at work! The kids, especially the older ones come in so excited in their costumes. They love going on the parade through the center collecting candy from the other rooms. After the parade the older kids then have a party for lunch, so it is a really big day for them.


Our little lamb got a little tired while watching the parade!

Us teachers also had a little party for lunch. We had a pot luck lunch which was really yummy!! I had a little of everything which didn't affect my blood sugar. It's all about moderation. I made a lasagna which I thought tasted great. I haven't done a lot of cooking lately with my diabetes and only having myself to cook for, so it was great to get back into the kitchen. I am really looking forward to being able to cook a little more once this baby is out and I don't have to worry about my sugar levels anymore! I've become very reliant on microwave meals and I don't really like it! I guess I only have a matter of weeks to go!!



Some of the two year olds!


One of our two cowboys!



Me and my fellow Charger fan!!
Halloween at home was a little disappointing. I had a lot of people coming around who didn't even bother dressing up. I still handed out the candy though because being on my own I didn't want any trouble. I did have a few cute kids come to the door. One little boy was Captain Jack Sparrow who looked really cute! A lot of the other kids were a little bit older and dressed up like monster and other scary things. By about 8pm I locked up the house and was in bed.
I haven't done much this weekend. I went out to Target yesterday and got everything that was still on my gift registry. It was expensive, but I think I now have everything the baby will need! I'm in the process of getting the room ready to go so everything should be in order before her arrival. It's had to believe how much stuff something so little needs!!
We also had our time change this weekend, so today I got an extra hour of sleep which was nice. This whole weekend I have actually slept a lot more than I have in a while. I've been going to bed early and I've had some afternoon naps both today and yesterday, so I'm feeling very rested. I have only three more weeks of work left and I'm pretty excited about that too. I'm finding that the last week or two I'm tiring a lot earlier than what I used too! On Wednesday I also have a day off as my doctors appointment landed in the middle of the day. This weeks appointment marks the beginning of my weekly ones.
John is doing fine and is still at sea. He was able to call me this weekend on the satellite phone which was really good. I still have no idea when he will get back to Bahrain, but I'm guessing that it has to be soon! All I know is that he needs to be back in time to come home!