Scholastic Reader!

I put the movie Cars into the DVD player this morning to buy me some quick shower time before running a few errands.  I was interrupted once, which is always expected, for a quick, "just making sure you're still there, mommy" check, then Katie headed back out into the family room.  After I got dressed and brushed my hair, I went into the family room to do my "just making sure you're still there, Katie" check.  It was so quiet.  I looked on the couch, floor, around the chair...  where was she?  I took a few steps further into the room only to see that she was sitting on the floor, in front of her little train table, looking in the opposite direction from the TV, reading a book... very intently!  I walked into the kitchen to make my presence known, but she wasn't even phased by it, she just kept on reading.  

LOVE IT!

Preschool

Yesterday had its ups and downs.  

Downs:

I experimented at breakfast with one cup of Raisin Bran Crunch cereal and paid for it all day. My blood sugar soared and I just couldn't get control of it for most of the day.  Finally, by dinner time, I was feeling much better.  The lightheadedness and woozy sensations subsided.  I decided after that I would stick to plain and boring so as not to aggravate mother nature.

Ups:

Garner United Methodist Church called at 8:30 am to tell me that they had a cancellation for their preschool and they were instituting the waiting list.  If Katie was still interested, there was now room for her.  This was such great news!  Even though I was feeling woozy, Katie and I took a trip over there to check the place out.  Katie really liked it and the people seemed quite nice.  

Classes follow the Wake County Public Schools calendar, so she will begin on September 3rd. There is an Open House on Tuesday, August 26. The class is Monday and Wednesday from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm.  There will be eight kids in her class with one teacher and one assistant. Since it's a 2 year old class, they don't have to be potty trained, but they do encourage the process with little tiny toilets/stalls!  Kids have to pack a lunch, but the school provides a snack.  

The preschool has been around for 20 years, but unfortunately the 2 year old class is new.  They normally hadn't started kids until they turned three.  I'm a little nervous that she'll be a guinea pig, but I think it'll be OK.  The cost is so reasonable, and if I hate it, I give 30 days notice and she can stop going.  No harm done.

This comes at a great time for us because I have to start going to the doctor every week now so they can make sure the baby isn't growing too big...  gestational diabetes.  I was worried about having to take Katie with me for every appointment, but now I'll just schedule these appointments while she's in school.  While she's in school...  holy crap!

Jimmy asked if it broke my heart to see her in that classroom, but I was so excited that it didn't even dawn on me that I'd be dropping off my baby, entrusting her to strangers.  I'm sure when I leave her that first day I might freak out.  But, if she looks happy, I'm sure I'll get over it.   Maybe I'll even celebrate with a pedicure!  

The Pretender

5:45 Saturday morning.  The soft pat of toddler feet on hardwood floors.  

"Shhhh.  Mommy seeping.  'Amon, guys."

Our weary heads raise to see wild brown curls of hair peeking over the side of the bed.

"Ooh, darkinere.  'Kup, guys, 'kup."

A closer look reveals our daughter, in her (thankfully) still baggy N.C. State pajamas, with all her prized possessions and bed-mates clutched to her chest: Baby (her stuffed giraffe blanket with the rattle head), Suzy (her anatomically correct wetting doll in body-length night shirt, sans diaper or pants), Mickey Mouse (pronounced Meeeckey Mouse-the way I imagine a Russian child may pronounce it), and her pillow.

In the half hour preceding this intrusion, I have been briefly awakened by my poor, fatigued pregnant wife's snoring.  The last week has seen Karla required to prick her finger four times a day to check blood sugar.  This will last until our new addition arrives.  She has had to deprive herself of her favorite foods, the one thing about pregnancy that seems to make the pain and discomfort worth it-at least you can pig out on milk and ice cream and french fries, right? Guess not...

I have seen my case load at work balloon due to a summer crime spree and a shortage in staffing Superior Court prosecutors.  The mere thought of walking into the office makes my posture slump and my eyes sink just a little further into my face... One can only care so much about each case, and at times like these, it seems unreasonable to have to deal with bad people, their victims and everyone else's problems and still have to cope with the unexpected wake up calls, spilled drinks and boo-boos life throws at you.  

On top of all this, Karla and I have sat mesmerized, awake like fools at 11:30 each night, watching Michael Phelps make history, unable to tear ourselves away and give our bodies and brains (and that developing little one in Karla's belly) some much needed rest.

"'Kup, Mommy.  'Kup, Daa-ey.  'Amon, guys.  Follow me, follow me. 'S go."

Karla clears her throat and shifts in bed, startled awake.  I groan.  We perform the unspoken standoff of who will get up with this child and attempt to get her back to bed.  I selfishly pray that Karla will do it.  The alarm goes off at 6 AM each weekday, summoning me to deal with felons and the aftermath of their evil deeds, I silently think.  Please, dear God, let me sleep in to 7:45 this morning.

On the other side of the bed, I know Karla is hoping the man who leaves her with this creature all day, every day, will step up to the challenge and give her an hour off to rest her bones.  

This time, we don't have to resort to 'paper-rock-scissors' or a back and forth whining session.  Karla swiftly gets up, and after a book and a quick lecture on big girls not getting out of bed until the sun comes up, we are able to procure another 2 hours of silence.  

Then, like clockwork at 7:45: pat pat pat pat.  

"'Amon, guys.  Sun shine.  'Kup, follow me, follow me."

Sigh.  Groan.  Guess it's time to get up.  This time, I take the lead (but I make sure Katie knows I'm not pleased).  In the end, it doesn't matter that I take charge, because it's time for Karla to prick her finger and eat her allotment of one egg, one piece of wheat toast and small coffee with Splenda.

The ranks of the dependent are growing-the numbers will be even, but we will be completely outnumbered come October.  Relief is on the way at work-we will have potentially 4 new prosecutors to share the load within a few months.  So hopefully my caseload will dip somewhat by Christmas.  Hopefully.

Still, I am resigning myself to life without sleep.  Wake up, shuffle to the car, slurp coffee for the 30 minute drive, walk 10 minutes to the office rain or shine, 30 minutes home, cook dinner, bath time, story time, TV time, asleep by 10 PM, maybe.  Meanwhile, poor Karla, dealing with the incessant needs of a newborn and the incessant need for attention of a nearly 3 year old.  All day, every day.

Sigh.  Sometimes all you can do is get up and do it again...

"If you're there

Say a prayer

For the Pretender

He started out so young and strong

Only to surrender"

The Pretender

Jackson Browne

Carb Counting

I had my meeting with a nutrition counselor on Tuesday.  I learned how to count carbs and test my blood with the OneTouch Ultra 2 meter.  After testing on that first day, Tuesday, it seemed I was not eating enough!  This is crazy.  I think I'm under eating for fear of over eating, which isn't healthy either.  

Basically, I just count carbs, or at least that is about all the nutrition counselor told me to do.  I am allowed a certain number of servings of carbs per meal and snack.  One carbohydrate serving is 15g.  So, for example, at breakfast I'm allowed to have 2-3 servings of carbs, which is equal to 30g-45g of carbs.  For lunch and dinner, I am allowed 3-4 servings of carbs.  A snack is only 1-2 servings, so 15-30g of carbs.  I eat three meals a day and three snacks a day.

I have to check my blood 4 times a day, once when I wake up, then two hours after breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  The first reading of the day should be between 60-95.  The others should be under 120.  So far, my average readings since Tuesday have fallen in the 70's.

I feel like I'm in school again having to study my new materials, then take a test every few hours.  

__________________________________________________________________________

I also had a doctor's appointment this morning.  I assume things look good for now (hard to tell because the new doctor was a little strange and didn't say much), but I'll have to start going weekly to make sure I'm not growing a freak of nature inside me.  By this, I just mean they're going to have to make sure the baby is not getting too big.  I will also need a few more ultrasounds for the same reason.  That part is kind of cool.  I'll be able to get a good look at baby #2's face :)  Hope she's pretty!

Yuck!

I barfed today.  I sure hope I don't barf tomorrow!

Happy Anniversary!

Do you remember when we first met

I sure do

It was some time in early September

You were lazy about it

You made me wait around

I was so crazy about you

I didn't mind

So I was late for class

I locked my bike to yours

It wasn't hard to find

You painted flowers on

Guess that I was afraid

That if you rode away

You might not roll back

My direction real soon

Well I was crazy about you then 

And now the craziest thing of all 

Over 10 YEARS have gone by

And you're still mine!

We're locked in time

Let's rewind

Do you remember

When we first moved in together

The piano took up the living room

You'd play me boogie woogie

I played you love songs

You'd say we're playing house

Now you still say we are

We build our get away

Up in a tree we found

We felt so far away

Though we were still in town

I remember watching

That old tree burn down

I took a picture that

I don't like to look at

Well all these times

They come and go

Alone don't seem so long

Over 10 YEARS have gone by

We can't rewind

We're locked in time

But you're still mine!

Do you remember?

-Jack Johnson

In Between Dreams

2005

Gestational Diabetes

I called the doctor's office yesterday and finally heard my results from the glucose screen.  I do indeed have gestational diabetes.  After talking to Kristine, I've learned that my diet will drastically change and I'll have to check my blood about four times a day and urine once a day. It's kinda of scary to think about how the little brain power I have left will be spent studying food labels for sugars and carbohydrates.  You gotta do what you gotta do, right?  Kristine did it with Casey, so I'm sure I can handle this now.

Perhaps the hospital will call today to set up an appointment to discuss my new diet and daily testing routine...  I can't believe my doctor's office mixed up my paperwork.  This is frustrating enough, but the fact that I loaded up on sugars this weekend because I thought, "Hmm, no phone call, they must not be in a rush to tell me anything important" makes me mad at myself and at them.  I was told that Rex (Hospital) is quick to contact people, so let's just hope that I don't have to wait another week to get more info.

Sigh!

Update

The big girl bed is awesome!  Katie is doing so well, I can hardly believe it.  We still haven't purchased bed rails, but on the advice of Mama Judy, we just put the back of a chair next to the bed and it seems to work great.

This whole transition has caused a whirlwind of emotions, yet again, for Mama K.  We used to look at Katie in the crib and think, "My goodness, she is getting so big."  Now looking at her in the big girl bed all I can say is, "Sweet Jesus, she is so small!"  I check on her while she sleeps now more than I did while she was in the crib, mainly because she is so adorable passed out in her bed.  In the crib, she refused to let us put a blanket over her.  But, now that she's in her big girl bed, it's like she's loved blankets her whole life.  

I'm happy that I will have the chance to relive all of this again with a new baby, but I'm still sad that these milestones are coming and going so quickly for Katie.  

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I was watching Tori and Dean last night.  I'm even more embarrassed that I was crying through half of it.  It was the episode where she had her second baby.  She said something that actually made me stop and think about this new arrival, something I haven't really allowed myself to do.  She was sad that it wasn't going to be just her and Liam (first born) anymore. She told him how she was going to share her love with the new baby girl, but that there was certainly enough love to go around for the both of them.  I've thought about this, but not necessarily long and hard.  Katie won't be an only child anymore!  I'm going to have to love two equally!  "Have" is probably the wrong word since I'm sure the love just flows naturally :)

My friend Katie mentioned how she felt guilty in the hospital, right after she had her second, for giving all this attention to a new baby and not the first born.  That is something I never considered.  The nurse told her it was very common to have those feelings.  I imagine so!  It will be so strange to split my time between two girls.  I'm crying just thinking about it.

I'm pregnant, I cry a lot!

Anyway, time is ticking away and baby girl #2 will be here before we know it.  I just hope we can get our act together so we're ready for her when she shows up early, because c'mon you know she's gonna show up early!

Also, maybe my doctor's office will finally call me back today to tell me if I have Gestational Diabetes...  I mean, I took the test last Thursday.  Results should have surfaced by now, right?

Time Flies!

We apologize for not writing in ages, but things have gotten so hectic around here in the last few months.  I guess it's mostly been because of family and friend visits, spontaneous travel plans, and getting ready for baby girl #2, which includes getting baby girl #1 potty trained and into a big girl bed.  The potty training isn't going very well, but the big girl bed went rather smoothly this afternoon, until...   ... she fell out of the bed and woke up :)  Don't worry, Katie was perfectly fine, just stunned a bit.  We plan on getting a bed rail, of course, but were unsuccessful during our morning search at Target and Kmart.