The new me

I think I can officially call myself Rachel Mulvihill today! I visited the Driver License office and the Social Security office and proved who I am. Thankfully I didn't have to go through the whole name change petition with the court, I figured out how to make my New Zealand marriage certificate work. My license is already changed, my social security card will come in the mail in about two weeks. Now it's time to call the banks, the insurance, the HR office, the hospital, the doctor, and everyone else! Should be fun. Can't decide if I should change all of my emails to raymulv...

Coasting

Busy day today. I had a doctor visit this morning and now a full day at work, with two library orientations to teach, then home late - hopefully Mike will have dinner figured out. He's getting used to my regimented meals - 2 starch, 2 veg, 1 fruit, 3 protein, 2 fat for dinner!

My doctor visit was interesting. I asked about natural childbirth in the hospital setting - whether it's really feasible or if they will have me hooked up to machines that make it hard for me to move around and labor productively. He was very reassuring that I would not be "tethered" to the bed unless there were complications. And he also counseled me not to have my heart set on anything so that I would not be disappointed if I ended up having an epidural or c-section or something else not in the master plan. That's my goal, to have preferences about how my birth should go, but not to be upset if it doesn't happen perfectly.

I have actually lost weight since my last doctor visit. It's nothing to be concerned about, I'm just doing well on my new diet and making up for the extra weight I gained in the beginning. I'm sure that cutting out the sodas and sweets made a huge difference. Baby is still growing, because I measured perfectly (33 cm at 33 weeks, according to their calculations) and my blood sugar is under control. Doc predicted I would not gain another pound during the pregnancy if I keep up the good work on my diet. He felt around and located baby's head - down where it should be :-) We'll see if he stays that way. Next week I have a nonstress test, where they listen to the baby's heart beat for 20 minutes to see how he's doing. But again, Doc said that everything should be just fine, the baby will be a normal size (they worry about giant babies with gestational diabetes) and he doesn't foresee any other complications.

In house news, we finished the guest room closet and we're filling it up fast! I emptied the nursery of all that stuff and got it all organized. And Mikey painted the nursery! We have the closet and some finishing touches left to work on in that room, then I can put the crib together and get all of the baby gear moved in.

Mom's coming to visit this weekend to do some shopping, registering, and playing. Her wrist is healing nicely and she can drive again. I will be thankful for the company while Mike is in California on his last hurrah before becoming a father. I wish I could go with him, but I'm way past traveling at this point. Less than two months left... we're into the home stretch!

Prep and Planning

Not much is new... it's strange that I don't have a doctor's appointment this week, but I have plenty of other things to keep me busy! My new diet has me eating about every 3 hours and that keeps me on my toes. I've been pretty good at keeping my blood sugar under control with the diet - besides that strawberry smoothie that I talked myself into last week!

Last night was my breastfeeding class. Mike skipped this one, so I was on my own with my little practice baby doll. The teacher was funny and I did learn a bit. My favorite part of the class was when she pulled her fake breast out of her pocket. It was like a stuffed animal boob, but just the boob. She would hold it up to her chest so she could demonstrate sqeezeing the breast, without actually whipping hers out! Tomorrow is our last baby class, the one where we probably change diapers and learn to swaddle and stuff. I think it will be very educational for us - with our limited baby experience.

I did a bit of nesting at home, going through all of the baby stuff we have acquired to date. I pulled all of the covers off of the toys and swings and will wash those. Then I sorted through all of the clothes so I can wash those too. Still up in the air on the diaper issue - I go back and forth about once a week deciding between cloth and disposable. Today I'm thinking cloth, but you never know. I guess I oughta decide soon.

It's a busy week at work, and we have a few people leaving for other jobs. It's a sad and happy time, and we're under a hiring freeze, so that means more work for those of us who are left. Of course I'll be gone for 3-6 months so I'm off the hook for a while.

Mom's wrist is healing and she's going to start driving again - she's thinking about visiting this weekend or next. Have you seen her blog? She wants help learning to update and add pictures. Mike will paint the nursery this weekend before he leaves on his trip to California, or he will be in big trouble! I have been steadily emptying the room so he can work in there. I will be so excited once that's done. Then we'll buy our carseat and we'll have the absolute necessities in place.

Meal Plans and Finger Sticks

I think I'm getting the hang of this. Not to turn into an old lady medical maladies blog, but I'm getting my blood sugar under control. I went to class yesterday afternoon, learned to test my blood, learned how to eat, and started a new meal plan. I'm surprised at how much they have me eating - and how much carbohydrates are included! I have officially cut out the pepsi and caffeine from my diet, and no headaches so far.

Today I met with the doctor again. Everything is right on track, I gained my one pound per week, my belly's measuring 30cm (actually a tiny bit SMALL for my almost 31 weeks - for all of you who think I'm huge), and I don't have to go back for two weeks.

Last week at our baby class, an anesthesiologist from the hospital came to talk to us about epidurals and other pain meds in labor. Of course he acted like all of us were going to have the epidural, why wouldn't we? That's how he makes his living, I kept reminding myself. We watched more birth videos and did more breathing. I got a Lamaze book from the library this week, so I can learn more of that relaxation and meditation stuff. Tomorrow is our last regular childbirth class and we get our tour of the labor and delivery unit at the hospital. I'm excited for that. Then our last two classes are on breastfeeding and baby care.

Today after the doctor, I pre-registered at the hospital - so they're expecting me in November! I also met last week with a group of pediatricians who I think we'll take little Junior to when he's born. I asked about circumcision since we're still deciding on that, and the doctor told me about 80% of boys get snipped nowadays. Wow, I was surprised it's still so high! OK, enough about baby boy parts, I'm off to relax on the couch. Mmmm, sounds nice...

GD! I've got the GD

Crap, it's official. I've got the gestational diabetes. Thank goodness I got to enjoy that lemon poppyseed blueberry buttercream dream of a cake at Bryan and Sarah's wedding. And I ate two pieces, I'll admit it.

I just got back from my Dr's appointment. I flunked all of the blood draws on my three-hour glucose test. Now I'll be hearing from the hospital soon, learning how to test my blood sugar, learning how to eat, and being a good girl from now on... but I will eat cake at my baby shower, gosh darnit!

In other news, I started the process to change my name this week. I've got all of the forms, got my fingerprints taken at the UCF Police station today, and now I have to pony up the big bucks and take some time off to head to the Sanford Courthouse one of these days. Just so our little family can all have the same name.

Well, I'm off to learn about the diabetes...

Wild Wedding Weekend

Whew, it's Labor Day and we're recovering from the long weekend. I'm busy doing laundry and grocery shopping and getting ready for the week.

Friday we had the pre-wedding shindig at our house, and Mike and our houseguests did a great job of cleaning up Saturday morning. The recycling doesn't go out until Friday and I think we'll be the talk of the neighborhood with all of those beer bottles. We had a "hangover hamburger" at Five Guys (ok, mine was just a pregnant-pig-out burger) and quickly got ready and got to the wedding by 4pm at Leu Gardens. It was so great to see so many old friends together again to celebrate Sarah & Bryan's wedding. Everyone met at the Red Fox Lounge for a few cocktails before the reception at the Winter Park Country Club. It was really a lovely reception with good, interesting food, amazing lemon poppyseed cake with blueberries, and awesome goody bags with all kinds of props and gag gifts to play with. What a great idea!

We spent the entire night back at the hotel getting chased from hotel room to lounge to pool area to room, etc. as the hotel management got complaints and the cops tried to hush us. I won't blame it all on Chris Campisi and his iPod, but I'm sure the rest of the hotel guests were tired of hearing "My Dick" by the end of the night.

Dyann and I had popular bellies, it was kinda fun to surprise the few people who hadn't heard about our pregnancies. Now I understand why people wear t-shirts and pins that say their due date. I don't mind repeating it, but I certainly get asked a lot - and more than a few times by the same people! I'm due November 11th, it's a boy, we're not sharing our choice of names, I feel great!!

Sunday we had lunch at Amigo's with Chuck, Emily, Henry, Aimee, and Pat, and everyone headed out of town. It was nice to have the house back to ourselves, I think we spent the rest of the day on the couch watching bad TV.

I'm so happy we have today off work to rest and feel human again. I'm finally starting to feel like my body's a little out of whack. I told Mike I think it's time I get out the big-honkin' pregnancy pillow that Emily gave me. My extra pillow just isn't giving my hips enough support and I'm sore in the mornings. My feet feel like they got beat up this weekend, probably from trying to wear cute shoes at the wedding. But other than that, everything's still good. I chatted a bit with Carin and new baby Henry at the wedding about their experiences - it's so nice to have friends who have been through all of this recently.

As soon as Mike gets home we'll take our 29 week belly pictures, and he borrowed some studio lights from Kevin so that next weekend we can take artsy-fartsy, semi-nudie pregnant pictures. Don't be upset if we don't share those online ;-)

We wondered all weekend who would be the next to get married so we can get all of these high-school and college buddies back together again. Chuck and Emily, I think you're it! The weekend's pics are online at flickr, the obscene and embarrassing ones are private.