Gestational Diabetes

Well...here we go...one problem that I did not include in my "Third Trimester" letter.

Gestational Diabetes. With a family History, my age and the fact that Janessa was almost 9 lbs., they were afraid that this was going to happen...and it did.

I am trying not to freak out because I know that this is a common issue that is completely treatable, but any time anything does not go exactly as it should in a pregnancy, it is a scary thing, right?

So, yesterday, I got the call from my OB/GYN that I needed to go and see the Diabetes Specialist. They got me in right away and I went yesterday afternoon. There, I learned how to test my own blood sugar which I need to do 4 times a day.

I also learned that they think I will need some form of oral medication during this pregnancy to control it because my fasting numbers are what is high (there is a lot more to that, but I will leave it at that).

Basically, it means that the Placenta for the baby is not doing what it should and is producing too much of a hormone that is blocking my body from producing the normal amounts of insulin needed.

This could cause the baby to grow larger than "normal". It could also mean that baby's blood sugar will drop after he is born and require some extra care and monitoring.

They gave me a strict low-carb diet to live on for the next few months (which isn't that hard since Tom and I have already switched to a lot of whole foods in our house)...for me it really means no morning "soda" (I don't really do coffee). It also means eating 3 meals a day (not always good at that) and 3 small snacks a day. Hopefully this will keep my blood sugars in control and there won't be further problems.

Tom is doing it with me. I mean...really, it is the healthy way to eat. I think the biggest difference is just paying attention to what and when I am putting food in my mouth and making sure that I count the carbs at each meal so I am not overwhelming my body.

Hopefully, this will do everything it is supposed to do and I will not have further issues with it.

I just find a little humorous that this was NOT one of the things I was even worried about.

oh well.

God's Timing

Over the years I have learned (usually the hard way) about how my timing and God's timing don't always line up....I have also always learned that His is better! God never ceases to amaze me with how perfect His timing really is.

On Tuesday, I went for my 28 week check up and also had to do my 1 hour glucose test. For those of you who might not know, it is a routine blood test done on pregnant women to test for Gestational Diabetes.

While I was sitting in the lab waiting for them to do my blood draw (they make you drink this disgusting drink and then draw blood exactly one hour later), a woman came in and sat next to me in the waiting room. Normally, I keep to myself in these situations and just play a game on my phone or read a magazine or something, but she started talking to me.

She asked if I was having my first. Of course I laughed and had to say, "No, this is my fourth". Well, she immediately opened up to me. She shared with me that was very early on in her pregnancy (6 weeks ish) and that she was having a lot of pain so they were doing tests to find out why. They had told her that she may be having an ectopic pregnancy (meaning the baby was growing in the Fallopian tube rather than the Uterus.

I tried to calm her down a little. With it being her first pregnancy, I just said stuff like, "Everyone has a different normal", "I know other that have had a lot of pain and even bleeding and everything was fine", "all of my pregnancies have been so different", and to try not to worry too much before they confirm anything...then you will know if you even have anything to worry about.

At that point I got called back and by the time I was done, she was gone.

I was so mad at myself. Why, oh why didn't I offer to pray for her....with her?

Why wasn't that the first thing that came to my mind. Why did I have to think of it after it was too late?!?!

Well...I did pray for my nameless friend. I prayed for her a LOT through the course of Tuesday and Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon, my doctors office called to tell me that my glucose test came back too high and I would need to go back for a more accurate 3 hour test.

REALLY...come on! I had to do this with Libby too and everything was normal.

This was NOT one of the things that I worried about in my "Third Trimester Letter"!

Oh well...

So I scheduled my appointment for the following morning (I'd rather know sooner than later if I should be doing things differently).

and there I sat at 8:30 Thursday morning, to be in the lab for 3 hours! Had to drink the nasty drink again...this time on an empty stomach...so gross!

At 10:30....she walked in. The random girl I had been fervently praying for. She immediately came over to me (after checking in) and told me she needed more blood work and that the ultrasound had been fine. Baby was in fact, in the right place, with a heartbeat!

I almost cried for her and I was able to share with her that I had been praying for her ever since we had met on Tuesday.

She was so thankful and we had a great conversation.

I may never see her again. I may never know where her heart lies spiritually, but I know that God gave me that second chance to see her for a reason. I still don't have the results of my test (probably Monday) but I don't even care anymore. I will deal with whatever I have to deal with to keep this baby healthy and strong but I got to share God's love with someone.

so...why are we so scared at times to talk to people? To pray with people? To bring up the Lord in a situation where we don't know the other person's heart.

Does it even matter? Isn't it the most important thing we can do?

What on Earth are we so afriad of when we know that God has complete control over every situation?

I urge you to be bold for the Lord, Share His love. You may never know who God has reached through you!

Spring Cleaning

At the risk of completely embarrassing myself, I am going to post pictures of what has gone on in my house this week!

Between vacation, having bronchitis, being pregnant, having 3 small children, trying to reorganize kids clothes and trying to prepare some space for the new baby to join us...our upstairs got a bit crazy!

I am not exaggerating. My bedroom became the catch all for laundry and anything else that needed sorting and the girls room...well...it was mayhem.

I have a huge list of things that I have been trying to work on slowly but it often seems like I can never complete one thing without starting another and so on and so forth.

Well, Monday morning I ended up having some meetings that I needed to go to that were completely stressing me out (really for no reason in hindsight). Tom surprised me and checked a few things off of my list...and somehow accomplished these things with all three girls in tow.

I don't have before pictures (because he does not think like a blogger) but the girls room was a complete disaster! Clothes everywhere...clean and dirty. Keira and Libby's beds were separated and Janessa's crib was on the other side of the room.

Tom re-bunked the beds while I was gone...made the girls pick up all of their clothes and got all toys out of their room! I cannot explain how happy I was when I came home. I vacuumed, dusted and scrubbed things down and together, we made this happen!

 This will be the girls side of the room. Janessa will be getting a new white crib that will eventually convert to a toddler bed and the dark brown crib will be for baby boy. Although we switched both other girls to a bed by the time they were 18 months with no issues, Janessa is a different breed. Also, when they switched, there were not bunk beds with a ladder in the room and also, when Libby went to a bed, Keira could not yet open the bedroom door so I did not have to worry about them getting out.

Oh well...so we'll have 2 cribs...not the end of the world if it keeps everyone safe!

Here is the side of the room that I still have to deal with..baby boys side. YIKES!

And the closets...EEEK!

Then came our bedroom...believe it or not, I didn't take the before pictures before I actually started doing stuff because I didn't think of it...so yeah...it was worse than this!

 But now it is so clean! (Though I definitlly need to fix the now crooked wall hangings and center them over the bed again!)

and rearranged....and dusted...and vaccummed...and most important...ready to bring in the pack n' play for baby boy to stay with us until he sleeps the same(ish) hours as the girlies!

It is completely embarrassing how much dust was around the floor on the carpets...especially under the furniture. I am thinking that my allergies are going to see a drastic improvement since dust is one of my big ones!

Vacuuming upstairs in our house is I think the hardest chore to accomplish with kids. The best time I have to get stuff done is when Janessa is napping....which kind of rules out vacuuming the upstairs.

So...if any of you have any bright ideas on how to make that easier...let me know! haha

Quality Time

Lately I have been realizing how hard it is to really spend quality time with each of our children...and we are a growing family so I imagine that only gets harder.

Since we have decided to home school (more on that later), I think I will get time with each of my children by default when I am teaching them, but what do we do with that time when our kids aren't in school yet or during the summer...and I don't want the only time I spend one-on-one with them to be during "teacher-student" time.

I often will take one of the girls with me when I go to the store and sometimes will stop with them for a treat just to get them by themselves. I notice during this time that they are different. They talk about different things and act differently when they are by themselves. It helps me know who they are as a person and not just as a sister.

So Tuesday night at dinner, Keira had one of her bright ideas (she has many of them and most of them are unrealistic). She said, "I think tomorrow would be a great day for daddy to take me fishing". (which they have never done.)

Tom and I looked at each other. I think we were both ready to deny her request but were both thinking, "why not?"

So, we slowly said something like, "That does sound fun" and discussed the actual option a little later when little ears weren't listening. We decided that he would take both Keira and Libby and since it was going to be a nice day, they would go first thing in the morning.

I don't think either girl is going to be an avid fisherman like their daddy and grandpa but I know that Tom enjoyed the time with them (when they weren't screaming about the worms)...and they enjoyed the time with daddy...though at this point, neither of them has a desire to go fishing again soon! haha.

They were deathly afraid of the worms. Keira was the only one who caught something...it was Libby. Libby didn't seem to notice the hook in her arm but cried incessantly that a worm touched her. 

Mommy would have been much happier if I had approved outfits ahead of time...mostly because Keira wore (and completely muddied) her new Stride Rite Sneakers! Ugh!

But I got the privelege of spending time with this little booger. Janessa is a handful right now with her climbing everything, chewing everything, thinking she is older than she is phase. But she is also the most cuddly, sweet, kissable 1 year old on Earth. 

We went for a long walk and I pushed her on the swings near our house for a while before heading home to clean the girls room! 

All in all, it was a fabulous time to spend with our girls. I highly recommend doing something impromptu with your kids on a regular basis! Make sure you know who they are and what is important to them outside of your home, away from the rest of the family.

It'll be totally worth your time!

Walmart Deals

Last night, Tom decided that he would take the big girls fishing today...so we needed one more fishing pole and some worms.

So....that prompted a trip to Walmart for me. Now, the way that I coupon is that I save what I can at the store that I AM ALREADY GOING TO! I do not make a thousand trips to different stores each week (unless there is a deal too good to be true!).

Since I was headed out to Walmart, I took note of some things that we were in need of...toilet paper, men's shaving cream...and checked out the blogs that tell me the Walmart deals of the week.

Here is what I got:

Here is what I paid:

That's Right, Subtotal before coupons: $67.63, Subtotal after coupons: $1.41!

So...Here's how I did it. It took me 30 minutes to gather what I needed and make my list.

I checked a couple of my favorite blogs for their Walmart Deals:

The Coupon Wizards
The Krazy Coupon Lady

(1) Charmin Basic Toilet Paper (12 Double Rolls)--$5.97
Used (1) $.25 Coupon (P&G Insert from 6/2 Sunday Paper)
Total=$5.72 (Not a great deal, but we needed TP!)

(10) Folgers Classic Roast Packets Instant Coffee Crystals, 7 ct.--$1.00
Used (10) Printable coupons for $1.50/1
Final Price: I made $.50 on each of these giving me $5.00 surplus to go towards my other products!
(We don't drink a lot of coffee around here and when we do its with the Keurig so these are going directly to the local food shelf!)

(4) Kit-Kat Mini's packs--$1.24 (these should have been a $1.00 but I didn't notice at the register...rats!)

Used (4) $1.00 Walmart Printable Coupons

Total=$.24 each (They should have been free!)

(4) Enfamil baby formula cans--$4.98 (might as well stock up...if nursing doesn't work again, I will need them and if it does, I will use them for baby sitters or give them away!)

Used (4) $5.00/1 Enfamil Printable Coupons

Total= made $.02 on each!

(4) Vlassic Relish--$.98

Used (4) $1.00/1 Printable Coupons

Total= made $.02 on each!

(8) L'OREAL paris Advanced Haircare Shampoo's and conditioners (trial size)--$.97

Used (8) $1/1 L'Oreal Advanced Haircare, shampoo or conditioner SS Insert (exp 07/13/2013) 

Total= made $.03 on each!

(6) Colgate Toothpastes, 4.6 oz.--$.94

Used (6) $1/1 Colgate Toothpaste, 4 oz+ SS Insert (exp 06/15/2013) 

Total= made $.06 on each!

(4) Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Packets.--$.88

Used (2) $1.00/1 Printable Coupons

Used (2) $1.00/1 Printable Coupons

Total= made $.12 on each!

(2) Gillette Fusion Shaving Cream.--$2.97

Used (1) B1G1 Gillette Shave Prep, WYB Shave Prep or Skin Care, P&G Insert (exp 06/30/2013) AND

Used (1) $2/1 Gillette Fusion ProSeries Skin Care, shave prep P&G Insert (exp 06/30/2013) 

Total= Paid $.97 total for both (I wasn't sure if I could use both coupons but didn't have a problem)

Basically, I practically got the things that I NEEDED for free and I got a bunch of other stuff! How can you pass up these deals! 

I know that I end up with an unusual amount of coupons from the Sunday Paper which makes it a little it easier to get good deals, but many of these coupons are FREE and Printable!

If you are interested in getting the Sunday Coupons at a savings and live on the East Side of Rochester, feel free to contact me for more info!

Third Trimester

Dear Third Trimester,

  Well, here we are again....it's only been a little over a year since I was here before. 28 weeks pregnant. I think we have a few things that need to be resolved about our past before we can have a good relationship. 

First of all, I would really appreciate it if you would allow me to not fall down (or up) any stair cases and land on my belly. 

Second, fainting for no reason is never fun so I am hoping you will keep that from happening at random this time around.

Third, I would really love it if my feet and ankles never had to look like this again.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Fourth (and I understand that this is a long list but we've had a lot of disagreements), I would VERY GREATLY appreciate you keeping my blood pressure under control. Like all of my other pregnancies, so far we have been at a steady 110/70 at all appointments. Let's keep it that way.

Fifth, please don't allow the horrid bone pain that I had with Janessa. it really made labor/delivery much rougher than in the past and I don't care to repeat that.

Sixth, so far my iron levels have been good and in the normal range. Let's keep it that way.

Seventh, and my final request. I have never experienced end of pregnancy in the summer and while I am excited to be able to get outside more than in the past, I am a bit nervous about being huge and chasing a 1 year old around. I would love to at least be semi-comfortable. I am really hoping you are kind on my horrible allergies during this season!

Oh third trimester, I am excited to meet my son in 12 short weeks so please don't ruin it for me. Allow for these next couple of months to be quality time with the hubby and the girls before a new little person comes in.

If we can come to terms on these things I think our relationship will grow by leaps and bounds for any future meetings that we may have.

Here's hoping you can agree to all of this!

Love,
  Chrissy

Libby's dance class

Can you tell that I am playing Blog Catch up?

On Tuesday, we got to go and watch Libby's Dance class because it was the last class in the session.

Last year, she hid under my chair and never danced.

This year, she did much better! One of her MOPS friends, Brinley has been in her class and her friend, Hannah, from church joined her class this week because she was going to miss her class so Libby was extra excited to have her buddies to dance with.

Keira was excited that she got to sit with Hannah's big brother, Gavin and watch their little sisters together.

I think that dance class at the local Rec center is the perfect level for Libby right now. She loves it....and it doesn't cost a fortune!

Kids singing at CBS

Psalm 98:4 

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

The girls and I attend Community Bible Study (CBS) every Wednesday morning throughout the school year. We LOVE it! It keeps me accountable to studying God's word throughout each week (at least MOST of the time...because admittedly, there are certainly weeks I fail at it). Also, the children's program is AMAZING! I cannot speak highly enough of it. It is basically Christian pre-school. They are learning God's word, how Jesus loves them, they have gym time and music time and always come home with a great craft. I am ecstatic that they have a home school program so that I can continue to attend even though the kids will be with me.

A few weeks back (April 24th, I believe), the kids sang (they sing twice a year during our lecture time). This year was especially fun, embarrassing and the like as Libby decided to make her debut at the microphone. As mortiphying as it was as a mom, it was also one of the most hysterical moments we've had with her yet. 

In the video, Keira is the one in green (following the rules) in the middle of the clan. Libby is off to the far side of the stage...but if you watch, you won't miss her!

One of my favorite things is that Keira didn't seem to notice her sister taking over the show. Keira is a rule follower who (for other people) tries to do exactly what she is supposed to do. But after, she said to me, "Mom...did you see Libby at the microphone!" and she was cracking up at her! Love it!

If you have the opportunity to join a CBS group, I highly recommend it. They are an international organization and include all denominations.Basically, the rules for the bible study are that your answers should be based on scripture. It is not a place to talk about your home church or what traditions or beliefs your church has or follows. It is a really awesome place to get to know other people who want to know God better.  Check here for a group near you.