Glucose Test Is Normal!

Woohoo!!! So all is well there. The doc said I needed to take an iron supplement in addition to my prenatal, but other than that we're good to go.

Hurray!

Customer Service Fail

Today I had to go do the glucose test for this pregnancy. Just the short one, but I'm worried that my numbers will be just high enough like last time to make the doctor order the long test. I really don't think I can stand that again. I felt TERRIBLE afterwards, had to cancel my lessons and come home and sit still on the couch for the afternoon. That's really not going to be an option this time around, so I'm really hoping that it won't be necessary.

And the test was frustrating enough. I drank the foulness, and I got myself to the lab 15 minutes early, just like the directions say to do. I had made an appointment just to make sure I would be seen on time, though the lab will take walk-ins. When I get there, there is another lady waiting, but from the sign-in sheet, she has not made an appointment. Then the phlebotomist says that his computer is down, and he doesn't think he can do anything without the orders, etc. I was ready to scream because I just want the stupid thing done, I need to get back home so Mitch can leave for work, and I don't want to drink that nasty stuff again because it's awful. So then he says he can draw blood for me, but he won't be able to put it right in the system. Like I care about a delay in data entry? But then he takes the other woman in first! She does not have a time element to her test nor did she make an appointment. Argh. So I wait. And I wait. And I wait. At 8:00, an hour and fifteen minutes after I've finished drinking that stupid gak, he finally finishes with her and calls me back. It takes all of 3 minutes to draw blood. Why exactly couldn't I have gone first and been out of there? That was the whole point of making an appointment!!! So then I have to fight rush hour traffic to get back home so Mitch can leave, and, all the while, I have got to go to the bathroom so badly I think I'm going to burst and Peter is doing gymnastics inside of me, and I'm hungry.

It was not a great start to the week.

Well, really it started even before all that because Lydia was up from 2:20- 3:30 last night, and I ended up sleeping on the couch after getting her settled back in. And I got up at 5:30 to make sure that I could get in and out of the shower so Mitch could get in and out and one of us would be available when Lydia woke up. So I only got 5 hours of sleep last night, and it wasn't continuous. That may have added to my crankiness...

Rambunctious Baby!

When I was pregnant with Lydia, I felt like she was constantly running around inside of me. But her little brother is putting her to shame... which makes me a little worried and a little hopeful at the same time.

I'm worried because I don't think I can handle it if neither of them sleeps well. I'm hopeful that perhaps they'll wear each other out enough that they'll both sleep well.

We'll have to wait and see...

Glucose test on Monday-YUCK! Last time I had to go back and do the long test, and it was not fun. I'm really tempted, if the numbers are a little high again, to just go on the diabetes diet and skip the test altogether because I don't want to feel terrible like that again AND have to take care of Lydia. Ugh.

Will the Sleep Issues Ever End?

I'm starting to wonder. Here's the history of Lydia's sleep since last spring:

At the end of May, Lydia finally started sleeping through the night (at seven months old). With only occasional hiccups due to traveling, she slept soundly from night till morning.

Until the end of August. Then she started waking in the night again, most likely due to her molars starting to work their way down. We were back to a lot of night waking/early waking until January with a few good nights.

With the new year, Lydia started sleeping through the night again... for a while. Now we're back to waking early or waking in the middle of the night for almost two hours at a time.

Many suggested moving her to one nap. That never happened because with the night waking she's too tired to make it through till afternoon. And, on days when she does only get one nap, it's no guarantee that she sleeps through the night.

So I thought I'd just keep her with two for now since she seemed to be more relaxed through the day that way, making her less worn out and likely to wake from being overtired. No guarantee either. She can take two naps and still wake up in the middle of the night or at 5 in the morning.

Then there are the days when, for whatever reason and usually not one of my choosing, she doesn't get any nap. These are few and far between because they're awful. Not a guarantee that she'll sleep all night.

And there's not really a pattern to the middle of the night or early morning waking. It doesn't happen at the same time each night/morning or I'm sure I could find many suggestions on how to help her.

And it doesn't seem to matter how long/short the naps are during the day. She had a day where she slept 5 hours during the day and slept all night. She's had a day where she slept one hour and slept all night. She's also had the reverse.

I'm praying that Peter is a better sleeper because otherwise I don't know what I'm going to do.

Difficulties

It's hard to figure out what is best to do for your kid and your family as a whole.

Here's my current struggle: a coworker of Mitch's and his wife host a games night every month. We used to go a good bit, but I haven't been in several months now. It starts at 7:00, and Lydia goes to bed at 8:00.

But I'm feeling guilty because Mitch would like to go, and I think he'd like for all of us to go, but it means a late night for Lydia which translates to an early morning because she's overly tired, which means naps that want to be longer than usual, which means bedtime and overnight sleep run the risk of being off for another day.

In addition, I don't really get to play games at games night. I watch Lydia. And try to make conversation with the other women. I don't really have a lot in common with the other women. We manage to talk for a while and then there's a pause. And we talk for a while and then a pause. It's kind of exhausting for my introverted self. And in the meantime now I try to make sure Lydia is playing well with the other kids, and, more importantly, that the older kid isn't using her for a punching bag or refusing to let her play with anything (which has happened the last two times we were around them).

So, a lot of me doesn't want to go. But, at the same time, now that I don't go to Bible Study (again, because of Lydia's bedtime and sleep issues) I have lost a lot of social interaction.

Add to this that I seem to have a really bad case of winter blahs, and I'm such a good time to be around. No wonder Mitch wants to get me out of the house.

Let It Snow!

I've been waiting for snow. I'm one of those weird folks who likes it. Mitch calls it the "white death," so you know how he feels. Lydia is still amazed by it, and I think that makes me like it even more right now.

Of course, snow has a lot of drawbacks. The biggest one is that folks in Cincinnati don't know how to drive in it at all. It's terrible! I've had this discussion with other people from northern reaches who move down here and they are in agreement: Cincinnati drivers and snow do not mix.

Every year someone who has lived his or her whole life in Cincinnati will tell me that it NEVER snows like this, but I have to point out that with all the global warming happening in recent years (yes, I am being VERY sarcastic) and the current cold trend from the planet heating up, well, it's snowed like this every year I've lived here.

It's like they forget they live in Ohio...

Anyway, I like the snow, though I pray a lot for Mitch to get home safely from work when the "white death" descends... and the Cincinnati drivers with their rear-wheel drive vehicles hit the unplowed, unsalted highway ramps...

Happy (Belated) New Year!

I'm a little behind in New Year's greetings... but I'm very glad to ring in 2010! It feels weird to say "2010." As our good friend Dan put it, "Where's my flying car?" That was the sort of thing all the movies told us we'd have at this point. Ah, well. It might just push GM even further over the edge.

Now that the holidays are over, I feel like I can start looking ahead to some things that I had put on the back burner... like getting ready for Peter! That sounds terrible, but it's not really as if there's too much to do since we're not making any major changes in our life other than his birth. I mean, we're not moving to another house, we're not moving away from Cincinnati, Mitch won't be changing jobs, I won't be suddenly going back to work, etc. There will definitely be an adjustment to being a family of four, but a lot will stay consistent. That actually takes a load off my mind.

Another thing that makes me rest easier is that Lydia spent the night with Granny and Pap for New Year's Eve so that Mitch and I could have some fun with friends, and she slept all night! She didn't even fuss going to bed. Hurray for Granny and Pap! And she was so excited to be at their house when we took her that she was jumping around the kitchen. So now I don't have to worry that she'll completely fall apart away from home without me while Peter is being born and we're recovering in the hospital. When we talked to Mitch's mom the next day and she told us Lydia had slept so well, I could actually feel muscles unwind from my back and neck. I felt like I could take a deeper breath! To be honest, I hadn't realized how much it was worrying me, but the relief was instantaneous! Even more, I'm glad that Granny and Pap got to have so much fun with her. She is awfully cute in the mornings! She has so much to tell Pooh Bear and Pink Bunny after a night of sleep!

Another new, though not life-changing, thing for 2010 is that I got a new diaper bag. I realized that with another baby on the way and Lydia's incredible capacity for emptying the diaper bag in seconds, that I wanted one that is a backpack style with lots of zippers (which she hasn't figured out yet!). It arrived and it's wonderful! I liked my old one, and there was nothing wrong with it except my changing needs... and Lydia's changing abilities...

And we've ordered a toy box for the living room. The toy clutter was beginning to overwhelm me. Plus, Lydia is getting big enough now that I would like her to start helping put her toys away... you know, before she's two and doesn't want to do anything I ask her. I'm trying to have it be slightly ingrained before too much defiance sets in. I'll let you know how that works.

We're also looking for a storage ottoman. Some lovely friends gave us one that they weren't using, but it turned out to be about 8 inches taller than our couch! So they found another home for it with many chuckles. We went out yesterday to three stores, but had no luck. The only ones we found were obviously intended for college dorm rooms, which isn't really the look for which I'm going. Hot pink would probably clash with my red couch. The purpose of the storage ottoman is to provide a place for my handiwork projects so that our kids don't impale themselves with knitting needles, strangle themselves with yarn, pull all my work out, and so that the couch can stop being overrun with my little project bags and patterns. Again, the clutter has been threatening to consume me.

I guess that's the biggest thing for 2010: I need to de-clutter. I need the basement to be cleaned out, I need the baby clothes to be sorted according to size and season, I need for items that I haven't used in a year or more to be gone from our house, and I need to work on reorganizing my days with Lydia to better accommodate her changing needs. I'm thinking I may need to get some help from Granny and Nana in the babysitting department... I'm sure they'll hate it...

I hope everyone is well in this New Year and I'm praying for our country and our world that we would all remember the God who loves each of us and has made us in God's image.

Happy New Year!