Abby, Blood Sugar, Showers and Beer

So it has again been awhile.  I always want to wait until I have things to post about, but then I get so busy I don't have time, and then I have A TON to post about, like today!!

Fist off, one of my very good friends, Diana had her baby girl May 16.  I am SO excited!  We've been pregnant together pretty much our entire pregnancies, and it is very weird for her not to be pregnant anymore, means Jackson's arrival getting close!!  Abby is so freaking adorable, and seems to be an easy, quiet but alert baby.

So cute!!  And Abby being here just makes me even MORE excited about Jackson's arrival.  I can not wait, it still seems so far away though!

On a downer note, that week I also found out I have Gestational Diabetes.  In a nutshell, this means that the hormones from the placenta are keeping me from producing enough insulin to combat my blood sugar levels, which means I need to watch my sugar (carb) intake, and monitor with a glucose meter 4 times a day.  While this isn't the best news ever, I'm glad I seem to be able to control my sugars with my diet, so as long as I'm careful everything will be fine.  The bad stuff about GD is a larger birth weight, a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes for me later in life, and if I don't control my sugars, Jackson has a higher chance for Type 1 diabetes.  So all good reasons to be careful about this. 

Last weekend was my friend Kelly's bridal shower,  She is getting married July 28, so while I will most likely not be able to attend the wedding since I'll either have a newborn or ALMOST have a newborn by then, I have tried to stay as involved as I can with her planning process.  So that Friday I took the trip up to Fresno.  The drive was long and uncomfortable, Jackson's feet are now in my ribs and lungs, which makes sitting for long periods of time not so much fun.  But it was a really great weekend, it was good to see my friends!!

Yummy Cupcakes, none for me though!  But they were just too pretty!!

 There is the bride!

So this week was busy but really fairly boring,  We interviewed a pediatrician, didn't like him...have another interview this week, hopeful that will go well.  Lamaze Wednesday, we learned positions and breathing techniques.  I feel much better about the whole natural birthing process after that class (please, if you have nothing encouraging to say about natural child birth, don't say anything.  I realize it is rare in the United States, and I know there are pain relief methods.  I've done my homework and have made this choice.  Encouraging words only.) Thursday was my meeting with the diabetes coordinator and dietitian to figure out what my limits are, and my OB appointment.  I have a good grasp on nutrition and all that, so those meetings went really well.  OB is happy with everything.

This weekend was our "babymoon".  Kevin and I decided to head down to Escondido for a little getaway.  Kevin has become quite the beer snob, and there are several breweries down south, so we wanted to go visit them.  We left Friday afternoon and headed right to Lost Abby/Port Brewing company.  This was a teeny tiny little tasting room.  In a warehouse, the brewery is visible from the tasting area.  We really enjoyed this place, small and intimate.  We headed back there Sunday for Kevin to pick up a growler of Judgment Day, Lost Abby's Belgian Quad.

 First taster of the trip! (Tasters were only a buck here, amazing!!)

 On Tap

 The bar

 Their "tables" and "chairs" were old Bourbon casks, and empty kegs with sugar bags on top.

The brewing operation

We headed to Fish House Vera Cruz after that stop.  This is one of our favorite places, totally fresh fish and all around delicious food.  After dinner we went down to the Port Brewing bottle shop.  This place has a ton of hard to find beers and local goodies.  It was pretty crowded, but Kevin still found some stuff he liked.

We went to our hotel after that, it was a pretty nice place Kevin found on hotels.com, Motel Mediteran.  Big room, nice bathroom, overall a really good stay.  The bed wasn't the best, but we're hard to please when it comes to beds...

Saturday was Stone day.  I had a prenatal massage scheduled, and that was WONDERFUL.  They had pads so I could lay on my belly, and that felt amazing.  Anita, my therapist, was great.  Nothing painful, just a feel good, relaxing massage.  I went back to Stone, where I had dropped Kevin before my massage, and we hung out there for lunch and several hours more.  Kevin was well into his cups, enjoying everything they had to offer.  The whole property is just gorgeous there, a little haven in the middle of Escondido.

 Beer and Growler of Double Bastard

 The table decoration was a hop plant, so cool!

I just love the details on the Growlers.

Our view from our table, big park-like area.  Lots of kids running around, people just hanging out.

 2009 Double Bastard

 Strolling through the gardens

Buddha!!

And finally, nothing like the preggo carrying around a Growler-baby....

 

We went back to the hotel for a few hours after Stone, then headed out to a Five Guys we saw while driving around.  We hadn't eaten there before, and had heard the buzz, so decided to try it.  Verdict?  In-N-Out is better.  The fries didn't even compare.  And the burgers were just totally different.  The Five Guys deal is they have a TON of toppings and stuff for the burgers, so you can get all different combos.  Not like In-N-Out at all, but overall, if they were side by side, In-N-Out gets our business.  Went to the BevMo after that, Kevin got some more beers that we can't find up this way.

 

Sunday was our last day.  :(  We stopped by Lost Abby again and got Kevin's growler and a glass (we collect pint glasses from every brewery we visit) and then went to Pizza Port in Carlsbad.  This is owned by Port Brewing company, and is a pretty cool little place.  The pizza was amazing, and Kevin enjoyed his beers there too.  I didn't take any photos there because I suck.  Sorry.

 

Home we came after that.  Now we're enjoying the day off work (well Kevin is being a good husband and puttering around the house doing little jobs) and aren't ready to go back tomorrow! 

 

Shower, Hee, Hee, Whoooo and Tests

So I finally uploaded all the photos from the shower, and have time to blog about it. First off I'll get to all the other stuff that has been going on, and end with the shower. So these past few weeks have been busy with doctor stuff it feels like. Two weeks ago I was getting some cramping and decided to go get checked out. I wasn't particularly concerned, but ya know, better safe than sorry. So I called my doc, and she told me to go to L&D (which isn't a big deal, I work right there..) so I did. Turns out I was severely dehydrated and my pulse rate was way high. So 2 IV bags and 3 hours later, I was allowed to go home with strict instructions to drink water. So Ive been good, logging my water intake on an app, and am never without my water bottle (much to my bladder's chagrin). The cramping has been better, but I think some of it is Braxton Hicks or something cause it still comes and goes a little. Then I had to do my 1 hour Gestational Diabetes test. I got to drink some yummy (sarcasm) Glucose Drink, I chose Orange (50g sugar) this time.

So in two days I had an IV and two needle sticks. Fun. Found out a few days later I had failed my 1 hour test, and needed to do the three hour. So I did that this past Thursday. That involved another drink (Fruit Punch, 100g sugar) and FOUR needle sticks and sitting in the lab for 4 hours, while fasting. That wasn't very fun at ALL. Don't know the official results from that yet, but I don't have a good feeling. We'll see. My next blog might be all about gestational diabetes. So all those tests plus a normal doctors visit, some antibiotics for an infection (its fine), and I'm hopefully done with medical stuff for two weeks. We also started our childbirth classes this week. I'm really excited about them as we want a natural childbirth, so these are very, very important. My mom is joining Kevin and I, since I plan on having her with us and helping out during the delivery. I think I like the class, we are doing it at our local hospital and it is taught by a doula. The first class was a lot of information on the actual birth process, dilation, effacement, contractions, those types of things. A lot of which I was already aware of because I've been doing my homework since before I was pregnant, but it was good information to hear again, and for Kevin to hear. We have three more classes to go!! So, now on to the really fun part, my shower!! It was a week ago today, and SO MUCH FUN!! My mom and Heather did such a wonderful job, and everyone was so very, very generous with their time and gifts, we are still reeling from it!! I'm going to go ahead and post a bunch of fun photos and insert comments where necessary.

Candy Buffet, so yum and cute!! The pencils in the back have Jackson's name on them, so excited for him to use them when he gets old enough (if we still use pencils then...) and the suckers have his initial and name on them as well.

Food!! They did tacos, beans and rice for Cinco de Mayo.

Playing games!

Aunt Heather running the show!

Think, think, think.

Presents!!

38 week and 29 week bellies

I'm with the band onesie, love this!

SO CUTE cake, I LOVED it. It was ice cream too!! YUM!!!

Burp cloths and changing pads from Colette, I got Pooh, Grammy got Mickey

with Colette

with Grammy

Grandma Leslie

McDowell clan

Blunden clan

Our generations

Fresno crew 

We got SO MANY wonderful things from everyone during the shower. Jackson is set on clothes and diapers (at least for awhile), and we got so many awesome handmade gifts and other presents that are absolute necessities for us, we truly feel so loved from everyone, even if you couldn't be there. And Jackson now has SO MANY books, we will not tire of reading him your favorites and ours.

After shower time it was time for Kaitlyn and I to play in the spa for a bit.

I'm excited to have my first Mother's Day tomorrow, even though I don't really know if I qualify yet...either way, it is exciting. I'm headed to Fresno next weekend for my good friend's wedding shower, and hopefully the boys will put the crib together while I'm gone, then all we need is to get the dresser, and I feel like we can really make Jackson's room his own!!

Photo Update

I'm going to do a big entry tonight or tomorrow, but for now: