I should be on HGTV or something...

Okay, so a couple weeks ago, I posted that I was re-finishing an end table for the baby's nursery. 

I bought the end table in question at a yard sale for $15. We (AKA my husband) sanded the whole thing down and then I painted it. 

I picked 2 colors from the same paint chip palette. The lighter color is called Grand Hotel Mackinac Blue and the second, darker color is called Nautical. I would have loved to have my husband's input on the colors, but J can't see color. He's color deficient. So, basically, he views the world like a black and white movie. 

(This chart helps me understand what he sees) 

J would be roman numeral V. 

But, even though he can't see color, he loves that I chose the Grand Hotel Mackinac Blue color. The Grand Hotel Mackinac is on Mackinac Island in Michigan. J is from Michigan, so picking that color was like bringing a little bit of Michigan into our Utah nursery.

I like the symbolic-ness of it. 

Anyway, here is the 'before' picture of the end table. 

Blah. Plain. Boring

And here are the 'after' pictures! 

Isn't it just adorable? I love it! 

And yes, that's a Yellow Submarine sitting on top. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but we're doing a Beatles theme for the nursery. Nothing over the top, just cute little touches here and there. 

It's going to be amazing. 

So...there you have it. An adorable little end table for my son's room. 

HGTV, I'll be expecting your call with an offer for a TV show any day now. 

-K 

28 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

28 weeks

This week, Baby Salisbury is the size of an Eggplant. 

You know, sometimes I hate these food comparisons. 

Because now I REALLY want 

Eggplant Parmesan...

And it feels a little creepy to be consuming something that is the size of your child.

It's a weird mental block to have. But, in all honesty, if someone were to set a dish of delicious, gooey, melty Eggplant Parmesan in front of me *hint hint*, it would be gone in a flash. 

Well, people, this is it. The final countdown until we get to meet/hold/kiss/snuggle/love our son.

3 months = 12 weeks = 84 days = 2016 hours =120,960 minutes. 

Sorry, I'm obviously a little excited. 

As some of you may have already seen, we got our 3D Ultrasound done last week. 

I just love being able to see him from a new perspective. Black and white profile shots can get pretty boring after a while, so seeing his little "grumpy" face (that's what I like to call it) was so much fun for us. 

Grumpy Face

You guys should have seen J during the ultrasound. As soon as the technician started getting (identifiable) images of his face, J was up off the chair and inches away from the screen so that he could get a better look. It was the sweetest thing to witness. 

He likes to pretend that he's calm and cool, but I know that he'll go nuts for this kid once he sees him. It was sort of like getting a preview of our son making his arrival. I can't wait to see the look on J's face when he meets the baby for the first time. And I can't wait for him to fall as completely in love with this baby as I am already. 

(So I have to interrupt this post for a second)

J just came into the bedroom, where I'm typing this up, and he laid down next to me and put his head on my belly. I said "talk to him, so he recognizes your voice".

J put his head back down and mumbled something to the baby and after a minute he said "Rude! This is a one sided conversation. We've already failed as parents because we haven't taught our kid manners". 

That just cracked me up, so I had to share! 

(Now- back to your regularly scheduled blog post)

So today just so happens to be Mother's Day. I called and chatted with my mom today, but I hope that she reads this too. 

I love you mom! I know that I'm awful at phone calls, and I'm awful at remembering dates. But I just want you to know that no matter what, I love you. You were there for me when I was fighting my fight with cancer. You taught me so much and had faith in me no matter the circumstance. I cannot wait for this baby to meet you and have you as a grandmother. 

And to all my other mothers out there! I'm looking at you Sharon and Teri! We love you both so much. You've both been there for both J and I when we needed it the most. You're wonderful mothers and we love you to the moon and back. 

Baby Salisbury will be so spoiled in the grandma department when he gets here. We're so fortunate to have you all in our lives. 

I also want to give a shout out to everyone else who is reading this who is a mother. 

Sisters, friends, acquaintances, total strangers...

Happy Mother's Day to you all! 

Each and every one of you is wonderful and you do the hardest, most rewarding job on Earth. 

Well, I think that about sums it up. I'm going to go check on dinner (RIBS!). 

Here's a shot of my bump at 28 weeks! 

I don't even want to know how big I'm going to be in another 3 months.

Hope to catch you next week! 

-K

3D Ultrasound!

I'm gonna be honest...I've never really been a fan of 3D ultrasounds. I always thought they looked a little weird, like melted candle wax. 

But then I saw a 3D ultrasound of my son and I loved getting to see his facial features. I know that all babies sort of look alike at this point, but I think we've got one handsome boy in there. (:

He was curled up and had either his hands or his feet in front of his face the whole time.

 In most of these, he had his foot in his face. 

I thought it was so cute.

Arm in front of his face

Look at those chubby cheeks!

There's that foot again...

His little grouchy face.

Again with the foot! What a little contortionist. 

Holding his nose. 

I had a lot of fun getting to see our little guy from such a new perspective. 

Hope you enjoy the pictures! 

-K

27 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

27 Weeks! 

This week, Baby Salisbury is the size of a Rutabaga? 

(I'm going to be honest...I have zero idea what a rutabaga is. I'll be googling it after I post this)

Well folks...looks like we made it to the 3rd Trimester! *fist pump*

I'm 2/3 of the way there. 13 more weeks! A little over 3 months. That's insane to me. 

I honestly never thought that I'd make it this far. I feel like every day is a blessing. I'm not a religious person, but I feel like there's someone watching out for us out there. Every day that I feel my son wiggle around in there is a gift. And while I sometimes feel miserable (swollen ankles, huge stomach, always hot, gestational diabetes etc...), I regret nothing. I'd do anything for this kid. He's going to be so worth it. 

So this week I've decided to take on some "projects"

I decided that instead of registering for OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive nursery furniture, I would find/hit up family for gently used furniture then re-finish/paint everything to match each other. 

So far, we have a crib coming from J's sister (Thanks so much for that, BTW!) and I found a super cute little end table at one of the yard sales my friend and I went to this weekend. J's sister is going to paint the crib white for us (another HUGE thank you!) and the end table is going to be painted "Grand Hotel Mackinac Blue" and the top and legs will be "Nautical". We'll probably use these colors throughout the nursery so that the furniture compliments each other even though it will not match. 

                                       

                                     Grand Hotel Mackinac Blue                                                 Nautical 

Oh, and here's the end table. I didn't think to take a picture before J disassembled it for me...but you can kind of get the idea? I'll definitely post an update as soon as it's all painted and pretty. Hopefully I'll be able to muster up the energy to finish it by this next weekend. 

*wishful thinking*

I'm still on the hunt for a long dresser. You know the kind that are about waist height, 5ish feet long and have something like 6-8 drawers? Yeah...those things are freaking rare. 

I've been perusing my local Facebook yard sale sites and there is NOTHING. 

All anybody has for sale are tall dressers. 

And then when you do find a long dresser, it's beat to hell. Or ugly as hell. Or expensive as hell. 

I just can't win. There wasn't even anything at the six or seven yard sales that we hit up this weekend. 

Kind of a bummer. But I'm not going to quit looking...not until like July. Then I may have to give in and buy a new dresser so that I have a place to put my son's clothes...

This week we also have our 3D ultrasound. Honestly, I wasn't all that interested in getting one, but apparently, at my hospital, they're complimentary.

So...after I heard it was free, I sort of changed my tune. I feel like one of those extreme couponer ladies. 

Do they need all of that stuff? No. But it's FREE. 

I'm just saying that I understand where they're coming from. 

I'll also be posting a picture of our little dude once we get that done. I'm actually pretty excited about it now. I don't exactly love the way 3D ultrasounds look (kind of like melted candle wax) but I'm really curious to see my son's features more clearly. Up until now it's been all profile and wiener shots. Might be a nice change of scenery. (:

Speaking of a change of scenery, here's a shot of my 27 week bump (more like mountain). I'm feeling pretty ginormous these days. 

You all have a great week! I'll update after our 3D ultrasound! 

-K

Diabeetus

Whelp...

Looks like I have Gestational Diabetes. Wonderful. 

So I pretty much knew it was coming...but it's not an easy pill to swallow. I mean, I'll do what I have to for this kid, but I'm not exactly excited about it. 

My doctor's nurse called me today, and apparently I bombed the 1 hour glucose test so bad that they don't want/need to waste time doing the usual follow-up 3 hour glucose test. So after being jerked around by our pharmacy a couple times (long story short- they're morons), I'm the "proud" owner of my very own glucose monitor! 

This is my life now-

Starting tomorrow, I have to do finger pricks to monitor my blood sugar 4 times a day. 

1. First thing in the morning before I eat/drink anything

2. Two hours after breakfast

3. Two hours after lunch

4. Two hours after dinner. 

I made J do a test prick so that he could tell me if it hurt. It looks pretty painless, but for some reason I'm terrified of this. 

When I was going through chemotherapy about 10 years ago, they had to do finger pricks on me sometimes and they freaking HURT. Or at least I think they hurt. It's entirely possible that I'm just psyching myself out. 

Anyway, I have to monitor my levels until my next appointment, where we'll decide if this can be managed by changing my diet, or if I'll need to start taking insulin. 

Cross your fingers for me! 

I'd cross my own, but after all the finger pricking, I'm sure they'll be too sore. 

-K 

P.S. Now all I can think about is Wilford Brimley...

26 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

26 Weeks

This week, baby is the size of a head of lettuce.

Well, this last week has been pretty uneventful (no complaints here!). 

This weekend we got into the Spring Cleaning mood and we finally finished cleaning out the nursery. We moved the last piece of "non-baby" furniture into the spare bedroom. I also felt the need to organize the rest of the house. It was a very productive weekend. 

So now, all we have to do is wait for our nursery furniture! I'm so ready to nest. I only have about 3 months left, and I just want to get everything put together! I'm a very impatient person, especially while pregnant. Just ask my poor husband.

Today I had a routine check up with my doctor. I go in, pee in a cup, he checks to make sure the cervical stitch is still intact and then he does a quick ultrasound so that I can see Baby Salisbury. It really eases my mind to see him wiggling around in there. I appreciate my doctor very much for taking the time to do that for me. Most women get a total of one or two ultrasounds their entire pregnancy but I get one every week. I'm very fortunate to have such a caring doctor. 

And while this was just a routine visit, I found out that I may have Gestational Diabetes. 

I have to go in in the morning for the glucose test. I have to fast tonight after midnight and then go in tomorrow morning and drink the glucose test drink. Then they'll draw my blood and see how my body processed the sugar. Most likely it'll say that I do, in fact, have GD because they found glucose in my urine sample. But as my doctor pointed out to me today, if Gestational Diabetes is the worst thing that we have to deal with this pregnancy, then we'll be fine. We've seen worse. We've been through MUCH worse. 

I can handle this. 

So far, I've been very fortunate with this pregnancy. I had barely any morning sickness, I haven't had any out of control cravings, I've only gained about 10-15 pounds...So nothing too extreme. 

I guess I was due for something not-so-great to happen. 

*sigh* 

It'll be tough. I'll have to adjust my diet and with cravings, that'll be hard! But I'll do anything for this kid. 

I'll eat plain yogurt and vegetables only for the rest of this pregnancy if that means that he'll be okay. 

I'd do anything for him. Anything. 

So yeah...I'll update you all on that this week after we get the results. 

So, tonight, I was looking around the house for my cat Luna...I couldn't find her in any of her usual spots! 

Under the bed? Nope.

Under our quilt napping? Nope. 

On the kitchen chair? Nope. 

Then I looked in the nursery...and this is what I found! 

What a freaking goof! She found the baby swing that I had set up in the nursery and she made herself comfortable. I know that I'll have to break her of this habit, because I don't want her jumping in there when there's a baby in it, but it's so cute! Silly kitten. 

Well, I think that's about it for this week. 

Here's a snapshot of my 26 week belly! 

I'm getting so...ROUND. And I can feel him move several times a day now. I just love that feeling.

Have a good week! Thank you so much for reading! 

-K

25 Weeks

Weekly Check-In

25 Weeks

Baby Salisbury is the size of a cauliflower this week! 

My post last week was about going into the hospital for a toxemia scare. 

My post this week is about going into the hospital for another scare. 

Ugh. It's been an eventful couple of weeks over here and I'm sick of it. 

I want a nice, boring, uneventful pregnancy. I'm tired of being scared all the time.

Well, this hospital visit was a direct result of my PgAL (Pregnant After a Loss) Brain. I've been through 3 losses, so EVERY LITTLE THING that doesn't feel just "right" sets off alarm bells in my head. And then I dwell on those negative thoughts and I overreact to just about everything. 

So here't the sitch- 

Yesterday afternoon after my nap, I started to feel some tightness and soreness in my uterus. Usually when this happens, I drink lots of water and try to relax because it always passes. By 9 o'clock, I was still feeling tight and it had even become a little crampy. I drank more water and tried to lay down to go to bed. I laid awake for about 2 hours trying to just shut my brain off and ignore the cramps. 

But they didn't go away. They were like the cramps I used to get during my time of the month. Not as intense as contractions, but still really uncomfortable. I knew I wasn't going to be getting any sleep.

I guess I was thinking that they may be the start of contractions. I have a cerclage (cervical stitch) in place, but the stitch wouldn't stand up against contractions. It would just pop out. So I was not only worried about contractions, I was worried that my stitch would fail and that my cervix would try to open on it's own. 

My late-term miscarriage this last July was due to my cervix opening by itself. 

So there I was, laying in bed, having Vietnam-style flashback and working myself into a panic. 

J had to wake up at 4 this morning for work, so I was really hesitant to wake him up. But I just couldn't deal with these feelings on my own. I woke him up and told him that something just didn't feel "right". He insisted that we go to the hospital. That's when I started crying. 

I wanted to go to make sure that everything was okay, but at the same time, I really didn't want to know. I wanted to be ignorant. Because if I stayed home, I wouldn't have to get any bad news. 

I fear news like that more than almost anything. But the fear of losing our baby because I was being stupid won out and we went to the hospital. 

We checked in, and were sent down to Labor & Delivery

 (since I'm over 20 weeks, they take me instead of the ER)

The nurse who was there was the same nurse who was there in July when we lost our little sweetheart. 

(insert more flashbacks)

She was great. She comforted me and told me that it was absolutely no problem for me to be there. She said that if they could put my mind at ease, they were more than happy to do so. 

First, they used the doppler to check on the baby. His heart rate was great and I could feel him kicking in there so that helped calm me down right away. They checked my urine for amniotic fluid (all clear). They hooked me up to a monitor to see if I was having contractions (nope, just cramps). And she checked to make sure that my stitch was still in place and that my cervix was still closed (yes & yes). 

So basically, there was nothing wrong. Just cramps. She gave me a heat pad to help relax me and within 2 hours, I was home. 

It made me feel better to know that nothing was wrong, but I feel like such a rotten person for waking my husband up for nothing and dragging him to the hospital in the middle of the night. 

Annnnd, I'm still crampy this morning...so that sucks. 

Anyway...here's a picture of my belly at 25 weeks. Only 15 more to go! 

Time is flying (: 

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully my next check in will have NOTHING to do with the hospital.

-K