Happy Dance #13!!!

OH MY GOD! I finally finished The Token aka The Purple Project!!!! Whooohooo!!! It used up a little over 10 skeins of DMC 3041, stitched on 28 count light gray Jobelan. I am so happy to finish this project. I don't understand why I dragged my feet with finishing it, but it is finally done. :)

In baby news, I had FIVE medical appointments this week. FIVE! Monday, sonogram and non-stress test at the hospital. Tuesday, blood sucking at the lab for my endocrinologist. Thursday, appointment with endo (who made me wait 40 freaking minutes) and appointment with the OBGYN. Friday, another non-stress test at the hospital. I'm exhausted! The baby is doing really well though. She is definitely a girl. And she is definitely stubborn. For the first NST, she basically sat there like a lump. The test was supposed to take 30 minutes. I was there for over an hour, waiting for her to move. Today, she would NOT sit still. The nurse could not get her resting heart rate because she refused to sit still. She was kicking around so much, the thingies they had strapped around my belly kept falling off. The nurse finally had to stand next to me and hold the thingy down.

And now for a public plea. If you know of any way to relieve the itch from stretch marks, please, please, please let me know. The OBGYN suggested cocoa butter and silly me forgot to get some while I was at the store last night. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know. My stretch marks are HUGE and look like welts and they **ITCH**. Please help make the itching stop.

In other news, DH and I were in Chicago last week. I basically tagged along a business trip. I got the chance to meet Jenn L from The Wagon. :) Susan was supposed to join us, but work got in the way. Jenn was a very gracious host. She drove me around and took me to a Hobby Lobby and 2 LNSs. She also took me to Giordano's which was AMAZING pizza!

DH unfortunately got horribly sick. Jenn once again came to our aid and gave us directions to the nearest ER. We were in the ER from 7 pm Wednesday night until 2:30 am Thursday. It was horrible. DH had a fever of 104 and his heart rate went crazy for a little bit. He was diagnosed with a high fever and bronchitis. We spent the rest of our time in Chicago resting in the hotel room and flew back home on Friday afternoon.

He is doing much better. His primary care wrote him a script for some super strong cough medicine and it has helped a lot. Now he just needs to take it easy so he doesn't get sick again.

Happy Dance # 12

I finished this cute design Sunday Morning. Its called Lavender Bag by Shirley Toogood. I stitched it on 28 count white opalescent Lugana using DMC's Color Variation floss. The design originally used pink and green floss, but I decided to change it up a bit. The design was featured in Cross Stitch Collection Issue # 115.

Right after I finished Lavender Bag, I decided to re-start Season's Tweetings by San Man Originals. I had originally started stitching it over one on 28 count Lugana until I remembered how much I HATE stitching over one. So I started it over on a piece of 22 count cream Aida using DMC floss. I like this so much better than over one. Its still small enough to just use 1 strand but my eyes are not killing me and my stitches lay so much better on Aida compared to when I attempt to do over one stitching.

I did just realize after scanning the picture that I will have to frog the last S in Season's as well as G and S in Tweetings. I'm off by a lot! More progress pics to come. :)

In baby news, I saw my OBGYN yesterday. I'm at 33 weeks and my fundal height is 34 cm. She wasn't all that worried about that. I also weigh 115 lbs. The doctor seems pleased that I didn't lose or gain weight since the last visit. She also thinks my glucose levels are okay. I asked for another ultrasound to check on the baby, but she said it's too early for another one... maybe at 36 or 37 weeks. I also asked if I was considered to have a high risk pregnancy because of the GD. She said no and that I was having a very healthy pregnancy so far. So its all happy happy. :)

Week 32

According to Baby Center, "By now, your baby probably weighs almost 4 pounds and is almost 17 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. She has tiny toenails now, and her fingernails have grown in, too. Some babies have a head of hair already; others have only peach fuzz." She is definitely taking A LOT of space. She really needs to get out of the habit of head-butting my ribs. Its not fun for me. I don't understand how it can be any fun for her.

Anyway, here is the latest pic of my hideous stretch marks. The pic on the right is my week 29 pic. Yes, I'm wearing the same shirt. :) I DEFINITELY got a lot bigger in 3 weeks.



I have 2 baby showers scheduled in June. I'm kinda excited for them... mostly because I plan to wear cute dresses for the showers. LOL. I finally caved and added a Diaper Champ to my baby registry after talking to a friend. She's right. I really would not want to have to go outside to throw out a stinky diaper at 3 in the morning.

Week 30

I have gestational diabetes. I'm on a 2200 calorie diet and ice cream and candy are forbidden. I have a handy dandy glucometer, aka the stabbing machine. I tried it at the doctor's office. Its not horrible, so I won't bitch about it... yet. I have to stab myself 4 times a day (when I wake up and 2 hours after each meal). But I get to have a snack after the stabbing. Yay me. You're jealous, aren't you? My OBGYN also wants me to start writing down everything I eat.

My belly now measures 40 inches all around. I use my belly button as my mark. I have a bunch of stretch marks on the underside. Lovely. I still get ligament pain, although I'd like to think that its not as bad as it used to be. It only really bothers me in the morning when I have to get out of bed. Does anyone have any getting-out-of-bed techniques for me? The head of our bed is elevated about 4 inches, if that matters.

Baby is very active, which is good. Both my OBGYN and the endo said that its important to keep track of the baby's movements. I should feel her move multiple times a day. No problems there.

In stitching news... I barely stitched the past week. I'm still working on San Man's Oh Holly Night.

In other news... I love the Nintendo Wii! I get great exercise playing tennis and bowling. If you don't have it, get one! :)

Week 29

Here is my latest pic. It looks like I have a scar! Really, its not that red in real life. How vain am I? LOL. I have some stretch marks in the lower front of my belly. I also have this dark stripe that runs the length of the front of my belly. It almost looks like a scar, but its smooth. It looks very weird. The pic on the left is week 27 and the pic on the right is week 29.



I feel bigger, although it doesn't look like I got bigger in the pictures. I still get ligament pain. It is worst in the middle of the night (when I have to switch positions) and in the morning when I have to get up and out of bed.

I also don't feel as exhausted as before. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bouncing with energy, but I'm not falling asleep as soon as I sit down either.

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In stitching news, its time for a recap! Here are my March goals:
Finish Project X (model) - YES!
Finish The Token (almost there) - Did not finish, but worked on a little bit
Stitch and finish 1 spring ornie - YES!
Stitch and finish 1 Christmas ornie - YES!
Start A Touch of Wilderness (the foxie) for DH - Started and FINISHED

April goals:
Finish Oh Holly Night
Start and finish Seasons Tweetings
Finish The Token
Stitch and finish a summer ornie
Work on DH's stocking
Organize DMC extra skeins

Glucose Test Whine

I had my glucose test last Friday. My appointment was at 9. I don't know why I bother setting an appointment since Quest doesn't follow it anyway. They got to me around 9:30. I got poked on my right arm first then she made me drink 10 oz of orange crap that had 100 g of glucose. For a while I was worried that I would have to drink 3 bottles of the crap since this test was 3 hours and the last test was 1 hour. The stuff was NASTY. It took me 20 minutes to finish the bottle. And the count to the first hour didn't start until AFTER I drank every last drop. After that, it was 30 minutes of trying really, really, really hard to not throw up. Baby didn't like it either. She was throwing a crazy fit, which did not help me at all. The techs said to try really hard not to get sick coz I would just have to drink the crap again. I DID NOT want to drink any more of that stuff every again. The crap finally knocked me out and I woke up in time for stabbing #2. The tech decided to stab my right arm again. She chose a different vein, but it still hurt. I decided to stitch a bit and I finally got to work on Long Dog's The Token. Stab #3 was on the left arm and stab #4 was on the right arm. Both arms are still bruised today. I hope the test results are okay. I do not want to have gestational diabetes. I don't want to have to prick myself everyday and watch what I eat. I'm Asian. You can't tell me to not eat rice or to just eat a little bit of rice. That will kill me.

In other news, T is back from North Carolina! Yay! I slept really good Friday night. So good that I didn't wake up until 3 pm Saturday! Yikes! I was a bit disoriented when I woke up finally, but I felt so rested. It was the first time in a while that I didn't have heartburn or didn't have to get up to pee. :)

In stitching news, I am still working on Oh Holly Night. I am so close to running out of floss though. Carol has offered me a skein of GA Pomegranate. Thanks Carol!

I *heart* San Man!

I not-so-recently discovered San Man Originals. The designs are so adorable! I joined the BB and so far I am having lots of fun drooling over everyone's finishes . Sandy gives out a lot of freebies to members, so come and join us!

Here is my first ever San Man progress pic:


It is called Oh Holly Night. Its part of the monthly SAL on the board. I decided to use GAST floss instead of the recommended DMC for a variegated and subtle look. I was originally going to stitch it over-one and make it into an ornament, but decided against it. I will instead find a pretty frame for this project when I am done.

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In baby news, I will have my 3 hour glucose test tomorrow. I hope everything turns out okay. I will be stabbed four times. Yay me. You're jealous, aren't you? First stabbing will be before I drink the nasty crap and then a stabbing every hour after. My appointment is at 9am, so that means if I am lucky, they will see me at 9:30, finish at 12:30 and be at work at 1... Ooops, lunch first. So I will be at work at 1:30. Yikes! My doctor said to bring something to eat right after. She also said to bring something to do while I wait (don't have to remind me about that one!). I figure I will take a nap and then do some stitching. I *must* remember to bring needles this time! Can't stitch without a needle!

In other baby news, she let me sleep last night! Yay! Good girl! There was no body slamming, and no head-butting. I really appreciate that since I had major ligament pains this morning. It took forever to get out of bed to reach the alarm clock on top of the tv. I felt better after doing some very minor leg stretches though.

Ornamentification!

Yes, that is the official word for finishing an ornament. :)

I worked on this yesterday but was too lazy to take a pic, hook up the camera to the puter, re-size the pic, etc. so I did that today. :) I really like how it turned out. I just used some white cardboard, used acid free glue to stick batting to both sides, then tucked the padded cardboard into the ornie. The next time I finish an ornie, I think I will try to lace the pieces into some foam core.



In baby news, I saw my doctor today. She says the baby and I are doing well. I now weigh 113 lbs. The baby's heartrate is 157. I told her my concerns about my belly size... that I seem to be so much bigger than any of my friends at 28 weeks. She said the belly just looks big coz I'm so small. Then while leaving the clinic, there were two girls in the waiting area and one of them goes, "Oh my gosh, she looks like she's ready to pop!" Yes, I am sure she was referring to me. There was no one else there. Oh well. Not that I care if I get big or not. I just want the baby to be healthy... And I want to make sure they have the due date right!

Glucose Test. Ugh. Part 2.

I get a call from my doctor's office today saying that the results of my glucose test were high and that I will need to do the 3 hour test next week. Lovely. They have a script ready for me and the doctor will explain more when I see her on Monday afternoon. Great.

I get to be poked at least 4 times next week. I'm supposed to get blood drawn for my monthly Thyroid test and then the glucose test. I'm not sure what's worse, drinking the crap or getting stabbed by techs who don't care if they're hurting you or not.

Glucose Test. Ugh.

I know I whine too much. But it really was one big ugh. I set my glucose test appointment over a week ago for 9 am today. I dawddled too much and didn't get there until 9:12. Oh well. The tech didn't call me until 9:30. So she makes me drink 10 oz of crap that had 50 grams of glucose in it. Imagine cheapo, generic orange soda that was left in an open container for 3 days. It was sweet, it was gross and it left a funny taste in my mouth. The only positive thing was it was really cold. If it wasn't, I would've probably thrown up. I just did NOT like it at all. I had to chug all 10 oz in less than 2 minutes. Then the tech said I could wait in the other room. So I watched Regis and Kelly for a few minutes. Baby starts kicking like crazy and I get woozy. I had planned on being there for an hour so I brought a project to stitch. But silly me forgot to bring needles. So no stitching. Just as well since I felt woozy and it would have been a bad idea to stitch. I took a nap instead. I thought sugar was supposed to make you hyper? It totally knocked me out! I woke up at 10:45 and the tech are nowhere in sight. Great. So I wander around and look for the tech who made me drink the crap. She draws blood (ouch) and sends me off my merry way.

I will find out the results when I see my OB-GYN on Monday. Ooh, that reminds me. I need to set another appointment to get blood drawn for my thyroid test next week. Great. More blood work. It doesn't hurt, really. I just can't stand the thought of getting poked.

Updates

I promised to take better pics of my Bloom ornie, so here you go:



I also had DH take a piccie of my belly. Here are the before (2 weeks ago) and after (tonight). This is week 27 and I'm at 110-111 lbs.



I have a VERY active baby. She likes to kick a lot... unless someone actually wants to feel her kick, then she stops and stays still for about 2 hours. I have co-workers trying to bribe her just to feel her kick ("Baby, if you kick for me, we'll go shopping"). She doesn't go for it. LOL.

As you can see, I'm wearing my maternity jeans. I finally bought a pair this weekend. I can't believe I waited so long to buy them! They are *SO* comfy!!! I got these at Penney's. I tried shopping at the Bon-Ton, but their maternity section should be burned. Ugly! Ugly! Ugly! I wish there were maternity dresses that didn't have bows in the front, or weren' stripes or polka dots. We want to look good darnit!

Four Years Ago

Four years ago, on Saturday March 8, T & I were married in the little town hall of Middletown, NY. :) I cannot believe that it has been 4 years already. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday.

Fast forward to present time, I am now 25 weeks and 4 days into my pregnancy. Here are some pics taken last Tuesday.





Talk about a big belly! I knew I was big, but I didn't realize just how big until we took pictures. I think I would like to start taking weekly pictures to see just exactly how much I grow. I went from wearing size 0-1 jeans to now wearing size 7 (juniors). My pants that we purchased 2 months ago do not fit me anymore. Its really insane considering that when we went shopping, a size 3 would've fit me just fine. I think its time to just go ahead and purchase maternity pants that have the belly panel. My mom sent me a pair of maternity capris with the panel and they are soooo comfy! So much better than regular pants.

As for cravings, I am completely over the strawberry milkshake phase as well as the chicken phase. Right now, its beef, beef, and more beef. Oh! I love chocolate again too! I'm actually craving it. What I really miss is coffee. I haven't craved it in months, but now all I want to do is go to Starbucks and get a Venti Raspberry Soy Latte. Yummmmm.

In other news, my order from SB&B finally shipped today! Yay! I should get it on Monday. I *cannot* wait any longer! I'm so excited to see all my new stuff. :)