Well, I should forewarn you – this is going to be a pretty long entry. I haven’t updated my blog in weeks and so much has happened. I am back home in New Mexico and I started my gestational diabetes regimen 10 days ago. The trip was wonderful overall, but not easy on my body. I’m very glad to be home. I am a homebody and proud of it.
Where to start? I guess I should start by thanking so many of you for your heart-felt responses to my freak-out post about my gestational diabetes diagnosis. You made me feel much better about it. I needed to vent, but I did come back down to earth and remember just how lucky I am to be pregnant. I remind myself all of the time how I would have responded to someone complaining about gestational diabetes a year ago, or heck, even 7 months ago. I would have been pissed and wanted to scream, “At least you’re pregnant!!!” So, although it blows to have this complicated addition to my probably-only pregnancy ever, I am grateful to even have the opportunity to have gestational diabetes – because after all, I never even thought I would be pregnant. So thank you all for your support and for not yelling at me, screaming, “At least you’re pregnant you ungrateful bitch!”
So, as for our trip to Jersey… We left on Wednesday, June 25 to arrive in NJ at about 11pm that night. The day started out fine but somehow by the time we arrived at the airport we were running late. The Albuquerque airport is probably the easiest airport ever but for some reason the check-in line and security line was taking forever! We were getting stressed and hubby lost his belt loop and sunglasses going through security. We finally got to the gate and got on line to board the plane, but of course, I had to pee soooo badly! It was stressful but we finally got our seats on the plane. I was able to get an aisle seat near the front so I was happy. Our flight to Kansas City was not very long at all, so I got up once to go to the bathroom, stretch my legs and walk after an hour. We arrived in Kansas City and followed everyone out of the gate and went to find food. Worst. airport. ever. Gross food and barely any options! We found out we were delayed a bit, ate lunch, and went to find our gate. Apparently we had walked through a door with NO SIGN and were outside of the terminal and had to reenter through security. UG! My ankles were swollen and we had to throw away our expensive unopened airport water that we had purchased in ABQ for the flights. We got on line for security and right when I got to the front of the line the lady who was checking ids and tickets started taking people from some other line and we stood there for like 10 minutes! It was ridiculous! Finally we got through and found our gate. When we got there the monitor said Milwaukee, LaGuardia. Hubby asked the guy why and he told us we had to make a stop in Milwaukee. Whaaat?! Another layover? I was sure that was not specified anywhere. Seriously. He told us that we did not need to get off the plane, so instead of being pissed off, we decided there was nothing we could do, so we laughed about how annoying this trip had become.
We flew to Milwaukee and as we were landing the flight attendant made an announcement that if we were going to LaGuardia we would need to get off the plane because they thought we might need to switch planes. Ug again. Annoying but whatever, right? So we get off the plane and find out the flight is delayed a couple hours. My calves, ankles, and feet were swollen from the flight so we walked around the terminal waiting to hear about the delay. The screen said we would leave at 9:40 pm but when I talked to my mother to let her know we were delayed she told us that the website was saying our departure would be at 10:30. We asked the lady at Southwest and she said there is weather and “We don’t say the ‘C’ word.” Not very reassuring. I wanted to call her the “C word”. We decided we better get some food before everything in the airport closed so we ate the most disgusting pizza I have ever had: 4 small dots of fresh mozzarella in a sea of sauce. Yuck. We walked back and forth through the airport waiting for the screen to change to 10:30 departure. No Southwest employees were to be seen anywhere. Finally they made an announcement, at 9:50, that we would be departing at 10:30pm, but they never changed it on the screen. At that point people started lining up in the boarding area. We were with about 18 other people waiting at the front to board first since we weren’t even supposed to need to get off the plane in the first place. Every single one of them said that they did not know we were making a stop in Milwaukee. At least it wasn’t just us! A Southwest employee came to the boarding area and asked another employee, “Who is supposed to be checking tickets?” There was no answer, so he went onto the plane. When he came back out through the locked door, he went over and whispered to another employee. At this point we were all a little suspicious. About 15 minutes later everyone started getting cancellation texts on our phones from Southwest. Within a few minutes one of the Southwest employees made an announcement, “I’m sure you all know by now that the flight has been cancelled. Unfortunately it looks like all flights to LaGuardia tomorrow are full and there are absolutely no available hotel rooms in the entire city.” Whaaat!?!?! Apparently, Milwaukee’s Summerfest, a 10-day or so huge music festival had started the day before and ALL – seriously- ALL the hotels were completely full. Unbelievable. I just could not believe it. My calves, ankles, and feet were so swollen.
We stood on line with 54 other people trying to get new flights and vouchers. I went on the internet and tried to find a hotel. I had my mother calling hotels, as I called them, and hubby called Southwest to try to get us another flight. He was able to get us the only 2 seats on a flight the following night at 8 pm. Ok, so what the hell were we gonna do until then? I spent 2 1/2 hrs calling hotels and begging them for a room. I am 7 months pregnant and NOT sleeping at an airport after all of this and waiting until the following night to get on a plane! Finally my mother seemed to be giving up, as was my husband. They told me that there were no hotels and I was going to have to sleep in the airport. The line was finally getting shorter after 2 1/2 hours, but we weren’t even on it. We had put ourselves dead last at this point. Hubby said he’d ask for a cot, and blanket and pillow for me. I was not ok with that. I was determined to get to a hotel. We called the rental car place at the airport and they told us they were closing at 12:30 am – It was after 12 am. I searched for hotels further out of Milwaukee, when all of a sudden a girl came over to us and said, “You’re going to LaGuardia, right?” We said, “We’re hoping!” She told us that the women over there had thought of us and that Southwest was going to put the last 20 of us in limos and drive us to Chicago for a 6am flight to LaGuardia from Midway Airport. We said, “We’re in!” I talked to the lady at the desk and she agreed to let us get in the limo since I was pregnant. We had 15 minutes to have them switch our flight, get us new tickets, get us vouchers (we got $600!!!), go get our baggage and make it outside for the limos to pick us up! It was ridiculously frantic! Hubby got his tickets and they told him to go get the baggage while I waited for the vouchers. I was the last person.
I walked as fast as my swollen feet carrying my big backpack would carry me, not knowing where I was even going, to finally find everyone waiting for the limos. My face was bright red but I didn’t care – I needed to get in one of those limos! We waited with everyone and thanked them so much for thinking of us! Two limos pulled up – a stretch limo and a party bus limo. We got in the party bus limo with 10 other people – all sizes, ages, races, etc. This was turning into a movie script. Hubby and I sat at seats at a table with two other women. The driver turned on the fancy ceiling party lights and was going to put a movie on the big screen TV, but we all told him we just wanted to sleep. A man from Southwest came on the bus and thanked us for being so patient and wished us all a safe trip. I guess if this is what was going to happen then Southwest did a great job of helping us all out. Free limo rides in the middle of the night to another airport AND vouchers! Anyway, we drove as fast as possible it seemed, in the middle of the night, about 2 hours to Midway Airport in Chicago. I didn’t sleep AT ALL! It was so uncomfortable and bumpy. I was sitting in a chair and couldn’t move. Finally we got to the airport at about 2:30 in the morning. Southwest wasn’t going to open until 4:00 so we had some time to kill before we could check all of our baggage. There was no place to lay down, no open chairs, nothing. Hubby and I sat on the floor and waited. I stared at my poor swollen legs and apologized over and over to Baby Keytar. I spent the entire night laughing and saying how much fun I was having. After all, what would crying do? What would anything do? Nothing. There was nothing we could do.
I called Southwest and they told me that I could ask for a blue envelope at the Southwest desk to pre-board since I was pregnant. Sweet! I’ll try that. No one had told me that before! Finally baggage opened and we checked our bags and headed a mile or so to our gate. Everyone there was from the limo rides and so sweet. They asked me if I wanted them to go get me food and offered me food they had. We were like a family but no one knew a thing about one another. No one even asked anyone else’s name. I sat in a big comfy chair and moved another one across from me and put my feet up. I waited until the Southwest employee arrived and jumped up to ask about pre-boarding. As soon as I got on line I saw the screen turn on and there was a gate change. We told everyone and our group walked another mile to another gate. I went straight to the counter and got my pre-board pass. We hung out with everyone, laughing about how ridiculous this journey had been. We took a group photo – which I’m sure I’ll never see. Hahaha…. They called for group A and pre-boarders and right before we got on the plane they announced we had another gate change. Ha! We all walked to another gate, yet again, and were a little delayed again. We met some other people because everyone had heard of our group’s story. At this point I had been up for 23 hours and spent most of that time walking with a heavy backpack, or sitting for extended periods of time on a plane or in a van. Not good for a 7 month pregnant woman – but I think I handled it very well. Finally we got on the plane – first! We took the second row and I got my aisle seat. The flight was not very long – thank god!
Finally we arrived in NY. We all said good bye to one another at varying points in the airport. We thanked everyone again for helping us out and we all went our separate ways – kind of like at the end of the movie “Ocean’s 11”. We’ll probably never see each other again, but what a great group of people to experience this journey with. What a long strange trip it had been! Everyone kept saying that it’s such a great story to tell my baby. True. But I just wanted to get to my parent’s house. We met my dad at baggage and finally headed home to NJ. I didn’t go to bed until 9:30 that night, so I had been up for a VERY long time and my legs and feet were still very swollen. I slept like a baby.
The rest of the NJ trip was filled with stuff to do but we kept it as relaxing as humanly possible. On Friday we went down the shore, relaxed on the beach for awhile, kayaked in the bay (I thought I’d have a hard time but it was fine and much needed!), drove the island and checked out hurricane damage, ate lots of seafood, and made a stop at the Seaside boardwalk. Then we hung out with my brother and a couple of his friends when we got back to my parents’ house that night. On Saturday a friend of mine from high school had a pool party for us so we spent the day with a bunch of HS friends. It was actually very relaxing. Most people didn’t know I was pregnant and were surpirsed to hear about our crazy journey to pregnancy. Everyone was very happy for us! It was so nice. (But my calves, ankles, and feet were still a bit swollen, which was annoying. All that exhaustion and exercise, coupled with the humidity really did a number on me!)
On Sunday my mother threw a baby shower for me at Mezza Luna Ristorante in Allendale, NJ. It was absolutely adorable. We were overwhelmingly showered with gifts and the food was unbelievably delicious! (Thank god I didn’t have to start my new gestational diabetes regimen before this trip! Jersey food is the best!) We had a wonderful time and hubby only teared up once, LOL! The restaurant staff rushed us a lot though, so if you live in the area don’t ever go there or have an event there. If you want to know why, contact me and I’ll tell you all the reasons. But I don’t need to go into that here. It was a beautiful Bee themed shower! Check out the photos!
On Monday we relaxed and then went to visit with some college friends in the evening. They made a big beautiful dinner for us all and after some people left and it was just us and a a few of them, they gave us baby gifts!!! How sweet and thoughtful! It was so unnecessary and such a surprise. We really have some of the greatest friends!
Tuesday we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my folks, so we got our fill of New York City AND Real Art. I got pretty achey and tired after about 3 hours of walking around the museum though.
We had an uneventful trip back to NM on Wednesday. I was able to pre-board again, totally taking advantage of the situation since I might never ever be pregnant again and this would be my last time flying during this pregnancy.
We arrived in NM stinky and with my feet swollen again from the flight. We had a ton of baggage filled with baby shower gifts, but getting it all to our car went smoothly. We changed at our car, went to eat a nice, quiet, relaxing, healthy lunch at Annapurna’s (Ayurvedic Indian food with a serene atmosphere – no one really there in the middle of the day with nice relaxing music playing), and then headed to Dar a Luz for our midwife appointment. The appointment went very well and baby’s heartbeat was in the mid 150s. My blood pressure was a little high the first time so I breathed and it was better – that’s what NJ will do to ya, LOL!
Thursday morning, bright and early, but after a decent night’s sleep, we had our meeting with the diabetes educator/ dietician. She did not seem worried about me being able to manage this with diet and she set me up with my plan. I have to test my blood sugar when I wake up for my fasting number, which should be less than 95. Then, I am allowed 30-45 grams of carbohydrates with breakfast, 30-60 g with lunch, 30-60 with dinner, and 3 snacks a day at 15g. I’ve been eating the low end at 30-35 and been managing it just fine. I am also walking, using the elliptical, or the recumbent bike after every meal for 10-30 minutes depending on the meal. It takes over my entire day at this point, but I’m hoping it will get easier. We’ll see…
So there you have it… that’s what’s been going on in my life for the few weeks that I’ve been so absent from the blogging community.
Here’s my pregnancy update and some photos…
How Far Along: 29 weeks 4 days
How Big is Baby: Despite the increase in fat, Baby Keytar is still pretty thin— probably only about 2 to 3 percent of his/her 2.7-ish pounds is made up of fat. Keytar is probably about 16 inches long.
Gender: Not finding out (but we’re pretty sure it’s a boy!)
Baby’s Milestones This Week: This week marks an important milestone in baby Keytar’s brain development: The brain has matured to the point where it can help regulate body temperature. He/She also continues to develop nerve cells in his/her brain. By the time he/she’s born, Keytar will have hundreds of billions of them. That seems like a lot, but he/she needs to stock up, since he/she won’t produce any more after birth. Baby Keytar is also looking more like a full-term baby, too. He/She’s plumping up nicely; the surface of the skin is smoother and paler because of the fat he/she’s starting to gain. This fat will be an important factor in his/her ability to keep warm. Baby Keytar also has eyelashes.
Total Weight Gain: 20 lbs
Who We’ve Told About the Pregnancy: Most people know by now – I think
Maternity Clothes: yup!
Stretch Marks: no new ones
Sleep: not too bad! peeing a few times a night and switching sides due to sore hips but sleeping deeply in between.
Best Moment of the Week: Well, since this is a multi-week post… my baby shower, kayaking in the bay, hanging out down the shore, going to the Met
Food Cravings: since I can’t eat sweets I’d have to say I’d love some sort of desert like cheesecake. OR pizza would do. But overall, not really craving anything too specific.
Food Aversions: none
Symptoms: big belly moving around like a bowl full of jelly; gestational diabetes
Labor Signs: NOOOOO!!!! Stay away!
Belly Button In or Out: almost out! the sides are popping out but the middle hasn’t yet.
Wedding Rings On or Off: Off! I took it off before we left for NJ. Walking in the heat made my fingers swell enough that I decided to just take it off and put it in a safe place until baby is born.
Mood: pretty good, although I have days that I am annoyed by the schedule of this diabetes management, but overall, I’d have to say I’m in a pretty great mood. How can I not be? I am pregnant.
Movement: Yup! The movement and kicks were a bit painful around 27 weeks, but that has subsided. I feel what I think is Keytar’s head pushing up against my belly quite often. I think it’s the head? Maybe it’s the butt?
What I’m Looking Forward To: my meeting with the diabetes educator/dietician this week to show her my awesome numbers from the past 2 weeks! My midwife appointment on Thursday and acupuncture on Friday. I’m also looking forward to all of the stuff we ordered with our baby shower gift cards to arrive this week!!!
What I Miss: I miss not having to count carbs and test my blood.
Nesting: nursery is almost done! a few more things need to happen but the majority is complete! The top floor of the house is reorganized and finished and now we are working on the basement/my studio and the garage. Can’t wait to have a yard sale and get rid of some stuff!
27 weeks Island Beach State Park, NJ
29 weeks
invitation (ignore the watermark)
Everyone wrote their names in either blue or pink and placed a 3D bee sticker on the date they think the baby will arrive. Whoever wins will receive a Burt’s Bees’ gift package.
The prayer flags are gorgeous! Yellow and gray fabric. They’ll be strung up and I’ll bring them to hang during the birth.
People wrote funny things on diapers for middle of the night changes. We haven’t read them yet. Saving them for the middle of the night changes!
We got a ton of AWESOME books! Mostly board books. People got us some extremely unique and beautiful books! So exciting!
Great clothesline with all bee-themed baby clothes, bibs, blankies, etc.
These were displayed amongst the tables with little bee-themed messages written on each one. The soap was the guest gift.
My mom’s friend made these!!!
These were on all the tables. The top babies’ heads are my hubby when he was a baby and the bottom two are me when I was a baby!
Hubby was so awesome! Only guy there, but after everything we’ve been through he should be there! My mom got him his own gift with all sports-related baby stuff! Soooo cute! He teared up.
Still a Mama Wannabe 