Always something new

Pregnancy.  Oh, did you forget that I was expecting?  LOL Understandable if you don't see me often (or ever)... I did only mention it once several months ago.  I realized a week or two ago that I'd not updated about the pregnancy at all.

Well, I'm just over 28 weeks.  What that means for a pregnant woman is, typically, it's time for a glucose tolerance test.  Thankfully, my midwife does not subject me to that test.  She does, however, provide a glucometer and have me test my fasting blood sugar level, and then again 2 hrs after a meal.  My 2 hr number was borderline.  As a result, I will now be test 4 times a day for the next two weeks as well as keeping a food journal.  This is so frustrating for me! And, it's new.  I've never had poor results from a gd test.  Even when I was drinking the nasty glucose drink at the clinic my readings were great.  There's never been a need to take the second test to recheck numbers.  I don't really like this new...

I am thankful that overall this has been a good - yet unique! - pregnancy.  So many weird things I've never dealt with before.  Being borderline for gestational diabetes is certainly the most annoying (and also a bit scary!).  I guess there's a first time for everything!

One other thing with this pregnancy is how huge I got all of a sudden.  It's crazy.  I'm already looking full term, with a good 12 weeks left to go.  But, since the surgeon who removed my gall bladder also fixed my herniated belly button, it no longer sticks out, so for that I'm thankful. ;)  Starting about 2 weeks ago I already started getting the "you must not have much longer" comments... sigh.

As for the possibility of gestational diabetes, I welcome advice from those who have been there.  Please refrain from sharing horror stories about 13 pound babies and ongoing health problems.  I just really need positive encouragement at this time.  Also, prayers are appreciated!

For the most part, I am healthy and feeling good physically.  Baby (a boy!) is growing nicely, and loves to move.  Everyone is excited for him to arrive.  The kids know it's too early for him to come, but Levi in particular will occasionally (and wistfully) say, "I wish it was time for the baby to come out!"

(For comparison sake, here's a pic of my belly at approximately 36 weeks when pregnant with Jericho.) 

Whistle while you... sleep??

Last night I fell asleep on the couch... this is not an uncommon occurrence, sadly.  I woke around 2 am and was going to head to bed.  Just as I reached the top of the stairs I heard Chase calling, "Radar!"  Brief pause, then more urgently, "Radar!!"  (Oh, in case you've forgotten, Radar is our dog. *grin*)

Radar is kenneled for the night in the room at the top of the stairs.  I could see him from where I was standing.  He was roused only slightly, and looking a bit confused as to why his name was being called in the middle of the night.

Then, suddenly, Chase whistled for the dog.  I almost fell over laughing. ;)  Talking in his sleep is quite common (nightly??) for Chase, but I have never heard him whistle.  In fact, I can honestly say that until last night I had NEVER heard anyone whistle in their sleep.

I'm so glad my kids keep my life interesting. :)

Actually, Chase isn't the only one that talks in their sleep (although he does so much more frequently than anyone else).  Sometime last week, Jericho was crying in her sleep.  This is more common for her than talking... I went to calm her and finally had to firmly (as firm as a whisper can be) say, "Jericho, it's mommy.  You need to stop or you will wake the baby!"  She stopped immediately, said "O-tay."  She then promptly rolled over and snuggled down into the blanket and said, "I wuv you," in her sleepy little whisper.  Melt my heart. :)  To top it off, the baby didn't wake, and the rest of the night was quiet.

Never quite as expected

It would seem my days/weeks never go quite as expected.  My entire week has been thrown off because of PJ's illness.  The house has suffered greatly.  Attitudes have suffered.  Schooling (for the littles) has suffered.  Sigh.

Yesterday I finally decided to take PJ to the doctor.  His fever was gone.  The rash was incidental, and didn't worry me.  The fact that he would wake from a 20 minute nap and scream - with none of the normal calming methods of any use - was another issue altogether.  It occurred to me at some point yesterday that sometimes strep is accompanied by a rash.  With the screaming, I figured he had to hurt somewhere.  Was it his throat?  Was it ears?

A trip to Express Care confirmed my suspicions.  Thankfully, he was calm and cooperative the entire time we were at the doctor.  He didn't even cry after the throat swab!  Strep came back negative.  Ears, however, were red.  Also, a tympanogram showed very little movement.  Bummer!

Normal Tympanogram

This is approximately what one of PJ's ears looked like.  The other ear was even worse!

The rash (covers his back too).

Even his face got it :(

Today he seems to be nearly normal.  The ears will get better.  The rash is dissipating.  Maybe next week will be better?  No, next week WILL be better! ;)

Have I mentioned I like sewing?

Before I start this post for real, I want to update on Phoenix.  He's feeling better.  No fever.  Still a bit cranky, though. ;)  He's feeling well enough to get into lots of mischief!  I noticed a rash this evening, so I'm certain it was a viral thing - probably roseola.  Fits the symptoms perfectly, and is really common.


Recently a friend, putting together a gift package to donate to a silent auction, asked if she could purchase one of my totes to hold the goodies she was donating.  I wasn't sure how I felt about that since I've never sold one of my totes before.  I also had no idea what to charge if I did sell one.  I did, however, agree that I could make a tote.

She let me know what she was donating, and also the color of one of the items, and I started looking at my fabrics.  I found something I thought would work... and then it all just sat in my bin, waiting.

Yesterday evening I realized I didn't know when she needed the tote!  LOL  So, I made a phone call and discovered I only had until about noon on Friday.  That got my butt in gear.  I gathered my supplies, made a plan, and started cutting.

As usual, I made an error.  And, as usual, it turned out to be just the thing the bag needed to make it special. :)

Here's what I ended up with:

It was tough letting go of this one!  It turned out really great, and I love the colors.  I hope it helps bring a good price for the gift bundle at the auction.  My friend loved the bag as well, and the colors were perfect!

Today, since Tim was off work all day, I took the opportunity to take a project out of my "project box".  The box is full of 1/2 finished projects, and hasn't been touched in well over a year.  An adorable pair of pants with a hole in the knee found new life. :)  After completing this project I thought perhaps a ruffle would have been better.  Then again, Shiloh will be the one wearing them, and ruffles aren't really her thing.  Maybe when they get passed down to Jericho I'll replace the cuff with a ruffle. ;)

(For the record, she did not wear the pants today... hopefully she'll choose different socks when she does wear them! LOL)

I saw a great idea tonight for the rest of the legs. :)  Can't wait to work on that project!  Hmm.  It seems that projects breed new projects...

HOT!

snuggling with daddy

Sunday morning started out slow.  I didn't wake up until 9:45 a.m., and at that point only Levi and Victory were awake for the day.  I showered, and dressed, and by that time everyone else was up... but no where near ready to head to church!  Victory and I went alone.  It was nice!  I think she actually paid attention to the sermon. ;)

We came home and I fixed lunch.  Tim and I discussed the rest of the day and decided we would run some errands.  Phoenix went down for his nap just as we were leaving.  When we returned home about 3 1/2 hours later, he was still sleeping.  I thought it was odd since he's been taking very short naps lately (typically 45 min. to an hour - even though he could certainly stand more!).  A while later I finally sent Alex to get him out of bed.  It was nearly 6:30 at this point, and I wanted him to fall asleep for the night!

He was HOT! I took his temp, and it was about 102.5 degrees.  It was the strangest thing!  He ate his lunch fine, and hadn't shown any sign at all that he was not feeling well prior to his nap.  At that point he just wanted to snuggle.

Later, after all the other kids had gone to bed, he was still snuggling on Tim when he suddenly evicted everything he'd eaten at lunch.  We got him (and Tim!) cleaned up, and I sat in the bathroom while he sat in the empty tub with just his diaper on in case he threw up again.  About an hour later I offered him some generic pedialyte.  He took it readily!  I wanted to make sure he was well hydrated at least.  Not long after, he lost the drink along with what little was left of his lunch. :(

We cleaned everything up again, and he ended up putting himself to sleep on the floor.  We allowed him to sleep there until we went to bed.  Thankfully, after all the puking, his temp came down to about 101 degrees, and he seemed to be doing better.

[In the middle of all of this baby drama, I was making phone calls to find substitutes for myself for co-op on Monday morning.  Thankfully I was able to cover the two hours I needed too without too much difficulty -- just lots of phone calls.]

After sleeping all night, PJ woke Monday morning with a very low temp (low enough I didn't even bother checking what it was) and seemed to be feeling just fine.  I made sure he was drinking his pedialyte and after determining he was keeping that down I fed him 1/2 a banana, and later some animal crackers.  Still no issues.  Yay!  He continued to perk up all morning and by lunch time didn't even seem to have a temp.

After lunch, he again went down for his nap.  This was a more typical nap - in the neighborhood of an hour.  When he got up he was HOT again!  And cranky. =S  However, he was clearly well hydrated as evidenced by his diaper!  Got him changed, and left him in his diaper for awhile - eventually adding a onesie so he didn't get too cold.  Tim and I had our chiropractor appointment at 5 p.m., and by the time we got home PJ was REALLY HOT!  I took his temp and IMMEDIATELY gave him some Tylenol.  This time, the reading was over 105 degrees.  I don't generally treat a fever because it's the body's way of taking care of whatever is wrong, but this was just too high.

It took a while, but his temp went down with the Tylenol, and he went to bed at his normal time.  I believe it was about 9:30 when he woke up and was hungry since he hadn't eaten any supper.  We fed him some soda crackers, gave him something to drink, let him hang out and snuggle for a while and then put him back to bed.  Again, he slept the rest of the night (I think... it just occurs to me that perhaps Tim got up with him once?? lol).

This morning he was still warm, but again, is acting as if he feels better.  I guess the day will tell!  I have to admit, I'm a little worried about putting him down for his nap this afternoon!!

So, there's my novel... we would appreciate prayer that not only would Phoenix heal quickly, but also that no one else gets whatever it is he got!