1.

I am pricking myself four times a day for blood. While the process itself is not overbearing, the timing of everything just kind of sucks. I have gestational diabetes :(. I prick once before I eat in the morning, then once an hour after main meals, and this is to test the glucose in my blood to see if it’s within normal range while eating on a modified diet. I think typically this is done to limit the carbs one has and to learn to spread them out more, but for the most part, it’s increased the number of carbs that I eat most of the time. I think the only place I’ve really had to reduce has been at supper. Though now I eat an evening snack, so … somehow it balances. I seem to be doing well with staying in normal range though, which will hopefully mean that I don’t need to take insulin. I just don’t like having to poke myself to bleed…

2.

I have a good chance of being transferred to midwifery care! I’m so excited! As long as I don’t have to take medication for the gestational diabetes, they’ll take me! I have to admit, it’s a little nerve wracking to know that my first appointment with the midwife won’t be until the first week of September, but we’re pretty comfortable with how things will unravel one way or the other, so I’m trusting that this will be right for us. I think there’s a better chance that I won’t be having a c-section again this time with a midwife too (as long as everything still progresses smoothly).

3.

We are going to a wedding this weekend, and then we’ll be visiting with friends Sunday who, though live close by, we don’t often get a chance to visit with. I’m very excited; it should be a fun weekend filled with good memory-making opportunities! I’m hopeful that I still fit into the dress I was planning on wearing to the wedding; I suppose I should try it on again to make sure…

4.

Can you believe that there is only one more week of August left? I imagine that for most people it signifies going back into routine; for me it signifies a step closer to dramatically recreating routine (if we can find one). While I don’t feel that I’m over-anticipating the change that’s going to happen, it still makes me a little nervous thinking about how our lives will change once again. I’m hoping that this time around won’t be as hard as I felt the first 6 weeks of Spencer’s life were in adjusting. Those were some of the hardest weeks I feel I’ve ever experienced, and I really sympathize with first-time parents who struggle to see the end of the tunnel. It’s a hard adjustment to make.

5.

I have quite the urge to go to the Maritimes. It’s been a floating background in my mind over the past couple of weeks; it’d be fun, and of course we’d bike as much of it as we could. I don’t know if it’s just anticipating being stuck at home a lot more with a new babe or if it’s just travelitis, but I really want another good road trip this summer. Unfortunately a two hour drive anywhere doesn’t quite suffice.

6.

We are starting a new routine at home: ‘quiet time.’ I’m not sure how it will go. Basically, Spencer has been sleeping horribly for me for his naps (yesterday was only 45 minutes), but great for Andy (usually over 2 hours), and I’m realising that in order to really be a good mother to him, I need some quiet time away from him during the day. So, today we’ve started with attempting ‘quiet time,’ which lasts from the start of nap until three o’clock. This means that, to some degree, Spencer will be learning a bit more about time and about numbers. I’m hoping that by the time the baby comes, this will be a relatively stable part of our day; I’ll definitely need something like this to carry me through with a newborn, I anticipate.

7.

Does anyone know a good way to deal with ants in the basement? During wet weather, we get a large number of these creepy crawlies invading our space, which we would like to do away with. We have some ant killer that should end up killing their nests, but does anyone have success stories they can share?