Checking Things Off The List

With "Bean" coming this fall we've been trying to use our summer months to complete this year's list of home to-dos.  The two biggest projects we had on the list were installing sod and painting repainting "Bean's" room.

Since we moved in during the winter months, we were unable to get a finished driveway and yard right off the bat. At first it wasn't so bad, after a few months it started to become depressing.  Pulling up to the house, seeing the garage, and having to park on the road. Especially during the many torrential downpours we had this spring.  But we waited as patiently as we could...the projected completion date for everything was the 4th of July.

Then the 4th of July rolled around, and we still didn't have a driveway or sod. With all the rain that we got this spring we were told the ground just wasn't hard enough. There were also a ton of other houses being put up in the spring that needed those things in order to close, so we were stuck waiting a bit longer than expected.

Finally, on July 11th we got our driveway installed!!!  Everything else from there went pretty quickly.  Our builder was able to get the property graded that same day, and  get a surveyor out to approve the grade the following Monday.  Then came the fun part, for Adam, installing the sod ;p

With the help of my younger cousins, uncles and Adam's co-workers they were able to finish in about 8 hours.  They started prepping the property around 8AM and the sod actually arrived around 11AM.  I definitely felt bad watching them work.  Luckily, the weather was in the 70's; only a few days before we were in the 90's and 100's.

They finished around 4PM - of course with a couple of hiccups.  Our property line ended up going out further than we had thought and we were about 100 rolls short of grass.  Of course the grass farm was closed for the day, since it was a Saturday they closed at noon.  So we ran to Home Depot and luckily they had enough rolls for us.  Of course, it was for a much higher cost (only seems right with our luck at this point) and their rental truck was unavailable. So, we had to sacrifice the interior of a few of our cars and put the sod rolls in there.  

But we finished!  And after about $15 of vacuuming the cars were as good as new :)

Painting has definitely been a touchy subject in this house the past month ;p Bean's room officially has about 20 layers of paint on the walls.  

Literally, days after the walls went up, one of my best friends, Amy, came up and helped us paint a few rooms: our bedroom, the office, fireplace wall, our bathroom and the baby's room.  

I found a super cute idea for a baby's room on Pinterest - there are soo many cute ideas on there!  Adam is convinced that the site was made to torture husbands ;)  

I knew that painting lines would be hard, I just didn't realize how hard.  We had our argument about it, but ultimately he gave in and we painted the room a gray base with white and baby blue stripes.  This room took FOREVER to do and was in need of a lot of touch-ups...like he said it would - yes, I am admitting I was very wrong!  

Then, we had our ultrasound at 20 weeks and found out we were having a little girl and right as we were leaving the hospital Adam says, "We have to repaint the room."  So the adventure began...again...

Adam went into this set on painting the room one solid color, but little did he know...

After much talking and debate, we decided on three colors again.  This time, white on top, a strip of pink in the middle and navy on the bottom.  He wasn't super excited about it but he started the project while I was on my last business trip in St. Louis.  

The colors he picked out looked absolutely adorable together and I fell in love.  Then, the frustrations started; no matter what we did there was some bleeding and splotches between colors.  We tried switching tape, painting in different directions and still the same outcome. Adam finally decided that he was over it, after about four attempts, he said it was going to be what it was.  I couldn't blame him, I didn't know how we were going to get the stripes how we wanted either.

It took me about a week of brainstorming and just sitting in the room and staring at the walls, to try to figure out how I was going to fix the bleeds enough so that my OCD wouldn't go crazy.  I decided to try and just touch-up the spots with the bleeds and used a straight sponge brush instead of taping the entire four walls and painting the colors over and over, like we had been doing.  Less area had to mean less room for bleeds and splotches, right?  

It took me about three hours on Sunday, but I'm happy to say that it WORKED :)  It's not 100% perfect, the lines aren't 100% straight and there is a little feathering here and there but we're very happy with it.  I'm also excited that Adam is very proud of the room now.  

We figured the imperfects leave a little mark of our hard work, I hope she loves it!

How far a long? 31.5 weeks

Maternity clothes? Yes
Stretch marks? A couple here and there
Sleep: A lot of waking up due to discomfort
Best moment this week : Finishing up painting in her room
Miss Anything? Queso Cheese Dip and Ahi Tuna Crisps 

Movement: Yes, but it's different movement than before.  All the movement used to feel like very fast fluttering, now I feel more pushing (like trying to make space) than flutters.
Food cravings: PF Changs, Potato Ole's with Nacho Cheese from Taco John's, Orange Julius' (back on the list again) and Subway
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yep, Adam said I had another "growth spurt" overnight.
Labor Signs: Not yet
Belly Button in or out? Unfortunately, I think it's completely flushed with my belly.

Wedding rings on or off? Off, they still fit okay, but were starting to get pretty snug.  I figured I better take it off before it's too late.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy during the day, moody at night. I think it's just the toll on my body starts to get to me and I get crabby and tired.
Looking forward to: Our 3D Ultrasound on Friday, seeing some of our closest friends all weekend and my baby shower on Saturday! <3

Love - Christina

Tests and More Tests

July was a month of tests and blood draws.  Earlier in the month, I had the gestational diabetes screening.  The test involved drinking a glucose cocktail, which is basically 10 fl. oz. of pure sugar water, flavored to taste like fruit punch.  As happy as I was that it wasn't grape flavored, the drink was still absolutely gross. I had to wait for about an hour before they drew my blood. Aside from testing my glucose levels, that day, they also did some thyroid testing. 

Unfortunately, we received a call from the doctor the next day that neither tests came back within the desired ranges :(  My glucose level came back just slightly high and the TSH levels for my thyroid were about .08 off the standard value - showing signs of hyperthyroidism.

Being the worry wart/freak that I am, I instantly began Googling everything I could -- even though EVERYONE kept telling me to stop.  I just wanted to know how all of this was going to affect the baby.  Of course, everything you read online is always worse case scenario!  

Thankfully the scheduler was able to get me in the following day to do the actual 3-hour diabetes testing, so we could at least get one thing figured out.  I would still have to wait 2 weeks before I was able to get in with the endocrinologist for my thyroid.

I didn't think it was possible but the glucose cocktail for the 3-hour testing was even nastier than the first drink. At about the end of hour one, I seriously thought it was going to come back up.  It took everything I had to keep it down, especially with the knowledge that if I threw it up, I would have to come back another day and start all over again. Over the course of 3 hours, they drew my blood every hour, on the hour.  Have I ever mentioned that I HATE needles?  I felt like every hour was just a countdown to the next time I had to get poked, I'm a wuss, I know. And I also knew that if I failed, I would most likely have to begin poking myself daily.

Luckily, my doctor is aware of my anxiety and worrying issues and posted my results online that night via MyChart.  It was a great relief reading that I did not have gestational diabetes. 

Last week, I finally got in with the endocrinologist.  Since thyroid disorders (hyper and hypo) run deep in my family I brought my mom, thank goodness for this women because I don't know what I would do without her!

After some further testing, they found that my T3 & T4 levels are exactly where they want them to be, which is very good for the baby.  It appears as though my TSH level (which is the brain function part of it all) is still a little bit off.  However, the doctor thinks that it is gradually starting to regulate and is just taking a bit longer than most people.  They want to retest all the levels again in 4 weeks, however, right now the off levels do not pose any risks to the baby.

Through the past 3 weeks, we are beyond grateful for the people we have in our lives.  I know that our problems are nothing compared to what some other's are fighting or going through in their lives, but I was still very scared.  Being lucky enough to have the people we have to listen, get advice/wisdom from and share our fears with, made us realize even more just how fortunate we really are. 

Love,

Christina

How far a long? 30 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yes
Stretch marks? A couple
Sleep: Only up a few times a night
Best moment this week the past couple weeks : Getting through all the tests
Miss Anything? Being able to do things as quickly as before

Movement: Oh yeah!
Food cravings: Subway, LOL
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes, every much so!
Labor Signs: Not yet
Belly Button in or out? Just about out

Wedding rings on or off? Still on, but I have a feeling we'll need a temporary replacement soon

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy!
Looking forward to: Celebrating my Mom's 50th birthday :)