3 hr glucose test, back pain and more

Over the weekend, I went in for my 3 hour glucose test. I already have a negative feeling about this, knowing what kind of food I've eaten in the past months. So I gave 4 blood draws, but the 3rd draw needed two attempts. My blood stopped pumping in the middle of it all! I really hate needles. All the puncturing left me with a bruise on my arm. I had to fast 11 hours before this test, and drinking the nasty sugared drink made it really bad. In my first pregnancy, I pretty much wanted to vomit at the lab when I went through this test. This time around wasn't actually as bad, but I was alone (last time papa Egan was able to accompany me) and I kept myself occupied with my iphone. By the time I got back to my parents's house where I left Gerard for the morning, my body was weak and shaking from hunger. Thankfully, I was able to even drive from the lab to the house. I had two eat 1 and a half bananas, and as I ate my first meal of 3 burger patties and rice right after, my hands and body were shaking from the hunger. I laid down on the couch to nap and get my energy back, I was ready to pass out.

This pregnancy is killing me with the back aches. I have always had lower back pain since I was younger, but my upper back is getting a lot of pain recently. When I'm doing dishes, when I'm cooking and when I'm sleeping. I see my chiropractor quite regularly, but the pain always comes back.

On another note, my appetite has been monstrous the last few days. Just recently, I couldn't eat very well. The thought of food still makes me nauseous, though. But when I do eat, I can't seem to satisfy myself. I have been eating two meals at a time as needed, and I try to eat snacks in between. I had a large hot pot buffet dinner on Friday night, but it didn't leave me satisfied at all.

I'm almost through with the first trimester, but there seems to be no slowdown with the gagging. I've already been struggling to get up from bed and get in/out of the car. I think this is happening really early but then again, as they say, every pregnancy is different. I didn't feel this bloated in my first pregnancy until I was halfway through.

Instead of buying more maternity pants, I got talked into buying a belly band. It's working out so far. I can still wear my regular pants and not worry about my stretching belly. I would like to get more shirts though, since my wardrobe is mostly from my pre-pregnancy days and I haven't been able to really fit into them in 2 years now.

Dancing kid

My baby boy Gerard sure is getting cuter by the day. It's so hard to get mad at the little guy for touching this and that and not listening to our warnings. He's a happy little dude, which I'm glad he is.... both his parents are gloomy folks, so it's a GREAT thing that he's not.

This evening I wanted him to dance for me, so I played some music on youtube. I chose some selections from Black Eyed Peas and he was mesmerized with their new video, Boom Boom Pow. He hears this song very often in the car so he's familiar with it. He danced alright, and kept looking back at the video. A few minutes later, he starting singing it ("Boom boom!") to my delight. He hasn't ever mimicked any song that I know of and that was the first time I've heard him do that.

I hope that his new sibling will be just as happy as he is. That'll make me so very happy. :) 

Knocking on diabetic door

It seems that I'll be double-writing from now on.

An entry here will have me writing an entry for Gerard's blog, and vice versa! Well, I guess, only if there's anything newsworthy to share.

Anyway. I took a blood test over the weekend for my diabetes monitoring, and the result was shared with me today by Dr Rittenhouse. I'm at a very high level, not quite in the diabetic zone, but I need to watch what I'm eating and exercise so we can avoid it altogether. Basically, I'm entering that zone for as long as I continue to eat with less regard. I am still required to take the 3 hour glucose testing soon (I didn't like it before, and I won't like it now).

I was actually a bit overweight when I got pregnant this time around. I have been trying to lose my first pregnancy's weight but I'm a weak girl, and I just let it eat me up negatively. But on the other hand, knowing I'll be getting pregnant again, I'd have gained back that weight anyway. So perhaps, after this pregnancy, which might be my last, I'll have to kick some self ass and take this body maintenance more seriously. I promise myself I'm not going to be an overweight mom to two kids. It's for their best interest and mine that I stay healthy, so that should be enough motivation. 

Cure for cough

Over the weekend, Gerard developed a mean cough. By Monday night, it was so mean that it prompted my calling the doctor's office next morning about cough medicine. They advised none: just elevate his head during sleep and keep a humidifier on. So come Tuesday, his grandpa noticed he didn't want to eat much, but he was interested in the orange only. He ended up eating a whole and a half for the day, which is a lot for a little kid. When I came by to pick him up, he was barely coughing. That night, I elevated his head and turned our humidifier on (which never really did anything for any of us), but I greatly believed eating the oranges did the trick.

Next time the cough comes around, it shall be the orange we'll fight it with.

OK Food: it's you, me and this fetus

I'm still not into eating! I feel so bad. Dr. Rittenhouse said to trick myself into eating healthy, I'm probably half-assing it way too good. I order sandwiches with vegetables I can stomach, I drink fruit smoothies, and... that's about it! I've gotten sick of salmon, and don't like the thought of broccoli. In fact, I get hungry and I don't want to eat. Not good!! I'm hardly drinking calcium. All I'm doing is having my vitamins, but I know those are just supplemental.

I'm also still gagging a lot, almost every day throughout the day. It's tougher on me this time around because I can't just relax as much as I did in the first pregnancy. Big brother Gerard is walking and can't be stopped so we're busy handling him! I find myself always jumping to his rescue because he hits his head every now and then.

I'm hoping for a nicer second trimester. 

The news is out (at the work place)

I hadn't exactly envisioned it would be spread this way, but news of my second pregnancy was met with gasps, screams and excitement. I had somewhat planned to personally tell a few people here and there at a time, but not this soon. It happened on someone else's big day (my colleague/friend's birthday festivity) so this definitely wasn't the place for me to say anything about my own news. Well how the news broke out was that I went back for seconds on the ice cream, and jokingly, my friend Angelie (a lot of us are friends at work) had whispered to Joe to keep me away... but then he told her I was pregnant and it's okay for me -- he thought I had already told her my news when I actually hadn't yet. So well, with all the people present, I got bombed with questions: "You're pregnant?" "Seriously?" "How far along?" "OMG you really are?" "I thought you were going to wait longer!" and so on :) And it just went on for a while, and all of a sudden a few handful of people had learned it that minute. It still wasn't the right time for me to say anything, but since it broke out the way it did, I just have to accept that this many people know about me now. Which is fine, they'd have found out either way :) 

And when it comes to food and the nasty sensation of gagging...

I can't stand the thought of fresca salsa and chicken (not together, and not separately). In my first pregnancy, this was how I felt whenever I passed by the meat section at Trader Joe's, I would just gag at the thought. I might be able to stomach in some KFC, but that would be on a last resort basis if I had nothing else to eat. I haven't been craving for anything at all, and even when hungry, I don't always want to eat. But once I'm in front of something I would eat, I eat it up. A couple of Fridays ago, I hadn't known what to get for lunch nor was I hungry, but I ended up ordering a cheeseburger with garlic fries, and I downed it so fast! Food is a weird thing for me right now. 

Gerard is moving on up: first eye checkup

Today was Gerard's first eye checkup. At 1 year old, he was well behaved and (our) optometrist was so pleased with the little guy, wishing all babies were just like him! We get this compliment a lot :) A couple of times he did try to walk out of the office when I set him free, but other than that, he was also very amused with the tools for the eye. Doctor checked for early signs of cataract and made sure his eyes were all in working order. His next check up is in about a year. I'm so so so proud of my little guy :)