So here I am 6 1/2 months pregnant. I'm really surprised at how quickly it's going by this time. It really feels like it's been half as long. I wonder if each pregnancy feels half as long as the one before it. My grandmother on my mom's side had 9 kids. If my theory is true, then she probably realized she was pregnant with my youngest uncle about the same time he was cutting his first teeth.
They called from my midwife's office to tell me that they found my glucose test results to be borderline for gestational diabetes. It started out that I failed the initial scan and then took the 3 hour test. Clarissa was out of town, but her assistant midwife told me that I had passed the test and didn't have gestational diabetes. I'm not sure what happened since Clarissa got back, but they aren't so sure now. So they are giving me the chance to re-take the 3 hour test this coming Monday. Caleb will spend the morning at his little friend Millie's house.
In the meantime, I'm not supposed to eat sugary stuff - which of couse, being forbidden, I crave with incredible intensity. I am not an ice cream craver typically (not even while pregnant), but the stuff looks sooooooooooooo good to me now. I'm not sure what's ok to eat - even my yogurt appears to have a huge amount of sugar in it - more than the ice cream! And while I'm wanting these foods, I'm not sure how to feel about it all - obviously if I do have gestational diabetes it's not something I brought on myself, but I feel kind of guilty too!
Regardless of the results, I'm starting to realize what a big sweet tooth I have...and how often I indulge it. Still, if the results are ok on Monday, there is a Dr. Pepper in my fridge calling my name!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Backyard Project
You may remember my crop circles blog from about a year ago. For far too long our backyard has been a useless piece of property - particularly with an energetic toddler itching to get outside. The soil is littered with broken tile and glass - debris that I only assume came either during our house's construction or as a result of Hurricane Andrew.
That said, I was inspired a few weeks ago to section off a bit of the backyard, clean it up and turn it into a mini-playground for Caleb. Something he can play on without me having to hover underneath him. I'm hoping to spend time sitting nursing the baby outside while he plays. Once the dry season is here, I think it's a plan that will work.
Here are some pictures of the progress:
This is the yard before any work was done. The yellowlines are my planned area to work on.
Instead of buying a big tarp to cover the ground, I bought a cheap box of black trashbags and patched it over the grass. My intent was to kill the grass...and it worked!
After a couple of weeks, I began removing the bags and raking up the grass. I recovered the dirt with the bags. In the meantime, I got sick and then started feeling a little too rotund to continue the raking. Rob has been very busy with Call FM and the homebased business - and I am very pleased with our HBB's summer success, so I didn't press him to help out.
While my parents were here, they helped me finish up the work and cover the area with landscaping fabric and mulch.
Here's the final result. The back edge by the house is covered with rocks.
We also built a sand table - using a pattern from Family Fun magazine. I hope to find a 2nd hand toddler gym to complete our mini-playground in the next few weeks.
Caleb really likes the sandtable! He's saying, "Yea!" in this picture.
That said, I was inspired a few weeks ago to section off a bit of the backyard, clean it up and turn it into a mini-playground for Caleb. Something he can play on without me having to hover underneath him. I'm hoping to spend time sitting nursing the baby outside while he plays. Once the dry season is here, I think it's a plan that will work.
Here are some pictures of the progress:
This is the yard before any work was done. The yellowlines are my planned area to work on.
Instead of buying a big tarp to cover the ground, I bought a cheap box of black trashbags and patched it over the grass. My intent was to kill the grass...and it worked!
After a couple of weeks, I began removing the bags and raking up the grass. I recovered the dirt with the bags. In the meantime, I got sick and then started feeling a little too rotund to continue the raking. Rob has been very busy with Call FM and the homebased business - and I am very pleased with our HBB's summer success, so I didn't press him to help out.
While my parents were here, they helped me finish up the work and cover the area with landscaping fabric and mulch.
Here's the final result. The back edge by the house is covered with rocks.
We also built a sand table - using a pattern from Family Fun magazine. I hope to find a 2nd hand toddler gym to complete our mini-playground in the next few weeks.
Caleb really likes the sandtable! He's saying, "Yea!" in this picture.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Making a Splash!
We went to Naples (Naples, Florida, not Italy) this weekend with my parents because Rob was setting up some new radio translators (mini radio stations) for Call FM. My dad was on the site with Rob, but my mom, Caleb and I just played around the hotel and Naples.
Caleb and I went swimming - he loved making a splash!
Caleb and I went swimming - he loved making a splash!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Old Couch/New Couch
All sorts of changes at the Robbins house this year! If you've ever been to our house, you probably remember our old couch:
If this couch was a dog, it would be a faithful old hound. When I first moved to Miami, Rob owned it, but it was being stored in the girls BCM apartment (partly to eliminate the need to tote it upstairs to the guys apartment). I took many a nap on this couch! As did many of my roommates. When we got married, it came along with us, but prior to 1999, it was a bachelor couch in the apartment of more than one bachelor. There is no way to know where it's useful life began. I remember it being a good couch for naps and being comfy, but those days faded away. And it became on of those couches that made you struggle to get up.
Close ups of its battle scars:
My parents are coming to visit and didn't want to stay in a hotel, so they graciously bought us this new couch:
It's a sleeper sofa. So now no one has an excuse not to visit! Caleb really likes the mattress part of the couch!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Bauchabbildung für den 6. Monat
Six months and counting. If you look at this picture closely, you will notice that I am indeed - barefoot and pregnant.
Tomorrow starts the 3rd trimester. It's sort of a strange time to enter - exciting, because the baby will be born so soon, but something I've dreaded, because I was so uncomfortable last time. Also it seems very sobering to realize that the baby will be full term in 10 short weeks.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Fear of Falling
Earlier this week, I spent a long loooooooooooooong morning in my midwife's office (I failed the initial glucose screen and had to take the 3 hour test - BTW I passed) and I spent most of that time reading magazines. One magazine had an article that talked about the two fears all babies are born with. One is the fear of loud noises. I have to be honest. When Caleb was a newborn and heard a loud noise like all babies he had the startle reflex. It was the funniest thing. I hate to think now that he was paralyzed with fear! But those little newborn reflexes are some of the things I'm looking forward to with this new baby...they go away so fast.
The second fear is fear of falling. I, like the writer of the article, found this surprising. I mean, doesn't it seem like they should be more afraid of being abandoned or not being able to eat? I thought more about this interesting bit of trivia later in the week while watching Caleb climb up onto our bed. When he was first learning how to climb things and first learning how to walk, I always hovered around him like a cheerleader spotter. But time taught me that he had a little better sense of balance than I thought. I wonder if this inborn fear of falling has anything to do with learning to walk and learning to climb. Maybe it's what gives you that sense of wobbly correction when you feel yourself falling.
I searched more about these fears online and found an interesting discussion about how the fear of falling is why newborns often freak out when you change their diaper (until I read the article, I thought Caleb was the only one). It said that by just holding their head or wedging a rolled blanket next to them, they'll feel more secure and won't be quite as afraid. I wish I knew that back then! It probably also explains why Caleb lost it everytime we tried to give him a bath on that little newborn bath sling. I gave up on that pretty quickly and just gave him sponge baths.
The second fear is fear of falling. I, like the writer of the article, found this surprising. I mean, doesn't it seem like they should be more afraid of being abandoned or not being able to eat? I thought more about this interesting bit of trivia later in the week while watching Caleb climb up onto our bed. When he was first learning how to climb things and first learning how to walk, I always hovered around him like a cheerleader spotter. But time taught me that he had a little better sense of balance than I thought. I wonder if this inborn fear of falling has anything to do with learning to walk and learning to climb. Maybe it's what gives you that sense of wobbly correction when you feel yourself falling.
I searched more about these fears online and found an interesting discussion about how the fear of falling is why newborns often freak out when you change their diaper (until I read the article, I thought Caleb was the only one). It said that by just holding their head or wedging a rolled blanket next to them, they'll feel more secure and won't be quite as afraid. I wish I knew that back then! It probably also explains why Caleb lost it everytime we tried to give him a bath on that little newborn bath sling. I gave up on that pretty quickly and just gave him sponge baths.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Take Care! He Bites!
In my favorite Dickens novel, David Copperfield, the hero (David) bites his cruel stepfather (Mr. Murdstone) and consequently has to wear a sign that reads, "Take care of him! He bites!".* Oh sad sad...we need that sign.
Recently the mom of the kids I babysit got a new job and her schedule changed, so I had to babysit on a Tuesday the same day their house is cleaned. Because of this, they brought Ashley over to my house (the bigger kids are going to a day camp this week). I don't know if the tension was higher because she was on Caleb's turf, but there was a lot of extra head-butting which culminated in Caleb biting the tar our of Ashley. I'm wordlessly thankful that he didn't break her skin; he certainly left a mark!
Fortnuately for us, Ashley is a third child and her mother was not shocked or surprised in the least. Honestly, I'm not surprised, just tense - we have playgroup today and hopefully it will be incident free. I can't keep him away from all kids.
*David is also beaten, neglected and sent off to a boarding school under the wrathful Mr. Creakle.
Recently the mom of the kids I babysit got a new job and her schedule changed, so I had to babysit on a Tuesday the same day their house is cleaned. Because of this, they brought Ashley over to my house (the bigger kids are going to a day camp this week). I don't know if the tension was higher because she was on Caleb's turf, but there was a lot of extra head-butting which culminated in Caleb biting the tar our of Ashley. I'm wordlessly thankful that he didn't break her skin; he certainly left a mark!
Fortnuately for us, Ashley is a third child and her mother was not shocked or surprised in the least. Honestly, I'm not surprised, just tense - we have playgroup today and hopefully it will be incident free. I can't keep him away from all kids.
*David is also beaten, neglected and sent off to a boarding school under the wrathful Mr. Creakle.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Baffled and Early Nesting
Now before I get into this story, I want to say that I don't mean this to condemn my fellow Cutler Ridgian at all. I have done this and think it's a perfectly legitimate thing to do...sometimes. I am just completely baffled at his/her choice of doing it this morning.
When Caleb and I left K-mart this morning, I was opening the car trunk and glanced over my shoulder and saw a person waiting for my spot. Again - perfectly legitimate, I've done this many many times in Miami. Sometimes it's the only way to get a parking spot. But this morning, first - the parking lot was no where near full, second - I very obviously had a huge cart load of items to squeeze into my trunk and a toddler to wrangle into his carseat (clearly I wasn't going to be moving fast), and finally - there was an open spot almost directly across from my spot - close enough that waiting for my spot was going to be an improvement of exactly 1 car space. I just want to reiterate - I was not annoyed that this person waited, just very very confused!
Otherwise...I'm finally feeling better from my cold. I was able to tough out other colds during this pregnancy and when I was pregnant with Caleb, but I could tell this one was not going as usual and I ended up with a sinus infection. I'm finishing a round of antibiotics and am finally able to sleep....at least most of the night! A good thing about feeling better is that I'm really feeling the nesting instinct. I thought that came later, but I've got a tremendous urge right now to reorganize closets and toss out clutter!
My parents have graciously gotten us a new couch (kind of for us, kind of for them - it's a sleeper sofa) and it is going to be delivered in about 10 days. Meanwhile, we are plotting how we will convince Mako that the couch will literally eat him alive if he so much as sniffs it. He has been sneaking on the old one at night and sleeping there comfortably. So one of my objectives at K-mart was to find a dog bed to bribe him with. Right now, he's sleeping on the cold hard floor under the computer table, but here he is testing out the new bed:
When Caleb and I left K-mart this morning, I was opening the car trunk and glanced over my shoulder and saw a person waiting for my spot. Again - perfectly legitimate, I've done this many many times in Miami. Sometimes it's the only way to get a parking spot. But this morning, first - the parking lot was no where near full, second - I very obviously had a huge cart load of items to squeeze into my trunk and a toddler to wrangle into his carseat (clearly I wasn't going to be moving fast), and finally - there was an open spot almost directly across from my spot - close enough that waiting for my spot was going to be an improvement of exactly 1 car space. I just want to reiterate - I was not annoyed that this person waited, just very very confused!
Otherwise...I'm finally feeling better from my cold. I was able to tough out other colds during this pregnancy and when I was pregnant with Caleb, but I could tell this one was not going as usual and I ended up with a sinus infection. I'm finishing a round of antibiotics and am finally able to sleep....at least most of the night! A good thing about feeling better is that I'm really feeling the nesting instinct. I thought that came later, but I've got a tremendous urge right now to reorganize closets and toss out clutter!
My parents have graciously gotten us a new couch (kind of for us, kind of for them - it's a sleeper sofa) and it is going to be delivered in about 10 days. Meanwhile, we are plotting how we will convince Mako that the couch will literally eat him alive if he so much as sniffs it. He has been sneaking on the old one at night and sleeping there comfortably. So one of my objectives at K-mart was to find a dog bed to bribe him with. Right now, he's sleeping on the cold hard floor under the computer table, but here he is testing out the new bed:
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
BIG and Pregnant
The second trimester is definately the best part of being pregnant, but I think the worst part of it (at least the 2nd time around) is knowing what's ahead. Here's a picture of me at 8 months with Caleb:
Whew!
I didn't have a 9th month picture because we didn't make it that long. Thank goodness!!! Anyway, one of the local news anchors here is pregnant...and I mean she is PREGNANT! You just feel uncomfortable looking at her. They actually lingered on a side view of her tonight and she has to be at least 12 or 13 months along.
You think I'm joking? It can happen. Actually a woman in Morocco was pregnant for 46 years. It happened (rather it started) back in the 1950s. A woman named Zahra was pregnant and was just about due. She went into labor and things were going badly. A doctor wanted to give her a c-section, but she got scared and went home. The baby was never born, but died and calcifed - TURNED TO STONE - inside of her. The baby was removed 46 years later. She had a certain kind of ectopic pregnancy where the baby actually implants, not in the tubes, but somewhere outside of the uterus. (Actually all the links I find for this story say the baby was in the tubes, but the show I saw about it said otherwise.) I did read a story about a more recent pregnancy in South America (Brazil I think) where the baby implanted on the liver. That child survived. Wow.
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