And the award for best husband ever goes to...

Eric!!! Of course, there's a story to this and I just had to share it with all of you. So earlier this week, I got my first real pregnancy craving...boxed macaroni and cheese. You know - the Kraft kind in a blue box full of processed cheese and other fake things. Yup, that was my craving. Not for the amazing and decadent homemade versions that Eric and I make from time to time, but the stuff from a blue box. I had been talking about it since Monday, but I told Eric that I wasn't going to eat it because it's complete crap and I really don't think I should be feeding Little Z that sort of stuff.  Fast forward to yesterday, which was the 3rd day in a row I'd been telling Eric how badly I wanted some. I came home and right after my immediate lamenting of craving such a terrible food, Eric told me he had a small valentine's day gift for me that I had to open early. He hands me a box all wrapped up in pink paper. I rush to open it and find that it is a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese!! He told me he was tired of me talking about it and trying to deny myself the only real craving I've had this pregnancy. So, while I went to the gym, Eric made me mac 'n' cheese from a box and it was quite possibly more delicious than I remembered it being. At least I got in a good workout before devoring most of the box:P

Uggghhh....I might have GD

Yesterday was certainly an interesting day....things got super hectic at work, and I found out I have a pretty major role on a proposal, got tasked to help with a deliverable on a project, and still have to manage the project I'm currently working on! I also managed to leave my phone at home. As I got home after a particularly trafficky filled commute, I was really looking forward to my workout. Unfortuantely, I decided to check my voicemail to see if I had missed any calls during the day and sure enough I had. I got a lovely message from my OB's office telling me that my glucose levels were high from my 1 hour test and that I had to get scheduled for the 3 hour test. An elevated glucose level could be an indicator of gestational diabetes.

My mood was instantaneously dampered and I felt (and still feel) so terrible! I feel like I've tried really hard to do everything right - I still workout for 45 minutes 4-5 days a week, I watch what I eat, I really limit sweets (except for fruit - I LOVE my fruit!) and still I somehow feel like I'm already letting this kid down. I have none of the signs of gestational diabetes (GD) - no rapid weight gain, the baby is not measuring big, no high blood pressure (116/60 at my last visit), so I'm definitely shocked by the possibility of actually having it! I'm scheduled to go in for my 3 hour test on Tuesday and I'm crossing my fingers that it will go better. I felt so sick and jittery after drinking all that sugar before the 1 hour test, and now I'm supposed to drink twice that amount for the 3 hour test!

Now I haven't been a huge worrier when it comes to this pregnancy, and I'd bet good money that my mom and my aunts have worried more about my baby's gestational health than I have so far. However, when I was researching GD I learned some things that kind of freaked me out - mainly that the baby is at a higher risk for low blood sugar, a NICU stay, and jaundice. I'm actually most freaked out about the jaundice - I had it really really badly when I was an infant (like to the point of almost needed a blood transfusion), and I figured that my kid would likely be predisposed to having that anyway. But, knowing that GD could increase that risk really makes me nervous, plus the fact that having GD increases your child's risk of childhood and adult obesity. I'm also not so thrilled about how having GD increases your risk for a c-section, inductions, etc. since we are hoping for an intervention and med-free birth. Now, I'm probably freaking out over nothing and hopefully, even if I am predisposed to having GD (b/c women of South Asian decent have an increased risk factor) my diet and exercise have been helping to control it and limit its effects on Little Z. I just want to make sure that I give our little guy the best possible nutrition and environment to grow in until he is ready to make his appearance so that he has the best possible start when he does get here!

Fingers crossed that the doctor's visit goes well tomorrow and that the 3 hour test goes well next week...hopefully all this worry will be for nothing!

Give Us Your Advice!

For all you parents out there, please come in and share your advice! Eric and I are trying to figure out what things we are really going to need for this baby for the first 6 months - 1 year of his life and we are kind of hitting a dead end. While we know what things we might need, we are totally stuck when it comes to things like brands, models etc...consulting Baby Bargains and reviews on the internet have just confused us more. So, help us out! What were the items you could not have lived without when you child was an infant? What were your favorite brands models for commonly used items? Any advice/suggestions on the following products/items would also be greatly appreciated!

1. Breast Pump (I'm thinking the Medela Freestyle, but need feedback from people that have actually used a breast pump as to what they liked/didn't like)

2. Play Yard/Bassinet - Heard great things about the Graco Pack n Play and the Chicco Lullaby. We need something somewhat small and easily portable that will work as a bassinet for about 2 months and as a portable crib for when we're out of town.

3. Bath Tub - NO CLUE AT ALL - do we get one for the sink? One for the bathtub? On for each? What brands/models are good here? HELP!!!

4. Swing - do we even need one/should we get one? Is it better to wait until the little guy gets here and have him test drive one in the store?

5. Bottles/Nipples/Pacifiers - we're planning on exclusively breastfeeding, but little z will eventually need to learn how to drink from a bottle so that I can pump when I go back to work/school. Keeping this in mind,what are the nipples/bottles/pacifiers that work best? I've heard anything from NUK to Dr. Brown's to Tommy TeePee...any other brands to consider? Any favorites?

Leave us your thoughts on these and any other essentials you think we should have!

2 Pounds!

Today, Eric and I went to the doctor's for our monthly appointment. It went really well and I only gained 2 lbs. Feels like a small miracle considering all the food we had in Sri Lanka and that it's been restaurant week this week (that equals 2 three course meals in 3 days!). Little Z has a strong heart rate and is still head-down and he kicked up a storm when the doctor had the doptone over my belly. Equally as exciting...we're now moving to appointments ever 2 weeks! In between now and then I have to find time to take my Gestational Diabetes. I am so not looking forward to that, especially since I have to fast beforehand and then drink a sugary drink and then wait 1 hour before getting my blood drawn. I have a feeling that much sugar on an empty stomach is not going to make me feel very good! Oh well, a minor inconvenience to make sure the little guy is OK...I guess I better get used to it! I'm sure I'll have many more inconveniences that will be much more major over the next 18 years:P

In other news, I think my procrastination on MBA applications may have to come to an end. Depending on what due date you go by, I am now either 27 weeks or 29 weeks, and hearing the 29 weeks out loud made me realize how soon we'll get to hold our little boy! That's only 10 more weekends, which means that by the time the next application deadlines come about for the remaining two programs I'm considering (April 15 and June 1), I might be a mom! Now, I know that this makes Eric very happy because my procrastination drives him crazy, but it is putting me in a totally new situation - I'm just not good at writing essays if there isn't the pressure of a deadline. When there's a deadline, I can usually pull out some pretty good stuff, but without the pressure, I don't think I produce work that's as good. Maybe I can make it my goal for the month of February to finish these applications....we'll just have to see how that goes!

What happened to my workouts??

Getting back to the gym after a 10 day hiatus while we were in Sri Lanka definitely hasn't been easy, but I've managed to keep up my routine for the most part since we've come back. However, my workouts just don't seem to be the same! It is incredible to me how much my intensity has gone down since I became pregnant. I used to be able to do high intensity intervals on the treadmill and run at 10.5 or 11 mph for those intervals. I used to think 6 mph was a very light jog and I could have easily kept that up for a hour or more. I used to be able to go 200+ steps per minute on the elliptical at a level 10 resistance and I used to be able to do a serious weight circuit workout for 45 minutes using pretty heavy weights.

Yesterday when I went to the gym my workout consisted of walking at 4 mph at a level 3-5 incline for 20 minutes and "running" at 5 or 5.5 mph alternating for 25 minutes and I could barely finish that "run." My weight workouts, which I used to love, have become the lowest priority for me. Now, I have to force myself to do 20 minutes a day using 5 or 10 lb weights. It's kind of ridiculous and I'm totally hoping that this is a symptom of pregnancy that will disappear quickly after I give birth!

In other news, I have my monthly OB appointment on Thursday. Now, I know I said I've come to terms with the weight gain, but I'm still kind of nervous for this weigh in, mainly because this week is restaurant week! I'm starting it off properly with a girls' night tonight at Cedar, followed by Filomena tomorrow with Eric, Tasanee, and Adam, then Smith and Wollensky on Friday for date night, and ending with brunch at Cuba Libre on Saturday! Hopefully all the extra water I'm drinking will help flush out the extra salt from eating out, but regardless, I am definitely planning on enjoying myself! I'm considering it a week long celebration for finally submitting my MBA application:)

100 Days to Go!

As I logged onto the pregnancy app I have for my iPhone this morning, I was shocked and excited to see that the countdown ticker said 100 days till d-day!! I know I just wrote a post about how time flies, but getting down to 100 days makes this seem even more real than before!

In addition to the excitement of the arrival of our son, I'm also currently dealing with a bit of stress, mostly surrounding the whole business school application process. Being the procrastinator that I am, I still have to finish up my essays and finalize my resume. I have actually been working on these for the majority of the week, but I still feel like there is a lot to do. My application is due on Saturday at midnight, so thankfully I have time (and thankfully I have a flexible job where I can go in early and leave early so I can work on these in the afternoon), but I am sure going to be glad when I can just hand all this in and be done!

In other exciting news, we started reading to Little Z this week! When we went up to visit Eric's parents, we were able to bring back some books that his mom had saved from the time her boys were little. It was so much fun to go through the books and see what they had saved. We're going to my parents' house on Sunday (after I turn in my applications:P) so hopefully we'll be able to do the same thing then. Among some of the treasures we found in PA were Henry's Awful Mistake (which was one of my and Eric's favorites when we were little), and Curious George (which I LOVED when I was little ). We've really enjoyed reading to our little guy and it seems to calm him down - he was kicking up a storm before we started reading and once we started, he calmed right down - almost like he knew it was bed time! It is going to be so much fun to read to him once he is born. It's something that I really enjoyed as a kid, and something that Eric feels really strongly about doing for all of our kids, plus we both think it will be a fun ritual to start each night and a great way to spend time together as a family, especially as the kids get older.

Our First Bradley Class

Yesterday, Eric and I had our first child birth class. We were supposed to have our first class last week, but we were both feeling so bad from the flight that we didn't go. In any case, I was very excited for our first class and I've really been looking forward to just learning more about the whole childbirth experience. When we were looking into classes, Eric pretty much left the decision up to me since I am the one that is going to have to push out this baby. The thing I really liked about the Bradley Method classes was that they covered more than just labor and delivery - the classes go into things like nutrition, exercise, breast feeding, information about tests, procedures, interventions, and tools for advocating for yourself during labor and delivery. These were all very important things to me, especially since I am planning for a med-free and intervention free labor and delivery. We did a lot of research when choosing and OB and a hospital and we're so glad that we have and environment that is supportive of the type of birth we want to have. My doctor told me that I could walk around, eat, and even drink during labor and the nurses at the hospital we've chosen are also supportive of this (as far as I can tell from the experiences of others that have delivered there).

Anyway, back to the class! Our class yesterday was fabulous. We learned some relaxation techniques, went over some basic exercises to strengthen muscles used during labor, and then focused on nutrition, particularly during the third trimester. Now, those of you that know me well know that I am a total nutrition freak - I can probably tell you the number of calories in almost any food, I use more tablespoons in one day than most people use in a month, and I measure everything. So, when we started to talk about nutrition during pregnancy I was very interested to hear what was recommended. To my surprise, it was almost exactly the type of diet I followed before I was pregnant. High protein and lots of veggies. The couple additions to the pregnancy diet are 4 servings a day each of  milk/dairy and carbs from whole grain sources. Now it's not like you are forced to follow this diet by any means, but I think it is definitely a worthwhile one to try and incorporate. The purpose of the diet is to ensure that the baby gets as much of its necessary nutrients from food rather than supplements, and getting nutrients from food was something that I strived for prior to pregnancy so this seems quite logical. I think I was doing pretty well before learning about this diet, but having some concrete targets for food groups will definitely help, especially if I'm tracking my meals. If any of you are interested in learning more, the diet is called Dr. Brewer's Diet and there is a ton of information about this online:)

All this information about nutrition could not have come at a better time. During my trip to Sri Lanka, I came to terms with my changing body and weight gain in general. My doctor kept telling me that he doesn't care how much weight I gain as long as I'm eating healthfully and continuing with my exercise regime, but it didn't really sink in until recently. I've decided that I regardless of what I do, my body is going to change, and that is OK. If I'm gaining a lot of weight despite eating well and working out, then it must be because my body needs to gain the weight and if it needs the weight now, I'm confident that it will also shed that weight later, when it doesn't need it. Finally, after almost 6 months I've been able to come to terms with this and it feels so good to finally be in a place where I truly am enjoying and embracing all aspects of this pregnancy!