Tempest's blog had me almost pee my pants.

Ok, so according to the latest ultrasound the baby is already like 7 lbs, so it seems that induced labor is likely. I am literally FULL of baby, which means that I can't eat too much in one sitting (which I make up for by eating 12 times a day) and that I now pee more than Jacknife during a Monopoly game. MY belly actually rolls with knees and elbows when the baby moves around. We took a childbirth class all day on Saturday - not increadibly useful, but I did manage to learn some stuff. I also learned that I am indead carrying 'small' compaired to the rest of the world. Imagine being the smallest bus in the whole parking lot...that's about how I feel. If we're scheduling the birth date, I'll be sure to let you all know when the big day is going to be. Blixx has a 4 day job offer next week, and wants us to schedule around it. I don't think he gets that they are inducing me to save me & the baby trauma during birth, rather than just a matter of convenience.

There's still so much to do to get ready for our little girl. Oh yeah, it's definately a girl. Because of the diabetes, they will be doing ultrasounds on me right up until birth to check the baby's health and size. I had the tech 'check under the hood' again just to be sure.

The baby is due in 21 days...3 weeks! OMG!

Memorial Day weekend rain rain go away! Everyone (except us) went camping at Otter River, but we managed to drive up on Friday night to do dinner with the gang and hang out. Tadpole came up for the night too. It was soggy but we still had a good time. I have to say that I was psyched that we went home, cuz the next day I was moving like an 80 year old walrus...apparently the damp weather effects my hips and back pretty badly. And imagine if I'd had to get up and go out for a walk in the rain every time I had to pee in the night. I never would have made it to the bathrooms. No way. Saturday we played Tomb Raider and just wasted the day away. SUnday we rented movies.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Adaptation, with Nicholas Cage. It's a trippy movie well worth seeing. If you enjoyed Memento...
GIANT CHEESE FEST: Star Trek Nemesis, but I expected nothing less. Or more.

Yesterday we drove down to Rhode Island to visit my buddy BazarJ. Dude puts on a great spred, with super yummy blade steaks and lobster! Surf & turf...I ate 2 lobsters and rolled on out of there stuffed to the gills. It was great to see him and meet his and his wife's family. I got to meet his 1 year old son Jackson and play with the other two boys. He's got another one on the way, so wife and I compaired notes. Awesome time!

Did I tell you that Blixx & I went canoing last week? Yep, he paddled me around in Sturbridge and we both got sunburns. I've got pictures if anyone is interested, just drop me a line. Gotta go pay some bills.

Peace.

Check out the fall tv schedules HERE.

The Buffy series finale is tomorrow night at 8pm. I've heard great things and that it will go out with a bang, but I just can't bear the thought that I will be without my Tuesday night fix forever. Angel is still around next season, with hottie Spike joining the cast, and Eliza Dushku (Faith) has a new pilot on Fox that looks promising...all in all I am in despair over the tv schedule.

Went to Wachusett Reservoir walking with Blixx yesterday. It was about 1 mile walk in the woods to a beautiful beach, where he showed off his skills in skipping rocks and I sat soaking up the sun. I want to spend as much quality time together with him as possible, since for the next 18 years or so we'll be distracted and overtired. It hits me more and more every day that we're going to have another little human being living with us, depending on us. The baby is due in less than 1 month. Wrap your mind around THAT.

Best Buy is offering 18 month no interest financing this weekend only, so I'm off to convince Blixx to get us a new system. Buy now, deduct on this years taxes, pay off next year, when I'll be employed. Sounds good to me...and I want to be able to burn CD's!

Matrix Reloaded kicked ass. Don't believe Tempest!!! Make sure you stick around through the closign credits for a preview of the Matrix 3. Yes, there could have been some editing done and there was a lot of blah blah blah. Most of the time I complain that movies are too action driven, with little motivational reasoning given for WHY the big fights occur...this one is different. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but still very much worth seeing on the big screen. I spotted a continuity error in the Agent Smith fight scene...anyone else catch it? Something is there one minute, gone the next, then back again. I did think some of the CG looked a little too Playstation but still the movie is a wild ride and worth seeing in the theater.

Woobie and his gf Anna from Siberia came up from Baltimore. He never changes, god love him! Toad & Birdgirl & Grips came over too. The lunar eclipse was less than stimulating due to the cloud cover, damn it.

Still alive & kicking. Ok, so it's the baby kicking. Actually, it's more like she's doing the Riverdance in there. Quite difficult to sleep through, that and the fact that rolling over in bed has now become a major production number. Oh, how I long for the bliss of sleeping on my tummy again. I'm feeling good all around, except for the not sleeping at night thing. Exhaustion wears me out after a couple of nights, so I do sleep, just not as much as I would like.

Nanny isn't doing well at all, so I'm coming to CT to visit her on either Thursday or Friday this week. My mom worries that I shouldn't drive. I've got a month to go and I feel fine, so I'm pretty sure that I don't need her to come up here & pick me up...like I want to spend time trapped in a car with her. Childhood trauma!

The baby shower was awesome and not at all the affair I had been dreading. JoJo came with her Hoochie Mamma sister and her youngest Jaydah, who is an angel. Jo makes some damn cute babies! Bex was there from my former employer, and Rox even showed up with her girls. And scarey Rita, who gave us a beautiful hand made baby blanket! Wow. My mom saved some of my baby clothes, including a Holly Hobby dress, and my old baby blanket and gave those to us. Tempest and Jacknife went all out on gifts, too many to mention them all, but they were a hit with the clothesline of baby clothes. I just love baby clothes...so little and pink and cute.

Yep, I'm turning into a girlie girl. Be afraid.

Mother's day is a bbq here at our house with both of our moms, as well as Grips and the whole clan, since they usually host every holiday we thought to give them a break. Now it's just getting the yard in shape to have folks over and praying for good weather so we won't all be jammed inside. I'm actually looking forward to playing hostess with the mostest.

X-2 was in fact quite awesome. Blixx & I saw it Friday afternoon on a date. I had thought it would get more into the whole Wolverine history with Stryker...no real details there. I mean, I know how the story goes - after 'dating' two comic officianado's in a row in the mid 90's - but I thought there would be more depth to that storyline in the movie. I'm also quite sure that more motivational plot should have been included in Pyro's journey to the dark side. There was definately more action and I did enjoy Nightcrawler (accent was a bit sketchy in places but hey) and I agree that there should have been more Colossus. In other news, I ate a whole LARGE popcorn...that big ass bag that it takes 2 hands to lift....yep, it went in my belly. I mean, Blixx had some I suppose, but it was mostly me. Popcorn is low carb so it qualifies as a food that I can eat 'free.'

Ok, got a wierd call yesterday morning. I answered the phone only because I knew it was a telemarketer, but boy was I in for a supprise.
"Mrs Blixx?"
"yes"
"I'm soandso from Obviously Slurred Name Law office. I'm calling to collect $136 on a bounced check you wrote to CVS. How would you like to handle this, Ma'am?"
"Um...What? Where are you calling from again, please?"
He slurs the name of the law office again.
"When did this alleged incident occur?"
"1996. Ma'am, please...how would you like to make payment for this?"
"You're collecting on a debt from 1996 that has never appeared on my credit report? On a debt that I have had no other collection activity on since 1996?!"
"I can't speak for previous collections. I just see here that you owe us this money."
"Sir, I can't make any decision on this alleged matter until I recieve some sort of written verification that the debt is valid. Until then, I will take no action. What is the name of the law office again, please?"
"Thank you, Ma'am. We'll send something right out."

Ok, first off while I admit that I wrote some rubber checks during my college years, I know without a doubt that I was well past that in 1996. Secondly, there's no way in hell that I'd even have to write a check for over $100 at a pharmacy. Thirdly, if this was the first contact for collections, then they would have only my maiden name and wouldn't have my current address. Lastly, dude couldn't really tell me where he was calling from. That they knew I was a potential mark for my past collection agency activity is something I wonder about, and I eagerly await something in the mail if this is a real thing. I was just so wierded out at the call. I wonder how many people fall for scams like that and just go ahead and send money without really thinking it through.

******

We survived Easter. We went to NH for dinner with my mother's Dick's daughter and family and had a really nice time. They live near a pond and we took a lovely after dinner walk in the beautiful weather. Mom wasn't too out of her mind, so all in all it went well. I cheated on my diet, cuz who can resist a cherry cheese swirl cake, and ended up with all normal blood sugar readings. I even chowed jellybeans! Dunno how it's possible, but who am I to question? Then other times I'll have some rice with dinner and it's sky high. Must mean that I should be on the all jellybean diet.

The nursery still isn't done, and the shower is this Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it, as some friends that I haven't seen in a while will be there. Better be there, JoJo! Tempest, Boogie Shoes and Jacknife are coming up Saturday, I think. We'll watch Krull and catch up.

I'm due in 8 weeks and I am really round. When I first found out I was pregnant I thought that 9 months was going to go on forever. Now it's almost over and soon there will be another member of my family. It really is a wonder. Lately, I've noticed that my belly will actually ripple every once in a while. It's like the kid is doing the wave in there or something. Totally facinating and I'm easily distracted by it.

Sherbear sent me some baby clothes and books and diapers from Florida. Her mother keeps sending her winter clothes...um...SHE LIVES IN FLORIDA! Whatever, I'm making out in the deal. There were some terribly cute things in there and I got all teared up. Yep, hormones are on overdrive. Baby got it's first stuffed animal too. Our friend DirtDirt came to MA from scenic Brooklyn on Easter, so he & his mom came over to our place. Grips & family, as well as Birdgirl and Toad stopped in too. It was nice to have people over. Since pregnant, I don't go to the usual hang outs any more and I feel a little disconnected sometimes from my friends. Like cuz I can't drink or be in a smokey bar I don't want to hang out.

I pee on a stick every morning to test my ketones, which measure how the body is burning energy while sleeping. I check my blood sugar level via a pricked finger 4 times a day. I am on a low carb diet, which means that I have to watch my sugar content, as well as laying off the pasta, rice, milk....the list goes on & on. Did any of you know that there are carbs in just about everything? And portion sizes listed on packaging...total crock!! I have to eat 6 smaller meals a day, rather than the traditional 3, which is a bit of a time hassle but I'm working on it.

I inject myself with insulin nightly, and as of yet there has been no drastic reduction of my blood sugar levels. Am I worried? Yep. Do I feel ok otherwise? Yep.

It was about a week after the diagnosis before I could get in to see the dietician and come up with a meal plan, so I was was winging it with the help of the wonderful internet. Turns out that I was drasticly underfeeling myself and that being pregnant I can't totally eliminate the carbs or the baby will have nothing to grow on. I still can't eat a hot fudge sundae, but at least I can feel full after eating a meal.

Tempest - please tell your family and grandfather that he's in my heart and prayers for a speedy recovery. Call me.

I failed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test, so they had me come back for the 3 hour test yesterday. For those unaware, they draw my blood then give me this soda sugar drink. I then have to wait an hour and they draw my blood again. For the 3 hour, I was stuck hanging around the hospital (with St. Blixx keeping me rational) and having to go back every hour for 3 hours to have blood drawn. Oh, and I had to fast since 9pm the night before. By the end of the test, I was grumpy and HUNGRY!!! Mmmm, that burger tasted good.

Anyway, I have gestational diabetes, which is to say that I'm diabetic for the rest of my pregnancy. I have a meeting on Thursday to learn how to prick my finger and test my blood, which will have to be done numerous times daily, then I'll meet with a dietician to come up with a meal and excersise plan. Pre-pregnancy I was not the most active person in the world and now that I'm all swollen with child I'm going to have to learn to get active. Arg!!!!!!! Not my idea of fun, but this is all worth it, right? Joy of motherhood, and all that crap? My blood sugar levels are quite high so I may have to inject myself with insulin too. I've been reading up and the diet changes shouldn't be all that hard to make - I can have some sweets even, but have to watch what else I take in for the day. I'll know more after my MD appt on Thursday.

What does this mean for the baby? Probably nothing. She'll be fine, although there's the risk that she'll be a big baby and that I may need to be induced some weeks prior to my original due date (June 18th) so that she won't rip me wide open on her way out. Love the imagery? Thought you would. I'm also at risk for having a c-section, again to avoid the complications of pushing a 10lb watermelon out of a relatively small hole. She could have difficulty breathing and any number of challenges in her young life, but this gestational diabetes is pretty common and all should be well.

Right?

We're getting old.

Grips's had his 33rd birthday party on Saturday night and none of us have the stamina to go the sistance any more. There was a time when we would have been smoking/drinking & whatnot into the wee hours of the morning. This time, we left at 10:30...and that was after most everyone else had already left. It's a sad day.

Tomorrow I'm going to see about updating the pictures so you all can see how round I'm getting. I should have a new ultrasound pic later this week too.

Right now, the baby just told me it's time to eat - again.

Peace.