The Beetus and What in the HELL was that?

So I'll get the crappy news out of the way first - I failed my one-hour gestational diabetes test. My highest allowed score was a 130 and I got a153. Extra credit is not good in this situation, so now I'm slightly freaked out. Tuesday is my next appointment which will include a 3-hour test. Draw blood, drink super sugary flat Sunkist, draw blood again several times over the next 3 hours to see how my blood processes sugar over time. Fun and exciting, I simply cannot wait.

If I do end up having gestational diabetes, I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I've done well with controlling my portions, staying active even when I don't feel like it and generally just trying to be healthier. Both of my grandmothers had the beetus later in life so it very well could be genetics that are working against me, not my occasional bad habits. Either way, it will be a pain to deal with poking myself for the next few months if I come back positive, but I can handle it. And maybe my change in diet will get Joshua to change his less-than-healthy eating habits too. I should know my fate by the end of next week.

And now the coolest thing ever.

Last night we had an Ordeal of the IKEA Variety. We (and by "we" I mean Joshua and David while I was at a baby shower for my dear friend Carol) bought an amazing entertainment center that bolts to the wall and has doors to hide stuff and also doesn't look like it's about to topple over onto small children. All these things are a massive bonus given our impending arrival and the already very active toddlers we have in our life. Hooray for no more of my hovering next to the TV.

Of course if you've ever purchased something from IKEA you know it's not always quite as easy as it sounds, or looks. Creepy illustrations of safety dos and don'ts complement the pages upon pages of steps instructing you, the sucker consumer, where to insert small pegs and hand-screw oddly-shaped bolts. Ingenious designs, but totally a pain in the ass.

This is where it gets cool.

Into hour 4 of our IKEA Ordeal, way past my bedtime especially given the amount of socializing I had done for the day, I'm in a foul mood and coming down off what is surely my 18th wind while laying on the couch, half-watching Joshua affix the doors to the shelving units. Shirt up to give the belly some air, resting my hand where Squirrel usually hangs out, not really wanting or hoping for anything extraordinary to happen because surely she's is just as tired and uncomfortable and pissed off as I am.

And then, my belly hits a 9 on the Richter scale. The symbiote is having an incredible rock concert that shakes my entire stomach and as suddenly as it started, it stops... and a tiny appendage pokes up, makes its way across about 3 inches of stomach, and disappears.

Peter, Paul and Mary what in the HELL was that??

It was like Shark Week... a single fin emerging from the mysterious deep, narrated by Jacques Cousteau in my delirious brain. I'd been given a live, non-electronically-assisted glimpse of something human inside me and my only verbal response was some combination of "whooooaaaa" and "oh WOW that was weird". I begged her to do it again. I even called her by her full name in true mom-style, hoping to strike fear into her precious little heart to perform for me one more time. No luck. And I have yet to feel another knee... or elbow.

Her performance did thrust me into my 19th wind, and we did end up finishing the entire 3 pieces of the entertainment center and shelving that we purchased, albeit not completely finalized nor bolted to the wall. A kick, nudge, fin from her is all it took to get me back into a productive, happier mood. Looking forward to much more of that sort of unconditional, innocent encouragement outside of the womb from you, Squirrel.

The mostly finished product of our IKEA Ordeal. Doors and drawers make me happy in the mommy pants.

Having conversations with my little girl

Things are a bit off at the Heerssen household lately. Joshua has been gone a lot, first with chaperoning kids for a week at a theatre convention out of state, and now he's started grad school and stays with our very good friend David downtown 3 nights a week. He's at school 12 hours a day, 4 days a week and it just makes sense so he doesn't have to drive so far every day. I am so proud of him and happy for him that he loves what he does so much... but at the same time I miss him badly.

It's kind of hard on me because there are things that I can't do around the house that NEED to be done... cleaning, yard work... but because I'm pregnant, I simply can't. I've tried and I just get too out of sorts too quick, dizzy, crampy... all those things you're not supposed to be feeling. I don't feel safe, but I feel like a huge slacker because I'm not doing these things. We're having our annual July 4th party this Saturday and I feel anxious just thinking about it because there is so much to do, most of it I'll be doing without help.

Anyway, that kind of explains the lack of updating and belly pics and all that. I wish I were better at taking pictures of myself so I could continue to document my growing belly like I have been. I've missed 2 weeks now and that's kind of depressing.

Outside of the real world and in womb land, Baby Girl is doing great. She's flipping around and bopping me all the time. I don't really feel her from the outside yet... I touch my belly and she knows it and stops grooving. When she's really active at work and it's distracting me I'll rub my stomach and she's quiet for several minutes... then she'll start up again. I've started talking to her, asking her what's up and why she's moving so much. My coworkers are used to it.

I've also started singing to her when we're alone, just singing whatever is on the radio or on my iPhone. She can hear my voice now, which is cool. I'll put my phone on my lap sometimes while I'm driving or on my belly when I'm laying down and turn on Explosions in the Sky, an instrumental rock band that I love. Mozart it isn't... but I'm not a Mozart person. I downloaded a bunch of string quartet covers of classic and modern rock songs to play too. Happy medium I think. I don't put much stock in the whole "play music to your baby in the womb" thing really... but it makes her wiggle, so I like to do it.

Her Nonni, my mom, has started calling her "Whooz-it" seeing as no one will know her name until she's born. We may or may not already have it picked out. We'll never tell!!

Other news, I've started to knit. I have one practice headband 95% done... surprisingly easier than I expected. I'm looking forward to cranking out more and putting them on her little head.

She'll be here before I know it...