The Bailey Chronicles

October 2008: 8 months pregnant

I finally sucked it up and went to the lab yesterday morning for my three hour Gestational Diabetes test. It kept getting postponed because we were in the middle of the move and all that packing and unpacking kept us pretty busy their for a minute, but then I realized I had run out of excuses for not setting up the appointment. So like a big girl I arranged for the appointment... or maybe I was worried that I would get in trouble with the Dr. LOL. Either way the deed has been done. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Turns out I only had to drink one of those awful glucose drinks, not three of them, and it was the same size as the original one. I did end up having to wait around at the lab for four hours instead of three because their was a mix up with my paperwork at the beginning, but after the appointment I rewarded myself with yummy Mexican food so it was quickly forgotten. They stuck me in the same arm and the same vein 3 out of 4 of the times so my left arm is feeling a little sore today, but at least they found my veins quickly without having to be stuck extra times and no fishing around. While the experience wasn't particularly delightful, it wasn't really bad either. The lab staff was hilarious and I was waiting around with my best friend and another preggo patient that was pretty funny too, so no complaints!

I had my prenatal appointment this morning and it turns out I passed all 4 of the blood tests this time around! NO Gestational Diabetes for me! This is very relieving news to me. At first I thought I had nothing to worry about, but then I discovered that Diabetes runs on both sides of my family which puts me at a higher risk, plus I am over weight which doesn't help. Then I looked up the symptoms of Gestational Diabetes to see if I could rule it out, but they were the same as pregnancy symptoms so that didn't help one bit. And then finally with the move I started feeling cramping and stiffness on my right side, swelling and plus I kept seeing spots and bubbles over the last two weeks which are all symptoms of Eclampsia another pregnancy problem closely related to Diabetes. But my Dr. assures me that it was the strain of the move and my growing baby, and I have nothing to worry about because my blood, urine and blood pressure are all good. The baby is still very active, and the cramping/stiffness I feel on my right side are her little feet digging up into my ribs. Apparently they nestle themselves in to areas where there is more room, and since I have one less organ on my right side she has taken a liking to that area. She is also still ahead on her growth schedule, but I guess is slowing down a little as far as length goes. She usually measure a week and half to two weeks ahead, but this time she only measured a week ahead. We have been through a lot together, but luckily she has remained unaffected by everything. She seems to be getting plenty of nutrition according to her growth and activity, which worried me earlier on in pregnancy since I could keep much down for the longest time. I should be getting my third trimester sonogram next appointment, in two weeks!

Now that the apartment is completely unpacked and we are all caught up on bills, we finally have a chance to work on the nursery. The fun part! John and I put together the crib over the weekend, which was actually really easy and it looks beautiful! We have arranged her room but still have a long ways to go. Projects that I will tackle this month are: painting the walls yellow, a restoration of a vintage chandelier, wallpaper art, and hopefully the construction of a dresser if we can squeeze that out of next pay day. We are starting to plan for the Dallas baby shower, so that will either fall at the very end of this month or early November.

The Chandelier Project is what I am currently tackling. I have seen a trend in girl nursery themes having a small chandelier hanging over the crib instead of a mobile. Candi had sent me a bunch of links to decals for wall art, and the one I had liked the best was the chandelier. But then I decided I could probably find a real one, a cheap fixer upper at a salvation store or ebay and custom design it around the nursery. I told my mom my plans for it because she likes to hunt Craigslist and ebay regularly for fun so I figured I could keep her on that hunt while I shopped around, but as luck would have it she already had the perfect solution. Her mom had given her a chandelier when she was young that she had no place for and has been in a box in the garage for decades, but she was too attached to completely get rid of it to a total stranger so it's just been in storage. She was pleased to be passing it on as now a family heirloom, and she didn't mind at all if I gave it a face lift. Perfect! Free fits in my budget, because now I can spend more on crystals and embellishments for it. Plus it's a piece that will have a little history behind it so it will be special. I can't post pics of the nursery yet, because it's not close to being finished at all, but I will post before pics of the chandelier and what I have done so far. I have ordered new crystals, so construction of the piece has not officially started. But I wouldn't want to give out an update with no pics to leave y'all with ;o)

These are the before pics. The fixture has three lights behind the band. Crystals can be hung from the top spokes, from the band, and from the base. The middle pic is after it had been spray painted black to match the nursery. And the bottom pics are the new crystals I have ordered for it so far. I have to re assemble the small octagon crystals because a lot of them where detached... so it's a work in progress.