Big brother, big sister

Just a quick vignette from this pregnancy that I want to remember. I was sharing this with a co-worker this morning and just thought I would write it down.

After we told N I was pregnant, he was quite insistent that he would be having a baby sister. Bobby and I both thought this was cute, and honestly, I was sort of hoping for a girl. Even so, I was thrilled to find out I was carrying a healthy baby boy.

N was not so thrilled. When we told him he would be getting a baby brother, he whined and cried. He did not like this news because he wanted a sister!

A few days later, while N was Skyping with his Granny and Grandpa, the subject of his new baby brother came up. Noah told his Granny, “I’m having a brother, so now I have to be the sister.”

The poor kid thought that there could only be one of each.

Thankfully we have convinced him now that both of them can be brothers, so he is a little more at ease with the idea of another boy coming into the family.

On the enjoyment of food

Closing in on the 3rd tri

I think I probably enjoyed food a little too much the first half of my current pregnancy. I seriously ate a lot of junk, including drinking soda pretty much daily. And the funny thing is, looking back, I don’t even know that I was so much enjoying the food. I was just consuming, because I wanted it.

A few weeks ago, my doctor wanted to put me on gestational diabetes meds because I had gained 15 pounds (at 23 weeks — so not entirely ridiculous), and the baby was measuring 2 weeks ahead on the ultrasound. By this point, I had actually already started to make some changes to my diet, mostly cutting out the soda, and I didn’t really want to go on meds before she ever even tested me for the condition. So I had them move my GD tests up, failed the one-hour and was borderline on the three-hour. I hesitate to say I failed it because the doctor’s office initially said I passed, then said I failed and needed the meds. I told them I would change my diet and exercise and meet with a nutritionist to help stay on track. I haven’t even had a chance to talk to my doctor about all this, so I’m hopeful I am on the right track and that we can avoid medication that’s technically not approved for pregnancy and that also crosses the placenta.

The interesting thing, as I’m maybe a week and a half in on this modified diet, is that I really feel like I’m enjoying food more. I’m much pickier about what I’m eating, and I have to eat within a certain range of carbs at each meal or snack. It’s forcing me to be more creative, to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and to really plan ahead if I want to have a treat. A great example: I really wanted some ice cream a few days ago. So I scoped out my options and found one (Chick-fil-a mini sundae without whipped topping) that would fit into my evening snack range.

And. it. was. so. good.

I guess the other thing is that the more basic foods like meat, veggies and fruits are now getting to be the stars of the show. And I actually do like all these things, but I get sort of lost in quick, easy, convenient junk that meets a sugar “need” or a salty “craving.”

Making sure baby and I stay healthy are great motivators for me, and I actually truly hope that some of these changes stick around for the long run. But I will readily admit that I will be enjoying some cake after Baby S’s birthday!

Blogging again?

Do I really want to put my thoughts out there for the world again? Do I really have time? Do I really even care if anyone reads it? Why not just write it in a journal?

Yeah, I don’t know, but I enjoy getting my thoughts out on paper — or screen, as it were. So here I go again.

What will be different this time? I make no promises about consistency or whether I will stick with it. I want to actually just do this for me, just because I want to. Not as a way to make money, not as an online scrapbook of my children’s childhoods, not as a way to get attention or be told what a great writer I am.

We’ll see.