Michelle's blog

Valentine's Day 2008

Valentine's Day 2008

My husband's Valentine's gift to me was this surprise that he left on my computer desk for me to find this morning. He left a tray of chocolates and my computer on with a screen saver of some Valentine's Day pictures. Aww!! I feel totally loved.

QotD: In My Handbag

Here's one for the ladies:  What's in your handbag right now? 
Submitted by Kadeeae.

Right now, nothing is in my bag because I just emptied it.

When it's full, I carry:

• Wallet
• Cell phone
• Diabetic supplies (meter, insulin, syringes, alcohol etc.)
• Notebook and pen
• iPod and headphones

Recently, I've had to switch to using a beat up messenger bag instead of my usual handbag because my diabetic supply kit is so large. Phooey.

As an aside, for someone who really doesn't care too much about designer anything (I shop at Target if given the choice) I've got a ton of handbags. It's because my parents buy them for me so I've got a bunch of Coach and D&B bags. Of course, the one designer bag I really wanted was a Burberry tote in classic check but I've yet to receive that; I'm not crazy enough to buy one for myself.

Third Trimester pictures

It's been awhile since I've shared any pregnancy news here so here's the latest collage of the third trimester, weeks 28 to 33...

Third Trimester Progress Collage

Looking at these, it kind of makes sense as to why my back hurts so much these days :)

Second Trimester is almost over!

Woo-hoo! I can hardly believe that I'm almost done with my second trimester! :D Just a few more looooooong weeks until my daughter is here! My, how she's grown already!

Second Trimester - 15w to 27w

The New Regime

Gestational Diabetes

Last Monday, I took the dreaded glucose tolerance test. This is done usually between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy to check for gestational diabetes. You drink a very sugary liquid first thing in the morning and then get your blood sugar tested one hour later. If your blood sugar is under a certain number (I think 120) then you pass. If it's over 120, then you usually have to come in for a three hour test which is pretty much the same procedure except your blood is taken every hour for three hours.

Certain risk factors increase your chances of getting gestational diabetes: having had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy, having Type II diabetes in the family and being overweight. In my case, I had two strikes against me as my father's side of the family has many cases of Type II and I'm overweight. I never even got to the three hour test. My one hour blood sugar was so high that I was referred directly to the gestational diabetes program at my hospital. I took the test on Monday, got the results back on Tuesday and have been under the new regime of strict diet, exercise and testing my blood sugar four times a day since Wednesday.

Gestational Diabetes -- The Diet

My meals for the last few days have looked very much like this. Most meals (except for breakfast) are 2 exchanges of starch, 3 exchanges of protein and 2 exchanges of vegetables. I've been eating a lot of whole wheat bread in the past days but it's amazing how hard to find bread that's under 15g of carbohydrate per slice! Most wheat or whole grain breads are over 20g of carbohydrate per slice. I'm allowed to have things like butter and salad dressing, luckily. What I'm not allowed, surprisingly, is fruit and milk. I can eat fruit and milk but in limited quantities, never together and never at breakfast. It really puts a damper on what I normally have for breakfast.

In the grand scheme of things, it's really not all that bad -- it just takes a lot of getting used to. To go from eating as I always did to a super strict diet took a lot of getting used to. On Wednesday morning, I could have sugar and by Wednesday afternoon, I couldn't have any! All meals were to be eaten on a schedule, all to be followed by a period of exercise and a finger stick blood sugar test. All the changes made my head spin.

I was particularly depressed on Friday afternoon because it seemed like my blood sugar just wouldn't get under the numbers that were set for me and it looked like having to use insulin (ie. shooting myself) was going to be another part of this new regime. My dietitian still isn't happy with my blood sugar levels so I'm seeing an endocrinologist tomorrow. I'm hoping against hope that insulin isn't needed but if it is, it's a small price to pay for a healthy baby.

Belly Shots - 15w to 23w

Comparison: 15w to 23w

I've slacked on taking belly photos for the past few weeks (didn't take any for 21w & 22w) but I got another shot last night. I also decided to do another progression. I'm sure the tank top that I'm wearing in these shots probably won't last me much longer!

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Thanksgiving was celebrated at my parents house this year to a fairly small crowd: my parents, my sister and her fiance C as well as my husband, myself and our dog. Yes, I'm the crazy nut that brings my dog to family gatherings. Miyuki loves my parents house as well as their big yard where she gets to romp around. My husband and I especially like it because my parents have carpet only in the living room and Miyuki tends to skid all over the rest of the house. It's so funny to watch because she's totally excitable and gets even worse when she realizes she has no traction.

The food was excellent, with the savories prepared by my sister. Turkey, stuffing, veggies, potatoes, sweet potatoes, appetizers. Yum. I brought the dessert: pumpkin pie, pecan pie and flan. Unfortunately, my flan turned out a bit bitter as I over caramelized the sugar. Drat. :( All in all, it was a relaxing Thanksgiving.

On our way home from my parents house, we passed a Best Buy. It was only 5:30PM on Thursday evening and people were already lined up, waiting in line. The parking lot was already half full! People are absolutely insane, I tell you! The husband and I also pondered our own shopping trip to Fry's if we could find a deal on computer components since he's insisting I need a new computer. Alas, there were no truly good deals to be had as far as what we're looking for so we didn't go.

I've got mixed feelings about Black Friday. Don't get me wrong: I love a good deal but I can't do the whole "get up at the buttcrack of dawn" thing to buy something. My sleep is just too important to me. (Read: I am lazy.) Moreover, I've been one of the poor saps at Mervyns working the Black Friday shift. 4:00AM in the morning for a retail job is inhumane. Worse, Fry's employees (like my friend) have a disgusting shift: 4:30AM to 11:30PM. Granted there's two breaks and a 2 hour lunch but can we say exploitive? Damn.

At the same time there's the "Buy Nothing" movement which I think is equally ridiculous. My husband and I aren't gift givers per se. We share what we have when we can and both eschew the idea of obligatory gifts. In our minds, obligatory gifts are stupid and wasteful and in the end, only take up space. But still we buy what we want which isn't always what we need but that just makes us the average American. But it seems to me that many of the "Buy Nothing" campaign like to harp on how disgusting American consumerism is. In some ways, I can see where they are coming from but in other ways, I think they take it too far.

In the end, everyone does what's best for them. Today, I may go shopping after work. Or I may not. It doesn't matter to me. All I know that it's absolutely GORGEOUS here in the Bay Area today. Beautiful blue sky, crisp cool weather. It'd be a shame to spend all day insane, shopping. (I'm inside all day, working, but that's not something I can help.)

We're proud to introduce...

We had our 20w ultrasound earlier today. The baby was stubborn and refused to move into all the positions the sonographer needed so we'll have to go in to get a second ultrasound next week.

But we were able to determine the gender! The baby is officially a baby girl and her name is Seraphine Grace Ngoc (Surname). Her middle names are my middle name and my husband's middle name :)

Belly Shot - 19w

Comparison: 15w to 19w

Only one more day left until the big 20w ultrasound (although it's being done at 19w6d). Please, everyone have positive thoughts for OPEN LEGS for baby! LOL. I can't move on with the registry without knowing baby's gender ;)

I hit the big halfway point (20w) on Friday. I can hardly believe it's almost halfway over! Only twenty more weeks until I get to hold my baby. It's an awesome and terrifying thought.

Belly Progression Photo - 2nd Trimester

Progression - 2nd Trimester

I thought I'd put up some belly progression photos :) This is weeks 15 through 17