Old Friends are the Best!

Week 33--7 weeks to go

This week flew by!  Both Chris and I have been super-busy at work, and Collier has been busy growing and reminding us that he is already an active part of our family (mostly by keeping his mom awake at night :).  We are now seeing at least one of our doctors every week for updates on his progress.  As of Monday, February 20th, he weighs 5 lb, 10 oz; which puts him in the 80th percentile.  This is a much more "normal" growth status than he has had in our past few visits--hurray!

In all of our crazy schedules, this past week had one HUGE highlight...a baby shower hosted by three of my best friends:  Kathryn, Maureen, and Ashley.  Kathryn, Maureen and I have been friends since ninth grade (we calculated this weekend that makes 14 years--weird).  We were the kind of friends who spent more time at each other's houses than our own, and I am convinced that God sent these amazing ladies to me to walk with me through high school--a time when kids can easily get lost on a wrong path.  They are the reason that I didn't.  Ashley and I met in college, and have bonded over babies and new steps our lives.  She's currently working hard raising six month old twins (she's superwoman...seriously...read her blog here).  She is an inspiration, and I am so lucky to have her in my life!  These three ladies are true friends in every sense of the word, and put together an amazingly sweet shower for baby Collier. 

We're both getting bigger! :)

The spread--the girls were sweet enough to use carb-free sweeteners in the cupcakes and tea so I could eat whatever I wanted.  Told you they were awesome!

Super-cute artwork made by Kathryn.  This will definitely be hanging in C's room!

More adorable decor

Playing a party game--my Grandmother, Aunt Barbara, Sister-in-Law Amanda, and niece Callie.

Callie helped me open every gift!  She must have been practicing for her 3rd birthday, which was the next day. :)

Ashley's perfect babies--Mac (who usually looks happier than he does at the time of this photo) and Paisley (who is sweetness personified).  Love these babies!  Can't wait for Collier to have play dates with them!

My Grandmother--who will be adding "Great" to her name for the first time when Collier arrives.  She's always been great, it's just more official now.

Last, but not least...Maureen, Kathryn, and Ashley.  Thanks, girls, for the shower and for your friendship!  My life would not be nearly as full without you (although I might spend less time on the phone:).  Love you!

Showers of Blessings!

Happy Friday!  Today marks the beginning of our 33rd week of pregnancy--It's crazy to think that in just 4 short weeks that Baby Collier will be "term".  My pregnancy app tells me that he weighs a little over 4 pounds (although I know our big guy bypassed that size a few weeks ago :), and is filling out his frame with lots of squeezable fat.  Other than the "normal" third trimester complaints (shortness of breath, heartburn, trouble getting comfortable enough for sleep), I'm feeling great!

My friends at work threw us a super-cute shower yesterday afternoon to celebrate Collier's arrival.  Although we had a last minute venue change, due to a bug that's making the rounds of everyone's children, we certainly felt the outpouring of love in all of their sweet gifts and well wishes.  When we moved to Winchester, I never would have dreamed that I would have met such sweet, caring people who would love us so well.  My co-workers and friends make me feel like we've just always been here!  Here are some highlights of the shower.   The pinwheel theme was so adorable, and I've never seen it before!

The adorable name banner made by my friend Becky (who is expecting twins the same week we are due with Collier).  She's quite crafty!

Super cute centerpieces!

Yes, I had a piece of cake!  :)



All of Collier's loot.  It's such a blessing to have so many people care for us!



I truly have no idea how people prepare for a baby's arrival without the support of family and friends, and we feel so blessed to have found friends who feel like family here!

31-32 Weeks

Hi everyone! It's crazy to think that baby Collier will be here in about 8 more weeks--that's like 50 days. Guess we should think about getting a car seat! :)

Some highlights of the past two weeks were:

- Getting increasingly more comfortable with checking my blood sugar. I usually get it on the first finger prick (earlier, it would take me several tries). Hurray for progress!!

- Having my first "belly rub" from a stranger. I was in the grocery store, and a woman came around the aisle, gave my belly a pat and said, "Get on, girl". Hilarious!! (for the record, I really don't mind if people I know love on Collier, but strangers are a little...strange)

- Getting Collier's room closer to completion. I will post pics soon!

- Attending baby showers for two dear friends. Natasha is due March 17 with baby girl Caroline, and Leslie is due April 9 with baby Walker, whose gender is a mystery. (Collier requests a boy to play with).

- Taking maternity pictures with Leslie Walker. We froze our tails off, but the couple shots she's shown me are awesome! I can't believe I have such a talented friend. See a pic I borrowed posted below.

- Using my belly as an analogy to teach phases of the moon. We've drawn them, looked at photos, seen videos, but it wasn't until I told them that I'm a "waxing gibbous" that they understood the lunar cycle. Go figure!

Have a great week!!

-Adrianne

Holy spinach cupcake, Batman!

My friend Shannon (who also had gestational diabetes) lent me a cookbook called "The Sneaky Chef" (by Missy Chase Lapine) It's all about making over yummy recipes to make them healthy--usually by sneaking in veggies. This is good news for me, because veggies are lower in carbs than "normal" junk food. So, i decided my mission for this weekend was "Choc-ful Cupcakes". I looked over the ingredients, and was immediately skeptical--I mean, spinach in a cupcake? Wheat Germ? Give me a break. No WAY can this be good. But, Shannon claimed that they were, so...here goes!

4 Tbs butter
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 purple purée (3 c frozen spinach, 1 1/2 c frozen blueberries, 1 tsp lemon juice, 3 Tbs water)
1/2 cup sugar (I used Stevia)
1 cup flour blend (equal parts all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and wheat germ)
2 Tbs cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. Melt butter and chocolate chips in microwave (do 15 second intervals and stir). Allow to cool some.

2. Stir egg, vanilla, purple purée, and sugar (Stevia) together. Add chocolate and butter mixture.

3. Stir together dry ingredients, and add to chocolate.


At this point, I could still see spinach chunks (gross!)--not a believer yet. But...20-25 minutes in the oven (at 350) and voila! Chocolate cupcakes! Sort of. They were more dense than "real" cupcakes, but topped with cool whip (which, according to my diet counselor, is a "free food") they were actually really good! The chocolate overpowered the spinach flavor, which is never a bad thing. I think they'd be a great option for kiddos who don't want to eat veggies. Maybe I'll try the cauliflower Mac and cheese next!!

Blessings in Disguise

If we're looking carefully, we can usually find bright spots in most any situation. At the risk of quoting Garth Brooks' "Unanswered Prayers"...I wanted to follow up our last post with a few of the good things about our new situation with gestational diabetes. I think it always helps to try and find the good in situations. So, here's a "Top 10" of surprise blessings!!

10. We can already see chubby cheeks on Collier's ultrasounds. I love chunky babies! They're so squeezable!!!

9. I "have to" eat more often. Darn.

8. I got to read a bunch of science-y articles about diabetes. It was awesome! I'm such a dork.

7. I'm trying new recipes! Will share the good ones. (on tap for this weekend--chocolate muffins that have spinach in them)

6. At a time when stuffing my face would be really easy, I'm forced to make smart food choices. I'm sure that I'll be thankful for that after the little man gets here.

5. Hershey's kisses only have 2 carbs. Score!

4. Checking my blood sugar lets me know that I AM managing my glucose levels well. Plus, my glucometer is cute and pink--it looks like a little mp3 player.

3. We now get lots of extra ultrasounds, from both our regular doctor and our high-risk doctor. I don't think I could ever get tired of seeing our little guy on those wavy black and white screen. It's so cool to see what's going on in there! (side note--during the last one, Collier covered his face with his arm, like "No more pictures, please.". So cute!)

2. Chris has been making me yummy breakfasts. Bacon and eggs anyone? They're carb free! (Have I mentioned that he's pretty great? Cause he is. See photo of Mr. Wonderful in action below.)


1. I've had about a zillion reminders about how loved we are--notes of encouragement, sweet Facebook posts and texts. Y'all are awesome! (I already knew that, though)

Dealing with our new friend Gestational Diabetes

Long time, no post! :) sorry!

Some people have asked for more information about what we are currently dealing with during our pregnancy, and so I've decided to use our blog to share more details about what's going on. Here's a bit of a timeline to get you caught up.

January 16th: 28 weeks

I took a 1 hour glucose tolerance test and "failed" it with a blood glucose level of 155. They like it under 140. The doc recommended I schedule a 3 hour tolerance test as soon as possible. I assumed that it was some kind of fluke--I'm healthy!! I read that about 15% if women fail the 1 hour test, but only about 1% actually have gestational diabetes. I assumed I'd be one of the "false alarms".

January 18: 28.5 weeks

Took the three-hour glucose tolerance test. It involved drinking a much stronger glucose syrup, and 4 blood draws...not my idea of fun. I did get 1/4 of the way through a new book, and crocheted a dishcloth. :) The nurse from my doctor's office called that afternoon to let me know I'd failed that test too. I was caught completely off guard. I mean, I eat well! (with the occasional dessert) I exercise! I'm a healthy weight! After quite a few tears, and some encouragement from several phone calls, I did some research, and found out:
- Gestational Diabetes has nothing to do with mom's diet
- The demands placed on your pancreas increase by 3 times during the third trimester because one of the placental hormones blocks insulin function
- The biggest risk of Gestational Diabetes is macrosomia: baby being too large. Obviously this can cause trouble during delivery, lead to increased risk of c-section or shoulder or nerve injury to the baby.
- The reason that babies born to moms with gestational diabetes get so large, is that glucose is their favorite fuel. Since mom's blood is full of it, the baby gets big, fast! Unfortunately, the baby's lungs don't develop as fast as his little fat stores do.

January 19: 28 weeks

Discussed our plan with the nurse at my doctor's office: watch and wait. We needed to wait a week and a half to meet with the specialists about how to manage this new reality. Until then: "watch my carb intake". Unsure of what that meant, I downloaded an app to help me log carbs, and read everything I could get my hands on (probably too much!!).

January 30: 30 weeks

Met with our new high-risk specialist for an ultrasound, diabetes education, and management plan, then my regular OB for a checkup.
- The ultrasound revealed that Collier is perfectly fine, but big! His weight was estimated at 4 lbs, 6 oz--the average weight of a 33 week-er! That put him in the 94th percentile for weight. More than likely, this is partially due to the diabetes, partially genetics (I was 9 lbs 7 oz, Chris was 8 lbs, 7 oz). One HUGE praise was that his kidneys (enlarged at 20 weeks) are "normal boy kidneys". Yay!!
- The diabetes educator gave me a very thorough diet outline, and taught me about checking my blood sugar. For some reason, this caught me completely off-guard. I was overwhelmed at the thought of pricking my finger 4 times a day, how that would work at school, etc. It took awhile to digest this.
- My OB (whom I love, by the way), took a while to discuss this new diagnosis. One, I can kiss dreams of a 6 or 7 lb baby goodbye. (don't buy newborn sized clothes! :) Two, they want me to try and last until 39 weeks for Collier's lung development. Three, they will be making changes or modifications to our management plan at every visit, so be flexible. She was very relaxed about it all, which did put my mind at ease a bit.

All in all, this was a roller coaster that I did not expect. While I know this is relatively mild as far as pregnancy complications go, my emotions have run the gamut from shock, to embarrassment (why, I don't know), to worry, and now I'm working on the "acceptance" bit. I have to keep in mind that there IS a purpose in all this--some reason why my "textbook" pregnancy tool this turn. This is especially hard when all I want is a cinnamon roll! :)

While many promises from God's Word have been comforting during this time, here are a few that have stuck out:

Romans 8:28
We know that all things work together for good, for those who love God, and are called according to his purpose.

Hebrews 12:11
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin which so easily entangles. Let us run with perseverance the race that has been marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfectly of our faith.

Truly, I have been surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, who have loved and prayed over us always. And, this is the course that this race has taken us...so, I must choose to lay aside all these worries and silly obsessions with ice cream, and point my focus where it should be.

Thanks for reading! :)