Almost 31 weeks

I just had an experimental GD breakfast – oatmeal with cinnamon and blueberries and strawberries.  I missed the maple syrup, but it was ok.  I could live with this for two months.  I am curious to see if the carbs alone and/or fruit will push my numbers over the edge in an hour, or if I’ll be fine.  I’m pretty surprised that I had a nice low 80 for my fasting number this morning despite having not eaten particularly well last night (had a bit of a peanut butter and honey frenzy – another reason why peanut butter is normally not allowed in this house).  It’s all a puzzle.  And you know what’s funny?  I may very well go to the ob Thursday and they won’t even mention my 1 hour test results, after I’ve been through all this agide about it.  Oh well.  It’s been interesting anyway (especially now that I learned some tricks on how to make the testing less painful on my fingers, which really work).

I have been doing my daily “kick counts” with the help of a handy downloaded IPhone app.  I find I tend to get ten movements in about five minutes.  I think this is a terrific tool – a way to see early if your baby’s in distress and get help before it’s too late (the Doppler won’t help with this, since by the time the heartbeat’s gone, it’s gone). 

It’s a cold, rainy day here in LA, and I found myself looking out the window a couple of minutes ago and wondering what the weather would be like when my son is born.  Then I thought, “um, probably a lot like this, since it’s only two months from now.”  It was the first time it really hit me – it’s not that far off.  So not far off that it will still be cold and rainy, and everything will pretty much be the same, by the time he gets here.  I am excited to get my parenting classes and hospital tour on, since I still have a lot of questions.  I think just having some basic things sorted out – where to park when I go to the hospital, what the rooms look like, how to diaper, when to feed – will make me feel a lot better. 

I am looking for a very basic baby book – mainly answering the question of “when to get professional help” when your kid is sick, and what to look for, being as I’m entirely ignorant of these things because of my background – and am having a hard time finding one that doesn’t seem to be all agenda-y and weird.  I read the reviews on Amazon and it’s always the same thing – the crunchy, babywearing, co-sleeping, natural birth types vs. the old school CIO people.   

And then everyone always back pedals and says whatever you’ve heard about their method is too extreme and it’s really like this, etc etc etc.  It’s all very confusing and overwhelming, so it doesn’t surprise me that many of the mothers I’ve talked to about books and/or read about online have decided to chuck all instructions and go by their instincts.  I may become one of these.  However I do need a good medical book because I have no instincts in that area (having never had any medication, pain relief, or doctor visits as a kid).  Baby 411 seems somewhat promising.  We shall see.

I think I’ve made a decision about my kitchen facelift.  I don’t feel comfortable putting myself in debt to do this, yet my kitchen does need some serious help since I haven’t touched it since 2001.  I think what I’m going to do is forego the new sink and countertop and instead just freshen up the paint (ie, pay someone to freshen up the paint).  I thought I could just buy new laminate panels to cover the old countertop, but apparently it doesn’t really work like that; I would have to cut a brand new countertop, and I don’t even know how much that would cost.  Plus a decent sink would be several hundred $$.  So, the heck with it.  I think a good compromise would be fresh new paint on the walls, ceiling and cabinets inside out, and that should hold me for a good long time.  It will also take less time and be less intrusive.  So I’ll call up my painter guy and see if he can get this done before my sister gets here for my shower.  Hopefully it will only run a few hundred $$.  Honestly right now I don’t even have that level of money, but I feel better going into debt that amount than a couple thousand.  I am absolutely determined to get my Business Line of Credit paid down completely within a month or so after the baby arrives so I then have money for sitters.  I only owe $4000 on it and I know I can do it!