New beginnings

**Sorry I missed posting yesterday. I was so trying to post every day this month. Leave it to fate to screw with my plans. My laptop decided to die. I think Mike has revived it for a short time but if I go missing again, my laptop is probably dead beyond repair.**

BIG NEWS!! After more than a year of working at a job he HATED, Mike's last day of work was today. He starts his new job on Monday and both of us are really looking forward to it. Not only will it be a much less stressful job, it will be better pay and a reliable paycheck.

Up to now, he's been working in a small business with very few employees and things have just gotten worse and worse in the three years he's been there. Mike finally got fed up enough and seriously started looking for a new job when he walked into work 5 months ago and they announced that they were cutting everyone's pay by 20%. Yeah. We're just going to take away a day worth of pay each week. Because don't you know that that's just what everyone can handle right now? And it was especially great timing for us being that we were saving up because there was a baby coming. ::sigh:: Then for the past 2 months, payroll hasn't gone through. Which leads to us overdrawing our account and fees and bounced checks and all sorts of other badness. BooHiss!

But now, things will be better! His new job is with the county, so he'll be getting government benefits and he'll only be doing the job of ONE person (where before he had about 5 job descriptions). I'm hoping that this will lead to a but less stressed household around here.

Plus, we just got his truck fixed. It's been down for almost 10 months. It's going to be interesting getting used to having two cars again. What will I do with myself in the mornings now that I won't have to rush around to get him to work in time? I have a few great ideas. Many involve sleeping (which is probably wishful thinking since there's a little person called Bridget :)). They will probably include spending some quality smiley time with my Bridgey in the morning and watching the news again while feeding her.

I have a huge smile just thinking about all of this. ::Warm fuzzies:: Now off to bed. Fresh bamboo sheets call my name (that's a whole other post right there).

Magical mysical powers!

Apparently breastmilk has them. Bridget has had dry patches of skin on her cheeks for weeks now. It feels like excema (I know because I have it). Anyways, I talked to her pedi who gave me the completely useless information of "No lotions on babies under 6 months." Well thanks dude, that helps a lot.

So, I headed to the local crunchy mama store to look for homeopathic remedies or other ideas that could help. The lady at the store asked, "Have you tried breastmilk?" What? Breastmilk? "Umm, what do I do with it? She drinks it but that's about it." She said to squeeze a little out and put it on the rashy spot. Thinking to myself "well, it can't hurt" I went home and tried it. Lo and behold, within a day all traces of the dry spots were gone. Gone I tell you!

"Look Mommy. No Bumps!" Yaaay baby!

Amazing stuff this breastmilk.

Three years already?

At this time three years ago, I was standing in front of a large group of friends and family vowing to spend my life with one man.  It looked like this:

And then there was a big party with lots of silliness and fun. It went something like this:

(all wedding photos by the Fabulous StudioATG. Cause they're awesome.)

Since then, three years have flown by.  Seriously, who knew time could go so fast?  And I can truly say that there have been much more happy times that sad.  Mike is the best man I could ask for.  No matter what, he's there for me.  Sure, we have our disagreements.  I would worry if we didn't (Stepford anyone?).  I love my marriage.  I love my husband.  I love the life we have created together.  Overall, I'm just so happy to be here at this point in my life.  

So now, we're off to sushi celebration dinner and to laugh at the evil stares of people thinking I'm harming the baby.  It's onward and upward (or something like that).  Can't wait to see what the future holds for us.  

Woohoo!

The roll must have meant a yes!  My doctor's appointments went really well yesterday.  The baby didn't really want to cooperate with the ultrasound tech though.  She wouldn't face the camera and she was hiding her girly parts so we couldn't really get any good pictures.  Oh well.  She's measuring right on target and they say she weighs 5 and a half pounds.  WOW!  Go baby!

Then, off to the NST.  They hooked me up to the monitors and her heart was just beating away.  Everything went up and down the way it was supposed to.  And I'm having contractions.  Who knew?  We watched them come and go and make those little hills on the monitor paper. Mike was kinda freaking out because they were happening pretty often and all he kept saying was "Aren't they supposed to go away when you lay down?"  (We learned this in our birthing class.  Good to know some of it stuck with him.)  So, we asked the nurse.  She said it's all normal and nothing to worry about.  I know what they feel like now and am feeling them quite often.  They come and go and aren't painful at all but it's strange.  I'm not ready for her to make her appearance though so these need to go ahead and slow down.

Last was the actual doctor's appointment.  We actually got in pretty quickly (a rarity at this office) and our appointment went well.  I didn't get to keep my clothes on though.  Boo.  They did the group B strep swab thing and the doctor did an internal.  OUCH!  I'm "half a fingertip dilated" according to the doc.  Good.  Just stay right there. Oh, and my blood pressure?  NORMAL! (124/72).  Yaaay!  So, biggest news:  The doctor decided that I get to be a regular pregnant person now.  No more worries about pre-eclampsia or hypertension.  I don't have to go to the NST's anymore (but I chose to keep one per week just for my own peace of mind) and NO MORE PEE COLLECTIONS!  You have no idea how happy I am about that.

So, there you go.  A very good update.  Next up:  the nursery.  We're getting the paint and all of the tape and stuff tomorrow.  Then, we'll tape things off and hopefully get things done by next weekend.  ::fingers crossed::

NO GD FOR MEEEEEEEE!

Hooray and hoorah and huzzah I say!  I never heard back from the doctor after my glucose tolerance test.  It's been over a week now and so I feel safe to say that I passed.  Thank goodness!

Now, I know that gestational diabetes is not the worst thing that could happen.  Heck, it's probably the most easily managed of all of the potentially dangerous complications.  And, it would lead me to make even healthier food choices for me and little bit in there.  But can I just say that I'm glad I can have a cupcake today?  It's my blog so I say yes, it is ok.  I am glad I can have a cupcake today!

I will be heading to the fabulous Retro Bakery and will be indulging in a little yumminess. Mmmm, the flavors. My current fave is coffee and donuts but the hopscotch is always a steadfast and delicious standby.  (I'm sorry to torture any of you that either a) have GD and are right now cursing my existence or b) do not live near a fabulous cupcake place (sorry Duck))

Then, on a sugar high, I will start in on "Project Get Ready for Baby."  Step one: Holy crap get some stuff cleared out of the spare room/nursury/it's-been-a-catch-all-room-since-we-moved-in.  I would post a picture but my camera is out of batteries (yeah, that's a good excuse ;)  Really, it's scary in there.  

So, wish me luck.  I'll need it.  But at least I'll have a cupcake to get me through.