Our Weekend

Wish I had taken a picture of Gabe Scott playing the accordian. Bebo was talking about how he thought there was no way to be cool when you play an accordian, because an accordian doesn't rock. Gabe begged to differ, and proceeded to play the intro to "Jump" by Van Halen (the one Van Halen song I can tolerate). It was amusing. :-)

We were about 4 rows back with the perfect angle for a great view. Close to the speakers and the baby was kicking in rhythm to the beat! Not the first time she's done that, either. She is going to be a musician of some kind, I just know it.

It's the Most Maternity Time of the Year...

Blogger was down yesterday RIGHT at the exact time that I wanted to/had time to blog. So this news is not brand-new anymore, but I am still SUPER excited about it!!!

My box from Sis. Rebekah D. arrived yesterday!!!!!!

Ooodles and oodles of wonderful maternity shirts! They all fit but one!

I did not know how uncomfy I have been until trying these shirts on. Now I feel great because I'm comfortable, and they are so pretty. I have a feeling that once this pregnancy is over, I am going to miss my maternity clothes, because I don't have as much nice non-maternity things!

AND extra baby things too that I was not expecting! Onesies, t-shirts, blankets, and a baby carrier too!

Sis. Rebekah, I do believe that right now there is a halo over your head. Thanks for making my day, week... well, the rest of my pregnancy! :-)

I've ALMOST finished my jumper today too. It looks CUTE!!! I never pre-wash my material, I guess because I'm a weirdo, but all that is left is to sew around the edges of the armholes and neckline so that the facing will stay down, and hem it, so I started it washing before I do that so that I'll have an accurate hemline. Right now the edge sweeps the floor, but I like it long, so I'll keep it at my ankles. I think I'm going to add cargo pockets to the sides because I LOVE pockets, and I'm contemplating adding some black velvety narrow ribbon to the neckline for interest. I will be sure to post pictures once it is all finished.

Your apron is next Kasey, don't worry! That's next weeks project for sure. It'll be a cinch after this jumper. I completely forgot how to turn the drawstring right side out. It took me forever, and then when the light bulb FINALLY came on and I remembered how to do it the easy way, I had already worked on it the hard way for so long my fingertips were getting numb. Oh well! But I'm pleased with the results. I haven't sewn anything for my self since Christmas two years ago, when my Lil' Sis and I sewed pajama pants together. Before that, the last thing I'd sewn for myself was when I was 14. I made coordinating jumpers for Bekah, Mama, and I. So it's been a while!!!

OH! And I found a jean maternity skirt on ebay! It is a straight style skirt ( I really like A-line the best, Sis. Rebekah) but I think it will be big enough to not be too tight in the back. It has a split in the back, but I've repaired that problem before with an insert of stretch denim, so that won't be a problem. And the best part? I won it with 17 seconds to spare, for $2.51! Yay!!!

So this has been a very maternity day. A good day. :-)

Pray all goes well with the diabetes clinic tomorrow. They will be teaching me how to check my blood sugar. Maybe it's a good thing my fingertips are numb, huh?

Oh, and before I forget...

FREE Building 429 concert at Opry Mills tomorrow night at 7!

Bebo Norman/Aaron Shust/Brandon Heath concert at Lipscomb University Saturday night at 7:30

Anyone wanna come with us?

My Honey Bear is Sick

Brad is sick this morning. He has been fighting a cold, and it was improving. He has been taking echinacea and goldenseal since the first sign, and I think that has held it off, but this morning when he got up he wasn't feeling too swift. He contemplated staying home, but he needs to work and he was joking around a bit so I know he must not feel TOO bad. So off he went. Pray he will get better throughout the day, it's one of the long days for him.

Plenty of Fluid!

Had the additional ultrasound Friday. Everything is looking good now! Fluid measures 10.5 cm, and the technician said that after years of working with Dr. Deppen, she knows that 10 is her magic number and won't be concerned about it any longer. YAY! That's worth it.

They are recording the ultrasounds for free on DVD for you now! Why could they have not done that with the first one they recorded??? But it is so neat to pop it in and watch our baby periodically. I've watched it several times already. :-) We got a good profile shot, we think she has Brad's nose! She's a cutie! I can't wait to meet her.

Two hour class on Friday morning for the gestational diabetes. I am being a good girl. My one indulgement of the day is my own version of "baby coffee". A tiny tiny amount of coffee, fill the rest with milk, microwave, and stir in a touch of caramel syrup. I'd say that's much improvement over what it has been!!

Finally finished the top half of my jumper today. I've been putting it off but I'm tired of having to scrounge for something decent to wear on Sundays. With this jumper and another one I'll make, and the oodles of maternity shirts Sis. Rebekah Doran has sent to me (a lifesaver!!!), all I'll need is a maternity jean skirt and I'll be set!! People, keep your eyes out for a long jean maternity skirt without slits or kick pleats. A tall order I know, I've had little luck so far!

I'm tired so I'm sure all of this sounds disjointed. Bear with me.

Flashback

I was looking through some old pictures on my Yahoo photo album, and came across this one. Thought y'all might enjoy seeing it. Wow, that was a long time ago! But this is the most recent picture I have of all of us kids together. Mama, do you have any recent ones from when Josh was home?

The Cook Kids
May 2002
front row, l-r (Isaiah, Me, Rebekah, Jon)
back row, l-r (Joshua, Matthew, Micah)

Baby News

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday. This time I made the appointment with Dr. Halcomb. There are four lady doctors in the practice, and whichever one happens to be on call when I go into labor, will be the one delivering the baby. So I figured I might as well start getting to know the other doctors.

I like her, but I like Dr. Deppen a whole lot better. She is okay though. It probably was not the best day to meet her for the first time because the other doctors are on vacation right now and she had a delivery that morning before she could come into the office. So I imagine she was tired. But still, she was nice.

I had to wait on her to get there for a little bit while back in the examination room so I took my chart off of the front of the door and read it while waiting. I felt like such a rebellious little patient, though it is MY chart. :-) I was looking at the reports from the ultrasounds. The big one with the guy in downtown Nashville said that my amniotic fluid level was 8.1 cm, and LOW. The follow up one at the office in Hermitage said that it was 8.5 and NORMAL.

So when the doctor got there, I asked her for a second opinion on doing another ultrasound. She said that they wouldn't want to do it if it wasn't important, and that they really need to know if it is still low and not getting lower. I said, even though it had increased between the last two ultrasounds? She said yes, because it was only 8.5 cm. I asked what normal was, and she said at that point, It should be 15-16 cm, which backs up what the freaking out ultrasound dude said. Dr. Deppen said it was just the low side of normal.

So when I got home, I did my own research. EVERYTHING I've read says that anything above 7 cm is NORMAL. Anything below 5 cm is LOW. Point for Dr. Deppen. There was an article put out by John Hopkins that said that lower amniotic fluid levels is not really as big a deal as they thought, as long as everything else is normal.

However, the norm with low amniotic fluid is that there tends to be more cesareans, just because of the stigma associated with it. So, my conclusion is that if I refuse to do another ultrasound, I may find myself in the hospital with a doctor that says I have to do a cesarean because they don't know what the fluid is doing because I refused the ultrasound. I'd rather have the ultrasound than to deal with that, and I think the ultrasound poses a lesser risk than anything else I may have to deal with if I refuse. Gotta pick my battles carefully.

I had my glucose test yesterday too, and I got a call from Nurse Jamie this morning. They said no news was good news. Uh oh. I failed. My glucose level was 205. She said it should around 135. She said that anytime it's over 200 they automatically assume you have gestational diabetes and treat you accordingly. I'll be going Monday morning for a 2 hr class and getting a machine to check my blood sugar every day (hopefully just once a day but they will probably tell me 3 times a day. Grr.). I KNOW I've been eating more sugar lately. I was doing SO well until Wal-Mart came out with candy corn... and it's been downhill from there. So I asked if my recent eating habits could throw off the test, and she said, yes it most certainly could. So watching my diet along with testing my blood sugar will give them a more accurate picture of what it really going on, but at this point it is so high that they need to act accordingly just in case. Which makes sense.

Just what I've always wanted to do, stick myself every day... Oh well. :-)

NEWS FLASH

My husband has blogged again!

Go visit him and read all about it!

I'm working on a movie/slide show thing to add to it. It's so much fun!

Just Checking In

Sometimes I don't blog because I have so much to say that it kind of overwhelms me so I just don't blog at all. I'm like that with a lot of things. It is what has always kept me from letter writing because I don't know how to write short letters. If I don't have time to write a long letter, I just don't write at all. And I can type so much faster than I write... and this overwhelms me too? Oh, the delicate intricate workings of the mind that is mine... God is the only one that is not confused by my maze of thoughts... including me!

Short news clips...

I went to my very first La Leche League meeting on Friday. I am the only second generation LLLer there! I am proof that it works! I was not sure exactly what to expect but I am very pleased and came away with a wealth of encouragement and good advice in regards to childbirth and other things. I am tickled to death and can't wait until next month's meeting!

Friday night was band meeting (small group meeting for those who aren't familiar with the term) at the Donnafield's... I'm feeling more comfortable in such settings recently. I know I'm weird and it's hard for me to get my thoughts out in words like I want them to come out... I feel much more comfortable talking one-on-one. But I am me and I have been more comfortable with me lately. Brad says he thinks that pregnancy has given me a security I lacked before. Perhaps he is right.

We didn't do the yard sale today. Sigh. We were both so tired. But it was so NICE for us to have a relaxing Saturday morning. We have enjoyed each others' company today SO MUCH... He is still my best friend and I would rather hang out with him than any other I know.

We went and bought a cheap coffemaker at Wally World tonight. With Brad's early mornings he has wanted caffeine on his way out the door. Not the healthiest of routines but I can't blame him... he only drinks half a cup anyway. I had the powdered cappucino mix but ran out... and that stuff isn't the best. So we now have a little 4-cup coffee maker with a timer, so I can prepare it at night and we can wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee... I happen to have Irish Creme grounds in the cabinet so we're off to a good start. But now I will be jealous so I'm going to have to go on a search for yummy flavored decaf grounds. I can make a half pot for him, then another half pot for me afterwards. With the weather turning colder the idea of a cup of coffee in the the mornings sounds inviting, though normally I am not a coffee person. I prefer hot tea. Chai tea is the best stuff this side of the planet, and the other side too apparently because Josh discovered it while in Iraq on a night he was visiting in a home of one of the locals. He loves it!

I've been in a severely crafty mood lately (*rubs hands together*). Ok, not THAT kind of crafty. I knitted two dishcloths, crocheted another, finished a scarf I started last year (wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles), I've started on a fall wreath for the front door... I will post pictures when it's finished because I think it's going to be major cute. Almost finished cutting out a jumper for me... I wanted it finished to wear tomorrow. Once I get it all cut out the sewing is a snap. I'm going to be making a cute retro kitchen apron for Kasey... Will post pictures of that too! I feel WOMANLY again. I always dreamed of being a housewife who cooks all the time, whose house smells of freshly baked bread all the time, decorated with her own handicrafts, wearing clothes she made herself, with well-behaved children all around.... OK, so I know real life is not as glamorous as all that, but I can dream, can't I? At least I am reclaiming a portion of my old dreams. :-)

New Tummy Photo

Month 7

Never mind

Ok, so all of you worried doting mothers out there will be glad to know that we decided to not go camping after all... THIS week. Ha ha! I did buy a body pillow just for this purpose and WOW I should have bought one of those sooner! I did not realize exactly how uncomfortable I've been until sleeping with it last night. It's a nice thing to be short because I can put it between my knees and lower legs, support my tummy on it, and rest my head on it too. COMFY!!

As soon as Brad is done getting ready (yes I'm actually ready before he is!), we are going to go out for the day. We plan on getting some lunch, touring the B17 World War II bomber that is in town this weekend ($10 for a family, not bad), then going to the corn maze afterwards. It's a gorgeous day out there and it is going to be so nice to get some fresh air.

I'm going to try to get a new tummy shot today too. I just realized today that I totally missed month 6! I'm starting month 7 already! I'm such a slacker, but whenever I would think of it I wouldn't be wearing something I wanted a picture taken in. Today is a good day though. :-)

You Have Reached Rachel...

Taking advantage of the wonderful fall weather that has suddenly appeared and going camping for the weekend. I'm such a bad blogger I know. Will return in full force next week.

Leave a message after the tone...

*BEEP*

This is the day that the Lord hath made...

It is after 2 in the morning and I just can't sleep. It could be due to all of the sugar I consumed today, but regardless, I can't sleep. They tell you that when you can't sleep, rather than just lie there forever, get up and do something until you ARE sleepy. It hasn't worked so far. So I'm going to blog a bit.

It was a wonderful Sunday! Brad worked again on Saturday so it makes getting up early on Sunday really hard on both of us, so we didn't make it to Sunday School. It's really a bummer that just as I start feeling fabulously pregnant and can make it to Sunday School, they start this Saturday work thing. We do need the overtime right now though, so it's a blessing. God knows that we do the best we can and so does the church.

Anyway, I helped Sis. Shaw with Children's Church this morning. It was SO MUCH FUN! We are learning about Truth, and she came out of the back in a trenchcoat with a magnifying glass, saying in a funny accent, "Where's the truth?? Are you the truth? Do you have the truth?" With black footprints on the floor to go with the detective theme. It thoroughly amused the kiddos. We basically learned about how God is truth and He will show us the truth if we look for it. So for the next 6 months or so we are all detectives snooping out the truth. It was cute! Sis. Shaw DEFINITELY needs to start a blog so that SHE can tell the whole world about all of this (you lurker, you!)!

She asked me to help again next Sunday, because she wants to use me as much as possible before the baby comes and then I'll have my hands full for awhile! I'm excited because I have really missed being with the kids.

We had a good lunch after church with the youth group for our meeting to kind of kick off the new year. I am SO EXCITED about the coming year. It is going to be FANTASTIC having youth service every Wednesday!!! We're having a yard sale (girls against the boys) at some point this month, which explains why I have been unable to get my own yard sale together. God knew I'd need to contribute all of that junk to the youth yard sale so that the girls can win! Yay!

I started to post about our afternoon with Brandon and Tyler, and just thinking about it made me very tired. Ha! So thanks guys! I'm off to bed now, and I'll finish blogging tomorrow.