9 years ago tonight....

....is when Ben and I met for the first time!  It was my first weekend of college, and some new friends and I decided to go out for our first time as college freshman.  We ended up at an apartment party and not too long after we got there, I see the door open and in walks Ben...or little did I know of course, my future husband :)  What I absolutely LOVE is that I can vividly remember the first time that I saw him - walking in that door with the biggest smile on his face...the same smile that I get to come home to every day now!  We ended up talking later that night a little bit and he got my phone number....called me a few days later, and basically we hung out every single day for the next month until we "officially" started dating on September 23rd, 2003.  And the rest is history :)

I wanted to write a quick little note to commemorate today because one thing that I have absolutely loved over the years is to think back on the anniversary of the day we first met and think, "little did we know".  And especially this year as I am carrying our first child together..."little did we know"!

Just a few pictures to remember the years together....

Our very first picture together in 2003!

California 2005

Hallowen 2006

Graduation 2007

Colorado 2007

Engagement Day - February 24, 2008

Our first babies together :)

Wedding Day - January 3, 2009

Packers Game 2011

20 week picture!

My bump halfway through the pregnancy!

20 weeks!

Stroller thoughts - need input! :)

Option #1

OR Option #2?

When Ben and I were in Chicago this weekend, we stopped by Buy Buy Baby to take a look at some of their baby stuff (side note: it was SO much fun to look at it all!  I can't wait to start registering...).  As we were perusing the stroller aisle, we started looking at the Chicco Travel Systems.  My sister had recommended getting a travel system and my parents already have a Chicco car seat base, so we decided to go with that brand.  So our original plan would be to get a travel system and also an umbrella stroller since we obviously won't want to lug around a heavy stroller all of the time.

Anyway - as we were looking, one of the employees of B3 came up to us and started talking to us about an alternate travel system.  The stroller he was recommending is the Baby Jogger City Mini Single Stroller - which is a really lightweight stroller (weighs 16 pounds) that easily folds up (with the lift of a handle) - and you can buy a car seat adapter to make it into a travel system.  The car seat adapter you buy can hold multiple car seat brands, including Chicco.  I was really excited to hear about a lightweight travel system because a constant complaint I keep seeing of "normal" travel systems is the weight and how difficult they are to manage/fit in cars.  And this one truly is easy to manage and folds up really small - we got to try it out!  Also, even though this stroller is pretty bare bones (you have to buy the tray, cup holders, adapter, etc. plus a car seat separately of course) - the total cost actually comes out about the same as it would if you were to buy a travel system and an umbrella stroller (doing the rough math). 

So now we don't know what to do :)  I wanted to see if anyone has any thoughts on travel systems in general AND about the City Mini Stroller travel system option.  Few more specific questions:

1)  For those who have used travel systems, how old was your baby when you stopped putting the car seat actually in the stroller?

2)  This next question is especially for those moms and dads that have had kids in late December/January - with the time of year that she will be born, we probably won't be ouside too much.  That makes me wonder if we really even need to have a stroller that can carry the car seat.  By the time spring rolled around - were you still using your travel system?

So, any input or thoughts are greatly appreciated :)  Who thought buying a stroller would be such a hard decision!? :) 

20 weeks - halfway! :)

I cannot believe that I am already 20 weeks along...halfway!  It feels like it's gone by fast, but then again - when I really think about when we found out I was pregnant (late April), I really don't think it's gone by fast at all (not in a bad way!).  I think the fact that we didn't tell people for the first 12 weeks or so made the first trimester go fairly slow - but once I hit the second trimester, it definitely has gone by faster!

Even taking into consideration the medical stuff I've been having to deal with, I really really LOVE being pregnant.  I love that I can feel our little girl move now and that my belly is growing - I finally feel like when I wake up, I actually look pregnant, which makes me so happy! 

Speaking of medical stuff - a little update on what's going on with my gestational diabetes.  Maybe a few weeks ago I would have started this sentence with "unfortunately", but I actually don't feel the need to anymore.  About a week and a half ago, I started having to take insulin.  I was definitely scared at first because I just don't know a lot about insulin. When I went in for my "insulin how-to" with the nurse, I left feeling a little discouraged and upset that I had to start this medicine.  I think the fact that I actually have to give myself a shot (not a shot like an EpiPen where you just press a button - but a true shot) really started freaking me out.  And of course, the unknown of how my body is going to respond to this new medicine - especially considering it did NOT respond well to the glyburide pill a few weeks back. 

After actually starting the shots the next day and talking with a few people about how insulin is actually not as scary as it may seem - I really started getting a hang of it and realizing - "hey, this isn't that bad!" (a special thank you to the person who has been my "go-to" insulin person - you know who you are :) - it means a lot to me, thank you!)

The good parts about insulin:

• I have a humolog pen, which doesn't need to be refrigerated and I just carry with me in my purse.  I just click the dial to however many units I need (no measuring!)
• The needle is SO thin - I honestly don't feel it go in.  It is less painful than my finger pricks to test my blood sugar!
• My numbers are GOOD!  Despite a malfunctioning few shots the first week, which my numbers reflected, things seem to be under control.
• My dose is very low (for now at least), and even that low dose is controlling my numbers.
• Insulin is actually FDA-approved for pregnancy, unlike glyburide.
• Our little girl (hopefully!) is staying healthy and at a good size - this is all worth it for her!

The bad parts about insulin (I actually had to think about this for a minute...):

• I've been struggling with the fact that I don't really want to announce to the world that I am diabetic.  For instance, I feel weird taking out a snack in the middle of a meeting because I'm starting to feel like my BS is dropping - I need to get over that because it would be more embarrassing to pass out on the floor and have to get the shot in my upper butt or stomach :)  This happened in a meeting in Chicago a week or so ago - and I ended up not taking out my snack because of me feeling like it would be "inappropriate" with the group.  Luckily I was fine, but I really should have.  I will not do that again.
• The fact that I have to be religious about my mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack so I don't bottom out.  But, a little planning ahead and this really isn't a "bad part".
• It will be much more difficult to take insulin and get my necessary snacks when I am traveling for work.  But, a little planning ahead and I hope this won't be an issue either :)  I will get to try this out a lot in September - looots of traveling.

So there's the update - definitely praying that taking insulin continues to go well and that I never have to use my reserve "emergency foods" that I carry with me in my purse if I start to bottom out....or the emergency insulin pen!! 

20 week picture coming soon.... :)

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Between this blog and the last, that has definitely been the most exciting news!!!  Well, actually the most exciting news is that from what they can tell on ultrasound, we have a healthy baby girl too!  We went in for our ultrasound on August 6th and let me tell you, I was SO nervous (Ben can vouch for that!).  Even though we had an ultrasound at 6 weeks, this was really the first time we were going to see our baby looking like a baby and the one that they do the full body "check" for everything.  But, our fears were calmed a little bit when her cute little profile came up on the screen!  Here is one of the very first pictures we got of her...

I love her little nose!!!  She was all curled up!

It really amazed me how good the ultrasound techs are at deciphering what is what on that screen!  I know they are trained to do that, but still, it was pretty amazing they could pick everything out!  Ben was much better at "seeing" what the tech was saying during the ultrasound - must be that artsy/visual brain of his :)  I felt like I kept having to ask..."wait, what?" and then Ben would explain it to me lol - oh well, I'm happy to have him there with me :)  She was moving around a ton during the ultrasound (I had a spicy sandwich for lunch, that must have done the trick!).  And, she was moving around enough to show us that she actually is a she!  While they can't say they are 100% sure (as always), the tech said she is as sure as she can be that it's a girl!  Her heartbeat was 146 bpm!  And, the doctor said they saw the full checklist of everything they wanted to see - which is actually pretty rare for the first ultrasound!  Here are a few more pictures of our little one!....

One of our favorites!  Once again, her cute nose!  Those are her knees in front of her face. 

 

The slightly creepy front view of her face! :)  hehe

 

Her cute little feet!

 

Luckily, the weekend before our big appointment, we were able to take a fun trip up to Traverse City, Michigan with our friends Steve and Nyssa for a little getaway.  It really helped keep our mind off of things! :)  We enjoyed nice dinners out, time at the beach, an afternoon of driving up the nearby peninsulas for wine tasting, a trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore, and exploring downtown Traverse City!!  I wish I could have partaken in the beer and wine tasting, but it was still super fun - next time I will! :)  We had a blast with Steve and Nyssa - we are so lucky to have such great friends!!!  I really felt like this was the first time I could actually see a true baby bump in pictures of me!  Ben got a few really nice ones of me and my belly on the beach while we were there :)

One of the best things that has happened in the last few weeks is that I have started feeling our little girl move!!!  I think I felt her first around 17 weeks, but I definitely know for sure now that it is indeed her.  I am getting pretty good at differentiating between her movements and just normal stomach movements :)  It's pretty amazing!  We think Ben got to feel her move tonight, but we are not sure!  I know he can't wait to really start feeling her move regularly!  I can tell he likes seeing my growing baby bump - he gets a huge smile on his face when he comments on how much it is growing!  And he loves to touch the belly too :)

I was 19 weeks last Thursday, but here is my 18 week pic! Definitely a baby in there now, don't ya think?... :)

A rollercoaster of a few days...

Well, the last few days have been a little bit of a roller coaster in terms of my blood sugar control.  As expected, the doctor called last Friday and told me to go ahead and start the glyburide medicine to control my blood sugar numbers a little bit more.  Of course, one of the risks of starting medicine for diabetes (whether it's glyburide or insulin) is that you could have hypoglycemia issues - or low blood sugar.

I started the medicine on Saturday morning with breakfast.  Since I wasn't told to change my diet now that I was on medicine, I had what I usually do for breakfast - which I unfortunately found out was not enough.  Well, about an hour and half after breakfast, I had a low blood sugar episode - and let me tell you, it was scary!  I started feeling light headed, dizzy, shaky - I tested my blood sugar and it was 37!  Normally after eating, my blood sugar is about 100-140.  So 37 is definitely low.  I ate some applesauce right away and started getting back to normal luckily!

Sunday was just fine - but then again on Monday, I ate a normal breakfast and mid-morning snack and right before lunch at noon - I started feeling the symptoms of hypoglycemia again.  And yup, it was 41 when I tested.  Luckily I was prepared with some apple juice and peanut butter crackers. 

Of course, it seemed really odd to me that even when I was eating like I should be, I still had this issue.  I called the doctor and about 5 hours later (finally!), I got to talk to a nurse.  They told me to go ahead and stop taking the medicine immediately.  I kind of have mixed feelings - I'm glad I called because obviously they thought my body wasn't ready for the medicine either.  We have our next appointment on Monday, so I am anxious to see what the doctor has to say!!