Goodbye 2010

It's been great! This is a year we will never forget. The year we finally became parents to our precious son Malachi. The year that we also discovered we would be parents again. We have so much to be thankful and grateful for. 2010 was truly the best of times so here is our ode to 2010!

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We look forward to an amazing 2011!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

30 Weeks

Well we have reached the final stretch of the pregnancy. In 10ish short weeks little baby Keyser will be in our arms!

So here is what 30 weeks looks like: Baby is about the size of a squash and about to go through a massive growth spurt in the coming weeks!

How far along: 30 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 15 lbs
Stretch marks: no
Maternity clothes: Fully in Maternity Clothes and outgrowing some!
Sleep: Getting more and more difficult. I toss and turn a lot at night and have added several more pillows to the bed. I wake up with really bad heartburn in the middle of the night and the past few weeks I had to purchase a neck pillow because I get a horrible stiff neck while I sleep.
Food cravings/aversions: I still crave coke and lemonaide, also have wanted frosted sugar cookies lately but with my recent diagnoses of Gestational Diabetes I have to fight the cravings!
Gender: After the recent ultrasound I am thinking boy since it looked so much like Peter and I am carrying low (which is supposed to be boy) but I really have no idea.
Movement: Lots of strong kicks and rolls. Baby has moved head down (for the time being) so I am getting lots of hard kicks in the ribs which HURT! I am really able to make out little body parts when I touch my tummy which is so cool!
Best moment: Our 3D ultrasound we had done this past week! It was so amazing to get a really good glimpse of our little baby in there!
What I miss: Being comfortable. The back pain is getting bad and the neck pain at night. Also sitting up puts a lot of pressure on my back and ribs. I also really miss being able to eat what I want, when I want it.
I am looking forward to: Getting ready for this baby! 30 weeks really makes it feel like the baby is coming soon. In January we plan on getting the house all ready for the new baby!
Weekly Wisdom: Even if you think you are doing everything right, some things are out of your control. I seriously never really considered that I could have Gestational Diabetes, but here I am with it. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches! Thank God I will be back to normal soon :)

Milestones: Being in the final stretch. Baby is 75% baked!!!

Happy 8 Month Big Boy!

Today Malachi is 8 months old. Time sure does fly! It was exciting this month as now Malachi has been with us longer than he was waiting for us! That is such a huge milestone for us to reach in the adoption world!

It has been yet another huge month of learning and developing with Malachi. First he started pulling himself up to his knees. He has been army crawling for a couple months now, but he really started to crawl up on his knees. Before long he was pulling himself up on his legs and he has mastered the art of cruising along the furniture. Along with the cruising has come a lot of falls and boo-boo's as he will let go of one piece of furniture and try to reach for the other pieces. He sure is brave, but just hasn't quite figured out that he needs to take steps. All in do time!

He also added Mama and Hi to his vocabulary. His most recent trick is waving and that is usually accompanied with his "hi" sound. He sure has reached some milestones this month!

He is also constantly trying new foods. He is losing more and more interest in bottles and even pureed baby food. He prefers to eat whatever is on mommy's plate. He has tried hard boiled egg on toast, macaroni and cheese, potatoes, green beans, cooked carrots, muffins, scrambled eggs, grilled cheese sandwich, waffles, just to name a few! He has also mastered the art of the sippy cup!

Our little guy just continues to grow and it is so exciting to watch him explore the world around him, even if it does give mommy an almost heart attack at least a few times a day. There is no doubt this little man is all boy. I am reminded of that as he pushes the ottoman into the Christmas tree, as he takes his car and bangs it on the hardwood floor, and as he lets go of his toy and tries to grab hold of my Christmas Tree (that was a near-miss disaster right there!)

I am reminded of just how much character God put in this little boy as he dances to music, as he giggles when I tickle his thunder thighs and chest, as he constantly tries to get us to laugh at him by making his "cheesy grin", as he flaps his arm and makes the cheesy grin every time he see's a camera. The boy wants to entertain everyone he comes in contact with!

He is nothing but pure joy in our lives and we are so thankful for him! Every day with him just gets better and better!

We love you sweet Malachi!

Yesterday

Yesterday I went in to meet with the Diabetes Specialist at the hospital. I learned all about the risks to me and the risks to the baby. It is definitely something to be concerned about and eat right to prevent problems. From all the information, it really just seems like this eating is just a sensible way to live in general. They really did not understand how I even have GD as I really have none of the risk factors, but the test results were pretty high so clearly my body is struggling with the sugars. In her opinion, she believes I am just not taking the time to eat enough during the day (hello, chasing a baby around!) which is causing my liver to freak out and make a lot of sugar (since it assumes I am going to DIE if I don't eat now!) so when I do eat I have just too much sugar in my system between my liver and the carbs and fruit that I love :)

So I pretty much just have to balance out the carbs throughout the day. I have done pretty well so far and am actually eating way more food than I typically eat. My biggest concern was figuring out the testing, which really isn't too bad at all. Just a little poke 4 times a day. So far I am doing great with all the test results which means that hopefully this will be easy to resolve with proper eating. Actually last night I had a problem that my blood sugar was too low which I know I needed to eat more carbs with dinner last night, but didn't hence the low reading. I go back next week to meet with the nutritionist but I really don't think this is going to be too bad.

In somewhat related news. I think the biggest challenge is going to be our weekly date nights. After doing research I cannot believe how carb heavy restaurant food is. Even one of our favorites Baja Fresh doesn't have much of anything that is UNDER 100 carbs, which is crazy to me. I am allowed 45 carbs for dinner which really isn't going to work in most restaurants. To see that eating my regular at Baja Fresh a burrito and chips and salsa is almost a 200 carb meal - holy cow! And don't even get me started on OTHER restaurants :) I am definitely getting a good lesson in healthy eating!

So after my meeting, it was time to introduce Malachi to Santa! Malachi did better than I expected, but he only lasted probably 30 seconds before deciding Santa freaked him out.

At first he was his typical happy, silly self:

Then he decided to check out the guy in the silly red suit:

Then he was done!

Highs and Lows

Well I had yet another failure with the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. My results were:

Fasting: 91 (must be under 95)

1 hour: 203 (must be under 180)

2 hours: 184 (must be under 155)

3 hours: 156 (must be under 140)

My fasting level was in the passing range but I did really bad in that first hour which set the remaining hours up for failure as I just couldn't catch back up. Regardless, the test shows that my body is struggling to produce insulin right now. Tomorrow I have my first meeting with the diabetic nurse at the hospital who will help me learn what I need to be eating and help me figure out the testing I need to do at home. Hopefully a diet change will be sufficient and we can avoid insulin injections.

In better and exciting news: I scheduled our 3D/4D ultrasound. We get another glimpse of our little baby on Friday and I am so excited! We are in what they consider the perfect timing to have one of these ultrasounds done! I just can't wait to get a really up close look at our baby!

In Malachi news: He is just a couple days shy of his 8 month birthday. He is all over the place now. He is crawling fast and pulling himself up on everything and cruising across all the furniture. He sure is outgrowing the baby phase quickly and I am reminded of this everyday I go into his room and see him standing in his crib waiting for me. Tonight we have our second post adoption visit with our social worker. Even though Malachi has only been home 4 months, the report has to be on its way to Ethiopia by the 5 month anniversary so that it will arrive in its destination by his 6 month anniversary. It is all a little confusing. We will have one final social worker visit in about 6 months and then from there we will be writing our own reports once a year until Malachi turns 18!

3 Hour Test, Boring Ramblings.......

I got up bright and early this morning to conquer the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. I wanted to get it over with early as I knew I still had 3 hours of not eating in front of me. I got there so early that the hospital was pretty much a ghost town. I had to check in at the Emergency Room and call the lab and let them know I was waiting. I was quickly taken back to give my first blood sample from fasting. Then I got the lovely double dose of glucose drink. Last time I got the lemon-lime and this time they gave me orange. The orange was NASTY. I am not sure if it was because of the double dose or if it was just gross but if (big if) I ever get pregnant again, I will request the lemon-lime cocktail.

So I was off for my first hour of waiting. Pretty soon my friend Megan showed up and we visited through the entire three hours and they went pretty quick! It was really nice of her to be willing to come spend her day out at the hospital with me! After 3 hours of sitting and 3 blood draws on the hour, I was sent on my way. I asked the lab technician if the doctor would have the results by Monday and she said "Oh yeah, they have all already been processed." I asked her if she could tell me, which of course she said no to. Bummer. So we will have the verdict on Monday. With the one hour I felt really good throughout the hour, no nausea or anything so I was kind of surprised to learn I failed so badly. This time I felt really sick for the first 2 hours, so we will see if that has any bearing on the results.

Other random musings. Peter and I have decided that we are going to get a 3D/4D ultrasound. This is something I have really wanted to do and I know we are running out of time. I just really felt like I would regret it if I didn't do it since this may be our only chance. I wasn't allowed to watch our 20 week ultrasound as the technician said it would be "too difficult" for him to turn the monitor so I could see. LAME. I felt so robbed of the experience. Here I am, with all the nausea, the full bladder, and all those other not so fun symptoms but I don't get to see my own child who is growing in MY tummy! So I am really excited for this experience and I know it will be awesome to get another glimpse of our ever growing baby! The best time for this ultrasound is 28ish weeks but they said they turn out well up to 32 weeks. I am 28 weeks right now so we are hoping to get this thing scheduled in the next week or two! I can't wait to share the pictures of our little one :)

Failed

Had my first Third Trimester doctor's appointment today and it was kind of a bummer. I had all the basic stuff done, the baby sounds good, my weight gain is good, the baby is measuring good BUT I failed my 1 hour glucose test. The test was so much fun the first time that I can't wait to do the 3 hour test this weekend.

I went in on Saturday to do my test. I read some tips online to help you pass the test. I tried to avoid sugary foods the day before the test to avoid having any extra sugar in my system. I considered eating a high protein breakfast the morning of the test, but the doctor recommended fasting so I just got up and went to the hospital on an empty stomach to take the test. Having an empty stomach is supposed to help your body metabolize the sugar faster. I drank the sugary drink, no big deal. I sat and waited the looong hour and read a book on my Kindle. I did the blood draw and away I went.

The doctor's office told me to expect a call from them right away if the results weren't good. I didn't hear anything yesterday so I assumed I must have passed. Today when I went in, they reminded me that I needed to take my glucose test, which I told them I did on Saturday. They said sometimes the lab doesn't send them the results but instead just puts them in the computer so she checked the computer. The results were apparently "very bad". My sugar levels were way above the level to pass.

So now I get to spend my coming Saturday at the hospital where I will have fasted for 12 hours, drink twice as much of the sugary drink, sit for 3 looong hours, and get poked 4 more times! Fun times. I just hope that I can somehow pass this next one!

Look at me! I'm a big boy!!!

Malachi is growing and changing so much and almost on a daily basis! He is slimming down as he crawls and explores throughout the day. He doesn't sit still for any amount of time unless he hears a song he likes.

His newest skill is that he pulls himself up on EVERYTHING! The cutest thing is that he pulls himself up on his new toy and then dances to the music, it definitely cracks mommy and daddy up! Along with this new skill comes a lot of tumbling and head hitting. Mommy is trying to toughen up, but I swear my heart skips a beat every time I see him fall. This new skill has also opened up a whole new realm of possibility for Mr. Malachi and a whole new level of baby proofing for mom and dad. No more setting things on the couch as the couch level is now within Malachi's reach! He is also really close to cruising using the couches, and I am sure before we know it he will be taking those first big steps. Our baby is growing up so fast!

Another big milestone we are passing is that Malachi has now been with us just as long as he was waiting for us! It makes my heart so happy to pass this milestone! We picked him up right before he turned 4 months old and he has already been home for almost 4 months. Time sure is flying and we are so thrilled and so thankful to have him in our lives!!!