Thursday, May 5, 2011

"It Tastes Like Gatorade"

I call BS on that, dear sweet sister in law!

Today I had my one-hour glucose screening to test for gestational diabetes.  This basically consisted of drinking a large bottle of what tasted like flat, extra-sugared hi-C fruit punch.  Except with that extra tang and grain of a blood-coursing amount of glucose inserted.

Sit for one hour, and get four vials of blood removed.

It was... gross.

Results come in tomorrow or Monday, and hopefully all is looking ok.  Up to 20% of pregnant women get gestational diabetes which can lead to pre-eclampsia and often leads to large babies.  

Add on top of that my doctor's observation today that my ute is now the size of a soccer ball, and is "quite large", and I'm nervous we're due for a Miller-sized baby. (For the record, I was the "smallest" of my siblings at 8lbs, 10oz.)

Otherwise, baby looked great.  My doctor said my ultrasound results are as good and on track as they get.  Back on June 1st to check on the previa and a few other things.  These weeks are starting to tick away quickly!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

A Week Full of Mondays...

Well... two weeks full of Mondays.

I'm 24 weeks pregnant tomorrow, and I counted yesterday that I have only 15 more Mondays left until maternity leave, if baby Edwards decides to wait a full 40 weeks to make an appearance.  That makes my last day at work August 19th. That sounds... soon.

The thought of being out of work for four months is frankly, terrifying. 

This coming from the girl who has work guilt when taking a three day weekend. 

I've started to transition and trust others to handle my clients while I'm out on leave... and I am committed to at least trying my hardest to be on "leave" when actually on leave.  Certainly is easier said than done.

Monday, May 2, 2011

A Different World

32 years ago when I was born... the world was just getting to know Star Wars...

Al Gore hadn't yet invented the Internet...

Reality tv... what's that?

Today is a different day.  And this is the world Baby Edwards will be born into. 

A popular topic in DC is "where were you on September 11th?"  The majority of my peers were here.  We were all just starting out; 2-3 years into living in DC, and just starting to feel like Washingtonians.  We were starting to grow into our framilies (friend families), and just getting to the place where we turned to each other before we turned to others.

It's hard to believe it was almost 10 years ago that my Votehere colleagues were in town, and we were sitting over breakfast at the Madison Hotel, planning for a day of meetings and a huge reception on the Hill... but starting off with a meeting at the Pentagon.

It's hard to believe the conversation started at breakfast with a small tourism plane crashing into one of the Twin Towers, and listening to the story unfold.

It's hard to believe it was almost 10 years ago that I got in a separate cab as my colleagues, told him where I was headed, and he pointed to the smoke in the sky across the bridge at the Pentagon, and said "where else"?

It's hard to believe that 3-4 hours later, I was sitting on my front stoop in the heart of Capitol Hill, unable to make a phone call because the circuits had all crashed, and feeling completely alone in a city of a million people.

It's hard to believe when I went to the neighborhood watering spot that evening that I wasn't the only one without a car who had no other place to go.  We sat every-other-stool... every-other-table... fixtated on the tv, and not another sound in the room.

It's hard to believe that was the day that most of the world finally learned who Osama bin Laden was.

And its hard to believe he has captivated our country's psyche for over a decade.

It's hard to make it through the day today without taking the time to thank the men and women in uniform who knowing all this, chose to serve to protect our country.  Who choose to run in, when we run out.

At work today, there was a fire drill.  Probably caused by someone burning their panini in the lunchspot downstairs.

But unsettling.

I took the time to thank the firefighters who were running up the steps, as I was complaining my way down them.

Thank you to the people who are more courageous than I will ever be for making baby Edwards' world a little safer today.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Top Ten Strange Baby Products

1: Designer Barf Bags
    Fortunately Susann has not had to much of a problem with mourning sickness.
2: Temperature Test Rubber Ducky
    Is it that hard to figure out the bath water is too hot?
3: Bathroom Baby Harness
    This the one you use to hang your child on the wall while you use the restroom.  I probably should not be to harsh with this one.  Sounds like something I might need.
4: Placenta Brooch
   Nice.
5: Baby String Bikini
    ?
6: Baby Perfume
    Ever heard of baby powder?
7: Breastfeeding Simulator
    What's wrong with a bottle?
8: Ride-on Vacuum
    Kid needs to learn the value of work.
9: Birth Doll
    This one is for parents who already have kids.  A little TMI.
10: Thudguard Infant Safety Hat
    I have a feeling that our child will have a fairly hard head - those Edwards/Miller genes.