"Ahhh... Sugar Sugar"

Happy Sunday! Well, the weekend didn’t exactly pan out the way I had envisioned on Friday morning. If you recall, I was counting on a quiet Saturday with a pot of half-caf – which should have been enough juice to get me through a rather entertaining blog (actually it would have been enough juice to get me through Tuesday, but who’s counting). That, of course, all changed when the phone rang mid-day on Friday and I was informed that I would need to be at the hospital at 8:00 on Saturday morning for a second round of glucose testing. Turns out my levels were a teensy bit high on the first test so… Saturday morning it is.

“Please do not eat or drink after midnight tonight. No food. No liquid. No, you cannot have coffee. No, not even decaf. No, not even if you drink it black. You also can’t use any lipstick, Chap Stick, or lip gloss. You can’t brush your teeth. You can’t have any water. Also… please refrain from exercise tomorrow morning.”

“WHAT ?!?!?! YOU EXPECT ME TO LUG MY PREGNANT BODY OUT OF BED AT THE CRACK OF DAWN ON A SATURDAY, COMPLETELY DEPRIVE MYSELF OF SUSTENANCE, AND REFRAIN FROM A 5 MILE JOG?!?!?! Now you’re just being unreasonable.”

So, while my loving and supportive spouse took this opportunity to get in a quick half day of skiing (more on this next time), I sucked it up, sacrificed my morning workout (tee hee) and stumbled into the hospital clinic without a stitch of lipstick. (I promise you, like any good southern lady, my mother would have straight-up failed this test and opted to live her life as a diabetic rather than abide by this no lipstick requirement).

For those of you not familiar with a glucose test (I wasn't, until I became an expert this week), it is a test (in this circumstance) to see if you might have gestational diabetes. That sounds pretty disconcerting, but from what I understand, it’s not a huge deal. It might mean a huge baby, but isn’t really the end of the world. For the actual test, you go in, they draw your blood, they make you chug this really super sweet, disgusting juice stuff (remember that nasty generic fruit punch that they used to serve at church for the kids? Imagine that only with quadruple the amount of sugar), they take your blood, you hang out an hour, they take your blood, you hang out another hour, they take your blood, you hang out another hour, they take your blood. One of the enigmas of being Julie is that despite the amounts of caffeine (and once upon a time in a land far far away – nicotine) that I have consumed in my life (we’re talking fuel for a medium-sized country) I have extremely low blood pressure. Now that I’ve been completely toxin free for almost a year now, I have discovered that there is only one vein in my entire body that has blood actively pumping through it… and even that one has a tendency to take naps when under too much stress. Being as how this was my second test this week, counting failed draws, we’re looking at about 10 blood draws in 4 days. As you can imagine, by 11:30 yesterday – this vein was officially on strike until there was, at a minimum, the promise of a doughnut in the very near future. All in all, we survived. The baby, bless her heart, got the sugar rush of a lifetime, as you might imagine, so that was pretty entertaining, I can’t even imagine the calisthenics that were taking place as I sat there cleaning out email for three hours, it was nothing short of impressive. I’m not going to lie – I know that this might be my last weekend of carbs and sugar for the next 3 months and I’ve taken full advantage of it and so has DHB in his always supportive and sympathetic way. ;) I get the results back tomorrow so I will definitely keep you posted.

Until tomorrow, have a lovely time wrapping up your weekend and I’ll be in touch!

So very much love,

Julie

Pardon My Zen

I've got to get this blogging situation under control. There was a time in my life where I would write something every single day. I found it to be tremendously cathartic. Looking back, however, it was a time in my life when I tremendously needed catharsis. Maybe that's the key? I just can't believe I haven't blogged since before the holidays.

I'm just not entirely sure what is happening to my time. I also think pregnancy is a time that really encourages hibernation. It really is an time to intuitively fold inward and be still; not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. I'm finding it a time focused on dreams of the future and reflections on the past. Its as though I'm looking at the entire timeline of my life in the midst of a shift in paradigm and all of the colors, which were once chaotic and overwhelming, have transformed and are now suddenly crystalline and beautiful. Don't get me wrong, its not as though I think we're going to have this baby and life will be nothing but bliss for the rest of our days - but I do have an inexplicable feeling of peace and clarity that I've really never known before. As if, for the first time, I am truly standing exactly where I am meant to be.

So, all that said, I'll try to be a little more vocal about the goings on here in SLC. Our holidays were quiet. It was our first time in the history of our lives staying at home together and not traveling, which was both wonderful and very strange. I will admit, there were aspects that I missed. Hunter's grandfather's fried chicken on Christmas eve and his family's house decorated to the hilt. I missed the perpetual laughter and inside jokes that I share with my brother because everyone else is too distracted to get it. I also missed the long car ride with DHB where we listen to an incredibly eclectic mix music and somehow end up with a conversation that flows without breaks for hours upon hours about whatever in the world comes to mind. But after the year that we have, we needed the rest. We spent most of the holiday in our pajamas, going to bed early and sleeping late. I cooked an absurd amount of food for two people and we walked around exploring a snow-covered Salt Lake City.

It's amazing to me how quickly time is flying by now. The holidays truly feel like they were an eternity ago. It was a sunny day here yesterday and I will admit, it kicked off a twinge of spring fever. I'm sure we're in for at least one more good snow here, but all in-all-its been a much more mild winter than I was expecting and seems to be tapering off more and more every day.

Anyway, I just wanted to write a brief note to say hello and remind you that we're still here. I think I may make some half-caf coffee tomorrow morning, which means I'll aim for blogging something a little more lighter and entertaining. I'm sure I can pull something together on DHB's new athletic endeavors or maybe the 'Best Belly Button Watch of 2010'.

Until then, have a magnificent Friday night. Make a point to go outside for at least a minute or two and take in this absolutely gorgeous full moon!

So very much love,

Julie