What a day....

The roller coaster ride of my second Glucose Test.

Down: Found out on Wed. that Paul wasn't going to be able to come with me due to work. My counting coach (last time he counted to 20 and I'd take a sip...count to 20 again...and I'd take another sip) and company during the waiting time wasn't going to be able to be by my side.

Down: Woke up Thursday morning about to head out the door by myself.

Up: Went to give Paul a kiss goodbye and he told me he added a play list to my iPod and put it in my purse...that way I had something to listen to when I waited the 3 hours during my testing.

Down: Got to the Dr. and was having my 1st of 4 blood drawings. Dr. asked why I looked nervous. I told her I didn't think I was going to be able to drink double of the drink I had before.

Up: She said it wasn't double in amount...just double with how many grams are in the drink. So the drink was the same size...just had 100 grams (of I don't know what) compared to 50 grams. I was SO excited!!!

Down: Finished the drink by 9:30. Started my first hour of waiting before I had my blood drawn again at 10:30.

Up...Way Up!: Put on my headsets to listen to the play list Paul made for me. It was called SugarTest. I smile. The music starts. However, instead of music it was recordings of Paul encouraging me and counting to 20 for me. I was a little late on listening to it since I already had my drink. But it still made my entire day! At the very end was one of my favorite songs!

Up: First hour goes by really fast because I listed to SugarTest over and over and over.

Up: Went to have my 2nd blood drawing. She asked if I felt weak, dizzy, nauseous. I told her no and that I felt fine.

Down: Asked if I was allowed to go shopping in between hours of my blood being drawn (there's the Gap, Loft, and lots more right next door) She said no :(

Down: Half way through the second hour of waiting I started to get really hungry and a bit shaky.

Up: Had my 3rd blood drawing and she asked again if I was having any symptoms. I told her I felt fine since I was feeling a bit better.

Up: 3rd hour of waiting went by quickly (thanks again to my iPod) Went in for my 4th and final blood drawing. She tells me to make sure I eat before I head home.

Up: I see that I am leaving at 12:30. Perfect timing to meet Paul for lunch!!!

Down: I ignore Dr's orders and went straight back to work to see Paul.

Up: Walk with Paul to John's Deli. Feel a little weak but am enjoying catching up on my day with Paul.

Down: 15 steps before we get to John's I have to hold onto Paul in order to walk.

Down: Get into Johns and I try and play off that anything is wrong. I realized I am leaning on everything in order to walk. Paul notices and tells me to immediately sit down.

Down: I sit and start to get really light headed.

Down: My cloths go from dry to completely wet (from sweat) within two minutes. I mean completely wet.

Down: Paul gives me a bag of chips to eat immediately and some water. I finish the chips before I realize one even went in my mouth.

Down: I feel sweat now dripping down my legs even. I eat an entire bag of Cracker Jacks on top of the other bag of chips before Paul even pays for our food.

Down: Due to my hands shaking so much I can hardly hold the Cracker Jack bag.

Up: After 10 min. I started to feel like I can stand again.

Up: Head home from work because I still felt really weak.

Up: Slept from 3-6ish. It felt so good! I was so thirsty when I woke up but didn't have enough energy to get up for any water. Fell back to sleep for a little while longer and later had some dinner.

Up: Felt a little off all night long but I feel like a million bucks today!

I was so mad at myself for ignoring the Dr.. I figured since I felt fine that all was good. Stupid thinking with ITP and little Eric in me. I should have been way more responsible than that :(

3 lbs!!!

We got to see little Eric again on Monday (Aug. 25th)! They did a measure of his belly and head and they estimated his weight at 3 lbs!!! So exciting to see him putting on weight and growing!!! Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of him this time :( His head was looking down (I am going to have to break him of being camera shy!) and the technician was once again bouncing him to try and get him in a better position. The Dr. walked in at that moment and almost passed out when she saw her bouncing him. She immediatley asked her to stop due to my platelet count. It sort of made for an akward moment. The technician felt so bad that she just finished up and kept apologizing. So no picture this time but we did get to see him on screen and he was as cute as ever!!!

I wound up failing my glucose test by 1 point. As sad as I am that I have to be retested, we were very thankful to hear that it was only by 1 point. The Dr. isn't conserned at all...just testing again to be safe. So tomorrow morning I head in at 9 to drink that lovely drink again. However, this time it's double the size of the first one I had to drink. Yuck!!! Hmmm...I think my taste buds deserve pizza tonight to make up for what they are going to go through tomorrow! :)

It happened...

I CRAVE PICKLES!!!!!

Up until this point it's been milk and anything and everything that's cold. Like a fruit smoothie! Oh how I could go for a fruit smoothie right now! However, as of lately, a jar of pickles is just what the taste buds ordered!

Lauren!

This past weekend Paul and I were about to start a movie. Just as we hit play the phone rings. The littlest voice was on the other end...it belonged to Lauren. She was SO excited to talk to us, and as she always does, she immediately put us on speaker phone. This time however, she wanted us all to herself. She took us straight upstairs into Tyler's room and closed the door. She read us books, called us chicken noodles and silly goooses, laughed, and told stories. 35 minutes later Lisa came up to tell her she only had 2 more minutes with us because we needed to go watch a movie. Lisa goes back downstairs and Lauren is completely quiet on the other end.

The rest of the conversation went as follows:

Lauren: (very quietly) sniffs in the background.

Auntie Jen: Lauren...are you OK?

Lauren: (crying) No...I'm going to take you into my room so I can lay in bed for a while.

We immediately told her not to be sad and that we would stay on the phone and continue to play with her. Nothing helped. The little girl had her heart broken. And so did we.

Auntie Jen: Lauren...it's OK. Don't be sad. We're still going to play with you.

Lauren: (crying) I just need to lay down in bed and stare at your picture. (she has a picture of Paul and me hanging on her wall that Lisa says she's obsessed with)

At this point I broke down crying. I couldn't stand to hear how sad she was that she couldn't play with us anymore. She asks my sister just about every day to come to "York". Having us on speaker phone was her way of having us there with her. She never wanted this moment to end and now she was told it was going to. She genuinely had her heart broken. It was way too much to handle that I had to hand the phone to Paul to take over. Thankfully he did a perfect job at cheering her up.

Uncle: Lauren...do I have a hat on in that picture you are looking at?

Lauren: (still very sad) yes.....

Uncle: Guess what.

Lauren: What?

Uncle: That hat is still stuck on my head!

Lauren: It is! You tried everything to get it off and it's still stuck...

Uncle: Yep...it's still stuck.

Very slowly she was distracted enough to remember we broke her heart by saying we had to go and watch a movie over playing with her. As I was writing this post she called me at work to say she just went to the Dentist! She walked to the back room all by herself and sat in the "humongous" (according to Lauren) chair without needed Mommy by her side. Lisa said she did so well! And the reason for doing so well...Lisa said she could call Auntie Jen and Uncle to tell them about it if she was a brave big girl!

WE LOVE YOU LAUREN!!!!

Raise Your Hand If You're Sure!!!

On Monday (August 4th) Paul and I got to see little Eric again! He had flipped around from our last visit. If he were to stay in this position he'd be born feet first! We're not worried though...I am sure there will be a million more turns before it's time to deliver! (Eric, I swear at times you know I am talking about you. I honestly think you just did another flip as we speak!!!) The Dr. said he looks great! She will measure him next visit, but she estimated he weighes approx. 2 lbs now. Just by looking at him you can see he is putting on weight, which was nice to see!!! His heart and everything else looks right on track as well! Go Eric!!!

I had to take the Diabetes test this visit. Thankfully Karyn warned me of the size. I thought this pure syrup drink was going to be a shot glass. Far from it! Being someone who only drinks milk and water, and who hasn't had sugar in a very long time, this drink was hard to get down! The taste wasn't all that bad, however, the consistency was *gag* me. And that fact that it was warm didn't help!!! Paul would count to 20 and I'd take a sip...he'd count to 20 again and I'd take another. It was quite comical! He kept laughing at my shivers each time I would swallow a gulp! He tried telling me to close my nose but, being someone who has no sense of smell, that trick never works for me! hahaha! (As I learned the hard way when I was younger and my Mom forced me to eat steak! Nasty!) We should hear back shortly on the results.

Can't wait to see you again on our next visit Eric!!!

Thanks Nan!!!!

This past weekend Paul and I headed back to Everett for some family time! We thought it would be fun to take Keri to BabiesRUs with us to pick out some things for Eric. We added a Pack n Play to our list to keep in Everett so Eric has a place to sleep. When we got home Nan let it be known she wanted to be the one to buy little Eric his Everett bed so we went straight back to the store to get it!

How Many Downs's Does It Take To Put Together A Pack-n-Play?

Two reasons why this should have been easy to assemble. One...there were no tools required. Two...they have a team member on their side who has (deep breath) laid down all the wooden floors you see in the house, rebuilt the entire kitchen and bathroom, installed new wooded doors, added walls, tore down walls, built an entire deck, and many other things...ALL ON HIS OWN. However, somehow that wasn't the case! It had to be the funniest thing watching the 3Downs's put this together....but it was even funnier listening to them. About half way through I went into the kitchen to make a dessert for the BBQ we were having later in the day. Here are some quotes that stick out in my mind.

Papa Downs: No...you have it on backwards...oh no...wait...no...that's right...you have it right. Nope...it's on backwards.

Keri: Do you guys understand what I am trying to say here!?!?!


Paul: Wait...I don't think that's right. The baby will be floating in the air if we put in on that way!!!


In the end they did a perfect job!!! Thanks SO MUCH NAN for Eric's place to stay in Everett!!! I am sure he's going to love it!!!

Week 25!!!

Paul and I ordered Eric's crib, changing table/dresser, and glider this past weekend!!! One would think I'd leave the store in a good mood...right? Wrong!!!

Everything started out beautifully...we got to the store at 4:30 knowing exactly what we wanted. All we had to do was order it. As we are ordering the glider (the last of the three things) I get a glance at the owners watch and see that it's a little past 5. What!?! The store closes at 5 and we still have to pick from 125 different fabrics to cover the glider! 125!!! So each minute that I spent deciding, was a minute that I was keeping this guy from going home to his wife! (she even called asking when he was coming home!) Not to mention the fact that these swatches are very small so it's very hard to visualize a whole chair in it. But you better not pick wrong or else there goes "x" amount of money! The pressure was on!!! There was no..."we'll come back next weekend" because it takes 12 weeks for the furniture to arrive. So...we finally came to a decision around 5:25. I felt terrible that we kept him that long (even though he was incredibly nice about it). Approx. 5 min. into the car ride home I broke out hysterically crying. And it lasted...no lie...two hours!!! All I have to say is...poor Paul!

Little did I know that was the start of this crazy emotional thing that was happening to my body. Two days later Paul and I wanted to go to a store...we couldn't switch lanes in time to turn into the parking lot...had to make a u-turn instead. What did I do? I started to cry! What is that!?!?!

I honestly believe little Eric went through a growth spurt and my body produced a million more hormones than usual. Thankfully...and I mean thankfully...I am feeling like my ol' self again!!! Last night Paul and I had a great night with no crying fits!!! I don't know who's happier...Paul or me!!! Hahahahaha!!! And today I've felt like a million bucks! To say the least...they were an interesting 3 1/2 days!!!

Here is the most recent belly update! Notice I am posting it on a good day. If it had been early yesterday morning...I would have cried because a hair was out of place!

P.S. A huge thanks to Ally for suggesting I LUV My Baby. I don't think we would have found natural wood anywhere else!!! And Heather...we went with the same brand Glider you recommended!!! Thanks ladies!!!!