Katie in action trying to get her new toy.

Some like it hot...

Katie does not!
I was worried about our mini-heat wave. Katie hates being hot, so it has been a challenge to keep her comfortable. She has been naked essentially since last afternoon. She also digs the washcloth to the head (even while nursing). So I am hoping for cool breezes until we can install the window air conditioners!

Realization

I have concluded that Grandmothers would wet their pants before disturbing a sleeping baby on their lap. Katie is going to miss her grandma for sure!

Do I look tired?

Katie has been more awake and interactive. She likes the rattles now. Mike's cousin from Germany, Irena sent toys, and she really likes them already!

Broadway for Headbangers

The Toxic Avenger Tickets - The Toxic Avenger Official Website for Tickets - NYC-Off Broadway

Here's a show for Pat. I saw an ad early this AM, but I thought it was a dream.

Blow out

I was the victim of the first blow out today. I knew it was a matter of time before that happened. I am officially christened by Kuni!

Sorry so quiet...

This is a day in the life. It is amazing how you can kill a day without getting anything else done!

1. feeding the baby
2. burping the baby
3. sleeping when I can
4. pumping (not iron)
5. trying to find something good to watch on TV
6. running to the store while mom holds the baby
7. going on some walks
8. trying to think of something to make for dinner
9. running to the train station
10. getting baby to sleep in the crib instead of our warm arms

It is all going well, but it is not terrible interesting for you all to hear about!

Another Happy Birthday!

Hope you find something fun to do today!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Sue!

She did not even...

Sunday night we watched the TLC special, "I did not know I was pregnant". It went on for 3 hours, but we watched two. The narrator said the following phrases for all of the stories. I think he just had to record it once.
1. Her periods were irregular.
2. She was told she was infertile.
3. The couple was not using birth control.
4. She did not change her lifestyle.
5. She did not receive pre-natal care.
6. She did not have any cravings or frequent urination.

When they kept saying number 5, we were totally cracking up.

Sue and the City

We made it out of the house yesterday. We figured that Sue should see the city since she had not been here. So Mike was home with the baby and we hit the sights. We did Top of the Rock on the clearest day possible, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and wandered around. It was nice to get out in the springlike weather. It is pouring rain now, so you have to take it when you can get it.

Peeping Tom

Hangin' around

As you all can imagine, I do not get out much. I did take a longer walk yesterday which I tolerated well. Sue has been a great help, and she knows newborns. That is good since I have another person willing to snuggle up with Baby K. Today we actually left the house and drove to the store. Whoo hoo! I hope she is not too bored. Yesterday I fed Katie just about every hour on the hour. She was also awake for a long time just checking out the world. Needless to say, I was not very productive yesterday! So we are having a good visit and just lounging around way too much.

Follies Continued..

Baby K continues to be easy-going. I do not know if I am the only new mom who finds this time relaxing. I am convinced that holding a baby is good for your blood pressure. I will be sure to hold her before my next doctor's appointment.

I look like a hot mess. I was talking my friend who does my hair, and she offered a house call! I am not sure if I will take her up on it. I am tempted to highlight my hair since it will not touch my scalp. I will not color yet though since your head soaks a while and you never know. I also have the residual belly that makes me appear pregnant. Mike told me it was my chance to embarrass people who call me out on being pregnant. "Oh, I am not pregnant". People felt safe doing so during the pregnancy since I carried everything between my shoulders and hips. Of course swimming always revealed what was going on too.

Mike got the car seat checked yesterday. The officer complimented him by saying he did it better than 95% of the people that show up for the check. The officer also told him that we should buy a house in town here. I would love to buy a house here. It has been really nice so far. I went for a walk yesterday (first exercise, only 15 min) and immediately needed a nap. I could smell the sound when I was walking around. The neighbors are so friendly here. We have met a bunch of the families who live on our street. Even though we are close to a busier road in town, it is really quiet. We are on a preserve (wetlands), and you usually just hear birds. When you look out the windows, you see tall marsh grass. Of course it must be a flood zone, so we will not be buying right here. The river that flooded most of the town last year flows nearby.

Oma and Opa came by yesterday. Baby K enjoyed their visit and enjoyed being held (her favorite past-time next to nursing and pooping after a diaper change). When I got up this morning, there was a present in the crib for me. Oh yeah, the umbilical cord! Mike found it rolling around in the onsie and left it out for me to see. He thinks it woke her up this morning like the princess and the pea. I hope this tale did not ruin any breakfasts!

Katie's bathtime revenge

Mike looked happy until he heard the large poop go into the towel! She showed us.

Follies 3

So we came home, and the house was 62 degrees. That is the temp we like to keep the house, but apparently babies prefer something alittle closer to room temp. We turned up the thermostat, and next thing you know it was 75. She was overheating, but it took us a while to figure it out (discovered her beet red body under her clothes!). So the temperature thing was making her cranky. Then Mike noticed that she turned herself on her side in the crib, and he was afraid to let her sleep like that. The whole "Back to Sleep" thing was emphasized over and over. Baby K also wanted to be held, so that did not lend itself well to sleeping. So the first night was rather sleepless.
The next couple of nights were better (for me). I went to bed early and got 7 hours of sleep. We talked to the doctors about her rolling over, and they were not too concerned. Mike was up a lot since she really likes to eat all night. When I was pregnant I was always telling Mike that the baby was a Caraher. I used to get a nightly kick-a-thon at about 5 AM, and I am the early one in the family. This morning he told me he thinks I am right. She tends to be super active at 5 ish with flailing arms and legs.
Otherwise she behaves. We gave her a sponge bath last night, and she got even with us by pooping in the towel when we were done.

Follies 2

While I was recovering, the house was still getting set up. The plumber was over and we got our crib and a dresser delivered. My mother and father in law came over to let the plumber in, and they built the furniture for us. That was incredibly helpful to know it was done before Katie came home (although we are not using the crib yet since I have been staying downstairs). If it was not for Mike's family and friends, we would have taken her home to a house full of boxes! Things are started to look relatively civilized now, but we still have some little things to do. Later in the week, the nurses would let her out of the NICU to our room. I got to have her pretty much all day and take care of her. That helped my confidence a lot since Mike had to go to work on Friday and wrap things up. Mike started taking care of her at night in the hospital. He told the nurses to let him do her care and coach him. The nurses were really great and really took their time with us newbies. We really felt pretty comfortable taking her home since we had a lot of support in the hospital (and lessons!). She was medically stable the whole time so that also helped us feel good about handling her. I can not imagine getting kicked out the hospital in 48 hours. That would have been overwhelming. I am also sure I felt a lot better than many of the moms who went through labor and delivery. I still can not get over how amazing the staff at the hospital was. They were professional, but incredibly caring. You can not just find that anywhere!

Newborn Follies

So I thought I would give some blow by blows for those who I have not spoken with the last few weeks. I was in the hospital the weekend we moved for low amniotic fluids, and they pumped my belly back up with IVs. I had to keep going back and getting my fluid level checked and have the baby monitored twice a week. That was my social life at the time. The staff at the hospital was just amazing. I got to know a lot of the nurses in labor and delivery since I had been coming in once a week since late January. It was kind of pathetic, but they would recognize my voice on the phone too. Last Monday, I had an ultrasound to check the fluid level. I was considering taking a shower before my appointment in case I was admitted again. I really should have since the doctor sent me upstairs for a C-section. The levels were the same as the last time where they could just give me fluids, but for some reason the neonatologist just decided I should go. I was a little shocked, and we really did not have a discusssion. I called Mike and he started grilling me about it. So when he arrived to the hospital, he talked to the OB on call who was supposed to do the procedure. I was familiar with her from the last time I was in the hospital, so after a long talk we elected to try to get a few more days and do the IV fluids again. She was borderline being 36 weeks. So we tried the fluids again, but despite our best efforts, the fluids dropped again. I was ready for my C-section since they told me not to eat the night before. The good news was that my doctor was doing the procedure. I was excited about that. She told me that she thought we made the right choice trying to get a few more days instead of delivering immediately. That was reassuring to us, and it was time to get the little breech baby out.

Holy cow, the c-section was efficient. The most uncomfortable part was the blood pressure cuff and when they sat on my chest to push her out. After they assessed her, they took Mike out of the room and had him sit with the baby in the recovery area (while I got sewn back up). I guess the babies are always calm right after they are born. I can not get over how amazing the staff was including the anesthesiologist! My only weird complication after the surgery was my body temp plummeting to 94 degrees. I had no idea since I felt hot and kept having to wipe sweat off my head. It took a while to get me back on track. It was a weird feeling. Mike spent a lot of time with the baby which was great.

I did not sleep the first night. I must have been excited despite all the crazy drugs I had. I was not in pain. I was able to go see her in the NICU first thing in the morning. I wanted to try to breast feed her, and I was a little stressed about how that would go. Fortunately she is a champ and latched right on! Thank God somebody knew what they were doing. I was up walking laps on day one since you gotta move after surgery.

Well, to be continued....

Who said newborns can't smile?

I swear she was not pooping, just alert and listening to singing.

Getting to know you....

Things are still going well at home. The first night poor Mike did not get any sleep. He ended up changing her clothes several times due to amateur diaper moves and K's affinity for peeing while getting changed. The other issue was that she figured out how to turn on her side, and they were totally hyper about back to sleep when talking about taking care of her. He was not sure if he could let her stay that way or not. Baby K also prefers to be held which is not conducive to sleep, but she gets a pass since she is not full term yet :) I was up too since I felt bad about Mike's situation, and I went to bed too late.
Tonight was better and Mike got a couple of hours to sleep. I went to bed at 10:30, so I am chipper since I slept until 5:45. We have a doctor's appointment this morning, so we will find out if she is getting enough to eat. Judging by her poop output, I would say that she is getting enough. Otherwise, not much to say around here. Just nursing, sleeping, pooping, and getting used to each other.

Baby K is home

We made it home, and so far so good.

Baby W is here!

Katherine Ann was born on March 18th at 2:06pm. She weighed in at 7lb 4 oz. She was 18.5 inches tall. The new mommy is recovering fine from the c-section.

Settling In

We have a lot of things set up in the new house now. Mike's dad put up blinds yesterday which was really helpful. Things are getting orgarnized. Crib is on the way(should be here on Wed). C section is scheduled for April 2nd, but my doctor thinkS I will go earlier. Baby W is still breech, but otherwise doing well. I spend most of my time on the left side like I should. That makes extensive blog posting challenging. Hopefully my fluid level remains good.

Last night we met more neighbors. This street is really friendly. They brought over some flowers for us which was really nice. It is nice to be able to freely talk to neighbors.

Dry run

We are discovering that renting this house will help us know what to look for even more when shopping. I know I want carpets in the bedrooms now. We know what to look out for in an older house now. We have had issues with finding 3 prong outlets, etc Live and learn.

Amazon.com: Cariboo Folding Bassinet - Mahogany: Baby

Amazon.com: Cariboo Folding Bassinet - Mahogany: Baby

For baby or laundry?

Lefty

I will be spending my final weeks mostly on my left side. Wish me luck and a tank of fluids for baby w. EWWW, I said fluids.

Also, looking like a scheduled C-section for sure now (unless anything else happens first) I told my doctor some of the turning over suggestions I was given, and she was most entertained by the flashlight trick. So I am aiming for 39 week delivery which is the goal still. The other doctor scared me the other day saying it would probably be 37 weeks. I want to meet baby W, but I am willing to wait to 39 weeks for sure.

Breechinger

Baby W is still breech, and I was told that I probably will have to have a scheduled C-section. Any suggestions to turn the stinker over (besides headstands which may not be good for my blood pressure!).

Makin' Progress

It is amazing how the house is really emptying quickly. I guess a lot of our stuff was sitting in boxes already, so it makes life easier. The most time consuming has been the books. Our whole apartment is filled with them. It does not help there are many built in shelves. Mike has all of his textbooks from undergrad and grad school (x2). I filled 2 boxes with books to donate to the library. It is crazy how many books we have. I keep trying to have a book intervention with Mike, but he is still in denial. Who needs a Fortran book from 1984?

With the pace it is emptying out here, we should be moved out completely by the weekend. We are getting furniture delivered this week too. So we have a lot to do, but I feel like we have a handle on things. The main thing is coordinating getting the big stuff out on Saturday. It stresses me out that I can not really help much with the move. I have been packing and unpacking to free up crates. Otherwise Mike is the manpower. I am so excited to have a kitchen with space and light! I am also excited to be able to sleep far away from the furnace. The biggest perk of all is the washer and dryer! I have been waiting years for that one!

Yesh!

Got a house! Whoopee! Who wants to come and help Mike move?

39 years, almost 34 weeks...

For all of you who are curious what I have morphed into.

The continuing saga

We looked at houses last Sat since things went south on the one we planned on renting. Then we picked a house on Saturday which was ideal. We had discussed with the landlord the possibility of having an extension for 1-2 months in case our house closing takes longer than we think. He said it was fine. We went ahead with getting the lease, etc. The realtor told us that they were going to include the extension in the lease, but it was not written in yet. Fast forward to Tues. After many discussions with the realtor about how important the extension was to us and how I wanted to get the lease taken care of quickly (so we could move this weekend), she calls and says the landlord only wants to do a straight 6 months without an extension. I was so friggin' pissed. I asked about this repeatedly, and she told me it was OK. There is also a language barrier with the realtor which made it frustrating. So as I was melting down, Mike got on with another realtor who showed us houses on Sat too. She actually is a parent of a client of mine which was a coincidence. We liked the houses we saw with her, so to calm me down Mike suggested we start everything with her in case the house we wanted did not work. Well the house we want fell through yesterday, and the idiot realtor called me back to try to get me another place. As if I would use her!!! So, hopefully the third is the charm, and I am getting the lease to look at today. So we went from moving to White Plains to Harrison to Rye. When I get some visitors we can walk to the beach!

Backstory

Here is the story that goes along with yesterday's expressive quote. Over the weekend we went to Whole Foods, and Mike found some coupons towards cheese. He was excited to try something fancy and new, so he picked out a couple to try. The past day or two, our fridge has been sort of smelly. We rifled through, but nothing obvious revealed itself. Last night I heard Mike laughing in the kitchen. He had pulled out one of the cheeses he bought and realized that was the cause of the smell. He had not even unwrapped it. The cheese was unwrapped which became a biological weapon. It smelled like the fromagerie in Paris, and the rind would have received a top prize at the science fair. He even tried it, but it was inedible. We had to put it outside in the garbage last night and Mike had to brush his whole mouth out after the experience (I suggested tossing his toothbrush too). So beware of the cheese!

Psychic Energy

Whenever I am thinking, "I have not felt Baby W for a while", I inevitably get kicked shortly after. Last night I was thinking that, and I was kept up for a half hour gymnastic performance.

Quote of the Day

I think I bought a 6 dollar turd!

MW

Growing up

We have been furniture shopping the last week or two. We have both come to the conclusion that we do not like most furniture. The good news is that we like the same things so no arguing about what we want. So we shopped yesterday and hit a bunch of stores. Wow, most of the furniture is so fugly. We are also limited right now since we need to buy a couch that we need right away. So we can not change fabrics, etc. So wish us luck. We have one contender, but we may hit one more place. For example, we like the green couch better for shape and material, but we are not sold on the color. I think we should get the brown one since it will fit in anywhere we may buy. Mike mocked the couches up with a picture from the house, so if you want to comment have fun. I will email them to you. If the green was another shade I would be all about it personally. By the way, the couches are not magical as they appear in the picture.

Aurggg!

We are starting over for the rental house. We have been working all week on getting the deal sealed, and we did not get the lease until Thurs. That was annoying in itself since we were waiting for it since last weekend. Mike reviewed it on Thursday at work at quickly became agitated.

First of all, the lease was poorly written. It had language about "broken promises" all over it. We have never seen that before on any legal document. On the section about security deposits, it said that if the house is sold during the lease term that they could "give" the deposit to the new owners. There were sections that were basically indecipherable. Mike had sent our mark ups and revisions to the owner and hashed it out last night. There were a couple of real major sticking points on it. He first did not want to include "The parties agree that the laws of the state of NY shall control the interpretation and enforcements of the provisions of the lease." That is so we can not sue eachother in South Dakota, etc. Mike thinks he realized that the laws protecting tenants in NY state were strong. I think he finally got him to agree about it.

Here are the deal breakers for us. In the repair section, he wanted us to agree that we are responsible for the first 400 dollars of any repair. What a load of crap! I am willing to admit if I break something, but 400 dollars is not minor. What if a pipe burst in the 6 months we are there or the roof leaks? That is not due to our wear and tear. He acted as if he would not make us pay for that, but when it comes down to it people are weird about money. It is not worth the potential conflict in my mind. He is the home owner, so he should assume the risk of things breaking (unless we are destructive). I am not in the mood to sign a lease and worry about anything happening! The other thing sticking point made us feel he was unreasonable so we walked away. There was this huge (and ugly) entertainment center sitting in the living room. We asked the realtor if it could go, and she said he would take care of it. The renters he had before did not care and let it stay there. Flash forward to the lease. It said we were responsible for moving it, and we had to hire movers to move it in and out of the room (and we were responsible for any damage). As far as I am concerned, that really is not our responsibility. What if the movers damage it? Will our security deposit get sucked dry to pay for it? At one point he told Mike that we could hire the movers and he would watch them, but it is just so stupid. Those types of things gave us a bad feeling, so we walked away. So today we are going back to the drawing board!

The Miracle of......

Mike staying conscious during the childbirth video last night! Mike is on the squeamish side of things, so I am amazed that he actually watched the gory details. Of course the video had the naked lady from Hippieville pushing the baby out. I do not think I have ever seen a child birth video with a woman wearing some clothing. I guess if you are one of the earth mama types you would be cool with getting videotaped for an educational purpose in the nude. Anyhooo, I plan on wearing as much clothing that is allowable!

The other funny thing in the video was the one husband coaching his wife. He had his face about an inch away from hers. I can tell you right now that will not fly with me. It was hard enough practicing with Mike without laughing. The nurse was telling the husbands to massage us to make us relaxed, and Mike was tickling me instead. It also did not help that his hands were friggin' freezing for some reason. So I think we are quite the childbirth flunkies right now.

lazin' around

This weekend was the most eventful for a while which is not saying much :)
Mike and I got a rental house arranged, so it appears we may actually move before the arrival of Baby W. Fortunatly the house is a 4 bedroom, so there will be plenty of room for visitors. The feature I am most excited about is the washer and dryer! We bought a queen sized bed for the guest room this weekend, and it is comfy. This is the first time I have paid attention to all of the president's day sales. Usually I am out in Park City without a care in the world.

Mike's cousin and her college aged son were in town this weekend, so out came EuroMike. Since I could not run around the city, we met them at the in-laws after their long day for dinner on Saturday. On Sunday, I hung out with my friend and her baby and picked up the tourists and drove them to New Jersey. We had dinner again in NJ. Mike went touring around with the group on Sunday which was hectic (Circle Line and Empire State Building--total mob scene!). My friend Tracey lives on the upper East side, so I just lounged around there until they were ready for a ride back to NJ. Yesterday Mike had the day off, so he took the train in and met the group to walk around. I stayed home and packed stuff, watched a movie, and spent some time on my left side. I was glad Mike had some fun stuff to do. I have been quite the wet blanket lately. His cousins managed to come on one of the nicest weekends we have had in a long time (40s and sunny!). Mike said the view off the Empire was really awesome the other night since it was so clear.

Homebound Film Festival

I am starting a film festival since I am stuck at home. Today's selection was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I knew it was well reviewed but depressing in subject. I went with it since I figured a depressing but good movie is a winner. It was excellent and lived up to the hype. Definitely not for date night.

I scored a gift at the hospital today for my weekly test. The nurse gave me my own pair of straps for the monitor! I should make up a punch card where the 10th test is free for myself. You know you have been there too much when you get prizes.

Birth Plans...

Mike and I went to our first birthing class the other night. The night was sort of an overview, so there was info I knew and some I did not. The nurse was talking about pooping on the table right off the bat (along with some anatomical cross sections that illustrate why that happens). She was talking about enemas, and later Mike told me that he did not want to be in the room if I decided to get an enema. Thankfully I am in total agreement there. He then painted a scenario of him getting called from a waiting room with false congratulations of a new baby, when in actuality I just pooped.

Before we went to class, I reminded Mike that he is my coach. He then informed me that am not coachable. Now he has taught me how to do things over the years (athletic or not), so how can I be uncoachable? I started thinking back to when I had major fear issues when skiing, and I would freeze on the top of the run. He would try to talk me down and usually would throw a snow ball or two to try to get me relaxed. I then told Mike that I am not coachable when I am in a state of fear or panic. Then his point became crystal clear. It is likely that being in pain and nervous may not make me receptive to his coaching. So hopefully I will get tired and become compliant.

We both ended up opening our eyes during the relaxation exercises and looking around the room. I always end up doing stuff like that. At one point the teacher had Mike put his hand on my belly to feel it when relaxed and tight like a contraction. This experiment does not work well when I was sitting there trying not to wet my pants! He did not feel any difference.

I am not a big information seeker. Knowing too much makes me more worried, and at this point I do not want to sit and think what I may go through. Baby W is coming out in the way it has to happen when it is time. I do not have a a lot of control over it, so I am trying not to dwell on it. The funny thing is that I really can not complain about being pregnant too much. I have been feeling good, and I was able to keep active for 29 weeks at least. I saw a documentary yesterday with a woman having sextuplets, and I have it really easy! Now if I just could go longer without having to pee......

Officially sane (for now)

Just got back from the doctors office, and for the first time was able to calm down and get a reading on my BP that was not high due to white coat hypertension. What really helped is that I kinda made them change things up so I could relax. I have to be put on a monitor twice a week, so I came in early and asked them to do it first so I could relax. That has been working for me well when I do the test in the hospital. And would'nt you know, it was the best order of events for me. So I think I am getting over some of the BS that keeps making them test me for pre-eclamsia every week. This in turn will further help keep my BP down! I was beginning to think that I needed hypnosis!

Bookworm

Yesterday Mike and I went to see Junot Diaz speak at the library nearby. Junot Diaz wrote last year's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Mike and I just read the book and he spotted that the author was speaking at the library we frequent. I liked the book, but it was written in a unique style.

I have never been to one of these events before, so I was curious to see what the turnout would be and how the session would go. It was packed when we got there, and people kept piling in. The moderator of the session ended up being a CBS news reporter (instead of the librarian I pictured). They started off with a piece the reporter did on Diaz, and then he conducted an interview. Junot Diaz was pretty funny and insightful, so it was pretty cool to hear what he had to say. It turned out that the book took 11 years to write. I think it was worth the wait. He has a very atypical background. He is a "ghetto nerd". He immigrated to the US when he was a child and settled in a rough part of Jersey. He would sneak off to the library and downplay his nerdy side to survive. Alot of the same themes are in the book.

The funny observation that we both had watching this event regarded the crowd there. It seemed like people had an entitled attitude. A woman coming in really late stood right in front of Mike without regard to if he could see or not. Stuff like that was going on when they did questions from the audience. People just blurting out questions to get theirs heard. The most telling question came from a woman who asked Junot Diaz if going to grad school helped him write the novel. After answering and then commenting about how it helps to get in a program that will give you a fellowship and waive tuition, the woman made a comment that illustrated the snobbery going on. She rejected going for the free education, because she felt the "craft would suffer". Somehow I think a Pulitzer Prize winning author from the ghetto tells us all we need to know.

Dream on

This morning Mike told me that he dreamed that I got my hair colored. Of course he was mad at me in the dream. I had the same dream a few months ago. In my dream, I forgot I was not supposed to color my hair, and then worried about how mad Mike would be. Mike told me in his dream I figured I was almost done anyways, so no harm. The theme is the following:

Janet colors hair while pregnant=Mike becoming angry at Janet

This is why my hair is half grey! Well, I also figure why put strange chemicals on my head right now so I agree with Mike.

Serenity Now

I did much better on my non-stress test. Maybe I am getting the hang of this stuff. I managed to keep calm for once, but now I am going in with my home readings too to let everyone know I am a basket case in the office only!

Boringer

I have not been blogging much since there is not much to say when I am hanging around the house! At least I am getting my rest!

Heroes

I think I need to watch the last episode over. I can not remember what happened to everyone.
Mike and I burst out simultaneously at the end that the show was going to turn into Lost.
As if you could take Silar down with a taser!

Head Case

Now that I am stuck at home, one main form of entertainment is going to the doctors. I went on Wed, Fri, and to the hospital yesterday. They are having me go to have a monitor put on twice a week to see how the baby is doing due to the hypertension. Baby W always passes with flying colors, and is developing just fine (had ultrasound on friday, and up to 3lbs 10oz.

Of course I have a history of the white coat hypertension as most of you know. This one intake nurse makes me kinda nervous. She is nice, but immediately when she tests my urine and takes my pressure, she makes "oh no" kinda comments. This sort of gets me into an anxiety mode right away. She's like, "Oh, there is sugar in your urine". They had to do the glucose testing on me twice, but the perinatologist and my doctor have determined that I do not have gestational diabetes. So I can now have that comment roll off of me. Then she always comments when my BP is high, and lately when I see my doctor I get worked up about it and it goes up to 160/90. That tends to raise concern as you would expect. After knowing my pressure is up, it is really hard for me to relax and I just dwell on it. The first time it happened I went on the monitor in the hospital, they did blood work, and they watched my pressure. Guess what? My pressure went right down lying around the hospital and they let me go. So that is why I am lounging around at home.

When they put me on the monitor and take my pressure it is called the non stress test. Yesterday it turned into a stress test. My BP was up when they took the first reading. Then I just could not relax at all. I swear I was having a mini-anxiety attack. They took blood again and urine to make sure I did not have pre-eclampsia. I was not comfortable in the bed either. Finally I asked them to change the bed position, and would you know my BP went right down? I knew all the tests were negative. My palms were sweating, my face and chest were flushed. I really wonder what my heart rate was! So hopefully I do not cause a shit load of unnecessary testing due to my mental status! So morning reading today: 130/65. I am such a psycho!

PS, I have to go the hospital to get the monitor, it is not a big deal or an emergency. The office is closed on Saturdays.