Weight - Wait!

I went in for my six week post-partum check up yesterday where the doctor told me I had lost all my baby weight plus three additional pounds - great, right???  But why don't my old clothes fit if I'm smaller than when I got pregnant???  Apparently this belly and these hips need a little more attention before fitting in those skinny jeans (okay, I never really had skinny jeans - but you get the point). 

She also told me that because I had gestational diabetes and was on insulin I'm at a greater risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.  My doctor was gestational diabetic and on insulin with her last child.  She told me she kept up the diabetic diet for a good year, but then started backsliding having too much pasta here and there, drinking regluar soft drinks, and eating too many sweets.  Her last hemoglobin check found that she was borderline for Type 2 diabetes.  Now, she is no where near over weight, which is why that's so scary and her doctor told her if she couldn't get her numbers down she would be putting her on medication in 3 months.  No thank you, no more needles sticks for me!

So, I put down the regular Dr. Pepper and backed away the Sour Straws to continue following the meal plans set up when I was pregnant.  But there is so much that I deprived myself up because I didn't take the time to try to make my recipes diabetic friendly, thinking I only have to do this for a few more months.  I set out yesterday to find healthy recipes to my favorite meals, Mexican and Pasta namely.  I stumbled across this website and thought I would try a few of her recipes.  The first one I made was Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas - and it's a keeper!  The recipe calls for you to make homemade Enchilada Sauce, but I had a can handy and used that instead.  It probably only increased the sodium content of the recipe.

Tomorrow we are grilling some Chicken trying Spaghetti Squash Pesto with Tomatoes (which P.S., Lillian you can totally eat because there are no pine nuts!).  Almost every recipe looks fabulous, but the pictures are copyrighted so you'll have to go check them out yourself. 

Wish me luck on keeping up the low carb, low sugar diet - it was much easier when I was concentrating on Mary Emma's health.  Now I just have to make my own health that important.

Blessings,

Candice

Home Sweet Home…well, sorta

 

Today Mary Emma, Elliott and I came home to spend the night for the first time in 11 days.  Granted we’re not quite in our room yet, staying in the extra bedroom until Lowe’s installs the new carpet – but we are home.  Of course the carpet I picked out is special order and will take longer to get here, but it will look great when it is here!

Tonight we’ve decided we’ll let Miss Mary Emma try sleeping in her crib for the first time, before she figures out she’s sleeping in our room in a Pack ‘n Play.  Until this week we were on a streak where she took her last bottle around 9 or 10 and then slept 6 or 7 hours, waking up around 5 AM.  But the last two nights she’s been waking up at 3 AM and not going back to sleep until 4:30 or so.  We think we’re going through a growth spurt – we went to the doctor this week and Miss Priss is weighing in at 9 pounds in 11 ounces. 

Even when she’s waking up at 3:00 it’s worth it when you see this sweet face…

This week she has really started smiling and giggling some.  She was hanging out in her nap nanny looking out the window while I dried my hair one morning.  Then she really started laughing…

We also reached another milestone this week, taking a bath in our bathtub without the infant sling.  She loves the warm water and likes Elliott to splash it on her the entire time. She only cries when we’re getting ready for her bath, but once the water hits her, she is fine.

Until next time…

Blessings to all!

Candice

How long are you a house guest before having to pay rent?

This week Mary Emma, Elliott and I have been "house sitting" for my parents while they are in South Alabama for Dad to work.  Not that they need a housesitter or really even asked us to housesit - it sounds better to be housesitting instead of, Elliott had pull up all the hardwood floor in our bedroom, drill a three foot hole, and repair a busted water line that was making our floor have that "cool but undesirable feature when not intended" heated floor feel.  I mean, if I had wanted heated floors, that's one thing, but having hot water continuously running under my house, that's another. 

So, while Elliott and his step-dad Jim have worked ever so hard to repair the leak and fix the floor - we have been "squatting" at mother's house.  Mary Emma has adjusted to the change of scenery and loves the sunroom.  I do miss my bed and of course the dogs don't know what is going on because one of us comes to feed them, give them water and then leave again.  And apparently Cody has taken up with the new neighbors across the street.  We've seen him wave from his new home on the front porch. 

Since I don't have my camera cord here to upload new pictures, I'll just post some from mother's computer of Mary Emma's birth and day after.

First is the totally awesome sign that Elliott's best friend Wes made for us when we got home - super cute!

Next is my favorite picture of Elliott and Mary Emma.  This was probably one of the first times he held her and she already had him wrapped around her finger.

This last picture tickles me every time I look at because of the story behind it.  On Friday after Mary Emma was born my dad took all the pictures on their camera and not until they got home did he realize he doesn't have his picture with Mary Emma.  The first thing he did when they came back on Saturday was to have his picture made holding her.  Too Sweet PaPa!

That's all for now, hopefully the next post will come from our newly carpeted house.

Blessings,
Candice

Please vote!

This is a quick post to ask you to do me a huge favor.  One of my pledge sisters has battled breast cancer and now is battling brain cancer.  She has an incredible story with miraculous results from her surgeries and treatment.  Please visit the following site and watch the video in the right corner, then vote for Tracy.  Her video is Tracy in Huntsville.

Vote for Tracy!

Also visit her Caring Bridge website to read more of her story.

Tracy's Caring Bridge Site

Blessings,

Candice

One Month

 

Dear Mary Emma,

I can’t believe you are already one month old!  You have brought such joy and happiness already into our lives.  You are growing and changing so much every day. 

You are wearing size 0-3 month clothes, the newborn sizes are already too small and packed up!  You weigh almost 9 pounds.  You love to eat and take 4 ounces of formula every 3 to 4 hours.  You are starting to find your voice and “talk” to your toys on your playmat.  You are very funny and make Mommy and Daddy laugh when you swat at your butterfly and ladybug.  You “saw” Gabbie for the first time this week, following her with your eyes after you heard her bark.  You should be used to that sound!  You are also trying to start making facial expressions and we see a smile now and again.  You’ve recently started touching our faces when we hold you which melts Mommy and Daddy’s heart.

You love to rock and sing with Mommy and walk around the house with Daddy.  You are very alert and focus on people’s faces and things around the house.  You like to go and your room and have us talk to you about your toys and bed.  You kick and wiggle your arms more than any baby I’ve ever seen.  You love to be a squirmy wormy especially when you’re on your back.

When you get fussy, you love to go outside.  We take you outside at least once a day and you seem so happy and content.  You are a good car rider and like your carseat.  You are a very happy baby and you don’t seem to mind when other people hold you.

Mommy and Daddy feel so blessed to have you in our lives and can’t imagine what life was like without you.  Continue to grow big  and strong and we’ll continue to love you with our whole hearts. 

Mommy

Waiting, waiting and more waiting…

 

God must know that patience is something I need to work on, because waiting for me is not very pretty.  Yesterday we found out that mother will have surgery to remove the mass on Monday.  They will not be able to perform the surgery laparoscopic, and she will have to be in the hospital for 3 – 5 days.  Which corresponds with the date I was to be induced, Wednesday, the 18th.   So, since yesterday we have been waiting to talk with my doctor about moving my day to be induced back.  It is slim chances, but we are going in tomorrow with the game plan of convincing her to let us have this baby before Monday.

I’ve talked about the Emmaus Walk a few times in my blog, but one of the key phrases of an Emmaus weekend is “Don’t anticipate.”  Why is this so hard for us to do?  Have you ever heard the term, “Calm Anticipation” – me either, but we’ve all heard “Anxious Anticipation.”  What is it about anticipating something that gives us anxiety? 

In Sunday School we’ve been studying the book of Acts (although we missed the past couple, few, okay a lot of Sundays) but I’ve thought a lot about what Jesus told the Disciples in the first chapter, to go to Jerusalem and wait…wait for what the “Father has promised…the promise of the Holy Spirit,” Acts 1:4.  At this point, that’s all I can do is wait.  There is nothing that is going to make this baby come any faster and nothing is going to make that tumor shrink.  I have to hold onto the promise Jesus made to the disciples in Jerusalem, and here I am…waiting for God to work in miraculous ways.  I know everything is in God’s perfect time and not in Candice’s time (he has revealed this truth to me several times in the past), but it is still so hard to trust that God has both Mary Emma and Mother in his hand and that all will be perfect in His time.

My friend Terri used as her speaker song on a recent Walk, In His Time. It is a wonderful reminder that God makes all things beautiful in His time.  Press play below to hear the song…

 

So I ask you to pray for us – pray for our doctors, pray for our family as they have to deal with two people who are healing, pray for God’s perfect timing, and pray for our peace of mind.

Blessings,

Candice

Catching up…

 

So I totally broke the Blogger poster rule of not posting at least once a week.  Last week was another totally crazy week and I got behind – hopefully I can catch up this week!

To update you on all things baby, we are currently 39 weeks pregnant – which is a big hooray considering gestational diabetes babies usually come early.  It has been answered prayer that the diet and insulin have worked their magic and Miss Mary Emma has evened out to be in the 49th percentile, right where she needs to be (she was measuring in the 70th percentile!). 

We did have a little drama last week and ended up in the hospital on Thursday night, but all is well.  Apparently after my doctor’s appointment on Thursday, I began having some contractions, which M.E. took none so kindly to and would push back every time my stomach would contract.  Yeah – pretty painful!  I finally called the after hours number where a nurse told me to come to labor and delivery.  Because I had not dilated or dropped anymore, they gave me a muscle relaxer and pain cocktail mixture which began to work within 30 minutes.  After an hour I was tremendously better and we were able to go home.  I just felt bad for Elliott who had to get up and go to work the next day after getting home at 2:00 AM!  But – it was good practice in case we have to go to the hospital in the middle of the night.

Now dear friends, I was all excited because we were scheduled to be induced on the 12th.  Due to some surprising and frankly upsetting news, our doctor moved our date to be induced to the 18th.  The news is that a mass the size of a tennis ball was found on my mother’s ovary and she will need surgery to remove it, which will probably be this week.  I didn’t really want us to be in the hospital at the same time.  Our doctor said that we had done so well with the gestational diabetes, that she felt as though we could make it to the 18th.  Tomorrow mother will find out (hopefully) when she will have surgery and we hope it will be well before the 18th so we don’t end up in the hospital at the same time. 

If we do, we do – but there are some things in life when a girl just needs her mother and I’m pretty sure childbirth ranks in the top, oh I don’t know, two. 

I leave you today with a picture…Elliott asked what I wanted for my birthday and my response….noodles, nothing but noodles!  If you know me at all, you know spaghetti is my favorite meal ever and I could eat it every day.  However, when you have diabetes, carbs (particularly those from white pasta) are a no-no and tomato sauce typically has tons of sugar in it.  So until M.E. gets here, I’ll have to settle for pictures of noodles…yum-o!!!

Many blessings,

Candice