I feel like Count Dracula....

I have to say that this is one of my favorite pictures so far.

I'm not sure who is listening to who in this picture. Our little girl becomes very active when Chester lays on or near my belly and is purring. Maybe Chester can hear her heartbeat in this picture?

This is after we organized the nursery and got these baskets for the bookshelves. Gizmo couldn't help himself and took a very long nap in this one.

Thank you Niki for making me this apron. I use it all of the time since I drop almost everything on my belly.

Growing everyday! 30.5 weeks along.

For some reason she doesn't move around as much when Nick has his hand on my belly. We've decided it's because his hands are SO warm. So what Nick enjoys the most is when I place a piece of paper or even the tv remote on my belly and when she moves around, he can see it!

Here's an update on my Gestational Diabetes:

I'm counting carbs like Count Dracula.

I saw the nutritionist on Monday and right after that appointment I saw a nurse who set me up with a blood glucose monitoring system. Both went well and I'm still soaking it all in.

The nutritionist helped me understand how many servings or allowances of carbs I should eat per meal and snack. 15 carbs is considered a serving. She broke it down to 2 for breakfast, 2 for a snack for both the morning and afternoon, 3 for lunch and dinner. One of the biggest take-a-ways that I had from the appointment is that an 8 oz. glass of non-fat milk has carbs in it and is one allowance. I discussed with her the calcium supplements that I am taking and we figured out that I am getting plenty through other sorces (including cheese and yogurt) that there is no reason to waste an allowance on a glass of milk. Another thing that I have learned this week is that the sweet onion sauce at Subway on a 6 inch sub has 9 carbs!! Whoa. I'm learning more each day and know that I can control this with my diet and a little bit of excercise, even though my hips and lower back start to hurt after walking for a long period of time.

The nurse taught me how to test my blood, how to chart it and understand where my levels should be. I test 4 times each day. Once when I first wake up and my levels should be between 60-90. My levels for that one has been around 110 but today it was only 89!! This is the test that my doctor is the most concerned about. The other 3 tests are done between an hour and a half and 2 hours max after eating a meal. During the first couple of days my levels were testing higher than 120, in the 150 range but today they've been below 120!!

I saw Dr. Call yesterday and he did say that it's going to take a few days for my glucose to level out since the body stores it everywhere! After today I have hope that my diet is working and I can do this without insulin. If I can't get my first test of the day below 90, I'm going to need insulin. I was also told that I'm now at risk for type 2 diabetes later on in life and it's very likely that we will have to have a c-section depending on her size. Her head measured at 8.67 cm, she is still head down but her back was on my right side this time.

So.. in a nutshell.. I'm doing really well with the information I have been given and with the eating guidelines. I'm still figuring out what I can and can't have but I'm sure I'll have it down in no time and develop a routine. One of the hardest things for me is not eating an apple whenever I feel like it. I can have an apple for a snack each day but a standard size apple is around 30 carbs.

I see Dr. Call next Wednesday for a follow-up appointment, we'll go over my numbers and determine if I need some extra help with insulin or not.