Christmas Outtakes

We've had our share of infamous Christmas memories.

Like the year Gavin was a toddler and sneaked downstairs before anyone else was awake and ate all the individual chocolates out of the advent calendar.

Or the next year when Maddie climbed onto the dining room table and ate the gingerbread house.

We've had kids open presents that were not intended for them and kids open presents early that were intended for them.  Then there was the child who got up in the middle of the night to re-wrap the presents he opened, in an effort to make right his wrong. 

One year we had hundreds of praying mantises hatch from our Christmas tree and cover the wall by the tree and the presents under it.  

I've even had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on one of my children on Christmas Eve, and the child was so disturbed by the incident that it ruined his entire Christmas!

This year has been mild in comparison, but we have had a few Christmas outtakes.

Try as I might, we could not avoid sickness this season.  Alaine and Maddie both caught a fever virus right after Thanksgiving, but it was mild and passed within 48 hours. 

Just this week, Macie caught a different fever virus.  She had a mild cold before she got a sudden high fever on Saturday.  She still ate well and actually slept better, both for naps and at night.  I thought  it might be roseola.  Her symptoms were textbook, and sure enough, she broke out with a light, lacy rash on Tuesday, confirming my suspicions.

Our medical concerns didn't end there.  Earlier this month, we were in the urgent care center when Macie scratched her eye (a corneal abrasion).

We were given antibiotic drops and a pain reliever and by the next morning, you almost couldn't tell it had happened!

We got several strange photos of Alaine in December.  Both of her top teeth were loose and instead of pulling them out, she played with them and let them dangle until they literally fell out.  We called her Nanny McPhee.

While my girls have had a wild month, my boys have stayed healthy and whole.

Gavin celebrated his 14th birthday a week ago.  He wanted no fanfare but had a blast when we spontaneously got a pizza to eat in the car while we were running errands.  Then he had a friend over to eat dinner, play chess, and watch crazy YouTube videos.  Maybe we would have had some funny outtake photos, except I forgot to take any photos at all.

We're moving into the last weekend before Christmas and we pray it stays free of sickness or injury.

The only downside is the fact that we've had four, yes four, separate invitations for Saturday evening and we can only accept one!

Check Up and Check In

Life was a tad crazy in July.  Normally,  a busy schedule is out of my comfort zone and I crave days at home with quiet and order, but the kids and I have loved this summer of friends, outings, food, and activity.  We found a happy balance between fun and keeping the house (and our minds) in order.

Brian has had one of the busiest summer seasons on record which is a good thing for business but tiring at the same time.  He has managed to squeeze in some time for fun, though.

Some things were put on the back burner for a time and we declared it okay.  We ate a lot of sandwiches and meals on the go.  (One night we ate BLTs and everyone raved over it!  Go figure.) We ate out more than usual.  We read in the car instead of the couch. Macie learned to sleep in the ring sling. Blogging sort of stopped altogether.

This summer was about relationships, not rules and routine.  Here are some of things we did while I was away from the blog:

Macie had her 6-month check-up. 
She turned 6 months on July 10, but her appointment was scheduled later in the month.  She weighs 16 pounds 9.5 ounces, which places her in the 53rd percentile.  After struggling with weight gain as a newborn and then stabilizing around the 5th percentile for months, this is monumental! 

She is scooting forward and trying to crawl, but she can't figure out how to push up onto her hands and her knees at the same time. 

She started solid foods at 6 months, too.  We practice baby-led weaning so most of what she eats, she feeds herself, but I help if we are out or if it's going to be super messy.  For example, I let her eat homemade pasta sauce off of my finger rather than let her go at it with her own fingers.  Her favorite foods so far are broccoli and tomatoes.  

She wasn't impressed with cucumber, but from the looks of that photo, neither was I!

We took the kids to see The Secret Life of Pets at the theater.

My mom and sisters watched Macie so we didn't have to keep a baby happy...in the dark... in a seat... at nap time!  I love a movie theater experience.  Even movies I'd never watch at home (I'm a party pooper with animated movies.) are fun on the big screen!  

We spent a week of mornings at VBS. 
The kids had a blast!  They sang and crafted their way through the week.  They bonded with friends and made new ones.  The theme was "Submerged," featuring submarines and sea animals, and it focused on diving deep into God's word. 

Gavin assisted during recreational time.  He was part of a team of two adults and three teen guys. During their break, they had a time of Bible study and fellowship together.

Last year, I helped in the kindergarten class which was okay.  This year I worked at registration and loved every minute of it.  It satisfied all of my organizational needs. I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed greeting all the kids and parents each day, getting to know them, and learning their names. Macie was a trooper and napped in the sling each morning, sleeping through all the commotion around us.  When she woke up mid-morning, she smiled and visited with a variety of people and became special friends with anyone who would give her Cheerios.

I was particularly happy she kept up with naps because we had several afternoon/evening activities that week, too.  One day we went swimming at a friend's pool with a large group of friends.  Some of us continued the party at a new local pizza shop for dinner. Another evening, a friend grilled hot dogs and the rest of us brought sides.  The kids played basketball and hide-and-seek outside while the adults chatted on the deck. 

On the Sunday following VBS, we had a church picnic with a 14-foot water slide and snow cones.  It was 95 degrees, but we had a fantastic time.  Two of my kids ate four snow cones apiece and I didn't mind a bit.  Maybe that's because I ate three myself!  

I neglected to get any photos of the event, but Brian got this one of the teenagers helping to roll the air out of the water slide when the picnic was over.

We're watching the third season of The Great British Baking Show on our local PBS channel. 

There hasn't much extra time for TV, but we got hooked when season 1 was still available on Prime.  It's been a fun way to unwind once a week.   It's renewed the kids' interest in the kitchen, too.  Owen wants to be a baker when he grows up so he and Maddie made starfish sugar cookies for their class at VBS and chocolate chip cookies for movie night at church.


Gavin went to 3-D Printing camp.
All my boys have been fascinated with 3-D printing since they learned that Lego prototypes are often printed this way. When we found out about a local camp...and when Gavin received a scholarship to attend...he jumped at the chance. Gavin is a man of few words these days, but we chatted about it every day on the drive home. Some people say the best time to talk with teenagers is late at night, but our sweet spot is while we're riding. 

Maddie turned 12! 
Birthday season has begun at our house.  We have 4 birthdays and an anniversary in a 5-week span. 

Maddie didn't have a party to celebrate, but our friends' 15th wedding anniversary was the same day so we invited their kids to eat with us so they could go out to dinner alone.

We put candles on our ice cream dessert and the kids played a very loud and competitive game of hot potato so I think we turned it into a party after all.

Other highlights of our summer:

• several birthday parties
• a library event where every kids who attended took home a bagged lunch  (My homeschool children were beyond thrilled at the typical school lunch fare.)
• a community theater production of Mary Poppins which has inspired Maddie to try out for a fall show
• a minor league baseball game
• a cool, rainy 4th of July cookout where the kids got to play in the rain
• a fireworks show on the warmer, sunnier 5th of July

We start school on Wednesday and I am sad to say good-bye to our carefree summer.  It's taking a lot of discipline to buckle down and not extend our summer by a few weeks, but I always keep August flexible anyway and I'll be thanking myself in January when we are able to take the month off. 

5 Things I'm Loving Right Now

{This post contains Amazon affiliate links and a bunch of other links, too!  All opinions are my own.}

1) Binge-watching The Great British Baking Show in the afternoon with my kids while Macie naps.  I think we watched the entire 10-episode series in three afternoons!  (It leaves Amazon Video tomorrow so we were in a bit of a hurry.) 

2) Target t-shirts.  Last summer I was pregnant, and the summer before that I weighed less and wasn't nursing a baby.  My clothing needs are unique this year so when I found a basic t-shirt that felt good and didn't stretch out of shape even after my baby pulled and tugged on it all day, I bought ten of them.  Yes, ten.

3) Free online learning sources.  I plan for Ben and Alaine to take "art lessons" next school year with The Art Club Online (specifically Lessons 1-10).  In the meantime, this summer, all the kids have been drawing with Art for Kids Hub. I'm also interested in exploring two sites my sister-in-law told me about last week: A. Pintura: Art Detective (a mystery game about fine art) and  Classics for Kids (with games, worksheets, audio, and more about composers).

4) Summer meals. When I planned meals for the summer, my goals were to avoid the oven and to eat dairy-free.  Despite the repetition, we love what we're eating this summer.  I'm spending less time in the kitchen and, ironically, the simplest meals are getting the biggest compliments from my family.

5) Thinkbaby sunscreen. The words sunblock and sunscreen are often used interchangeably, but this is technically a sunblock because the only active ingredient is zinc oxide  It earned a 1 (out of 10) on EWG's Sunscreen Guide.  I hate the smell of sunscreen, but this one has a pleasant fruity smell-- not at all offensive.  The price is reasonable, too!  And of course, most importantly, it kept Macie's skin from coloring when we spent an afternoon at the beach last week.  (If you are looking for a drugstore sunscreen that won't break the bank, Banana Boat Sport Performance Lotion  is not a bad choice.  It earned a 4 on EWG's Sunscreen Guide-- not ideal, but not awful.) 

Dairy-free Mom

I've been {almost} dairy-free for over a month now.  (More on the almost later in this post.) I went dairy-free in an effort to reduce the symptoms of Macie's silent reflux. You can read the details of our story here, but the short version is that she rarely spit up so she went un-diagnosed for weeks, but we finally put all the pieces together (inconsolable crying for hours every day, nasal congestion when waking, frequent hiccups) and realized she was suffering from reflux.  Initially medication helped, but I found that eliminating dairy was even more effective.  We weaned her off the medication before determining that a combination of my dairy-free diet and her medication gave her the best relief.  She is essentially weaning herself off of the medication again, though, since her dosage is not changing even as she goes through a rapid growth spurt.

I have received a handful of questions about going dairy-free, both personally and online, and I thought it may be helpful to address them here.

What exactly does it mean to be dairy-free?
It means not eating dairy products like milk, yogurt, sour cream, cheese, ice cream, and butter.  It also means avoiding whey and casein.  I've found, though, that Macie can tolerate if I eat small amounts of butter. Chocolate is usually okay, too.  To be safe, I buy Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips which are dairy-free.  (They do contain soy which I would prefer to avoid for other reasons, but I'm choosing to pick my battles!)

Do you think it is helping? I do. At first I was convinced it was the sole answer to our problem.  Then Macie had another week of increased irritability, not as severe as in the beginning but not "normal."  We decided to begin her medication again and the combination of the altered diet and the meds seems to be the answer.  Before going dairy-free, we could barely make it until the next dose, but now there are times when I  miss giving her a dose and she is fine.  Reflux typically peaks at four months so she may be beginning to outgrow it anyway, but there was such a dramatic change when I stopped eating dairy, that we have no doubt it is playing a part in her recovery.

How long will you avoid dairy products? 

Dairy sensitivity in babies is usually short-term.  Often by the time their immune systems are mature enough to tolerate solid foods (around six months), their tummies are capable of digesting milk protein again. I plan to avoid dairy through the summer.  By September, Macie will be eight months old and I will try adding dairy back into my diet.  I've read that a gentle way to do that is to eat a small portion of dairy one day, wait two days before eating a bit more, and then gradually increase the amount and the frequency.  In other words, no matter how much I may crave pizza, it would not be the way to begin!

Does your family eat dairy-free also?

When I plan dinner, I only choose to prepare dairy-free dishes or ones that allow the cheese, sour cream, etc. to be added by the individual. I do not keep a dairy-free house so everyone is welcome to prepare and eat what they want for breakfast and lunch.

Every Sunday, I'm sharing our menu for the coming week on my blog Facebook page.  It's dairy-free and can be done without turning on the oven!  For more details, click here, and then go on over to Facebook Sunday evening to see the menu for the week.  (This week's menu is already there.)

Do you find it hard to eat this way?

Telling myself this is temporary helps. I think it would be harder if I thought I needed to make a permanent change.  Finding things to eat has not been difficult.  I read labels and have to avoid some packaged foods, but sticking primarily to whole foods-- veggies, fruit, meat-- takes the guess work out of the process.

What do you miss?

I have never been a milk drinker, but I do love ice cream and butter.  I also ate a fair amount of Greek yogurt for snacks before I made the change.  The thing I miss most, though, is pizza.  I have one child who prefers pizza without cheese so one night in April when we needed to order out at the last minute, he and I shared a cheese-less pizza, his half plain, my half with chicken and spinach.  It was good, but I greatly missed the cheese!

So what do you eat for breakfast and lunch?

I'm eating a lot of steel-cut oatmeal, because I love it and because it is good for nursing moms.  I use this method which can be prepared one-handed.  Plus it only takes a minute of hands-on (or hand-on) work and the grains are soaked to perfection. Scrambled eggs or hard-boiled eggs are good, seasoned with salt and pepper.  I am also eating copious amounts of natural peanut butter.  For lunch, my favorite thing to prepare when there are no leftovers is a skillet dish of chicken, diced red potato, and broccoli.  I cook it with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, and it is delicious.  I also make a similar dish with chicken, sweet potato, and quinoa. 

Can you eat lactose-free treats?
In our case, lactose isn't the problem.  Babies with milk sensitives are usually bothered by the milk protein.

Are there dairy substitutes you can eat?

I keep a container of almond milk in the refrigerator for cereal, baking, or the occasional cup of hot chocolate. I also discovered that Ben and Jerry's makes several vegan "ice cream" flavors with almond milk.  I was skeptical, but the one I tried was a great treat. 

Wouldn't it be easier to switch Macie to formula?  

Actually, no.  Even if eating dairy-free was difficult for me, giving her infant formula would not be a simple option.  Because of her milk sensitivity, she would need to be on a more-expensive hypoallergenic formula.

Our Silent Reflux Story

I'm writing to share our experience in the hope that it could help another family with similar issues.  


For the first seven weeks of Macie's life, she was a happy, content baby.  She slept well and long at night  She let anyone hold her.  In the car, she cried for only a minute or two before falling asleep.  We called her our "dream baby" because of how easily she adapted to life.

The week Brian went back to work after his winter break, Macie got a bad cold. What seemed normal at first progressed into something more serious and we needed to take her to the ER for labored breathing.  She was diagnosed with RSV on March 7.  There was a lingering cough and congestion for days so saline and a nasal aspirator became part of our daily routine.  Macie started waking often at night and not settling easily.  She cried much of the day, plus resisted naps and nursing.  At first we thought the congestion was irritating her and disrupting her sleep.  Then I thought maybe my supply was low and she was not getting enough to eat.  

By the end of March, the cough was gone and she began sleeping more soundly again, both at night and during nap time, but after only a day or two of clear breathing, the stuffy nose came back.  It was especially noisy in the morning.  We feared she was getting another cold, but no other symptoms developed.  We also considered allergies.  Regardless of the cause, something was making Macie cry for hours of every day.  We feared  it was our new version of normal.  I've parented a high-needs baby before, but his cries were different.  Nothing comforted Macie.  The kids couldn't hold her anymore and it was intimidating to take her out because we never knew when she would begin crying loudly and inconsolably.  I held it together okay in the daytime, but each evening I was zapped.  I had more than one sobbing break-down of my own. 

One day while she was sleeping, I started googling her symptoms-- hours of crying, stuffy nose, frequent hiccups-- and realized she was exhibiting signs of silent reflux.  Babies with this type of reflux rarely spit up because the stomach acid only comes partly up the esophagus before going back down.  Though it can occur from birth, it often does not begin until the baby is closer to eight weeks old. I felt as though a light went on.  The difficulties we'd been experiencing over the past weeks were all related...and there were ways to treat it!  We didn't have a high-needs baby or a colicky baby.  We had a reflux baby.

I made Macie a doctor's appointment for the next day.  As is typical with babies, Macie showed her happy, cheerful self to the doctor, but the doctor listened to my concerns and asked lots of questions.  She agreed that Macie was suffering from silent reflux and laid out our options.  She said we could try an elimination diet to see if something I ate was triggering the reflux or we could begin medication.  Considering we had been dealing with a crying, miserable baby for close to a month and we were all desperate for relief, I chose the medication. The doctor counseled me to be aware of the foods I was eating and to pay close attention to anything that seemed to exacerbate the symptoms.  

That evening I gave Macie her first dose of ranitidine (generic Zantac).  Ranitidine is an acid reducer and begins working within an hour, but can take up to three weeks to fully take affect depending how much damage has already been done to the esophagus.  We noticed a change in her temperament the first night!  She was visibly relaxed and nursed to sleep without a fight for the first time in weeks.  Over the next few days, she smiled more and interacted with the older kids.  They were able to start holding her again.  We had to be vigilant about her medication, though. Ranitidine has a very short half-life and Macie would grow irritable when it was near time for her next dose.

About a week after starting the medicine, Macie had another fussy day.  All babies have bad days so I didn't worry, but when we starting having whole strings of bad days, I felt a sense of dread. I read online that ranitidine dosage is sensitive to weight changes.  Since babies grow rapidly, I wondered if she already needed to up her dosage.  

I began researching natural ways to treat reflux and bookmarked this article about natural treatment.  

On Sunday, April 10, we were at a birthday party and I noticed Macie was happy and bubbly all day.  It was a strong contrast to her mood on the preceding days so I took a minute to write down everything I had eaten the day before (Saturday).  I noticed that, quite by accident, I had consumed very little dairy.  However, on Sunday at the party, I ate cheese and ice cream, plus we had pizza for dinner later in the evening. I waited and sure enough, on Monday, we had one of our worst days yet.  It gave me pause.  

Everything I read online said that if dairy was a suspected trigger for a baby's acid reflux, it needed to be totally eliminated from the mom's diet for two weeks.  That was how long it would take for the proteins to leave the body-- and therefore the breastmilk.  I cut dairy from my diet and noticed a reduction in symptoms in 24 hours.  Most noticeably, she only cried when she was sleepy or had a wet diaper, not all day long! For me it followed this formula.  Eat dairy and have a cranky baby the next day.  Avoid dairy and have a happy baby.  

The first few days I was afraid to hope.  Maybe it was coincidence, maybe wishful thinking, or maybe my imagination.  The kids started commenting on it, though.  They noticed how Macie was happy again.  They noticed how I was able to get in the shower before 9 am  instead of hanging out in the PJs until the middle of the afternoon. 

Macie's congestion cleared up, too.  Six days after cutting dairy, the congestion was mild enough to clear on its own in the morning without needing to irrigate and suction.  Nine days after eliminating dairy, she woke up with a clear nose.  The hiccups are better, too.  She still gets them, but only every few days.

Two surprising things came from cutting dairy from my diet.  One: the ranitidine became unnecessary almost overnight.  Where once we were counting the minutes until the next dose, now I would sometimes forget to give it to her right away.  (Cutting the medicine cold turkey can cause an acid rebound..)  And two: her pooping became more regular.  She had been going every four to five days and then having blow-out poops.  Her tummy wasn't hard and it is normal for some breastfed babies to wait days between pooping, but as the milk proteins left her body, she began pooping four to five times per day again.  (The color and consistency were gold and seedy so this was not diarrhea.)

Cutting dairy from my diet has not been as difficult as I expected.  I've never been a milk drinker, but I do miss cheese and I have a feeling that, foregoing ice cream this summer will be tough.  It can be tricky planning meals for my family, too, but there are so many good foods and flavors that don't involve dairy.  It simply takes new thinking. (I also discovered early that she and I can tolerate small bits of chocolate.  Better yet, Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate is made without milk.  The milk chocolate, obviously, but also the dark chocolate, do contain milk.)

I"ve added probiotic supplements both to my diet and to hers, to aid in gut health and healing. I bought mine over the counter at Target.  I specially ordered Macie's from Amazon.  It is a multi-species probiotic in powdered form, made specially for infants that contains 10 billion CFUs. I wet my finger so that the powder will stick and let her suck it off.  She loves it!

Today, Macie had a follow-up with her pediatrician. The doctor was pleased that she has gained weight. Reflux babies often lose weight either from excessive spitting up or because they resist eating when they associate it with pain.  In fact, Macie weighs a little over eleven pounds now-- only the ninth percentile for babies her age, but up from the third percentile where she hovered for awhile. The best thing is that she can use the medicine on a needs-only basis.

There were many days that the kids and I prayed for Macie  and asked the Lord to either make her well or give us patience and the wisdom to comfort her.  We are so thankful for Macie's health!

An Index of Helpful Pregnancy Links

Throughout pregnancy, I shared a plethora of links.  Now they are all in one convenient place!

Food and Drink:
Why pregnant women should drink red raspberry tea
Where I bought red raspberry tea in bulk
The health benefits of blackstrap molasses
A recipe for the granola energy balls I ate before morning runs

Exercise:
Running While Pregnant (my experience)
Running and Exercising in the 3rd Trimester (my experience)
The maternity support band I wore while running
An exercise plan for pregnant women I found helpful in the 3rd trimester
An exercise DVD series I used from month 7 until I delivered
Taking epsom salt baths for muscle pain

Health: 
The Truth About Gestational Diabetes {And Why It's Not Your Fault}

• The best low glycemic breads
• Sourdough bread and blood sugar

Fashion:What I Wore in the 2nd Trimester

Birth stories:
The Birth Hour podcast 
Natural Birth Stories
Birth Stories @Mama Natural
Share Your Birth Story @Intentional by Grace
My own birth stories-- (here, here, and here)

Preparing For Birth:
Back strengthening exercises
Customizable visual birth plan
Why you should eat dates at the end of pregnancy

What I'm Listening To, Reading, and Watching

What I'm Reading...

I went through a major reading slump when I had morning sickness during the summer.  I lost my motivation, plus moving my eyes to read exacerbated my nausea.   Even after I felt better, my reading habits changed and I started reading less, but I am taking advantage of the early postpartum period to sneak in a few extra minutes. 

I'm about three-fourths of my way through  The Brontë Plotby Katherine Reay, a fun, light (but not fluffy) novel with many literary quotes and references. Before Macie was born, I read the birth part of Gentle Birth, Gentle Motheringby Sarah Buckley. Now I need to read the parenting part.  If you can get past a some woo-woo parts in the early chapters, this book is full of great information. When both of those are done, hopefully I'll have time to read the highly-recommended Being Mortal by Atul Gawande before I have to return it to the library.

What I'm Watching...

I mentioned on my Facebook page that I'm watching the final season of Downton Abbey.  When the first episode came on, I was largely pregnant.  When the second episode aired, I was less than five hours postpartum and watched from my hosptial bed.  I watched episode three with my new baby and struggled to keep my eyes open at the end.  

Right before Macie was born, I borrowed More Business of Being Born from the library.  I only watched the first disc (of four) before she arrived so I'm watching the remainder now.  I also have Spirit of the Marathon II waiting in the wings for a lazy afternoon.

What I'm Listening To...

Don't hate me, but I have a baby who likes to sleep.  I do not feel like the stereotypical, sleep-deprived new parent!  I try to nurse her late in the evening before we go to bed, sometime between 10:30 and 11:30.  She wakes once in the night to eat again, and that's it until morning. In fact, I've had to wake her  two mornings.  I've found that those quiet moments in the wee hours of the night are the perfect time to listen to podcasts.  I only put in one earbud so I can hear any stirrings in the house.

I've listened to multiple episodes of Birth, Baby, and Life Podcast.  I've also listened to 2-3 episodes of The Popcast, but I'm not loving it.

What have you read, listened to, or watched in this new year? 
Do you like it, love it, or wish you'd skipped it?
What should be on my radar?

Pride Goes Before the Fall

Two weeks ago I went to my midwife for a routine prenatal appointment and to do my 1-hour glucose screening.  I wasn't worried at all because I knew I was eating well and exercising regularly.  I haven't had a soda in almost 3 years and I don't crave sugar so my indulgences in sweets are intentional.  I eat kale as a snack, much to my family's amusement and I limit my bread intake, aside from homemade sourdough toast for breakfast 2-3 mornings a week. 

(If you want to go down a rabbit trail, read this article on  the best breads for a low glycemic index or this one about sourdough bread and blood sugar.  On the glycemic index, sourdough bread is a 54 compared to 71 for non-sourdough white bread, making sourdough bread a low GI bread.) 

So I was doing it all "right" and I assumed I would breeze through the screening!  But pride goes before the fall.

Pride aside for this photo of me post-run: sweaty with dirty hair and no make-up

Last Friday morning, I got the call that I had "failed" the 1-hour screening.  While all pregnant women develop a degree of insulin resistance due to hormones, an hour after ingesting the glucose solution, my blood sugar should have fallen to 135 or below, yet mine sat at 143. 

In all my angst and stewing and fretting after the phone call, I settled on two things.  The first was medical. Despite preconceived ideas that gestational diabetes is fully preventable, there are risk factors for developing the condition and I had several of them:

• Age greater than 25. Yes, I crossed that line a decade ago.
• Previous baby over 9 pounds.  Two of my five kids weighed over 9 pounds at birth. 
• Family or personal health history. I did not have pre-diabetes.  My blood sugar in pre-pregnancy is well within normal range, but my dad suffers from Type 2 diabetes. 

Gestational diabetes is hormonally charged and can affect the fit and the unfit alike.  Yes, the sedentary woman who eats a poor diet increases her chances of developing this condition, but any woman can have gestational diabetes.  

(For more reading on this topic, I found an excellent and informative article about the condition: The Truth About Gestational Diabetes {and Why It's Not Your Fault! )

The second realization was that despite my striving to eat well and exercise frequently, I was not in control of my health.  God knew my situation.  He had a reason and knew the cause.

Plus, the fact remained that the glucose screening is just that...a screening.  It is used to weed out low-risk mothers-to-be and find the smaller sub-set of women who could possibly have gestational diabetes.  That's where the 3-hour glucose tolerance test comes in.

28.5 weeks

My 3-hour test was scheduled for a Wednesday, 1 week after my 1-hour screening.  In the days and hours leading up to the test, I did a few things to help my body prepare to handle the influx of glucose that would be entering my system.  First, I upped my water intake.  (With the cooler weather, I have slowly and unintentionally started drinking less water.)  Before fasting 8-12 hours before the test, I made my last meals heavy on protein and vegetables instead of carbs. I made sure to include fiber because fiber helps prevent blood sugar spikes. I also prayed that I would be calm and not worry. (Stress causes blood sugar levels to go up as your body "prepares for action.")

The morning of the test I woke up hungry. I felt shaky and wondered how I would feel after a few more hours without breakfast. When I got in the car to drive to my appointment, I started guzzling water and tricked my stomach into thinking it was full. For the rest of the morning, I felt fine.  No nausea, no shakiness, no hunger pangs.

I had four blood draws: one when I arrived before drinking the glucola (100g sugar in a 10 oz. solution!) and then one at the end of each hour for three hours.  I made the best of my time alone.   I read a book, thumbed through magazines, and texted my husband at work with whatever was on my mind.  When the phlebotomist released me to go home, she said, "Now go get something to eat!"

I honestly felt as though I could drive the 45 minutes home before grabbing lunch, but I thought it wise to eat right away and not wait for yucky symptoms to catch up to me.  I bought a fiesta chicken wrap, filled with grilled chicken, beans, tomato, and a chili sauce (which satisfied my near-constant cravings protein and spicy foods).  The second I started eating, I realized I had been suppressing my hunger!

The ending of my story is that 48 hours later, my results came back normal.  No concerns. Nothing to worry about.  No gestational diabetes. 

winter in photos

Who am I kidding?  Of course, there will a few words, too! 

This is my preferred method of building a snowman.  When the weather gets nippy, I love to create in the kitchen.  We got some snow last night, but with today's highs only predicted to reach the teens, inside snowmen are the way to go!

We had our first true snow of the year a few weeks ago.

The kids made snow angels and had a snowball fight while I stayed inside to make snow cream and tidy the house before starting loads of sopping wet laundry. 

We've been blessed with good health so far this winter.  Maddie did succumb to a mild virus, but it was nothing that rest and a few snuggles couldn't cure. 

We've spent the inside hours playing games.  Old Maid, Monopoly Deal, Phase 10, Guess Who, Blink.  Lots of games!

And coloring, too.

Gavin and Owen spent an afternoon creating marble mazes out of Lego.

Owen's basic maze

Gavin's over-the-top tilt maze

And it certainly wouldn't be winter (or any season of the year) without stacks of books. I see 3 books about food, 2 memoirs, 2 children's lit, and a couple of fat novels.  Sounds about right. 

For all my talk of loving the indoors and wanting to stay in where it is warm, I've been spending my fair share of time out in the elements.  I've decided to train for a 1/2 marathon at the end of April so I'm running between 2.5 and 9 miles, 3-4 days a week!  My coldest running day was 23 degrees, but the most extreme day was running 8.5 miles in the rain.

In seed-time learn, in harvest teach, 

in winter enjoy.

~William Blake~