Test day is coming

Last week I finally got my letter about my state CNA test. My test date is 8 a.m. Sept. 17 in Janesville. It kinda stinks that I don't get to test closer to home, but I did put Janesville on my application as a site I would go to. I'd probably have to wait longer if I had only included Madison.

So I've got about a week and a half. I'll try to start studying this week. I'm so nervous though! This test will determine my future, sort of. I have to pass it in order to get a CNA job. And even if I failed I could take it again. But it will cheaper and a lot less complicated if I pass the first time. Even though I'm not going to pursue any jobs until probably January, it will be better for me to take and pass the test now before I really forget everything.

I'm not sure how I can really study for the skills portion of the test. I don't have the lab at MATC anymore, so I can't really practice the skills. I guess I'll just have to do a lot of visualization. I know the skills. I practiced most of them in clinical. But it will be different on the test. Depending on how flexible the tester is, I may have to follow the handbook to the letter. And I am so afraid I'll forget something silly like closing the privacy curtain or washing my hands. And forgetting one little thing like that will fail me. I will be tested on five out of a possible 23 skills, and I have to pass them all in order to pass the test.

At least I'm not worried about the written part of the test. That will be easy, though I do plan on refreshing my memory on that part too. This will be scary but exciting too. Just another part of my quest for the new normal. Wish me luck!

I miss running

I wasn't too upset when I had to stop running, but now I'm starting to miss it. When my friends write in blogs or on our forum about their runs, I can't help being a little jealous.

So I was especially sad as I watched the start of the inaugural Madison Mini-Marathon half marathon this morning. I volunteered with Team in Training to hand out medals. It was interesting to see the different reactions. There were runners who looked like they were about to collapse or cry, the ones who were pumped up by a great run and a few who were surprised they got a medal! It was fun to hand out the hardware, but I'd rather be wearing that medal!

I've enjoyed volunteering at a few races this year, the races I really like that I would have run. And this morning was the first one that had me really wishing I could be out on the course.

But I have my plans and goals and thats what I'm concentrating on right now. After Allie is here I will certainly be a busy bee! I will get my CNA job and I'll lose the weight and I'll get to running again. My tentative plans are to start running a bit as soon as I can after Allie is born and then to be training again sometime in January. I want to do a spring half marathon and a fall full marathon, with maybe another half thrown in there before the full. There are plenty of races to choose from so the only variable will be me and my recovery!

As my pregnancy is advancing, I think I may have to tone down my activity a bit. I had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions yesterday and this morning. Those are the practice contractions. They don't hurt and I'm not sure they have any real purpose. They're common after 20 weeks, but they aren't supposed to be as frequent as they have been for me. I've talked to the doctor and since they aren't regular and not quite as frequent, I didn't need to go to the hospital or anything. But they started after a really tough spin class yesterday and I'd rather not deal with that uncertainty again.

Even though I feel like I'm constantly water logged, I need to drink more to deal with the braxton hicks! I need to take it easier and drink more water.

I really want Allie to be here soon, but its obviously better for her to stay in there another 10 weeks or so, so I need to be careful!

She's growing like a weed

Allie's latest pictures, from yesterday's growth ultrasound.

Allie is getting big. I certainly feel that. According to the ultrasound, she weighs 3 pounds, 14 ounces, putting her in the 73rd percentile. Unfortunately I don't really know how to interpret that information and I don't see my doctor for another week and a half. I do know that by this time, 30 weeks, she is "supposed" to be around 3 pounds, so she is bigger than average. At least she is according to the ultrasound. The growth scans are estimates and I've read they can be off by as much as a pound. So she could be exactly where she's supposed to be or she could be even bigger!

No matter how big she is, it was so fun to see her yesterday. She looks more human now, at least as human as the 4D ultrasound picture will allow. She was super active and it was tough get a good picture. I'm feeling really close to her these days and I just want her to get here!

Even better than I imagined!

When I thought of artwork on Allie's walls, I envisioned some stars stenciled around the top or the middle of the wall. This is WAY better than that.

My sister-in-law Julie is so artistic and creative, and Doug and I feel privileged to have her helping with Allie's room! She's painted the ceiling and walls, put up the ceiling fan and is also making curtains! The best part? Its not even done yet. We are SO excited to see the finished product.

I'm not sure what we would have done without her. Doug and I certainly don't know the first thing about painting a wall, let alone all this art stuff. The extent of mommy's artistic talent is the stripes and polka dots I painted on these letters.

Its mommy's personal touch for Allie's room. This is one great room. I almost wish I could sleep in it!

29 weeks... baby sure is flying high

Here's my latest belly picture, at 29 weeks and 1 day.

For reference, the picture I posted three weeks ago:


You can see my belly is obviously bigger, but what's boggling my mind right now is how high she's riding! I have a growth ultrasound on Wednesday because I have measured humongous at the doctor's office the past two months. Maybe I'm measuring so big because of how high she is? How much higher can she go? There's not much more room. My ribs are already squashing whatever organs are between them and Allie.

Throughout this whole pregnancy, I am learning that pregnancy is not much like how I thought it would be. I thought I would start showing sooner than I did. Now I'm wondering how big I can really get?

I'm kind of in a spot where I'm going back and forth between loving my big belly and just waiting for it to go away. I think its cute, but at the same time its getting a little inconvenient. Simple tasks like squeezing in a bathroom stall or getting a dish out of my cabinet are a little more complicated because of my expanding middle.

But I really love it, and I love the baby growing inside it! This has been such a cool experience so far. I just hope the discomfort stays minimal as it has been. Something tells me that won't be the case, especially as Allie gets closer to my ribs. But it is absolutely worth it, no matter what.

Eleven weeks to go!

Nesting is in full force!

I've got this urge now to do creative things for Allie. I've been working on cross stitching her Christmas stocking since I found out about the pregnancy. I had bought the kit for that over a year ago. But now I'm finding all sorts of other things to do.

Last year I bought a kit with a book and supplies to teach myself how to knit. I've worked on it a few times in the last year and lost interest. The kit also didn't have all the supplies. I got another urge yesterday and bought one more needle I needed to learn one more stitch method. I have finally made it through all the lessons in the book and now I really want to make a blanket for Allie. I want to make a hat and booties too. But I still need to do some easier projects first. I need to wait though until I have a little more money to buy the right needles and enough yarn.

In addition to that project, I bought the letters for her name to hang on the wall. They're painted white and I'm going to paint polka dots and stripes and other simple cute things to decorate them and hang them on her wall. I also got some stars to paint and I'm thinking about how to hang them.

I've also been cleaning more than usual in the house, something pretty uncharacteristic for me. I'm really loving the extra clean house. And I'm baking too. I'm certainly finding uses for all the spare time I've had since my nursing assistant class ended.

I find it funny that I'd rather spend my money in the craft store instead of the clothing stores these days! I wouldn't mind learning to crochet or do quilting or something else too. What project will I come up with next?

Sometimes I still can't believe it

With less than three months to go, I'm surprised that sometimes it still doesn't seem real that Doug and I are going to have a baby. Sometimes I don't even feel pregnant, although those moments are fewer these days.

Very soon, Doug and I are going to bring a new baby into our family. It will be our responsibility to ensure her safety and make sure she gets enough to eat and to teach her and mold her mind and body. We're not ready for this! Will we ever be ready?

Preparations are going well. Allie's room is looking exactly how I want it to look. In just two weeks we'll start child birth class. We're choosing a pediatrician and saving our money.

Allie is kicking a lot lately. She's kicking really high and it hurts sometimes. She's definitely active and not slowing down. I've only got 11 and a half weeks to go!

This is perfect

Its a work in progress, but Doug and I can already tell its exactly what we wanted! We picked the perfect color.

Its kind of hard to tell the color in some of the pictures because of the window, but its called Fresh Hyacinth, and its a periwinkle shade. Now that its on a full wall, we can see it looks more purple than blue and we love it. Also with a full wall painted, Doug and I are reassured that we made the right choice. How bad would it be if we got a wall painted and decided it looked terrible?

The ceiling was painted too. You can't tell from the picture, but it looks clean and sharp. We're also putting up a ceiling fan in place of the old light fixture.

I say we, but really its my wonderful sister-in-law Julie. I hope I can be as handy as she is some day. She came over and got it started yesterday but unfortunately couldn't get it finished because my youngest niece, 10-month-old Katy, was fussy. I couldn't really help either because Katy only wants mommy. I'm sure I'll understand once I have my own little one!

So Julie is coming back tomorrow morning to finish the painting and put up the fan, and I'll post pictures of the completed project after that.

Its a dance party

I'm not sure what has changed in the last 24 hours or so, but Allie is really starting to move and groove in mommy's belly. I'm feeling lots of kicks and also lots of squirms and other movements. In fact, she's kicking in one area so much its starting to hurt a little. The muscle is actually sore.

Its not hard for me to see her movements from the outside. If I'm sitting on the couch or something I can see the movements even if I'm looking at something else. But everytime I tell Doug to look, I guess Allie decides she doesn't want daddy to see because he hasn't been able to see the movements too much.

At the doctor on Monday they gave me information about doing kick counts, starting around 32 weeks. Its a tool to monitor baby's well being because a decrease in movement can signify problems. But I doubt I'll need to keep track, unless something changes. For kick counts, I'm supposed to pay attention to how long it takes to feel eight baby movements. Right now I can feel eight movements within just a few minutes!

Hypothyroidism

I am happy to report I barely passed my glucose tolerance test! But barely is still passing. I will have to retake the glucose tolerance test in about a month and a half to make sure I still pass. So I don't have gestational diabetes! This is the test in pregnancy that I was most nervous about, so I'm glad I passed.

My blood was also tested for my thyroid hormone levels and I failed that test. Turns out I have hypothyroidism, where my thyroid gland doesn't produce enough hormone. Thats easily treatable though, and it may help explain my weight gain in pregnancy.

I started taking a supplement to bring the level up to normal. I don't think my hormone is terribly low, since my supplement pill isn't a very big dose. But I'm hopeful treatment will help curb my gain for the rest of pregnancy and help with the weight loss afterward.

Hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disease, where my body produced antibodies against my thyroid hormone. The thyoid hormone affects metabolism, which is why it can cause weight gain. At least, thats how I understand it. Hypothyroidism can start in pregnancy, as I susupect mine did, but I'll have it forever. I am not surprised to have it since both my mom and my sister have it. I also read that people with other autoimmune conditions are more susceptible, and I do have asthma.

The funny thing is I suppose I did or do have the symptoms of hypothyroidism, but they're symptoms I've attributed to being pregnant, such as fatigue and sluggishness! I guess once the supplement kicks in I might get a boost in energy. That would be nice.

Getting back in the water

Its been over a month since my last swim and I'm really missing it. But now the pool at Gold's Gym is open and I'm ready to get in! I looked in at the pool when I was there the other day and it looks really nice. Its only four lanes though. I'm hoping it won't be terribly busy during the day. It was empty when I looked in on Monday. Four lanes means I'll have to share, which I don't really like. I'm not the most confident swimmer and sharing a lane with someone just makes me feel self-conscious.

Hopefully my swim suit still fits! Maybe I should have tried it on before I got all excited for this.

Down time day one

Since I'm done with my nursing assistant class, now I have a whole lot of down time on my hands. I'm enjoying the relaxation time for right now, but I give myself until Wednesday or possibly sooner to get tired of it. And when that happens I will start on my list of projects that were waiting for me to have time to complete them.

I'm also able to eat better and work out more regularly. While I was in clinical I couldn't work out because I was so tired after working all day. I also didn't eat the greatest during that time either.

Day one of my down time went well with an elliptical workout and a day of eating that followed my diet plan a lot better than I have so far. I don't remember if I mentioned this here, but I saw a dietician a couple weeks ago because of my concerns about my pregnancy weight gain and she gave me a meal plan based on exchanges, like the kind diabetics use. I guess I'd be put on this plan anyway if I end up with gestational diabetes.

I didn't like not working out. Last week I was lazy and before that I was busy, but now I'm looking forward to working out five and six days a week again. I have taken up pilates and I'm continuing spin classes. The elliptical is more comfortable than the treadmill and the pool at Gold's Gym is finally open so I can get back to swimming.

I'm sure working on the house projects and preparing for baby will make the time go quickly. I'm looking forward to getting Allie's room ready (with plenty of help), childbirth classes as well as seeing friends I haven't been able to see while in school. The not so fun tasks include cleaning Allie's closet and our bathrooms.

Look what I get to do

Monday is my next prenatal doctor's appointment. And its also glucose test time! I need to have my blood tested after drinking this lovely orange substance and see how my body handles the sugar, to see if I have gestational diabetes or not.

One hour and 15 minutes before my appointment, I need to drink this sugar water drink. I have to drink it within 5 minutes. Then I need to go in 15 minutes early and have my blood taken before my appointment. This is the one-hour test. And apparently if I fail this one, I get to take a three-hour test. Aren't you jealous?

This is one test that I've been a little nervous about. I have learned that women who get gestational diabetes are likely to develop diabetes later in life.

I don't know if there was any way I could prevent gestational diabetes. I saw a dietician a few weeks ago and she says these days there seems to be no rhyme or reason to who gets it and who doesn't. Its like throwing a dart onto a dart board. I guess I'll just have to wait and see where I hit.

Next step: State certification

I had to buy a new shirt for my uniform after starting clinical. The old one just didn't have quite enough room.

My journey to my new career is progressing! Phase one is becoming a certified nursing assistant, and after taking my final exam today, all that is left is the state test! This is an accomplishment for me. It kind of makes losing my previous career worth it, but the real test will be if I pass the test and then I get a job in January and I like it... so the real worth remains to be seen.

So I've got the training and hopefully I can get the certification.

I celebrated my final exam by taking myself out to breakfast and I wish I had done things like this more often in the last few months. Of course, I didn't have the money for it. It was nice to just have my bagel and coffee at Panera and read the paper. I feel like it was good "me" time. I will continue this "me" time until Allie comes and hopefully in some fashion after.

I have the application for the state exam filled out and I'm just waiting until mid-week when we'll have the funds available to pay the fee. Too bad this test isn't free! Once I mail in the application, I'll get a reponse in five days with my time, date and place assignment. It will be within two to six weeks. I hope I don't forget everything before I get to the test!

Thursday we had a lab session where we reviewed all our skills that we may be tested on in the skills part of the state test. The first part is 60-question multiple choice, but the second part is demonstration of 5 out of 23 possible skills. We have to complete all of them in order to pass. I'm actually pretty nervous about this part. We practiced all of the skills in lab and clinical. But the handbook we need to follow for the test just has so many steps to follow. It will be really easy to leave something out. I can take the test again if I don't pass, but it will cost more and I just want to get it right the first time!

Now that I'm done with school, I don't have too much going on. Now I get to work on the house projects that have been hanging out for the last couple months. I got a lot done early in the summer but there are a few things still to do. And of course we need to continue working on Allie's room. Next week I'll take a few days to be lazy and then I'll get to work.

This is pretty cool

I went out to lunch with a good friend today and we had Chinese. My fortune cookie had the coolest fortune. It said, "Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you." Of course, today is exactly three months from my due date. How neat is that? Usually they don't mean anything. This fortune is going in a frame in Allie's room or her baby book or something.

Third trimester is starting today! I wonder if it will go fast or slow?

This dresser better last a long time

Doug and I put together Allie's dresser on Sunday. Its so pretty!

Unfortunately the dresser was a nightmare to put together! The directions said it would take an hour and a half. Well, that wasn't to be. Doug and I worked for two hours and took a break for lunch. After lunch we worked maybe another three or four hours? It took a LONG time. And the craftsmanship of some of the pieces left something to be desired. One of the drawer panels didn't have the pre-drilled holes, though we did manage to piece it together and make it fit.

You can't tell from the picture, but the finish did get pretty dinged up in the process. I'm trying not to be upset about it. It gives the furniture character. What I really want to say to my daughter is, "I hope you like it and you use it FOREVER!"

We also put the mattress in the crib and put the bedding in to see what it would look like. I love it.

Even though the dresser was so hard to put together, it was worth it. I think the crib and dresser look so good together! Its really nice and its exactly what I wanted.

Next on our list is getting the paint as well as cleaning up the clutter thats in the room.

26 weeks... goodbye waist line!

My latest belly shot, at 26 weeks and 1 day.

Really, I said goodbye to my waist line a few weeks ago. The only pants I wear that have a waist line anymore are my scrubs, pajamas and workout pants. And I have to roll them down for them to be comfortable. I've still got three months. How much bigger can I get?

My belly is starting to get squashed up under my ribs. In fact, as I write this I am sore on my left side under my ribs, I think because of all the work I did today with putting together Allie's dresser, but thats a story for tomorrow.

Yikes my back gets sore if I do too much or even just sit or stand the wrong way!

The third trimester starts this week. I have under 100 days! The second trimester seemed a lot longer than the first, but thats because I was pregnant for a month before I was aware of it, so the first trimester was really nine weeks for me. This trimester had all 13 weeks. And now I have a few days over 13 weeks to go. I'm two-thirds through this crazy time, I've come so far! And Doug has too. He's been so great the entire time, even when I haven't been so nice.

I am totally starting to see why women hope for an early birth. This is gonna get even more uncomfortable before it's finished. But I wouldn't trade this experience for anything else.

The registry is hard work

Doug and I spent the afternoon establishing the first of two baby registries. We were in the store for over three hours and managed to register for more than 200 items! Of course I promptly came home and did some editing, because we managed to duplicate some things as well as register for two each of all the big things... high chair, pack 'n' play, stroller and car seat. Not really sure how we did that. We also put a ton of blankets and other things on it. I think I got it to a more manageable size list.

We decided to wait until next weekend to start the other registry.

In other news, we bought a crib mattress! I couldn't believe the range in mattress types. The most expensive mattress the store had was better than the mattress Doug and I sleep on right now. While we want our baby to be comfortable, we didn't think it necessary to spend $250 for a crib mattress. The one we got was $100.

We weren't able to get any paint samples. I had been under the impression we could get small sample jars of any kind or color, but I guess thats not the case everywhere. So we will just pick one of the two shades we like and buy the big can of paint. However, looking at all the choices for paint types today, its not as simple as telling them, "We want lavender." Next weekend I think we'll get paint and maybe the ceiling fan as well as a few more accessories.

My wonderful sister-in-law Julie has volunteered to do the painting for us as well as some wall art! I can't wait. He kids rooms are so creative and beautiful, I feel privileged to have that artwork here!

Tomorrow is putting together the dresser day. The nursery certainly isn't coming together quite yet, but it is well on its way. I will post more pictures as we get more stuff done.