A GB Update

So I know you're all dying to know more about my gestational diabetes and the food that I eat. I know that it's about the only thing that I think about, so I assume it's the only thing you're all thinking about, too.

I'm definitely getting used to this new eating lifestyle. It's really not as bad as I thought it was. Especially since Jenny taught me that eating one fun-size Snickers bar won't spike my blood sugar, and that I can count 1/2 cup of ice cream at dinner as a milk and a fat. Phew!

I think that right now the biggest challenge is finding creative ways to have my protein at five out of six meals. I mean, there's boiled eggs. There's string cheese. There's meat. There's also peanut butter and nuts, but I think that technically I'm supposed to not go crazy on those foods because of their high fat content. I think. I did buy some edamame packs at Costco yesterday so that Murray and I can have edamame as part of our evening snack. It's easy to have meat at real meals, but it's working protein into my snacks that makes me get creative.

Anyway. Last night, I had pumpkin soup with shrimp pineapple spinach nut salad. I made up the salad. Can you tell? Oh, and I definitely had ice cream for dessert. I realized that although one cup of pumpkin counts as a starch, I can have WAY more than 1 cup of pumpkin soup because there's twice as much broth (which is free) than there is pumpkin. So I got two cups of pumpkin soup last night. And that was plenty.

Here's me with my lunch today. See? Not bad at all. I get two slices of bread for my sandwich because I use reduced calorie bread. AND I finished off lunch with a mini Snickers. Not bad at all. Just ignore the fact that I haven't had time to shower yet today.

Check Him Out

Last night Murray and I took a trip to Home Depot to buy paint for the baby's room. We've decided to paint only one wall of the nursery and then Murray will do a very simple "mural" (it's really more of a line drawing than a mural that we have in mind...). The crib will go against this wall.

So we brought the green sheet from the baby's bedding to Home Depot to color match and get the exact right green for the wall. If you think that I, as a woman who enjoys interior design, am picky about these things, think again. Murray is waaaaaaaay more picky. Remember what I said about my urine test yesterday? It took Murray about five minutes to really color match my urine stick to the options on the bottle. "Well, this is a little warmer than that color..." Last night was no different. This is why I love having him around (among other reasons). We compared the blanket to several swatches. "This is too blue," he'd say. "That has more red in it." (It's not every person who can tell you if your shade of green has "too much red.") After checking swatch after swatch, we finally settled on the most absolutely perfect color. Do you know how I know it's the most absolutely perfect color? Because I chose that exact color to paint my room when I was living with El Senor. (The pictures in that link are very yellow, but you get the idea.)

What can I say? I'm really picky about my greens, and Murray and I have the same green tastes, which is a huge relief because I don't know if I could ever love a man who loved sage or mint green.

According to one of my pregnancy books, I'm technically not supposed to paint the baby's room because of the chemicals. I think I'd look into it more if it was more than one wall, but since it's just one wall I don't feel so bad letting Murray do it himself. I helped to tape up the wall and set out the drop mat. He did the first and second coats in no time. My bedroom needed three coats, but it looks like the baby's room might only need 2 coats anyway.

Now Murray just needs to do the mural! Maybe while he does that, I'll sew the glider cushion covers. We're both happy little nesters!

Menu Planning

My mom has commented that I don't post as often as I used to after marrying Murray. She says that I am a lot happier and have less to complain about. While that's definitely true. I think that there's also the factor that when I was single, I had no evening company or schedule, so I'd just sit around with my computer. Now, the computer gets turned off every day in time for Murray to come home. So. You know. There's that.

BUT with gestational diabetes, I now have something to complain about, so my posting is up. Maybe my mom was onto something.

Yesterday I went in for my diabetes education. I thought it was going to be a class with several people, so I was curious as to how they'd educate me about everything regarding my specific needs in a class setting. I was wrong, however. Everything was one-on-one. First I met with a woman who explained my new eating habits and schedule. She gave me a book that has information about all my meals and what foods I can eat and stuff. Fruit juice has been stricken off the list entirely for the rest of my pregnancy, which is ironic since I actually increased my fruit juice intake BECAUSE OF my pregnancy. Anyhoo. What I couldn't help but notice is that in the food index of my book (it's really more like a beefy pamphlet or a wimpy magazine), chocolate isn't even listed. Seriously?

Then I met with a woman who explained to me how I need to poke holes in my fingers six times a day to test my blood sugar. Are you kidding me? And I need to pee on a stick every morning. And record it all. And I need to eat all my meals and prick my fingers at set times.

So last night I entered in six alarms on my iPhone so that I can be reminded when to eat every day, since I tend to be a person who forgets to eat and gets around to it when it's convenient. The first one went off this morning at 8:30. So I immediately pricked my finger, measured my blood sugar, went downstairs, prepared a breakfast for me and Murray, and ate breakfast. And then I realized that I forgot to pee on the stick. After I'd already peed. So I mustered up enough pee to pee on the stick and then I had to compare the stick's color to the color scheme on the pee-stick packaging. Since Murray is the color expert, I called him over to ask his advice and tell me what color my pee stick was closest to. After determining the right color, Murray commented, "You know, all this is kindof fun when you think about it. You get to use a cool little blood machine every day, and then practice color theory with your urine!"

I still have a few questions about my menu, since I was educated so quickly! For example, here are my nutritional requirements for dinner every day. I was pretty stumped about what to do last night while I was looking at them:

3 carbohydrate group
- 1 starch
- 1 fruit
- 1 milk
- non-starchy vegetables
3 meat or meat substitutes (3 oz)
2 fats

So breaking this down for you, it goes something like this.

My one starch that I get to eat at dinner is equivalent to 1/3 cup of pasta or rice, or one slice of bread, or 1/2 cup of potatoes. And other things of the like. But you get that it's a really small portion.

My one fruit is pretty self-explanatory.

My one milk can be either milk or yogurt. I don't drink milk, and yogurt doesn't really seem to go with an evening meal.

I am allowed up to 1 1/2 cups of cooked non-starchy vegetables or up to 3 cups of raw.

My 3 meats means 3 ounces of meat or meat substitute like beans, cheese, eggs, etc. Have you ever seen a 3-oz steak?

My 2 fats means that I've got to add a bit of butter or oil or something to my meal.

So what would you make with these specifications? No, seriously. Please leave comments about what you would prepare given this breakdown. I will love you forever. After I cried a little bit (a lot) about how this was absolutely impossible and it seemed that I'd be doomed to eating mismatched meals for the rest of my pregnancy, I received inspiration. Here's our meal last night:

SALAD NICOISE with Cherry Smoothies for dessert

Salad for 2:
1 can of green beans, drained
1 bag of salad greens (I like the spring mix)
2 small tomatoes
(all totaled, equals less than 3 cups of veggies each)

1 cup of boiled small red potatoes with skins
(at 1/2 cup each, this equals one starch---oh, and I gave Murray more than 1/2 cup because I'm kind like that)

1 can tuna, drained
2 hard boiled eggs, cut up
(all totalled, 3 oz of meat each)

some green olives (for Murray's half, although if I liked green olives, this would have counted as a fat)

homemade dressing made with garlic-herbed olive oil, dijon mustard, and cider vinegar
(two fats!)

Smoothies for 2:
2 cups of light vanilla soy milk
24 frozen cherries
(There's my milk and my fruit!)

After the meal, we were both really surprised to find out that we were both really full. So, as long as I can keep coming up with inventive ways to put my ingredient list together, I may just make it through the rest of my pregnancy without going insane!

Weekend Update

We had a great weekend. I love General Conference weekend. Sometimes I wonder if I should just convert to a televangelist sort of church. I mean, what's better than attending church in your pajamas?

In addition to conference, we prepared the baby's room for.... Switchback! Just in time for her arrival, we got our crib set up (donated by Murray's aunt) and put all of the gender-neutral bedding on. The room is looking more and more like a baby's room every day. Switchback didn't sleep in the crib. She slept in the bed beside the crib. I guess she's all about the big-girl comforts.

Today I go in for my diabetes education. Yikes! After 3:00 today, my diet will have completely changed. So today, I celebrated my last day of ignorance by having a well rounded breakfast:

2 pieces of pumpkin bread, slathered with Nutella (to my credit, I used half whole wheat flour and replaced all the oil with apple sauce...)
1 hard boiled egg
1 glass orange juice

I have been trying my best this weekend to eat all of my Nutella, and I didn't even eat half. Dang. I have a feeling the rest of it is going to go to waste... or at least wait for me for the next three months.

The Monkey Paw

There's this ghost/horror story that I heard in my childhood that my mom called to remind me of this morning. It's about a monkey paw. Have you heard this one?

A man somehow acquires a monkey paw that you can wish upon. Whatever you wish on the monkey paw, it comes true. But everyone warns the man: Don't wish on the monkey paw. He doesn't heed their warning and wishes on the monkey paw anyway. Whatever he wishes, his wish is granted, but something goes wrong in order to grant that wish. Finally, he wishes for $500,000. As soon as he's finished wishing, the phone rings and he and his wife are informed that their son has died. But they are the beneficiaries of his life insurance policy and will be receiving $500,000. Obviously the man and wife are distraught. Later, while still mourning the death of their son, the wife finds the monkey paw and wishes to have her son back. The story ends as the son rises from the grave and comes after his parents zombie-style.

(I got the details a little wrong, but here's the actual story.)

So why did my mom call me to remind me about this story this morning? Well, yesterday I was officially diagnosed with gestational diabetes. And because my mom only bought a one-way ticket to come out for Christmas this year (the baby is due January 4th), she's been wishing and wishing that I won't go past my due date (she said she went 2 weeks over with all but one of us). And she just read on the internet that they don't allow women with gestational diabetes to go past their due date because there's a risk that the baby will grow too big.

I hope my mom doesn't wish for me to get lots of good rest, because for sure something else will go wrong and I'll end up on bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy!