Glucose Tolerance Test

The Glucose Tolerance Test is probably the most dreaded test during the 9 months a mom-to-be can go through. You fast for 8 hours, drink this horrible tasting flat sugary syrup, wait and hour and then the lab steals your blood. It's truly terrible. Well, I took mine Tuesday morning. Thank goodness there are now options of flavors: orange, fruit punch and grape. I chose fruit punch. Unfortunately my results came back a 154. Too high for my Dr.'s approval and now I need to re-take it next Monday. However, they are upping the ante. I now need to do the 3 hour glucose tolerance test, not the 1 hour one I did on Tuesday. Bummer. That means my entire Monday morning is now shot. Not really the best way to spend a Monday morning. I can think of a ton of other things: work, laundry, grocery shopping, errand running, sleeping, etc. Once this is all over I will have my next Dr.'s appt on October 25th and get the final results.We will know then whether or not I am having a bout of gestational diabetes with Sophia. It will also give us a chance to sit and talk to the Dr. in more detail about my cancer, thoughts, game plan, follow ups, etc. (Sigh) Only time will tell and unfortunately if you know me well, patience is definately not one of my more honed virtues.

Nicknames......

Everyone has a nickname. Ones we like, ones we don't like. Terms of endearment and terms for ridicule. Growing up I remember my mom being emphatic about making sure she gave each one of us girls our own nickname so people would call us by that rather than making up a nickname for us. I was Pamela therefore Pam, then there was Cynthia therefore Cindy and finally there was Kimberly therefore Kim. Little did she know people would make up nicknames regardless.

I was thinking earlier this week as to what nickname I would call Sophia. As a small child I remember an animated cartoon on the Disney Channel entitled The B.F.G. (The Big Friendly Giant). In the cartoon the main female characters name is Sophi. I just loved the way that name rolled off of my tongue. So precious, so pretty, so feminine. So Sophi it is. But for terms of endearment, that's a whole other story. It's Fall and Harvest time. The leaves have been changing colors and pumpkins are out. Pumpkins, hmmmmmm. Pumpkins. I like that. How about Punkin' (Punk-in) slang for pumpkin. Yeah that's it. She's going to be my little punkin'. Daddy has already chosen princess for his nickname for her. And now I have mine.

We Had Snow.....Well For At Least 2 Hours

We had snow for about 2 hours, then all of a sudden it blew through, warmed up to about 50 degrees and it was long gone. Here is what we drove up into.....

My weekend was great at Hume Lake in the Sequoia National Forest. The retreat was spectacular. The food was she-she gourmet, the company was fantastic but the speaker.....oh the speaker! Sometimes God creates a divine appointment between two people to make sure that they cross paths in life. This was one of them. I met Peggy Rupple our guest speaker for the entire conference. She is a 5 time cancer survivor of non-hodgkins lymphoma. She was a pistol, a tiny little thing filled with life, love and happiness. So of course I cried the entire weekend. God sent me this angel to speak directly to my heart at this exact time in my life and to give me peace in that He is the ultimate physician and He can cure and heal all. I felt connected and strangely drawn to Peggy. I had to meet her. I introduced myself Friday night after her talk and we spoke at lengths about her experiences and my current circumstances. We talked ourselves silly till about 11pm (way past this Preggers bedtime). God is good and he brought about enlightenment and peace for me. I came down the mountain last night a new woman: refreshed, redefined and radiant. I am to be in his word, trust in him that beautiful things can come from Cancer and to not let anyone of anything steal my joy at this place in my life with our impending bundle of joy!

It is only 2 days over a 3 day period of time, it takes an entire year to get to this date on the calendar annually, it is out in the middle of no where and takes 6 hours to get there, but never has anything been so important, so required, so necessary to renew my spirit. I LOVE HUME!!!

We're Off To See The Wizard..... (Naw just heading up the mountain to have a conversation with God)

Woo Hoo! Quiting time at the office. It's 5 o'clock and all is well. Time to grab some grub, head to my moms and crash for the night and then it is up the mountain first thing tomorrow morning. Can't wait. I have to tell you, if you have never been to Hume Lake before, it's like Disneyland. It is definitely one of the more beautiful places on Earth. There is so much to do up there and yes they have shopping, indoor plumbing and food. LOL This year being pregnant I won't be doing the High Adventure Ropes Course, the Bungee Jump or the Off Road Jeep Trek. Probably wont be doing any hiking either since it is 8000+ feet elevation. Looks like it has been raining most of the week weather wise so with the cold front moving in looks like there is snow in my near future. (I love snow! You should see me right now. I am doing the happy dance). I promise to take pics of the area and of the snow (if we truly get some) and of the baby belly enjoying all of it and post them beginning of next week.

More importantly, Hume is a Christian Group Camp where Bible curriculum is provided in a constructive and Christ-like format. I am looking forward to spending some time with my Abba Father this weekend. Listening to the words he places on my heart, the revelations he reveals to me and the course of action he lays at my feet to stand firm in my journey with him by my side. I have to tell you, I am so excited about teaching Sophia about God. About sharing Jesus' testimony and life and laying before her the foundation of an eternal life. God is good. He has blessed me so much over my short life span. I look forward to providing those same blessings to my daughter.

I'm off! T.T.F.N.

Sept 2011 Baby Bump Pics Are In (22 Weeks)

Yeah!!! New baby bump pics. Thanks to Rob's wife Charli for bringing these over last night. I thought I wouldn't see them till Rob got back from his 400 mile bicycle ride benefiting Ride2Recovery next week. I never realized how big I was getting until I saw these pics. Now I know I can't see my knees anymore when I look down but I can still see my feet so I didn't think anything of it. And then I saw these and thought wow I am huge. My little Sophia is a Moose!!! LOL

Happy Harvest Everyone!

Fall is finally here. The weather has changed, the rain has begun and its time to break out the galoshes and rain coats, hot chocolate and marshmellows, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomoato soup. Ahhhhh, cooler weather, I just love it. Fall is here and the baby is coming. THE BABY IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH SHOOT, QUICK WE STILL NEED A CRIB MATTRESS AND WATER PROOF PADS, A CHANGER PAD WATERPROOF COVER AND ............. OMG! We are so close to the 100 day mark I can't believe it. 90 days is 3 months with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's in between. Wow time really does go by so fast.

My mom keeps reminding me to take everything in. To do everything, to try everything, to document everything. You only get the chance to do this the first time once. I am enjoying slowing down. I used to be early, now I am on time after the baby comes I am sure I will be late. LOL I notice things now that I didn't notice before. I stop to smell the roses so to speak and it is a beautiful thing. As Martha would say "It's a good thing". I am looking forward to gettting some fall leaves and some pumpkins from the patch near our house and decorating for Fall. More importantly I am overwhelmed by how much I have to be thankful for this year over the up and coming Thanksgiving holiday. I am terribly greatful for my friends and family, near and far. For my career and all of the opportunities that have presented themselves to me so far this year. This is just the beginning.

Countdown Clock.....

I got this really cool widget for my Blog when I first started it all those months ago. It tells you how many days I have left till the due date. Today it says 114 more days to go. I can't wait for another 14 days to go by. 100 days is such a round number. As soon as we get into double digits it will really hit me and then we will be in the home stretch. I am soooooo excited.

As soon as Rob our photographer gets home from his 400 mile bicycle ride, yes I said 400 miles, (He is doing Ride2Recovery a bicycling fundraiser for wounded veterans this entire week. Check out the website http://ride2recovery.com/sponsor-a-rider.html and pledge towards his efforts under Robert Kugler) we will post the new baby bump pics. I have definitely grown. This makes me excited and nervous. Just how much bigger will Sophia get thus how much bigger will I get!!! Yikes. LOL

Had a good weekend but going to have an even better week. I am off on Friday and looking forward the going to Hume Lake (http://www.humelake.org/) in the Sequoia National Forest for 3 days with a bunch of women from my family for our annual Women's Fall Retreat. Weather looks cold and dreary this week and chance of snow this weekend is pretty good. Sophia's first snow yea!!! Gonna hopefully rent a golf cart. The hills up there are going to be murder on me at that altitude. Looking forward to it!!!