Wonderful, Beautiful Colorado Shower

This last weekend was wonderful, but also a whirlwind!  Friday night my good friend from college, Hannah Rodgers married her best friend David.  It was a beautiful ceremony and will be an even more beautiful marriage.  The wedding was an hour and a half south of Boulder, so Friday was a long day with a long drive at the end of it.

Saturday morning my mom came into town for my shower that was Sunday.  Her and I tripped around Boulder on Saturday and finished off the night with a great dinner at Foolish Craig's with Judd.  My mom loves the Food Network show, Dinners, Drive-In's and Dives, so this DDD restaurant was a must.  We were not disappointed.

Sunday was my beautiful shower that a number of my good girl friends collaborated to throw.  My friend Laura Riegel headed up the effort that was hosted at Laura Ramos' beautiful house. Stephanie Whitehill made the incredible decorations (and amazing virgin mojitos).  Jessie Walters and Laura Walter did two funny (non-cheesy) games.  My sister-in-laws' Nicole and Hope were in charge of crafts - painting bird houses, and making a guest book.  The guest book turned out amazing and I will cherish it forever!  Most of these girls, along with my mom and mother-in-law Cathy and friend/ professional gardener/chef, Leah Biber, contributed food and drinks.

I feel so spoiled and love from everyone that was there!  It was so fun to look around the room and see lots of women that I love.  I also cannot believe how adorable all of the little things are - this little man will be one sharp-looking guy!

I Passed My Glucose Test!

Today I took the infamous gestational diabetes glucose test and passed!  Phew!  This routine blood test is taken at 28 weeks to determine if the pregnant lady has gestational diabetes.  I was a little nervous about this test because I have been eating A LOT of sugar during this pregnancy.  I don't know what it is, but I need ice cream every night, at a minimum.  This morning's test was very simple and straight forward.  I went in at 9:30am for a routine check-up (which are now going to start happening every 2 weeks! because I am officially in the THIRD TRIMESTER!).  Right away I drank 8oz of this orange-colored drink that tasted like very sugary Gatorade.  Not great.  Exactly one hour later I had my blood drawn.  I typically hate needles and all things medical, but I am starting to realize that getting blood drawn truly does not hurt.  The doctors checked the sugar level of my blood after one hour, determining whether or not my body is having a hard time processing sugar.  Luckily my levels came in normal, because otherwise I would have found myself in a much more unpleasant 3-hour test in a few days. Now that I have passed this, I am going to go enjoy a bowl of ice cream :)

In other news, Judd and I just spent this last weekend up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a huge family reunion of the Nutting side.  It was awesome.  The only bummer was that Saturday everyone went white-water-rafting, something I chose to pass on.  Instead, however, I went on a beautiful hike with Judd's sister Nicole, their dad and Nicole's friend Landrie.

We had a blast throughout the entire weekend.  Judd has an awesome family and it was great to spend time with them.  Three of his cousins have kids (ranging 6 months - 4 years) so it was super fun to be around all of that energy.  I realized that this was the first major family function that I have been at that has involved little kids.  Most of the family gatherings that I am a part of do not involve little ones yet...not for long!

Although the trip up to Jackson Hole was awesome and absolutely gorgeous, driving 9 hours two times in four days was difficult.  In the last two weeks I have developed a consistent back-ache on my right upper back while sitting, and on the left side of my lower back while walking around.  While sitting in the car that long I could simply not get comfortable.  My midwife recommends chiropractic work, so I am going to see a referral who specializes in pregnancy.  I've always wanted to see a chiropractor, but have never thought of my pain as severe enough for the high cost.  I think this time it will be worth checking out.  If this back-ache hangs around it will be a long three months.  I will write how it goes! 

28 Weeks

Cravings

I've been thinking recently how there are a number of things that have happened during pregnancy that I did not expect.  Some funny, some odd and some that make sense, I guess.  Here goes:

During pregnancy I did not expect...
1. To not actually have a big appetite (the rumors are not true, you are not hungry all of the time).
2. That although I miss beer and wine, abstaining has not been that hard.
3. That feeling the baby kick is the coolest/ best feeling in the world - I wish he kicked all the time.
4. To be exhausted all day if I wake up before 8:30, regardless of when I go to sleep.
5. Heartburn to come out of nowhere. Just thinking about it can bring it on.
6. To give into cravings without a fight. I find myself buying Frappuchino's, Sour Patch Kids, Dairy Queen, iced decaf coffee, fast food, or whipped cream without a second thought. Pre-pregnancy, my self-control kept me from these irresponsible choices.
7. Shopping to no longer be fun. Maternity clothes are usually expensive, and rarely cute. Normal clothes just do not fit right. Short dresses (my uniform in the summer), are often too short in the front.
8. That sleeping would get harder, not because I have to sleep on my side, but because I get extremely hot at night.
9. That there are growing pains involved with the growing baby bump. Sometimes these round ligament pains are so intense I can't stand up straight.
10. To not "feel" pregnant until I started to show, and I didn't start to show until over halfway through!
11. That although I know he will be here in about 3 months, I don't think I (we) will fully comprehend this until we bring him home from the hospital.