Apparently...

I'm just not happy giving birth to a child this year and becoming a mother...I have to go save everybody's ta-tas too.

Realistically, there are several reasons for all these things occurring right now, none of the least, that I have AMAZING timing. (Please note sarcasm.) Anyways, in the past, when I have experienced times of high stress, (the good majority of college, a decent part of high school) one of the best things for me to combat the stress was to immerse myself in activities, usually along the creative lines, to help me focus on other things and take my mind off the stress. High school was all about event planning...homecoming, dances, activities around school etc. It was the first time I took ceramics, and while I suck at it ROOOYYYALLLYY, it was therapeutic to mess with clay on wheels and in general. (One of my pieces got entered in a city wide competition among high school students, so hey, don't knock my artistic talents.) One other thing that helped was volunteering. I volunteered in the Summer Camp program at the YMCA for two years, and the first year I did it, I received the Youth Volunteer of the Year award...at the age of 16, no less. (Continuing proof that giving to others CAN help you.)

Anyways, I've had my eye on the annual Bra-ha-ha competition that started up about 2 years ago in the area. They only have the competition in two areas, here and in New York. Basically, you decorate a 38C bra in whatever design you choose from hilarious to whimsical and submit it to the competition. All the money raised goes towards the local regional hospital's breast center, and whoever wins with the best design, wins $1000. If nothing else, I feel like this will be a good way to keep my hands occupied for an additional two months, along with baby shower planning, baby room planning, and baby planning in general. (69 days to go by the way. Yikes!)

Then, in a rather disappointing turn of events, I've developed Gestational Diabetes! Arrrrgh! Measure everything! Grrr! Eat 6 times a day! Arrrrgh! Poke myself 4 times a day! Blaaaarrrgh! Still get to eat carbs...huh? Yep. Saw my dietitian today, who was very helpful with meal planning, ideas for things to eat, what things to be careful about intaking, measuring out how much I need to eat and all other kinds of dietary nonsense. After this, i'm excited, surprisingly. Its helpful to have an idea of what things I can and can't have and how much to have, and while its annoying, well, i'm still intaking 2000 calories a day (which is the normal intake for the preggos of the world.) Its not as scary as other people made it sound, its more a matter of just being careful how much you eat and what you are eating, and keeping an eye on it all. Its really what everyone should do.

There are several ways you can develop Gestational Diabetes, and no, its not just from being a fat ass or drinking soda all the time (though none of that helps). A lot of it is family history stuff, like being Hispanic or African-American, being over 25 when having a child, and family history of diabetes. I'm half-Hispanic, almost 28 years old and my mom developed gestational diabetes when she had me! Gee, I wasn't predisposed to develop this at all. I'm not thrilled, but I needed this. It'll help me get my eating habits under control.

Two big things that will help cut my blood sugar down, is (1) reducing stress (I.E., less freaking out about baby stuff, more yoga), and (2) Exercise. This is where saving ta-tas once again comes into play. I've always wanted to do the Susan G. Komen Foundation Run for the Cure, but have always allowed myself to come up with all these reasons why I don't have time to do it. But, losing the baby weight within the next year or so, and then continuing to lose weight afterwards is really important to me, if nothing else for my health. So, i'm going to do the 5k Walk for the Cure, a month after I have the baby. (Well, as long as he doesn't decide to cook for an extra couple of days or so.) I'm kind of excited. I'm not much a runner at all, so I highly doubt I'll ever actually run a race, but, i'm pretty good at walking and walking is a good form of exercise, especially at this stage of pregnancy. I'll keep you abreast (hahaha) of my progress as I go. :)

Other than that, I'm trying to focus on healthy thoughts for my baby. Everything else becomes less important as my child gets closer and closer to arriving. I can do this. I can do this. NO, wait, WE can do this.