Rudolph's return and the bad case of the sugar drink.

Remember those days in grade 9, when you liked more than one guy at a time, and whether or not you liked him depended completely on how cute he was and that he wasn't the world's biggest (or most obvious) ignoramous? When you didn't even know the guy you liked, but still told all your friends in giggles about it? And then within a few back-and-forth exchanges via "I like you" notes or passing messages through friends (because you're too chicken to do it yourself) you've asked the guy out, you're officially "boyfriend/girlfriend" and you have yet to have your first real conversation just between the two of you???

I had a flashback to those days this morning while looking in the mirror.

See, when I was in grade 9, I had a crush on this one guy who seemed totally nice and (most importantly) was cute. I passed the message through a mutual friend, but this guy didn't know who he was talking about. No big deal, he's got lots of time to get to know me and how awesome I am, right? WRONG! The conversation quickly became, "You know, Holly. The girl who sits next to so-and-so in our English class..." and the classic, never-to-be-forgotten response, "What. You mean Rudolph?!" (I unfortunately had a monster of a pimple on the very end of my nose that was quite red at the time. Perhaps I should have chosen a more attractive time to express my deepest feelings, but I had a bit more confidence then in my appearance. It was shattered right around that moment. C'est la vie.) And thus ended the short-lived crush, along with any amicable feelings I had towards this person throughout the rest of my highschool career. That is, until he slapped a teacher full-on in the butt when he thought it was his friend. Then I appreciated him a little more, but it took a while!

So why the flashback? I am (mortifyingly!) Rudolph once more! I walked into the bathroom and had a nice little surprise of a red nose this morning, which I promptly scrubbed and then covered up with make-up. You probably can't even tell it's there, and I'm sure it'll be gone by tomorrow, but I can't help but laugh over the matter. How ridiculous we are when we're 14!! I seriously wish I had been a member of the church when I was a teenager, because it could have saved me a whole lot of frustration and heartache (at least in my mind), simply by abiding by the counsel to not date until you're 16. I think most of the insecurity I felt growing up was rooted in negative dating experiences I went through prior to the age of 16, and I hope I'll be able to teach my kids the importance of heeding that counsel without telling them that they'll understand when they're older (because what teenager with raging hormones wants to hear that?!)

That being said, I am so happy to be who I am now. 25. Well past the teen years (closer to 30, in fact! That doesn't phase me yet, though.) Past the injustices dealt me in highschool, and secure in who I am. A daughter of God, who is entitled to confidence in my personality and appearance, not to mention the wife of a man whose praises I just can't sing loud enough and is a source of inspiration to me daily. Life doesn't get a whole lot better!

So come now, laugh with me as we completely scorn the days of yore and chuckle at the people we were, and rejoice in who we are, and find excitement in the amazing people we are (hopefully!) becoming, as we strive to make each day better!!

Laughter truly is the best medicine.

OH! And speaking of medicine, I went for the blasted glucose screening today (how do you like my segue into the present? Pretty crafty, huh? ;)

Just to clarify, NO I am not suspected of having gestational diabetes. Swollen feet are completely normal in pregnancy and can be controlled if you are a water-nazi and watch your salt intake (in fact, mine haven't swollen at all the last couple of days.) And if anything, swollen feet indicate preeclampsia, not gestational diabetes.

SO...that may make you wonder, "why, then, did you need to take a glucose screening test?" That is a good question, and the answer is simple. Here it is. You ready for it? The answer is, because I wanted to. It's a completely optional test that, at best, doctors can only strongly recommend. My midwife didn't seem to be concerned either way, and seeing as I already had to go for bloodwork to check my rubella status (a test that got missed during my 5 week routine bloodwork), I thought, "What's one extra vial?"

See, if I know I don't have gestational diabetes, then when I feel anything pregnancy related, I won't be googling it, wondering, worrying, and calling the midwives freaking out saying, "Oh no! I am excessively hungry/thirsty! And I gained 3 pounds since yesterday! MAYBE I have gestational diabetes!!!" (note: something I would likely do if you catch me on an off-day when I have too much time to myself to think.)

No, this way, I'll not even consider it.

And if I DO have gestational diabetes? Well, wouldn't it be nice to know now, rather than when the baby comes out, their almost constant sugar-supply via the umbilical cord is cut off, and they end up with hypoglycemia? To me, it just made sense to find out.

So there you have it! I went for my glucose screening today. ;)

And you know what? If I don't have G.D. this time, I don't think I'd bother finding out with future pregnancies. The test was just that gross (see? The selfish side of me coming through. This is all hypothetical of course.)

The nurse gave me this sugary drink which I had to drink in 5 minutes. It was neon orange and carbonated, and at first, really just tasted like orange pop. So I drank as much as I could at first. But there's one problem for me. I don't like pop. I can never finish an entire can of it (I never HAVE been able to), and to drink all of this stuff in 5 minutes flat was kinda killing me. Then I noticed that the aftertaste started tasting medicinal, like you let your tylenol dissolve in your mouth too long before swallowing it. Ewwwwwww.

My stomach was kinda churning and definitely mad at me for inflicting this on it, and my head decided to take stomach's side and revolt as well, giving me a pretty acute headache. Just the sort that makes you want to lay down and sleep. I wasn't allowed to eat my snacks that I had brought either, and that was a bummer, because when I'm feeling blah like that, food usually helps.

I had to wait around for an hour, but once I started getting over the after-effects of drinking that icky stuff, I started to feel better. I tried playing Sudoku but I just wasn't feeling it, so I read my Rilla of Ingleside book instead. I'm so glad my midwife told me to bring a book!! Even with the book, it was a very long hour.

Then I had my blood drawn. I had to lie down for it because I get a little woozy when the circulation is cut off to my arm, and once I blacked out. It was fine though, and the only thing that hurt was the first poke. Then, in no time, it was over! I felt relieved. Now I just need to wait a few days and see if the midwives call me saying there was a problem. If I don't hear from them by Friday, I'm going to assume everything was fine.

Other than that, not much has been going on in the house of G. This past weekend was General Conference and Matthew and I watched most of the sessions from home. It was heavenly. No, heavenly doens't even describe it. Words simply CAN'T describe it! We had to go to the chapel for the Sunday morning session because the streaming really sucked and the broadcast kept cutting out every 30 seconds, and it was not nearly as comfy. I've decided there's something about the height of the pews/chairs at church that really drives me crazy right now!

So anyway, Conference was awesome, and I feel inspired and motivated to do my best. I love feeling good like that. My favourite talk? I don't know if I have one favourite, there were so many good ones, but Elder Holland's talk really stands out to me (pretty much the greatest smack-down ever. MAN that man can speak) and so does President Monson's talk on service.

Other than that, our weekend was full of choir practice/potluck, a photography field trip, and looking after my sick husband, who was feeling under the weather for the whole weekend. I now kindof have what he had, but I'm okay, I have time to relax and let my body rest and get better.

Anyway, the only other new thing is that I'm officially 26 weeks along! That doesn't sound very impressive, because last week I was officially 25 weeks along, and so on, but wait. It gets better. 26 weeks = 6 months (YAY!) = 3rd TRIMESTER! The big kahuna. The one where it all happens. EEP! I feel so frabjous.

Matthew looks at my stomach and says it's huge, but I don't mind. In fact, I like it, because then I'm assured that I look pregnant and not, well, largely overweight with a protruding pot-belly. I mean, the protruding part is true, but I'll take it.

So here's a picture of the "huge" belly.


I'm a fan of the comparison shot, so the photo on the left is me 2 weeks ago at 24 weeks, and the one on the right is me today, at 26 weeks. Do you think it helps that I wore the same shirt for both photos, or should I have worn different ones? See, I like the comparison because then I can be like, "wow! Look how much bigger I am!" like I do when I look at this photo. I know the difference isn't astonishing, but it's exciting nonetheless. It makes the fact that the baby has nearly doubled in weight in 4 weeks seem a bit more believable. If you REALLY want to grasp that fact, take a look at this next photo:

That's 3 weeks and 2 days of baby growth for ya'!

So all this growth has put me in a bit of a quandary because my winter coats won't zip up, and I was really hoping they would. I have a couple from when I was bigger (sans bebe) but I guess the weight was more proportionate then, and not strapped to the front of me. Do I buy a coat for 2 months though? That seems like a waste. But then again, I don't want to freeze. I'll probably just stay out of the cold, and only walk to and from the car once I have the need of a winter coat. Until then, a cozy sweater is doing just fine. And apparently immediately after you give birth, you go to about the size of what you were when you were 6 months pregnant (so now) and my winter coats JUST don't zip, so it shouldn't be long after the baby is born that I can zip my coats up.

I love love LOVE that I'm not seriously pregnant over summer. But sometimes I wish I was just for the sake of wearing flipflops all the time, and cheaper clothes that aren't winter coats.

So anyway, this post has become rather long, so I'm going to wrap it up. I might not post again until the weekend (there really isn't anything going on!) but I'll definitely post then, as it's Thanksgiving (Canadian...) and my favourite local craft show, and other fun things going on. So expect another post Monday at the latest!