The Basement Project: going great!

The Basement Project: Future Guest Room BEFORE

The Basement Project has hit the ground running!  I can't believe how much work we got done in the last two or three days.

I spent about 3 or 4 hours today completely transforming my most cluttered room in the house (the future guest bedroom in the basement) into a perfectly ready to renovate/drywall/finish space.

The Basement Project: Future Guest Room AFTER

The Basement Project: The clutter - D-cluttered

If that's not nesting I don't know what is.  All that clutter became very organized and neatly stashed away in the only room in the basement that has a finished floor - the laundry room.  Wow.  I even impressed myself.

And late in the afternoon I felt like I was running out of steam and a cat nap was in order... but somehow I was determined to get the room done so that Hubby can lay down the prep-flooring layers (some dimpled plastic that goes on the concrete and then plywood) so I skipped it.  I was fine.  I've been napping every day around 2ish so missing one day isn't so bad.  I had determination today!   



And check these pics out of Hubby's future office:

Step 1: Clear the space

Step 2: Add dimpled plastic on top of concrete

Step 3: Framing for the door

Step 4: Drywall the inside of the office

How can I not be excited?  This is great!  Tomorrow early A.M. I am picking up some more dimples and some more plywood (don't worry the peeps at those Big Box building supply stores do all the loading) and Hubby will be working away at other various things.  So excited!

And an update on the marble: CostCo headquarters is now involved.  I guess they don't like it that we've had such a horrible experience and have put us in touch directly with a top-dog at the company that supplied them the marble.  Spoke with him today and he is looking into it for me (at their warehouse in Los Angeles and also on the East coast) and getting back to me tomorrow. 

My mother-in-law has been graciously watching Noah while my father-in-law is the jack-of-all-trades in our basement - I sure love that Hubby takes after him.

On the diabetes/pregnant front: at today's ultrasound/OB appt, No. 2 is measuring around 7 lbs.  Ekk.  Really?  I'm supposedly only 34 weeks.  Um, I guess I make big babies.   Reminding myself that Noah was 9 lbs 9 oz when he was born and that I pushed for only 10 min and that total labour was only 6 hours.  Also reminding myself: God is good and He will give me the strength to get through this upcoming delivery too.  I am sure of it! 

Praising God for all the hard work that is going into The Basement Project.  All to make the pregnant lady happy.  And I guess to sleep her parents somewhere when they visit too.  And to give No. 2 a nursery.  Alright, it's not just for the pregnant lady.  But it does make her happy.

Oh you know what else makes me happy?  Hubby.  Last night we had some friends over and I had a craving for pistachio ice cream  (of all things!)  So off Hubby went to the 24hr grocery store to pick some up.  But who carries Pistachio Ice Cream?!  Not Metro.  He returned with Vanilla Ice Cream and Pistachios.  How cute is that?  Then he opened a whole bunch of pistachios (resisting the urge to eat every other one) and put them through the food processor.  Then in the blender they went with the Vanilla ice cream!  It was really good ice cream.  Totally quenched my craving and make me a very happy and in-love pregnant mama!

A tiny bit further along..

So the whole thing is moving at a snail's pace.  It seems we keep hitting brick walls.  We bought some marble tile that we decided we'd lay with the black granite and get some sort of checkered pattern in our kitchen.  We emptied out one CostCo of all their Marble tile and went home.  We called around and the other 3 or 4 CostCos we called in the area had anywhere from 50-80 boxes on hand ( we only needed an extra 10 boxes ) so we started on the project that night.  We were up until after midnight laying down all the tiles that we had - and it looked awesome. 

Early the next morning I went to the next CostCo to pick up the rest of the tile that I needed.  WOW!  It's not the same colour.  But the same item number and the same brand and everything. So I went to the next CostCo (20 minutes away) and found the same thing.  Beige marble tiles.  Not greyish like the ones at home.  And the next Costco (30 min away) same story!  How is it possible that out of all the 8 or 9 CostCos in the area the CostCo we happen to clean out of marble tile was the ONLY one that had a different tile?!   I thought "It's okay.  That's only 3 out of 8.  I'll hit the other ones the next day."  So I did.  My expedition continued... and guess what.  Not the same!  But all the CostCos I stopped by, would have nicely matched one another - GO FIGURE - but none matched what we ALREADY laid down at home.  

 

 So we're in a little bit of a pickle.  I'm interested to see how God will help us out in this.  Imagine me, 8 months pregnant waddling from CostCo to CostCo determined to see for myself that this tile does not match.  Never mind that every associate that I got on the phone at every one of the CostCos I called assured me their tile in the warehouse is most certainly beige and not gray.  I had to see it for myself.  But I have stressed out about it and it's gotten me nowhere.  So I have now prayed about it and I will wait upon the Lord to come through somehow.  (Why didn't I think to do that before freaking out?)  It may seem trivial to pray for help with a "tile problem" but I know my God is a God that cares about the details and the daily stresses of my life (he says he knows the number of hairs on my head -Matt 10:30 - and that he is also the one that knits together the baby in my womb -Psalm 139:13-) why wouldn't he care and want to provide all good and wonderful things for us?  - he does care about my tile kitchen and he does want me to come to him with all my worries and concerns. 

Thankfully, I've got one CostCo manager who graciously offered to contact the manufacturer of the tile in California and see what they can do.  And my mother-in-law went all over town at the specialty flooring stores (since we've already checked all the Big Box stores) and she found one place that has a marble tile that is close enough that it will do - but it's about three times the price of the CostCo tile.  So we'll see.  It is possible.  Somehow this will resolve.  I will not allow the hormones to take over.  I will keep it in perspective.  Check out the kitchen floor I will have when it's done!  That alone makes me feel great!  My Hubby and father-in-law are doing it all themselves too!  Praise God for handymen! 

Tomorrow it's on to The Basement Project.  We're going to start with drywall!  That is pretty exciting!  :)  Yay for drywall.

While in the States hitting CostCo after CostCo, I also stopped by Toys R Us.  I picked up some more stuff for No. 2 - a new baby seat (the Prince Lion Heart brand - Noah had one but it was lost in the flood), diaper bag, and some rattles and toys that are ever so cute!  So that kindda cheered me up too.  It's always fun getting new stuff for the baby.

On the diabetic front - yesterday's A1C results: 5.9  How great is that?!  Despite all the craziness and the weekly basal increases and the correction factor that just didn't seem to wanna co-operate (finally now it seems to have been tamed) it seems somehow all is still well with the baby.  Thursday I'm going to another ultrasound and seeing my brilliant OB too... oh and the chiropractor too.  My Thursdays from now until the baby are jam-packed with doctors.  I see about 3 or 4 every Thursday - every other Thurs there's an NST and an ultrasound the other - with a visit to see the OB right after and the Endo after that... and I scheduled my chiropractor on the way in... So yeah. It's basically: Chiropractor at 10 am, Ultrasound/NST 10:45, OB noon, Endo 1:30ish.   I gotta bring a really good book with me since a lot of that is the waiting game.  From waiting room to waiting room to waiting room.  One more month.  Wow!  Really eh?  I can't wait!

The End is Near

So I am now using about 300 units of insulin every 2 days!  Two days!  I am up to 30u/day for my basals alone.  So frustrating.  And it seems the 3:1 ratio is not enough because no matter what I did today - I would skyrocket after meals and then the correction on the pump would just shrug its shoulders at me and I would have to guesstimate how much to correct.  And I have another 54 days to go. 

I saw the baby today at the ultrasound.  He's weighing in at about 5 lbs and a bit.  That means he's practically ready.  Noah was 9lbs 9oz when he arrived so I guess No. 2's got a bit to go.  I haven't put on a single pound in the last two months.  Something neither my ob or endo are concerned about.  I was a bit.  But they said it's fine.  In total I've put on 25 pounds... but that stopped cold turkey around the time I killed "the carb terrorist".

I am waking up at night to respond to high alarms on my pump more than to pee... but then since I'm awake and frustrated anyways why not stumbble down the hall, and hit my shins on some toys on my way to the bathroom?  Sounds familiar? 

I can't wait to deliver this placenta.  Sure, it's doing lots of good for the baby, but it's kindda like an overbearing mother - doesn't really realize how much damage it's doing while it's breathing down my baby's neck.  Just ease up a bit Mrs. Placenta.  I'm not trying to harm my baby, really.  This is called "insulin", it's okay for the baby to get some.  Quit resisting it! 

I am a tad frustrated, as you can tell.  We are about to wrap up week two with no kitchen.  Imagine that - I'm 7 months pregnant, nesting, and my house is three or four steps backwards.  Now I'd like to add the front of my house to my list of things under renovation.  I have a beautifully landscaped front yard... correction: I HAD a beautifully landscaped front yard.   Complete with miniture evergreens and bushes of all types and sizes.  I did not do it myself - it came with the house.  Aside from some light trimming here and there, some new mulch every year, it's pretty maintenance free.  Well now with the "leaky foundation" we had to dig up the whole side of the house AND in front of the bay window where all that landscaping is.  Two talls "twisty" trees and two evergreen bushes (one is a blue spruce - I think... shows you how much I really know about gardening or landscaping) are no in the middle of a big pile of dirt in the middle of our front yard.  Will they surrvive the move?  Who knows?  They have to make it until we 1. seal off the foundation, 2. pour in rocks 3. push back all the dirt 4. THEN they can go back to their original spot.  Maybe tomorrow... if it stops raining tonight and the blocks completely dry so we can 1. seal off the foundation with this sticky "blueskin", then 2. etc etc etc.

I am trying to be patient and understanding.  I'm sure you can sense a lot of sarcasm in this post.  And I guess I am just venting.  There is a reason.  There is a reason.  I gotta believe I am supposed to learn something through all of this: patience... maybe.  Trust... probably. 

So I will now go and try and do something relaxing.  Unwind from a stressful, hot day.  Maybe a soothing bath... hm.  Yeah, that sounds nice.

Oh What a Day!

Today was one of THOSE days.  Really.  Those days.

We had one of my childhood best friends and her young family come and stay with us this weekend.  During clean up around the house for their arrival we must have somehow unplugged the dishwasher drain hose under the skin (it's supposed to have a clamp on it - our didn't for some reason).  Well sure enough the next day as my friend and I loaded the dishwasher and left the house we have no clue that for the next two hours, gallons and gallons and gallons of water was pouring out in the cabinet under my sink.

The kitchen is THE ONLY room in the house that completely survived the fire that was in this house before we purchased it.  Which is great because that meant we didn't have to replace it when we bought the house - but also bad because you never know when smell may or may not leak out of it.  We gave the kitchen a good scrub down three times before moving in and obviously, new paint.  But the laminate floor we didn't intent to replace right away - eventually we'd replace it with tile, but it was doing fine, why fix something that ain't broken?  We'll leave that for The Kitchen Project.

Well, guess what.  This weekend my kitchen decided it had had enough of being "left behind" while the rest of the house gets a pretty face lift.

So my friend and I return from a very successful Toys R Us shopping experience (I bought two of everything that was lost in the flood, 2 Sit N Stand strollers, 2 pack n plays, 2 excersaucers, 2 swings - one for our house, and one for the in-laws - where we and the kids spend a lot of our time) to find that my house smells like D-Day all over again.

D-Day was DEMOLITION DAY - first day when we got the keys to this house.  We had a demolition party.   All our friends and family came over and smashed walls, lugged out old bathroom stuff,  removed carpets, baseboards, curtains, and scrubbed the living daylights out of this house.  Then the real work started.  Removing all the ash out of the one downstairs room where the fire happened, and then paint whatever walls and 2x4s remained with this special B*I*N primer that seals in all smells that may remain even after the walls were removed and/or washed.  Anyways, it was "fun" and we are very thankful for the way our friends and family blessed us with their help that day.

So for a pregnant lady, who is nesting, who has just purchased brand new items for the baby, to walk into her pristine clean house (since we were having guest my house was in tip top shape) and to find that my worst fear was happening - THE SMELL OF SMOKE was back.

The water must have stirred something up under the cabinets, that were not removed, and under the laminate hardwood that was also not removed two years ago.  The joints of the laminate flooring were already bubbled and every time I stepped down somewhere close to the dishwasher, water came up through the joints of the laminate floor.  OH NO!

So this morning, my guests left yesterday, hubby tore up the whole kitchen.  He removed all the flooring, and moved all the cabinets and the dishwasher and the sink out.  Then on a separate project  he also cut out two big holes in the drywall (about 3x3 big) to find out another leaking problem in our house... our shower.  We can't finish the bathroom downstairs (which is located directly below our upstairs bathroom) until the tiny little leak that we have when we shower is found and fixed.  I think his logic was: If I'm redoing plumbing in the kitchen might as well fix the other plumbing problem in the house - totally understandable.

But this means that two rooms in my house which were done and both have nothing to do with the baby coming, are now also under renovation.

You can just imagine what this is doing to my "nesting".  I am trying to keep it together, thanking my hubby for really tackling all these things head on and really getting this house under control.  But I fear with less than two months to go - how will we get ALL of this done.

Oh wait.  That's not the end of my day.  So now that my kitchen is torn apart and all my counter top items - spices, spaghetti jar, knife block etc - has spilled into my dinning room, and all of Noah's craft items - brand new easel from IKEA, craft table with chairs - are now shoved into his bedroom and my bedroom has drywall dust all over the place... now I come home with Noah from his haircut to my hubby on the driveway telling us to stay out of the house.  He said our carbon dioxide detector is going off and he isn't feeling so well - headache and dizzy (he was working in there all day).  He suggested we call 911.  So we do and the fire department comes over.  They inspect the house while Noah and I check out the fire engine and Noah has his picture taken with it.

Oh what a day!

The fire department gave us the go ahead to come back in the house - a false alarm.  Hubby had even changed the batteries and everything before we called 911 and it was still going off.  So I'm not sure what that was...

It doesn't matter.  After the kind of day I've had today, a whale could appear on my driveway at midnight - and I wouldn't be surprised.

And to top it all off - wait for this!  Today is the first day that lovely KANKELS have made their appearance.  I just love fat ankles.  At least with Noah I had kankels only during the last month, with No. 2 it's the last 2 months.  Nice.

And my father-in-law and mother-in-law (my fabulous drop-off-Noah-anytime-and-if-you-don't-we'll-come-to-see/take-him-for-a-bit babysitters) are out on a camping trip THIS WHOLE WEEK!  Oh and just an update on my parents - they're still in Europe!

WOW.

Somehow I am still smiling and really being thankful for what I have or will have.   Like for example:

*I get new tiles in my kitchen.
*I get a new paint job in my master bedroom.
*The smell of smoke will now be gone for sure from the last place in the house that we didn't fix.
*My hubby is completely loving me by accommodating my nesting and encouraging me to purchase whatever I need for the baby, and fixing the house how I want, and I LOVE HIM SO MUCH for all of his hard work - I am so proud of him. 
*My house's square footage will double in the next two months (with the completion of The Basement Project at our raised ranch home)
*I have a toddler that listens to his mama - he is a really good boy - he didn't go into the kitchen all day today because mama told him not to because of the demolition/construction in there.
*Hubby said he has very good faith that The Basement Project WILL BE COMPLETED by the time the baby comes!
*I will have my very own studio downstairs for scrap booking/video editing/whatever creative way I want to express myself.
*We will have a fireplace
*We will get a nice new L.E.D. TV and new furniture
*All the artwork and black and white photography will finally be hung through-out our house
*God has provided a way for us to financially support all of these upgrades/renovations - praise GOD!

So there is so much to be thankful for.  So much.  I believe that God will continue to give hubby the strength that he needs to work and that in the end whatever will be done will be just great.  More than great.  Fantastic!

Glorious Numbers

Hello new day!   Current BG is 5.3  :)  WOW.  What a difference.  I have a sensor in and life seems under control once again.  God is faithful.  The wisdom of the endo's office staff is once again proved!  Thank you!

I did have a low last night and another this morning.  But that is fine.  I can deal with those. But I will keep an eye on them. 

I am now at home busily tidying up the house.  Who wouldn't with so much energy and happiness?  With numbers like these I could go all day.  The small victories in life.

And I was finally able to connect with my mom who is overseas this morning.  That also put me in a great mood.  Finally, Gmail voice and video came through for us!

I just wanted to post a small note to thank you all for the kind words of encouragement and for sharing that you've gone through days like those.  I'm sure more will come.  But for now, I will praise my Creator who always comes through for me.  Always turns things around and comes to my rescue.

:)

I was up pretty late last night not only waiting for the number to come down but also watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  I was inspired by Lorraine's blog about her son Caleb.  He is a 10-year-old T1 Diabetic and he is really into this new Food Revolution.  And he even took it to his school officials.  He did not feel that the food that was being served in the cafetaria was anywhere close to healthy and he wanted something to be done about it.  I was blown away.  He is 10.  WOW!  So I watched the first 3 episodes of the show (I know it was a bit much) but it was so good.

I woke up this morning at 8 am happy and inspired to feed my family a healthy breakfast.  We had eggs, ham, milk, orange juice and pears.  It was great.  I am all over this cooking from scratch idea.  Not that I don't do it now but a show like that shows me just what my slack will do to our kids and to hubby.  The processed crap that we sometimes eat (when I "don't feel like" cooking) is simply horrid.  And I need to say no to it.  For goodness sake, I love to cook.  I don't like the planning stage but hey you know what - it's just part of the process.  So I am committed to serving up great meals for my little growing family.

I am off to continue with laundry and tidying up the house.  All along the way thanking God that we have three or four loads to do - because that means that we have more than enough clothes;  thanking God that I have to load the dishwasher - because that means we've had great food; and while I swiffer and wash the floor I'll thank God for the square footage of my raised ranch - how well our God provides for our needs.

Here's to a great day.

Maxed out

So they maxed out my ratios across the board.  3:1 all day.  Wow.  And increased my basal rates - all of them and upped my correction on the Wizard.  So yeah... the doc wants to see me again on Thursday to see how everything went.  I hope this will help.

I was pretty frustrated even when I left the endo's office.  I can't believe I've already reached max.  I have another 2 months to go.  The doc did say that up until 32 or 34 weeks things will continue to be kindda crazy then it will stay the same - crazy but consistent at least.  My pump won't even go past 3:1 ratio... my diab. nurse said I'll have to tell the pump I'm having 30g when I'm only having 15g to trick it.  That is such a limitation... and the maximum insulin delivery is pretty crazy too - only 25 units.  At this rate I will have to cut back on carbs because every 60g of carbs meals will max out the amount that I can take and then I'll have to remember when it finishes delivering to give myself the difference.  Really?! For another 2 months?

So the crazy thing was - I left the doc's office frustrated, called hubby and we met for lunch.  Not wanting to mess up on day one with the new ratios I opted for chicken caesar salad with a water and a wedge of garlic bread.  So at about 1pm I was 9.6 (not a happy pre-lunch number!) so I put that into the pump and bolused for 35g of carbs (which is pretty high for a slice of garlic bread but again I didn't want to mess it up).  The pump spit out 15.3 units (11.6 u for the food and 4.5u for the correction).  That ought to do it, I thought.  As it turns out I didn't even eat half of the garlic bread but did finish my chicken ceasar and water.

Still bummed out I left Noah at grandparents a little longer while I went home to take a nap... only to wake up around 4:30 with a 14.7!  What the monkey is that about?  I was about to cry when I decided I will call hubby and he will calm me down.  We talked and I decided I should change my site just in case.  So I filled up the pump with new insulin, changed the site and fired up the pump.   Correction - 10.2 units!  WOW.  If that doesn't do it I don't know what will.   But GUESS WHAT!  It didn't do it!  At 7pm just before a late dinner (mind you I had not TOUCHED food since 1 pm! ) I was 10.4.  WHY?!  Someone please explain it to me - because I don't get what I'm doing wrong.  How can there be that many changes in a matter of days??  And how can all these new adjustments not work!  I was honestly LOOKING FORWARD TO A LOW.   Really!  I don't have a sensor in now.  It ended this morning - the transmittor is charging and I will put it back in the next 30 min or so.  Hopefully then I'll be able to see the trends. 

With Noah it wasn't like this.  I'm wondering if it's because it's the second pregnancy... is that right?  Does it get harder?  Does each subsequent placenta get more and more stubborn?

I'm frustrated.  I wanna keep this kid safe. 
That's my No. 1 concern for No. 2

I need some help

Today at 10:45 I have an endo appointment and boy do I need it.  With this pregnancy progressing my basal requirements have skyrocketed and my morning ratios are crazy (3:1).  But I think the rest of the day is following suit.  My sugars were crazy this weekend and no matter how many times I went through the Bolus Wizard on my pump to "Correct" the high - the insulin it would recommend would do nothing and I would have to add my own guess of how much to correct with.  One to two hours later nothing.  So I would manual bolus some more and finally by about 4 or 5 hours later I would see it come down.  But what was really frustrating was that by that point it would be time for the next meal or I'd be hungry for a snack (even just cheese with crackers and grapes) and so I'd have to bolus for that and I would still not see the sugars come down.  So frustrating.  So So So frustrating. 

I can't wait to sit down with my very wise diabetes educator nurse and my endo.  They are pretty wise and I know they take a look at my downloads and check out the graphs and help me out. 

The basement project is well underway.  So much has already happened.  We sealed off the walls from the inside.  An unnecessary step since we will also be digging the outside of the foundation and sealing it from the outside but still it makes us feel better.  We had some damp insulation a couple months ago and we wanted to find out the problem and fix it before we close up the walls with drywall and move furniture down there.  So yeah.  Hubby and Noah's Apko have been working hard.  Today hubby had some work lined up for his business so The Basement Project is on hold for a couple days.  And that's totally great too - because business goes on and then money comes in.  The joys of owning a business.  Some time off here and there where you can take care of your own stuff.

I'm also having a hard time finding foods that don't spike me.  It seems this placenta doesn't like me.  It is so stubborn.  And getting more and more stubborn by the day.  Ugh.  I have been changing ("upping") my basals almost every other day.  It's crazy.  Frustrating because you have to wait a few mornings to make sure they work and by then you already have to change it again. 

Love being pregnant still.  I am trying to keep a positive attitude and keep it all in stride.  But I am also concerned.  I don't want to sit back while my A1C rises.  (I'm curious what it will be today... remember, I was going for the gold?  - I'm pretty sure I'll settle for silver at this point.  ;)  I want to stay on top of it and be proactive with it. 

And hubby isn't sure how else to encourage me.  I can see the concern in his eyes when I tell him that I can't get my sugars down or that I'm not sure what else to do.  He tries to be supportive but truthfully he's concerned too.  I am carrying a baby and so any of these variations and spikes may or may not affect the little baby.  And that is constantly on my mind and his too.  Just when you figure it all out and the basals and your ratios are good, the placenta sticks its nose in and enhances it's resistance.  I can just imagine No. 2 in there struggling to produce his own insulin with his tiny little pancreas. 

It's normal to worry and I am trying to make good food choices but what's out of my control I will leave up to the medical staff at my endo's office.  We'll see what they say. 

In the mean time I will try to enjoy the last two months of this pregnancy.  It is sorta glorious and fun to be pregnant.  Other than the T1 stuff.  That I can really admit is not fun.  But it's manageable with a little help and it's all worth it.  Looking forward to another little Noah out of this whole thing so it's all worth it. 

Through this ordeal I need to trust in God.  I am reminded of the verse from Psalm 139 verse 13, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."  I have to trust that God knows what is going on and that he has it all under control.  Just as he had in the past he does now too.  It would be crazy to think that I am the one "knitting" this baby together.  He knows the number of hairs on my head, knows me by name and knows my concerns and fears.  He only wants the best for me and so I will trust him.