Blood tests were ok!!

I had given blood tests for the GTT and Iron deficiency tests last Thursday. I called the Doctor's office today morning and they told me the results were normal.

Whew!!

I'm so relieved. I have a history of diabetes in the family and I was worried about getting gestational diabetes.

Weekend

Last weekend was a fun one... We cleaned and cooked during the day and had friends over for a small dinner party. The guys did a grill in the dark experiment with vegetarian food - it was pretty good.

We were all chatting till late in the night and they all spent the night. In the morning, they got up and left after some relaxing tea time.

One of our friends took an amazing picture of me and my husband. I'm waiting to get the big sized version of it so I can print it and frame it.

Sprinkler system

Since it's started to get sunny here for the last few days, we turned on our sprinkler system for the lawn. However, after we turned it out, we discovered some of the sprinkler heads were not working.

It was weird - some of them would work some of the time but no two times were the same.

We called the sprinkler guys since we were still covered under the warranty. Turns out the issue is the filter in the sprinkler system - it was completely clogged with deposits from the well. Once it was cleaned and put back in, it was fine.

Towel for baby

Another item I bought at Carter's is the Hooded towel below. It was on sale for $10 and looked so cute that I had to buy it.

Ducky Hooded Towel

First dress I bought for baby

This is the first dress I bought for the baby from Carters. It's so cute and I just love that it's girly but not too girly.

Polka Dot Sateen Dress Set

Baby shopping over weekend

This weekend was a good weekend, for the most part. I went maternity and baby shopping with my friends - it was so much fun. Both my friends are single and the baby shopping especially was such an experience for them. It was fun for me to have company along.

I bought some maternity tops at Motherhood maternity and another one at Gap. I also bought a really cute baby one-piece for $13.99 (Originally, $26.99). It's for 6-12m and thick. It will be good in the winter when the baby will be around 5 months old.

Who Is Really Owed an Apology Here: Ann Romney or Hilary Rosen? | Strollerderby

Well said.

Who Is Really Owed an Apology Here: Ann Romney or Hilary Rosen? | Strollerderby

I've been watching this debate on TV these last few days and it's so stupid. I happened to be watching TV at the moment that Ms. Rosen said those words and I agreed with her - I got the spirit of what she was saying - work as in working outside the house. And I agreed with her. It's hard for Mrs. Romney to relate to the average working middle-class mother.

The whole thing has been blown out of proportion and is ridiculous when we should be focussing on the real issues here.

Cloth Diaper Savings Calculator

Since I got pregnant and started reading pregnancy blogs, I've been hearing about the cloth vs disposable diaper debate. Most people I know use disposable diapers, especially Indians.

The more I read about cloth diapers, the more I would like to use them. I have a few concerns which I'm not sure how to deal with. Will I be able to put in the time commitment for cloth diapers? Can I get over some of the ick factor? (This is my first pregnancy and I've never changed diapers before) What to do once the baby starts going to daycare? Also, does it make financial sense to use cloth diapers - some of them are very expensive.

I came across an interesting article with an awesome calculator which shows the savings in cloth diapers vs disposables. It's pretty cool - and it helps with part of the decision. Now, the rest I still have to figure out.

Cloth Diaper Savings Calculator | empoweringEllie

Feeling down...

I'm just having one of those days when you just feel sad - you're trying not to cry but everything is conspiring around you to make you cry.

What finally made me break down is something quite silly - I had sent my baby registry to my sister. It had some of the things I wanted to buy for my baby - we had talked about some of them and she had wanted to see it. It was not complete - there were some things I still needed to add but it did have a few things which I had spent a lot of time and research choosing them.

The first thing she said was that a lot of the things were very expensive. They were not that expensive but you could find same stuff in other brands which were priced less. She had some suggestions which were valid & made sense and I made the changes. For other items, I guess I just felt bad that I had spent so much time on deciding on them and she just thought they were a waste of money.

I know I'm being sensitive on this but I guess I would have appreciated a little comment in how some of the items at least we're pretty or nice.

It was the final straw that broke the camel's back. I just started crying after I kept the phone.

Update: I thought about this overnight and looked at my registry again. I think it's fine - I will probably add some stuff later which are less expensive basics but the stuff I have right now are things I want. If people don't want to buy me those things, I am fine with that - I will buy them for myself.

However, to make things more easy for others, I will probably remove some of the things which seem expensive out of the registry and put in a private list for myself. That way, other people don't have to feel bad.

Staying at home

A couple of days ago, I spoke with a friend of mine who has a 7-month-old baby and she told me she has decided to quit her job and stay at home for a year to take care of her baby.

Her parents who had been helping her out so far could not anymore and she had to leave the baby in daycare for a few days. She really didn't want to do this. This was a tough decision for her and she will need to make some sacrifices with respect to her lifestyle and finances but she's happy with her decision.

I'm very happy for her and also jealous at the same time.

Even though my baby's not due for a few more months, even before I got pregnant, I've always wanted to stay at home to take care of the baby for the baby's 1st year at least. Unfortunately, it's not going to be possible for me. My husband's company's health insurance is not good and we (my husband, me and the baby) are going to be on my company's health insurance. I'm going to take 12 weeks off work to take care of the baby but after that, I'm going to go back to work and it's going to be so hard.

I'm willing to make all the other sacrifices but not willing to take a chance with health care - particularly given my health history and a new baby.

I hope I'm making the right decision but I shall have to wait and see how things work out and how I feel after the baby comes.

Be yourself..

So true... Wish it were easy to do though...