(Wow, for someone who claims to not be all gung ho on The Beatles, I sure have been taking liberties with their songs lately...)

Instead of continuing to rely on all of Brittney's fantastic posts about my baby sprinkle [If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to the PCM Facebook fan page], I decided to stop being lazy and actually write one myself. It's the very least I could do.

When Brittney first suggested throwing me a shower or sprinkle, I cried. I knew her motivations behind it. She knew my first one had sent me into tears (not of joy) and that this would be my last child. She didn't want that to be my only experience. In addition to the awesomeness of her wanting to throw a shower for me just to make me happy, I was also thrilled by the idea of seeing her again before our San Antonio trip in November. At the same time, though, the gesture was way too generous. I know she's on a tight budget, especially with our upcoming trips to San Antonio and Maine and her fourth baby on the way. Pop Culture Dad and I immediately started to feel guilty about the whole thing. "Tell her we can't let her do that," he said. And we did, but Brittney (and Andy) weren't having it.

Seeing Brittney's excitement over all the aspects of planning my sprinkle, I couldn't help but feel the guilt reside, even though it was most definitely still lingering a bit. Then, after Kat also started making plans to come out for the sprinkle, I couldn't contain my excitement anymore. Soon, it wasn't even so much about the sprinkle as it was seeing the two of them again.

Friday, the day I picked them up from the airport, I had already started having a bad morning. My grumpiness and sadness melted away as soon as I saw Kat sitting in baggage claim. Over the next day or so, I just enjoyed having them around as we bustled to get everything ready for the shower. It is unbelievable the amount of things Brittney was able to plan and do from Utah, and it is incredible the amount of things we (though, really, mostly Brittney and Kat, and to some extent Pop Culture Dad) were able to do in one day to get the house shower-ready.

On Sunday, everything went off without a hitch. My sprinkle was absolutely perfect. Even though Brittney hates baby shower games, she was able to find games that even she (and other women who I know to hate baby shower games) enjoyed. My GD dietician and nurse gave me a reprieve for the day, so that I was able to enjoy cake, cookies, punch and more. Lots of friends came out -- even Pop Culture Toddler had a friend show up. The decor was beautiful. Brittney went with a theme of green and white, and went all out. In fact, I have still left some of the decorations up, because everything was so elegant, that I can't bear to take it down. Also, as long as I can look at the gorgeous green and white centerpieces, it's almost like the sprinkle hasn't ended.

Taking Kat and Brittney home on Monday morning was bittersweet. I was happy they would be getting back to their dearly missed husbands and children, but I was also sad to see them go. You would think, considering how infrequently we actually see each other, it would  be easy. But it's hard seeing people you love so much just fly away. We have been joking this week about how it will all be better when we just move to the same state and build our compound with three houses that share a backyard. If only.

Words can't even begin to express my gratitude for this great gift that Brittney and Kat gave me. I feel loved. I feel how much my baby is loved. I honestly don't know what I would do without my fantastic friends who dropped everything to fly thousands of miles, just to see a smile on my face; but I don't plan on ever finding out what I'd have to do without them.

Love you gals!

Like any pregnant woman, even one who has no plans of confirming via ultrasound what gender my fetus actually is, I love entertaining myself with the old wives' tales. I did the Chinese Gender Prediction chart -- got both results, depending on which website was used. I did various online tests, which analyzed whether I only will eat the heel of bread or refuse it altogether [uh.. neither. Who cares that much??] or whether I liked orange juice or sweets vs. sour, where I'm allegedly carrying, etc... These, too, came back with mixed results. So while at the grocery store one day in my first trimester, I gave into temptation and plunked down $25 for an Intelligender Gender Prediction Test Kit.

I have no more faith in the Intelligender test than I do my wedding ring hanging from a string of my hair turning circles or going back and forth in a straight line [for the record, it did both]. I took the test solely for fun. In fact, despite its false claims of accuracy, it even says right on the box and in the instructions "for entertainment purposes only." Let's face it, there are only two options for a single baby: you're either having a boy or a girl. That's it [okay, okay, in some extremely rare cases, you get the kid who has both]. You could have the same "accuracy" as Intelligender as you would flipping a coin. Therefore, anyone who puts all of their faith into this thing is just wasting their time. The only mostly accurate way of telling your baby's gender before birth is via ultrasound -- and even those aren't 100% accurate [just ask my friend who was told "girl" at two different ultrasounds, who ended up returning all of the pink baby gear she was given after her little "girl" was born with a penis]. So, outside of an ultrasound, seems like any rational person would take it all with a grain of salt, right?

Wrong.

If you read the reviews on Amazon.com, people are irate about the fact that the test incorrectly predicted one gender (usually a boy) while their bouncing bundle of joy was another. C'mon people. What did you really expect? Did you think that peeing into a little cup would seriously predict the gender of your child to the same extent and accuracy as an ultrasound? And can you really be that angry if the result comes up "boy" most of the time, even for women who aren't even pregnant? Apparently, yes, yes they can.

There are people like "tielde," who writes in her one-star review: "I took one of these and it said it was a girl ... confirmation by 4 doctors - im high risk is a boy!! [sic] waste of money" and "crystal 'mommathaboss'": "i used the test n its not accurate at all.. im havin a girl n it said boy..i did it the right way n still the wrong result...waste of my money for sure... [sic x 100]". One one-star reviewer even stated that the "product should have some sort of disclaimer, or provide information on the test's accuracy so that shoppers can make a more informed decision on whether or not to buy this product." Oh! You mean like the one on the back of the box and in the instructions that says, "For entertainment purposes only"?? Yeah, they really need to make that more clear.

It's not just the one-star reviews that have taken this too seriously. There are several people who stated that since it was right for them, it was a fantastic product, it is totally accurate, and they'll use it for every pregnancy. One lady even went so far as to warn everyone that their false "boy" results were probably because they had sex within 48 hours of taking the test. Oh, I see... That's what went wrong.

Sigh...

This is an entertainment product. It should be used for entertainment purposes only. The reviews should be more about whether or not you had fun doing it. Personally, I had three-star fun -- fun and funny, but not exactly the highlight of my day. It told me I was having a boy, and to this day, I have no freaking idea (probably not, though). We'll know next month. Even if it turns out Pop Culture Baby is a boy, that won't change my fun from a three-star, "it was totally cute playing around and seeing what it said" into a five-star "OMG! This is awesome! Why ever wait for an ultrasound when you can just pee in a cup at home??" review. Likewise, if Pop Culture Baby is a girl, I'm not going to be so flaming mad that I have to write a one-star "OMG! Why do they even sell this on the market? It totally doesn't work!" review. It's all fun and games -- just like the Chinese Gender Prediction Tests that were all totally different. Any other reaction is, IMO, too much.

Those of you who know me or who can decipher my cryptic Tweets already know this, but to catch up the rest of you: I failed my three-hour glucose tolerance test.

This actually wasn't a surprise. My mom and at least two (of her six) sisters are diabetic. After my well-woman exam a year or so ago, I was told when my blood work came back that I was pre-diabetic. Non-pregnant pre-diabetic numbers pretty much mirror pregnant diabetic numbers.

I think I was lulled into a false sense of security when my early one-hour glucose test (at 12 weeks) came back hypoglycemic. This time, however, the results were not. My blood sugar was 166. Their threshold is 135. I was convinced I had just miscalculated my breakfast — after all, a Jack-in-the-Box taco seemed like a good idea to outsmart the test at the time. But how much sugar is in that salsa, anyway? And was it really smart to eat in the parking garage before walking into my appointment?

So shortly before my three-hour glucose trust, I decided to start monitoring my blood sugar in the morning. The results were not good. The day before the test, my fasting blood sugar was 110. The morning of, it was 98. The number to pass is 95.

Defeated, I walked into my midwives' office — 12 hours starved and dehydrated — on a mission. I already knew I had GD. So I just had to show them my glucose monitor, go meet with some counselors, and then I could eat, right? Wrong.

First, I ended up stuck in the waiting room for over an hour. By hour 13 of no food or drink, I became a hormonal, depressed, sobbing mess. By the time the nurse called me back, my eyes were already blood shot and puffy, and I was sob-heaving like Pop Culture Toddler. I told her that my fasting that morning was over their threshold for GD, that I was hungry, dehydrated and dizzy, and that I just wanted them to declare me GD so I could go meet with a counselor and get something to eat and drink. The nurse went to talk with the midwives and left me in my waiting room.

Some time later, one of my midwives, Debbie, came in to talk to me. We talked for over an hour [14 hours, no food or drink]. The end result of all this hysterical (on my part) chatter was that even with the numbers from my trusty glucose monitor, they had to run official tests or (1) the counselors wouldn't talk to me, and (2) my insurance company would likely not reimburse a thing. Debbie was pretty sure based on my home test that I was going to fail, but it had to be done. The end result was that Debbie would allow me to stay in the exam room for my full test, and a woman from the lab would come to do my blood draws. It was a good thing they let me stay in the room, too. An hour or so [15 hours sans food or real drink] after I drank the torture device glucose drink, I threw up a little. Two hours in, standing or sitting up made me dizzy. In fact, when I walked out, I saw another poor preggo in the lobby who was taking her three-hour glucose test. She was passed out on the floor, and the staff was trying to get her into a wheel chair. Someone explain to me why they haven't invented a better way to test for Gestational Diabetes?

The day continued to get worse, but I'll spare you those details. I'll leave it at the fact that I felt pretty defeated (as well as dizzy, hungry and just generally discombobulated) for days after the test. Then Tuesday I got the dreaded call from Debbie: "Well.... You were right. You failed. Sorry." I was led to believe I had greatly flunked the test. Now I just had to wait for the diabetic counselors to call me.

Being the nerd I am, I immediately started searching Amazon for the highest rated gestational diabetes books available on Kindle. I downloaded a cookbook and another general book.

Today was my first meeting with my diabetic counselors. I was terrified. Turns out I didn't need to be.

But, first, let's discuss breakfast. The diabetic cookbook I downloaded contained a recipe for "buttermilk pancakes." Unlike any pancakes I'm used to, these included no eggs. Honestly, I have no reason why, since eggs aren't exactly full of sugar or carbs. I made them anyway. The only modification I made was to substitute 1/4 cup of the cup of flour required with wheat flour to make it a bit healthier. The result sort of looked like pancakes, but it tasted like fluffy matzo. Luckily, I actually like matzo crackers, so this wasn't a big deal -- just really surprising. I made a fruit compote with stevia sweetener and served it with egg whites scrambled with zucchini, spinach and squash. Here's the final result:




Fortunately, it tasted better than it looked.

Loaded up (but still kind of starving) on my healthy, diabetes-approved breakfast, I headed to meet with my counselors. Most interesting part of the morning? The receptionist at intake trying to pump me for free legal advice. Seriously?! Does she do that to everyone who walks in who has "attorney" listed as occupation, or do I just have one of those faces??

After that weirdness was behind me, I met first with the dietitian, Rita. We went through my typical, not-at-all-diabetes-approved diet and figured out what things should be cut, modified, and kept. Surprisingly, there weren't too many drastic changes. True, my glazed donut + kolache + milk breakfast has been 100% eliminated, and I have to stop drinking lemonade 24/7, but my favorite red beans & rice lunch gets to stay. Next I met with the the nurse, Angela. She actually gave me various ways to save some of my current cravings with a little foreign (to me) thing called portion control. Get to the point where I just have to have the taste of a glazed donut? Get a couple of donut holes. Want some ice cream, and not of the chock-full-o-splenda variety? Eat 1/4 cup of Blue Bell Homestyle Vanilla (yum!). But the best news I received from Angela today? My pal Brittney (aka BostonsMama) doesn't have to change a thing about the snacks she is planning for my baby shower; I am free to indulge that one day!

All in all, the appointment went really well. I found out that I hadn't failed the glucose test as badly as I was led to believe. In fact, I had passed the fasting and one-hour portion of the test. It was the rest of it that I failed miserably. The pointers I was given were very helpful and tailored to my lifestyle and preferences. I actually feel like I can do this!

I realize this journey will be hard. No one likes pricking their finger 10 times a day. No one wants to count carbs or forgo their favorite foods. But you know what else no one wants? To give birth to a 16-pound baby.

For those of you who actually read and pay attention to all or most of my posts, I imagine a few of you may be thinking, “Well, it’s the end of June. Whatever happened to that April meetup with the other Mommy Bloggers? Ooh.. I bet it got cancelled or didn’t go well.” If there’s anyone who thinks this way, I really couldn’t blame you. In fact, I went to a party last week, and someone point blank asked me if this meetup had ever even happened. I didn’t blame him either. After all, it’s sort of weird if something goes well that it wouldn’t be discussed, right? Well, it went well, fabulous in fact. I’ve just been lazy in getting around to actually writing about it [compare this to Brittney’s three posts about it…]. And, honestly, I’ve been trying to figure out exactly how to word how I feel.

In a sense, I feel like I should have so much to say, because the weekend was so awesome that I should actually have to edit myself to keep the gushing and word count down. On the other hand, meeting up with two of my closest friends who I had never, prior to April 8th, seen in person, felt so natural and so normal, that it felt like any other day out of my life – only in a vacation setting. Honestly, once we got past the initial “crap, are we going to get along in person?” it was like I was just going on vacation with two of my best friends and their families, nothing more.

Without going into too much detail, we were all nervous about finally meeting even after we had all arrived in Phoenix. Turns out, we had nothing to worry about. Everyone got along pretty well. Of course, every now and then we had to resolve the occasional toddler dispute over toys or had trouble figuring out dinner plans for a group of 11 (well, 10.5), but other than that we had a fantastic time. The first night, we hung out around the hotel and ate pizza. On Saturday, since it was raining, we took the kids to Amazing Jakes, an indoor play place and let them run themselves ragged. Sunday, we went to the zoo and then the pool, before our farewell dinner at Bennihana.

The whole weekend was perfect, and Sunday night, we were all sad to go. Of course, this lead to the discussion of “What were we thinking??” making the trip so short. With two days basically reserved for travel, we only had two full days to spend time together. We decided to rectify the situation as soon as possible. Next summer, we’re planning on taking a trip to the Northeast, going to Kat’s neck of the woods. In November, everyone will come down to Texas, and we’ll all take a trip up to San Antonio to walk the River Walk and take the kids to Sea World [tickets have already been booked!!]. And in a wonderful showing of generosity and friendship (a gesture that makes me tear up every time I think about it), Brittney – who is just as pregnant as I – is throwing me a baby shower in August, and she and Kat will be staying with me for the weekend.

Of course, no matter how many vacations we plan, it seems like it’s never enough. Whenever one of us is having a hard day, the general feeling is usually, “I wish you guys were here.” However, even though we’re not physically near each other, we are always there for each other.