Another Whale Sighting!

But this time, it's a blue whale:

 

Sigh. 

So there's a definite difference.  A seven pound difference, to be exact.  That's right--seven pounds in four weeks.  Oh well.  I have an order for the dreaded glucose test, so Michael is going to see if I can take it at the medical center on campus, which would make the whole thing a lot easier.  

For those of you who don't know, the initial glucose test is meant to see how efficiently a pregnant lady can process sugars, and it is important because some women develop gestational diabetes.  Gestational diabetes is bad news because it means that without controlling your diet, you're much more likely to have a humongous baby that would likely require a C-section to deliver.  The night before the test, I have to fast (I think), then I show up to a lab and they'll take my blood and give me some nasty Kool-aid-like stuff to drink that is super sugary.  After an hour, they take my blood again and if the glucose levels are too high, then I fail the test and I have to come back and do the three-hour glucose test (which is the same thing, just that you wait longer before they take the blood after drinking the stuff).  If I failed the three-hour test, then I would be diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and that means no pasta, no pizza, and no potatoes (just for starters).

I'm pretty nervous about it, because people who are much healthier than I am have failed the one-hour glucose test, and a few were even diagnosed with gestational diabetes after taking the 3-hour test.  I love pizza and potatoes and pasta. The good news is that my doctor doesn't think I'm at much risk for it, given what he's seen thus far.  My blood pressure is very good, and everything else looks great as well.  Let's hope I pass with no problem.

It's pretty hard to believe (well, unless I'm looking at that picture up there) that I'm almost seven months pregnant. Seven months!  The time has really flown by.  It won't be long at all before we're parents.  Every now and then I try to seriously think about how our lives will change, but I can't wrap my head around it--I think the idea is just too massive.  Nothing will ever be the same.  I'm not saying this with disappointment, mind you--Michael and I have been a couple for about ten years, and we've been married for almost five.  We've had plenty of time to be alone, and to do lots of fun young-and-childless-and-carefree couple things.  But I'm not going to fool myself about parenthood, either.  It's going to be more work than we ever imagined, and it's going to require us to be more patient and responsible than we've ever been before.  The time we have to do the things we like to do is going to shrink--in fact, it will probably disappear entirely for a long time.  But just as I can't accurately grasp how much work it will be, I think I can't even come close to imagining how amazing it is going to be, too.  And that is why I'm still so excited.