Dinner with Friends - Binsfelds & John

Bill and I got a chance Wed night to meet up with our friends John, Todd, Alison and little Nick for dinner. Nick wore his special spiderman tshirt. Even though he was a little camera shy (pic #1)-we talked him into smiling for the camera with Todd (pic#2). Nick will be three in December - and has the vocabulary of a 12 year old...it's quite interesting! Besides Bill and Nick shooting spiderman webs across the table at dinner, Nick's questions of the evening as he pointed at my belly: "Katie, what's in there? Can I see the baby?" I couldn't resist posting a couple pictures as he's the cutest curly-haired kid around...

BS has been busy doing four things...

1. Growing: Bill and I went in for our 30 week appointment today and it was uneventful...which is good! A few known facts to point out:

• Baby has a fast heart beat at 156bpm - doctor said if we're interested in believing an old wives tale, we may be having a girl.
• I've gained 2 lbs in the past month - a total of 18 lbs so far which is right on track
• My belly is measuring up just right (average size baby)
• Things look great for now; I'll start seeing the doctor every two weeks now
• I'm starting to waddle like a penguin
• Baby is no longer kicking but just swooshing around trying to make room in the tiny space
• My belly button is about to pop - and, as Cullen says...I have a torpedo in my belly:) Hey, mom - thanks for the shirt!

2. Hanging out with the girls: Went out with the girls on Saturday night - Tini, Linds, Jenna, Jenny & Jade. Soon enough, BS will get to meet Jade in person! Jade - are you ever naughty? I would find it hard to believe. Her hair has grown out enough that Jen can now get a tiny barrette in her hair:) 3. Spending time on ebay: searching for the perfect crib bedding. Check it out! Now on the hunt for a solid red tailored crib skirt. (Anna - maybe you can help?)4. Shopping with Grandma Sherck - Check out the new swing! I think Bill likes the one I picked out because it looks "outdoorsy"

Baby's new furniture!

Most importantly - check out Bill's website at http://www.duenorthoutdoors.tv/ and click on "Bills blog" on the left hand column. You can see pictures from last weekend that he was hard at work catching huge muskies at his "Muskie Mania" tournament. He's a pro.
BS must be a pretty lucky baby! Check out the new nursery furniture that has been added to the room. It looks great - even without bedding, artwork, paint, and decor yet! Thanks to our family for helping us decorate baby's room with new furniture - and to the Sims for the great hand-me-downs. We couldn't thank all of you enough!

While I'm at it, I had Bill snap a couple photos of me before bed in my new tank from A. Cami - I feel like I'm gonna blow!

Becker girls lookin' hot on first day of school...

First day of school in St. James is over! Ellie - Kindergarten Zoie-2nd Grade

A McDonald's Bacon, Egg & Cheese Mcmuffin at 28 weeks

28 weeks: Another milestone!--According to babycenter.com BS weighs about 2 1/4 lbs now and is almost 15 inches long. We continue to pray that baby will be healthy in the months to come!

Good News! The appointment went well this morning with the Gestational Diabetes Consultant and Dietician. They said that I'm doing well - and that my fasting blood sugars in the morning look good enough so I don't have to administer insulin. They're concerned I haven't been getting enough calories as I haven't gained any weight in the past few weeks so told me "you NEED to eat your snacks!" They say that my urine test have been a little off because I've cut TOO many carbs out of my diet and need to put some more back in (just spread out throughout the day)

I'm still craving a huge blizzard, fruit loops and endless watermelon but for another three months I guess I'll continue to watch my portions! It's no fun to have 1/4-1/2 cup of ice cream in one sitting--I want 3 cups in one sitting! Instead, this morning after my appointment I treated myself to a McDonalds Bacon, Egg & Cheese McMuffin. Wow--that tasted delicious.

Bill left this morning for Leech Lake doing a cool story and then off to Walker, MN for a Muskie tournament "Muskie Mania" this weekend for fun. I've decided to stay home this weekend and get some good relaxing in (ie: laundry)

Boat rides give the baby hiccups!

Bill and I spent another beautiful weekend up at the cabin for Labor Day weekend. The weather was 90 and sunny--but windy! We had a great time relaxing, going on walks, sleeping late, shopping and even catching up with live news coverage on CNN of Hurricane Gustav (thanks to dish satellite)
Baby Sherck has been moving like crazy the past couple days after having a few relaxing days of time off. For the first time, I felt what baby hiccups feel like! They lasted lastnight for about 10 minutes--even Bill could even feel them. A very weird feeling but also reassuring that baby is moving and growing too.
I've attached a couple pics from the weekend 1. Lounging time out on the boat--posting updated belly pictures for the family out of town so you can see how much progress baby has made in the past few weeks. Sheesh! 2. Mike spent some time fixing Grandpa Sherck's old metal detector. He looks cool, huh?

Still feeling great and am continuing to learn more about my new GD diet and how-what I eat can change my blood sugar levels. I return for a follow up appt with the Dietician and Diabetese Consultant on Wed. We'll hope things look great and baby is healthy. Almost forgot--thanks to RGSmommy, we won the ebay auction for babys crib bedding from Pottery Barn (Laguna)

Eat more meat and veggies!

Last week at the doctors office I had a 1-hr glucose screening test that is performed at most/all pregnancy check-ups between 24-28 weeks. My blood sugar results came out very high and I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes--which isn't uncommon for pregnant women (affects between 1-3% of all pregnancies). GD is where your body isn't able to use the sugar (glucose) in your blood as well as it should, so the level of sugar in your blood becomes higher than normal.

This past Friday I spent 2.5 hours with a Diabetes Consultant (RN) and a dietician who directed me on a game plan to help regulate my blood sugar for the next few months until BS arrives. I have been checking my blood sugar 5 times a day--including after meals to make sure that I'm on the right track. It'll take some time and learning to understand the diet that they put me on (low carb, low sugar) but I'll make it work. I guess no more of Bill's homemade garlic mac & cheese until after the baby arrives. Dang!

I'll have a follow up appointment with the Diabetes Consultant & Dietician next week. It sounds like if it looks like I can manage my blood sugar levels on my own with diet, I won't have to administer insulin shots. We'll hope for that! Even though the diet is difficult for me because I love fruity, carby foods--I'm actually finding some great things to satisfy me after some reading and research. Good news too, this will probably help me keep my weight gain normal for the rest of the pregnancy. Doc says this normally clears itself after the baby is born and hormone levels return to normal. Whoo whoo!

Perfect weather on Gull Lake!

Bill and I took the day off last Friday to spend a long weekend up at the cabin. This time the Becker crew: Dad, Lisa, Zoie and ELlie joined us to hang for the weekend! Because the weather was so nice, we spent as much time outside as we could. The girls got a chance to swim, ski, tube, catch minnows in the net, frog-hunt, catch big fish with Bill, eat pizza at Zorbaz, boat rides and lounging tube time with their big sister Katie. We had a blast! Thank you Mike & Carolyn! It looks like Bill's still young blood--he got up on the slalom this weekend too and looks like a pro. I guess he was taking my place since I can't with BOB (baby on board) I've attached a few pics for you all to enjoy!

I'm feeling good, the feeling of being six months pregnant! I have a 26 week check-up appointment tomorrow morning and will update everyone with how baby sherck is progressing. To me, it looks like baby has doubled in size in the past month! We're counting down the days until he/she arrives and are continuing to hope and pray for a healthy baby!

Mama Sherck's Side Views 24-25 weeks

I've gotten some requests from family out of town to post a few more pics of the belly growing! I've gotten some other pics from the girls from Jenna's wedding and thought I'd post a couple side views. Yes, these are for you Mom & Cami! The first is a pic of me before the wedding with Jenna's mom; she was gettin' me all put together. What an amazing alteration job she did!
The second is from the rehearsal-this was my groomsman partner Rudy (Martina's hubbie)...I guess he wanted to touch the jewels!

Bill and I got a chance yesterday (Sunday) to spend the day out on Sugar lake fishing for Bass. Well, I didn't quite fish--but I looked pretty relaxed on my lounger reading my book! Thanks to Cami's friend Renee, I had some reading material of "A Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy--what the doctors won't tell you" Needless to say, it brought about some interesting conversations between Bill and me about labor, possible baby names and how actually insane hormones have made me. Bill's still not sure if he'll pass out during labor or not. I didn't get any good pictures of his fish, but he snapped one of me while I was cooling off in the middle of the lake. It was nice to spend some time with Bill--he's been gone a lot lately!

BS's First Wedding

I've spent the past few days preping the bride for Jenna & Kyle's wedding yesterday in Stillwater! We all had a great time, the weather was perfect and everything went great!! I've attached a couple pics...first one of Bill & I at the reception, 2nd of all of us girls at the rehearsal, 3rd of the beautiful bride and 4th is a picture that Bill snapped this morning so you are able to see the progress that BS has made in the past few weeks. He/she is getting bigger! I'll be sure to send more pictures from the wedding when I get them!

Beware--my eyes look a little blod-shot in the pictures; looks like I have some bad allergies or got an infection over the weekend. I'm hoping it clears up in the next few days with wearing my glasses and getting some much needed relaxation time.