Define: Procrastination

I keep putting things off that I know I need to do because I feel like I have so much time to do them.  And then somehow it's the day before Erin's wedding and I haven't finished my toast.  Eek.

Another thing is getting the baby room ready.  We have slowly been making progress, and actually over the last week or two we've gotten a lot done.  Today I went and looked at cribs, and realized that I am not sure we can fit a crib and the dresser I planned on getting from my dad into the baby room.  We don't have that small of a house, but the layout is just...frustrating.  I know we'll figure it out, but at this point it seems like we are running out of time.

Last week I made chicken and gravy mashed potato bowls, not unlike the ones from KFC.  The main difference was that these ones are probably much better for you, and not anywhere near as delicious.  As I was making them I was already composing this entry, as to how they weren't really a hit, but I didn't think they would be because Jamin doesn't really like that kind of thing.  To my surprise, he did like it!  I didn't even cut up all of the chicken I cooked, anticipating that he would just want some chicken tenders.  I did some tweaking to the potatoes (I couldn't resist - I forgot about the sour cream, but added garlic and cheese), but overall this was a pretty good meal, and really easy.  This is one we'll be having again.

This week I made a peach and blackberry crisp.  I have been missing fruits and sweets so much since the diagnosis, so I've been looking for dessert recipes involving fruit.  I left the coconut and pecans out of this one (Jamin's not big on pecans, and neither of us really like coconut).  I did slightly burn the oats, so they smelled and tasted a bit like burned popcorn.  Oops.  Even with the burnt popcorn smell/taste, this was really good!  I wasn't sure Jamin would like it (I knew he definitely wouldn't without the ice cream), but he did!  At least, he said he did.  Sometimes I'm not sure if he really liked it, or if he just doesn't want to hurt my feelings (which is very nice of him, but then I really don't know how he feels about things).  I kept the leftover topping and fruit separate (fruit in the fridge), and had some again last night, and it was still good, even though it wasn't warm.  It's definitely going to be a repeat recipe.

Define: Lifestyle Change

The transition from my normal eating habits to eating well with gestational diabetes has been kind of tough for me.  I've never been one for counting carbs or anything, so learning what is good and not good to eat has been hard.  At my appointment with the diabetes doctor, he made it sound like I needed to go on insulin.  He told me that he would "give me a chance to get it under control" first.  I left not feeling so great about him.  I had four high numbers out of probably about 50, and they weren't even that high (one was 121 instead of 120).  I think you always need to give people a chance to get a complete lifestyle change under control: it's hard!  All he did was make me afraid to write down any more slightly high numbers.

I'm also having the problem of just not being able to get full!  The "meal ideas" that I was given just make me sad.  For example, one breakfast idea is two pieces of toast with peanut butter.  That's it.  I don't know if I'm the odd one out, but that is not enough breakfast for me.  The "perfect" lunch suggestion wasn't much better: half of a sandwich, a small piece of fruit, and one glass of milk.  Unless by half a sandwich they mean a Subway 6 inch, that's probably not going to cut it either.  I know that I need to eat differently than I was before, but for the last two weeks I have just been constantly hungry.  We're working on finding healthy things to fill me up, but it's hard, and I'm getting reeeeally sick of drinking pretty much only water.

Two nights ago my recipe for the week was poblano chicken bundles.  I have been looking up some diabetic recipes, and this one seemed easy (until I realized I did not own a meat mallet...now I do!).  I think if I make this again (and I probably will, my sugar numbers were good after eating it), I may leave out the pepper (and possibly the cilantro, just to try it).  It wasn't bad, I'm just not a big fan of pepper, and the pepper flavor was pretty strong.  We also thought it might be a little better with bread crumbs instead of corn meal breading, but I wondered if the recipe called for corn meal instead of bread to make it more diabetic friendly.  I'll just make it with only a little bit of bread crumbs, or maybe corn flakes?  I'm pretty sure that I've had chicken coated with corn flakes before...

Now I'm trying to convince Jamin that he should try eating like this for a week or two, if only so that when I complain that I'm hungry he'll understand that I really, really am.

Define: Scattered

This one is a little all over the place, but that's because I have been slacking on updating again.

As an update to the previous post, I went back to ACO and got the paint tweaked, and it's perfect!  It's not as dark as Jamin would have liked, but it's so much better than the band-aid pink!

Next...

Our insurance situation with the pregnancy has not been great.  None of my pre-or post-natal visits are covered, so we have been paying out of pocket.  We knew that it was going to be a lot, but that we could make it work.  However, between the ultrasound and some lab work, it has not been working out.  The ultrasound wasn't covered, but instead of sending us a bill, our OB covered it with what we had been paying them out of pocket.  This didn't seem to be a bad thing, until we realized that we still owed them the full $1,500 that they expect before delivery.  They used some of what we had already given them to cover the ultrasound, which meant we owed them that money again.

I had blood work done to check for gestational diabetes a few weeks ago, and a week later the doctor called to tell me that I needed to go back in for the three hour test.  I went back in, and a few days later I got the call that I had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes.  I was upset, but not shocked.  My grandma has diabetes and my mom had gestational diabetes.

I called my insurance to see if they would be covering any of the doctor visits and supplies to go along with this new development.  Of course they weren't.  At this point, I was really starting to stress out about how we were going to make this work.  We still had to pay almost everything to the OB, the deductible to insurance, and the co-pay at delivery.  The bills were adding up to almost $5,000 without any of the diabetes stuff.

At our next OB appointment, we also discovered that I have a negative blood type, while Jamin's is positive.  Which meant that I needed a shot.  Which was probably not covered either.  Every time we go in, I swear it's something else.

We have been working on applying for Medicaid and some programs through the hospital that help cover the bills.  We expected to have to pay another deductible through Medicaid, which wasn't ideal, but we knew that we needed any help we could get.

Yesterday, I got the notification that our Medicaid application had been processed.  We have no deductible, and full Medicaid coverage!  This was so much better than what we had been expecting!  I'm still not sure exactly what it all means, but I know that this was the best case scenario for us, and we are feeling so blessed to have gotten this financial help.  It has taken a huge load off of our shoulders.

And now, for something completely different...

My Pinterest recipes for the last three weeks!

I threw a bridal shower for my lovely friend Erin a few weeks ago, and made lemonade punch.  I garnished it with lemon slices, which made me feel so, so cool.  Really cool.  This recipe wasn't bad, but it was more of a pineapple punch than a lemonade.  If I make it again I will ease up on the pineapple juice, and add a bit more of the lemonade mix.

The next week I made brownies from scratch.  They were okay.  I ended up just throwing out the last couple because we hadn't eaten them, so I probably won't make them again.  Jamin said they were alright, but just seemed really heavy, and I agree.

The following week I made different brownies.  These were gone in two days.  They were wonderful!  When I pulled up the recipe, I was surprised at how much less ingredients there were than the ones I had made the week before.  As such, I was a little skeptical, but they were perfect.  Jamin devoured them.  The ones from the week before he had only been eating with ice cream, but these ones he loved enough to eat alone.  This is definitely the recipe I will use next time I make brownies.

Today I'm making sugar cookies.  Technically, I am not using a new recipe (the link actually says to use the dough you can buy, yeah right!), but it is a new technique.  My favorite sugar cookie recipe is too good for me to try anything else, so I'm still using that.  However, I've never put food coloring into the dough, and I always put frosting on after, so it will be interesting to see how these hold up on their own.

(I do feel that I need to add that after the diabetes diagnosis, I have been watching what I'm eating.  I only had a few bites of brownie, and the cookies are for church, not for us to eat.)

Tomorrow I'll also be making potato wedges.  When I clicked on the link, it took me to a blog instead of the actual post, so I'm just going to follow the directions from the comments on the actual pin:

Cheesy Potato Wedges... 4-6 Potatoes 1/4 c. Olive Oil Sea Salt, Pepper, your favorite Seasoning Salt 1 c. Sour Cream 1/2 c. Ranch Dressing 1/4 c. Milk 1 c. shredded Cheddar 1/2 c. shredded Mozzarella 1/2 c. Real Bacon Bits 1/4 c. Green Onions Cut potatoes into "steak fries". Place on foiled baking sheet. Drizzle with oil. Lightly toss with tongs. Sprinkle seasonings over the potatoes. Bake 400* for 40 min til fork tender.

I don't think you can really go wrong with potatoes, cheese and bacon!