December

 

Kevin kindly bought me a lamp to illuminate my puzzle table. I have been working on this puzzle for awhile and am almost done. It is kind of puzzles within puzzles; a picture of a whole bunch of paintings. So much fun.

I am in the middle of a decluttering frenzy. This happens once or twice a year. This picture shows a whole bunch of our office supplies, which I spread out and then organized neatly. I threw stuff out too, of course. I really like having a neat and tidy house, but have also accepted that our house will never be really tidy with seven children roaming around. However, there is a great advantage in working on stuff and organizing it and throwing out trash and broken items. The most important thing is knowing where stuff is so we can find it when we need it.

Kevin kindly bought me a treadmill! Walking is my favorite form of exercise, and this treadmill allows me to read books or watch movies while I am exercising.  I have exercised faithfully for a couple of weeks. I haven't lost any weight, but I feel more energetic. So yeah for that!

Unfortunately, I am sick with some cold now. I tested for COVID and it was negative so hooray for that! My greatest concern is asthma. Sometimes my lungs get mad and I am a mess. I really am praying that doesn't happen this time.

Oh, I went to the doctor and my latest A1c (blood sugar test) is 6.2, same as 6 months ago. So no better or worse.

Exercising and Losing Weight

 

This is a not very good picture of me taken in a mirror, with a surprising mess in the background.

But hey, I don't take pictures of myself often so here it is.

Anyway.

I have slowly been gaining weight over the last few years and I don't like it. It obviously isn't healthy to keep gaining weight and gaining weight and gaining weight. Also, I am diabetic which is another reason to not be happy with getting heavier.

Last week I was thinking about this. The thing is, I hate being hungry. Like, really. Eating less is stressful. I have never had to go on a real diet in my entire life because I used to be effortlessly thin.

Then I thought, well, I could at least start exercising regularly. That would be good, right!

Then I thought, WHEN? I have a busy life.  Except that I often get up pretty late. So I decided I would start getting up at 8 a.m. (which is not THAT early) and exercise.  I have done so the last 6 days. I already feel more energetic which is impressive.

Regarding losing weight, nada so far. I am about the same. But I will focus on the exercise part before tackling the eating part.

Speaking of eating, I have been having lower blood sugars the last few days, and I can feel it. That is not a happy feeling. Now I am not on insulin so I am not in danger of going REALLY low, but it isn't comfortable when I drop to the mid 70s. I feel shaky and weird.

Anyway. I am paying attention to how I feel. It may be I have been running rather high for awhile, and am lower because of exercise and my body is confused. I have an appointment this week and will see what my latest A1c is. I hope not above 6.5; if so, I will be seriously annoyed with myself. for eating carelessly. Or maybe I need to add some other meds.

We will see!

Angry Alveoli

 I have to admit that the title of this blog post makes me giggle. The alliteration!!

Anyway, last Saturday was a bad day breathing wise so on Sunday I went to a Kroger Little Clinic. The Nurse Practioner listened to my lungs and said I was clear (hooray!) but given that I was still battling consistent breathlessness, she would prescribe a steroid pack for the angry alveoli in my lungs.

Either they helped, or my body healed further, but this week I have done better with breathing. Which is really nice.

My blood sugars have been bad, because steroids mess with the liver and tell it to release sugar, I guess? I hit 256 one day. UGH! But that only lasted an hour and then it came down.

I am only taking 2 steroid pills today and one tomorrow and then I will be done.

I am super tired today and don't know why. I have had some insomnia, which may be tied to the steroids. It is worth it to breathe better. It was also a busy week so far; I had a hair appointment on Tuesday and three kids went to the dentist yesterday. We had to get a new dentist because we changed insurance. The new one is really good and closer than the old one, so that is nice.

I am a red head again! I like red hair!

Speaking of insurance -- one of the reasons that it was hard to take the leap of having Kevin quit his job is that he had awesome benefits through the Air Force. We now have our insurance through the health care exchange.

There are lots of uncertainties about how much it will cost us BUT it seems good so far in terms of coverage. My steroids were FREE, which was nice.

I have probably mentioned this before, but when Kevin and I were in St. Croix last year, we had time to really talk and pray about his future with the Air Force. I don't pretend to hear God's voice clearly very often, but it did seem God was saying for him to quit.

Which was not a conservative thing to do. He was making a very good salary and the benefits were great. He was also not happy; there were reasons why leaving his job made sense from a mental health point of view.

The book business has been doing very well since he left his job. He has time now to do more marketing and publicity and we now have a seven person team of people who are part of the business.

He is happier than when he was working for the Air Force. And the last month plus has been so tiring with Kevin's mom hurting herself, and then a long stint of illness. Kevin and I have both been tired and struggling but we have been able to be good parents, I think.

If he were trying to work through all this, it would be way harder to keep the household rolling.

So yes, God knew what he was doing, as usual.

A new book is coming out near the end of next month. I am done with most of it, but we are having an audio book created to come out at the same time.

So yes, financially it was stupid for Kevin to quit his job. Emotionally, mentally, spiritually, it was a great idea.

Sickness

 I am sick, which is annoying. I don't like being sick.  At all.

It is mild.  It is just bad headache off and on and fatigue and some digestive issues.  No vomiting, thankfully. I hate throwing up.

I am battling frustration because I have STUFF TO DO!  I have older kids who can help keep the house running and Kevin is home as well, BUT his work is particularly busy right now so he is holed up in the study most of the day.

I read a book this week called Diabetes by Marriage, written by a woman who married a Type 1 diabetic back in the 1960's.

First, Type 1 is far worse than Type 2.  Even more important than that, we know so much more about how to treat diabetes and with insulin pumps and easy testing, so it is way easier to manage highs and lows in blood sugar.  Now diabetes is still very serious and awful, especially Type 1, but medical technology has improved so much in the last forty years.  

Anyway, the author's husband lost both legs in his 50's to diabetic complications, and died before age 60.  She spent years managing his growing health problems. He also had major lows many times where his personality changed a lot. Once he almost attacked her during a low.

So while I am a bit whiny over being a little sick, I shouldn't be.  I will get over this in a few days.  My own diabetes is well controlled, praise God!  When I was diagnosed at age 35 with Type 2, my mother sent me Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes book and it was incredibly helpful.  I am not as strict with my diet as he suggests, but I do eat low carb and have managed to keep my A1c's at a decent level for 16 years now.  (A1c is a measure of average blood sugar.) I have also never had a bad low because I am not on insulin or a pancreas stimulating drug.

So yeah, I'm good.  And I'm tired. Is it too early for a nap?

 

Thankful It Is Friday

Whew, I survived the week!

I knew it was going to be strenuous with so many medical appointments. But we made it through.

Monday, I took Isaac to see a geneticist.  He is so tall and so thin that his BMI falls in 1st percentile.  He is ridiculously skinny.

Good news it that a heart scan showed it is fine.  He has some characteristics of Marfan's Syndome, which is a genetic disease, but given that his heart is fine, he almost certainly doesn't have it. But we're still running a DNA test just to make absolutely sure.

Wednesday I had a standard mammogram.  This was no big deal at all but it was early.  Running off at 7:15 a.m. for mammogram meant that the whole day felt busy and exhausting. But still, thankful for good medical care.  The lady who did the mammogram is pregnant with her 5th child, but her 4th child is 12. We talked a fair amount about big family life, plus the fun of having a baby when she has 4 teens and tweens.

Today, I took Joseph in to see and orthopedic surgeon about his scoliosis.  The good news is that it is mild (only 16 degree curve) so they won't do anything but watch it. It probably isn't ever going to be a problem. The ortho did note that Joseph hunches forward a lot, and said that it was because his muscles in his legs haven't grown as fast as his bones. This means super tight hamstrings, which pulls him into a hunched position. It should improve as his growth slows, but in the meantime I am going to work on some stretches with him.

Yes, I am thankful it is Friday.

Natural Gifts

An online friend of mine was widowed years ago as quite a young woman. She has 6 children. Her eldest is married and she is a little younger than I am.

She posted that her eldest and his wife are expecting their first baby. She's going to be a grandmother! She is so excited and I am so excited for her!  She and her husband had kids younger than Kevin and I did, and it is totally appropriate (and good and fine) that none of our kids are married yet.  Naomi is just 20.  And I'm not in any hurry for them to marry and have children. I want it to be in God's timing. But still.  Grandbabies are awesome!

So my friend mentioned that she was going to stop dyeing her hair in honor of being a grandmother.  Apparently without hair color, her hair is pretty much silver.

Mine is not.  This very recent pic shows me with natural hair color. I have some gray, but it is hard to see.

So, there is nothing wrong with gray hair at all. I have friends who are gray at 40 and that is totally cool. I'm kind of glad that I am not all gray because if I was, people would probably assume I am Rose's grandmother and that would feel awkward.  I mean, I had her when I was 44. Plenty of 44 year old women ARE grandmothers. So it is reasonable.

I was staring at my (dark) hair in the mirror and thinking, hmmm, why is my hair still dark?

Did I do anything to have dark hair at age 50?

Nope.  Nada.  Zilch.

My mom held onto her dark hair for decades.  She grayed slowly.  And she looks great in silver hair, by the way.

So genetically, I am predisposed to having dark hair for many years.  Kevin, who is younger than I am, is much grayer than I am. On him, it looks very distinguished and handsome :-).  I'm sure I will look fine in gray but right now, I look pretty young, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, it got me thinking about characteristics that I am happy about which I just HAVE, not through effort but just because of genetics.

I'm tall -- short is fine, but as a matter of fact, I'm tall and I rather like being tall.

I'm thin -- genetics.  The kids are way thinner.  We have some quick metabolisms in the family line.

I'm smart -- genetics.  My parents are smart.

I'm organized -- I don't know if that is genetics, but I was born this way so yeah, I just naturally am organized.

And of course, I have some weaknesses and problems and challenges.

I'm diabetic -- again, genetics.  Diabetes runs rampant in my maternal line. I used to feel guilty about it, like I caused it by poor eating habits in my 20's.  And honestly, I did eat a very high carb diet and that was probably bad for me, but reality is that genetically I was strongly predisposed towards Type 2 diabetes.

I'm a homebody -- in some ways, this is fine.  I will admit sometimes I am irritated at myself for finding it SO hard to get out and about.  I have friends who run their large families to fun events frequently.  I took our 3 Littles to the local library a few days ago and while it went fine, it wore me out!

I am not artistic -- It is truly pathetic in some ways.  Like, I am stick figure bad.  All six of my girls, including ROSE, are stronger artists than I am.

And on it goes.  Some strengths, some weaknesses.

What I need to do is be humble about my gifts and patient (while working to overcome) my weaknesses.

Re diabetes, I've been tightening up my diet. I think I am doing better and hope for improved A1c numbers (a measure of blood sugar over the last 3 months) when I'm checked next.

Re getting out and about, sometimes I just need to do it. I need to thank God for being able to stay home with the kids and that I have a great minivan that safely gets us where we need to go.

Re being smart -- I am. I really am.  I grasp science and math concepts quickly.  I write well.  I have worked on all those things but I have kids who work harder than I do and struggle far more than I ever did.  I can be thankful and even proud of my accomplishments, but I should not be arrogant.  If I lived in Regency England, I would probably be disdained because in that era, high society women (not that I would probably be a high society woman, but whatever) were expected to paint, draw, play the pianoforte, and sing.  I can sing, but everything else would probably have been a wash.

Enough rambling...

Diabetes

I am a  Type 2 diabetic.  I was diagnosed 15+ years ago during Joseph's pregnancy and I never got normal afterwards, so yes, I've been diabetic for a long time.  It's a pain.

But.

But...

I have thought many times that Joseph's pregnancy may have saved my life and/or limbs and/or kidneys and/or sight.

He is our 4th child.  Kids #1 and #2 were girls.  Isaac, Kid #3, obviously a boy.  At least one person said to us after he was born, "Well, you have your boy."

And Kevin's response to that was, "Well, we have A boy."

We weren't done.  (Obviously.)

So yes, at age 34 I was pregnant with another little guy and they did that glucose tolerance test and I failed and I was diabetic.

I have always been tall and thin. Yes, I have a fierce genetic predisposition for diabetes (lots of people in my maternal line) but the fact that I didn't LOOK diabetic and I was still in my 30's means that I doubt anyone would have checked me for a problem in a very long time.

Diabetes is a progressive disease.  It can take many years, even decades, for the damage of consistent high blood sugar to mess up eyes and limbs and kidneys.

If I was now 50 and had had uncontrolled blood sugars for 15 years, only to find out NOW that I am diabetic, I could be quite the mess.

Of course, maybe it would have been discovered some other way. But then again, maybe not.  I'm reading a great book called Blood Sugar 101, and the author claims that fasting blood sugar is often the last one to get bad. So even if I had been checked for fasting bg, the medical establishment might not have caught it.

So I am thankful for Kid #4, Boy #2!

Of course.

I'm thankful for all of them. They are all gifts from Heaven.

Regarding diabetes, I will freely admit I've gotten a bit lazy in the last year.  I'm working on being more careful about what I eat.  I'm working on exercising more.  My last A1c was 6.1 and I really would like to see it in the high 5's.  Most docs are perfectly happy with 6.1.  My doc is.  But I know from my reading that even that is high enough to potentially cause damage and I was SO young when I was diagnosed.  I have a lot more living, I hope.

I've been exceptionally busy with sick kids (they are mostly better now, and we've beaten back pink eye) and yesterday I ate a bunch of really bad stuff because I was hungry and there were left over white potatoes.

You might not think white potatoes would be bad but yeah, they are.  Like little carbohydrate bombs.

2+ hours after eating them, my blood sugar was 192. Ouch.  Usually I'm below 120 by that point and I haven't been that high in a year or so.

At least.

No more glumps of white potato, Laraba!

In the midst of annoyance with this long term disease, I am so thankful for blood sugar meters and metformin and enough money to buy what I need so I can eat low carb.

So yes, in many ways, I feel gratitude.  I can manage my diabetes because I know about my diabetes.  Praise God for that.

Losing Weight

I haven't.

And I'm Ok with that. But I did say I'd update on my quest to lose a few pounds.

It's hard!

I don't need to lose weight, just not gain 20 more lbs, but it is interesting how hard it is to lose weight.

Lots of people would agree, of course. We are blessed to live in a culture with lots of food and we don't work as hard physically as many of our ancestors.

So I'm rocking along between 150 and 155 lbs and I'm Ok with that.

My blood sugar A1c popped up to 5.8 last time it was checked, which means I have higher bgs than when I was on metformin.

I've been trying to exercise moderately regularly.  I'm doing better than I did a year ago, for sure.  If I can maintain this weight and keep those blood sugars reasonable, I will be blessed.

Weight

My whole life, I've been one of those fortunates who never gained a lot of weight. A combination of fast metabolism plus anxiety (which were probably related) plus some food allergies and Type 2 Diabetes has always meant my weight wasn't an issue.  I mean, I had a limited diet because of the diabetes, but I rarely had to worry about how MUCH I ate.  Even after the babies were born, I dropped back to pre-pregnancy weight with relative ease.

But now I am 48, and on anti-anxiety meds, and I've been gaining weight. I was about 138 lbs back when I went on Lexapro, and now I'm over 150 lbs.

It has been an interesting experience.  10 lbs is fine.  Even my current weight is fine for my height. BUT, my weight continues to climb slowly. So a couple of days ago, yes, Thanksgiving WEEK, I decided that I need to lose some weight.

For the first time, literally, in my life, I am working on losing weight.  The first thing I realized was that I was eating quite often when I wasn't really hungry. I have a moment of boredom and chocolate sounds good so I eat a couple of squares.  I also haven't been exercising all that much because first, exercise is boring and second, I'm surrounded by children who make it hard.  Rose, in particular, wants to climb on me if I am on the floor doing stretching or sit-ups or planks, and she also loves to mess with the elliptical machine when I am on it.

So one thing I'm doing is regularly walking around the house. The goal is to have 7500 steps per day on my fitbit. 

Within a few days of less eating and more exercise, I've lost a couple of pounds.  Of course, water weight complicates everything.  I've always said, and I do believe, that weight isn't the issue -- health is.  I want to be healthy. But it is annoying when my pants are tight (and I'm weird about tight clothes -- probably a sensory issue of some kind).  And 150 lbs could become 160 lbs and 170 lbs if I don't work on this.

So I am.  I'll keep the blog updated :-).

Cats and A1c and Supergirl, oh My!

And the kittens are OUT!  Outdoor cats, I mean. They've been living in our sun room but getting more and more ancy.  Then one of them (who will not be named in a public blog) started peeing in the corners. Ok, we're done. So far they love being outside.  When winter comes, we'll beef up our cute little outdoor cat area. We already have little houses for them but I have plans to make an even nicer 'cave'.   We knew they'd be outdoor cats eventually and the peeing just made the decision for us.

And Lydia is Supergirl!  For Renu, the youth group. They are having a series of 'days' where they dress up like a superhero, or with crazy hair, and so on.  She won first place, not surprisingly.

Our sweet little one is actually mellowing.  She sometimes sits for minutes at a time and 'reads' books and drinks her milky. Though in this case, she had copped some yummy liquid from her grandmother.

Crazy photobomb.

And oh yes, A1c for ME.  I went in this week and my latest A1c was 5.0!!!  That is the best it has been since I was diagnosed. I have to think that my minor weight lifting is helping?  My weight is actually UP, as I said previously, but I have real muscles now.  I'll keep exercising.  My doctor took me off all diabetes meds and I'm now a "diet controlled" diabetic.

Health and Weight in Middle Age

I have always been thin, and in that totally irritating way that probably has annoyed scores of friends.

Because, ya know, we live in a culture which celebrates being thin.  And my whole life I stayed thin without much effort.  

Now I haven't eaten anything I wanted since I managed to become diabetic in the middle of all this thinness, so I've been eating low carb for 14 years.  But yeah, in the midst of a restrictive diet I still ate plenty and stayed thin.  I lost weight easily post partum.  

I've rarely been in good shape as I disliked exercising and have spent much of the last 18 years pregnant or recovering from childbirth.

But I was thin, by gum.

It has been probably 18 months since I started taking Lexapro for anxiety and my weight has been climbing since then.  I'm up almost 15 lbs. now.

I have said, and thought I believed, that the important thing in life is not how much I weigh, but how healthy I am.  But the actual reality of being a bit chunkier has been harder than I realized.

In the last couple of months I have ramped up my exercising. I am actually lifting weights some, and doing other strength and core exercises. I have been able to do 3, count them THREE, push-ups.  Which really is a major accomplishment as I couldn't do a single one 2 months ago.

And yet, the weight keeps inching upwards.

It is really pretty easy to gain weight in this culture, isn't it?  I am wondering if my constant anxiety and adrenaline rushes meant my metabolism was ramped up a lot before Lexapro?

Or maybe I got to be in my late 40's and my metabolism finally slowed down?

I'll keep working at being healthy, but I really am trying to embrace that my weight may be higher and that is fine. It is better than fine.  I'm going to focus on cardiovascular health and strong(er) muscles and eating well and not worry about the weight.

Because it really shouldn't matter. But in this culture, it does and it takes hard work not to worry about it.

Health Update

6 months ago, I went in for my biannual diabetes check and discovered my A1c had popped up from 5.6 to 6.1.  I honestly wasn't surprised as I'd been more laid back about eating the previous 3 months, which is what A1c measures.

My doctor wasn't very disturbed.  An A1c of 6.1 is quite reasonable for a diabetic.  On the other hand, I'm only in my 40's and have already been living with this stupid disease for 12 known years.  One of the difficult things about diabetes is that I could be racking up subtle damage for decades before real, obvious problems show up. I don't want that.

So I looked over my life and saw two basic issues.  Too much dark chocolate. Not enough metformin.  The latter is the oral medication I use.  I kept forgetting it at dinner, though not breakfast.

So yeah, for 6 months I've been cutting back on dark chocolate and taking my medication more faithfully and my A1c was back down to 5.6 as of last week.  So that is good news.

I've gained a little weight.  5 lbs, to be exact. That isn't a huge deal except that I'm not someone who gains weight readily.  AND, I've been on Lexapro, my anti anxiety med, for less than a year.  Weight gain is common on Lexapro.  It is NOT a big deal, but I am just keeping an eye on it. As the doctor said, I don't want to be up 5 lbs every 6 months from here on out :-).

I am not a stress eater. In fact, when I'm very stressed I tend not to eat.  So I'm guessing feeling more mellow about life has resulted in an increased appetite.

Lexapro continues to work quite well for me.  My doctor and I talked about cutting my dose as I have been more tired and there is that pesky minor weight gain...

And then I went home on a Monday morning, got here at 8:30 a.m., and had an insane morning with the little ones that nearly drove me around the bend, even on Lexapro.  So yeah, I'll stick with my current dose 'til Rose is calmer.

Her latest crime?  Dumping salt.  She loves dumping water and now has discovered the joys of dumping salt. THAT GIRL.  I love her.  I love them all.  But I'm going to just say it, she's a Terrible Two. And a Tiny Tornado of Terror.

This Week

Hmmm, I haven't posted in more than a week!

It has been a busy week and a sad one, in many ways.  Kevin's mother lost a very dear, close friend on Saturday, rather unexpectedly. The death of a loved one is so hard.

We finally got some winter weather, including snow.  Today it is cold and windy, but I hope when it warms a bit the kids can go out and play in it.  A few weeks ago, we had a cold snowy day and our middle kids stayed out so long that one was crying from the cold when she got in.  That is the kind of thing that worries me.  Sometimes they don't have enough sense to come in from the cold when they are having tons of fun :-).

I went to the doctor on Monday morning for a diabetes check.  The news wasn't good, as my A1c hopped from 5.6 to 6.1 over the course of 6 months. This was NOT a huge surprise, as I've been lax about my eating lately. But, good wake-up call.  I need to start eating better. I really should start exercising.  I think I am quite active as I spend the day going up and down stairs and carrying little people about, but I know aerobic is better.  The last 2 nights, I've managed to eat a few nuts in the middle of the night and my fasting levels (which have been a little high) have been down near 100.  I appear to be experiencing the infamous "dawn effect", where my body decides to pump glucose in my bloodstream to make sure I don't go too low, or something.  I forget the medical details.  Anyway, my fasting blood sugar has been high lately.

Diabetes stinks.  It really does.  I am experiencing no long term effects from it and that is what is so...challenging about diabetes.  Someone like me could run high for likely a decade or more before the nasty side effects started catching up with me. But the long term side effects are devastating: blindness, kidney failure, amputation because of poor circulation, fun stuff like that.  I am an engineer and cautious, so I've done really well since I was diagnosed at age 34.  The last 6 months I've been tired and just threw caution to the wind, and I jumped up.  But I'm taking caution back from the winds now :-)

We are MOSTLY healthy now. I still have a little cough and my side hurts from coughing so much, but I am 95% functional.  I am thankful for that.

Rose figured out how to climb out of her pack and play.  This was alarming as she WAS sleeping in our entry room, which has 2 computers in it.  We had visions of our sweet girl climbing out of her pack and play at night, then climbing on desks and falling off of desks or hurling laptops on the floor -- there were so many glorious possibilities!  It was clear the entry room was no longer safe for her.

Which left us with the conundrum -- where to put her?  The study, which is baby proofed, was Daniel's bedroom.  But we decided desperate times called for desperate measures, so we moved Daniel up to the crib in the boys' room (where Rose naps during the day.)  We lowered the side so he could climb in and out easily.  Amazingly, the first 3 days have gone beautifully.  Daniel is thrilled to be in with the big boys, and HE hasn't climbed out and wrecked havoc after bed.  So that is great news.

The big boys are now staying up in the living room or basement until 9 p.m. or later, whereas they used to hang out in their room for an hour or more with the lights on.  But the lights need off so Daniel can sleep.

The sleeping arrangements are somewhat humorous, and a part of the life of a large family.  I've been watching a show called "Fixer Upper" on Netflix, which is about families seeking new homes.  It is cute that most of them have 1 or 2 kids, and they ALL want each child to have his/her own room.  Needless to say, a family of 9 has no such desire.  We now have 3 boys in one room at night, 3 girls in another room at night, our eldest 2 in another bedroom, and the toddler in a child proofed room by herself.  And Kevin and I have the master bedroom.

I'll leave with this -- I usually don't remember my dreams, but 3 nights ago I had a dream in which we visited a lakeside "cottage" which was more like a mansion, and which had NINE bedrooms plus a master bedroom. The 9 bedrooms were tiny, with little more than a bed and a dresser.  There were toilets (hooked up) in regular spaces along the hallway where the bedrooms were. So at some level, does my subconscious want more bedrooms and more bathrooms?  Maybe :-).

It's the Little Things...

  A new grocery store opened up recently nearby, called Fresh Thyme.

 It's sort of an upscale, trendy, healthy food type of place.  We'll see how well it does in an urban area with a wide range of grocery stores already entrenched.

  We've gone several times and will likely come back because they carry THIS:

 

  Yes, unsweetened coconut milk yogurt.  Ah, the joy.  The delight.  The ecstasy.

   I used to love to eat normal milk yogurt and indeed, for several years I made yogurt regularly. But then I fell victim to a fairly common malady -- dairy stopped agreeing with me. Or I stopped agreeing with it.  Anyway, I avoid all dairy quite determinedly now because it is not work the intestinal upheaval.

  Our local Kroger carries sweetened coconut yogurt (at rather vast expense) but not unsweetened. And sweetened is way too high in carbs for me to eat safely.

  So ... this stuff is the best.  I can throw in a little stevia and some frozen blueberries and voila, a snack fit for a queen.

  My diet is fairly limited thanks to diabetes and dairy issues, so I'm always happy to find something I can eat without compunction.  

Sleepy Baby

Rose slept through the night last night. Thank you, baby!  I actually woke up at 6 a.m. and was wide awake (and itchy because of chigger bites -- I hate chiggers!) I went into her little room and sat on a chair there reading my Kindle until she decided to wake up at 6:30 a.m.  So 7.5 hours last night...I think we'll call that sleeping through the night.

So far my milk supply is holding up. I'm drinking and drinking and drinking, and also have been eating steel cut oats because I was told oats help with milk supply.

Oats are high carb and my blood sugars are up a bit.  I had my blood draw a couple of weeks ago and my A1c was 6.0.  That's higher than usual -- I'm usually 5.5 or so.  I am not surprised as I have been eating more carbs.  I have to admit it is hard for me to not worry about 6.0.  I'm an engineer and obsessive about numbers, and I am convinced that one key to a healthy life long term for a diabetic is to keep my blood sugars low and stable. BUT, I will not nurse Rose for more than a year at the very most (and I doubt I'll make it that far) so I think it is Ok to run high for a few months.  And really, that isn't incredibly high. My doctor was very pleased with 6.0, but as I said -- I tend to be obsessive.  Non diabetics run around 5.0 and my long term goal is to have blood sugar levels close to a non diabetic. Again, long term.  I know once Rose is done nursing and I drop steel cut oats that I'll do better with blood sugars.

Chocolate Delight

  Our local Trader Joe's carries this Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds from Belgium.

  It is more than a pound.  And given that, not very expensive (I think a little under $6/bar?)

I've been a dark chocolate afficianado for a long time.  It seems to work well with my blood sugar though I've had to be a bit cautious, as usual, so I don't go high.

  Well this stuff...this stuff is heaven.  It tastes amazing.  Amazing.  AND, for reasons I just DO not understand, my blood sugar is great, pretty much no matter how much I eat of it.  I kid you not.  It has sugar in it...so why am I doing so well?  I am guessing the nuts and fat slow down the absorption to the point that my body can process it without having a sugar high?

  At any rate, you can appreciate that I have a bit of struggle when I open up a bar.  No one should eat an entire pound of chocolate in one day, but I admit to being tempted :-).  It is SO SO SO good.  Oh, so good.  And it is hard to stop nibbling a square off here, and another square off there.  Or 2 squares here, 4 squares 15 minutes later :-).

  Fortunately, TJ is a long way from our house so I don't get over there often.  We bought 3 bars of this stuff 9 days ago and I'm on the 3rd bar already.

 Yum, yum, yum, YUM!