"I've gained 6 lbs!"

Tues., November 27, 1990

     Well, Carole did have her baby on the 20th at 7:23 pm.  It was a girl - Martha Victoria.  I didn't cry when we found out but it really bothered me because I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it.  We went to the hospital Wed. night but only got to see Carole.  The baby was staying in the room with her so she had to come down to the lounge to visit us.  She felt great cause she didn't have to have a c-section this time.  They came to church Sun. & Mike all of a sudden handed the baby to Guy when class started.  I eventually held her & it was ok.  She was just so tiny & sweet.  The only time it bothered me was when I thought about her being born on the day our baby died.  But I didn't dwell on it.  I never even mentioned it to Carole. 
     We went to Mark & Linda's for Thanksgiving & told everyone there that we're expecting.  About half who were there were ones we'd already told.  We didn't have them make an announcement at church but told several people & the word is getting around.  Some people said they suspected Dianna had told Anita Brannan & Deborah Cuthrell so I know not to tell her any more secrets.
     On the 15th I saw the nutritionist at Dr. Rand's office.  She wrote out how many starches, meats, etc. to have at each meal and for snacks, adding about 1000 calories a day to what I was having.  I had to fill out a sheet every day for a week listing everything I ate.  By the end of that first day I felt miserable.  I felt like I was eating all day long and really stuffing myself.  I had the most awful heartburn by bedtime.  Something on Sat. I kind of let up a little later, especially after I didn't have to write everything down anymore.  This past Sat. when I weighed, I'd gained 3 lbs.  When I saw the nutritionist today, their scales said I've gained 6 lbs!  She was excited by that - I was shocked.  She asked how it was going & how I was feeling and I told her I felt stuffed & miserable & had the heartburn.  She looked through my sheets & said I could cut back some now cause I've proved I could gain weight, and I don't need to gain so much weight the whole time.  She said I could cut out the morning snack cause I said that was the hardest to fit in cause I haven't been getting up as early so breakfast is later.  She also said I could cut back some on the fats.  She asked what I thought would be easiest to cut back on and I said just the portion sizes cause it was just so hard to eat that much.  She didn't rally say much about that except that she didn't want me to cut back on the meats.  I go back two weeks from today.  Last time I didn't notice she's pregnant but she was wearing a maternity dress today.  She's due a couple of weeks before me but she's bigger than I am, just a little.  She said it's her second one & Dr. Rand delivered her first one & he was great.
     I didn't write about the memorial service yet.  It was Nov. 12.  We'd invited Mark & Linda and Glenn & Mercedes.  Glenn had to speak on the Eastern Shore & she went with him.  She called Sat. to say they wouldn't be coming.  She also said she'd just had a pregnancy test Thu. & found out Fri. it was positive.  She wasn't even late yet.  And they weren't actively trying.  The only reason she had the test done was to be sure she wasn't pregnant before taking some acutaine for her face.  She said she was shocked it was positive.  I thought we found out early but she said she wasn't even due til the next week.  So she's just barely.  They've gone ahead & told people but no announcements.  What surprised me though was to find out that they went to Georgia for Thanksgiving.  I'm surprised she'd leave town for anything.  And another surprise - she's going to see Dr. Beringuer.  Apparently he got his insurance back & is able to deliver again.  I hope he does good for her.  She said she doesn't want to see a group of drs. & he's still by himself.  I think she sees him sometimes this week.  We go for the ultrasound tomorrow.
     Anyway, about the memorial service.  It wasn't exactly the way I had pictured it but it was nice.  There was a lady who sang two songs and a girl from the group sang one a Capella.  Ann made some opening remarks and different people read different poems.  When it came to the candle lighting ceremony she said to say the name of your baby when you lit your candle.  We'd thought we were supposed to say the date too.  Anyway, she didn't say which way to go and some people crossed the aisle & some just turned around to the row behind them so some rows got skipped and Ann had to com and start some of the rows herself.  But I guess it went well.  It looked like there were about 50 people there.  We stayed & mingled awhile.  Mark recognized someone he knew from running.  It wasn't anyone we'd met at meetings.  We told Mark & Linda we're expecting.  They were surprised we'd kept it a secret so long.  I cried a little bit when some of the poems were read.  But I did fairly well.