Heard it through the grapevine...

Week 4

House news:
It has been about a month since we closed on our house. Overall a lot of progress has been made but there's still way more to go. Currently the front room of the house is one giant open space because the ceiling was completely taken out. This had to be done because the support beams were in bad shape. This will ensure that Jim and I don't fall through the floor to the ground level when we are sleeping in bed at night. All of the brick work that was necessary to move windows/make windows smaller was completed this week.

Ceilingless front room

House aside, we heard through the grapevine some good and interesting news that is happening around our house.

1. The house next door was bought by a builder, gut-rehabbed, recently put up for sale and sold this week. It's promising to us that this house sold so quickly and at a price that will be good for the value of our house. I hope our neighbors are cool!
Check it out: http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/4861-N-California-Ave-60625/home/13490432

2. There's talk of the Ravenswood and Lincoln Square neighborhood's getting approximately $20 million dollars to give Lawrence Avenue a face lift. Phase one of the project will go from Ashland to Western and phase two will extend from the Chicago River to Western. Think wider sidewalks, sidewalk cafes, restaurants and boutiques like the ones you see on Division street in Wicker Park. The possibility of having all this steps away from our house is exciting. I really hope this happens.
http://www.centersquarejournal.com/news/pawar-pitches-lawrence-avenue-improvements-as-school-boost

Baby news:
Jim and I met with an endocrine specialist to go over my glucose tolerance test results. It appears that my fasting glucose and 3 hour values are normal, however, one and two hours after drinking the glucose drink my blood sugar gets to be a little high (borderline actually). What this means is that my body is not producing enough insulin or using the insulin properly (secondary to pregnancy hormones) to take up glucose. When this happens the baby gets all the glucose and can get to be REALLY BIG if not controlled. At the appointment I was given dietary guidelines that mostly consist of monitoring the amount of carbohydrates I take in with each meal. I am following up with this doctor again this week to retest and if I pass I will just have to continue to eat the way I have been in the past week. If I fail I am not certain exactly what will happen...I will keep you posted.

This week Jim and I were busy attending class number 2 out 3 of "Great Expectations" and also attended a class on breastfeeding. The breastfeeding class was a little overwhelming. A newborn baby feeds 8-12 times per day and takes on average 15-30 minutes to feed...somehow it seems like there's not enough time in the day!