Hey guys! Sorry to keep you waiting on my latest post. If you haven’t seen one of my recent Facebook posts, then you’ll be in shock that we finally received our things!! Hooray! It only took, what, 4 weeks? Only a couple of things were damaged but just so grateful to have a bed to sleep in again. So they arrived about 3 days before we flew off for our vacation to St. Louis. That was only enough time to get the kids’ rooms situated and pack our suitcases. We arrived in STL close to midnight on July 2nd. On July 4th, we ate BBQ and hung over Mike’s brother’s house as I listened to all of the bomb sounds aka street fireworks. Have they gotten more explosive? I promise I heard some firecrackers that went off for like 5 minutes straight. As we return back to my mom’s house for the night, I read in the news headlines that there was a major earthquake from Las Vegas all the way to Southern California. Say what?!! My jaw dropped. Nooo, we just moved there! Glad there were no reports of injuries and that we were out of town. Then, 2 days later, I see that there was another earthquake even larger than the one before. Oh no! The temptation to return to STL has never been more present lol. I pray to God things remain stable for the remainder of our time in CA. Afterwards, I did a little geographical reading on the history and causes of earthquakes. Now although most are due to breaks in the fault planes, it can also be a result of human activity such as nuclear explosions. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
So July 5th, while Mike and the kids continue to enjoy STL for the next couple days, I travel to New Orleans with my mom and 2 aunts. We had a blast. But you know I can’t start without having a fit with TSA. I see all types of people going through the metal detector ahead of me but when I get up to ask if I can go through, they say “only if you have little kids with you”. I tell him “I do have a little kid with me in my womb”. The security worker responds “but he’s not out yet”. So does that mean he’s not considered a kid if he’s not “out yet”? What kind of comment was that?! And yeah I would like for him to be able to make it out with all of his limbs and no defects from this silly scanner. I’m quite upset at this point but go against my will and proceed to go thru the scanner. Then, there’s a security officer of European descent waiting on the way out the scanner saying “I need to swipe across your right shoulder and your hair”. (Note that I have Marley twists so now I feel totally discriminated against) And what in the world would be across my right shoulder besides the same bra strap that’s on the other shoulder. If I wanted to be rubbed on, I would’ve opted for the pat down instead of the scanner. The lady then swipes my hair and asks me to lift up my twists to make sure there is nothing underneath. There was a woman of European descent who had straight hair down her back that was right before me but didn’t have to endure such inspection. My mom is going through the scanner behind me and has absolutely nothing on besides a t-shirt and some slacks. They stop her to swipe her right arm, which is bare. She’s like “there’s nothing in there but fat”! lol After inspection, we make it to our gate and wait for the plane. While we wait, there are two young ladies shouting “Is there anybody ready to go to New Orleans for Essence Fest?! For those traveling to New Orleans, we have some trivia for you where you can win some prizes”. Did somebody say trivia? Anybody that knows me, knows how much I love it. The first chance to win was for a $50 flight voucher from Southwest. For this one, all you had to do was be the first one to run up to the counter with a receipt and you won. Well, guess what? This big belly mama (21 wks) ran so fast up to that counter as I had one in my hand that I was just about to throw away. I won!! What a way to start the trip. Suddenly, I feel a pain in my hip/upper thigh. Uh-oh, did I pull a muscle? They asked some specific questions like names 3 celebrities from New Orleans and other stuff but my aunts couldn’t make it up there fast enough. They got consolation prizes of Southwest socks. We rented a house in NOLA which was perfect. We did lots of walking especially around Bourbon street on Saturday. While we struggled to drive through the Essence-filled traffic, there were two black, tinted window SUVs behind us with flashing lights trying to get through. Once one got through, a lady hopped out and went into a hotel. I was like “oh snap, I think that’s Gayle King!” What a fun atmosphere and I kept saying “oh that SUV must be Michelle Obama” to every tinted window truck I saw as I was hoping to bump into her down there.
As for the Essence Fest, it was amazing! Shout out to Minovet for my Yo! Mama’s World shirt that I rocked. Wish I had more time to check out the vendors but I was able to meet BernNadette Stanis (known as Thelma from Good Times, who was so nice and gorgeous) and Sunday’s concert was so hype. There were so many surprise performers like Ginuwine coming out with Timbaland, Magoo, Lil Jon, Dem Franchise boys, even Nelly as so many more!! I’m sitting in my floor seat next to the sound stage and look up to see a familiar face walk right pass me. Then I’m like “oh snap, that was Jermaine Dupri!”. I will definitely have to return again, maybe as a Yo! Mama vendor or special guest (wink..putting it in the atmosphere).
We flew home the morning of July 9th and my advice to anyone traveling in the future, only bring a carry-on to NOLA. The checked baggage lines were so long, I was 10 minutes away from my flight taking off and I had gotten there an hour and half early. Thank goodness I still have the strength to run as I flew from the counter thru TSA to the gate. That day, I took a 4 hour flight to LAX, then had to rent a car to drive a little less than 2 hrs home and later that evening, I had to attend a hospital tour which was another hour drive away. So yes, I went to sleep pretty quickly that night.
As for preggo updates, prior to traveling, I had performed my 1 hr Glucose Challenge Test but my result was 1 number higher than the normal limit. Yikes! I was like “please Lord don’t let me have the sugar” (what African Americans historically referred to as Diabetes). My fault…I had been living my best life in weeks prior with eating Frosted Flakes for snack and slushes back in STL. Otherwise, I actually have been incorporating more veggies and fruits into my diet than usual. So my doc wants me to perform the 3 hr Glucose Tolerance Test but for 3 days prior, I have to stick to this carb-specific diabetic diet. It was rough as I started the day I returned from NOLA and resisting the temptation of free Slurpees for 7-Eleven day was intense. The morning of the test was long and plenty boring. I started at the lab around 7:30a, got stuck 4 times (a fasting plus once every hour for 3 hrs) and left out of there around 11:40. By this time, I was shaky and starving. Well, I passed!! Praise the Lord. Prayer works! Fetal movement has been in full effect since last week and baby now weighs 1 lb.
Stay tuned for details on how school supply shopping went this year and a poll on what boy M names would be good. :)
Smooches!
~Yo! Mama
P.S. Prayers for Louisiana during their time recovering from inclement weather.
Check out some fun pics below
