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Last week James and I went on a road trip up the California coastal Highway 1, camping along the way at various state parks and beaches. It was a beautiful trip -- we learned to co-exist on the daily and fell into a cooperative pattern of setting up and breaking down camp, cooking and cleaning, building the campfire, etc. It was good practice in homemaking, being that this week he is moving in with me!

And any couple who can camp together, can probably rear a child together.

I had my fair share of s'mores on the trip, along with salt water taffy bought at Cannery Row in Monterrey. It was more sugar than I usually eat, which made me nervous going into my 1-hour glucose test Monday morning. I fasted, which also made me queasy, but downed the sweet orange drink in a timely fashion. An hour later and I was having blood drawn. My eyes teared up and I got a lump in my throat as the infant across from me cried while getting her foot pricked and squeezed for a blood test. She sounded like one of my dog's squeaky toys. But her cry was heart-wrenching for me to hear. I looked away.

Then yesterday I got a message from the doctor's office: Please call them back. Oh no! I was going to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I just knew it ... usually no news is good news and here they had some news! Despite the guilt, I downed THREE cookies at book club last night as a last hoorah before having to cut out all sugar.

Then today the doctor called me back. No gestational diabetes, thank god! But my iron is a bit low. I am to start taking an iron supplement each day. Apparently the steaks during the camping trip weren't enough.

So pass me those s'mores, and pass me some iron ore to gnaw on as well. I'm relieved I can now finish off all that salt water taffy we brought home with us.

Our next appointment is Wednesday, with a nurse practitioner. We are now in our seventh month and getting excited to meet our son. He is squirming around more than ever. When he moves, it's not a "kick." It's a total body squirm-a-rama. We enjoy the nightly shows in bed watching my tummy move in waves as he flops around.

Lately I've noticed my ankles swell to point of disappearing at night. The first time I noticed my "cankles" I burst into tears! Now I just pout. James says my feet are lovely and kisses my ankles. He is so sweet. But seriously, I can't wait to have my slender ankles back.

What's next: Childbirth classes start Sept. 16 and we'll be shopping for a "family" vehicle this month. Time is starting to really fly!

This morning I had my routine monthly ob/gyn appointment. It was the first time I'd seen her in two months, so I had a lot to fill her in about. (I saw a nurse practitioner last visit.) Here are the ones that made her shake her head.

1) I had bronchitis for a week and took antibiotics and lost some weight. But when I got better, my appetite exploded and I gained 8 pounds in three weeks.

2) I fell on my tailbone and bruised it. While bowling.

The second one also came with an eye-roll from my doctor. "Your tissues are soft when you are pregnant and your bones move, including your tailbone, to make room for delivery. Be very careful. Some women take time to recover from labor and you don't want to exacerbate that with a sore tailbone."

The moral of today's visit: No more bowling until at least 6 weeks after I give birth. And, because of my rapid weight gain, I have to go take the glucose test (which I had been lucky to avoid - I heard you have to drink some kind of gross thick liquid) to make sure I have not opened myself to gestational diabetes.

But I'm not worried about the weight gain. The way I see it, I lost 9 pounds during the first four months of the pregnancy, so really I've only gained it back plus 11 more pounds. OK, maybe that is a lot! But I have only gained 1 1/2 pounds over the past two weeks, so I think I've balanced back out. Anyway, that's enough math for me today.

I start water aerobics classes next week and I'll get this glucose test done to make sure my blood sugar level is OK. The baby seems to be having a good time though. He squirms and kicks and does who-knows-what else in my tummy all the time. At least he's getting some exercise!!! And his heartbeat was as loud and strong as ever this morning.

Now I just need to figure out what to do about my newest issue: insomnia. I've been up since 4 a.m. today cuz I just couldn't sleep!