I just realized...

...that our due date is three months from today. 

(yey!)

there sure is a lot of stuff out there

I was excited when I realized we still had to finish our baby registry on Saturday.  We went to Tarjay and were given our very own (for an hour or so) scan-gun!  What I remembered as a 'few aisles of baby stuff' turned into an hour and a half of 'do you like this?  How about this one?  Will we need this?'  over and over again.  We spent a good chunk of time looking through furniture and strollers and crib sheets, oh my!  We even went to Walmart afterward to comparison shop for cribs.  That store scares me, for the record.  It's much too big to do any kind of focused shopping.  Groceries are on one side, baby stuff on the other; garbage can we needed was in the middle of the whole store, and then we needed to ask where they kept the garbage bags.  It felt like an episode of The Amazing Race, but with crappier views and loudspeakers.  We managed to make it out alive, just barely.  I spent the rest of Saturday making chili, which we'll likely eat for the next three months.  I might have made too much...

Yesterday started as a typical Sunday, with Karen heading out for a round of golf with Dad, Mike and Mickey...  until she called an hour later to say she pulled her back and was heading home.  She managed to plop herself on the couch and hasn't really moved since.  It doesn't look comfortable at all, and she's a much more patient patient than I would be. 
 
We're in week 27, which means we've just started our third trimester!*  He weighs about 2½ pounds, and should be about fifteen inches long.  He can now open and close his eyes, and will likely jump in response to sharp sounds.  He's definitely getting stronger every day, and it's fun to see him push my stomach out like something from Aliens.  I can't wait to meet this little guy...

*I remember speculating how different things would seem once fall hit, thinking I'd feel so much more mature and maternal, cartoon birds hovering as I walk, a skip in my step.  Silly rabbit, it's more of a waddle.  And rather than feeling all glowy, I tend to just want more naps.

weekend plans and the usual recap

The glucose test was uneventful, and aside from being surprisingly tired later that night, it was a snap.  So far, no news, which I am hoping means that everything is fine.  The orange stuff was actually somewhat tasty, and reminded me of that orange drink I used to get in a tiny carton in grade school.  I did get a little worried when my friend said she was instructed not to eat anything all day beforehand, if she wanted to pass.  (Of course, worrywart Susan then checked the direction sheet she was given, to confirm that she was told it was okay to eat.)  Something tells me that Chipotle isn't the meal to eat just before this specific test, but I suppose time will tell.  The rest of the appointment was easy as usual, my belly is growing, of course.  My doctor is happy with my weight gain and says that everything looks great so far, which is always nice to hear.  Apparently the B-H contractions are nothing to worry about unless they happen more frequently than 4 per hour.  Mine aren't even close to that, so I'm going to stop obsessing.  Maybe.

My biology class is a little more than half over, and I've learned a few things: dissecting a cow heart isn't the exciting experience that dissecting a frog was in tenth grade.  It's kind of like preparing steak.  And, I am not as interested in, nor am I as good at science as I once thought.  When I started this class, I was excited to learn new things (I loved my college Astronomy class, and bio in high school...) and figured I was sure to keep my 4.0 GPA (I owned a microscope that I used for fun for several of my teen years!).  Now I'm kind of happy for it to be ending, so I can read what I choose and not spend my Sundays retyping information from a textbook.  I am also right on the cusp of losing my A, which is seriously frustrating because -- HELLO -- I'm a relatively smart girl who has gotten nothing but As for YEARS.  Our program has a stricter grading scale than normal, and there are forty possible points weekly, which means I can miss 2.8 points before I lose my A.  No pressure.

Okay, venting complete.  For now.

Tonight we have dessert with the fam for G-Ma's birthday, which I'm looking forward to.  It's at Malley's, which means ICE CREAM!  (Yey!)  Other than that, our weekend looks pretty breezy and we should be able to fit in a movie.  (Hint, hint.  Karen.  Ahem.)

100 days to go, and a birthday wish

As the countdown dwindles, I start to get just a little more nervous and excited.  In 100 days, (give or take) we will have our little boy home.  I've started to have some braxton hicks contractions, which feel like a blood pressure cuff around my belly.  From what I read, they're perfectly normal, but I'll be sure to ask about them at today's appointment.  Also today, (drumroll...) I'll have the much-awaited glucose test!!!  Try to remain calm, folks.  I know that everyone secretly wants to drink flat orange soda and have blood drawn.

In other news, today is my Dad's birthday! 

Happy Birthday, Papa!

another Tuesday

Time is flying along, and it's starting to feel a little like fall here; it gets dark earlier and gives me an excuse to wear sweaters at night.  We're in the 26th week now, which means that there's only fourteen left.  HOLY CRAP that seems close.  I started to realize that my brain needs to know that we're all set, or at least all planned for, so last night we sat down and made a little checklist of things that we have left to do before Christmas...  Crib, registries, little things, choosing a pediatrician, labor classes.  Do you have any opinions about L&D education classes?  It feels like one of those things we should do, but it also seems like it has the potential to repeat all the things I've been reading so far.  Are birthing classes worth it?

We're also waffling about whether to put the condo on the market, to see if it will sell quickly.  That might be something to check off our lists before next summer if we can.  We have always planned to move East eventually, in a year or so, but we're torn.  Cons: we LOVE our neighbors and our neighborhood.  Pro: we could be much closer to our families.  Con: we can walk to swanky restaraunts and we're five minutes from the city for games and concerts.  Pro: we will have very little time for these things come December.  Con: we love the condo now that all the remodeling is finished and I have my dream kitchen / bathroom / basement.  Con: the three-floor walk-up is virtually un-baby-proofable.   I suppose these may be moot discussions, since the housing market isn't exactly booming right now. 

The kitten weighs about 2½ pounds and about 13" long.  He definitely has some typical active periods, including 7am and 11pm (of course) and Karen can now see my stomach move from his kicks when she's all the way across the room.  I read yesterday that some expecting mothers experience some pretty serious pain, caused by feet that wedge between their ribs. 

Luckily, I've had a talk with Danny and explained that this is not acceptible behavior. 

Happy Tuesday! (and happy 100th!)

It's rainy and yucky here, but it's also Tuesday so that somehow makes up for the weather.  We had a great weekend with the fam on vacation, where we got to see our first Labor Day Fireworks show over the lake.  The weather there was absolutely beautiful, and we got to lounge and eat, which are two of my very favorite things. 

In other, sadder news, I received most of the clothes I ordered from Old Navy and found that more than half of the stuff didn't fit...  too big -- who'd have guessed?  So I have to mail it back and decide what I'd like to try in another size.  I wish a local O.N. had a maternity department so I could just try things on in the store. 

We're in the 25th week, so only 15 to go.  He should be about two pounds now, and 13.5 inches long.  His room is the size of a soccer ball, which makes it very difficult to bend over to pick things up off the floor now.

This is also my hundredth post -- YEY! It's been incredible making new friends through this blog, and letting our families follow our progress at the same time. Thanks to all who read and all who comment, it is much appreciated. :)

our Puerto Rican friends

This morning, I put on the purple and lime bracelet that I got a year and a half ago.

We were vacationing near San Juan, and decided to be adventurous and head into the city for the evening.  We grabbed a taxi and after passing on a few clubs that weren't open on a Tuesday, we decided to try a dance club that appeared pretty busy.  Mixed in with the many people standing outside, talking and smoking, were some interesting characters:  We met El Mago, the magician, who worked the crowd with a trick involving his lit cigarette and a piece of my tee shirt that I was sure would catch me on fire.  We met some other tourists like us, and had the typical discussions about where we're all from and what we all do when we're not on vacation.  In this mix of personalities, we met Tito and Oui Oui, a couple who lived up the road.  They were charming and fun, and we talked for an hour or two before they invited us to visit their apartment down the road.  I still don't know what we were thinking, being that spontaneous, but we walked our little mojito-filled selves about two miles down the cobblestone streets to their place.  Every so often, we'd check in with each other using secret eye signals, to make sure that the other person was still having fun.  Their apartment was probably the smallest one I've ever actually been in, with a teeny kitchen, with a step up into the bathroom, and a loft that they'd made into a bedroom just above the kitchen.  They made us feel at home, with seats on the step and a drink, and we began to talk for a few more hours.  They were both very creative, and as the girls talked, Tito was working on a drawing off to the side.  We discussed music and art, science and movies, and somehow veered into a discussion on how brain chemistry works.  Oui Oui had a pretty thick accent to begin with, and by this time we were all a little tipsy.  As she tried to think of the word for connections in the brain, Karen tries different pronunciations of the word synapses. 

"SIN-apses?" 
No, no, says Oui Oui.
"sin-AP-sis?"
...
This went back and forth for four or five tries, before Oui Oui finally came up with the word on her own.  "Sin-opsizzz," she said. 

Blink.  Blink, blink. 

The night rolled on, and the discussion continued.  We tried to stay focused enough to translate some of Oui Oui's half-French, half-Spanish so that we could keep the discussion going.  Mid sentence, she stopped talking for a moment, and I looked down to find her painting my toenail with a Sharpie.  She explained as she calmly colored, that there was a spot where the polish had worn off, and she was fixing it.  She was very nonchalant about the whole matter, so we tried to roll with it, although I wish I had a picture of the surprise on Karen's face when she realized what Oui Oui was doing. 

After all our discussions and play, it was getting very late and we were more than a little lost in this foreign city, so we decided it was time to make our way back to the hotel.  By this point, they seemed less like strangers we'd just met, and more like friends we'd known for years.  They began handing us gifts to take with us: two bracelets and two coiled wooden reeds that Tito had found a few days before, and painted for us as we gathered our things.  They called a taxi for us, and walked us to him.  Tito spoke with the driver and arranged a discounted rate for the drive home, and we were on our way.  We got back to the hotel, and reviewed the pictures and videos that we'd taken all night, and marveled at how we were fortunate enough to meet such kind and welcoming people so randomly.  We laughed for another hour or so, but found ourselves too tired to continue recapping.  That was, without a doubt, the strangest, most fun night I have ever spent on vacation.

Every time I wear this bracelet, I remember flashes of our Old San Juan night and smile.

oh, what a day

My first day of school came and went.  After usual traffic delays, I got to school in plenty of time for class, only to find a note on the door that it had relocated to a buiding I wasn't familiar with.  I drove around for a few minutes until I realized that I could find the campus map online (thanks, iPhone).  I made it to class after the requisite bathroom stop about ten minutes late, and I wasn't nearly the last one.  I am hoping that tomorrow's class stays put.  I had forgotten how much I loved high school bio.  I'm looking forward to the labs we have on Thursdays where I'll get to dissect things. 

This morning I was awake about ten minutes before our neighbor Stephanie called to let us know that my car had been broken into.  The passenger window was broken (the opposite side than was smashed last spring in a similar event) and they rifled through the glovebox and handful of things I keep in the console.  So there it all was, a box of Whitening Strips on the seat, the snack bag of Fritos on the floor, and my precious Windshield Wonder.  They didn't take anything, apparently because white teeth, heartburn and insanely clean windshields weren't on their agenda.

Stephanie and Brendan were nice enough to let me borrow their shop vac to clean the glass, and after fifteen minutes of cleaning, I was on my way with the wind in my hair.  Luckily, today is probably the nicest day we've seen in ages -- sunshine, low 60's -- I don't need no stinkin' window!  So I came to work, filed an online police report (ooh, swanky!), and made arrangements for a local glass shop to come here to work to fix the window.  I'm a little impressed with how coolly I'm taking this, since last spring I was in tears about it.  As Shane said, "Something happens today, something else will happen tomorrow." 

Life goes on. 

Speaking of life, Danny kicked me all through class last night -- enough that I'm starting to think he's having parties in there.  Watch it, kid, or you'll be grounded!

**Updated to add: Glass man is already here to fix the window...  He's been here, and the window's fixed.  I called less than two hours ago, and their price is totally reasonable. If you ever need window repair work in the Cleveland area, I recommend Guardian Auto Glass.