better than a kitten

Eleven months

2010-11-18T13:06:00.000-05:00

Dear Danny,

You are now almost eleven months old, and you're on the brink of walking unassisted. Every day, I'm amazed at how big and independent you're becoming. You don't need help to stand up, thank you very much! You certainly don't need me to hold on to your waist, and will remove my hands and give me that 'I'm big now, mom... cut it out' look. You're really just such a delightful little boy -- and though I know that every mother says that, you totally are.

Many babies have the usual first words... Mama, Dada, kitty... and though you mean to repeat 'Hi' it usually comes out as 'Heh'. Your first official word was the usual: clock. And by usual, I mean completely absurd. Sometimes you omit the L, which is even funnier than your typical overexaggerated pronunciation of 'CuhhhLLlllockghghghghgh.' That is a very impressive first word, Monster! You are also very amused by clocks, which means you point and laugh and say clock. We couldn't be prouder of you!

You sleep like a champ, and have for quite a while now. We put you to bed around 8pm, and you stay asleep until just about 7am, give or take an hour (stupid daylight savings time.) You wake up in a great mood almost every day, and you are the smiliest boy I've ever known. You weren't overly snuggly for the first nine months of your life, since you were always in a hurry to do something. But now you lay your head on our shoulders when you're sleepy and you love to lay down on me for story time. You can sit and play by yourself for half an hour these days, inspecting every inch of a toy or a book. You laugh hysterically at the cats, and sometimes at Mama and me. You are just a good little boy, and we're lucky that you're ours. In the next month or so, you'll experience your first Christmas -- exceptions allowed for last year when you were a few days old, and your eyes couldn't focus. I'm excited to see you open presents, and I'm really excited to see you devour your first birthday cake.

And really, we can't wait to watch you do all the remaining firsts too. You're our favorite, Danny.

summer, sunshine and an almost-toddler

2010-08-26T11:35:00.007-04:00

Hello, all! It's been about four months since I've written, but fear not -- things are going very well. Just your usual busy summer. The boy is starting to cruise, he rolls over like a champ but still isn't crawling. I think he's determined to learn to walk before he crawls, naturally. He's begun to make sounds that resemble words, which is keeping us very entertained. He's got a handful so far: baba, dada, a high and screechy velociraptor noise, a soft voice he uses to talk to his bear, Ted, and the beginnings of hi! He prefers to say hi to my neice, but occassionally he'll say it to one of us. This whole talking thing is new in the past week or so, and it seems to happen all at once. Next week, he'll tell me he's ready to learn to drive.

I can't believe he's already eight months old! It seems like just yesterday that I was wondering when he would hold onto a toy, or when he would start babbling at us.

Now I'm starting to wonder if maybe he needs a little brother or sister.

I'm pretty sure he does. :)

We're still in the planning stages, which of course means I will have lots to write about. For now, all I can think to type is that I'm so excited. So. Excited.

Hello, Monster!

2010-05-03T18:30:00.003-04:00

You are four months old. I can't believe how quickly time has passed since you were born, and now you smile and laugh and sit up (with a little assistance) and jump around in your bouncer. You have a daily routine now, and with the notable exception of the 4:30am meal*, we all love it. You have a mind of your own already, and you're not likely to be too shy. Happy or sad, you let everyone know how you're feeling. You wear your heart on your sleeve, along with lots of drool and a little spit up. Oh, wait... that's my sleeve!

You wake up (*ahem) just before our alarms go off, and about half of the time, you lay in your crib and play with your feet while you wait for us to come and get you. Quiet little coos can be heard from our loft, which is right above your crib, and as you are well aware, we have no door between us. On the days that you aren't quietly playing, you have an incredible ten-syllable aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH that it takes you fifteen seconds to get out, just in case we didn't realize you were awake. When we walk to your crib, and say good morning, you give us your biggest smile, and you wiggle your whole body at once.

You've started eating rice cereal too, which is a nice switch from the lonely bottles of yore. We're in week two of solid(ish) food, and for the most part, you LOVE it. We've learned to give you a few ounces of milk first, lest the hungry monster rears his unhappy head, but after that you are a baby bird for the spoon. Yesterday, you inadvertantly spit a mouth full of cereal in Mama's face. I can't wait to feed you vegetables, and see this same thing happen, since all three of us were pretty amused. You roll easily onto each side, but haven't shown much interest in rolling all the way onto your tummy, possibly because you loathe tummy time. You're getting better, but many times when we lay you face down, you just give a frustrated grunt. You make great swimming motions on the ground, and it won't be long before you realize that tummy time means moving time.

Since you see half of the Grandparents every day, we spend a good amount of time in the car, where you ride quietly and happily almost every day. *Dodging bullet noise.* I have a mirror mounted on the back seat, so I can see you in my rearview as you play with your guys. (Not that I'm watching that as I drive, of course.) Between all of us, you get a good deal of attention, and it has turned you into a very social boy. You have also mastered the social cough, which everyone knows is a talent all employers are looking for. You gain a new skill almost every day, and this weekend you learned to blow raspberries. I'd like to say it's on command, but half of the time you just squish up your face and laugh at us doing it. You also like to sit upright. You remind us of this every time we attempt to lay you down, like we did, oh... two weeks ago. Because, now you must sit. You put absolutely everything in your mouth, including my hair and sometimes your entire hand makes it in. I can't wait until you realize that your feet can go in there, because you will just love that. You drool all the time, and I swear you have a bottom tooth coming in, though I've sworn that for about three weeks, with no teeth in sight. Yet. Sometimes Mommy is right, but in a delayed way. Remember that, monster.

It took us about a month of sleep training (for both you and for us) but you now go to bed with relative ease. We lay you down with your new favorite blankey, and turn on the mobile and you put yourself to sleep. Compared to just a month ago, that is a snap. Since your crib is on the main level, you don't get much of a shield from noise, but you've handled that quite well. Aside from that one dinner party, where you had trouble falling asleep (we are so sorry about that one) you sleep through Super Mario matches and company all the time. I'm not even sure what I'll do when you and I don't share that middle of the night feeding anymore.

Wait, what am I saying? Don't let that stop you from sleeping through the night. We can find lots of time to smile at each other when we're both awake, I promise.

We're sorry we are always eating your cheeks.

You're our favorite, monster!

Condo news

2010-04-12T18:41:00.048-04:00

We had our first open house on Saturday, which went quite well. We had five couples show up. The first couple emailed us the day the house hit Craigslist, and were the first to arrive on Saturday. They even came back a second time to take pictures. They're returning tonight with her dad, which seems promising to me.

The boy slept throughout the open house, in his swing, sans clothes.
We are nothing if not classy.

http://www.2672w14thstunit5.com/

In other news, we think the boy may be teething... He hasn't been sleeping or eating like normal, and has been gnawing his fists and anything within reaching distance. He's also got flushed cheeks, without a fever. (Dr. Google tells me that could be teething, so we're running with that.) I think I felt a tooth, but I couldn't tell. It's incredibly difficult to see inside an infant's mouth, by the way; I had no idea. Their little tongues are not cooperative at all. He's also sixteen weeks old today, which in my brain means he's 4 months, even though he's not. This kid-age-math is almost as confusing as pregnancy math was.

Also, I realized over the weekend that I have acquired a new skill:
The not-quite-stopped-Stop: (noun) At a red light or in congested traffic, the subtle removing of one's foot from the brake, just enough to make the car gently rock half-an-inch forward and then stop again, over and over, fooling the infant into thinking that the car is moving.

I'm contacting the dictionary people to have it added.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T17:42:00.003-04:00

Okay, I won't move a muscle...

It's feeling like spring around here. The buds are peeking, the birds are out and it's my favorite time of the year; I feel all excited, like a kid on summer break. We did work around the condo Saturday with the windows open (gasp!) and walked to grab lunch in the neighborhood -- get ready -- without sweatshirts. I know that it'll dip back down some before it stays for good, but it was just what I needed.

In Danny news: he's 15 weeks old and trying to talk all the time. Some days he's interested in rolling, though he has yet to make it over all the way. He also thinks he can sit upright on his own, so he lunges forward, head-first on your lap. (This is especially fun if you're not giving him your undivided attention.) He's outgrowing his 3-month clothes, and solidly working his way through the 6-9 -monthers. He grabs things and puts everything in his mouth, with moderate success. He's also thisclose to sleeping through the night, with just one feeding around 5am. I figured out that our forty-minute nighttime feedings could be cut down to less than fifteen by using a faster nipple, so I don't even mind getting up now.

Also, I believe that Faster Nipple would be an excellent band name.

In work news: I have made it through the first three weeks of the Return To Work and on Sunday night, didn't even get sad when I realized that the weekend was over. Well, not more sad than the average bear, so we're making progress. I had no idea how wimpy I would be about returning until it happened.

In blog news: this one's really good

We have our first open house this weekend, so we're getting all the final details figured out. I plan to do the cliché cookie-baking, and I hope for nice weather. If you're in the neighborhood this Saturday, feel free to stop by... Maybe I'll share my cookies with you.

Maybe.

A moving plan

2010-03-23T15:09:00.000-04:00

We live in a modern loft in Tremont, which is just outside of Cleveland. Until now, it has been the perfect spot -- close to amazing restaurants, close to downtown, close to work, near bike paths and shopping, and as I've mentioned before, our neighbors are spectacular. The only problem is that we're about forty minutes from our families, and since the Grandparents are watching him during the day, that means a hefty commute. So, we're going to move. But we sure are going to miss it here...

She hasn't written in HOW LONG?

2010-03-09T15:56:00.000-05:00

It's been eleven weeks since Danny was born, and I was able to write one post. One post about his birth, and I didn't even finish the story! (As a quick attempt: he's healthy, he's happy and he poops once a day.) It sounds so cliché, but having a baby is one of the few absolute excuses one can whip out in life.

"You've stopped calling."

I had a baby.

"You look exhausted!"
I had a baby.

"You ate all the Cheese Balls!"

I. Had. A. Baby!!!

Now I only read about sleep training and tummy time; I consider it a good day if I can manage to make dinner, or leave the house -- or shower. Showering used to be the most mundane thing I did each day, and now I actually look forward to it. Working out was something that I had to get out of the way, and now it feels a bit like luxury time. Did you know that you can watch an entire movie on the treadmill if you time it right? It's the little things.

On Monday, I return to work. After twelve weeks of spending my days with the boy, (and the last six weeks of my pregnancy, watching doctor-prescribed television,) I will shower daily and get in the car before a morning nap of my own. I tried not to think about it all winter. Spring will be here, and then it'll just happen...

Well, now it's spring. Possibly time to get out of the house, Suze.

My parents and Karen's will take turns watching him during the week, so he'll be well-loved and well-coddled, to say the least. I, on the other hand, will have to actually focus on something.

This could prove to be quite an adjustment.

It's never what you think

2010-01-10T12:49:00.003-05:00

My whole life I've heard stories about the magical wonderment of the day your child is born. I've read articles written by new moms detailing the moment they fell in love with their baby as he laid on their chest, just seconds after the cord was cut. I have watched countless episodes of baby shows, crying every time the baby was born, feeling so much emotion for the mothers and babies whose lives I watched for thirty minutes. I had prepared a birth song list that would play behind us. I had packed all new toiletries that smelled great and looked pretty for afterward. I imagined that my son's birth would be filled with happy moments, some pain, and a roomful of family laughing and smiling, with cartoon bluebirds flying all around us.

Danny's birth day was nothing like I had imagined.

As soon as we were admitted at midnight the night before, they had hooked me up to a fetal monitor. We watched TV, slept, talked to family and such, all through the faint clippity-clop of Danny's heart beating. My mother was especially interested in the fetal monitor. She stared intently as my contractions synced with his vitals. Prior to my epidural, she'd excitedly announce each contraction's arrival, because labor contractions are so difficult to detect on one's own.

......AAAAAAAAAHHHH...... and then there was the epidural. And the pain stopped. With the epidural checked off my to-do list, I was already scripting the end to the most beautiful day of my life. Or so I thought.

Fourteen hours of overconfidence had passed when suddenly Danny's rhythm slowed down by about half. All eyes in the room went immediately to the fetal monitor. The one downside of watching the well-intentioned but well-edited baby shows on TLC is that they manage to give you just enough information to scare the crap out of you when a situation arises in your own labor. 'Late decellerations' is a phrase I'd heard just moments before countless c-sections on TV, but I knew very little about what it meant, other than the fact that it's is a sign of fetal distress. After it continued for a few minutes, we tried turning me on one side, then the other. His heartrate which should be around 150 didn't rise above 80. My doctor said something about an Operating Room technician and within sixty seconds, ten masked doctors ran into the room. Apparently, if you're already worried about your baby and you're hopped up on hormones -- both natural and synthetic -- the more worked up you get, the more your body will shake. Karen stood by me, smiling and reassuring, while our mothers stood by trying to smile, listening very intently. The masks began talk of an emergency c-section, my shaking turned into tears and the faces in the room were no longer smiling.

After the the late decellerations were somewhat controlled, my labor was allowed to progress on its own, without the addition of a hormone that was strengthening my contractions. Every hour or so, the doctors would check my progress and announce that we were a little bit closer to 10 centimeters. Around 9pm, I felt a little uncomfortable, chalking it up to laying in a bed for almost a day. Within ten minutes, I was in tears from the pain in my neck. I figured that if they can stop the pain of labor, they could stop the pain of a neck spasm. Apparently, that's not the case. And, since it was the day for unexpected things, just as I was in the most pain I'd been in all day, it was time to push. They had warned us that the baby was turned face up, which means that it takes more effort to deliver and can be more painful, but I still wasn't feeling much, except some pressure, so I pushed. Karen held my right foot, my mother held my left foot, and people whose faces I could no longer see were counting to ten. Imagine going through an hour of hard labor (back labor, at that) with a very painful neck spasm. They also told me that I had developed a fever of 102*. It wasn't fun, and it seemed endless, but I knew that the average first time mother pushes for 1-3 hours, so I figured that pain would stop -- even if it took three hours. With my iPod on shuffle beside me, a somewhat inappropriate but terribly fitting song came on. They checked my progress after a little over an hour of pushing, only to find that the baby had not descended AT ALL during that whole time. Cue the tears again. Now we were going to have a c-section and this time I didn't really mind. Surely if they're doing a c-section, my neck will stop locking up or at least stop hurting. Cue the sarcasm.

Karen told me afterward that she felt like she waited for much longer than the fifteen minutes it took them to prep me for surgery. By the time she walked into the O.R., they had already begun operating, and she sat down by my head. I was wide awake and probably more nervous for her than I was for myself. It took them about ten minutes from the first cut before I heard him cry. It sounded so much different than any other baby's cry that I had ever heard. I remember thinking how beautiful his voice sounded, and I remember crying just like I did during the birth shows, but this time it was my own moment -- even if I didn't get there quite the way I figured I would.

We were taken back to our original delivery room to say hello to the grandparents who had been there for seventeen hours. I can't imagine how they hung around that long; it seemed like a long day to me, but I was at least a little busy! My mom said that watching me go through that day was harder than giving birth to me was. They took turns holding Danny and took some pictures, and then left us to try to get some sleep after a long few days.

What happened next deserves its own post. More to come...

Daniel has arrived!!!

2009-12-22T02:25:00.001-05:00

12/21 11:41pm

Rough day but completely worth it already.

Story to come when we catch up on sleep a little. Everyone's perfect.

The last night

2009-12-20T18:16:00.001-05:00

When I was five years old, I got to see The Captain & Tennille in concert on my birthday. (I know, I was a hip, hip kid.) From what I remember, I LOVED loved them and was sooooo excited to see them that I literally made myself sick. To this day, any time I'm nervous or excited, I refer to it as Captain & Tennille stomach. Every birthday, every Christmas, every vacation, my nervous stomach reared its ugly head. I'd say that right now, I might have the biggest C&T stomach ever, and we my need to rename the condition after today. We're as ready as we'll be, and in five hours, we'll be heading to the hospital.

Thanks to all who wrote or called to wish us luck!! We'll be sure to update as soon as we have news.

Induction date set

2009-12-10T16:26:00.000-05:00

I saw my doctor yesterday, and all's well. My blood pressure appears to be under control with the bed rest, but we'll still induce before the Christmas due date. We go in at midnight on Sunday December 20th unless labor starts on its own before then. That's a week from Sunday. Commence freak-out.

I'm starting to get a little nervous about labor, but since I have no frame of reference, it's all a bit abstract. Breathe, Susan... breathe! People have done this since the beginning of time, and everyone on the planet was born. Bright side is we get to meet Daniel, and we have a concrete date to count down to. We had a bit of a trial run on Friday night, when I was having minor contractions for almost four hours. They were about fifteen minutes apart, but they stopped on their own. Karen was doing laundry (and doing little dances around the living room) and we realized that we weren't completely ready yet. I was more nervous than I figured I would be, so I think the practice may have helped me a little bit. I get all anxious when I think about how I'll feel going to the hospital in ten days. HOLY CRAP - ten days.

On the bed rest front, I'm almost getting used to relaxing every day. I've got a bit of a schedule down, and I'm thinking it's a good time to catch up on sleep and naps and the like, since that'll all come to a screeching halt in just TEN DAYS.

a fun meme for a day on the couch

2009-12-01T14:29:00.000-05:00

The Mother from Bao in the Oven tagged me on this one, and I appreciate the couch project. :)

1. What is the color of your toothbrush? Clear and sky blue
2. Name one person who made you smile today. Karen, every day
3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Sitting on the couch, just waking up. Shocking, I know...
4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Wishing I had some cookies
5. What is your favorite candy bar? Peanut butter cups, if they only came in bar form :)
6. Have you ever been to a strip club? Once, ages ago for a friend's bachelorette party
7. What is the last thing you said aloud? 'Okay, bye'
8. What is your favorite ice cream? Cookies 'n' Cream
9. What was the last thing you had to drink? Caffeine-free diet coke
10. Do you like your wallet? Don't have one, I stick my debit card in my pocket and I'm on my way (though I did ask Santa for a little card carrier)
11. What was the last thing you ate? ~~Cheerios and soymilk~~ Stephanie came over and made us a Spanish omelette with mashed potatoes, onions, eggs and fresh diced tomatoes on top. Tasty lunch!
12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? Five pairs of chenille socks
13. The last sporting event you watched? Browns game, Sunday.
14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Theater popcorn. In the absence of a movie, ANY popcorn will do.
15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? Karen
16. Ever go camping? Three times, and it's not really for me.
17. Do you take vitamins daily? I have for about a year, yes.
18. Do you go to church every Sunday? No
19. Do you have a tan? HA. No tan. Freckles, maybe.
20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? I prefer pizza with pine nuts, made at home.
21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? No, straight from the can. With a cozie.
22. What did your last text message say? Sure :)
23. What are you doing tomorrow? I have big plans on the couch.
24. Favorite color? Blue
25. Look to your left; what do you see? An orange cat, curled up in a ball.
26. What color is your watch? Silver
27. What do you think of when you hear “Australia”? The Shins
28. Would you strip for money? Nope
29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? Drive Thru
30. What is your favorite number? 12
31. Who’s the last person you talked to on the phone? My mom
32. Any plans today? Finishing some last minute Christmas shopping from the couch
33. In how many states have you lived? Just Ohio
34. Biggest annoyance right now? Not being allowed to grocery shop. (I know, lame)
35. Last song listened to? Australia, thanks to #27
36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? Not without great difficulty
37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? Yes, her name is Karen
38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? New Balance
39. Are you jealous of anyone? People who are allowed to grocery shop
40. Is anyone jealous of you? Probably not
41. Do you love anyone? Yep, lots
42. Do any of your friends have children? A few of them do
43. What do you usually do during the day? These days, I watch a lot of television and read.
44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? Nope
45. Do you use the word hello daily? Yes. I always answer the phone 'Hello there!' or so I've been told
46. What color is your car? Silver
47. What size wedding ring do you wear? I think a 7, but that was before swollen fingers.
48. Are you thinking about someone right now? Danny
49. Have you ever been to Six Flags? Does Cedar Point count?
50. How did you get your worst scar? I used to jog (fine, I walked briskly) around my neighborhood and I
came across a puppy who was hanging out by some landscapers. They had him tied to a stake in the grass, and he was the cutest thing ever. I leaned over to pet him for a few minutes, then started to jog away when he crossed in front of me, and my feet got caught up in his leash. I went down hard on my left knee, and to this day it hurts if I even lightly brush it against the underside of a table, let alone bang it on anything. Last time I had dinner on my parents' deck, I banged that knee on a table leg and cried. In front of my whole family. It wasn't pretty.

Okay, slacker...

2009-11-30T09:11:00.001-05:00

You've been on the couch / stuck in the house on bedrest for two weeks, and we've only gotten two posts? Slacker! What I did realize is that there's not a whole lot to write about with no one around all day. I've watched a hundred movies, (Don't bother with 'Knowing' -- worst of the bunch) read four books, taken a billion naps and now I just count down how many days until we meet Danny.

Last appointment, my blood pressure was down (phew) which I figured meant that I would be released, when in fact Karen's prediction of 'The bedrest is working, keep it up' was correct. My doctor also said that we'll likely induce in the 39th week, so that means we're looking at the week before Christmas. Nothing like cutting a whole week off an already short, four-week countdown. It's starting to sink in now that we'll have him home soon. The crib is up, the clothes and blankets and sheets (oh, my) are all washed, and we have everything we should need for his arrival and the week or two after as we adjust. So excited! Moxy and Phoebe have begun to think that this is their new play area, which is funny since they didn't bother with it once until we put the new sheets in.

Thanksgiving was very nice in KarenSusanLand. We visited my family on Thursday and Karen's on Friday, and came away with enough leftovers to eat all weekend. I even made turkey noodle soup yesterday -- I really miss our cooking Sundays, but I might've overdone it a little, because my back was killing me by 6pm. I won't be surprised if my recent lack of weight gain is no longer lacking after all that food.

I've been watching baby shows on Discovery Health for weeks, and here and there Karen watches with me. Saturday, we were folding clothes and watching a typical episode where the father was helping deliver the baby. I asked if she would be interested in being that hands-on, and she said it depends on whether she can get past the blood and guts of it all. I paused the TV and said (innocently) that you have to look past it, and not think of it as blood or guts. She tentatively agreed, and we unpaused... That very moment, the baby onscreen was born, and it was the most graphic birth I think I've ever seen. Amniotic fluid and blood and all nine pounds of baby were placed on the mother's stomach, and we both LOST IT. I haven't laughed that hard in ages, and I don't think it did much to help convince Karen that she wants to help deliver Danny. :)

More to come...

another week and some mandated couch time

2009-11-13T11:19:00.002-05:00

We had an amazing weekend of shower fun starting on Saturday night. Lots of fun costumes and great food, along with a houseful of good friends made for a terrific night.

Sunday we had a family shower with more people, more fun and more gifts... Our friends and family have been so generous, it's been unbelievable. We're lucky to have such great people in our lives!

This week I felt a little run down and figured I did too much over the weekend, but when I called my doctor with my symptoms yesterday, she recommended I go to Labor & Delivery triage at the hospital... Not my idea of a good time, but I survived. They released me late yesterday and put me on modified bedrest, which means that I get to stand up to fix myself food and that's about it. To quote Karen, if you'd told me that I could have a week off to watch TV a few weeks ago, I'd have gladly taken it. Now that it means that I can't really do much, I'm freaking out a little bit. I have another OB appointment on Thursday of next week, so I'll know more then. Until then, I have already signed up for a free Netflix trial and have set the DVR to record any B-movie that's on in the next week. At least the cats seem to like the company. :)

so much to update on. so little time -- bullet-style

2009-11-05T13:47:00.002-05:00

*Friday night: ate fries for dinner, which I heartily regretted a few hours later.

*Saturday was our labor and delivery class, which was informative and pretty much what I figured it would be. We signed up for the express version of a Prepared Childbirth class, which means we were mailed a thirty page booklet that walked us through the basics, and also gave us a code that allowed us access to an online library of videos and information sheets. The class itself was only three hours long, which was less expensive and less time-intensive, perfect for us (read: me). We learned a little about how to breathe and a little about what drug options there would be. AKA: Susan gets drugs early and often, and no one gets hurt. Interesting tidbit: the birthing coach recommended a code word, so that the partners know to clear the room of people for a bit. I like that we’re close enough with our fams that we can just say ‘Um, we really need to be alone for a few’ instead of making up a code system.

*Sunday we decided to walk to breakfast in our neighborhood, which would’ve been a great idea a) had I not been 8 months pregnant, b) had the first two places we tried been less swamped and c) had the third place where we actually ate had a kitchen staff at all. We finally ate, and were treated very well, but my 10am idea for breakfast turned into a noon brunch. We ended up at a local pub, that serves beers with breakfast... While we waited for our food (probably took about an hour or so) Karen had a few beers, and by the time we walked out, she was (rather innocently) a little buzzed. Ah, the fun of being the designated driver at 1pm on a Sunday.

*Tuesday a few of our friends at work threw a shower for us, which was incredibly sweet. Lots of people joined us to celebrate Danny, and we got lots of generous help and some awfully cute gifts to boot. Karen’s parents joined us, which was quite a nice surprise, and the hour flew by. We’re very lucky to work with such kind people, and we couldn’t have had a better time.

*Today I had an OB appointment, where everything went fine. My doctor confirmed that he’s a big boy (never saw THAT coming) and assured me that we don’t need to worry about him getting too big. I’ll take her word for it. Good news for me today: I’ve only gained a pound since my last appointment… Shocking, since he’s gaining about half a pound a week now. By my (horrible) estimation, that will put him right around the eight pound mark when he’s due. We’ll see how that pans out. My OB appointments will be bi-weekly for a bit, and then weekly. We’re getting closer to the end every time I check. We’re fifty days from our EDD, and can’t believe we’re so close.

*This weekend, we have non-stop action: a dinner with friends Friday, Saturday we shop for costumes for our co-ed costume party / shower which is Saturday night. Sunday is our family shower… PHEW. Nothing like packing it all into one weekend!

*Karen has a game she plays with Danny, where she pushes in on my belly and he pushes out, usually just after dinner when he’s very active. It’s an awful lot of fun, and I love that they get to interact even before they officially meet.

*Updated symptoms: heartburn, back pain, scary swollen ankles and fingers, still sleeping pretty well, definitely waddling, generally looking ~~like a house~~ ~~like a sea lion~~ very pregnant. I also drop foods/beverages on my belly daily now. It's a good look for me.

*Size at this point: 5 lbs, and about eighteen inches long. Roughly, the size of a small baby. :)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T10:58:00.001-04:00

57 days, and a few sonogram pics

2009-10-29T10:57:00.000-04:00

The first one is his skull, which looks less than round to me. Karen, of course, is sure that I'm a complete wacko and googled the shape of human skulls to show me pictures. She is one patient woman.

He is facing the upper left corner of the picture, for those of you like me who are struggling to see things now. It was a little easier when his whole body fit into the frame at once.

The second picture is his foot touching the top of his head, which just makes him look all bendy. The acrobatic moves I've been feeling are apparently for a reason.

This one looks like a hookah to me, but I'm pretty sure that's unlikely. This is probably rated NC-17, but I can't see anything for the life of me.

:) 57 days left!

That's still a big kitten!

2009-10-28T10:38:00.001-04:00

Yesterday's appointment went just fine, save the fact that we waited for over two hours to be seen. The doctor placed the ultrasound wand onto my stomach and almost immediately pulled it off and asked, 'Do you know the sex?' Apparently, our boy is very proud of his anatomy, and surprised even the doctor with his immodesty. The kitten is doing well, he's head down and all looks good. He currently weighs 4lbs, 9oz, and that puts him in the 86th percentile -- he's still bigger than 86% of babies his age. Sonograms to come... I didn't grab a picture of them last night. On a few of the pictures, his foot is up by his head. I could just eat him up already, and I haven't even met him yet.

We sat in the main waiting room with a family waiting for their own baby to be born: Grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles all excited and anxious. After half an hour or so, the dad came downstairs to announce the birth of their baby boy, and everyone shouted and jumped for joy... I might have cried a bit, (read: cried quite a bit) even though I don't know them at all. I just imagined Karen walking into the same scene, with news of our baby boy. Welcome to my world.

Another week until my next OB appointment... we're crawling to the finish line, but these little glimpses make it easier to wait. Strangers ask what I'm having, and say things like 'You must be due any day now, huh?' Nope, just under two months left now. 'Oh, you'll never go that long... He'll be early.'

Whatever you say! We wouldn't mind meeting him anytime after 37 weeks. :)

sixty days left and a weekend recap

2009-10-26T15:54:00.002-04:00

I was reading another blog earlier and saw that they were only 58 days away from their due date... 'Hmm... we must be a week or so away from that countdown,' I thought. I was a little surprised to learn that we're a mere sixty days away from ours. Yikes. Time flies when you're pretending labor won't happen!

We had a fun-filled weekend to say the least... Friday we had family game night at our place, and stayed up until past 1am, which is later than I have stayed up in months. Brunch Saturday with Jami and Laura, who trekked a whole hour to our side of town just to eat with us (and pick up their Farmer's Market bounty). I give them credit... I have trouble putting on clothes and walking across the street on Saturdays. They are a motivated bunch! Saturday night we went to the East side for dinner with fam, and had a Neighbor Cookfest yesterday.

I made braised short ribs for the first time, and I highly recommend this recipe. I didn't let them sit overnight, but I swear they were amazing without the extra step. I managed to spend an extra thirty minutes in the store, searching for a few of the more obscure ingredients (crème fraîche?) only to find that the recipe didn't even really need them (and that sour cream is a respectable alternative)... The meat and the gravy it produced was A-Mazing and it has quickly become my new favorite meal. (Hint: the prep was the bulk of the work, since that took me a good solid ninety minutes, the remaining cooking time of 3 hours was a breeze, aside from the first-time-braisers-maintenance as the juices overflowed onto the oven floor.) Thanks, Stephanie, for keeping us company and helping with dessert -- we made little apple pie tarts in a cupcake tin that were SO easy and SO good, that if I hadn't made up the idea, I'd think I'd stolen it. Before we knew it, it was 9pm and we were all in a food coma on the couch, lounging while the Amazing Racers did the opposite of lounging.

We have our 3rd Tri Ultrasound tomorrow, and I couldn't be happier to see the kitten again. It's been since early August since we've caught a glimpse of him, and he should be considerably bigger now... Average size is about 4½ pounds, and about 16" long. If he's still following their early predictions, he should weigh about thirty pounds. We'll see tomorrow!

more crazy, please!

2009-10-20T13:01:00.007-04:00

Last night, Karen made pizza and generally waited on me for the evening, which I loved. I figured I'd take advantage, and mentioned that I had a taste for frosting, jokingly asking if she'd whip some up for me. She immediately got that lit-up kid look, and headed to the kitchen, insisting that I close my eyes. (Cue the slapstick music.) Ever the skeptic, I followed her orders, covered my eyes with one hand and began to giggle somewhat uncontrollably while I waited for her to return with her surprise. She continued to insist (loudly) that I not peek! NO PEEKING! I MEAN IT! So the covered eyes continued, as did our laughter. She approached me and I began to worry what might be in her hands, realizing it could be ANYTHING!!! I wracked my brain to think of the contents of our fridge and freezer -- it could be fruit, milk, veggies… or it could be a mean surprise like cold chicken soup. I was convinced that I might have something to be afraid of, so I covered my mouth. We both were laughing hysterically, and in between the laughter I could barely catch my breath. I had to give in, as you’d expect, and allow her to finish her surprise, so I opened my mouth and waited for what felt like MINUTES, only to hear the familiar sound of compressed air. She had sprayed whipped cream into my mouth, and the second I realized it wasn’t soup I was as hysterical as she was. I laughed harder, she laughed harder. I stood up, and laughed even harder… aaaaaaaaand then tried to take a deep breath. Yep, not the smartest move with a mouthful of whipped topping. I began to choke only for a second and then recovered, but not before the laughter turned to terror and I began to experience some rabid hybrid of laugh-crying. I couldn’t even contain it, and this noise escaped from my mouth that sounded like a wounded sea lion, tears streaming down my cheeks, while miraculously still laughing. (Imagine a very extended duck honk.) The look on her face was a cross between delight and true concern, since no one normally cries, laughs and wails at the same time. She kept saying she was sorry she tried to kill me with whipped cream, which was even funnier. After a few minutes I calmed down, and we kept laughing and recapping how in the hell that happened. "You're totally going to have to post a story about this tomorrow... I wonder if it will translate," she said. I don't know if it did, but just writing it made me laugh again.

I don’t think she’ll try to surprise me with food again, but I’m thinking that it may be my turn to surprise her, just to show her what she missed.

week 30

2009-10-12T13:07:00.000-04:00

Ever since we found out we were pregnant, I've been looking forward to our hospital's labor & delivery tour, and I'm not exactly sure why... Maybe because it helps me visualize what it'll be like the day we meet our boy, or maybe it's because that meant that we'd be so far along. I figured it would be a sunny fall day with lots of orange leaves and fall temperatures, which I was not mistaken about. I started my day with a spring in my step, heading to the only somewhat-local Old Navy that has a maternity department, for some new tops. I learned a lot about how online returns ~~don't~~ work, but was able to buy some layering pieces so that my ever-growing belly doesn't peek out from below all my shirts. (Quick lesson learned this week: just because you start out your pregnancy with shirts that you're sure will be WAY TOO BIG all through your pregnancy, maybe you should listen to all the people who tell you in that 'been there' tone that... huh... yeah... that's never going to happen, and you'll outgrow everything you buy.) We then headed to the hospital a little early so we could pick up lunch along the way, and arrived in plenty of time to make it to the tour. What we hadn't considered is that I didn't show the hospital map to Karen, and we were navigating using my map skills. (♫ Dun dun DUN! ♪) We eventually made it to where we were supposed to be after a few detours and only managed to miss the first five minutes of the lecture portion. Way to go, Suze.

We learned that there are cameras allowed up until the birth and then immediately after, which is fine with me. I would like to point out here that I reserve veto rights regarding all video and pictures of myself from that day, and am glad that I won't have to worry about any actual-birth-photos. We learned about pre-registering and saw the rooms that we'll deliver in. We also saw the post-partum rooms, which I was a little surprised to learn, were not as lavish or as large as I had vividly imagined. But all in all, it was pretty much how I'd thought it would be. (The one surprise: there's a 'room service' menu, that you can order from whenever you'd like. Nicer than the typical hospital rounds of jello and chicken broth I had imagined.)

After our tour, we made homemade pot pies with our neighbor, Stephanie, and basically lounged the night away. Sadly, Monday morning came much sooner than I thought it would, as is often the case after a busy weekend. Oh well, we're in the thirtieth week now, which means that the babe is about the size of a squash.

I can say he's at least that big, since he is residing on my bladder.

not good

2009-10-06T12:37:00.000-04:00

So today, I feel unwell. Nothing that won't disappear in a few days I'm sure, but I'm grouchy and foggy and I feel like I've been hit by a bus. For the first hour of work, I pondered going home, but that seems like a lot of work. I'm certainly not dying... So I'm toughing it out and ~~getting everyone else remotely sick too~~ getting some work done.

So please ignore me as I sit here quietly and every so often scoop a spoonful of Date Bars* into my mouth.

*really the best thing ever invented, and likely to cure all known ailments

reason #497

2009-10-05T17:15:00.001-04:00

Every week or so, I obsess about the items on our to-do list that have yet to be crossed off; some days it's our need for a crib, others, a glider. One day, I scanned eBay for an hour looking for a bargain on breast pumps. You never really know what you'll get. (Quick aside, Karen's sign language classes have had a mixed result: She occasionally makes up signs on the go. For example, I don't believe she's learned the sign for breast pump in her class, but that didn't stop her from unwittingly acting it out at dinner with my parents. Good times.) So, lately I've been focusing on the fact that we haven't chosen a crib yet, and since we're still eighty days from our due date, this hasn't really been a pressing issue. By Saturday afternoon, though, I had it in my head that we needed to go shopping to at least compare models and ~~probably~~ maybe to buy one. So we looked up the nearest Babies R Us, and found it near the airport, but we decided against the trip and went about our day. We were supposed to attend a college play that night, to fulfill a requirement for one of Karen's classes. The play was about an hour and fifteen minutes away, which means I was on the lookout for alternative ideas... Maybe we could find a play that's closer another night? Maybe there's another event altogether that we could attend? Basically, I hemmed and hawed until she changed her mind. Of course, I immediately felt a little selfish for not being more easygoing about the whole idea, and I proceeded to try to talk her back into seeing the play. I start to feel better when I think I've successfully talked her into it.

Quick aside, I'm HORRIBLE with geography; I once thought Detroit was east of us. And by once, I mean about two years ago. Karen is well aware my geographical disinclination. She finds it endearing.
(Or so I tell myself.)

Cast your mind... We're now in the car, heading west when I think we should be heading east.

Me: "I looked at the map, and the campus was south-east of us."
Her: "Are you sure you looked at it right?"
Me: "I think so... It was east of the main campus"
Her: "You must've looked at it wrong"
Me: "Hmm, really?
...pause
"Okay"

About fifteen minutes later, we're passing the airport we discussed earlier, but I convince myself that she mentioned that it was en route to the theater. Hint: this is when normal people would've caught onto her scheme. A few minutes later, we're exiting at the mall that I now remember is near the Babies R Us, and I realize what she's done. Turns out, she felt guilty that we were going to a play I didn't care about when I'd been wanting to look at cribs. ☺

Reason #497 that we're perfect for each other.

another weekend gone...

2009-10-05T13:38:00.001-04:00

Is it really Monday again? I think we just need a few weeks of vacation in a row, to read a lot and better ourselves, and -- oh, fine... I wanted to sit around and do nothing a little longer.

We had a usual weekend, with a trip to Babies 'R' Us thrown in. I felt a little like a celebrity, getting to use the 'expectant moms only' parking, but I soon chilled out. We found a gorgeous crib that we both love, so we have another item crossed off our lists. It wasn't in stock, despite the 'IN STOCK TODAY' sign, so we'll be picking it up in a week or so. Karen ~~almost killed the counterperson~~ was moderately patient with less than stellar service and after waffling for a bit, we decided to get a changing table elsewhere. Recent internet review checks have taught us that the changing table in question may not have been the best buy anyway, so it all worked out. I can't wait to bring this guy home and set him up! Sick, I know...

We did not get the cute monkey / hedgehog bedding set shown above, for a myriad of reasons, mainly because ~~spending $250 on a bumper and blanket that won't be used at all cause it's dangerous seemed crazy~~ we registered for more frugal choices at Tarjay. I must admit, though, a huge part of me almost bought the bumper/blanket combo just to use it before Danny can roll over. Is this how these companies make all their money? On sappy, crazy mothers who just want the nursery to be adorable regardless of the functionality? Shocking!

In other news, I had a crazy cooking day yesterday, that included fresh tortilla chips, a homemade pumpkin pie, a meatloaf dinner with potatoes and gravy, and date bars. Clearly, I am suffering from some sort of psychotic break, and everyone we know will be fed for weeks. :)

CPR Anytime

2009-10-01T16:11:00.000-04:00

One of my facebook friends mentioned this website, and it couldn't have been more timely... I was looking into CPR class for Karen and myself just this morning, and this website let me order a kit that is less expensive than the classes offered at our hospital... And I figure we can pass it along to the grandparents so they can all take it. There's also adult versions if you're so inclined...

http://cpranytime.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3045660

And, look! Even the dog can learn.

☼ here comes the sun...

2009-10-01T11:09:00.001-04:00

The sun's out for the first day in what feels like weeks... Such a nice change!

I signed us up for our childbirth classes today and I'm getting really excited. Last night, Karen felt Danny kick 'harder than ever before' and he's started to really roll around in there. Hard to believe he'll more than double his current weight before we meet him.

Tonight is also (trumpet noise) my last Bio class!!! It's gone by pretty quickly, but it's been an amazing amount of work. We each have a ten minute presentation tonight that I'm dreading more than I would've thought... I used to be such a brave public speaker, but now I get very nervous. So, I've decided to read from my script and make sure I look up often. Even practicing last night for Karen had my stomach all in knots. I'll be a happy girl by 8pm tonight when it's over. I feel like I should have a tequila and hot dog party. Probably not smart, though... huh?

Question of the day: why is it that we feel so much better when the sun's out? ☼

I just realized...

2009-09-25T17:46:00.000-04:00

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

(yey!)

there sure is a lot of stuff out there

2009-09-21T16:43:00.000-04:00

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

2009-09-18T12:17:00.003-04:00

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

2009-09-16T13:29:00.000-04:00

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

2009-09-15T10:08:00.000-04:00

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!)

2009-09-08T12:02:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-03T13:34:00.010-04:00

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

2009-09-02T10:24:00.012-04:00

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.

it's been a week? dang!

2009-08-31T11:23:00.000-04:00

The past week has been a blur, but that's just blogger-speak for 'I haven't written'. After my birthday off, I had some stomach bug and sat on the couch for a few days unhealthily. After a little recoup time, we went to dinner with fam, went to Mickey's birthday party, and then had the first bonfire of the season with our neighbors. I spent all day Sunday studying, and still have several hours tonight before I'll be done --gotta love accelerated programs. So far, I'm learning all about cells: what their pieces-parts are called, what they all do, how they create food, etc. I know I learned this in high school biology, and again in college Anatomy and Physiology, but clearly that info has been deleted ages ago. It's very cool to be able to take notes on a laptop, though. I type much more quickly than I handwrite, and it's easy to edit and make look all swanky.

I also have been shopping for fall clothes, thanks to some birthday money from the fams. If you're looking for maternity-wear, I highly recommend Old Navy. They have a sale, free shipping for a few weeks, and some really cute styles. A pair of jeans, sweaters and hoodies, mix & match tops, and a pair of cords. I even ordered some scarves. Who am I?

In week 24, Danny is about 12½ inches long, and about a pound and a half. He's going to gain half a pound in the next two weeks, so he's in the middle of a bit of a growth spurt. He will join us in 16 short weeks. Hard to believe!

AND - we have another vacation coming up this weekend. Heading back to Atwood Lake for a few days over the long weekend. YEY!

we could pin 'em!

2009-08-24T12:47:00.003-04:00

We had some friends over this weekend -- we played games, we ate, and we laughed a lot. Mixed in this group was our friend's four-year old son. He might be the most grown-up four-year old I've met. He was not shy at all, and talked to each of us like he's known us for ages. We enjoyed Play-doh, learned that the best game EVER was to ring an old-fashioned bell, and watched as he was fascinated with our cats. At one point, we went on a cat search, finding them as they ~~hid from him~~ napped. We found Phoebe on the bed, and Moxy on the bathroom windowsill. Eric said that we should put them side by side on the bed, so they were all in the same spot. I mentioned that they weren't really fond of sitting together and warned that they might jump down.

He used a very optimistic, matter-of-fact tone when he said, "We could pin 'em!"

***

On the kitten front, he's been really, really active. Last night, I read about our weekly progress in What To Expect, and he kicked the book on my belly, enough that I lost my place. It was a little challenging to read while laughing, but I tried. I can't believe we've made it into our 22nd week... it really seems like just yesterday, we were talking with our new doctor about what our first steps would be. My, how things change.

dreams of bouncing papayas

2009-08-21T16:02:00.000-04:00

I had the strangest dream last night; I gave birth, then waited for the baby to wake up so I could feed him. He didn't wake up for a whole day, and when he did, he was talking. 'Hi, Mom. I'm not really hungry'. He had teeth and looked vaguely like he was in his seventies. I woke up all confused, as if I were in dreamland for a week. Karen drew Benjamin Button parallels and commented on how cute the dream sounded, but it freaked the crap out of me. Thank you, pregnancy dreams.

In kittenland, Dannyboy is kicking up a storm all the time now. He's about a pound, and about the size of a papaya. I had to google one, since I don't think I've ever seen one in person -- now I see why he feels like he's gotten so big. I suppose he's crunched in there, but still... Imagine a papaya bouncing around inside your belly!

This is our last week before school starts for both of us, so it feels like summer is coming to an end. Normally by this time every year, I'm a little bit sad, watching the playing season fade away. This year, it feels like it's just about time for a new season of play. Putting together cribs and bouncey chairs, and organizing baby clothes will be a new hobby.

goings on

2009-08-19T10:55:00.008-04:00

I have become a somewhat shameless fangirl. One of my favorite bloggers decided to stop writing, and I wrote him ~~a crazy ranting email~~ a modestly self-effacing email, stating how much I enjoyed his writing. He wrote back, and was as funny as I'd expect. I don't know why I'm always surprised that bloggers are real people (who write back when you email, shocking!), but ever since I saw his email, I feel like I'd imagine it feels to meet a Backstreet Boy. You know, if they could write well, and were cool.

On the kitten front, I have realized that my daily e-newsletters are filling my head with potential crap about labor and delivery. There's always conflicting advice from the many updates I receive, and I mentioned one to my friend Jaylene yesterday. She brought up the fact that babies are born with sharp little nails that they try to remove their faces with. I said that an article recommended bringing a nail file to the hospital. She was laughing so hard, she couldn't respond. Apparently, there is little chance that we will be able to file his nails just after birth, since they'll be paper thin and his skin will be all soft and also fileable -- whooops. I realized then that I get a lot of advice that all centers around this mythical day that's four months away, where lots of stuff will happen that I won't be prepared for. I will continue to read the updates because I'm obsessed, but I'll try to read them with ~~a grain of salt~~ a little common sense.

Karen keeps telling me that people have been doing this for a very long time, and that things usually work out just fine. I don't know what makes me think that studying will help me be a better laborer or a better parent. Maybe it's just that knowing anything makes all the unknown more comfortable. I'll stick with that for now.

tremors, a clambake, and a pineapple

2009-08-17T16:31:00.003-04:00

All day today, Daniel has been rumbling around in my belly, just like the worms in Tremors. I just hope he doesn't try to pull any jackhammers down the street with his teeth.

This past weekend FLEW by... we went to Kennedy Cocktail Hour on Friday night, had a quick visit from some out-of-town guests (hello, Shareen!), had our condo's Clambake Saturday, and recovered and went to the movies yesterday. Why is it that I always feel like I need a weekend to recover from the weekends? We had a bit of luck with the clambake, since it was supposed to be in the nineties Saturday... we had some much-needed shade in the spot we chose in the garden. We have the best neighbors, if I've never mentioned it before. Great people to have dinner parties with, who feed our cats when we're out of town, and who bring early birthday gifts unannounced (Thanks, Stephanie) and homemade peach pie (Thanks, Greta.)

Here's a slideshow from the festivities:

In Kittenland, Daniel is now the size of an average pineapple, without the leaves.

Soon to come, what it feels like to be turning 35, and a hundredth post celebration, which probably just means more of the usual!

a kangaroo baby, cute pictures of a kitten, and unflattering photos of moi

2009-08-13T14:56:00.001-04:00

The kitten is acting less like a fuzzy little kitten and more like a ferocious kicking animal these days, and Karen felt him kick again this morning. Clearly, he laid low until the gender scan, and now no one is safe. I have learned that he very much dislikes me leaning forward, which I often do when I play laptop at home. Right now he's flopping around, probably in a lunch-induced haze, much like I am.

Here's some of the latest sonogram shots, since I keep neglecting to add them officially. The strange reverse shadows are just from the little plastic covering sheet I keep over them at my desk. Yep -- I'm the girl who puts sheet protectors over things sometimes. You're shocked, I'm sure.

I have also realized that it is quite difficult to take a picture of oneself in the work bathroom, while pretending to be nonchalant in case someone enters. Because, surely, I am not in here, taking a photo of myself with my phone. Today's attempt:

I now leave you with some scenes from last night's volleyball game, when it was juuuuuuuust about to be dark, and I was so afraid of a darkened porta-potty that I walked all the way back from the courts to the bar... Twice.

Also, has anyone noticed that you can't walk right anymore at 21 weeks? All of a sudden, I notice that I'm the slowest walker in any group, and that I just feel funny when I walk. Not in pain, but like I wasn't built for walking. Odd. Very odd.

the kid can kick...

2009-08-12T11:14:00.000-04:00

For the few weeks since I started feeling movement, Karen's been putting her hand on my belly. So far, neither of us have felt anything from the outside, but that all changed last night. Lounging after dinner, I noticed that he was pretty active. Karen reached her hand out and BAM - he kicked us both -- hard! It was probably the strongest kick I've felt, and the fact that she got to feel it too made it pretty cool. The look on her face wasn't bad either.

Since we found out that he's a boy, everything's felt much more real. From registering for big items to looking at Threadless onesies, I can't help but imagine him doing all sorts of little boy things. I wonder if he'll kiss someone in kindergarten and get in trouble like I did. I wonder if he'll be into sports or reading or both. I think about how he'll smell. I wonder what he'll be wearing the first time he smiles at us.

Also, I'd like to thank you all for your comments on baby tubs and wipe warmers and the like. I think I have ~~beaten her into submission~~ covinced her that we should try out lots of items to decide what we will need.

registering for luxury items

2009-08-11T14:53:00.000-04:00

We registered for a handful of basic items last night, mostly necessities with a few fun things added in. I walked Karen through the choices I'd signed up for without her, and we got to the newborn-to-toddler tub. I mentioned that it's a necessity, and how it allows us to bathe him in the tub or in the sink, and showed off the little hammock slingy thing. She just smirked at me, and said that it's a 'luxury item' and how it's likely 'unnecessary'. She began to tell me that people have been bathing billions of babies, likely without this item.

I then decided that she'll be giving Daniel several baths without the infant tub, just to prove to me how easy it will be.

back to the grind

2009-08-10T12:21:00.002-04:00

We're back from a week off and trying to get back into the swing of things. I must admit that I feel very relaxed today... I also realized that during vacation I somehow trained myself to eat almost constantly, so now I'm hungry almost constantly. On the kitten front, we now call him Daniel and Danny and constantly use the correct pronoun when we refer to him. It seems so much more real now that we know he's a boy, and I get the fun task of beginning to register for all the little (and not so little) gadgets and items that we'll need for him. I can't believe that we're halfway done waiting for him... blows my mind!

Vacation was terrific... It was eventful and uneventful all at once. We went on a big hike while the golfers golfed, and my niece Ally swung on an actual vine. I tried, but ended up just lifting my feet for a second... not quite Tarzan here. We rented a boat and got Ally to touch a fish -- as evidenced in the pics. We also ate. I read about three pages in my book, which just shows you that we were just too busy playing Clue and swimming and napping to do anything productive. :)

(slideshow on original post.)

It's a boy!!!

2009-08-07T16:25:00.003-04:00

We had our appointment this morning and everything looks great! The baby is a boy, he had the hiccups during our ultrasound, and my due date is still Christmas day. He's thirteen ounces, which puts him in the ninety-second percentile for weight (and makes him the size of a cantaloupe.) The tech and the doctor kept saying 'he's going to be a big baby!' Afterward, we had lunch with the grandparents, where I had my first glass of wine in months and we got our first blue gift: a blanket from my parents. It's been a great day already.

And now we know that we're having a boy!!!
--sonogram pictures to come

I'm out!

2009-07-31T17:22:00.001-04:00

Fewer things are better than setting your Out of Office replies prior to a vacation. I have been completely high on pending vacation fumes all day, and even the toughest problem I had at work today felt at least a little bit fun. I need to figure out how to bottle this greatness and keep some for that day in October when I'll be fed up without a vacation in sight. (Patent it and sell it, and make eleventy billion dollars. Yeah, that's it.)

I learned today that the kitten is ten inches long now. Ahem. You read that correctly... 10! Before, we only measured crown to rump and now we measure head to toe, which makes those little pudgy legs about 3.5 inches! So, since I always round up, she's almost a foot long! Almost as long as a piece of paper - Letter Size. She's taller than a bottle of ~~beer~~ soda. Now she only has another *gasp* ten to twelve inches to go.

Oh boy. :)

Pics and stories to come from vacation.

unsightly and asymmetrical

2009-07-30T15:45:00.000-04:00

This is an actual photograph of me, taken earlier today. I'd like to point out the light scribbly lines that have appeared on the left side of my belly button. Not only is this unsightly, but seemingly unnecessary... Isn't skin stretchy?

At least grow evenly so things distort in a symmetrical manner, kitten. JEEZ!

the waiting game

2009-07-30T12:13:00.003-04:00

I don't know what I'll do when the countdown is over, aside from changing diapers and rocking a lot. I have lived day-to-day for months, waiting for a date that's five months away, and it feels so normal now. We're heading into the twentieth week, which in the beginning sounded the way 30 years old sounds to a teenager: forever away. But along with getting used to the waiting, I've gotten used to the little changes I've made; I don't think twice about going out to eat and not having a drink. I don't miss eating turkey or swanky cheeses. I've gotten used to the changing body shape and I'm resigned to the fact that none of my pants fasten. But as I write this, I realize this could all be chalked up to my being very easily amused.

Let's hope this amusement lasts right through labor and well into the first few ~~weeks~~ ~~years~~ decades.

a million reasons why

2009-07-29T14:13:00.000-04:00

I started thinking about having kids in my early twenties, and ever since I've been planning out all the things I will get to share with them: music, movies, science, the sky, why I love reading, why family is important... All the usual stuff, I'm sure. But today I read a passage from Catherine Newman's articles Bringing Up Ben & Birdie and I realized that I really want kids because they are hilarious.

"And poor, napless Ben is just a weepy wreck by dinnertime. I ran a bath for him the other evening, hoping to relax him a little before bed. But then he didn't want to get in, so I got in and relaxed by myself while Ben stood naked on the bathmat and unraveled into desperate, tired shreds of himself: "Are you getting out now? Are you? Come on, Mama, here's your towel." At one point he was rooting around under the sink and emerged with a fistful of Tampax. "Hey, Mama," he said as he held them out to me like a bouquet, "do you need any of these tampons?" But then he lost his grip on them and they dropped into the tub and he had a complete nervous breakdown over it. The wrappers were all disintegrating and the tampons began blooming into their wet alien-rodent shapes, and Ben was trying to gather them up, sobbing, "What are these? What's happening?" Maybe I'll write to the good folks at Calgon and see if they want to come shoot some commercials over here ..."

I basically want kids so I can laugh at with them. :)

the good, the great and the horribly embarrassing

2009-07-28T17:34:00.001-04:00

The good:

I get to eat every two hours or so, and have still lost two pounds since the beginning
Our nights have fallen into an easy pattern of making dinner, cleaning up and then ~~crap TV~~ lounging
Every week, I have a new tidbit of information to focus on and a bigger bump to run into things with
I get to drink cranberry juice when we go out

The great:

The movements are almost daily now
I've decided that the kitten is a girl
I sleep like an absolute rock, even after multiple bathroom breaks
In lieu of bars, we go to the movies most weekends (hello, theater popcorn!)

The horribly embarrassing:

I drop food into the neck of my shirt almost daily now
I am single-handedly turning the condo into a gas chamber
I unwittingly burped aloud at my desk the other day

Obviously, I have no insider information about the sex of the kitten, but I have a hunch that she'll be a she. And admittedly, most of the things I've chosen to look forward to involve food and fruity beverages, but I figure there are worse things. As for the rest, perhaps some of the embarrassing pieces would ease up if I stopped eating every two hours, but then what would I write about? Sheesh.

old and new

2009-07-27T16:10:00.003-04:00

Old and new. :)

By the way, the counter above where Karen's seen cutting veggies?

That was the only surface we had in the whole kitchen before we remodeled.

guilty pleasures and a week left of work

2009-07-27T11:46:00.000-04:00

After leaving the room and returning yesterday, Karen realized a very important fact: when she leaves, I immediately turn on crap TV. I have no idea when this started, but it's absolutely true -- any season of the Real World or Big Brother, NYC Prep, Gossip Girl, or my personal fave, 90210, and I'm in a state of brain-melting heaven. I don't often let her see this side of me, even though it doesn't surprise her in the least. It's one of those guilty pleasures I tend to keep to myself, with a box of Triscuits and a can of pop nearby. Well, she's kind of stuck with me... best she knows all this stuff now, before I'm covered in spit-up!

In other news, we only have one week of work left before V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N! (Can we, for a moment, discuss how difficult it is to type in caps, with hyphens?) In one short week, we will be sitting lakeside, some of us with drinks in hand, soaking in the sun and basking in the non-workishness of it all. Atwood week is one of my absolute favorite times, and I turn into a child a few days before each visit. I still remember being so excited about an impending trip that I would routinely throw up in anticipation. Let's hope that doesn't happen this time. The day after we get back from vaca, we have our anatomy scan and lunch with the grandparents. All in all, this is looking like it will be the perfect week, and I'm already riding high on just the idea of it.

In the nineteenth week, the kitten is now about 6½ inches crown to rump, and is sprouting hair on her head! The sites all compare her to a mango now, but I don't believe I've ever seen a mango that big. I tried to google 6.5 inches to get a clip art picture to add to this post, but only found penis size comparisons. Let's stick with a mango, shall we? :)

another thursday update

2009-07-23T12:46:00.003-04:00

I had another routine appointment this morning - the kitten is doing very well, and moved around a lot while the doctor checked her heartbeat. Today's BPM was 150, right on target. The doctor says that everything looks great, which is always nice to hear. Next is the anatomy scan on August 7th. I wonder if we'll have to switch up our pronouns; we've been calling the kitten 'her' for months. I also learned that the swoosh of the doppler is my favorite sound on the planet, and that I am incapable of listening to it without crying. And... hyperbole is the best thing ever.

On the homefront, the kitchen remodel is complete, and we are only waiting for the new barstools to arrive. As soon as that happens, I will post pictures so you can ooh and ahh, and so we can pretend that anyone likes it as much as we do.

I originally omitted the story about the 24-hour urine collection fun, but what kind of blogger would I be then? (I can hear Carrie saying 'a blogger I don't mind reading...') For a little background, they like to test kidney function when blood pressure could be an issue, and I used to have elevated blood pressure. So I worked from home, and didn't leave the house once. There wasn't much to it, except for the fact that Karen's brother was working at the condo yesterday and probably wondered what the hell that strange thing behind the toilet was. And, I was a little anxious about waking up in the middle of the night and forgetting (*gasp) that I was not allowed to go to the bathroom like a normal person. Everything went smoothly, and I did not sleepwalk into the bathroom once. I did, however, have a bizarre dream about the urine delivery, and how I had to drive with it in a take-out soup container. Gotta love pregnant dreams.

Next week: the last week of work before Vacation Week / Anatomy Scan Week / The Best Week EVER.

you're money, kid

2009-07-20T14:56:00.004-04:00

In the eighteenth week, the kitten is now longer than a dollar bill. It's amazing to me that things happen so quickly! I have a montly appointment on Thursday when we'll get the go-ahead for our BIG ULTRASOUND! Pretty exciting stuff, relatively speaking. We had a fun-filled weekend with naps, movies, a local street festival, and the highly anticipated Hot Dog Garden Picnic. The hot dogs were spectacular, in case you're keeping score.

In other news, I still have not received my Biology textbook, nor have I received the plethora of packages of clothing I ordered last week. Shippers -- are you not aware of the importance of receiving packages in my life? I'm suddenly a five-year old who really needs to get the mail in case that all-important card from Grandma comes today. If I weren't so excited to start studying (and wearing new clothes?) I might be embarrassed.

p.s. I saw a few pictures of myself from not-so-flattering angles yesterday and wonder, do all women feel unbelievably fat at this point? I realize that I've actually lost weight since getting pregnant, and that the additional roundness is from the kitten growing, but WOW do I feel self-conscious. I am ready for this phase to be over, thanks.

The one I look least like a house in

2009-07-17T08:40:00.000-04:00

It is truly difficult to take these pictures yourself...

An open letter to the guy in the white van

2009-07-16T13:17:00.002-04:00

Dear sir,

I realize that you have places to be; we all have places to be, and we'd all prefer not to be stuck in this construction-zone traffic jam. Perhaps you didn't notice that everyone had chosen to drive only in the left lane, since the right lane will be closed in half a mile. Perhaps this is the first time you've driven this stretch of road in the past month, and were unaware of the closure. Something tells me, however, that you knew something was amiss when people began to honk their horns at you as you flew past them in an effort to avoid waiting four minutes. I wished with my whole body that no one would let you in. I try to avoid the cost of getting angry over petty driving arrogance, but this was probably the twentieth time I've seen someone try this move. I've imaginarily patted-on-the-back the brave souls who move their vehicles to the center of the two lanes, in an effort to block the type of behavior you exhibited today. I wish I had thought of doing just that when I saw you creeping up from a quarter-mile back. And it was obvious that you thought little of the anxiety you caused as I passed you after the traffic cleared, only to see you yawn with blasé indifference.

I wish you ill will, sir -- ILL WILL!

Not everyone gets jokes

2009-07-15T10:07:00.002-04:00

Last night, I went to the farmers market again, and then we went next door to Stephanie's for homemade ice cream. Newsflash: The kitten loves ice cream - it was honey vanilla with carmel corn, and it was in a cone. She's also planning a hot dog cookout this weekend with all the trimmings for a bunch of friends. I don't know if I've mentioned my love of hot dogs, but I've only had a few that were very well cooked in the past four months. This Sunday, I plan to have at least ~~ELEVEN~~ two!

Aaaaaaaand, onto the joke that I had to explain to Karen.

**if the image didn't transfer to FB, click on View Original Post below.

Energy² -- maybe energy³

2009-07-14T11:04:00.000-04:00

I am finally back to the old Susan... Maybe even Susan 2.0! I signed up for school yesterday, got home and cleaned the bedroom, emptied and refilled dresser drawers and closet space with things that will fit me for the next five months, and then went out to dinner. We met Rich and Melissa afterward, and stayed out until midnight. I may need to repeat that: I was not horizontal the second I walked in the house from work. Hooray!!!

The kitten is also now the size of your open hand. Crazy to me, since three months ago the kitten was the size of a poppy seed. I'm also starting to pop out in a way that makes me look less like a donut fan and more like a pregnant woman. And with all this energy and poppage comes a happy, more relaxed -- and more motivated -- Susan. Even on seven hours of sleep I feel like a million bucks. ~~We're~~ Will is finishing up the last details of the kitchen remodel this week and things are finally starting to look like they're falling into place. Just in time for more chaos!

Blame the onion-sized baby

2009-07-13T12:39:00.002-04:00

Shifting gears from the baby updates for a moment to bring you this breaking news:

I'm going back to school.

I have no idea where this came from, since the classes I have left for my degree are pretty much the standard liberal arts requirements of marketing and statistics and economics, OH MY, that I put off until now. But it reminds me of a quote that my mom would repeat whenever I would tell her how much time I had left before graduating: The time will pass whether I'm in school or not.

At first, I was all excited to get a photography degree. That is, until I realized that a) work will not pay for it, b) I'd start over as a freshman, and c) I'd have to take DRAWING. So, after reviewing my transcripts and all that goodness, I will be a student again majoring in Management Information Systems. By my estimation, I have about twenty classes, or roughly two years left. I will graduate about when the kitten does. But, I will not be bored in the meantime!

In kitten news, he or she is now the size of an onion, and can now blink her eyes. Over the weekend, I felt a lot of movement all in one day. I loved it.

aaaaaaand, we're back to fruit

2009-07-10T10:29:00.001-04:00

The kitten is now the size of an avocado, and if you're like me, you're asking, 'Isn't an avocado smaller than a navel orange?' I just measured a can of pop, and it's about 4.5 inches tall. my baby is now the size of a can of pop! Wow. I should really write these comparisons from now on.

Not much has changed, though I occasionally feel the kitten make vague movements. Nothing very strong, and nothing that Karen can feel from the outside, but movement all the same. They are getting more pronounced than they were a week or two ago, so I'm thinking I just felt them early; the other option is that I'm crazy -- either is completely possible. And I'd like to understand, what's up with the dry eyes thing? My eyes feel like a fan is following me around on HIGH. Good times.

I'm told that the baby can now hear my voice, so I'm singing a lot. I must say, it's nice to have a captive audience! Still tired most days by about 3pm, (and still taking a 15-minute nap every afternoon) but not that horrid marathon-tired feeling I had. I also got a pair of jeans from eBay, and I love them. Between the ones I got a few weeks ago and my belly band, I'm set. (Or so I think. Mwah ah ah.)

Yesterday, one of my friends brought me a vanilla Frosty, which was a pretty nice gesture. She said that people used to get them for her when she was pregnant, and I've decided to try to milk this for as much swag as I can. :)

Thanks, Jay!

Weekly update

2009-07-06T17:59:00.001-04:00

There is very little going on that isn't pregnancy-related for me these days. Crazy dreams have become the norm, and it's a good day when they don't completely freak me out before I get out of bed. (Case in point: thin four-foot-long snakes that I was pulling out from underneath my fingernails. I couldn't make this stuff up...) I've also learned that leaning over isn't quite what it used to be... It's like I have a pillow in my lap that's painlessly keeping me from reaching things. I've lost some weight since my pregnancy started, so even though I feel like a house, apparently I'm not officially house-sized yet; we'll see if that trend continues -- yesterday, the kitten desperately wanted some potato chips, so I'm not holding my breath.

Here is where I'll rant about maternity clothes. First of all, I understand that people are excited to show off their bumps, but if my bump is very barely-there, why accentuate it? I bought a few tops and have been wearing them more often, and WOW do they make me look huge. I'm sure they'll look darling when I'm beach-ball-esque, but I'm not used to them yet. Also, why is it that pants are either too small or too big? My old jeans are just snug enough to be truly uncomfortable, and my maternity jeans fall down just enough to show that lovely skin-colored belly band when I walk. (Skin-colored? Really? Couldn't make it, I don't know... NAVY?) In the grand scheme, these are petty concerns, but I enjoy ranting almost as much as I enjoy wearing pants that don't descend to my knees.

Three weeks until our next OB appointment, which means 3-4 weeks until our anatomy scan. YEY!!!

holy moodiness, Batman!

2009-07-01T10:59:00.000-04:00

I was feeling a little bit sad for a few days. I've had little to no energy for weeks, and by yesterday, it started to feel like more than just being a little sad: I started to feel like I did when I quit smoking - kind of anxious, and just thoroughly ungood. I was dreading making dinner, dreading sitting lifeless on the couch for another night. I was googling depression in pregnancy, certain that I'd be grumpy and unhappy for the next five months, and then --uh-oh -- even after!!

Stop yourself, Susan.

When I got home, I saw signs for our local farmers market. I grabbed my iPod, walked over there and dropped $50 on good local stuff: tomatoes, kale chips, pork chops, zucchini bread, fresh pasta, and a little bundle of daisies and mint. I had no idea I'd have that much fun shopping in a park, but I was like a new girl.

And continue to be a new girl today. I'm in a superb mood... ON FIRE good, like I have been drinking gallons of caffeine, won the lottery and woke up and exercised. I'm trying to just enjoy it, but I had to write it down for those days that are likely to revisit, when I'll find myself feeling like dirt. Everything changes, and apparently, makes up for making you feel blah by giving you more energy than you had before you were pregnant.

Maybe I'll clean the bathroom when I get home.
*smirks at Karen*... Maybe!

Favorite new blog: Let's Panic About Babies!

2009-06-26T15:14:00.000-04:00

http://www.lets-panic.com/

It's only now, after many months of reading the scary books, and checking the daunting blogs, that I can laugh at this. And, I must admit, I laugh a lot.

it's already Thursday, and we're moving away from fruit!!!

2009-06-25T13:09:00.002-04:00

We went down to Atwood Lake with family for Father's Day, and stayed to enjoy some golf, some wine, or some grape juice, depending on who you ask. It was a very nice time, and I haven't felt that relaxed in ages. We're heading back there in about a month and I can hardly wait. Also, it seems that if you go on vacation on a Sunday and return to work on Thursday, the week FLIES.

We're already in the middle of the 14th week (13w4d) and we had another OB appointment yesterday. We heard the heartbeat again, and of course I cried. We also found out two interesting things: We will have our anatomy scan (aka: the search for privates) in the next month or so, and I will be participating in a 24-hour urine collection to gather baseline information about kidney function. I am excited about one of these; let's see if you can guess which one.

Also important, we are no longer comparing the kitten to produce -- this week, (s)he is the size of a clenched fist. I've begun to feel something that I assume is the beginnings of quickening. Nothing like a jab, but kind of like when your eye twitches, only relocated into your uterus. It's early to feel anything according to the interwebs, but just try to convince me that I'm mistaken. I've got a few clenched fists that will tell you otherwise. :)

what's in a name, part deux

2009-06-19T12:47:00.001-04:00

Interesting: Hazel was the 18th most popular name in 1897.
Also interesting: Today it's the 343rd most popular name.

Priceless: I get to call her Hazelnut. :)

P.S. We do not know the sex yet, but I saw this coffee in the lunchroom and felt like a genius for thinking up the nickname. :)

what's in a name?

2009-06-18T14:56:00.000-04:00

We've had names picked out for weeks now, so we've decided to announce them so all our friends can't steal them and use them for their own pending children. (Brilliant, isn't it?)

If we have a boy, his name will be:
Daniel Shaniuk Kennedy

and if we have a girl, her name will be:
Hazel Kennedy Shaniuk

We decided months ago that we'd split the last name decision by sex, since we both like our last names. We'll likely find out the sex in the next 4-8 weeks, and we're both very excited to know. So far, we're just having a baby. By then, we'll be having a girl or a boy. It's the little things.

It IS starting to feel real

2009-06-17T10:23:00.001-04:00

As much as we still feel strange when one of us says 'Hey, we're having a BABY,' it's getting a little more normal to think about. I still can't get over the fact that she is in there, moving around like a little soccer player. Karen said that I'll be in serious trouble when she gets to be a little bigger and I feel her kicking those goals. I'm more focused on the fact that someday she has to exit my bod. I'm pretending not to focus on that, but it's tough.

Also cool is the fact that I get to document all this, and have not only friends and family comment, but also other people in my situation, whose blogs I read. Very cool of you to stop by, Melissa, A. and S. Thank you!

It's volleyball night tonight, and of course, it's pouring out. May be an excuse for a little additional couch time, of which I can't seem to get enough these days.

Have a good Wednesday, all. :)

New Pictures - oh, and she's a peach. :)

2009-06-16T13:27:00.002-04:00

I woke up so excited, you'd think I was expecing presents. We had our nuchal translucency scan today which means 'BONUS ULTRASOUND!' So exciting every time it happens. Today, we found the kitten completely asleep, which caught me off guard. The ultrasound technician showed us the heartbeat, and measured the base of the kitten's neck, and almost as soon as the technician was done, the baby began doing little bouncey moves off the walls of her little room. I laughed so hard we lost the picture for a moment. She's measuring just where she should be, size is 'perfect' (and for those of you playing along at home, she's the size of a peach) and she had a strong heartbeat of 168bmp. I can't stop looking at these pictures. She's sucking her thumb in the top one. And she's got huge lips. Go ahead, try to stop looking. It's not humanly possible.

At least for me. :)

Welcome to the thirteenth week

2009-06-15T15:43:00.000-04:00

We have an ultrasound appointment tomorrow. I found affordable maternity jeans online. My head is killing me today.

You know what they say about two out of three...

good stuff

2009-06-12T14:49:00.000-04:00

I've noticed a few good changes lately, and figured maybe I should list the good with the bad: good hair, strong nails, and everything tastes great. Carrie told me about the difference in food, and I figure it's nature making up for taking away lunchmeat, soft cheeses and alcohol. I had a subway sandwich with chicken today that was so good, I should've gotten a foot-long. I'm drinking cran-grape juice that is better than chocolate.

I'm still pretty tired by the end of the day, and I still take an almost daily afternoon nap in one of our darkened conference rooms. The trade-off for feeling hit by a truck: amazingly creative dreams. In the past week, I have been involved in a bank heist, been on vacation somewhere they didn't speak English, jumped over buildings, and gotten into a huge fight with my mother because I didn't like her drawing in a coloring book. Needless to say, it's better than the movies, and occasionally, it's refreshing to wake up and find that I'm not disowned or in jail.

a LEMON, ladies and gentlemen

2009-06-11T12:57:00.001-04:00

Since all the websites and email generators compare the fetus with fruit, imagine my delight to learn that Hazel / Daniel is now the size of a lemon!!! Now that's big! My uterus is also the size of a softball, and I have the belly to prove it. I'll post some obligatory belly shots as soon as I get over my vanity and admit that this probably isn't just bloating anymore.

Also, it seems to be the time of constant bathroom trips again -- happened in the very beginning and it's happening again. From what I read (and read, and read) this is because the uterus is cramped and growing out of my pelvis, which also may explain the pot belly.

Five days until our ultrasound, and ten days until vacation. Twelve days until our next OB appointment, where she's tentatively promised that we will hear the heartbeat using a doppler. Everything is now a countdown, I'm learning. 197 days until Christmas and D-date, which is only 28 weeks away. Time is flying and crawling at the same time.

slacker blogger

2009-06-10T17:44:00.000-04:00

Before we were pregnant, I wrote religiously about everything thought and felt. Now that we're pregnant, I'm pretty boring. I suppose I do continue to look chubbier -- yey me! We also have another ultrasound next week. I can't wait to see how big the kitten has gotten.

Tonight's volleyball, and if you ever forget what night volleyball is on, just look at the forecast for the rainy night. Since I'm a delicate flower these days, I will be on the sidelines taking pictures.

the kitten's newest paparazzi photo

2009-06-08T15:47:00.002-04:00

The best part is we get to have another ultrasound a week from tomorrow!

feeling a little more relaxed

2009-06-05T09:58:00.003-04:00

After the last entry, the spotting returned, and was heavier than before. I had the obligatory freak out, called Karen and mom crying, and made an appointment for an ultrasound. When they squeeze you into the imaging department, there's a likely wait, and they even told me to bring a book. I didn't even really mind the two-hour wait, since mom and dad kept me company. The scan showed that all is well, we got a new picture of the kitten (whose head is now about half the size of her body -- crazy) and the doctor told us that spotting is common, and that we were the third person that day to come in with that concern. She also said that my baby had the best outlook of all three, a strong heartbeat at 178bpm, and he was even waving at us -- much like the animation to the right. I'll post the sonogram when I get home.

I used to tease Karen about how I desperately wanted hot dogs and feta cheese. I figured we were being overly cautious. After this week, I no longer joke. I'm just happy that everything is going well, and I can wait until January for a hot dog.

Oh, and they updated my due date. I am now due on Christmas day.

Fifteen minute car naps

2009-06-02T15:13:00.000-04:00

I just took a tiny naplet in my car, and can't remember the last time that I could successfully get in a whole nap in fifteen minutes. I take one almost every day now. The people who were out smoking behind the building either didn't notice that I emerged from a non-running vehicle, or were at least silent about it.

bit of a scary morning

2009-06-02T11:10:00.003-04:00

I woke up to a tiny bit of spotting today. Nothing bad, nothing bright red, but enough to send hormonal, dramatic me into a bit of a tailspin. Karen's in Milwaukee for a few days, so I immediately googled possible causes and outcomes. Note to self: never do this. I spoke to Karen a little while later, and she was calm and rational, and told me to relax and call the office. They took my info and said they'd 'return my call within the day.' Clearly, not an emergency, so I went to work. Finally, I spoke with the doctor's nurse, who told me not to worry, that it's common. While I figured this in the back of my mind, I still worried. I have had no sighting since first thing this morning, though I check diligently every hour or so... I still have a stomach ache.

It's official -- this baby LOVES Arby's

2009-05-28T13:43:00.003-04:00

I have lost the taste for almost all meat, except for the heavenly goodness that is the Arby's Roast Beef Sandwich. I think I should start eating them every day, since they're so damn good. Definitely the highlight of my culinary week.

crazy amazon hair

2009-05-27T10:04:00.005-04:00

I have read many articles and books on pregnancy, but have never been warned about the crazy hair. I truly look like an aboriginal woman, straight from the forest, where someone was nit-picking through the bees' nest on my head. I will now show you a picture that you will be kind about, and say 'Oh, your hair looks healthy and voluminous.' It looks like I didn't bother to brush it. I figure I'll just pretend I've been out partying all night, and make people jealous with stories of rock stars and my rapidly expanding beer belly.

All's well

2009-05-22T10:57:00.000-04:00

We had our first OB appointment yesterday, and to my dismay, we did not have another ultrasound. She says that my uterus is growing as expected, and we're scheduling an Ultrasound appointment for the week of June 8th. I did have my first (few) bouts of serious morning (afternoon, evening) sickness and I can officially say that I am not a fan. But they're few and far between, and so far happen when we're in the car and I'm a passenger. My bloated belly is also starting to look more like a fat belly. I fear that this will get worse before it gets better.

We did have a nice time at Sisters' Dinner last night. Thanks for all the stories, everyone! Thanks, also, to Jenni, who may have actually put me at ease a bit about birth. Way to go, Jen. :)

More later...

that's sick... just sick!

2009-05-19T10:58:00.001-04:00

After breakfast yesterday, my stomach felt a little strange. Nothing horrible, but not normal. It reminded me of the incident the other day when we were in the car for a five minute drive and I felt very nauseous. I also figured this was what I get for announcing that I'm not feeling any morning sickness whatsoever. But yesterday seemed a little more like the flu. I was sick to my stomach before I got in the car for work, and again a few hours later. I felt icky most of the day, and stayed on the couch until Karen came home from work.

So, why is my crazy brain worried that things aren't going well? It's been eleven days since we heard the heartbeat, and were told that we're 98% sure to carry to term, but still I worry. I'm not visiting the bathroom as often, and in my mind this is cause for concern. Sure, I still wake up at least once a night to go to the bathroom, but still... there is no place for logic here, people. I haven't been falling-over-tired like I was at first, so I worry. I read too many symptoms of problems in the wonderful 'What To Expect' emails, and I worry. I hope this phase passes soon so I can go back to just being excited.

But I do have my first real OB appt on Thurdsday. I'm hoping for a real big-girl ultrasound. :) See, it's not all pessimism; just partly cloudy.

learning to respect Creed, or my fall from coolness

2009-05-12T09:54:00.001-04:00

Friday was a great day: good ultrasound appointment, went to see a chick flick, half-day of work, sunny skies. Nothing on the horizon as mildly unpleasant all day long. Until Karen mentioned that there was likely a Creed song to sum up how we felt.

Susan: what are you talking about?
Karen: the Creed song, about having a baby
S: there's no such song. They're a Christian rock band, I don't remember any songs about babies.
K: google their most popular song's lyrics.

(pause)

**tearing up.

(pause)

K: read them out loud

If I had just one wish
Only one demand
I hope he's not like me
(sob)
I hope he understands
That he can take this life
And hold it by the hand
(sniff)
And he can greet the world
With arms wide open...

And I'd like to pretend I'm oh-so-cool, but even as I copy and paste these cheeseball lyrics, tears are streaming down my face. I have heard this song a hundred times, and never realized it was about babies. And now, suddenly, I am not cool.

Ultrasound results

2009-05-08T15:50:00.004-04:00

Everything's going as planned!! We saw and heard the heartbeat -- 122 beats per minute, and the kitten is .83 cm, or about the size of a gummy bear.

I'm so excited, I can't stop smiling :)
It is starting to feel real now!
Still no morning sickness, pretty tired after 4pm but not much else :)

apparent pregnancy brain

2009-05-07T21:23:00.005-04:00

Tonight, we Karen began putting together our kitchen cabinets. There's hammering and other tool usage, and midway through she asked me to grab her some Advil from the bathroom. I remember grabbing them, I stopped at the fridge to fill a water glass, took a drink of water from it, changed the pregnancy count on the fridge, and then realized I had no idea where I'd put the Advil. Pockets were checked, every surface in our rapidly running-out-of-surfaces-kitchen was checked, but to no avail. I did, however, find a tiny piece of metal on the floor that only microscopes could likely find. So, at least I have some skills...

We still can't figure it out. I had to admit that I may have switched on auto-pilot, and taken them, and immediately forgotten. Of course, I freaked out -- Advil is not advised for use by pregnant women -- and figured I should induce vomiting in an attempt to save my unborn child. ~~When that didn't work, I asked my midwife friend if I should worry, checked the internet to make myself even more worried, and~~ I resigned myself to the fact that I may have taken them and I may have lost them, and that things would likely be fine. Either way, I am officially no longer responsible for anything at all. Just in case...

nope -- still hasn't hit me yet

2009-05-06T15:14:00.002-04:00

Heading to the bathroom for the twenty-fourth time today, I realized that this whole pregnancy thing hasn't really hit me yet. I am very excited to tell people and talk about it, but in reality it's not much different than when I'd daydream about what it might be like to be pregnant. I'm not sure if that's because it's so early, or because I'm not sick yet. The one thing I have definitely felt is lethargy. I am so tired from the moment I pick my head up from the pillow until the moment I lay it back down. I am ready for several naps in the day, even though ~~the work fascists~~ current workplace standards frown upon naps.

I am definitely looking forward to the ultrasound Friday -- it feels like a big milestone after a week and a half of no blood tests; clearly, I need progress reports. I have found there is only so much pregnancy info out there, though. Between my emails from Fit Pregnancy, WhatToExpect and the American Pregnancy Association, I know what part of our baby is growing every second, and what I can expect in the next few days. I can't imagine how people did it before, without a constant reminder of everything hitting the inbox at the same time.

Also, why on earth did no one warn me about the bloating? It's not a great look for me, I'm sorry to report.

More updates as pseudo-interesting things occur.

6 week update with names

2009-05-05T10:44:00.004-04:00

We're in our seventh week. (In our sixth week?) I am even having a hard time understanding how the many different publications and doctors count these damn weeks.

Yesterday I learned a valuable lesson the hard way -- doing too much all weekend long makes your body fight back. I was at work for about an hour and felt like a bus had hit me. So I went home and slept. All day long. It felt nice, and my worries about not being able to sleep through the night were unfounded. Slept like a baby even after a five hour nap. I guess that whole 'you need to get more rest' thing isn't just a wives' tale.

We have a few new names on the list... Let us know what you think:

The boy's name is pretty much decided upon:
Daniel Shaniuk Kennedy

Girls' names are still up in the air:
Emily
Emma
Piper
Lily
Lucy
Clover
Addison*
Olive
Hazel
Etta

That's it for now. The list changes daily, so stay tuned for updates.

And, for the anonymous commenter who wanted to know how to speak directly to the kitten, (hi, mom), my advice is to wait about seven months. She'll likely be welcoming guests then.

*we will not be naming our baby Addison.

heartburn relief

2009-04-28T15:41:00.001-04:00

I read that a handful of almonds would help a tough case of heartburn, and the pregnancy books were right. I can't believe how right they were. Spicy foods, here I come. :)

everything's going swimmingly

2009-04-28T09:20:00.002-04:00

The numbers from yesterday's bloodwork were better than expected: 1077. Next Friday we have our first ultrasound at 2pm, and from there we will likely be released to my Obstetrician. Wow.

:) good day!

in lieu of beta results...

2009-04-27T16:35:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd update you on my hair, because hair is just so darn interesting. My hair has stopped falling out altogether. (we have a little hair trap on the shower drain, which I normally have to clear daily.) If you're not familiar with this strange occurrance, elevated estrogen levels cause hair to remain on your head longer than it does for the average bear. Not a bad side-effect! :)

The lab apparently messed up and forgot to run my bloodwork today, so I'm just a ball of nerves all over again. I'm sure things are fine, but the possibilities coupled with the nurse's response to my name: 'Oh, I'm so sorry, Susan' were enough to kill me. She was only apologizing for the lab's delay, of course. If only the baby would send little emails every few days; tell me what's going on in her life, what she's seen in town, that sort of thing. For now, I'll wait for the ultrasound that we should have in the next week. *sigh.

just another manic monday

2009-04-27T10:01:00.000-04:00

Saturday's numbers were right where the doctor expected them. - 442. I went again this morning, and the doctor said that hopefullly after today we'd send me for an ultrasound. I still don't think it's truly hit me yet.

What has hit me is this weather!!! It's been in the eighties for days now, WE TURNED OUR AIR CONDITIONING ON IN APRIL. So bizarre.

I'll update with numbers when they come in today :)

between appointments

2009-04-24T10:24:00.002-04:00

I have realized that all that anxiety of the dreaded TwoWeekWait is not a precursor to horrible things for nine months-- at least not yet. Life has gone back to almost normal, except that I don't need to be nervous about periods starting or whether the test will be positive when I get home like it was on my lunch hour. I'm trying out this new thing I read about called 'patience'. I don't think I've had it before, but I'll tell you how it goes. Basically, we go about our lives, with fewer trips to the local pubs, and time passes.

I am reminded often that things can go wrong, though. I read several blogs of women who are, or recently were trying to conceive, and two of the few I read have had miscarriages in the first trimester and have since stopped blogging. I have also read that once we hear that heartbeat, our chances for miscarriage go down to 2% -- which I misread the first time as 'chance for miscarriage reduces by 2%', which I didn't think would reduce my worry much at all. So we're biding our time for the next few weeks, informed about what could happen, but optimistic and shopping and picking baby names. (And, I realize that last sentence just negated any pragmatic feel I was hoping to inject into this post.)

Last night, we saw This American Life LIVE!, and it was absolutely terrific. The show we saw at the theater will be broadcast on NPR either next weekend or the following weekend, and it was unbelievably entertaining. Ira Glass was very funny, making jokes with the audience as well as the guests. We saw sad stories, funny stories, love stories... My favorite might've been Joss Whedon, who showed us his songwriting skills on the piano, while talking about how people pick apart movies far too much in DVD commentaries. All in all, a terrific show, and well worth the money spent for a night out. And, of course, I got to have the ever-important theater popcorn.

Tomorrow is the fourth beta test, and we should know more then. Yey!

betas are back (again)

2009-04-22T11:18:00.001-04:00

hCG is 163, Prog is 62.6. She says that they usually send people for an ultrasound after the hCG hits 1,000, but she's hoping that they can send me for an early one after Saturday's beta. (yep, another beta.)

Things are moving along as expected which is always good to hear after you have scary dreams about numbers not doubling. Can I turn my brain off until I give birth?

beta numbers

2009-04-20T13:34:00.002-04:00

Hello, all.

My beta numbers are back from this morning, and we are at 77 hCG, and 54.2 Progesterone, so everything is looking good. :)

(We were around 32 hcg, 41 progesterone if I heard the doctor correctly on Saturday.)

I go back on Wednesday for another beta.

Yey!!!!!

Go team!

2009-04-19T09:40:00.009-04:00

Overheard at Jon's birthday party, as we were leaving:

A: so, which one of you took the pregnancy test?
B: Susan did
A: okay, cause when you walked in, I was thinking to myself, 'they're both girls, it could be either one...' Since I wasn't sure who I was congratulating, I just said: 'Go Team!' *thumbs up*

2009-04-18T14:19:00.001-04:00

It's official! Doctor's office said it looks like a single implantation, and all my levels are normal. I go back Monday morning to check my beta levels again. I can still think of nothing else, but I did manage to nap for twenty minutes.

wow

2009-04-18T04:53:00.002-04:00

Apparently, when you wake up at 4:30 to take a pregnancy test, it's not always easy to fall back to sleep when this is the answer:

Something in the back of my mind thought maybe there was something wrong with yesterday's test. It looks like that thought was wrong. I'll post my beta test results later today.

Oh, yes... My due date is predicted to be December 28, 2009. :)

typical friday afternoon

2009-04-17T17:24:00.003-04:00

I am the girl who used to open her Christmas presents early, then make sure they were somewhat-professionally rewrapped, so as not to draw attention to my unwrapping techniques.

I used to read detailed reviews for movies I had yet to see.

I have read the occasional last page of a book prior to the preceeding pages.

I am running out of euphemisms for being impatient.

Today I took a pregnancy test at work on my lunch hour. I got a faint positive result. It's certainly faint, but it is most definitely there.

(A check with the internets and my doctor's office says that usually means good things, and that any line at all other than the control line usually means you're pregnant. I've included a picture, to prove I'm not completely seeing things.) We have an early morning appointment for my first Beta test. (A test to check my hCG levels - basically, we look for these levels to double about every two days in early pregnancy. We will monitor these for a few days for some reason I don't know yet.)

For those of you who skimmed that, I said it looks like we're pregnant. We'll know for sure tomorrow.

:) Thanks for impatiently waiting with me. This has been the LONGEST THREE HOURS OF MY LIFE, for reference. I can't believe I waited this long to tell you. :)

nothing's new

2009-04-17T14:34:00.002-04:00

I don't know why I'm compelled to keep posting when I have no news...

:)

when I see my mother log onto her IM at 9:30am...

2009-04-17T09:35:00.003-04:00

... I figure she's looking for an update. No news is good news. :)

no fun updates yet

2009-04-16T13:33:00.000-04:00

... but I did realize that I ~~am not even remotely patient~~ am far more patient than I thought. I haven't taken a test yet... today. (Let's just forget about the test I bought on my lunch hour yesterday.)

i'd like to concentrate on anything, but alas, it is not in the cards

2009-04-16T11:13:00.002-04:00

Hello, all. CD26 here. The day we all hope to not get any updates at all, cause that may mean good things. Except I am now rationalizing that we triggered later than normal, and our usual timing may be a bit off. But I'm trying not to obsess. See me, not obsessing? It's exhausting.

I'm loving the sunshine, so I'm attributing my exceptional mood to the nice weather. (Hello, spring!) We also made reservations for a wine tasting for next week, figuring that if we plan for activities that are verboten during pregnancy, then surely we will be pregnant for them. See how I did that? It's a little thing I like to call bad logic.

So far, it's working well for me.

Let's see, what else is new? I made the best tortellini I've ever had last night, with some chicken and rosemary filling. Those refrigerated-pasta people know what they're doing. I have some new clean-freak thing going on, too. I believe I've been replaced with a housework-loving clone. It's the only reasonable explanation I can think of.

I can almost guarantee more nonsensical rants in the near future. Thanks for playing.

tuesday

2009-04-14T09:48:00.002-04:00

I haven't been updating, because I have absolutely no symptoms or signs. Nada. Carrie, in her infinite wisdom, has decided that the absence of all signs may be a sign. Bravo, üb! I am loving that logic. I am, however, doing well at forgetting almost every thought that enters my brain. Yesterday I forgot to grab my keys from Karen's car before she left. Today, I forgot to grab my cards and cash. I had to un-origami the dollar bill pig at my desk to get my morning diet coke fix. Sad state of affairs, I tell you. I'll try to think of something dramatic to write about later, just to keep you all involved.

Quick aside, if you aren't already watching Breaking Bad, you should be. It's an amazing show on AMC about a high-school chemistry teacher who decides he should cook crystal meth. I'm not giving anything away that you don't learn in the first five minutes of the pilot, but it is spectacular. We got the first season on DVD from Will, and blew through it in two nights. Now we have to catch up on season two. A fine diversion for a girl who is already counting the minutes until Thursday morning.

Update: I am so forgetful, that I clicked past my own blog entry in my RSS reader, and saw the 'Breaking Bad' comment, and was ALL excited that someone else also loves the show. Seriously, took a few minutes to read it, was impressed that it sounded like something I'd write. Good God, people... I'll be lucky if I remember my way home tonight!!!