The ugliness of baby gear

Like most soon-to-be moms, I'm pretty excited to get everything ready for the arrival of our new baby (due date is now less than four months away - eek!). As I've mentioned before (here and here), we have a couple of registries for baby things, but those are as much for my own organization as they are a place for others to select baby gifts.

The trouble is that SO much of the baby stuff is just plain ugly. There are awful patterns and terrible colors. And so much brown. My husband hates brown, and I'm starting to get sick of it too.

Example #1: Nursing covers. I plan to nurse this little one, including possibly in public. They make nursing covers, but so many of them are hideous. Like this one:



That pattern is awful, and others are worse. All I really want is a plain one in some sort of non-brown color. You can get pretty colors with ugly patterns, or you can get plain ones in brown or black. Why not a plain red or blue one? Yes, I could just use a shawl, but the nursing covers have some nice functionality (the neck strap and special shape of them is nice).

Example #2: Car seats. I get that people try to be gender-neutral, but this one is awful. We picked out a car seat (obviously), but even the best-looking ones still aren't that great looking. Why do they all have to have dopey patterns?



Example #3: Laundry hampers. I'd hoped to get a bright-colored laundry hamper (red, for example) to bring more color into our baby room. I've basically given up - they don't exist. The only things that are available are ones like the picture below. While it isn't necessarily ugly, it's more pale colors. Why is it that there are NO bright colors? I've obviously looked in the grown-up sections for bright-colored hampers, too, but I just don't think they exist.



It's a bit of a frustrating process, to say the least. Maybe my standards are too high, but I don't think so. I don't think it's too much to ask for a little variety.

Is it?

I can't believe it

I just registered for a wipe warmer. I always made fun of those things. I thought they were kind of silly. I mean, does your kid really need a warm wipe on his heinie?

Then, I started hearing stories of parents who love them. Some kids scream during diaper changes, and the wipe warmers are supposed to help. Plus, for baby boys, there are stories of the warm wipes helping prevent "spraying" (if you get my drift).

I already have a bottle warmer on my registry, too, and there was a time when I made fun of those. But, since I'm going to (hopefully) be pumping when I go back to work, my husband is going to need an easy way to warm up the bottles. While I don't think the kid will need warm milk necessarily, it'll be nice to have that option.

I feel like we'll only really end up using 50% of the baby gear that we get. That's the trouble with baby stuff - you just never know what you're kid is going to like. Maybe he'll like a swing but not a bouncy seat. Or vice versa. You just never know. And, unfortunately, all you can do is throw money at the problem and hope to find a solution.

Nesting already?

First, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We sure did. We got a lot of things for the new baby, which is very exciting. And I got a Snoogle body pillow! I'm very excited about it.

Since I've been back in town after the holidays, I've been running around like a crazy person getting ready for baby. I've taken this entire week off (it's pretty slow at work, and I needed some downtime), and I've already spent the first two days getting ready for baby. I've been all over town several times looking for all sorts of things (storage, curtains, etc.), and I've even been to the nearby Big Town every day this week. That town is about 25 minutes away and has many more stores than Pleasantville. Some people live in Big Town and make that commute to Pleasantville every day, but, prior to this week, I only averaged one trip a month out there or so. I've been there three times since Christmas.

The good news is that things are starting to get crossed off the list. SLOWLY. I bought curtains and curtain rods over the last few days. And storage bins for all over the house (I've suddenly decided that we aren't going to have enough room for all of the baby things).

Just before Christmas, we also decided on a fabric for the window valence and crib skirt. This decision was the biggest decorating one we've made, because all of the accessories and things are going to be based on this color scheme. We decided on this fabric:



Lots of fun colors in that fabric, so I got green curtains, red storage bins, and we'll be getting yellow sheets. We aren't allowed to paint the walls because we're renting, but we'll have lots of color in other aspects of the room.

I'm definitely a little freaked out by all of the things that we still need to buy and do, but we're getting there. In real life, I'm a big list-maker. Mix that with the nesting hormones from pregnancy, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Registry hassles

Like most people expecting their first child, we have a baby registry. Two, actually - one at Target at one at Babies R Us. The reason for the two registries is because of the lack of shopping selections here in Pleasantville. The nearest Babies R Us is about a half hour away, so I wanted to have a small Target registry here in town, too. The trouble with Target, though, is that the return policies at that store are awful. I remember hearing horror stories when I was planning my wedding (people weren't allwoed to return things or received multiple duplicates of items, for example), and the stories have continued regarding baby registries. I didn't have much of a choice, though - Target is the best in-town option.

The registry process is overwhelming, although it's completely different than it was for our wedding. A wedding registry generally contains a lot more items than a baby registry, so it can be overwhelming from that perspective.

A baby regsistry is much different. With a wedding registry, you have to make SO many decisions that it can feel like too much at times. If you make a wrong decision, though, it isn't dangerous for anyone. That isn't necessarily true for a baby registry, though. Safety is a concern with baby items in a way that just doesn't come into play with a wedding registry. There aren't nearly as many items on a baby registry, but each one feels like a major decision. I bought this book to help with the process, and it has become my Bible for picking items. Every decision feels like it matters so much. With a baby, you end up wasting a lot of money on things the kid doesn't even like, so I want to spend as much time up front as possible in an attempt to avoid that situation.

I should be clear here, too: I haven't set up these registries expecting our friends and family to fund our family expansion project. While we certainly are grateful for any gifts, the registry is as much about organization as anything else. I've used the registries as a way to keep track of all of the things we need to get for this kid, so we're probably going to end up buying everything on them that we don't receive as gifts. Plus, with a registry, you get at 10% completion coupon to use to buy everything that remains on your registry as you approach the baby's due date. That coupon alone is enough to make it worth it.

Countdown to V-Day

Among the internet message boards, the milestone of 24 weeks of pregnancy is refered to as "V-Day," or "Viability Day." It is generally assumed that 24 weeks of gestation is the absolute earliest you could expect your child to be born and have any sort of chance of survival (although the odds are still probably less than 50/50, and a baby born that early is almost certain to have serious complications). I'm a little over 2 weeks away from that date, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

I have a friend whose daughter was born just shy of 24 weeks of gestation - I belive it was 23 weeks and 5 days or so (at that point, every single day is hugely important). After struggling for 8 days, she passed away. Her short life is always on my mind, and never more so than right now as I approach that milestone.

I think a lot of women find the first trimester to be the scariest, but I didn't. While I absolutely believe that a miscarriage is devastating, it also is (unfortunately) relatively common. It happens to a pretty large number of women. I think many women hit the end of the 1st trimester and assume smooth sailing from that point on, but I know better. Not all pregnancies that make it that far result in take-home babies.

While I would have been sad if I miscarried early on, I wasn't as attached to the baby then as I am now. Now, I'm feeling movement, and I know this baby is a boy. If something were to go wrong now, I would give birth to a BABY. The baby would probably even be alive for a very short amount of time. These next few weeks will be much scarier than the first trimester was.

Only two more weeks to V-day. That isn't enough of a milestone, though. Every day counts. I have another friend whose baby was born at 29 weeks or so, and, while he was in the NICU for quite awhile, he's fine now. Maybe that should be the next milestone for me.

The new normal

I've made many comments on this blog about how the movements of the baby feel strange. All of the little pokes and kicks definitely have taken awhile to get used to, but it's happened. Now, it's become just a normal thing to me to feel strange little movements in my belly.

A lot of women talk about how the LOVE the baby movements. They use words like "magical" and "amazing." I'm still not there yet. If I think about it, the movements could still best be described as "weird." It's just that, now, I don't think about them very much.

The movements have changed some, too. I still get flutters and kicks, but I'm also getting rolling and pressure. It's almost as if the baby wants to stick his head out through my belly button. He's still sitting pretty low (perhaps because of my low-lying placenta), so I rarely get many movements above my belly button. I'm grateful for that, though. I have a short torso, so I suspect I'll be getting plenty of kicks in the ribs later on. I'm glad that this kid is delaying the inevitable a bit.

I'm back!!! (With a picture)

Sorry it's been awhile since my last blog post. Work has been insane, and things with the holidays have been crazy. I didn't even take a picture at my halfway point of the pregnancy! I hit 20 weeks a week ago. I did take the picture below this morning, though. I'm at 21 weeks and 2 days.



I'm really starting to show a lot now, obviously. I've gained 15 pounds - crazy! I feel like it's all baby, though. My face isn't fat, and I haven't really gained anything in my arms yet. I may still gain weight there soon, but it hasn't happened yet.

I'm still feeling good. My back hurts occasionally, mostly in the morning. My legs also get sore if I walk too much. I never understood why pregnant women always want to get their feet rubbed, but now I get it. My weight is higher than it's ever been in my life, and it makes my legs tired to carry around the extra weight. I went Christmas shopping this weekend, and my feet definitely hurt by the end of the day. I'm still wearing high heels at work, though, and I'm hoping to wear them as long as I can.

Kick counts

For many years (way before we ever considered having a baby), I've been reading all sorts of articles related to pregnancy and babies. Now, I have several books on the subject that I've been reading to learn more about what's going on and what I should expect.

One of the books that I've been reading recently had a section on kick counts. I'd heard of these before, but it wasn't until I read this book that I learned how they were actually done. Essentially, kick counts are a way to try to understand if your baby is in distress. In the 3rd trimester (usually around 28 weeks or something like that), you start performing these kick counts. What you do is time how long it takes for your baby to make 10 separate movements.

In the example in the book I read, there were several examples of a hypothetical woman's kick counts. The examples ranged something like 30-60 minutes for a complete kick count (that is, it took that amount of time for the woman to notice 10 movements from her baby).

A couple of nights ago, I decided to try to do a kick count. I don't need to do it yet (many people aren't feeling movement at this point at all, and, if they are, it's often inconsistent). While lying in bed before I went to sleep, I counted 10 separate movements.

I didn't actually use a stopwatch or anything, but it took less than 5 minutes for me to feel 10 movements. At most. It was probably more like 2 minutes. It was unbelievable. Given how early I am, that's pretty crazy.

We're in trouble - this is going to be an active kid. I'm looking forward to it. :-)

Expectant mother parking

Earlier this week, I traveled to Minneapolis on business, and I traveled with a colleague. Before our return flight, we had quite a bit of time to kill, so we went to the Mall of America. It's right near the airport, and it gave us something fun to do rather than hanging out at the airport all evening.

As you'd imagine, the parking lot was quite full, but then my colleague pointed out that we should look for expectant mother's parking. In case you aren't familiar with these spots, it's become a recent trend for stores to designate a few spots near the front for expectant mothers and mothers with young children.

My colleague was right. There were several open spots available right at the front of the lot. My colleague was absolutely thrilled - I think I made her week.

That may have been one of the cooler side benefits of being pregnant. Close parking.

Nursery pictures (in progress)

Last weekend, we put together the nursery furniture that we bought. So far, we already have a glider, a crib, and a changing table. Here's a picture of the work in progress:



We need to get a dresser, as I've mentioned before. I think I like this one:



It's from Target and got pretty good reviews. And, since it's from Target, we'll be able to use our credit card points to buy it.

I also think I want to get a wall decal for the room. Since we can't paint, we need to figure out another way to decorate. They make these wall decals that you can put on your walls temporarily, and I really like them. Here's an example of one that I really like:



My mom has generously offered to make a bedskirt and a window valence, but there's still all kinds of stuff to get. Curtains, a new frame for a poster that we already have (the old frame was really junky), little bins, at least one lamp... It's crazy! I'm not exactly stressed about it, but I'm glad we're starting early. It'll give plenty of time to find the things that are exactly what we cant, and, hopefully, we'll be able to get them for cheap.

Christmas cards and baby names

Before we ever got pregnant, we used to talk a bit about baby names. It was through these discussions that we decided on a name for a son. It just feels right, and we decided on it ages ago.

Some people like to keep their baby names a secret until the baby is born, but we're not for several reason: 1) We're settled on it, so we aren't asking for opinions. We're just informing. 2) If something went wrong at this point (and I'm not naive enough to think that's impossible), this kid would have a name. At some point, the loss of a baby represents the loss of a viable or semi-viable being. We've reached that point, I think. 3) We don't really care what anyone else thinks about the name. Neither of us is the type to really care if people have a negative opinion.

I actually just sent out our Christmas cards few days ago, and my husband and I spent quite a bit of time discussing how we would sign the cards. We decided against using the baby's actual name, mostly because we felt it would make other people uncomfortable. Instead, we signed the cards "Merry Christmas from our growing family! Love, (Our names), and Baby Boy X (estimated arrival 4-30-2011)." We decided that was a good way to acknowledge the situation without weirding everyone else out.

Or, maybe we're the weird ones for even acknowledging the baby on the card. Who knows...

19 weeks

I'm almost halfway! Yesterday, I hit 19 weeks of pregnancy. I can't believe how fast it's going! Here's the picture:



You hear a lot about how pregnant women "pop" all of a sudden. That is, they go to bed one night looking un-pregnant, and then wake up the next day with a belly. I'm not sure that's happened for me, although I'm starting to really show, I think. I just think my change has been pretty gradual.

I actually had a milestone related to that at work last week: A semi-stranger asked me when I'm due. Granted, he sits across the hall from me, so he was clearly noticing that I was getting bigger and had switched to maternity clothes. It was still pretty cool, though. I was getting big enough that he felt comfortable asking. Or, maybe he was just obtuse.

Our new Friday night routine

I think we're having a baby at the right time. This below video is about the extent of the excitement in our house on a Friday night. It's our cats playing with my husband's toy helicopter.



We got our new video camera a few days ago, and the video above was a way for us to test it out. It was a Black Friday deal on a Flip video camera. I really like it so far, although it doesn't zoom in and out that much. That's totally fine, though. It's tiny, and we'll be able to use it quite a bit.

Now, at 9:30pm on a Friday night, I'm off to bed.

Clothing issues

Ever seen this video from American Idol?



That's what I feel like most days.

None of my clothes really fit right now. In some ways, I know I shouldn't complain. Being too small for clothes is kind of a high class problem. On the other hand, it's really frustrating to keep having to pull my pants up all the time. All day. I think I drove my family absolutely nuts over Thanksgiving complaining about how my jeans kept falling down.

At this point, my belly isn't really big enough to hold up my pants, but I'm too big to fit into most regular pants (other than pajamas and sweatpants). I know that will all be changing soon enough, though, and, by the end of the pregnancy, there's a good chance nothing is going to fit at all.

Blah.

It's a boy!!

We had our anatomy scan today, and, as you can tell by the title, we're having a boy! We were right, and we couldn't be happier.

If you had asked me yesterday how I would feel knowing that we're having a boy, I would have thought that I would have been a bit nervous about it. I only have a sister and have never really had a lot of experience with little boys. Plus, my husband was a bit of a naughty kid. Still is naughty - now he's just a grownup. Now, though, I couldn't imagine it any other way. I'm absolutely over the moon about having a little boy.

Here are a couple of pictures of our son (SON!!! I'm going to have a son!!! Crazy):

Here's a profile shot. Notice him with his fingers in his mouth. We may have a thumb-sucker...


Here's one of the 4D pictures. Kind of alien-like, no?


Here's a foot. You don't even have to wait until the baby is born anymore to make sure it has 10 fingers and 10 toes.


And, here's an arm, complete with the elbow he's apparently been using to poke me with (you could see him jabbing me with it during the scan):


I'm not going to post any photo evidence that we're having a boy, but you'll have to trust me that it's true.

The ultrasound tech commented that most babies don't move their limbs as much as our kid was this early. OBVIOUSLY, our kid is already way more advanced than most. :-) I kid. It was pretty funny, though, and it supports my theory that, if this kid is as active outside as he has been inside, we're in for an adventure.

As for the rest of the appointment, everything looks great with the baby. Spine, heart, kidneys, brain, amniotic fluid...everything's great. We actually elected NOT to have any of the birth defect screenings (the blood tests), which I think was surprising to us both. Before I got pregnant, I think we both would have thought that we'd want the testing. Now that we're here, though, we aren't interested in the tests. Since we aren't high risk, and since most of the tests aren't diagnostic, we just decided to skip them.

My placenta is a bit low-lying, but not of any concern right now. They're going to check it again in a couple of months, but it should continue to move out of the way as I continue to grow.

Wahoo! Everything's going well!

18 weeks 2 days

I really should just start taking belly pictures 2 days late all the time. If I do that, I'll be taking them all on Mondays, so I'll actually look NICE for them. Dressed up. WIth makeup. All that stuff. Even though I don't put pictures with my face on this blog, you'll have to trust me that the ones that I'm taking while I'm in my work clothes definitely look a lot nicer than the Saturday ones I take right on my week turnover.

In any case, here I am at 18 weeks and 2 days:



Definitely getting bigger. And I'm getting kicks all the time now. It's still weird to me. It seems that everyone else thinks I'M the weird one because I don't think kicks are "magical" or "amazing." I just can't get used to the fact that there's a BABY in there kicking me. Another human. It's just...strange.

In other big news: We have our anatomy scan tomorrow! We'll hopefully find out the gender then, and we can't wait!

Decorating the nursery

Currently, my husband and I live in a 3 bedroom townhouse. For a variety of reasons, we're not in any rush to buy a house. When we moved into our current place, we specifically rented it because it will be big enough for a baby, at least for awhile. Now, we (okay, me) are trying to figure out how to decorate the nursery.

On the 30th, we'll figure out whether we're having a boy or a girl (hopefully), and then I'll be able to start figuring out what theme to use for the nursery. For a boy, we'll probably go with airplanes and / or cars. My husband and I are both into mechanical things, so it's a no brainer. Plus, my husband has a whole bunch of little cars and airplanes, and he's been saying for years that he wants to use them in a baby room.

For a girl, I think we're also going to go with airplanes and / or cars. Maybe with purple or pink thrown in to make it a bit more feminine. We both firmly believe that little girls also can love little cars and things, and we would start her early on that. I get that there are gender differences and that any girl we have may end up playing with baby dolls or stuffed animals later. That being said, what little kid (boy or girl) doesn't love little cars? I have a couple of nieces, and they both love those sorts of things. Since encouraging a girl to be science-y is important to my husband and I, starting her out with cars and planes is a pretty good way to kick that off.

If this kid DOES turn out to be a girl, though, we're going to find a heck of a time finding lavender fabric with cars on it for the bedskirt and curtains. I don't think it's a very high-demand item.

It's a shame, really.

Feeling the baby, for real this time

I've commented that I thought I've been feeling the baby for a couple of weeks now. Recently, I've had a new milestone - feeling kicks from the outside.

As I said before, my milestones here are still pretty early. A lot of people (most people, in fact) don't feel external kicks until 20 weeks more more. On two separate occasions, though, I've noticed that the baby was particularly active. When I put my hand on my belly and kept it there for a bit, I got a little poke. Definitely a kick.

Getting kicks is kind of weird. I hear a lot about how "magical" it is, but I'm not sure about that. It's really weird to think that there's another THING living in there. While it's obviously something that we wanted and planned for, it's still a little strange now that it's actually happening. I'm still in denial that I'm pregnant sometimes, but getting poked and prodded by the baby definitely brings it back to the front of my mind.

It all feels pretty surreal still. Maybe it will sink in more after our ultrasound next week, but I doubt it. I have a feeling it will get more real once the baby starts kicking my ribs and / or bladder, but I think it won't really sink in at all until the baby is actually here. Heck, it might not even sink in then. In some ways, it's still weird to me that I'm old enough to have a full time job and a husband - I still feel 8 years old sometimes. Knowing that I'm old enough to be a mommy is really just outside of my comprehension sometimes.

We have a doula!

Today, we hit another milestone in our baby journey - we signed our contract with our doula. For those of you that aren't familiar with what a doula is, you can read more about them here. Essentially, I think of a doula as a labor coach. She'll come to our house when I'm in early labor, will come with me to the hospital, and she'll stay with me the entire time until after the baby is born. It's really important for me to have someone there the entire time. While we're delivering with a midwife (which will likely mean that we'd get more one-on-one care than if we'd been with an OB), even a midwife can't guarantee that she'll be there the whole time.

Plus, the doula will be a bit of an advocate for us. There are lots of stories of area hospitals doing things like breaking your water without your permission. I'm absolutely not okay with that, and a doula will help make sure my wishes are followed as much as possible. While I don't have illusions that everything will go exactly to plan, I have certain things that I'd really like to see respected. A doula can help with that.

Finally, a doula will help be a labor coach. I'm very interested in an unmedicated child birth, and a doula is a great way to help us get there. She's organized childbirth classes to help prepare us, and she'll help encourage me to go through the birth without pain medication. She's very understanding that things may not go as planned, but she's also very encouraging of me trying to have the unmedicated birth that I want.

I'm very excited.

Belly pictures

Things have been crazy with work this week, so I've been a bit lax on the blog posting. In order to make up for that, this is a bit of a double post. It has belly pictures from both 16 weeks and from 17 weeks.

First, the 16 week picture. I'm wearing regular jeans and a regular shirt here:



Next, the 17 week pictures. I'm wearing maternity jeans now. TECHNICALLY, I can still get my regular jeans to button (I think), but it's mighty uncomfortable. Why torture myself? I've also mostly switched to maternity shirts. Not necessarily because I'm too big for regular shirts, but because my shirts need to be long enough to cover up the panel in the maternity jeans.



I think you're really starting to be able to tell a difference! I'm up about 8 pounds (right on track), and it's mostly in my belly. Everything else seems to be the same size as it was before. I'm sure I've jinxed it, though, and tomorrow I'll wake up with a fat face. :-)

I got that one wrong (and another prediction)

I've been making pregnancy predictions on this blog for quite awhile, and I've generally done okay. I definitely dropped the ball on one, though: I'm not going to be able to hold out on maternity clothes until week 19, like I predicted. My belly has grown faster than I thought it would, and, with my rib cage expanding, too, it just isn't going to happen.

I'll make another one. The big one. A gender prediction. I think this baby is a boy, and my husband thinks it's a girl. If you believe the Chinese gender charts, the baby is a boy. According to most of the other old wive's tales, though, it's a girl.

We hope to know at the end of November. Only time will tell.

Registering

This past weekend, we set up our baby registries. It's way early, obviously, but we did it anyway. I've been doing a lot of research on baby gear, and the registries served the purpose of allowing me to get all of my thoughts in one place. Plus, there's no Babies R Us in our town - we started our registry while we were near the store in the adjacent town.

We started at Babies R Us. I think I've only been to that store once or twice. It's definitely overwhelming. There are SO many choices. We chose a stroller (the one I mentioned here) and car seat that we liked, and we registered for a few other things. My husband is obsessed with the idea of this baby needing a Jumperoo. He keeps saying that he wants it to become a professional wakeboarder. I THINK he's kidding, but you never know...

We also set up a registry at Target, but that place was pretty terrible. There was no selection at the store we visited, so we ended up setting things up online. The trouble with setting up a registry online is that you run the risk of registering for items that are available only online - not in stores. So, at some point, I'll have to check to see if the stuff we picked is actually in stock in the stores, too.

Compared to the wedding registry, a baby registry is actually easier. There was a lot of up-front research in figuring out which stroller and car seat we wanted, but, overall, you don't need to register for very many things. There are only about a dozen total items on the registries so far (although we may add a few things once we know the gender). Putting together the registry actually made the whole process seem less overwhelming.

Feeling the baby?

For the past few days, I've been feeling little flutters. At first, I thought I was completely insane - it's still early to feel baby movement. "They" say you can usually start feeling movement at about 16-22 weeks. I'm 15 weeks and 2 days pregnant today, and I think I've been feeling little flickers for at least a couple of days. I dismissed it at first as something else. Just a random muscle spasm or something. But it's been happening to regularly now to be anything other than baby movement.

I did a bit of research, and it seems that second-time moms can start feeling movement at 14 or 15 weeks. The difference usually comes because second-time moms just know what they're looking for. Once I read that, I started to feel better - maybe I'm NOT crazy.

In other news: My work clothes aren't going to fit much longer. This is as much a function of the type of work clothes I have than anything else. I wear a lot of fitted button-down shirts, so I don't have much room to grow in my clothes. All of my clothes are the same size, and most of them are pretty fitted. I have very limited options for transition clothes. Plus, my rib cage is actually getting bigger, so my button-downs don't fit anywhere: They're too small in the bust, around the waist, AND in the belly. I may need to start wearing maternity clothes soon. I've been wearing a belly band for a week or so, and I may just make the switch soon. I bought a TON of clothes this past weekend, so I have enough stuff to at least start making the switch.

I'm a couple of days late in the belly picture, but here's the picture from today: 15 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Crazy.



I think you can actually see a bump now. My administrative assistant said today that she thinks someone who didn't know I was pregnant would be able to tell. Maybe. I think you can tell that I'm CHANGING, but I'm not sure if you could tell I'm pregnant if you just met me for the first time. It's going to be pretty apparent soon, though.

Another milestone today

Today, when I got dressed, I couldn't button my work pants. Okay, so I could have TECHNICALLY buttoned them, but it would have been might uncomfortable. I wore my belly band for the first time yesterday because I thought my pants were going to end up being uncomfortable by the end of the day, but I wore the band today because I didn't really have a choice.

This pregnancy is going fast! I have a feeling the next 18+ years are going to go even faster.

14 week belly shot

I've decided all future belly shots will be covered - no more bare bellies. The last one just didn't turn out well.

This shot makes me think a couple of things:
1) I still don't really look any different
2) My husband needs to improve his photography skills. What's he doing taking pictures of all the cat toys all over the floor? Oh well.

My clothes are still fitting fine, although they're starting to get a bit tight. And, my energy level is much better than it was. I didn't realize how tired I was a few weeks ago until I started to feel normal again in the last few days. It's kind of like how having a hangover can make you appreciate feeling normal.

Weird responses to our news

At this point, we've pretty much been telling everyone about this pregnancy. I've told work, and I'm trying to tell as many people face-to-face as I can. So, it's been a frantic few days of giving everyone our news.

During these few days, I've had a few weird responses:

Several people that are NOT particularly good friends have asked if this baby was "planned." Excuse me? I think that would be inappropriate for someone to ask that if they were a good friend, but these are more of acquaintances anyway. Very weird. Highly inappropriate.

One person told me my face was getting fat. He used the word "round," but he meant fat. First, that isn't true - my face ISN'T fat. At least not yet. And second, WHO SAYS THAT?!?!?!

And then, tonight, I went to a Halloween party. The hostess (who I've met once before and whose husband is my boss's peer) rubbed my belly. I'm FOURTEEN FRIGGIN' WEEKS!!! I don't know you!!! Why are you touching me?

I know none of these people are trying to be mean, but what the heck? I get why someone would rub my belly, but I really can't understand why someone would tell me that my face was round or ask if the baby was planned.

What am I missing here? Are people just idiots, or are they trying to be somehow supportive or nice?

A weighty issue

So far in this pregnancy, I've gained 5 pounds. When you read that, you probably think to yourself, "Well, that's not too much."

In your first trimester, you're supposed to gain 2-5 pounds. So, when I read that I've gained 5 pounds, my immediate thought is, "Oh no! I'm on the high end!" I try to talk myself down from those thoughts, though. I actually gained about 4 pounds almost right away (within about 2 weeks), and I've only really gained 1 pound since.

Gaining weight freaks me out a bit. Not a ton, but a bit. I've always been thin, through a combination of a fast metabolism and a LOT of time at the gym. The idea of gaining 30 pounds is really kind of scary to me.

I've always had the approach of trying to eat relatively food. I eat when I'm hungry, and I eat until I'm full. And, I go to the gym 4 days per week with cardio / walks about 6 days per week. So far, I've been able to keep up that same schedule since I got pregnant (other than the week of gym time that I took off because I felt sick), and I'm hoping to continue that plan for as long as possible.

I'm also trying to come to grips with the idea that my body is never going to be the same after this kid gets here. I'm not sure how I'm going to come out the other side, but something is definitely going to be different.

I'm just going to concentrate on being as healthy as I can and not worrying about things that I can't change.

I'll even predict my total weight gain. I bet I'll gain 30 pounds. As scary as that sounds, it's right in the middle of the healthy range of 25-35 pounds of weight gain. Now, I just need to wait and see.

Second appointment

We had our second appointment - everything looked great! They weren't able to find baby's heartbeat right away with the doppler, so they brought in a small ultrasound machine (this practice has several of them that they transport from room to room). It was crazy to see the little bugger flipping around in there! It really looked like a baby this time, instead of just like a gummy bear. We didn't get another picture, but we scheduled our anatomy scan for November 30th. That's when we'll find out the sex of the baby (hopefully)!

I think the midwife actually got enough of a glimpse today to guess what the sex was, but she wouldn't tell us. The small ultrasound doesn't produce the best images, and, since it's so early, there's no way she could have been sure. She did say something to the effect of, "Whoa! We got a really good shot there!" And she looked at us wide-eyed. When pressed, though, she wouldn't venture a guess. Not that I blame her. And, waiting another few weeks is no big deal.

So, now there really aren't any more excuses for me to tell everyone at work! That's going to be a little awkward, though. Telling people that you're pregnant is a little like saying, "Hey! Congratulate me!" I think it needs to be done, though, or people are just going to start gossiping at some point.

We also got some contact information for a local doula, which is exciting. For those that don't know what a doula is, it's essentially a labor coach. They attend the entire birth (unlike midwives or doctors who are generally in and out quite a bit), and they help you with things like pain management throughout the birth. I'm very interested in a non-medicated birth, and doulas definitely help with that. I hope I like her!

A bump picture (but only because I promised)

I had my husband take a first bump picture on Saturday (when I hit 13 weeks), and I'm posting it here. I'm ONLY posting it because I promised I would, though. It's a pretty terrible picture, mostly because you can see our trash can in the background. Just ignore that part.



I don't really think I look any different yet. A little thicker, maybe, but definitely no bump yet. I'll try to keep up on posting these as much as I can. Once I start getting a noticeable bump, though, you aren't going to be seeing any more bare belly shots anymore...

Welcome new readers!

Friends and Family - welcome to my blog! As you can see, I've been chronicling the last several months here, and I hope you enjoy what you read. There used to be a few more posts, too. I've unpublished a few of the more personal ones, although I will continue to blog anonymously. If you notice that the story line tends to jump around a bit, the missing posts may be why.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you all! And, I really need to get a belly shot up here at some point (although there really isn't much to see - definitely no bump yet).

Welcome!

We ordered our glider!

The glider I've had my eye on went on sale today, so I ordered it. I was able to use $200 in gift cards (I actually had another $50 card, but Target wouldn't let me use it), and, with the sale, the $350 glider is only going to cost us $162, including delivery! I'm pretty pumped.

So, now we have a crib, changing table, and a glider on the way. We'll need some sort of dresser, too, but there's no rush to get that. We'll be getting rather inexpensive furniture. We're still renting right now, and I don't want to spend a bunch of money on furniture that may not work in a future house. Plus, I'm not really a big fan of spending a ton of money on baby furniture. Some people choose to do that, but it's not really our style.

Next, we have to make some decisions on other baby gear. (I say "we," but I really just mean "I." My husband really couldn't care less, although he has said he wants a Maclaren stroller. The reason? The name sounds the same as the McLaren F1 car, even though it's spelled differently. Weirdo.)

Speaking of strollers, this is the one I'm thinking about right now: A BabyJogger City Mini.


As strollers go, it's reasonably-priced. It's only about $250 (compared to $500+ that I've seen for other strollers). We want something that's relatively durable for our daily walks (I hope to be able to go on walks at least occasionally with the new little one), but it still needs to be light enough to get in and out of the car easily.

I have other thoughts on more gear, too, but I'll save that for another post!

What I thought this would be like

Before I got pregnant, I had ideas about what the pregnancy would be like. Some of my ideas have been relatively true (I haven't gained a ton of weight, my symptoms haven't been too bad), but others have been way off base. The biggest area where I've been wrong has been my excitement level about the pregnancy.

Don't get me wrong: I am excited to be pregnant and to have a baby. But, at the same time, I'm still just trying to live my life. Work is busy, and I'm busy with other areas of my life. In a lot of ways, it's as if life is just progressing as normal.

I thought I'd be taking weekly (or at least frequent) belly pictures. I haven't taken a single one yet. I thought it would be hard for me to keep the pregnancy a secret, but it hasn't been. While we've told several of our friends face-to-face, I still haven't sent out a mass e-mail to all of my friends back home, cousins, etc. to let them know about the pregnancy. I'm not really sure what I'm waiting for. The baby is clearly getting bigger (I can feel my uterus growing when I push on my belly), but I'm still delaying. I have another appointment next week, so maybe I'll be more interested in telling after that.

I think, in some ways, I kind of like it being a secret. It's like a little secret between me and my husband, and, in some ways, it makes me a little sad to let it out. We're only planning to have 2 or 3 kids, so I know that there are only going to be a few times in my life where I'm pregnant and no one knows it but us. It's actually kind of a cool feeling. And, while I'm thrilled to be able to start telling people, there are definitely some mixed emotions.

I have a feeling that the next 18 years (and probably the rest of my life) are going to be filled with all kinds of mixed emotions. I'd better start getting used to it.

Our next baby purchase

I mentioned here that we've already purchased a crib and a changing table for baby. We bought it several weeks ago because of a great sale at Target, and we've kept it in the basement since then.

Our next big purchase is likely going to be a glider. As I've mentioned, we've been planning for this baby for quite awhile, so I've been doing things like saving up our credit card miles for things like Target gift cards to use for baby furniture. I just ordered another $50 card with our points, so we'll have about $250 to put towards a glider. There's one at Target that has been recommended. Here's a picture:



While I know it's still early to be buying furniture, I want to jump on this purchase ASAP. Target has a tendency to suddenly remove items from its website (presumably because they're sold out) without any warning. That's what happened with the original crib that I really liked. I really don't want that to happen with this glider.

So, once I get the final gift card in the mail, I expect to order the glider right away. After that, the last big thing we need is a dresser. There's no rush for that - any dresser will do.

Feeling better every day

I know I haven't been a good blogger lately, but I've been swamped at work. Things have finally started to calm down, though, and I think I should have some more time for this blog now.

The big news now is that I'm generally starting to feel better. It's crazy to think that I'm nearly at the end of my first trimester. My energy level is improving, and my nausea continues to get better. I took last week off from the gym, but I was able to go again yesterday for the first time in about 10 days. I'm trying not to beat myself up over taking a week off. After all, I'm pregnant! I just don't want to use the pregnancy as an excuse to totally let myself go, physically. Last week, I felt pretty crappy in the evenings, though, so I took those days to just rest (rather than pushing it at the gym). I still walked every day - just no weight lifting. As I feel better, though, I'm looking forward to getting into more of a routine.

My weight gain has been pretty minimal so far, which is good. I gained a couple of pounds almost right away, and, as of this morning, I'm up about 4 pounds in total. That's actually a little on the high end for first trimester gains (you're supposed to gain 2-4 pounds), but I'm trying not to overthink it. I was pretty thin to begin with, so I'd expect to gain a fair amount of weight.

Overall, things are going great! We're going to start telling our friends tomorrow abou the pregnancy, and then I'll tell work in about a week and a half. We have our next appointment on the 26th. It will be the first with the midwives, and I'm pretty excited to meet them.

Telling the parents

Sorry I've been a bit MIA lately. I've been absolutely swamped with work. Good swamped, mostly, but I wish the timing would have been a little different. I still generally feel okay, but I'm still occasionally nauseated and often tired by the end of the day. I've been staying late at work lately to try to work on some big projects, which is quite a bit harder while pregnant. I'm nearly done with the 1st trimester, though, so I hope things will be getting easier soon.

In baby-related news, this past weekend, we told my parents about the baby. The weekend before, I told my sister. It's starting to feel a bit more real now, although I still don't really think it has sunk in yet. Everyone's excited for it, and I think they're still in shock, too. This upcoming weekend, we're going to a wedding. I'll be 11 weeks at that point, and I'm thinking that might be a good time to start telling people. I don't want to detract from the wedding, but, if people ask why I'm not drinking, maybe we'll just tell them about the baby. We'll see, I guess.

Other than that, things are going well. My symptoms have actually been a little worse the last few days than they had for the previous couple of weeks, but I've generally still been really lucky. I've mostly felt fine. Not "good," but "fine." It really hasn't been that bad. I haven't really been a big fan of vegetables lately (they sound a bit repulsive), so I've been eating a lot of fruit to try to get vitamins that way.

We just bought a baby name book, too. We're pretty settled on our boy name, but we haven't really agreed on any girl names. I'm hoping the book will help, but I"m a little worried that it won't. It's not that we disagree about names - there just aren't that many girl names that we like. We have plenty of time to decide, though.

At some point, I'll probably go back over this blog and hide a few of the posts from before we were pregnant. I'd like to keep those posts for my own knowledge, but i also want to be able to share this blog with family and friends once we tell them about the baby. Stay tuned...

Baby's first photo

First appointment

We had our first appointment today. I know that I'm 8 weeks and 3 days pregnant, but, the OB thought I should be something like 11+ weeks pregnant. Luckily for me, that meant that the OB scheduled a dating ultrasound. Even luckier, we were able to get in to see the ultrasound tech today, too.

She found the baby right away (I still can't believe there's actually a baby in there), and she saw a heartbeat. I'd been a little worried about a miscarriage (as all pregnant women are), so I was very glad to see it. The heartbeat was 170 beats per minute. There's an old wives' tale that heartbeats over 140 beats per minute are indicative of girls, but we'll see if that's true. We'll get another ultrasound at about 20 weeks, and we'll find out the gender then - probably right before Christmas.

Everything else looks good. It was my husband's first time being at an OB / GYN-type appointment (obviously), and he was pretty horrified and uncomfortable by parts of the exam. He got over it, though, and he was so so so excited to see the baby on the ultrasound. He and I talked afterwards about the fact that we'd just started coming to terms with the fact that we're having a baby, and now it seems so unreal again.

I also found out today that the practice has midwives, which makes me really excited. I've wanted to deliver with a midwife for quite awhile, and this is exactly the type of delivery environment I want. The delivery will be at the best hospital in the area (the only area hospital with a NICU), and it will be done by a midwife as long as things progress normally. If things go awry, there is ALWAYS a doctor at the hospital to step in and assist as needed. We also got some information today about the hospital where I'll be delivering, and it sounds like exactly what I want. I'm very pleased.

Other than that, things are going well. I feel fine, mostly. Occasional mild nausea, but nothing really noteworthy. Some insomnia, some headaches, some moodiness - basically a little bit of a wide variety of symptoms. I know that I'm lucky to be feeling so good. While there's still time for things to turn south, I've been really lucky so far.

My next appointment is scheduled for the end of October. It's really starting to feel real now.

I'm afraid to jinx it

Since finding out I'm pregnant, I haven't really felt too bad at all. A little tired, and slightly nauseated. I know there's still time to feel bad (I know some people don't get morning sickness until they're 8 weeks pregnant), but I've been really lucky so far.

I've had some food issues recently. A lot of food just sounds completely disgusting, so I have to be very thoughtful about what I eat. I have definitely not been eating the healthiest food all the time, but I know I just need to eat whatever sounds good. If I don't do that, I won't eat. I also feel a bit gaggy - like I could just gag randomly. But, not too sick.

In the morning, I've been waking up and drinking a juice box right away. I've heard that little burst of sugar can help with morning sickness. Since I've been doing that, I've hardly felt sick at all. I sometimes get a little sick feeling if I get too hungry, but I was like that pre-pregnancy, too.

The biggest thing I've been craving has been apples. McIntosh apples, to be specific. I eat at least 2 per day. That's better than craving french fries, I guess.

Basically, I've been feeling good. Better than I thought I would. I know there's still time for it to go south, but I'll just concentrate on enjoying it for now.

Maybe I'll be one of the lucky ones.

Now I start getting symptoms

So far, I've been pretty lucky in the symptoms department. Granted, I'm only 6 weeks and 4 days pregnant (it still feels weird to consider myself "pregnant"), but some women get morning sickness earlier than where I am now. So far, my chest has been sore (that was a very early symptom), and my breathing has been labored. I occasionally get waves of nausea, but nothing major.

Tonight, though, the exhaustion hit really hard. It's not even 8:30, and I'm in bed. After dinner, I just needed to go to bed right that minute. Like, I couldn't even stand being in the kitchen anymore.

Luckily, my endlessly patient husband graciously offered to clean up the entire kitchen, including my dinner dishes. I can hear him down there right now straightening up. I think he really feels a purpose with helping me out. It's really sweet. He's actually been amazing in other ways, since I've been rather impatient and short-tempered for the last few weeks. He's been nothing but understanding.

I'm pretty lucky. So far, no terrible symptoms (although I expect them to get worse any day now). And, when I do get symptoms, my husband bends over backwards to help.

I can't wait to see him as a father.

Our first (big) baby purchase

Target was having a big baby furniture sale when we went there today - buy a crib and get a free changing table, basically. I had originally wanted to get a dresser and use it as a changing table, but this seemed like a great deal. We got both today. Here's a picture of the crib:



It's the Graco Lauren crib, and I've liked it for awhile. The one I posted a few weeks ago is no longer available at Target, and it was a lot more expensive than the one we just bought. We got this entire set for $160 for both the crib and changing table.

I'd still like to get a dresser and a glider. I think we can get a decent dresser from Target for about $250, and the glider is going to be about $400. Eek! That's a lot of money, but it will help that we'll be able to use the Target gift cards that we'll get from our credit card rewards.

We also got 3 baby books today - a book for each of us on pregnancy, and a book called "Baby Bargains" that's been recommended by everyone who has kids. It's been interesting so far, although it DID say that changing tables are a waste of money. Oh well! At least ours was free.

I'm obviously a little freaked about buying baby furniture (even if it was a great deal), but I know that Target has a 90 day return policy. I've saved the receipt, and, if something goes wrong, we'll be able to return the furniture.

It's starting to finally feel real. At least for now. I'm still in denial a bit because I still feel like it's too early to get excited. My first doctor appointment is in a little over 2 weeks, so I hope to feel a bit more reassured after that.

Still feeling good, but for how long?

Tomorrow, I'll be 6 weeks pregnant. I still can't believe that. The 6 week mark is supposed to be the point where most women start feeling sick. Some start feeling sick earlier than that. I haven't had that, thank goodness, but I'm fully expecting to start feeling bad over the weekend (or maybe next week).

My big fear is that I'll feel really gross during some upcoming work trips that I have. I'm traveling on September 14-16, and then again on the 26-27. I'm going to be visiting customers, and I'm somewhat concerned that my sickness is going to impact my ability to have productive meetings.

Like everything else related to trying to get pregnant or pregnancy, I'm just going to have to wait to find out.

I forgot one

I forgot a symptom that I didn't mention before - I've been out of breath all the time. Gasping for air after I walk up the stairs. And my heart has been racing a bit - my pulse is faster. I guess both of those are normal symptoms, but it's interesting that those are the only ones I've really experienced so far.

Surreal

I'm still having a really hard time believing I'm pregnant. I'm not really that excited yet, because I know a lot can still go wrong. I have my first appointment next Wednesday. That still isn't going to change much, though, because I'll still only be 6 1/2 weeks pregnant at that point. My husband is bouncing off the walls, though. I've basically told him we can't talk about it too much because I don't want to get my hopes up yet. I'd like to wait until October to spill the beans.

I'm still not really having many symptoms. No morning sickness, although it could start any day now. I'm not even really that tired. My chest hurts (especially when the cats step on it looking for breakfast in the morning), but that's about it. I get a little bloated by the end of the day, too, but really nothing major to report.

Oh, and I'm starving all the time. I'm trying to eat as healthy as I can right now because I think it's possible that I'll be unable to eat healthy stuff later one.

Another prediction for upcoming symptoms: I bet I'll have nasty heartburn at some point. I had it a few days ago, and heartburn isn't really something that I suffer from regularly.

We'll see.

Morning sickness - I'm ready for you!

Even though I predicted that I wouldn't have bad morning sickness, I'm not counting on that coming true. I think it would be awful to start feeling sick, and then have to run out to the store to get a bunch of supplies to make me feel better.

So, yesterday, when I did my grocery shopping, I picked up a few things in preparation for morning sickness (which could start next week - eek!), including:
- Saltines
- Jolly Ranchers
- Lemon drops
- Juice boxes (so I can drink juice before I get out of bed - it's supposed to help)
- Tums
- Tylenol (not for morning sickness - just because I need it).

Morning sickness - beware!

More pregnancy predictions

Several months ago, I predicted that I wouldn't have bad morning sickness. I'll be able to test that one soon.

Here's another one: I predict that I won't be in maternity clothes until well into my second trimester. Say, week 19. I'm thin, and I work out a ton. I work my abs out a lot, and I kind of think that will prevent me from showing early.

As I said before, it's all just for fun. We'll see how it turns out!

More baby preparation

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been planning for this baby for awhile. I waited to try to get pregnant until I finished a night class I was taking. I'm saving up Target points. I'm starting to think about a new car.

Another thing I've done is started figuring out my maternity leave. I'm definitely taking 12 weeks, and I want as much of it to be paid as possible. I automatically get 6 weeks paid (8 weeks for a c-section), and I'll be rolling over 5 days of vacation from this year to next year to get more of a paid leave. Worst case, I'll only have about 2 unpaid weeks. No biggie.

Now, I just need to stay pregnant.

I can't believe it

I got a positive pregnancy test this morning. And another one this evening (just to double check).

I'm pregnant.

Unbelievable.

Saving up Target points

I'm a huge planner. I always have been. Starting a family is definitely still more of the same.

One thing I've done is start saving up our credit card points. We have a card that allows us to get gift certificates for all sorts of things, and one of the options is gift certificates to Target. I've already started saving up the points, and I hope to be able to use them for all sorts of things. Like this crib:



I'm in love with it.

Kids are expensive. We're in a good financial position and won't have trouble affording a baby, but it sure will be nice if we can use the credit card points for a lot of the essentials. That will certainly help the cash flow.

A friend of a friend's baby

Someone I know through the grapevine (I'll just say she's a friend of a friend - I don't want to identify her any further here) has been married for several years. She's several years older than I am, so she's probably 34 or so. And, she and her husband love kids (I've seen them around kids several times). They both have stable jobs and a good marriage. It was pretty obvious to me, even someone who barely knew them, that they were dying to have a child of their own.

I've always suspected they suffered from infertility, although I barely know them. They just had looks in their eyes when they were playing with other people's children. Painful, longing looks from both the husband and the wife. I could see the sadness in their eyes, and I barely know them.

Today, through the wonders of Facebook, I found out that they have a daughter now. I'm not friends with either the husband or the wife on Facebook, but I have other friends who are. They've had a biological kid, it seems, and I'm so happy for them. It made my morning to know that a couple that I suspect has suffered to have a child of their own now finally does.

Almost 100 things

Since I've been struggling to come up with topics to write about on this blog, I thought I'd share this list of 99 things I came across on another blog. Basically, it's a list of things you can do in your life, and I've bolded the ones I've done. It's just a fun way to get to know each other here in blogland. I made a couple of comments, too.


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightening storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (does crochet count?)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (while I'd always like more money, we're in a pretty good financial place right now)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (on a climbing wall - does that count?)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (I had a caricature done ones - does that work?)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (I met the CEO of my company, and he's pretty famous)
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee


Filling out that list makes me realize that I need to travel more. My plan would be to hopefully someday get transfered to Switzerland for work, and then travel around Europe on the weekends then. Work is going to give me lots of opportunities to travel. That's one of the things I really like about working for a big company - there are lots of international opportunities, and I can't wait to take advantage of them.

Are we sure this is what we want to do?

I came across this website today, and it made me laugh so hard I was nearly in tears. Kids = destruction machines, apparently, and this website documents all sorts of things kids have destroyed. I hope you enjoy it!

First wakeboarding of the year

We went boating for the first time yesterday, and I wakeboarded a bit. It was a lot of fun - I got up on my first time! And, I didn't really fall, other than when I tried to turn the board around to face the other way. I've never been able to really do that successfully, though. I'm still learning.

Man, I'm sore, though. Mostly in my neck, surprisingly. I think it hurts from falling, although the time I fell wasn't terribly violent. The other weird thing about wakeboarding is that it makes you asymmetrically sore. That is, I'm sore on my right side, which is the side where I put the most strain from wakeboarding. It's all from being twisted sideways while on the board.

I think we're probably going to go boating again tomorrow after work. One of our friends is really big into skiing. so he's all about going out on the water all the time. It should be fun!

A funny take on pregnancy

While screwing around on the internet today, I came across this video. Please don't let me become a smug pregnant woman....

Another prediction

To cheer myself up a bit, I'm going to make another pregnancy prediction. Again, just for fun. I predict that I'm going to feel sick all day but will only puke a couple of times (if at all) while I'm pregnant. I guess I'm basing this on the fact that my mom didn't have morning sickness really. Plus, I think it's just wishful thinking - who wants to be sick? I think I'll feel king of icky, but I bet I won't throw up too many times.

We'll see if my prediction comes true!

An amazing coincidence

Here in Pleasantville, we have a relatively small circle of friends. Call it a dozen people that we hang out with regularly. In this group of friends, one couple is pregnant again - their first kid will be about 20 months old when the new baby comes. Last week, they found out they're having TWINS! She's about 20 weeks along and is due in September.

Then, today, another couple that lives down the street came by. They also announced that they're pregnant - also with twins! This couple is about 12 weeks along.

It's unbelievable to me that this, in this tiny group of friends, there will be 2 sets of twins born within 2 months of each other. That's such an amazing coincidence.

Last pre-baby medical step

When I went for my pre-conception appointment a few weeks ago, my doctor told me to check to see if I had gotten a TDAP vaccine recently. It's a tetanus shot with a vaccination for whooping cough. Apparently, in the last few years, the guidance for tetanus vaccines has changed. It used to only be that kids got vaccinated for whooping cough with tetanus. Now, it's recommended that everyone get vaccinated for it.

Well, I hadn't gotten the TDAP vaccination since 1986, so I needed to get one today.

It sucked.

Needles don't particularly bother me, but tetanus shots are always kind of sucky. It stung a bit, but I'm glad to have it over with.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 29 today. This birthday was a part of the reason we decided to start a family now. We need to start considering our ages. As I mentioned before, I know that 29 isn't too old to have a baby, but I feel like I don't want to be 35 when I'm having my last kid. Just a personal preference.

This birthday has been pretty terrible, given the loss of our cat a few days ago. I miss him terribly - we both do. It's getting a little easier, though. I haven't been randomly crying today like I had been for the previous couple of days. I'm going back to work tomorrow, and I hope that proves to be a bit of a distraction.

In other news, I finished a baby blanket that I've been working on. I learned to crochet several years ago, and I mostly make baby blankets. So far, I've been giving them away, but I think I'm going to keep this one in case we have a girl someday. It took FOREVER (months). There were 99 little flower squares to be made, and then they all had to be sewn together. I think it's beautiful, but it has definitely been a pain. Here are a couple of pictures:




I love it, even if it did take forever.

Life getting in the way

I haven't posted for a few days due to things being really busy and a recent tragedy that hit our family: Our oldest cat was recently struck by a car and killed. He was only about 2 years old, so he was way too young to pass away. We're absolutely devastated, as you can imagine. This happened yesterday, so it's going to take us awhile to adjust to only have 2 cats, instead of the three that we've had for about a year now. It's very heartbreaking.

Pregnancy predictions

One of the things I wanted to do on this blog was make a bunch of predictions of what I think pregnancy will be like. Just for fun. I think everyone woman has some expectations of what she thinks pregnancy will be like, and I thought it would be fun to document them here and then look back later to see if I'm right. It's just for FUN, so, if I'm totally wrong, oh well. Also, if you feel yourself wanting to say something like, "just you wait," with the implication that things aren't going to be as rosy as I expect, please refer to this post.

Just You Wait

My husband and I have a friend who had a baby a couple of years ago, and she told us about one of the things people say to pregnant women and young mothers all the time:

"Just you wait."

This statement is used to refute anything positive a pregnant woman can say about how she's feeling. Your heartburn isn't that bad? "Just you wait - it'll get worse." You're sleeping okay? "Just you wait - you won't get any sleep once the baby is here." You aren't too uncomfortable? "Just you wait."

I think it's ridiculous that people (especially women) can't be more supportive of each other. I think there's a bit of a "hazing" mentality for pregnancy. It seems in some way to be like a fraternity. I suffered through a rough pregnancy, so you should, too. I think some people think pregnancy is a right of passage.

I'm sure I'll be hearing that soon.

Finally...and an introduction

After debating whether and when to have kids for what seems like FOREVER, we've finally taken the plunge and decided to go for it. I started this blog as a way to chronicle the journey of our attempt to become parents (without all of the gory details - I promise). I also hope to chronicle my first trimester here (whenever that may be), so I can allow my friends and family to look back and see what we were going through during that time. We don't intend to tell anyone about a future pregnancy until we're 12 weeks into it or so, but I'd like to give everyone a bit of a window into those first several weeks of pregnancy. If they're interested, of course.

For this post, I wanted to answer one important question: Why now? Why, after debating for years on the decision to have a baby, did we finally decide to do it?

The answer is that it's not going to become easier as time goes on. All else being equal, it's better for a woman to have a baby young. I'm turning 29 in a few weeks, and, while I think that's plenty young enough to have a baby, I can't wait much longer and feel comfortable that I'll be able to have the kids as spaced out as I'd like. We'd definitely want two kids, and we've talked about having a third. If we wait much longer, the timing of the third kid would be dictated by my age rather than when we're actually ready for it. My husband's 31, and, if we have a 3rd kid in 5 years, he'd be 35 or 36. While I think that age would be okay, I doubt he wants to have kids much older than that (although I also doubt he's thought about it as much as I have).

Also, my career is just going to get more demanding. As I move up in the company, I'm likely going to be working longer hours and taking more demanding trips. Waiting will just make things more complicated with my career. It's easier to have kids when you're lower in the organization, I think, rather than waiting until you're a director. Plus, if we ever want to live internationally, I want to do it before we have kids or after we're done having them all. The worst situation would be to move to a new country with one kid. I'd know that we'd want a second, but my options would be limited by the fact that I really don't want to have a baby internationally. Since it's apparent that I'm not going internationally in the immediate future, we might as well just try for a kid now.

Finally, there really isn't any reason for us to wait anymore. I have a good job, and I'm making enough money to support the two of us plus a little one (My husband just recently recovered from a back injury, so he hasn't been working for several years. He's going to be a SAHD anyway, most likely - unless he wants to go back to work, which is fine with me). My husband also has MAJOR baby fever. I don't really feel the traditional "baby fever," but I'm sure it'll start once we get into this more.