Dreams

I had my first gender dream last night. I was at my ultrasound appointment, only it was today not Wednesday. I was in an office that I've never been to before, seeing a doctor I never saw before. When they did the ultrasound, it was more like they were taking a picture. They got a perfect picture of a full-term, fully developed little boy. And yes, it was very clear that it was a little boy.

Going by the Old Wives' Tales, this means I'm having a girl... Theoretically, what you dream you will have is the opposite of what you will have. I'd be interested in raw data behind this. Anybody who's had a baby recently remember what you dreamed you would have?

I also want to congratulate Christine and Paul on the arrival of Maura on Saturday!! (I know, I'm supposed to keep quiet, but I didn't link to you, Christine!) Best wishes to the new parents!

How I Spent My Day

Today was another big project day. Rearranging furniture and organizing files as well as moving all the junk around that we have to keep. I shredded about 5 plastic grocery bags' worth of documents that Brian had accumulated, as well as sorted and filed 2 years' worth of pay stubs and bank statements. I worked on this project from 10AM to 6PM with only a few short breaks in between. Whew! So this is what I have for my efforts: (Remember, these are kitchen pictures since I don't exactly have a nursery right now...)

This is the new shelving unit that replaced the glass shelves I had on this wall. It now holds most of what was on the potting bench.



This is, of course, the Pack 'N Play, which is where the potting bench used to be (right outside our bedroom door). I need to find a new spot for all those pots, though.


And of course, all the stuffed animals we've accumulated for Peep already!


I figured I easily earned over $100 for my efforts today (at least if you compare it to what I make at work for my time) so I gave myself a treat. I had been contemplating the issue of the 2nd stroller for Peep for a while now. I already purchased a Graco Metrolite LE during a moment of temporary insanity (blog of that moment can be found here). I mainly bought it because it worked with the Snugride carseat we bought and matched it. I didn't think much more about the whole thing. Now, all this time later, I've had time to read Baby Bargains and other people's reviews, as well as see how bulky it actually is even when folded up, and it's made me think. I really would like another less bulky stroller to keep in the Blazer. Then I don't have to worry about remembering to bring the stroller because it will always be there. And I wanted something that would maneuver well in places like the mall. Other women who are expecting around the same time I am have been talking about strollers on Fertility Friend lately which lead me to research Zoopers. As you might recall, we picked out a Zooper highchair already (which I doubt anyone will purchase for us, so we'll probably be buying that, too). I looked into what the book Baby Bargains had to say about them, as well as the message boards for the book. I had narrowed it down to the Rhumba or zStreet since I could get both at a huge discount on eBay from a very reputable seller. While I was initially looking for something like the Rhumba, the zStreet won out for all the extra features you get for only $12 more than the Rhumba, plus the fact that I can snap in the Snugride. Too bad I can't return my Metrolite! But anyway, since I worked so hard today, I bought myself the Zooper zStreet. Brian isn't too thrilled...he keeps saying we should let others buy us this stuff. But I told him this is a discontinued model at a huge discount (I read somewhere that they sold for $250+ when they first came out, and I was able to snag this for $92!). He also seems to forget that my family is quite frugal (and also prone to ignore registries) so I couldn't expect to get anything quality out of them anyway. There will be plenty of other things they can buy that we will need, but I wanted to make this choice for myself. So here it is, my new stroller-to-be:

Brian is going to kill me!!!!

Blogger Games

While trying to pass the time waiting for news about the impending arrival of a friend's baby, I thought I'd catch up on blogs. I found this game first on Kether's blog, but I better source it to the correct person which would be The Kept Woman. Here we go!

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

"The Internet, of course. Case in point: Overstock.com, the premier liquidator of dot-coms. This company has an excellent web site that sells brand-new merchandise at 50% off and more."
Baby Bargains ~ Denise & Alan Fields

I'm so embarassed! Actually, that just happened to be next to the iBook because I was comparing something I found online yesterday with what the book said... But the rules were to "pick up whatever is closest" so I merely followed directions. :)

My kitchen, BTW, is a huge mess... This project isn't working out as planned. I better get back to it before it sends me over the edge!!

Plans

Big plans for this weekend. If I can get myself motivated, that is. I haven't been feeling too great this week and I'm TIRED. But I need to finish. As I've said before, our apartment is pretty small. But I decided I would show you. Granted, this isn't perfect... I took the sketch from work for the house and modified it as best I could to represent the room divisions and such. Technically, each floor is 777 square feet but there's a hallway to the other floors in the middle, so I usually estimate our apartment to be closer to 700 square feet. In the sketch, the hot pink areas inside the apartment are the unmoveable things (counter, tub, closets). On the outside the "FEP" and "FOP" are porches...you can ignore that. We have 3 entrances into our apartment... 2 in the kitchen (1 from the hallway, 1 from the FOP) and 1 in the living room (from the FOP in the middle). I tried my best to put boxes and such where our furniture is, but obviously, it isn't perfectly to scale.



As you can see, it's a bit cramped. The plan is to take the potting bench out of the kitchen (that's between our bedroom door and the hallway door) and store it at my MIL's house and put the Pack 'N' Play there in the kitchen so the baby will be close to our bedroom in the beginning. Obviously, there's no way it will fit in our room. But there are things on the potting bench so I plan on looking for a baker's rack to hold that stuff tomorrow. That baker's rack will go next to the fridge where I used to have another piece of furniture. Then in the baby's room (which is more like the junk room right now) we will move the desk to the outside wall, put the crib where the desk is currently, and take out the cabinet that the TV is on right now so there will be room for the armoire. Brian doesn't want to move the TV out of there, though, so I will be looking for a corner stand so I can put it between the armoire and desk. It might just work!



Ambitious, I know, but now's the time to do it. I've gotten a lot accomplished, but I still need to do this before I'll be happy.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm at home now comparing my rendering to the real thing and I'm off... the hallway is wider, thus making it so that the baby's bedroom wall doesn't meet up with the kitchen/living room wall. Our bedroom wall is in a direct line with the end of the closet/tub, too, so there's no corner area in the kitchen there. Oh well, I'm not an expert at this sort of thing. You get the idea at least. :)

Where Did This Stuff Come From?

Over the past couple months (well, longer really if you count during the summer during my last pregnancy) I've been on a decluttering mission. I'm so sick of the *stuff* that's everywhere. We live in a 700 square foot, 4-room apartment and there's only so much room. What's really sad is that we voluntarily moved here from a 250 square foot larger apartment when we bought the house. But that's neither here nor there right now. In any case, this has been an on-going battle. We ditched a lot during the tag sale in August, and I've donated and tossed quite a bit since then. Yet, we still don't have enough room. This evening I tackled another project I had been thinking about for a while: clearing off the 3-tiered glass and iron shelf in the kitchen. It was supposed to be for decorative purposes, but since there is a marked lack of counter and cabinet space here, it ended up accumulating a variety of junk instead. I finally got rid of enough junk that was on it to move the rest elsewhere and get rid of the shelf. I feel a real sense of accomplishment. But I'm still not done. I have at least 2 more pieces of furniture that need to go elsewhere so we can fit the baby's crib and armoire here. I also did some thinking about the items on our registry and removed the swing, realizing that we just don't have the space to devote to a monstrosity like that. The bouncy seat will be sufficient.

Who knew there would be so much preparation involved? And where did all this stuff come from anyway? Where were we hiding it? Sometimes it feels like I haven't made any progress at all, but there are mounds of things that have gone out our doors so it was all in here somewhere originally. I did learn one thing...no more knicknacks! No more dust accumulators! Because they'll just head back out the door in a few years when I go through another decluttering frenzy. :)

Holy Sh!t!

Literally! After coming across the link to Trixie on Kether's blog, I was intrigued. I went back to the beginning (as you can see by the link I provided) and was seriously freaked out by what I found. Okay, I knew there would be diaper changes 10-14 times a day. I knew from Kether that babies, especially boys, have a tendency to wet through their clothes requiring a change of attire in addition to diaper. But I was not expecting that babies actually get poop on everything on a regular basis. I knew about occasional blow-outs, but from what I've read about their adventures with Trixie, it sounds like this isn't an occasional occurrence. I don't think I'm ready for that. I don't know if I ever will be. And I have to admit that I am more than just a little bit grossed out by the whole thing.

I Am Officially Pregnant

I've crossed that line into the cravings zone. I was pretty smug before about how I didn't really have any cravings, just aversions, and how I was in complete control of everything. Then I saw the OB at 20 weeks, who told me to watch my empty calories, and it was like Peep decided it was time to start making demands. Yesterday I actually craved Ben & Jerry's Dublin Mudslide ice cream at 9:30AM....and tried to talk my boss, the office next door's boss, and even my brother into getting me some! I had some at home, but it would be another 3 hours until I would be able to go there and I wanted it NOW. Even 2 hours later, I could think of nothing else but Dublin Mudslide. Ironically, by the time I got out of work at 12:30PM, the crisis had passed. Double ironically, I've actually been really good about my portion sizes of the junk food. I eat only 1/4 pint at a time, which is a serving size, and no more than that in any given day. I mostly stick to the serving size of all of the junk food I've been eating. It's just the fact that I've been eating multiple types of junk food every day, without much interest in veggies or fruits, that's making me feel guilty. But heck, once I have this baby, I won't be able to eat like this anymore. So I guess I should just suck it up. At least I don't eat more than a serving's worth. ;)

Which reminds me. In the beginning, I had no interest in sweets and especially chocolate. I wanted crackers and baked chips mostly, and still ate my veggies. This was supposed to indicate a boy according to the Old Wives' Tales. But that's turned around entirely. Chocolate is a staple now and I'm even having dairy (in addition to cheese, which I have always craved, pregnant or not). I find myself drinking a huge glass of skim milk with my chocolate Pop-Tarts (which are at least fortified with vitamins!) and enjoying it immensely. I hate drinking milk, but here I am, enjoying it. Dairy and sweets cravings are supposed to indicate a girl. So which is it??? These Old Wives' Tales are so confusing and contradictory. Guess I'll just have to wait out the next 17 weeks 5 days to find out for sure. :)

GRRRRRR!

Oooooh, my blood is boiling right now! I made a grooming appointment for my dog for today and was supposed to drop her off at 8AM. The groomers is in the next town over and while I don't particularly like the woman, my dog does, so we've stuck with her. So I got up early today so I could drop her off, knowing I only had about 10 minutes to get her set up before I had to leave to be on my way to work. I got there at 8AM and found the lights were off and the door was locked. The sign on the door said they were closed until 9AM. Now what? In a bit of a panic, I called Brian to get the number for the place, hoping she was inside and just hadn't unlocked the door yet. 5 minutes later, I got the answering machine. So I left a message telling her that I was there, she wasn't, the sign said she wouldn't be there until 9AM, and I thought she should know. I then proceeded to call work to tell them I would be late because I now had to drive all the way home again to drop my dog off before going to work. While I was on the phone and leaving (now 8:10AM), I saw someone pull in. I wondered if it was her, but it didn't matter...the damage was already done in my eyes. Frantically I drove home, only to find a message on my machine when I got there. The woman said she saw me when she pulled in, she wondered why I left like I did, and that it was only 5 OF 8AM at the time. She said the sign didn't mean anything, it was just an open/closed sign with hours on it and they don't mean anything. Okay, that's news to me...I always thought stores put their hours up and adhered to those hours, but whatever. Anyway, she wanted me to call. Meanwhile, Becky was waiting at the door like she was thinking, "What are you doing, Mom? Aren't we going for a ride??" Her cries as I locked the door behind me broke my heart...how dare this woman do this to her? Normally she isn't this upset when I go to work, but because her routine was all messed up this morning, she didn't understand what was going on. I felt horrible.

I've been known to over-react before, but I don't think I am this time. When you set up a particular time to be at a business, you expect them to be there and ready for you before you arrive. Sure, she showed up as I was leaving, but what good does that do to me? I have a tight schedule in the morning...At that point, I was already supposed to on my way to work, not waiting for the woman to open shop so I could drop my dog off. And yes, I did see her as I was leaving (although I wasn't 100% sure it was her), but it didn't matter to me then. The damage was already done. She was unprepared and unprofessional, neither of which I tolerate. And to call me and make excuses was the lowest of low. Whatever happened to the customer being right, especially since I WAS right. It's not my fault her clock is slow by 10 minutes...mine is set by the cell tower for my cell phone! I highly doubt they are 10 minutes fast, especially since it's the same time we use at work, where I had to be by 8:30AM.

GRRRRRRRR!!!!! Time to find another groomer...

Arabella

Today was my due date for my pregnancy with Arabella. Hard to imagine that if we had not lost her, I could have been holding a baby in my arms now. I would be on my maternity leave most likely. And even if I didn't have her already, she probably would be coming soon. What an exciting week this would have been.

Instead, it's been full of reflection and reverance. I don't want to forget her. No baby can ever replace her. I found peace long ago with the little time we had with her, discovered that she completed what she was supposed to do in that short time which was why she had to move on. I still wish I had had more time, but without her sacrifice, we wouldn't have Peep on the way now. It was meant to be.

Arabella, you're in my thoughts today. And in my heart forever.

I'm A Winner!

Seriously, I am! I went to the Baby Fest at Babies 'R Us on Saturday. It was a tad disappointing - more handing out brochures than real demonstrations - but it was a nice opportunity to get my mom into the store for the first time. While we were there, we entered a raffle. I didn't pay much attention to what it was for, just figured I'd give it a shot to win whatever they were giving away. Well yesterday when I came home at lunch, there was a message on the machine that I had won the raffle. Can't say that's ever happened before. So I headed over there today after work to find out what I won, and this is what it was:

Not bad! :)

Dreams

I woke up in the middle of the night from this dream:

At a house that was not mine (but symbolically was), my water broke. I only had one contraction and then nothing else, so I continued with what I was doing at the time while Brian and my sister ran around getting stuff together. I ate lunch because I knew I wouldn't be allowed to eat. As they wandered around, I then ended up in an auto mechanic's shop looking for Brian. But the only person there was a mechanic who was a guy I knew from school. He sent me on my way. Next thing I knew, I was at the symbolic hospital, hooked up to machines in a bed, but I was upset because I didn't bring anything to the hospital with me. My husband and sister were wandering the hospital... The doctor came in (not my doctor) and said we weren't getting anywhere. I told him to do what needed to be done to get things going and he put a mask on my face for laughing gas. The next thing I know, some time had passed since I had my baby, and I'm now hopping from large cluster of mushrooms to cluster, leaving my symbolic house in the forest because it's been sold but not afraid of what's next. A white wolf meets me at the road, and as some voice-over (because many of my dreams are like movies) speaks of what tomorrow will bring, the white wolf and I walk down the road into a sun (not sure if it was setting or rising, but it seemed more like it was setting).

So far I've figured out the white wolf means guidance, and if I woke up not afraid from the dream, then it was a positive omen and I should follow the guidance given. ??? Pretty bizarre.

Checklists

Let the checklists begin!! There are about 18 weeks left now and I feel the need to cross off things on my To-Do list. Up until now, it was a mental list, but I decided today that perhaps I should put it down on paper. Organization is the key, after all. So this is what I have:

Need To Do Still:
* ***Look For New Apartment***
* Tour Hospital’s Labor & Delivery
* Sign Up For Childbirth & Breastfeeding Classes
* Interview Daycare Opportunities In The Area (see list from online)
* Contact Dr. C’s Office About Being Baby’s Pediatrician
* Get Any Necessities Not Received At Shower (wipes, diapers, diaper ointment, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, Q-tips, cotton balls, baby shampoo/soap, washcloths, towels, baby Tylenol, thermometer, Vaseline, bottle brush, baby grooming kit, etc.)
* Install Infant Carseat/Carrier in Blazer
* Wash The Baby’s Clothes & Pack ‘N’ Play Sheets
* Figure Out Drive Route To Hospital
* Pack Hospital Bag With Stuff For Me & Baby (including going home outfits-refer to books for specifics)

All Set Already:
* Pack ‘N’ Play With Bassinet & Changing Surface Purchased & Set Up
* Infant Carseat/Carrier Purchased
* Stroller Purchased (works as Travel System)
* Baby’s Coming Home Outfit Purchased
* 5 Side-Snap T-Shirts For In The Beginning Purchased
* 15+/- Onesies & Sleepers Purchased Up To Size 9-12 Months
* 2 Cases of Small Diapers Purchased (chlorine-free type)
* Selected Crib & Armoire With Mom To Be Received At Shower

Alright ladies...what am I missing?

As you can see by the last item on my list, I made some progress over the weekend. I invited my mother to go to the Baby Fest at Babies 'R Us on Saturday. It was not what I expected; I was hoping for better demonstrations, but it was mostly just handing out pamphlets. In any case, I was able to check out the new cribs they had and Mom got into the act. She helped me shake them up (while commenting "What do you expect this child to do in the crib???") and check out the craftsmanship. Next thing I knew, she was talking about which one she would buy--not what I was expecting at all, but a very pleasant surprise. We didn't go with my first choice since it was quite expensive, but it's still a nice set. The crib can be seen here: Honey Pine Single Dropside Crib. The armoire isn't on their website, but it's the same one that Kether got, just in honey pine instead of white. (I hope you don't mind that I linked to your nursery pictures, Kether!!!) What a relief knowing that's been taken care of! Mom also picked up a couple of sleepers at Babies 'R Us, in spite of her warning before we went that she would NOT buy anything. Brian and I also went to the outlets in Lee, Massachusetts yesterday looking for clothes for him and picked up a couple of sleepers and side-snap t-shirts there at a discount. I know what I said, but this is not my crazed-shopping experiences of the past...I just took advantage of deals I found while I happened to be around them. :)

Bye Bye Doppler

I did it! I packed it up and shipped it back today! The doppler, that is. I haven't really felt the *need* to use it in well over a month now, maybe even longer. Crazy considering how worried I was in the beginning, and I certainly had no *physical* evidence that everything was okay other than the doppler. In spite of that fear, and even the scare I had around Christmas when I had a small amount of spotting, Peace settled in and made herself comfortable. So I figured why should I waste money on the doppler if I don't feel I need it anymore. Peep kicks once in a while now, ensuring I don't forget s/he's in there. And when s/he's quiet, I'm still content. It was time.

Another crazy thing has happened... I don't have that *drive* anymore to go shopping for baby stuff. Maybe I'm just too tired, but it's just not there. Yes, I know a baby is coming. Yes, I set up my registry early on so I could keep track of what we would need and I've read probably a half dozen or so books (I'm even in the middle of Baby Bargains right now!), but I just don't feel the need to peruse the baby section or trek on over to Babies R Us. It's like I've hit that point where I know I don't need to shop to make myself feel better about everything...I just do. And yes, this lack of shopping drive has only been for the last week, and we all know what a shopaholic I am--it could turn around at any point. But I really don't think it will, at least not for the reasons I used to shop.

A Doll For Becky

Considering our dog Becky's reaction to the pack 'n play last week, as well as her concern that the baby's toys are hers, we decided to start a little early in acclimating her to all things baby. One of the things I had read about was to get a doll and practice having the dog on her best behavior when the doll is in your arms. Another suggestion was to get a tape of baby noises so the dog can get used to it. I figured I'd save a step and I bought a doll that makes baby noises. Sure, it's not the greatest quality, but I figured having a doll that made noises would help her expect that a real baby would make noises randomly as well. Or maybe I'm just giving her too much credit. :) We practiced last night. At first, Becky did well and sat at my feet while I cradled this ridiculous "Baby So Fun". So I told her she was a good girl and petted her. But when I sat on the couch, she jumped right up to see what was going on. She got off right away when I told her to, but this is obviously going to take some work. She also got quite excited when the "baby" made noises, so I'm glad we're starting early. I think she has it in her to be a good dog around our baby, we just need to practice. Sure, I feel pretty ridiculous buying my dog a doll and practicing with her, but we do what we have to do.

Little Bits of Happiness

Lately I've been down a bit about the way I look. I used to weigh more than I do now by about 20 lbs. But it wasn't very long ago, and I honestly don't think I look any different pregnant at the weight I am now than I did just plain fat at this weight. Yeah, my belly is bigger...but it was when I weighed more, too. For some reason I imagined that by the time I got to halfway through the pregnancy, I would have a cute round preggo belly. Instead, I have my usual flabby belly, just bigger. I wear my cute maternity tops mainly so that people know I'm pregnant and not packing on the pounds again. Honestly, I could get away without them for the most part. But quite a few of my shirts aren't long enough to cover the panels on maternity pants anyway. I'm swimming in most of these shirts right now (have to make sure they'll fit near the end, after all) so even that doesn't lift my spirits much.

Today, however, was different. The high was predicted to be in the 50s, so I decided to pull out one of the few short sleeved shirts I have. I bought them last summer when I was pregnant with Arabella and haven't worn them once. I remember trying them on during that pregnancy and they were absolutely huge on me. I went with the pink one today as it was a nice cheery color and was surprised to find that it fit rather well. Of course, it's a wrap shirt so it's a lot more adjustable than the other ones I own...but I have to say that in it, I actually look pregnant. AND I had my first total stranger realize that I was pregnant today. It was so cute. I was helping this elderly couple at work and when I went back to my desk to check on something for them, from behind the partition I heard the lady whisper, "She's pregnant, you know!" She winked and blew me a kiss when she left. Okay, so it was a bit weird, but what do you expect - she's in her 80s! On the other hand, I also saw some former coworkers today who I haven't seen since October. They told me I look great, which usually means, "Gee, you don't look pregnant at all!" I'll take the good with the bad though...

So here I am at 20 weeks 4 days:



I realized today that there are only 45 days left until the 3rd trimester. Well, now that it's near the end of the day, I guess it's closer to 44... but still, that's only a month and a half away! Hard to believe that the time is going by so quickly. Before I know it, I'll be holding that little baby in my arms!

Spoke Too Soon

Remember when I was talking about our dog, Becky, and her obsession with the pack 'n play? Well yesterday she jumped into it. Brian didn't think she could, but I saw it with my own eyes. I was sitting in the living room, she was sitting in front of the pack 'n play in the next room, crying. The next thing I know, she jumped up and right into it. I can't believe she cleared the side of it! Immediately she found out that was not acceptable, but it's further evidence that she feels she is queen of this castle. We'll be in for a struggle, I'm afraid. When I told Brian about it when he got home from work, his response was, "Well I guess we can't leave her alone around it." His lack of reading shows (or should I say my obsessive planning?). I had to explain to him that you're not supposed to leave dogs unattended with babies anyway... animals are unpredictable, as Becky proved yesterday. So after that, she decided to sniff up the stroller for a while... this should be interesting.

To all of you domestic goddesses out there, how often do you mop your floors? There is no carpeting in this apartment--vinyl floor in kitchen, tile in bathroom (the tiles are coming up...lovely), and pine floors in the rest of the apartment. I have a hard enough time getting to vacuuming lately, but I realized it had been quite some time since I mopped. It's been on my to do list, I just never get around to it. So I'm sitting in the living room now, waiting for the kitchen and bathroom floors to dry so I can get on with my life. I haven't mopped the rest of the house in even longer, but mainly that's because the wood floors obviously haven't been sealed in a long time and I'm afraid of ruining them with the water. I usually save those floors for the warmer months. The reason I ask what you do, though, is that I feel that my domestic inadequacies will become a much bigger issue once we have a child crawling around on these floors. The thought of it grosses me out... We don't wear shoes in the house to help keep down on the dirt, but still, our dog trots these floors every day and Lord knows what she's been stepping in! I'm hoping our next apartment will have more carpeting so this isn't as much of an issue. Sure, carpets need to be shampooed, but not as often as bare floors need to be mopped.

Drumroll Please!

I bit the bullet and bought another scanner. Brian's not too happy about it... He seems to think we have no use for one. But I've felt lost ever since we replaced our all-in-one with just a printer-I obviously can't live without it. I do have to say the quality has gone up since my last purchase...and it's really easy to use.

So, without further delay, here are the ultrasound pictures from Wednesday, February 2nd when I was 19 weeks 6 days... (these are the scans of the printouts I was given)



Our sleepy little Peep :)

Past Halfway!

Yesterday was 20 weeks 0 days (well, according to calculating by ovulation date) which means today there are only 139 days to go!! I've made it past the halfway point!

On top of that, I actually got some sleep last night! I started wearing wrist guards for my carpal tunnel, as suggested by Dr. K, and tried using the body pillow behind me so I was sort of laying on my back. It took a lot of pressure off of my hip and arm and enabled me to get some sleep until I had to get up to pee at 4:30AM. Then, Peep decided it was a good time to wake up and started punching and kicking me. I wonder if his/her sleeping schedule will be similar once s/he is born?

I plan on doing some more decluttering this weekend. When I set up the new pack 'n play, I realized there wasn't as much room created by my previous decluttering as I had hoped. I'm also trying to get Brian to call on a few ads in the paper for apartments. We really need at least one more room. I still hate the idea of moving now with a baby coming, mainly having to take so much out of our bank account to do so, but I know I will be miserable trying to squeeze all of us in here with all the accoutrements that come with a baby. Here's hoping he makes those calls because a few of them actually sound promising!

Regarding the new pack 'n play, our dog Becky is fascinated by it. Maybe not so much it as what's in it, since I put a bunch of stuffed animals that we have for Peep in there so it wouldn't be a total waste of space right now. The first night, she would go over, put her paws up on the side, then sit down and cry. She even stood on her hind legs on her own trying to peek inside, then would cry. Since then, she's taken to sitting in front of it and staring. I guess it's a good thing she'll have all this time to get used to it. And we'll have to make sure she doesn't learn how to jump into it since she can jump really high. But at least she isn't terrified of it, like she is of the stroller!

We're having....

...a baby! And a lazy one at that! Peep didn't move much at all during the ultrasound, in spite of the 16 oz of orange juice I chugged 15 minutes before my appointment. There he or she was, perfect as could be, but absolutely and totally asleep. So the tech tried shaking my belly around to get Peep to wake up. Peep was obviously jolted by this surprise, yet s/he went back to sleep-but not before waving to us. :) So I go back in a month for another ultrasound because the tech couldn't even get all of the measurements she needed. What she got looks good, though. Peep's heart was beating at 154 bpm and (from what I could see on the records-nobody told me) it looks like s/he weighs around 11 ounces right now. Speaking of weight, I only gained 1 lb since my last appointment, which brings me in at a grand total of 9 lbs gained so far. I got a warning that I should start watching what I eat and avoiding empty calories and too many carbs since my PCOS puts me at a higher risk for gestational diabetes. They won't be testing me until 28 weeks for it, but Dr. K said now would be a good time to start being more careful. Should I happen to develop GD, they will do monthly ultrasounds from that point forward to make sure Peep doesn't get too big. Otherwise, the next ultrasound will be the last one.

I also have to wait another month now for my CD of ultrasound images since I'm going back on March 2nd for another one. I guess I'll really get my $20 worth, but I really wanted to be able to show the images we had. I'll have to see if I can get them scanned at my MIL's house this weekend...

I'm thinking maybe this is a sign that we shouldn't be finding out whether Peep is a she or a he. I had been thinking a lot about letting our baby make the decision for us, although I never worded it that way to Brian because I figured he'd think I was looney tunes. Regardless, Peep certainly made the decision for us this time.. So maybe I won't pursue the answer to the gender question next time.

Today's The Day!

I decided to take another day of rest from work so I can be fully prepared for my ultrasound this afternoon. I didn't sleep much last night anyway. I don't know if it was that sort of Christmas phenomena-you know, when you can't get any sleep because you're so excited about what might have been left under the tree for you-or if it's just because I'm sick. Regardless, the excitement is mounting. I kept saying to Brian last night, "Tomorrow we'll see our baby!" He seemed about as excited as a man can be. ;)

I'm still undecided about finding out the gender. It's the problem that has plagued me much of my life: I can see both sides of the argument as valid. On the one hand, it would be nice to have that surprise at the end. On the other, it would be nice to be able to buy all those frilly girly things now if I can. :D I wonder if the only reason why I agreed to not find out was because it's the unconventional thing to do. I think I read somewhere that only 20% of pregnant women leave that as a surprise. And I was known for doing whatever was unconventional in my youth just to be contrary, to go against what was expected of me. It was my way of getting attention and standing out in the crowd. As long as there's a healthy baby (or babies!) in there, that's all that really matters in the end. But I really would like to be able to plan ahead...

I won't have any ultrasound pictures to share after my appointment today, unfortunately. The office I go to gives you a CD with jpegs and avi files from the ultrasound on it, but you have to wait about a week to get it. So while I will have a print out or two for my own collection, I don't have access to a scanner anymore so I'll have to wait for that CD to come to share with all of you. But hey, we've waited this long, what's one more week, right? ;)

Sick :(

I knew it was coming. I had an earache over the weekend and I haven't had one of those in a while. I've been a lot more tired than usual, too. And sure enough, I woke up (if you can call it that since I didn't sleep too well to begin with) in the middle of the night with post-nasal drip, a sore throat, and congestion. I didn't get much sleep the rest of the night. This morning I had the usual internal debate when I'm not feeling well: to go to work or not? I'm not feeling horrible quite yet...I've certainly felt worse before. But I've always felt that some preventive measures can keep things from getting worse. At first I was going to stay home and rest all day (which sometimes works...but if the tenant upstairs is home all day, it's usually a waste of a sick day since they tend to be noisy). Then I decided to go to work. I have a pension negotiations meeting today so it wasn't like I would have to spend all day working with the public. Then if I still felt ill tomorrow, I could stay home then knowing I wasn't planning on being there the whole day anyway because of my ultrasound appointment. I took my shower and contemplated it further. Finally, I decided to stay home. I called in sick and found that my boss is also sick again. Same symptoms. Of course, she felt like this several weeks ago, kept going to work anyway, and ended up having some kind of upper respiratory infection-something I tend to be quite prone to since I have asthma. I hope that isn't what I have now. I hope it isn't even a sinus infection. I used to get those several times a year, usually with it turning into bronchitis. But ever since I started getting the flu shot, I've been able to skip that horrible fate each winter, for some odd reason. I had been so healthy so far in spite of all my coworkers coming into work sick that I thought maybe, maybe, maybe I just might make it through the winter illness-free. It looks like my luck has run out.

So here I sit on the couch with my bottle of water and box of tissues handy. I took some Tylenol Cold after another internal debate (did the doctor say I could take this or not?) because in the end, I was advised by my OB to take something for my symptoms if I am sick-that I will not be helping Peep any by suffering. No matter what happens, I AM GOING TO MY ULTRASOUND APPOINTMENT TOMORROW. The only thing that would force me to cancel is death itself. In the meantime, I wonder what I can find online to buy for Peep. ;)