First, I am quickly going to say that I want to have a t-shirt made with the following on it:
1. 22 weeks
2. I feel great, thank you!
3. A girl.
4. Sophie.
5. Yes, I can feel her kick.
6. Yes, very excited.
That would save everyone some time! But yes, everything is going well, pregnancy-wise, and I'm really happy and grateful for that.
This week sort of flew by for me. I ended up being sick on Wednesday and sent myself home after only an hour in the office. An hour, by the way, is the maximum amount of time one can spend dry-heaving in a cubicle according to legal clause 634.1, subsection 432.23 of the 'Mandatory Sick Day' law in the state of Minnesota. (No, that is not a real law.)
Chris, on the other hand, has been working like crazy on some start-up in Northfield. Either that, or he's starting a second life with another family somewhere else. In any case, he's been leaving the house at 5AM and returning around 8PM for the last week, including today (Saturday). It's just gross and I feel pretty bad for him.
It continues to be hot here in Minnesota. And let me be clear--I understand that my 'delicate condition' makes me more susceptible to the heat, but still. It's very hot. Sticky hot. The kind of hot that makes you stick to car seats and restaurant booths. Just gross.
So, to sum it up...hot, sick day, baby's good. Hope you're well.
xoxo
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Banana
I've decided to do a Top Ten list in honor of the fact that the baby is a massive 10 inches this week! So, here are the top ten things going on here:
10. Yesterday, I held a baby and he didn't cry. In fact, he nestled his little baby face against my neck and gummed my inner arm. This is significant to me because the last two babies I had held had cried, and I was starting to get a complex.
9. It's really hot. We all know that. But today, Chris saw on the news that we were HOTTER THAN SAUDI ARABIA (and more humid) yesterday. We pulled out the futon and slept in the living room under the air conditioner last night. It's pavement-buckling, 'check on your elderly neighbor' hot. It's just...it's just a real bitch. There's nothing more to be said about it.
8. We got a new car! It's a Corolla--yes, another one. My friend Mike checked it out and said it was a great deal. This is the same friend who warned me not to buy the Volvo a couple of years ago, and I definitely should have listened to him back then. My hopes for this car are high.
7. Our pet rat, Alfred, died a couple of weeks ago. He was sick near the end, but we think he had a good life. We bought a little stuffed walrus for Winston to snuggle with. I think he's a little depressed, as he will bite any kind hand that enters his cage.
6. We've been told at work that any inquiries about Bachmann and Associates, the clinic run by Michele Bachmann's husband, should be redirected to the Fairview Media Relations department. Apparently, the clinic is in our network, and we have referred people there in the past. Can I just say that the fact that Michele Bachmann is doing well in the polls seems to be an indication that all hell has broken loose in America, politically? How can we, as people, without bringing right or left-wing politics into things, believe that this person is qualified to make decisions that impact us all? She has done very little, politically, and she's just so judgmental. I want to shake her and say, 'You know, you'd be representing EVERYONE, not just your friends. Same to you, Sarah Palin.'
5. The other night, Chris and I went to a friend's brother's engagement party. When we arrived, it turned out that we'd fallen into the laps of some of nicest people, and that they were all very left-leaning. We discussed politics and ideas and philosophies about society's responsibility to help people who are disadvantaged, and it was just generally nice. The thing about this that was the most shocking is that these people are my parents' age or older. It was the first time I've had a conversation about politics with what I'll call 'real adults' (you know, ones who have worked, paid taxes, raised children and retired) where I didn't feel as though my ideas were silly, or didn't count because I'm 'young' (even though, I'd like to remind them that I'm almost 30). Chris and I were so taken aback and so giddy and didn't want to leave. My family tends to the right, as do Chris's coworkers, so we each spend a fair amount of time feeling frustrated at being discounted when it comes to our political ideas. Chris especially loves when people ask him, 'Come on, you can't possibly believe people should have universal health care, can you?', because he is, of course, from a country with universal health care, and it works out just fine.
4. Harry Potter is over. Chris and I saw the last movie on Friday with some friends. I remember reluctantly agreeing to read the first book, and then quickly realizing I was stupid to hesitate. Those books will be read forever, I'm sure. I'm already looking forward to the day that I can start reading them to my kids.
3. Work is...it's just work. I've started working 4, 10-hour days and taking off every Thursday. It's glorious. Recently, management thought that something major had gone wrong, didn't do much research into it, apparently, and then made us underlings spend about 30 hours fixing it. My part of the Big Fix involved driving down to one of the hospitals to sit in their medical records department and file things...twice. After the fact, we realized that nothing had actually gone wrong, and they had just panicked and deployed an unnecessary Big Fix. Yeah, welcome to my Cubicle of Hell. Pull up an ergonomic chair and prepare for some mental carpal tunnel syndrome.
2. My appetite has become like a truck driver's. My belly has also become that of a truck driver's.
1. I'm starting to feel the baby kick! The other night, I was having a tough time finding a comfortable sleeping position, so I rolled onto my stomach. Within ten seconds, the baby started to kick me in an annoyed way. Apparently, she is already assertive. I loved it!
Hope you're all doing well.
xo
10. Yesterday, I held a baby and he didn't cry. In fact, he nestled his little baby face against my neck and gummed my inner arm. This is significant to me because the last two babies I had held had cried, and I was starting to get a complex.
9. It's really hot. We all know that. But today, Chris saw on the news that we were HOTTER THAN SAUDI ARABIA (and more humid) yesterday. We pulled out the futon and slept in the living room under the air conditioner last night. It's pavement-buckling, 'check on your elderly neighbor' hot. It's just...it's just a real bitch. There's nothing more to be said about it.
8. We got a new car! It's a Corolla--yes, another one. My friend Mike checked it out and said it was a great deal. This is the same friend who warned me not to buy the Volvo a couple of years ago, and I definitely should have listened to him back then. My hopes for this car are high.
7. Our pet rat, Alfred, died a couple of weeks ago. He was sick near the end, but we think he had a good life. We bought a little stuffed walrus for Winston to snuggle with. I think he's a little depressed, as he will bite any kind hand that enters his cage.
6. We've been told at work that any inquiries about Bachmann and Associates, the clinic run by Michele Bachmann's husband, should be redirected to the Fairview Media Relations department. Apparently, the clinic is in our network, and we have referred people there in the past. Can I just say that the fact that Michele Bachmann is doing well in the polls seems to be an indication that all hell has broken loose in America, politically? How can we, as people, without bringing right or left-wing politics into things, believe that this person is qualified to make decisions that impact us all? She has done very little, politically, and she's just so judgmental. I want to shake her and say, 'You know, you'd be representing EVERYONE, not just your friends. Same to you, Sarah Palin.'
5. The other night, Chris and I went to a friend's brother's engagement party. When we arrived, it turned out that we'd fallen into the laps of some of nicest people, and that they were all very left-leaning. We discussed politics and ideas and philosophies about society's responsibility to help people who are disadvantaged, and it was just generally nice. The thing about this that was the most shocking is that these people are my parents' age or older. It was the first time I've had a conversation about politics with what I'll call 'real adults' (you know, ones who have worked, paid taxes, raised children and retired) where I didn't feel as though my ideas were silly, or didn't count because I'm 'young' (even though, I'd like to remind them that I'm almost 30). Chris and I were so taken aback and so giddy and didn't want to leave. My family tends to the right, as do Chris's coworkers, so we each spend a fair amount of time feeling frustrated at being discounted when it comes to our political ideas. Chris especially loves when people ask him, 'Come on, you can't possibly believe people should have universal health care, can you?', because he is, of course, from a country with universal health care, and it works out just fine.
4. Harry Potter is over. Chris and I saw the last movie on Friday with some friends. I remember reluctantly agreeing to read the first book, and then quickly realizing I was stupid to hesitate. Those books will be read forever, I'm sure. I'm already looking forward to the day that I can start reading them to my kids.
3. Work is...it's just work. I've started working 4, 10-hour days and taking off every Thursday. It's glorious. Recently, management thought that something major had gone wrong, didn't do much research into it, apparently, and then made us underlings spend about 30 hours fixing it. My part of the Big Fix involved driving down to one of the hospitals to sit in their medical records department and file things...twice. After the fact, we realized that nothing had actually gone wrong, and they had just panicked and deployed an unnecessary Big Fix. Yeah, welcome to my Cubicle of Hell. Pull up an ergonomic chair and prepare for some mental carpal tunnel syndrome.
2. My appetite has become like a truck driver's. My belly has also become that of a truck driver's.
1. I'm starting to feel the baby kick! The other night, I was having a tough time finding a comfortable sleeping position, so I rolled onto my stomach. Within ten seconds, the baby started to kick me in an annoyed way. Apparently, she is already assertive. I loved it!
Hope you're all doing well.
xo
Friday, July 8, 2011
Double X
We found out yesterday at our ultrasound that this little tomato-sized baby inside me is actually a girl! I watched her kick my bladder and generally ignore the ultrasound tech's pleas to 'flip over!' and was reminded that someday, this kid will be a teenager. That's right, I'm going to have a daughter.
It's really tough to think beyond this time, to be honest. I'm not scared of her becoming a sassy teenager. Right now, I'm focused on making sure she's healthy and strong enough to come out into the world. She looks very good--strong, active, and, dare I say it, cute. OK, she's actually a little skeletal-looking now, at least from the top view, but she's got one heck of a cute profile, and cute little hands and feet.
Anyway, blah blah blah, pregnancy. Let's not overdo it here. I have other things going on too. And while the Black Keys concert wasn't quite as miraculous as the creation of life within my body, it was a close second. The show was great--I've been listening to the Keys for a few years, but this is the first chance I've had to see them live. For only being made up of two guys, they made a lot of noise. Great noise.
There was one thing that bugged me at the show, though. A few rows ahead of me, there was some mouth-breather checking his Facebook. Now, I thought maybe he was going to post a picture of the show or something, but he didn't. He was just scrolling through his friends' profiles! There was an awesome band putting on a rocking show, and this slack-jawed technophile was more interested that his friend "Mike" was "totally going to drink a milkshake" or whatever other genius status update he'd found. There were also plenty of people watching the show through the screen of their iPhone or their cameras. So, these people had paid PLENTY to go see a live show, only to watch it through a screen of some sort. Ugh, people. Please, detach. Life is happening and you're missing it.
Speaking of, I'm going to detach now. Hope you're all well!
xo
It's really tough to think beyond this time, to be honest. I'm not scared of her becoming a sassy teenager. Right now, I'm focused on making sure she's healthy and strong enough to come out into the world. She looks very good--strong, active, and, dare I say it, cute. OK, she's actually a little skeletal-looking now, at least from the top view, but she's got one heck of a cute profile, and cute little hands and feet.
Anyway, blah blah blah, pregnancy. Let's not overdo it here. I have other things going on too. And while the Black Keys concert wasn't quite as miraculous as the creation of life within my body, it was a close second. The show was great--I've been listening to the Keys for a few years, but this is the first chance I've had to see them live. For only being made up of two guys, they made a lot of noise. Great noise.
There was one thing that bugged me at the show, though. A few rows ahead of me, there was some mouth-breather checking his Facebook. Now, I thought maybe he was going to post a picture of the show or something, but he didn't. He was just scrolling through his friends' profiles! There was an awesome band putting on a rocking show, and this slack-jawed technophile was more interested that his friend "Mike" was "totally going to drink a milkshake" or whatever other genius status update he'd found. There were also plenty of people watching the show through the screen of their iPhone or their cameras. So, these people had paid PLENTY to go see a live show, only to watch it through a screen of some sort. Ugh, people. Please, detach. Life is happening and you're missing it.
Speaking of, I'm going to detach now. Hope you're all well!
xo
Friday, July 1, 2011
Bell Pepper
On Monday, people started to notice that I'm showing. I had five separate people point it out or say I was glowing! All in one day! Up until then, no one had said anything. I guess it makes sense since the baby is almost the size of a bell pepper, but I feel like I've been popping out for about 2 weeks, so I was surprised at the amount of attention I got in one day.
People also feel pretty comfortable asking questions. I think my favorite question of all times is "Were you trying?" Now, call me old-fashioned, but I think it's bizarre that people feel OK asking me this question. Let's pretend we weren't trying. Then what? I see the options being limited to breaking down crying and saying, "Nooo, and I'm sooo scared!" or by responding "Nope, we just got drunk one night..."
On the other hand, it's weird to admit that, yup, we wanted to this to happen, so we did what is necessary to make it happen. Like....don't imagine that, people. That's not something you need to think about. Especially you, Trader Joe's employee. Or you, woman who works in the office next door. Or really, anyone.
Here's what I do like: Being told I'm glowing, being told how amazing it's going to be, and exclamations of "Ooooh, look at you!" and "You're starting to show!" All of that is OK. I also had a woman ask me if I had morning sickness, and when I said that I didn't anymore, she exclaimed, "BITCH!" and then started giggling and apologizing. I guess she had a lot of morning sickness with her babies. That, I didn't mind either. It was kind of delightful.
Anyway, that's what's going on in my uterus and my brain this week. Hope you're all doing well, too!
xo
People also feel pretty comfortable asking questions. I think my favorite question of all times is "Were you trying?" Now, call me old-fashioned, but I think it's bizarre that people feel OK asking me this question. Let's pretend we weren't trying. Then what? I see the options being limited to breaking down crying and saying, "Nooo, and I'm sooo scared!" or by responding "Nope, we just got drunk one night..."
On the other hand, it's weird to admit that, yup, we wanted to this to happen, so we did what is necessary to make it happen. Like....don't imagine that, people. That's not something you need to think about. Especially you, Trader Joe's employee. Or you, woman who works in the office next door. Or really, anyone.
Here's what I do like: Being told I'm glowing, being told how amazing it's going to be, and exclamations of "Ooooh, look at you!" and "You're starting to show!" All of that is OK. I also had a woman ask me if I had morning sickness, and when I said that I didn't anymore, she exclaimed, "BITCH!" and then started giggling and apologizing. I guess she had a lot of morning sickness with her babies. That, I didn't mind either. It was kind of delightful.
Anyway, that's what's going on in my uterus and my brain this week. Hope you're all doing well, too!
xo
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