Friday, May 22, 2009

Baby boy

Our little one has stretched out my belly so he has room for active swimming and he's rotating around a lot now. I try not to worry about the cord around his neck. Useless worry. I can't do anything about it anyway. This morning, he's determined to kick my bladder at random. Silly bugger.

When I wake up in the night, he's always active. It doesn't wake me up, though. Doesn't he know it's night?! Of course not.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Belly button

Yesterday, my little boy was definitely in a different position than he has been before. During the Ultrasound (last week), his noggin was on the right, several inches below my last rib, and his feet were on the left below my hip bone. Tickley toes, and cute little kicks. I started to feel his arms move over the weekend and felt an elbow or two below my belly button. Monday, after his kick-and-stretch-a-thon, his head on the left between my belly button and my lowest rib, toes on the bladder (quit standing up son!).

Tuesday, on a long walk, I could feel his hard little head pretty close to my ribs. When we were nearly done with our walk, I put my hand on my belly and my half-outy belly button was poking out further. Hubby felt it and said he could feel my belly button moving and poking out more. 5 minutes later, our little boy rolled his head over to my belly button and it threatened to be a full outy right then! My inny belly button has always been sensitive and it has hurt to clean it at times. I had wondered if this would hurt and IT DID!!! We still had a quarter mile to walk to be home and it was not fun. I know, I know, that's only a foretaste of pain to come. So call me a wimp. I laid on my side for a few minutes back home and our little guy got the message and moved his noggin.

Today, I'm in a cute, slightly dippy little summer dress with my hair in long, braided pigtails. Hopefully, I look like a knocked up teenager! One can dream, right?

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

baby stretch

Yesterday, starting around 1pm, my little one went on a super energetic kickathon! I swear that child was doing jazzercise while practicing his drum solo. He was all over the place! He was so active that I couldn't sit at my desk with my legs crossed and I had to sit really straight so he could have more room. He kept this up until about 6:30 after I had done my little exercise video (yay me!). And I hadn't had anything to eat to hype him up. Tuna, cookies, and pears. So he did all this stretching and my belly still hasn't gone back to it's pre-kickathon size. A friend says I look noticeably pregnant today instead of just belly fluffy. Yeah!! I finally look really pregnant!

Last night, my tummy really itched a lot which was probably the skin stretching out. I was wearing some sweat pants that I know I had when I was 14, but for most of the evening, I had a thumb in the waistband holding it out so it wouldn't cut into my belly. I was sitting there rubbing belly butter on my belly and thinking, maybe this is the last time I can wear these pants.... maybe ever?! Oh what a depressing thought. Then again, I've now had them for 17 years. That's a pretty good tenure for a pair of sweat pants! And I'm very likely to be close to my original size again after the birth. Probably within a year of the birth too. Both my sister and my mom went back to nearly their pre-baby sizes, but they were ages 20, 24 and 27 when they had babies. I'm 31. I bet I won't be quite as elastic as they were.

Anyway, my little boy is happy, healthy, active, and perhaps in a different position than he was at this time yesterday.

Monday, May 18, 2009

non-negative post

Here at my work, there's a little exercise class every day for about 20 minutes. The lady who leads occasionally teaches classes at a gym, so the work outs are always a little different. Today she had us do walking lunges, which I normally hate. But today, they did the trick of snapping me out of my funk. I'm much happier now. Good ole endorphins. A walk in the sunshine afterward didn't hurt either. It has rained nearly every day for 2 weeks and the sunshine is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Our little baby is kicking up a storm this afternoon!! I emailed his daddy and said that I thought he was doing jazzercise while practicing his drum solo in there. Rockin and rollin! Makes me smile!

depression and issues

I haven't been exercising and as a result, I'm a little depressed for no reason. This makes me unusually sleepy and lazy. And grouchy. What I really need to do is get out my workout videos and do a little 20 minute workout. Since I didn't exercise during the first trimester, I know I couldn't hack the whole 45 minute workout. Maybe I'll get a deposit together here at work and take a walk to deposit it. It's beautiful outside. Maybe that would get me out of this funk.

My hubby was a big help last night. I realized at 9pm that if the kitchen counter and table weren't neat when I got home from work Monday, that it would really depress me even further. I asked him to come down and help me and for us to pretend like we had company coming at 9:30 and had to get it all done! It is truly amazing the speed we can clean when we've got company coming. And because it will be short in duration, it doesn't seem odious. So we finally got all the party stuff cleaned up, the leaf out of the table, and all of the kitchen counter visible! I felt better this morning for seeing it that way. Apparently, base-board gazing brings contentment to my heart. Therefore clutter depresses me. When on a strict exercise regimen, this keeps our house cleaner! Otherwise, not so much.

Now if I could only enlist his help in the same way for the 6 months worth of filing that's all over my office floor. But, alas, only one person can be in front of the filing cabinet at a time, and he has never filed our stuff before. Our filing is made more complicated by the fact that we receive 3 different types of correspondence from our bank and AT&T sends us 3 types of bills for very different things. I have trouble telling them apart! AND! I really need to clean out the filing cabinet so these 6 months of new junk will fit. Does anyone really need the past 3 years worth of cell phone bills at their fingertips?! I doubt it. A huge chunk of those could be shipped off to the garage filing cabinet. And I bet if I look close, I've got 2 copies of the back up for every tax return we've ever filed. I copy our junk when I send it to the CPA dude, in case it gets lost in the mail, and he sends most of that back to us. The copies could be shredded. I've been trying, for about 3 weeks now, to talk myself in to working very fast for 15 minutes per day, every day on this mess, but I'll get to work here on Monday and yet again, I haven't touched it for a week. Which just depresses me more. Bleck! Maybe if I put on a favorite movie....and have hubby make sure I don't just sit dejectedly on the floor amongst the mess for the duration of the movie with a package of cookies on my growing belly.

About the belly.... I can no longer sleep on my belly. It squishes my stomach something awful. This morning I tried it and could feel my stomach move up into my rib cage and almost instantly produce heartburn. Dat ain't right! Baby is laying sideways across my belly, and every evening between 4 and 6, he tries to stretch out perfectly straight. Weird feeling!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Tiny Baby News

This morning in the tub, I could see our little boy elbowing me in the belly. I held very still to see if he would cause the water to ripple, but no dice. It made me smile. I'm at the point now where I can't sleep on my belly any more - it's too uncomfortable for both of us. It reminds me of when my cat would just lay down on her week old kittens. I worried she would smother them, but then they would howl and she would shift and they'd wiggle out. He lets me know when he's squished, even though his bubble keeps the same volume. It only changes shape.

A friend at work said disgustedly today that I could wipe that glowing grin off my face any time now. Not bloody likely. And another is making fun of me pinning the ultrasound pictures up my cubicle wall and mailing them with tiny socks to family members. We took the ultrasound pictures to hubby's masonic lodge last night to show around. I advertised them as a baby Rorschach test: if you can see a baby, then you passed! There was quite a bit of turning the pictures upside down with puzzled foreheads. The DVD is much clearer, but not as mobile.

I'm 20 weeks pregnant now! Halfway there.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

weekend review

Hubby graduated on Saturday with his Masters in Public Administration! Woohooo! Great ceremony! Not too crowded. Only 2 hours long, start to finish, appropriate screaming for family members with only occasional appropriate screaming. I've been to a great many college graduations and the family members at this one were extremely proud of their graduates. The school is a historically black college and I think that made the difference on enthusiasm of family members. We heard several times that this was the first family member to get a BA, MA, or doctorate. There were 4 of us to cheer on my hubby. Almost every other graduate had 10 to 20 family members there that would absolutely erupt when their name was called.

Immediately afterward, me and my mother in law had put together a grand party at the house with plenty of food, lots of good conversation, and half the party was continued at our pub later in the evening. The weather even cooperated and didn't rain so there could be cigar smoking on the deck, away from the pregnant lady. Very good party indeed!

Sunday, most of the out of town company left by 10am which is about when we expected them to leave. One relative did not. I was really done with company by Sunday morning. All last week, I was busy studying for that icky final (which went OK, I think) and immediately afterward company started to arrive. Very busy Saturday with graduation and party. Sunday, I'm ready to clean up the party mess and begin my standard Sunday chores that make weekdays a pleasure. Hubby was also done with company, indicated by his consistent playing of his computer games. Lots of tension over who needed to entertain the company while I really didn't want outside "help" with chores. Grrr...

BUT!! I had bought us IMAX tickets to see Star Trek (thinking the company would be gone, of course). The movie was totally awesome!!! I don't recommend the combination of IMAX tickets and a second row seat, however. Get there early and sit in the back. Movie was really funny, seemed to have the original cast's stereotypes on steroids, and was thoroughly enjoyable as a result. Pretty darn good plot too! There were some gaping holes that you just mostly need to get over. Like how did nearly the whole crew graduate together, yet instantly be assigned to the brand new flagship Enterprise (not as senior staff) and all have varying ranks? Wouldn't they all have nearly equally low ranks? Also, Spock was senior by a few years yet winds up 1st officer with the junior Jim as acting Captain? These questions weren't really answered, but we all realized that that's where the plot needed to go. It's like watching the third prequel of Star Wars. You how it has to end.

Spoiler alert: Uhura and Spock have a thing going on!!! That's really fun to watch. The only cliches that didn't happen were: Jim didn't manage to get his shirt torn or off during a fight scene. The phrase "beam me up Scotty" didn't happen. Cliches that did happen: Bones says "Jim, I'm a doctor, not a ___". Bones calls Spock a green blooded something-or-other. Spock frequently says things are logical or illogical. Spock says his line like "I am and always will be, your friend" to Jim. A guy in a red suit on an away mission dies. Jim hits on everything that moves, including having a PG-13 scene in the sack with a green alien. Jim doesn't believe in no win situations. An alternate reality is introduced which will allow for another 12 movies with this cast that will not clash with the original series or any subsequent series. That's the very best part!! I'm going to have to pay to see it again in the theater.

The baby was kicking around during the loud battle scenes. I realized that if I held my belly with both hands and arms, covering the most belly as possible, that it muffled the sound for him. He calmed down after that.

Monday, we got to do an ultrasound and get to really look at the baby. It's a boy!!! We got a copy of the DVD and on that, you can really tell it's a boy without a doubt, but the still pictures look a bit like a Rorschach ink blot test. We held hands and giggled during the ultrasound. Very fun! He stuck his tongue out at us and waved at us too. I now need to train myself not to call him an it. We have been so excited and have called and emailed the whole world. I've bought little boy socks and a body suit that says "Daddy's Mane Man" with a lion on it. And blue balloons to celebrate and announce at work. So now I can buy boxes of baby clothes on craigslist!! Very cool! I resisting the urge to put up a huge yard sign that says "It's a boy!" Best to wait until he pops out to do that.

Friday, May 8, 2009

landmark event

Today I have a final in a college course that $1500 is riding on. If I don't make the grade, my work won't pay me back. So I've studied about 20 hours for this test and feel pretty good about it. I leave to go do that in a few minutes. My mother-in-law will likely be at my house when I return home from my final. The landmark event is that I haven't really cleaned the house and I'm not worried about my mother-in-law seeing it that way! Last night and this morning, I made sure the kitchen and bathrooms aren't gross, but everything is still extremely cluttered. Both me and hubby have warned her of this in advance and told her why cleaning hasn't been a priority this week. I'll let you know how this turns out later.

Hubby is graduating with his masters' degree tomorrow! Another landmark event!! Lots of pictures for that tomorrow.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

The good, the bad, and the pukey

The good thing that happened is that hubby got to feel the baby last night!! The baby was kicking up a storm and being very active. We were spooning and trying to go to sleep. I woke hubby up by moving his arm under the covers and putting his hand in the right spot on my belly. He said, annoyed, "my arm doesn't bend that way" and then with awe "Oh I can FEEL IT! He's really going to town in there!" He started poking the baby and it poked back for more than a minute. So hubby got to play with the baby! Very cool!

The bad is that I was morning sick this morning. I'm at 19 weeks now and haven't even kept the soda or crackers in the bedroom for about 2 weeks now. I thought I had it under control for the morning, when the cat decided to leave me a gift on the carpet. An unidentifiable gift no less. I couldn't even guess which end it came from. After cleaning it up at record speed and depositing it elsewhere, I bolted from the bathroom only to start gagging in the bedroom. At the cat no less. "Gag. This is your fault cat! Gag." She at least had the decency to look guilty. So nearly 2 hours later, I still have the vomit chills and a headache which is a new symptom of pregnancy for me. Three people stopped at my desk this morning to ask if I was alright (yes I look that good today!). I reminded them that I'm pregnant. Two basically said, "oh that's right....see you later". B**ches.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

ouch at 18 weeks & responsive kicks

The baby is finally trying to pop out of my pelvis. I've been showing for a while, but further up, near my belly button. All my guts are squished up and poking out near my navel and above, but now things are starting to move out of my pelvis instead of just up into my abdomen, if that makes any sense. So now all those ligaments that normally tell you that either you really need to pee or that you ate really too much are aching constantly now. Yesterday it started with just a few tiny twinges that reminded me of ovulation. I asked my sister the nurse and she assured me that this type of little ligament pain will very likely continue through the rest of the pregnancy. Oh! Great! Guess I'll suck it up and stop thinking about it. As long as that's normal, I'm good.

A cool thing that happened this weekend: I was laying in bed and the little runt kicked in his favorite spot. So I poked him back. He kicked back at me in the same spot! I poked him again, but he was done playing.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Sue Grafton Novels

I just love Sue Grafton Novels. Today at work seems especially boring for some reason and I'm really grouchy inside my own head. I've gotta fix my attitude before I go and spend 2.5 hours with my wonderful hubby in the car tonight. He doesn't deserve that. The highlight of this dark, stormy, and extremely wet day as been starting an audio book by Sue Grafton that I've got saved on my computer. It's the only thing that's made me snicker.

"The Copse at Herstborn" is a fictional residential area that the main character is about to break in to in the novel E is for Evidence. Sue Grafton goes on this tiny diatribe about how silly the names of residential areas can be. Copse as in a small grove of trees. She waxes on eloquent and amusingly about how if we combine two of any of four types of words, we get a shnazzy sounding area. The four types of words would include a reference to trees, a reference to some kind of natural water, a random geographical feature, and something British. I've noticed this among apartment complexes too. Hickory Hill. Shady Knoll. Shady Acres. Burning Tree. A particularly good phrase about this fancy naming of things includes: "Apparently people aren't willing to pay $155k (in the early 1980s) for a home that doesn't sound like it's part of an Anglo-Saxon land grant." The funniest part of this observation is how residential areas are never named after Mexicans or Jews. "Try marketing Rancho Feinstein if you want to loose money in a hurry." Very non-PC but oh so very accurate, which is how non-PC things usually go.

This little bit of funny so far has made my day! And smiling begets smiling.

We're off to a lovely state park this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Even if it rains all weekend long, we've got a cabin with a screened in porch and a fireplace. We're bound to find SOMETHING to do....teehee.