Pom Pom and Peppers

I am really not being as regular about this as I like, but despite the aforementioned energy that I have experienced (and continue to have), by the end of the work day my priorities are food, some cleaning, and THEN relaxing. I'll have to start scheduling blogging in there somewhere (so sad).

In the past week, you have missed the baby's latest nickname - Pom Pom - which I will kinda miss. One of the many prego sites I was looking at said that the baby was the size of a pomegranate, but that seemed a bit cumbersome, so it quickly became Pom Pom. Which is kinda cool, because I start picturing this whenever I was referring to the baby.

But, as of Thursday, we have progressed to other produce...namely, a bell pepper. So this week, we will be referring to the kid as "Pepper". (wasn't that the name of the chic in Iron Man? poor kid, if it's a boy...we keep calling it girly names even when we are referring to produce)

I felt a brief flutter this week, which was all kinds of odd. Very light and quick, but definitely a different feeling. Right now it's interesting. As he/she grows and starts sticking his/her heel in my ribs, I am sure I will find it slightly less amusing.

Other than that, not a whole lot to report. The belly continues to grow. My sister continues to count down the days to finding out the sex so her shopping can begin. The usual.

...and because it has been a LONG while since I posted a picture of us - here we are. I have not yet taken "I'm prego" pictures, so unless you are part of my AZ crew, you'll just have to wait a bit longer. Isn't my mom cute? I hope I look that good after raising ONE kid, let alone five.

Listening to: My Name is Jonas by Weezer
Current Week: 18
Countdown to Sonogram: 10 days

Nesty-Crazy

You often hear people talk about women who begin "nesting" when they are prego. I always thought this was something that was supposed to hit when labor was near. But after the past several days, I think it has already begun.

Monday I had the day off work. In the past, a day off was good for the following: sleeping in, leisurely shopping, reading, relaxing, and maaaaaybe a load of laundry.

This day off consisted of:

Waking up at my usual work day hour
Getting out to shop for things to organize the closet
Organizing the closet
Doing several loads of laundry
Sweeping the house
Organizing the bedroom
Cooking dinner (not ordering in)

While I have experienced similar frenzied cleaning bouts before (usually for one day during my period I get an irresistible urge to clean) this one seems to be continuing.

Today, the weather was GORGEOUS outside. Sunny, moderate temperature - just perfect. So I decided that I should take a little of my lunch hour to redo the front beds. What now? Yes, pull plants with tenacious roots out of their homes, with the help of a shovel and spade.

If that weren't enough, when my work day was over, I used what daylight was left to trim the hedges. With old fashioned arm powered clippers.

And I have no desire to stop. I have plans for cleaning the beds and planting new stuff this weekend (I'll take photos). And there are still other closets to organize. And a crib to assemble.

I guess this must be that energetic second trimester they talked about in all those books.


Listening to: nothing - Lost is paused, so soon to be watching that
Current Mood: Suprisingly, still have some energy left
Week: 16 (17 tomorrow)

Maybe It's Next to My Keys

I had a weird dream last night. It was the first of what I am sure will be many more baby related dreams.

I have always had a very active mind while asleep - I can rarely recall an evening where I don't dream (maybe that's why I wake so tired?). I find that the dreams are particularly active when I am stressed/overthinking something.

So last night, I dreamed about the baby. I dreamed that I asked my husband where the baby was, and he told me he left it in the car. I dreamed that it had a square head. I dreamed that I couldn't figure out how to feed it. I dreamed that I didn't have a car seat when it "showed up" so I stuck it in a box when I got in the car. I dreamed I that I kept forgetting where I left it (which resulted in deciding to carry it in my coat pocket).

Apparently, I dreamed that we are incredibly incompetent parents.

In waking life, I haven't really been overly worried about my ability to be a mom. I have a great example to follow, who happens to be more than willing to help me figure it out now that its my turn. And I fully accept that I am not going to magically know how to do everything.

But I also have a theory that when I sleep, my mind is like a database that reindexes during its downtime. It starts shuffling memories and unconscious thoughts to different files so the useful things are more readily accessible. When it does that, things I didn't even realize I was thinking about, or even worried about, come flying past in sometimes oddly presented images.

Given that, somewhere in my head, I must be stressing a little about the responsibilities of being a mom.

I guess I should thank my brain for pushing it somewhere towards the back.


Current Mood: Too early for a mood
Currently Listening to: Hometown Glory by Adele
Number of Weeks Prego: 16
Baby's Current Size: Avocado

No!

I didn't update at all last week as I was traveling. Which isn't a terribly good excuse. It isn't like I don't have the laptop with me every second. But by the end of each day I was so COMPLETELY spent that I couldn't possibly drag the laptop out to type.

So, quick update - the kid is now apple sized, so since Thursday, that is what we refer to him/her as. (which makes my father feel all the more certain that it will be a girl, since "apple" isn't a very good name for a boy)

While in Massachusetts, it snowed, which got me thinking. My kid isn't going to know what snow is like. I am somewhat horrified at this realization. Some of my best childhood memories involve playing in the yard, building snow forts, or sliding down the hill in my neighbors yard and crashing into the woods, bouncing off the trees like a human pinball machine. (Ahhhh yes...memories that involve my own pummeling ending in boots and other articles of winter gear strewn about the trees are counted among "best" memories.)

I feel as though living in Florida has deprived my child of what should be a staple of growing up. My kid is going to be a *gasp* Floridian.

I see lots of winter vacations taken to intentionally encounter snow in our future.

Of course, being in Florida does have its benefits in Apple's upbringing. My parents live walking distance from our house, which means growing up with grandparents around. As much as I love my grandparents, I was never especially close to them, since I only saw them occasionally. My kid will get to experience being really close to grandparents and aunts and uncles.

I guess that is a decent trade off. :)

When life hands you lemons...

Fortunately, it's lemon, singular. The current size of that person who happens to be stealing my energy and calories. (keep right on stealing the calories, kid!)

Today was the latest OB appointment. Quick and painless.

First Bobbie (the very smiley midwife) measured my uterus and had me feel for it. It is currently up to my belly button, which elicited this reaction, accompanied by a pat on my belly:

"That means some of this is baby!"

To which I responded:

"By which you mean it's now only partly my fatness."

Bobbie is good enough natured (and appears to be honest enough) that she wasn't thrown by my candid admittance that I am not delusional and in fact, am fully aware of my lack of bikini worthy abs.

After taking measurements, which I was suprised, and yet pleased, to see only involve a measuring tape over my belly, we moved on to the doppler for a quick listen of the heartbeat. Almost immediately it was there, as Lemon was feeling very cooperative. Strong and rhythmic, it accomplished making me tear up slightly again, but I quickly recovered not having any family members in the room this time. Bobbie let the doppler linger for a while, saying that now I make my own music.

She then informed me that I should, in the next few weeks, start to be able to FEEL the baby. That kind of blew my mind. I know its there. I have the multiple trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night and the sudden urge to nap to prove it. But the idea that this little person can actually kick my insides and get my attention is, well, weird. In an awesome way, of course. But still, weirdness.

Then, more cool news, I scheduled my next visit, which will involve an ultrasound, and hopefully, as long as my child is not shy (which given it's father and Auntie Lindz, it has a good chance of being outgoing) finding out the sex.

Which means I can discontinue calling it a fruit, vegetable, or other strange thing to be calling your kid. Pronouns are so much easier when you can use the appropriate one.

I also visited my chiro, who readers of the old blog know, I love. He adjusted me, reminded me to make sure I am walking regularly, asked about how I was feeling and then preached the benefits of slathering my belly, butt and thighs with cocoa butter. (that statement is not nearly as creepy as it sounds...)

Next week I bundle up and head to Massachusetts. It has been a while since I have been to the office, so off I go for the week. It was going to be my unveiling (of fatness?), but yesterday a portion of my team found out. Apparently, someone who I used to work with has kept up with my old blog. Enough to see the fairly recent post directing him here. He asked one of the girls in the office about me being pregnant and, well, that was that. Granted, only a few people know, but it was funny to find that I was THIS close to keeping it secret until I got there.

And to the silent former-collegue-blog-reader, hello! Hope all is well with you :)


Currently listening to: Happiness by The Weepies (E - I see a mix CD in your future.)
Currently feeling: Completely fine. Fancy that. This baby growing business isn't so bad.

Prego Shopping Extravaganza!!!

Monday, Monday, MONDAY!!!

I had the day off on Monday, so I thought I would take advantage of the full day to do whatever I like to accomplish one of two things:

1) Clean and organize my house
2) Shop for maternity/baby related items

Can you guess which I chose?

My mother and I set out to hit a few consignment shops to see what goodies we could find. Maternity clothes tend to seem overpriced, and considering that they often end up being gently used, why not find them second hand?

In our quest, we ended up at a thrift store we had never come across and wasn't on the planned list of places to check out. I wasn't too hopeful as we entered, as it looked large and lacking in organization. I should make it clear that while I enjoy little boutique like second hand stores, where everything has its place and its easy to find what you are looking for, I have never had the patience required to be a successful Thrift shopper. My mother and sister are blessed with the skills needed to paw through rack upon rack upon box of items to find that coveted awesome deal, but me? Not so much.

Fortunately, having my mother with me, I did manage to pull my limited shopping patience together and sort through two large boxes of shoes/boots. I wouldn't have bothered, but they were all Rieker, which are comfortable and expensive shoes. Sorting was required to find a matching pair that was not defective, and in your size. I came away with a great pair of flats that I will be VERY thankful I found as the pregnancy gets further along, and my mom got flats, boots, and really cute little heels.

Most of the other planned stops were sadly closed (don't know why I hadn't thought that through...if I have the day off, maybe someone else does!). One consignment shop actually had a few things (yay!) so I was pretty pleased with what I found for the day.

We planned to make one more stop at Macy's, since my mom had a $25 certificate to spend. We inevitably ended up in the baby section, where my mother spent her certificate (and then some) on non-gender specific baby clothes.

As we left, I noticed the Motherhood Maternity store had lots of sales signs, so I suggested we take a quick look. A large bag of clothes and a much lighter back account later, we finally finished our day of shopping.

So while I spent FAR more than I had planned, I got some great essentials (jeans, khakis, comfy SUMMERY dresses) for really good prices, so it was a good shopping day.

An exhausting one, but successful.


Listening to: Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison

5 a' clock in the mornin'...

...where ya gonna be?

Apparently, not sleeping.

Lately, like clockwork, I wake up at 5 feeling oh so miserable. The only way to make me feel slightly better is to drag myself out of bed and eat. So here I am, polishing off a bowl of Basic 4, waiting for my body to process that it has been fed and it is now safe to go back to sleep.

Being that I could sleep until, say, Tuesday, this new development is not so much I love you.

Thanks a lot, limey.

Current Mood: Sleepy and cranky
Baby's Current Size: The size of a lime. A hungry, angry lime.