January 2008

^{(I did some calculations and it’s actually LESS than TWO MONTHS since this baby will be born on or before March 25.  GAH.)}

Wow, the last day of January already?  Normally, today I would be heading to the grocery store.  Alas, I have two children instead of one in tow, the weather is supposed to be nasty (again!  I know!  Shocker!) and I doubt I could handle being on my feet that long.  Is that pathetic or what?  At least when I shop with Kile, I can excuse myself to go sit down multiple times.  So the fact that we’re nearly out of milk?  Doesn’t concern me.  Nope.  Not today.

***

I watched the repeat of the season finale of “LOST” last night.  Or rather, a good chunk of it (until Xbox called our names like a siren song).  And I’m glad I did because apparently I had forgotten everything in the nearly NINE MONTHS since we last saw this show. When I first started watching I had this little panic reaction that this was the new episode and I had somehow remembered the days wrong.  That is hpw unfamiliar it looked to me.  It took me a while to realize and remember.  Ah yes, this was the season finale.  Doh.  Plus, I was reminded how cool Charlie was in the last episode.  Why do they do that?  Why do they make them cool before they kill them?  So mean.  At any rate, I’m totally looking forward to tonight’s show.  Hooray!

***

Is it possible to have aches on your pains?  Or pains on top of your aches?  Because I think I have that.

***

Harry is coughing now too.  Which only confirms that I will be SICK, it’s just a matter of time.  See how excited I am?  Nothing quite like coughing while pregnant, I’m sure.

***

I think I’m starting to swell.  Which, you know, no big surprise.  Third trimester, remember?  Still, I don’t particularly enjoy my wrists looking like sausages.  Pale sausages at that.  Maybe I should look into some of that tanning moisturizer.

***

Looks like I’m facing yet another morning of trying to keep my eyes open.  Maybe going to bed at midnight is at fault, you think?  Of course, as I enjoy my Diet Dr. Pepper (Cherry Vanilla!) I have to explain to my darling son why he can’t have soda in the morning.  Do as I say, not as I do.  He tells me he’s tired too.  I tell him he has the luxury of taking a nap whenever he likes.  He doesn’t like that answer.

***

Speaking of Harry, he’s been showing some interesting behavior lately.  Mostly towards Kile, of all things.  Last night they about had another knock down, drag out (figuratively speaking, of course) over computer and internet use.  Those two are like oil and water these days.  Meanwhile, I’ve got a bored kid on my hands day in and day out (nasty weather is NOT helping) and am wondering how I will make it through the next 3.2 weeks in one piece.

***

I’m going to return to my Diet Dr. Pepper and our morning viewing of “The Incredibles” and try to concentrate on ways to keep myself from slipping into unconsciousness.  Wish me luck!

Today, I looked at the calendar and was stunned to really NOTICE that it was the end of January.  You know what that means?

TWO MONTHS LEFT.

It’s a funny feeling, isn’t it?  This whole third trimester nonsense. On the one hand, I’m so excited to meet this baby and hold her in my arms.  I cannot wait for these two months to fly by so that she can go ahead and be BORN already!  On the other hand… SO NOT READY.  Two months isn’t a very long time and I feel woefully unprepared.  I mean, I may have the stroller in my possession, but that’s pretty much it.  And I’m pretty sure this child is going to need a car seat.

We have the second crib in our garage at the moment, but we haven’t initiated the Great Move of 2008 wherein Liam migrates from his bedroom to Harry’s room which they will share for all eternity now.  I’m still unsure about all this.  I know this month is the best time to do the Move.  Harry is out of school so he won’t need his alarm going off in the morning (not that Liam wouldn’t likely be up by then anyhow).  It’s before the baby is here so he wouldn’t have two major transitions to deal with at a time.  But there are concerns too.  Liam is such a picky sleeper.  He’s getting better at sleeping through mild noises but this is going to impact Harry in a fairly major way.  He won’t be able to sit up in bed and draw, read, etc until at least Liam is settled in (we’re thinking we’ll eventually get him a focused bed lamp of some sort).  What about the pup?  I think she should come sleep in our room until Liam is settled too.  I’m just nervous about rocking the boat.  Still, now is the time and time it is a wastin’.

TWO MONTHS LEFT.

I’ve been amazed at how this third trimester has affected my physically too.  Why I’m amazed, I have no idea.  Because this pregnancy has been one for the books since the very beginning.  And wouldn’t you think I’ve been pregnant enough times that I would realize that some symptoms “come back” in the third trimester?  Why does that blissful second trimester always lull me into a false sense of security?  You think I’d learn.  So right now, I am crippled by various aches and pains that I wasn’t expecting to have so soon (so soon?  I have only TWO MONTHS LEFT).  Plus, my heartburn is back and it brought some friends.  Then there’s the odd Ghosts of Morning Sickness past that I get early on in the day if I’m especially hungry. What the heck is THAT about?  I’m told I might be able to expect my little hormone friends to return too.  GREAT.  This is all in addition to the existing carpal tunnel and inability to stand in one spot for more than five minutes without feeling dizzy.

This is, however, the last time I’ll experience all this (at least, all at the same time).  Never again will I be 30 weeks pregnant.  Never again will I have such a good excuse for eating Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pop Tarts at 9:20 in the morning.  Never again will I feel a baby roll around in my tummy with such ferocity that I wonder if she’s testing the restraints of her environment.  There’s good and bad there.  I’ll miss the good for sure.  I may even miss the bad.  But I’ll be done.

TWO MONTHS LEFT.

Is it any wonder that I feel at such odds?

I had my 30 week OB appointment today.  I wasn’t expecting anything terribly exciting today, but I was hoping I would at least get a c-section date (or a close approximation thereof).  Alas.  It was not meant to be.  My doctor, bless her busy heart, tends to forget things we talked about at previous appointments and on this visit had reverted to the “we’ll deliver at 38 weeks” mantra.  Which would be the 24th or 25th of March.  Nothing against those days, but I would REALLY rather have the c-section on the 21st.  I’ve started to get obsessive about that date, for which I should be ashamed.  But I’m not.

The good news is I’ve only gained one pound in the last three weeks.  So maybe cutting back on the fudge has helped, though Lord knows I haven’t cut back on anything else.   You saw that package of Oreos, right?  (No, it’s not all gone already.  I’m too much of a hoarder for that.)  That is just the tip of the iceberg.  My little storage ottoman over here is chock full of fattening deserts for me to enjoy.  So one pound?  I can do that.

Everything else looked good too.  The doctor had a bit of a hard time getting the heartbeat to show up on the doppler.  She guessed that the baby has her back to my back and her limbs to the front.  Which would explain all the kicks I’m getting up front, I suppose.  She finally got a good handle on it and estimated it to be about 135bpm which is pretty consistent with her heartrate so far.  I think it’s funny.  All the “Old Wives Tales” say that faster heartrates mean it’s a girl and slower ones mean a boy.  Liam had a pretty speedy heartrate up until he was born and she has never been even into the 140’s as far as I can tell. Maybe it means she’ll be less “on the go” than her bigger brother.  Heh, I can hope.

She measures great and right on time.  We talked a little bit about the whole antibody thing and I told her my next appointment was on Friday.  She said that I should talk about a delivery date with him.  That if he thought the baby should be born at 37 weeks, she’d do it then.  Now I’m trying to think of a way I can convince this guy that having the baby on March 21st is the best possible thing.  Is that wrong of me?  Probably.

Anyhow.  The whole appointment felt like kind of a letdown.  Even though I’m not so blasè as to realize that any appointment that is uneventful like that is a good thing. Maybe I’m just spoiled.

The weather has been horrid today.  Very windy to start off with.  I nearly got blown clear off the interstate this morning just trying to get to this appointment.  Now?  SNOW.  Again.  I don’t even know why I even pretend to be surprised anymore.  Welcome to January in Reno!

Okay, I don’t exactly have photos of the entire weekend. But I do have the highlights and the important stuff here. And by important stuff you’ll notice a couple of these photos directly involve food. Because I AM 30 weeks pregnant right now and food is my LIFE. Especially if it’s loaded with sugar and calories.

It was actually a really good weekend. We started out meeting some friends for pizza on Friday night and hung out at the local joint for a good two hours before heading on our way home. This is the same local joint that Kile and I went to a couple weeks ago and Kile dropped half our leftover pizza on the floor. They seem to be doing quite the booming business as the place never emptied out the whole time we were there and there was consistently a good line of people waiting for takeout.

On Saturday, there was a lot of this:

Actually, there was a lot of that all weekend long. Kile and I both spent a goodly amount of time playing multiplayer on Xbox Live together. Liam, meanwhile, is obsessed with the Xbox (already!). We have a corded controller that is mostly stored in the entertainment center and Harry is the one who primarily uses it (because of course I have a wireless pink controller). Liam loves to drag it out and pretend he’s playing. Which is what he’s doing right here in this picture. Cutie, huh? I suppose it’s too much to ask that we not have a video game addict as a child, huh? I mean, after all, this is US we’re talking about. Anyhow, much fun was had. I’m still pretty much a noob at playing online and am killed often and rather spectacularly. But I should at least get an A for effort, don’t you think?

We made a quick run to the store on Saturday afternoon and while we were there, I got these:

Oh yes. I didn’t use a lot of forward thought with these. Yet, I saw them on the shelf and thought, “I MUST HAVE.” I mean, SERIOUSLY. And you know what? They’re as good as I thought they would be. BETTER, even. They taste almost exactly like Thin Mints. (Which, I have it on good authority that Kile has ordered us some Girl Scout cookies. Oh hell yes.) Anyhow, these are crack. I heartily recommend them. I wish I were eating them RIGHT NOW. Oh, and I’m totally not sharing.

Sunday, as I previously mentioned, we stayed home from church. It was a good thing too. Liam needed some time to acclimate to being awake and it turns out that Kile’s parents were coming through town on their way home from a trip to Sacramento and wanted to stop by for a quick visit. So if we had been at church, we would have missed them. And, of course, there was most Xbox Live playing. Because we’re addicts like that. We had to run to the store again in the afternoon (why wouldn’t we?) and while we were out, we stopped and got this:

That may look like your average Starbucks coffee there.  Shoot, you might even be thinking that it’s a cafe latte or a mocha or a cappuccino or something.  Nope.  It’s BETTER.  Welcome to my latest obsession and new favorite Starbucks drink: The Caramel Apple Spice.  I heard about this little delight from none other than our pastor at church.  He happened to mention it one Sunday as HIS favorite drink and I thought it sounded really, freakin’ good.  So I tried it.  And you know?  IT WAS SOOOOO GOOD.  I don’t even think there are words to describe this drink.  But I will say that the caramel is paramount in this drink.  Without it, it would not be the same.  It probably also wouldn’t yield the completely awesome sugar rush I experienced after drinking this entire thing.  I would like to drink at least one of these a day from here into eternity.  They are that good.   Trust me, the next time you’re at Starbucks and don’t feel in the mood for coffee, ask for a Carmel Apple Spice.  You can thank me later.

Sunday evening we went over to a friends house for some light snacking, chatting and watching of “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” which was actually better than I thought but still, the humor was pretty juvenile.  This would explain why Kile thought it was hysterical.  What a dork.   (I say that with the utmost love, mind you.)  The wind starting kicking up pretty bad and by the time we left, it was looking pretty gnarly outside.  It was blowing snow and starting to accumulate and shortly after we got home and got Liam to bed, it was snowing in earnest.  We got a good several inches out of it overnight and Kile ended up taking today off.

All through the weekend, I kept seeing this show on CMT (a channel that admitedly I rarely watch but they had some good movies on this weekend):

That’s “Gone Country”, if you didn’t already know and it’s a strangely absorbing show.  I recommend checking it out if only to freak out over how old Marcia Brady is looking these days (answer: REALLY old) (and also she’s quite spastic) and to spaz out over how Dee Snider looks without his sunglasses (answer: VERY SCARY).  I’m still not 100% sure of the premise of this show, but I saw enough this weekend to tell me that if I’m channel surfing and I see it on, it’s worth checking out because there’s no fun out there quite like witnessing a celebrity train wreck reality show.  Am I right or am I right?

In the end, the weekend ended on the highest note possible.  My best friend since FOREVER gave birth to her first child last night, a boy named Spencer.  I’m so beyond excited for her.  She’s wanted a baby since puberty pretty much and I’m so glad she’d finally got him in her arms.  I know she’s going to be a fantastic mother and I can’t wait to give her my congrats in person (hopefully today sometime) and see the little fella.  Way to go, Jenn!