At long last, we have actually SECURED A SPOT AT A DAYCARE! Whoo hoo! We'd settled on this particular one about a month ago, but when I went to enroll Nublette, she said that there were no official openings for babies coming in February, but to check back in a month in case she's able to make it work. I called today and she said that she would hold one of the Nov '07 babies' spots until we needed it! I had gotten the vibe from her back in June that everything would probably work out, and haven't really been worried about it, but it's sooooo nice to know that's taken care for sure. The daycare is one of what I've started referring to as a "public schools of daycare". In other words, they don't teach Mandarin Chinese to two-year-olds or have detailed weekly lesson plans for infants. (Ok, so the Chinese is a bit of an exaggeration, but there are definitely several daycares in the area that brag about their intensive lesson plans and goals and whatnot. I'm thinking "THEY'RE BABIES, for heaven's sake!") It is only about 5 min from work and already on my commute, which is a huge help. The facilities seem clean and bright, and I feel good about the director. She seems like a straight-shooter, which I've come to prefer over the "admissions office" type feel of some of the "private school" daycares I visited. So thank goodness for that!
Also looked at a dresser from Craigslist that I thought would be great, but it was poorly made and we decided to pass on it. The search continues :) Once we find one, we should be done with the major nursery furniture.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
25 Weeks...
Not much to report this week! We went to the doctor on Wednesday and everything looked good. It's amazing how easily she found the heartbeat this time. The last time they listened was at 17 weeks and it took her awhile to get a lock on it, but Baby Nublette's heartbeat is now quite strong, and she's getting bigger! My weekly newsletter update says that she should be about 9 inches long and 1.5 lbs (though she may be even bigger than that since they guessed at the ultrasound at almost 21 weeks that she was about 1 lb already).
I'm trying to get back on track with eating well, walking, and yoga as well - not that I've been eating horribly or anything, I've just probably had a few too many sweets here and there without really noticing it. Actually tracking what I eat is such a great psychological tool for me, and I want to get back in the habit this last half of the pregnancy so that I'll have some good habits reestablished by the time the baby's here. Tracking also lets me splurge here and there without feeling guilty about it or overdoing it. The pounds have been coming on pretty quickly lately, which I know is a) normal and b) partly water weight, but still, it's a little TOO quickly -- unless my body's making up for the first trimester! :)
Getting back into walking and yoga has helped my energy level a lot, I know. I walked pretty steadily during the first trimester because I was in a walking competition at work, and then fell off for a month or two -- and my energy levels definitely plummeted, to where I would have a hard time staying awake past 9 or so. But ever since I started taking my twice-daily walks at work again, I've felt a lot better and have so much more energy. I've also realized that if I play my cards right, I can squeeze in a 15-minute prenatal yoga routine before work, so I'm hoping to keep that up on weekdays. It's not a full blown workout, but I've come to realize that just doing what I can is plenty right now. And as FLYLady says, you can do ANYTHING for 15 minutes! :) In any case, it should help a lot with flexibility, balance, and strength. I will say, though, that doing this routine at 25 weeks pregnant is a LOT different than doing it at 12 weeks!
We've got a busy few months ahead, but I'm looking forward to them! In just a month we'll be going to childbirth classes - hard to believe!
I'm trying to get back on track with eating well, walking, and yoga as well - not that I've been eating horribly or anything, I've just probably had a few too many sweets here and there without really noticing it. Actually tracking what I eat is such a great psychological tool for me, and I want to get back in the habit this last half of the pregnancy so that I'll have some good habits reestablished by the time the baby's here. Tracking also lets me splurge here and there without feeling guilty about it or overdoing it. The pounds have been coming on pretty quickly lately, which I know is a) normal and b) partly water weight, but still, it's a little TOO quickly -- unless my body's making up for the first trimester! :)
Getting back into walking and yoga has helped my energy level a lot, I know. I walked pretty steadily during the first trimester because I was in a walking competition at work, and then fell off for a month or two -- and my energy levels definitely plummeted, to where I would have a hard time staying awake past 9 or so. But ever since I started taking my twice-daily walks at work again, I've felt a lot better and have so much more energy. I've also realized that if I play my cards right, I can squeeze in a 15-minute prenatal yoga routine before work, so I'm hoping to keep that up on weekdays. It's not a full blown workout, but I've come to realize that just doing what I can is plenty right now. And as FLYLady says, you can do ANYTHING for 15 minutes! :) In any case, it should help a lot with flexibility, balance, and strength. I will say, though, that doing this routine at 25 weeks pregnant is a LOT different than doing it at 12 weeks!
We've got a busy few months ahead, but I'm looking forward to them! In just a month we'll be going to childbirth classes - hard to believe!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Dragon Strikes Again...
Lately we've taken to calling the ever-amusing Star (our 4-year-old English lab) "Dragon." Now, Star has a number of personality quirks that make her the loveable Star-Baby that she is today, but she's definitely a unique dog. One of her defining characteristics is her snorting and snoring, which tend to get worse when she's excited or otherwise trying to express herself. At time she actually sounds like a little pig! While the allergies have gottten a lot better since we got her on a better diet and some supplements (mmm, fish oil!), Star still snorts. It's really only a problem in the mornings, when she will snore if she's still asleep, or snort/growl at Bojangles when he wakes up and wants to play, but she hasn't had her morning coffee yet. Combine this snorting with the sound of their nails scratching on the polyster dog bed, licking, and scratching so violently that they bang the closet door, and you've got a very noisy bedroom once the alarms go off and the dogs wake up. It's pretty hilarious (once we're awake enough to appreciate the moment).
Besides being her own percussion set, Star is known for her stealth food burglaries. She's smart enough not to beg for human food, but waits for the "opportune moment" to make her move -- and always manages Houdini-like maneuvers that seem far beyond the capabilities of any normal dog. For instance, at Brent's bachelor party at the farm, she snuck into the kitchen at night and devoured an entire plate of brownies that had been sitting on the table. She didn't get sick, but Brent did wake up at 5 am to Star-Baby staring at him with a crazed look in her eye. While we were at the beach, she somehow got the remains of a fish filet out of the kitchen trash can (easily taller than she is) without disturbing anything else. That time we did catch her with the fish skin guiltily hanging from her mouth.
Dragon's latest crime involved at least half a bag of White Cheddar Cheetos. Some friends (and their dog) joined us for dinner last weekend, and while we were all inside eating, we left the dogs on the porch and thought they were all behaving quite nicely. Little did we know that all the while, Star was plotting her next food-napping. After dinner we discovered that all of the Cheetos were gone, and the bag had been ripped open! The situation had Star-Baby written all over it (nothing was knocked over), but we couldn't be sure -- until one of our friends discovered the black dog hair stuck all inside the bag. (The other dogs were yellowish). Brent asked for a replacement bag this week, and needless to say, we're keeping it safe inside our kitchen cabinets this time!
Friday, July 18, 2008
24 Weeks!
I know I say it all the time, but it truly is hard to believe how fast time is flying. Today finds us at the end of 24 weeks...which if you count 4-week months (some books do), puts us at the end of 6 months (but that's assuming an actually 10-month pregnancy :) ). We're also three weeks from the start of the 3rd trimester - yikes!
I've definitely noticed some changes since the last time I posted an update. Little Nublette is getting too big for her britches already and seems to have major growth spurts overnight. (I'm hoping to post some pics from 21 and 24 weeks soon!) She sometimes kicks hard enough to make my whole belly move, though she still hasn't kicked hard enough for her Daddy to feel -- hopefully soon! From what I read it sounds like it's pretty typical not to be able to feel them from the outside until about 28 weeks. So we still have a few more to go. These next four weeks are supposed to another huge growth spurt for Nublette (after that it slows down a little, I think), so we'll see what happens!
Also, in the last week I've noticed it's starting to get harder to change positions (like getting up from sitting, rolling over in bed, etc). Just takes a lot more effort, and even a little grunting from time to time :) I'm definitely feeling the hot Alabama summer too. I've started gravitating towards "cold" foods (popsicles, cream pie, chicken salad, sushi, cold leftover mashed potatoes, etc) because sometimes when I eat something steaming hot, I feel like I'm going to overheat! I'm just thankful that I'm not eight or nine months pregnant right now. And I'm praying for a colder-than-normal fall this year.
Week 25, here we come! Oh, and we have a doc appointment on Wednesday. We'll get to meet another one of the doctors in the practice, but other than that, I don't think there's much to it.
I've definitely noticed some changes since the last time I posted an update. Little Nublette is getting too big for her britches already and seems to have major growth spurts overnight. (I'm hoping to post some pics from 21 and 24 weeks soon!) She sometimes kicks hard enough to make my whole belly move, though she still hasn't kicked hard enough for her Daddy to feel -- hopefully soon! From what I read it sounds like it's pretty typical not to be able to feel them from the outside until about 28 weeks. So we still have a few more to go. These next four weeks are supposed to another huge growth spurt for Nublette (after that it slows down a little, I think), so we'll see what happens!
Also, in the last week I've noticed it's starting to get harder to change positions (like getting up from sitting, rolling over in bed, etc). Just takes a lot more effort, and even a little grunting from time to time :) I'm definitely feeling the hot Alabama summer too. I've started gravitating towards "cold" foods (popsicles, cream pie, chicken salad, sushi, cold leftover mashed potatoes, etc) because sometimes when I eat something steaming hot, I feel like I'm going to overheat! I'm just thankful that I'm not eight or nine months pregnant right now. And I'm praying for a colder-than-normal fall this year.
Week 25, here we come! Oh, and we have a doc appointment on Wednesday. We'll get to meet another one of the doctors in the practice, but other than that, I don't think there's much to it.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Confessions of a Recovering Control Freak
I've been on top of the world lately. While some of it could be those crazy hormones :), I think a lot of it has come from reflecting on a lot of things in life -- such as what a wonderful opportunity pregnancy is to learn to relax and trust in God. When I was little (or not so little...), Mom used to tell me, "Emily, if you're not in charge, you're not happy." And it was true. But I didn't see the extent of this characteristic until I got married, and I certainly didn't see how detrimental it is to one's life - both the emotional and spiritual sides. The funny thing is, I've realized that the "happiness" that comes from being in charge and being in control is only an illusion, a lie. Because if control is the basis of your happiness, what happens when that control is threatened? We get angry, resentful, unthankful -- all of which make us categorically unhappy. And then you spend all of your energy trying to defend your control, or to regain it, instead of relaxing and enjoying what life has in store for you.
The pregnancy lessons in letting go and relaxing really began when the test came up positive. We'd heard that most people keep it quiet the first 12 weeks because of the risks of miscarriage. One of the most unsettling things about this point in pregnancy is that miscarriage is a real risk, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent it. Even if you take good care of yourself and do all the "right" things, it's still a real risk. No matter how much you want that baby to survive, you can't control whether it does or not. So we struggled at first with whether or not to tell friends and family, but then quickly realized that we were far better off thinking positively and sharing our excitement with others, rather than living in fear for 12 long weeks. We had to let go and trust God that even if we did have a miscarriage, that in some way, God intended it for our good. Even at that early stage I realized that this letting go was a process we'd have to go through again and again throughout our lives, for there are real risks in the world and you can't protect your children from all of them. Or even some of them.
Recently we worked through some issues surrounding what I wanted for the actual birth, and once again I was faced with the fact that I wasn't trusting in God to give us the birth that we need, not the birth that we want. All of my worrying and researching wasn't going to do any good in determining the outcome, and really I needed to just let go and trust the Lord and my sweet husband to take care of me.
You know what the funny thing is? The more I let go and don't try to control my life, the happier and more thankful I am, and the more I realize that I never was truly happy being in control. Of course, Brent told me this would be the case all along, but it's one of those things that has to be experienced to be believed. And because of that, I'm all the more thankful for my husband too ~ for loving me enough to help me with what I need, not with what I want, and for having the courage to take on the challenges of marrying a recovering control freak :). I have no idea what my life would be without him and he is the greatest blessing I have ever known. I love you sweetheart!!
The pregnancy lessons in letting go and relaxing really began when the test came up positive. We'd heard that most people keep it quiet the first 12 weeks because of the risks of miscarriage. One of the most unsettling things about this point in pregnancy is that miscarriage is a real risk, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent it. Even if you take good care of yourself and do all the "right" things, it's still a real risk. No matter how much you want that baby to survive, you can't control whether it does or not. So we struggled at first with whether or not to tell friends and family, but then quickly realized that we were far better off thinking positively and sharing our excitement with others, rather than living in fear for 12 long weeks. We had to let go and trust God that even if we did have a miscarriage, that in some way, God intended it for our good. Even at that early stage I realized that this letting go was a process we'd have to go through again and again throughout our lives, for there are real risks in the world and you can't protect your children from all of them. Or even some of them.
Recently we worked through some issues surrounding what I wanted for the actual birth, and once again I was faced with the fact that I wasn't trusting in God to give us the birth that we need, not the birth that we want. All of my worrying and researching wasn't going to do any good in determining the outcome, and really I needed to just let go and trust the Lord and my sweet husband to take care of me.
You know what the funny thing is? The more I let go and don't try to control my life, the happier and more thankful I am, and the more I realize that I never was truly happy being in control. Of course, Brent told me this would be the case all along, but it's one of those things that has to be experienced to be believed. And because of that, I'm all the more thankful for my husband too ~ for loving me enough to help me with what I need, not with what I want, and for having the courage to take on the challenges of marrying a recovering control freak :). I have no idea what my life would be without him and he is the greatest blessing I have ever known. I love you sweetheart!!
Monday, July 7, 2008
"Preggo Brain"
One of Brent's fondest statistics as of late, and one of my best excuses for doing stupid things, is that supposedly a woman's brain shrinks 5% during pregnancy. It supposedly returns to regular size after the precious bundle arrives, but I hear it's only to be replaced by "mommy brain." It's a fairly common occurrence, apparently, and has been rearing its not-so-pretty head in our household lately. From just totally forgetting what was just said to attempting to put stuff in weird places (luckily I tend to catch myself shortly thereafter), it's a cause for laughs all around.
My favorite example so far happened a couple of weeks ago. It was Saturday morning and I was making breakfast for us, a lovely smorgasboard of eggs, venison sausage, and grits. A few weeks before I'd made grits for the first time (or the first time in a long time, perhaps) and very much overdid it on the amount. (They should have a disclaimer on the package to tell you that "4 servings" really means 8 servings for normal people...) So I was planning to scale back and thoroughly studied the directions to decide how much water I needed. I boiled the right amount of water for around 1.5 "real" servings, then added the same amount of grits. NOTE TO EMILY: GRITS ARE NOT LIKE RICE. IT IS NOT A 1:1 RATIO.
So as soon as I added the grits, all I ended up with was a sticky mass, instead of the watery concoction that is supposed to cook down over the next 5 minutes or so. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what I did wrong, so I kept adding water to hopefully get the right consistency - and while the grits were edible, we ended up with MORE grits than we did the first time I made them! Brent though I had just lost my mind and decided to make too many grits again, and I kept insisting, "My intentions were good! I put in the right amount of water and I don't know what happened!" It probably took me a full 15-20 minutes to realize that I had simply not scaled down the grits measurements too.
Chalk it up to preggo brain :)
My favorite example so far happened a couple of weeks ago. It was Saturday morning and I was making breakfast for us, a lovely smorgasboard of eggs, venison sausage, and grits. A few weeks before I'd made grits for the first time (or the first time in a long time, perhaps) and very much overdid it on the amount. (They should have a disclaimer on the package to tell you that "4 servings" really means 8 servings for normal people...) So I was planning to scale back and thoroughly studied the directions to decide how much water I needed. I boiled the right amount of water for around 1.5 "real" servings, then added the same amount of grits. NOTE TO EMILY: GRITS ARE NOT LIKE RICE. IT IS NOT A 1:1 RATIO.
So as soon as I added the grits, all I ended up with was a sticky mass, instead of the watery concoction that is supposed to cook down over the next 5 minutes or so. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what I did wrong, so I kept adding water to hopefully get the right consistency - and while the grits were edible, we ended up with MORE grits than we did the first time I made them! Brent though I had just lost my mind and decided to make too many grits again, and I kept insisting, "My intentions were good! I put in the right amount of water and I don't know what happened!" It probably took me a full 15-20 minutes to realize that I had simply not scaled down the grits measurements too.
Chalk it up to preggo brain :)
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