I started feeling little twinges a couple of weeks ago that made me think "hmmm, maybe that's the baby...but I'm not sure," but I'm pretty darn sure now that the Nublet is doing somersaults in there. Not so much kicks, more like little taps or squirming - yes, I know that sounds weird. Can't wait till Brent can feel them too!
Nublet was particularly active last night during the NBA Finals when the Lakers were still steamrolling the Celtics - could have been because it loves chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (which I was eating at the time), or maybe we have a future Lakers fan on our hands. Or else Nublet loves the sound of daddy's voice yelling "Starrrrr Baby!," as we are both known to do several times a day. Which makes me wonder - will we end up calling Nublet "Baby Baby"? In any case, this little one seems to still be as active as we saw on the ultrasound at 11 weeks, and loves to swim from one side of my tummy to the other, and back again.
Anyway, today brings us to 19 weeks. Crazy! Almost halfway through the pregnancy - feels like just yesterday we found out we were expecting.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Water Water Everywhere...
And I'm still thirsty! I've been drinking somewhere between 64 and 96 oz of water everyday, and you'd think I was in the Sahara desert. Luckily the constant thirst means that I don't miss not being able to have alcohol as much because that sure as heck doesn't help, but still. It's amazing. I think it has something to do with the increased blood flow, and it being really really really HOT now. But it is a strange feeling, as pre-pregnancy I would drink that much and feel like I was drowning! (And let's face it, just 6 months ago I was the Diet Coke queen and water rarely passed my lips.) I did get sick of plain water today and broke down and mixed a vitamin water in for a little flavor. Mmmmmm!
Interestingly, I also signed up for something called BabyYourself through BlueCross/BlueShield - I wasn't sure what exactly it was but figured hey, free insurance perks! Turns out you get like a gift every trimester (so gifts 1 and 2 are being UPS-ed to our door as we speak), free books, and a dedicated nurse that you can call and ask questions. I find it kind of sad that this nurse was far more helpful and talkative than either my OB or her nurse, but that was also encouraging. I like having another person we can call if we have a question, especially since she doesn't seem to be in the hurry that my OB office is all the time (not to mention she called to finish signing me up within a couple of hours - usually takes at least 3x that long to hear back from my doctor's nurse about something). And she made a point to call me by my name - I know it could be a gimmick to make it feel more personal, but you know what, it worked. My OB nurse surely never does that! (this was not really intended to be a gripe, more of a yay, our insurance rocks :) -- thanks SPC!)
Interestingly, I also signed up for something called BabyYourself through BlueCross/BlueShield - I wasn't sure what exactly it was but figured hey, free insurance perks! Turns out you get like a gift every trimester (so gifts 1 and 2 are being UPS-ed to our door as we speak), free books, and a dedicated nurse that you can call and ask questions. I find it kind of sad that this nurse was far more helpful and talkative than either my OB or her nurse, but that was also encouraging. I like having another person we can call if we have a question, especially since she doesn't seem to be in the hurry that my OB office is all the time (not to mention she called to finish signing me up within a couple of hours - usually takes at least 3x that long to hear back from my doctor's nurse about something). And she made a point to call me by my name - I know it could be a gimmick to make it feel more personal, but you know what, it worked. My OB nurse surely never does that! (this was not really intended to be a gripe, more of a yay, our insurance rocks :) -- thanks SPC!)
Friday, June 6, 2008
Dream a Little Dream
One of my strangest pregnancy symptoms lately has been very vivid, intense dreams that I often remember the next day (or several days later). In the past couple of weeks, I have dreamed that a) I was one of the LOST survivors, got captured by the Others, and had to eat bugs for nutrition, b) we found out the sex of the baby by giving birth at 20 weeks, examining the baby, then stuffing it back in (lol, what?!), c) I gave birth to a baby that more resembled a cat than anything, and d) got shot in the neck. I've also been having trouble sleeping through the 2nd half of the night, probably as a result of the mental trauma I'm enduring during REM!
During my waking hours, I've become obsessed with baby furniture and daycare. While the furniture issue is a pretty straight-forward thing, daycare is apparently a competitive sport in Birmingham. For instance, when we got on the waiting list for Covenant's Mother's Day Out (which we likely won't use due to it being 3 days a week, 5 hours a day, and only during the school year), the lady told me to go ahead and get on the list for 2-year-old preschool. WHAT? Luckily, a co-worker who had her baby last Nov gave me a list of pretty much every daycare in the metropolitan area, which will be a great help when I take up the proverbial sword again next week and get serious about getting on these lists.
In other news, we're at 18 weeks today - one month into the 2nd trimester and nearly halfway through the pregnancy. Time is FLYING! Though I mentioned last week how many people said I didn't look pregant, one of those same people (Dad) said I was showing on Wed night, and when I picked up Brent's suit from the drycleaners, the lady asked me "when that baby was due." I thought I almost didn't hear her right because I'd never been asked that by a stranger, and flashes of that scene with Hugh Grant from "Two Weeks Notice" must have been flashing through her head. It was awesome and yet disconcerting all at the same time.
During my waking hours, I've become obsessed with baby furniture and daycare. While the furniture issue is a pretty straight-forward thing, daycare is apparently a competitive sport in Birmingham. For instance, when we got on the waiting list for Covenant's Mother's Day Out (which we likely won't use due to it being 3 days a week, 5 hours a day, and only during the school year), the lady told me to go ahead and get on the list for 2-year-old preschool. WHAT? Luckily, a co-worker who had her baby last Nov gave me a list of pretty much every daycare in the metropolitan area, which will be a great help when I take up the proverbial sword again next week and get serious about getting on these lists.
In other news, we're at 18 weeks today - one month into the 2nd trimester and nearly halfway through the pregnancy. Time is FLYING! Though I mentioned last week how many people said I didn't look pregant, one of those same people (Dad) said I was showing on Wed night, and when I picked up Brent's suit from the drycleaners, the lady asked me "when that baby was due." I thought I almost didn't hear her right because I'd never been asked that by a stranger, and flashes of that scene with Hugh Grant from "Two Weeks Notice" must have been flashing through her head. It was awesome and yet disconcerting all at the same time.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Belly Pics :)
Here are a couple of belly pics from the past couple of weeks - the one in the red shirt (which i think looks exaggerated b/c I had just eaten a huge dinner and wasn't drinking enough water) was taken at St. George, while the blue one was taken just before dinner with Kate, Pete, Stephanie, and Sara on Memorial Day.
Monday, June 2, 2008
It's Been Awhile!
Between going on vacation for a week and trying to get back in the swing of things at work, haven't had much of a chance to post about all the goings on!
First off, our vacation was great! We loved having the dogs with us at the beach, and they loved the water and sand and everything! We had a nice, relaxing time and enjoyed having some friends down over Memorial Day weekend as well. Ate lots of yummy seafood and we both managed to get pretty sunburned at times!! Hope to post some pictures down the road - and maybe even a video of Star not only retrieving a ball, but retrieving it out of the OCEAN! She denies it now, but the camera don't lie.
I'm somewhere in between 17 and 18 weeks now -- had an appt on Friday at 17 weeks exactly. Everything looked good, and my doctor found the heartbeat pretty quickly, which was a relief. Though apparently I spoke to soon on the last post when I said I all of a sudden looked pregnant, because no less than THREE people told me on Friday that I didn't look pregnant yet! Oh well - maybe just to me and Brent :) (and thanks to some creative dressing as well). But, the good news is that we got our appointment for the "big" ultrasound! On June 25th we should get to see the Nublet and find out if it's a boy or a girl, assuming he/she cooperates with positioning. Yay!!!
I've been reading a bunch lately as well - pregnancy books don't really interest me much because they all say the same thing and well, it's all going to pretty much take care of itself if nothing out of the ordinary happens. "Sacred Parenting" by Gary Thomas is great - talks about looking at parenting as a way that God sanctifies us, much the way that marriage does (as he talks about in our favorite "Sacred Marriage" book). Ina May Gaskin's "Guide to Childbirth" is also a great book with lots of positive stories and a view that birth is a natural process, not a medical emergency that needs to be helped along by doctors every step of the way or else something will definitely go wrong - a breath of fresh air among all the other books about it. (I recently ran into this attitude again when I tried to reschedule my Fri appt for a couple of weeks later so that we could go ahead and get the "big" ultrasound - the nurse freaked out and told me that was unacceptable to have more than 4 weeks between appts so that they could check on me, and tried to guilt-trip me by saying "you know, I would THINK that your appointments would be a PRIORITY." I mean, of course it's a good idea to make sure everything's ok on a regular basis, but it's not like the doctor does much to keep you pregnant, or can do much if something has gone seriously wrong.)
"Baby Bargains" is another good book, kind of like the Consumer Reports of baby stuff - what you do need, what you don't need, how much you need, when to buy it, which brands are best, etc. I've started researching some of the items and we started reorganizing the house this weekend, so that was exciting! Also got to help a pregnant friend pick out colors for her nursery (she was repainting), which was a lot of fun - and I surprised myself in actually feeling like I contributed something to the process. A couple of years ago I would have had no idea of what to suggest - maybe working in the South's ivory tower of decorating knowledge has rubbed off on me through osmosis or something :)
First off, our vacation was great! We loved having the dogs with us at the beach, and they loved the water and sand and everything! We had a nice, relaxing time and enjoyed having some friends down over Memorial Day weekend as well. Ate lots of yummy seafood and we both managed to get pretty sunburned at times!! Hope to post some pictures down the road - and maybe even a video of Star not only retrieving a ball, but retrieving it out of the OCEAN! She denies it now, but the camera don't lie.
I'm somewhere in between 17 and 18 weeks now -- had an appt on Friday at 17 weeks exactly. Everything looked good, and my doctor found the heartbeat pretty quickly, which was a relief. Though apparently I spoke to soon on the last post when I said I all of a sudden looked pregnant, because no less than THREE people told me on Friday that I didn't look pregnant yet! Oh well - maybe just to me and Brent :) (and thanks to some creative dressing as well). But, the good news is that we got our appointment for the "big" ultrasound! On June 25th we should get to see the Nublet and find out if it's a boy or a girl, assuming he/she cooperates with positioning. Yay!!!
I've been reading a bunch lately as well - pregnancy books don't really interest me much because they all say the same thing and well, it's all going to pretty much take care of itself if nothing out of the ordinary happens. "Sacred Parenting" by Gary Thomas is great - talks about looking at parenting as a way that God sanctifies us, much the way that marriage does (as he talks about in our favorite "Sacred Marriage" book). Ina May Gaskin's "Guide to Childbirth" is also a great book with lots of positive stories and a view that birth is a natural process, not a medical emergency that needs to be helped along by doctors every step of the way or else something will definitely go wrong - a breath of fresh air among all the other books about it. (I recently ran into this attitude again when I tried to reschedule my Fri appt for a couple of weeks later so that we could go ahead and get the "big" ultrasound - the nurse freaked out and told me that was unacceptable to have more than 4 weeks between appts so that they could check on me, and tried to guilt-trip me by saying "you know, I would THINK that your appointments would be a PRIORITY." I mean, of course it's a good idea to make sure everything's ok on a regular basis, but it's not like the doctor does much to keep you pregnant, or can do much if something has gone seriously wrong.)
"Baby Bargains" is another good book, kind of like the Consumer Reports of baby stuff - what you do need, what you don't need, how much you need, when to buy it, which brands are best, etc. I've started researching some of the items and we started reorganizing the house this weekend, so that was exciting! Also got to help a pregnant friend pick out colors for her nursery (she was repainting), which was a lot of fun - and I surprised myself in actually feeling like I contributed something to the process. A couple of years ago I would have had no idea of what to suggest - maybe working in the South's ivory tower of decorating knowledge has rubbed off on me through osmosis or something :)
Friday, May 16, 2008
15 Weeks!
The first 9 or 10 weeks seemed to drag by - mostly because we kept having to readjust our estimated due date later and later. Now I can't believe it's already been 15 weeks!
Not much to report this week - it boggles my mind (in a good way) that even though i've eaten my share of "bad" food during this pregnancy, I've only gained like 1 lb. (Mostly put on during a stress-induced ice cream binge last week). I'm still 8 lbs lighter than I was when we started our post-holiday crazy diet in January. Some people don't gain a lot, though - maybe i'll be one of the lucky ones :) My body is definitely "shifting", i guess, but still. I can deal with that because it's out of my control!
We're headed for a week vacation (yay!) to St. George Island tomorrow and are super excited. We've heard such great things about it from friends and are really looking forward to a relaxing week on the beach. Some friends are coming down Memorial Day weekend to stay with us, so we'll have a full house! That will be great. We haven't been to the beach together since right after we got engaged, so it will be fun to get back. Plus, we can take the dogs, and I can't wait to see how they react to all the sand and water. I bet they have a blast! I know we can both really use the break from regular life, work, etc, and hopefully will come back rejuvenated and relaxed.
Not much to report this week - it boggles my mind (in a good way) that even though i've eaten my share of "bad" food during this pregnancy, I've only gained like 1 lb. (Mostly put on during a stress-induced ice cream binge last week). I'm still 8 lbs lighter than I was when we started our post-holiday crazy diet in January. Some people don't gain a lot, though - maybe i'll be one of the lucky ones :) My body is definitely "shifting", i guess, but still. I can deal with that because it's out of my control!
We're headed for a week vacation (yay!) to St. George Island tomorrow and are super excited. We've heard such great things about it from friends and are really looking forward to a relaxing week on the beach. Some friends are coming down Memorial Day weekend to stay with us, so we'll have a full house! That will be great. We haven't been to the beach together since right after we got engaged, so it will be fun to get back. Plus, we can take the dogs, and I can't wait to see how they react to all the sand and water. I bet they have a blast! I know we can both really use the break from regular life, work, etc, and hopefully will come back rejuvenated and relaxed.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Strangers in a Strange Land
It's been a long couple of days - I was in charge of organizing and carrying out the itinerary for a couple of our New York office visitors. At nearly every turn, something went wrong - the projector wouldn't work, I blew out the motherboard on my two-week-old laptop by plugging the ethernet cord into a digital phone jack (since when are those jacks the same size??), a program we were demoing as part of the visit wouldn't work as well on my Mac laptop that we used as a replacement, the woman who normally helps set up all these things had to go home sick yesterday, etc...it just started being funny, and I had to laugh. "But of COURSE that broke!!" I started saying. But I digress. I'd met one of the NYC-ers before and had been up there myself, so I knew there were cultural differences. Not just between NYC and Bham, but between the Time Inc Interactive offices and SPC. A few choices moments:
Upon arrival at SPC:
New Yorker #1: Where could I get some coffee?
Me: Well, there's some regular coffee in our break room right there - and a fancy coffee machine downstairs - and Starbucks in the cafeteria.
NYC #1: Starbucks drip?
Me: Um, yes?
NYC #1: What about espresso?
Me: No.
NYC #1: No espresso in the whole building?
Me: No...there's something like it in the fancy machine...but that's not really what it is.
NYC #1: Ohh...[shuffles off to get regular coffee with amazed look on face]
In the cafeteria:
New Yorker #2:[Holds up Mr. Pibb Zero bottle] What's this?
Me: Um, I think it's Diet Mr. Pibb - you know, like how they call Diet Sprite "Sprite Zero" now.
New Yorker #2: [blank stare]
Cashier: [yells from across the room] It's like Dr. Pepper - it's the Coke product.
Me: Ohhhh...I didn't even realize that's what you were asking!
At lunch:
New Yorker #1: So um, this is going to sound kind of ignorant...
Me: That's ok. We get that a lot.
New Yorker #1: Ok - um, you know the movie Forrest Gump? Where could I see a house like that? You know, big and white? And a pond?
Me: Well, you'd have to go to South Alabama. About 2 hrs from here. But we do have a pond on campus, just down the hill...
New Yorker #1: [looks sad] Ohh.
Anyway, good times with that - glad the two days of craziness are over, though!
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