Space Filler

Although I have nothing in particular to say, I feel obligated to post at least once a week. My next doctor's visit isn't until July 9th so there most likely won't be any kind of revelations before then. I measured my stomach again today, still 36 inches so no news there. I don't even think I have gained any significant amount of weight which is surprising considering I have been eating any damn well thing I please. I wish I could bottle my current metabolism to use for later when I am back to desperately wanting to be skinny. I had five cookies yesterday and didn't even feel bad about it after. I do love this sort of freedom.

Missy is coming to visit this weekend. As part of our weekend festivities, we shall be building the Babies R Us registry together. I asked for Missy help because I know she cares deeply about having matching sets of whatnot and things whereas I do not. At all. As long as I don't hate things, then I don't care if they are bunnies or baseball players or dinosaurs. So Missy is, like, my baby stylist.

Cary will be joining us later on to hit Target so I can find some frickin pants that will button over my moderate gut. Although I can technically button my pants, it is in no way comfortable. Every day feels like I just finished five Thanksgiving dinners and I don't want to continue to tempt the fates by walking around my office with my jeans unbuttoned. If I could, I would go to work in my favorite stretchy yoga pants but that dream is in no way new.

We are also planning a trip to Wisconsin with Cary and Bruce. The entire purpose of the trip is to purchase fresh cheese curds for our Canada Day poutine. I cannot wait for that. Poutine is the greasy, fatty nectar of the gods. Some very chubby gods. For those who don't associate with Canadians, poutine is thick cut french fries with cheese curd and a thick brown gravy on top. It's like the most ultimate junk food in the history of forever.

To celebrate the US holiday, Bruce and I will be sitting in what marginally could be considered the wilderness for three days. This will be our first camping trip together and my first since high school or something ridiculous like that. I am exited. Although the campground itself is lame, it's a good opportunity to test drive all the gear we got for Christmas last year. Plus it gives me the chance to make lists, lots and lots of lists. I love lists. Almost as much as I love talking about myself. I suppose this is enough for now.

I AM AWESOME

Just so everyone knows, in my softball game last night I had an unassisted double play, got the third out of that inning as well, and had a hit to center field.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

One down, two to go

I am now 14 weeks. That's second trimester, bitches!

From BabyCenter.com (Yes, I am stealing this from Keira. It's useful.)

Head to bottom, your baby's 3 1/2 inches long — about the length of a lemon — and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces. Her body's growing faster than her head, which now sits upon a more well-defined neck. By the end of this week, her arms will have lengthened and will be in proportion to the rest of her body. (Her legs still have some growing to do, though.) She's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair all over her body (called lanugo). Her liver starts secreting bile this week, a sign that it's already functioning properly, and her spleen starts contributing to the production of red blood cells. She's also producing and discharging urine into the amniotic fluid, a normal process that she'll keep up until birth. You still can't feel your baby's movements, but her hands and feet (which are now half an inch long) are more flexible and active. Thanks to brain impulses, her little facial muscles are getting a workout as she squints, frowns, and grimaces. She can grasp now, too, and she may be able to suck her thumb.

Now that I am getting along, everyone keeps asking me if I am showing yet or if I have a belly. Um, maybe? How do you you know when your beer gut stops being a beer gut and starts being a baby gut? Regardless, I measured my waist, 36 inches; I feel fat and my boobs have gotten enormous although I haven't gained any weight. None of my button down shirts fit anymore which creates a problem for my work wardrobe. They wouldn't really appreciate me showing up in Bruce's baggy t-shirts which are currently my sitting around on my ass clothing of choice. The t-shirts pair well with my stretchy grey yoga pants. I love those pants.

Although I am a cheapy cheap-ass I had to get over myself and buy some new shirts last week so I would have stuff to wear to work. Everything was at least 50% off so I feel somewhat better about making purchases that will only last me a few months max. But still. It seems like such a waste.

Speaking of clothing, my mom sent me my first baby outfits! Two onesies, Red Sox themed, of course. They are adorable and probably the first of many, many Red Sox clothes that this kid will own over the course of its lifetime. For the record, if we do learn the sex of the kid ahead of time and it turns out to be a girl. No. Pink. Stuff. Seriously. That is all.

The Best Laid Plans

Although I have plenty of time, 6 months almost exactly, I feel like I need to start getting some the bigger baby related projects accomplished. The biggest endeavor will be getting a room ready for the kid. This is going to be a several step project. First, I need to decide which bedroom will belong to the rugrat. Disassemble and store the exercise equipment in the basement. Deep clean whichever room it will be. Then I need to pick a color for the room, paint it, and then finally set it up with whatever furniture we end up getting for the room.

Now, taking all these steps into consideration, what I want to do is going to make it even more complicated than it sounds. I want to move out bedroom into the current exercise room which means adding another hash mark on the above list - move all big ass, heavy bedroom furniture to the new room.

Greeeat. This plan does have it's advantages however. My current bedroom is a lovely shade of green which I am nonetheless completely sick of. It will be perfect for a kid though, especially if we decide not to find out the gender ahead of time. That means I get to pick a new color for my own bedroom! It will be blue! Most likely! It's calming! and peaceful!

Sorry, I got carried away there.

Switching rooms also has other very sensible advantages that pretty much make up for the extra effort of moving dressers and beds around. Current bedroom is probably the most moderately temperatured room in the house which seems to me to be the best thing for the kid. the back bedroom can get pretty hot and pretty cold when the weather goes to extremes.

Finally, the best reason to switch rooms that the fact that the office is off of the exercise room . I just don't think it would be practical to be going through the kid's room while it's asleep just so I can look at pictures of cats wearing sunglasses and videos of baby polar bears.

So yeah. I have a ton of work ahead of me. And I say me because I sincerely doubt I will get much help with this. I am the handyman around this house so this all needs to be finished before I get to big to be hefting and heaving shit around. I don't even know if breathing latex paint fumes will be ok for me. I suppose I will need to see how far sympathy and a case of beer will get me with my friends and husband. We shall find out.

Moving Right Along

Well, I was wrong and my appointment was Thursday instead of Wednesday and now I am not even posting until Sunday. Because I am lazy. That's why.

I feel totally dumb mixing up the days seeing as how I had taken the morning off from working with the sketchiest of all sketchy excuses. I had things to do. So I felt really dumb strolling into the office on Wednesday all like, "my things got moved".

Oh yeah, so new appointment, 12 weeks, new sonogram. Here it is. It actually looks like a person this time.
I was also officially given permission to tell whomever I liked by my new doctor, Dr. Goldman. This doctor is the balls. She is nice, friendly and even has a sense of humor. Thank god. So, I started to tell people. I told my boss that day so he would stop thinking I was sneaking off to interviews. Then later that night I called my mom (who talked to me for twenty minutes before she even let me tell my dad), both my sisters and my brother and his wife. Things I have learned from all these conversations: I should have told them all sooner, like as soon as I peed on the stick; I need a baby theme (really no idea there); and I need to decide right now if I want to know if I am having a boy or a girl. Um yeah, not really people. I am not really a theme person per se. Like, let's just say that my theme is infant chic. Or how about baby stuff? Or even Dr. Jones' excellent suggestion, "killer robot dinosaur ninja...from space." This last I find to be excellent, second only to my idea, King Kong and the Red Sox fight the Dinosaurs on Skull Island.


This most recent appointment also had several other excellent features, namely, I didn't have to get blood drawn. However, I was also sent to a genetic counsellor which was interesting and informative. The genetic people used my age, a sample of my blood (drawn two weeks earlier), and measurements taken from the sonogram, to calculate my chances of having a baby with "a chromosomal anomaly" i.e. Downs Syndrome. The results were good I guess. According to the counsellor I have the odds of a much younger woman. How nice seeing as how I am so old right now. Thanks lady. But yeah, I went from, based on my age only, 1 in 850 to, based on all three things, to about 1 in 1100. So yay?

12 Weeks In

From Babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing: Your baby's hit the 2-inch mark (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce. Her face is beginning to look more human. Her eyes, which started out on the sides of her head, have moved closer together on her face, and her ears are near their final positions on the sides of her head. Your baby's intestines, which have grown so rapidly that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into her abdominal cavity about now. Her kidneys are secreting urine into her bladder. Her nerve cells have been multiplying rapidly, and synapses (neurological pathways in the brain) are forming. Your baby may have acquired more reflexes by now, including sucking, and she'll even squirm if you prod your abdomen, though you still won't be able to feel her movement for several weeks.

Heh, I like the eyes on the side of the head. With my luck, I would have a flounder. Well, the kid would probably play basketball since it'd have fantastic court vision. Anyway, there is not much going on with me. The only real symptom other than fatigue and bloating I have been experiencing is the massive crankiness I have over not being able to do anything fun. I can't eat red meat because although steak is permitted, it has to be fully cooked through. I cannot bear well done meat. I love my meat essentially raw. Mmmmmm, fresh cow. I can't eat sushi. I can't drink beer. I can't wear half of my work clothes because none of my shirts will button over my chest. I am just a couple of weeks away from not having pants that fit. I am too tired to do anything other than lay around which means I am not exercising like I want to be. Hell, I actually miss crazy Denise Austin. I want to burn some butter dammit!

I do get to tell people anytime now. FINALLY. I think I am going to wait until after my next appointment on Wednesday. It is a regular sonogram/exam visit plus something about genetic counseling. So, I suppose I will wait until after this to see if everything is going all right and then tell people. My mom is totally going to lose her shit.