The Pop Heard 'Round the World

I have to start out with a picture because I really don't think I'll be writing about anything else...

All of a sudden, I came home from work and I was pregnant.  When I left for work this morning, Jeff told me I still didn't look pregnant, but now I think that's all changed.  I'm still going to take a picture tomorrow morning just to show you all the difference in the food baby.  I just really wish the g-g-girls weren't so big, if you get my drift...

I'm also wearing my first pair of maternity pants in this picture.  Not that I need to wear maternity clothes just yet - I can still fit in to all my pre-pregnancy clothes.  But, my girlfriend Kelly brought a bunch of pants to work today for me to try on, and so, I did!  And, I have to be perfectly honest, if I knew how comfortable and wonderful maternity pants were, I may have started wearing them long before I was ever pregnant.  In fact, I may continue wearing them after pregnancy as well.  If anyone comments, I'll encourage them to try on a pair of the pants, and then they'll be a believer in maternity wear as well.  Seriously, it's like wearing your pajamas to work.  I love them so much.  So, I may jump into maternity clothes a little sooner than I have to, just so I can feel like I'm wearing my jammies to work.  

In other news, I am now in my nineteenth week of pregnancy.  I can't really tell you all what's going on with the baby right now, because it's a lot of gender-related development and I'm saving that for the July 11th update.  So, that's it.  We're putting our house up on MLS tomorrow, and are taking any and all inquiries from individuals interested in buying/renting/squatting/subleasing a two bedroom townhouse in downtown Minneapolis.     



Eighteen Weeks

Someone's had a growth spurt!  And no, I'm not talking about me, unfortunately.  I would suspect that all this whining I'm doing about not having a bump will come back to bite me in the rump (ha!) in about three months.  I know I should relish it and be glad that I'm not bigger, but it just astounds me how pregnancy grows different on every woman.  I'm looking at all these pictures of pregnant celebrities, due around the same time that I am, and they look a lot different than I do - so much, in fact, that I'm fairly certain they're wearing a bump pad. 

I may be wearing a looser fitting shirt today, but you're really not missing much of anything.  I'm convinced I'm just giving birth to a food baby.  Speaking of which, the baby is now about six inches long and weighs about eight ounces, or a half-pound.  It's as big as a large mango.  So, let's think about this...before I was pregnant, I could smuggle a large mango (at least) and no one would ever be able to tell.  I don't really know what I think about that, other than I may have missed my calling as a drug lord.

This week, the baby's arms and legs are in proportion, neurons are firing throughout the brain and muscles, and the cartilage is turning to bone.  Based upon what I'm feeling, I'm also getting the distinct impression that I'm giving birth to an action figure or the next star in the Matrix movies.  Seriously, this little bugger is doing flips and belly slides.  In addition to giving me a little pop every once and a while.  It's really a surreal feeling, but I like it.  Reminds me who's running the show. 

I'm feeling great, we almost have our house ready to put on the market.  The second bedroom is getting painted today.  Jeff and I are going to clean the place up tonight, and then the carpet cleaners are coming in tomorrow morning.  And then, we're all done.  We're really toying with the idea of renting our place because I don't know how much of a hit we'll take on the purchase price, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  I will admit that I am quite tired at the end of the day, and usually find myself crawling upstairs at about 8:30 to go to bed (that is, unless there's an episode of Friday Night Lights on television).  My appetite has been great and my energy level remains pretty constant throughout the day.  All good signs, I think. 

This weekend, Jeff and I are going to stay with my parents while our carpets dry.  My mom is having surgery on her foot tomorrow, so make sure you say a quick prayer for a safe and speedy recovery. 

UPDATE:  I may have had a real, true craving.  I'm not sure.  I really wanted a bacon, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, and onion sandwich with mayonaise on toasted white bread.  With Twizzlers.  I don't know if that counts or if it's even weird.  But I just finished it and it was delicious. 

Doctor's Appointment

Well, we had our eighteen week appointment yesterday.  And, I may have gotten a little peek and whether I'm carrying La Nina or El Nino (you know, sticking with the "Storms" theme).  But, we're not going to know for another three weeks, when we have our big twenty week ultrasound.  The doctor gave me a hint as to whether it's a boy or a girl, but made me promise not to paint, purchase, or monogram until the twenty week ultrasound.  Apparently, the screen used in the doctor's office is like watching television on your iPod and the screen used for the twenty week ultrasound is like a 42" flat screen.  So, Baby Storms will be larger than life.  In any case, I'm not going to give it away just yet.  But, everyone (except me) has seemed to think that we're having a baby boy.  So, I guess the big question is whether my "maternal intuition" holds any water. 

In any case, I am doing wonderfully.  I measured at 18 centimeters, which shocked me because I haven't really seen any growth in the bump department yet.  Colonel Sanders said that's right where I should be, which I guess is good.  My blood pressure is great, the quad screen results were negative (which we already knew), and the baby's heartbeat is strong.  The only thing I still need to work on is gaining some weight.  I still really haven't put on any weight during this pregnancy.  The doctor isn't concerned about it just yet, but said that typically, women with my pre-pregnancy height and weight have put on about ten pounds by this point in their pregnancy.  I don't know how it's possible that I haven't gained any weight, since I put away more food than the fat lady at the State Fair.  I must be the only woman in America disappointed that I haven't gained any weight.  Still, I'm taking comfort in the fact that I still fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes.  

I'll add an updated bump picture later this week.  But for now, I'll open the betting on gender guesses!   

Seventeen Weeks

This post could have several alternative titles, including "Pregnancy Brain - Fact or Fiction?" or "Ow, Ow, My Aching Back/Feet/Knees" or "Selling Your Home Really Sucks." 

Where did the time go?  All of a sudden, I feel like I've woken up and I'm so much further along than I think or feel that I am.  This past week has literally gone by in a blur.  If you could infer anything from the above title alternates, we have become deeply immersed in the real estate market.  Our offer was accepted on the house in Plymouth.  We're set to close on September 1.  Which, in my opinion, doesn't leave a lot of time.  But, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's planning ahead, making lists, and checking things off.  So, now that we've got our new house figured out, we have to focus on selling our current place. 

To that end, we had a "stager" come in and tell us everything that was wrong with our house, what to put away, what colors to use in all the rooms, and how to rearrange our furniture.  Basically, I would say that she told us how to create an optical illusion so that some poor, unsuspecting individual would come in to our house, see the massive amount of "space" we have, how well decorated our house is, and simply have to purchase it.  Dare to dream, no?  One of the many things I've realized going through this process is that we've accumulated a lot of crap.  So, I rented a storage unit out in Plymouth, and we've been slowly working our way through the house, clearing out all our crap, and generally trying to be all that we can be.  I've started to feel like Annette Benning in "American Beauty"...in that beginning scene where she's hosting the open house, and repeats her mantra, "I will sell this house today, I will sell this house!"  Whenever Jeff thinks I've gone off the deep end, he repeats that phrase and reminds me of how that movie ends.  Not well.  We've also got contractors and cleaning people coming in all this week and next week.  If all goes according to plan, our house should be listed around July 1.  Then, I'll have two blissful months of relaxing before I have to start all over again in a new place. 

With respect to the baby, I am pleased to report we got the results of our quad screen back today, and everything looks great.  No genetic mutations to suggest Down's Syndrome, spina bifida, or any other genetic abnormality.  My hCG level is also at over 53,000, which makes me laugh when I think about how I got excited at it being at just over 500.  I think that each bit of positive news I get is just an answer to a prayer.  We've wanted this for so long, had so many problems along the way, it seems to be almost a miracle every time we get a piece of good news.  So, here we are at seventeen weeks...

Still not much to report in Bump Watch 2011.  But, even if I don't exactly look pregnant, I certainly have pregnancy brain.  I heard about this elusive condition from my friend, Molly, several years ago.  The term describes the often scatterbrained and forgetful mind of a pregnant woman.  For example, "I was driving in my car, and totally missed the turn off to my house!  I blame my pregnancy brain!"  I think it has to do with the fact that one becomes so preoccupied and concentrated on the life growing inside, that other mindless activities just take a back seat.  For example, this week I packed the television remote in Jeff's gym bag.  Don't ask me why I did that since I was taking clothes out to put in the wash.  Yesterday, I wanted to wear a certain suit jacket to work.  When I didn't see it in my closet, I got concerned that I packed it.  So, I tore through four or five boxes before realizing that I had set it on the bed, along with my shoes.  After concluding a conference call with my client earlier this week, I signed off by saying, "Thanks, everyone!  Love you, bye!"  Fortunately, she got a kick out of it.  So, in my book, pregnancy also makes you incredibly forgetful and spacey.  I don't think it makes things any easier when you're trying to buy and sell a house, and attempt to continue working full time.   

 

This week, the baby learns how to yawn and will start to get hiccups.  The baby is about 5.5 inches in length and weighs about as much as a chicken breast.  Side note:  Yuck.  We have our next appointment on Monday.  I don't think I'll get an ultrasound at that appointment, but we'll get to hear the heartbeat again.  In just a few weeks now, we'll have our big 20-week appointment, when I can finally put the gender issue to bed.  Then, I can start monogramming every little bootie and onesie.   

 

I'm so glad that all this moving business is coming up now, when I'm solidly in the second trimester.  I can't imagine how much work it'd be moving, packing, and working while wondering if my Boost energy drink was going to come up.  Anyways, I'll update more on Monday after the appointment...until then, happy packing, I guess! 

Sixteen Weeks

Fatty fatty boom a latty!  Both of us are focusing on getting chubbier this week.  I have an appetite and eat enough in one sitting to feed a family of four for a week.  That may be a bit of an overstatement, but compared to the lack of food I've been consuming in the past four months, my eating habits now are much different.  The meat aversion has abated somewhat.  Chicken is still a bit dicey for me, and I don't think I could eat a piece of chicken without something mixed in with it.  Preferably something cheesy. 

So, here we are at sixteen weeks and there's just a hint of a bump starting to show.  If I'm going to be perfectly honest, I may have eaten an egg sandwich before I took this picture and really just let my stomach hang out after that:

This week, the baby can finally relax, since a lot of the development is now over with.  She's about five inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces.  That seems so small still.  But, it's about the size of your open hand, if you can imagine that.  The baby's eyes are in the front of her head by now, and she's just got to worry about getting chubbier.  She's also listening now.  She can hear Maverick when he barks, Jeff when he sings to her, and she can most definitely hear me holler at her daddy when he leaves his socks on the floor.  She's also perfecting eye movements and learning how to suck and swallow.  We go in tomorrow for our quad screening but I don't really know when we'll get the results of that just yet.     

In other news, I think we've found a house.  In just a few short months, we'll become residents of Plymouth.  Its a nice little suburb, about twenty minutes from where we live now.  It's in a great school district and the house is close to a lot of parks, walking trails, and lakes.  It's really everything we've been looking for.  I'm nervous, but in a really great way.  All of a sudden, everything seems so real.  In any case, I've also put up a picture of the outside of the house, if you're interested.  I like it.  I think it looks like a Christmas card. 

This state is also schizophrenic.  It was over 100 degrees on Tuesday, and forty-eight hours later, I woke up and wore a jacket to work.  Although I'm not going to complain at all.  It's easy to warm up and impossible to cool down.  I don't know if I have anything else to report.  I'm feeling great and have lots of energy, so I'm going to take advantage of it while I still have time.    

Heat Wave

Well, Mother Nature needs to take her menopause medication because we could do without the hot flashes.  Seriously, it is like eleventy bajillion degrees outside right now.  I just went and re-potted my tomato plants and I sweat through my Spanx.  I was outside for ten minutes, maybe.  Boo.

In years past, I have been a sucker for the heat.  Seriously.  In my book, it could always be hotter and more humid.  I loved it.  One of my most favorite past times has been sitting on my deck, or lounging by a pool, literally getting as hot and as sweaty as I possibly could.  In the wintertime, I have a space heater and gas fireplace literally running all the time just so I can get as warm as possible.  My, how times have changed...

I left work early on Friday because I couldn't stand the humidity in our office.  I felt like I wanted to strip off all my clothes.  I almost went to Home Depot to see if I could replace my space heater with a space cooler.  Instead, I went to the pool and promptly submerged myself in it and stayed there until my fingers looked like raisins.  Yesterday, I went to the pool with my friend, Lindsey, and my entire mission was how to stay as cool as possible.  I bobbed in the pool, I consumed copious amounts of ice and liquids, and I even dared to bare the belly.  My house could re-freeze the polar ice caps and it's the only place I'm really comfortable.  I'm going to hate to see our electricity bill at the end of the summer.  

I've also swelled up like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.  They may have to surgically remove my wedding ring.  I hate to think how my other pregnant girlfriends are feeling - the ones that are six, seven, and eight months pregnant...and I hate to think how I'll be feeling come August.  Actually, by then, I'll probably just be really excited to go and eat my way through the State Fair.  Yum.       

Fifteen Weeks

I've been informed, gentle readers, that I do not post often enough, which makes people worry.  So, therefore, I promise to fill this posting up with lots of information about everything that's been going on since I last updated.  There has been much to tell...but first, here we are at fifteen weeks...



Well, I still don't look pregnant.  However, the picture is somewhat of an optical illusion since I'm wearing Spanx in the picture.  I've got a client function today and I don't want them to know I'm having a baby yet.  I'm afraid they'll stop sending me work.  I would also like to take a minute and thank the inventor of Spanx. 

In other news, it appears that my ass is actually pregnant.  Seriously, look at that thing.  I'm the actual embodiment of a Sir Mix-A-Lot song.  Baby got back.  I'm giving J-Lo and Kim Kardashian a run for their money.  Years ago, an individual once told me that I was the essence of a black man's perfection - I was a white girl with the ass of a sister.  And that's a direct quote.  If that man could see me now.  When I was living in Washington DC, another man also offered to buy me pants, which is unusual but I assume had something to do with dressing the booty up in said pants.  My Uncle Steve loves telling that story.  At least it's still where its supposed to be and not hanging down around my knees.  But enough about that...

This week, the baby will start to hear.  I was reading in my baby book this morning that babies can recognize songs that were sung to them while in utero.  The baby will learn to recognize and be comforted by my voice.  It also means that we must start buying Baby Muzak CDs and playing them to my belly every night before we go to sleep.  I should also considering swearing less.  The baby's backbone is getting stronger, she has eyebrows and eyelashes, and is about five inches long now.  Hard to believe all of that is living underneath that Calvin Klein dress.  I know I've said this before, but anyone who believes that life begins at birth has never been pregnant.  I can actually feel life inside of me.  This baby already has fingernails, hair, eyelashes, and fingerprints.  That being said, I still don't think the government has a right to tell me what to do with my body, but let's forgo a political debate...

I'm also fairly certain that I felt the baby move this week.  Earlier on in pregnancy, it's called "quickening" and I guess it can often be confused with gas or hunger pangs.  However, the other night, we were sitting on the couch, watching The Voice and I felt a series of quick little raps on one side of my lower stomach.  It happened several different times over the course of a half hour.  I tried to get Jeff to feel it, but he couldn't.  Oh well, all in its time.  Maybe it was gas, but I am choosing to believe the baby was objecting to the heinous singing on the television.   

I've also been having terrible dizzy spells.  I called Colonel Sanders on Tuesday because I had been lightheaded for several hours, and it wasn't going away with resting or hydration.  So, we went into urgent care.  My blood pressure was fine, my temperature was normal, and it just turns out I'm pregnant.  There may also be an allergy component which may be making me dizzy, but antihistamines are out of the question.  I felt a little silly being in there for something so benign, but I suppose I'd rather have twenty false alarms as opposed to one serious issue.  I have been feeling a lot better over the past two days and have more energy too, so I'm taking those to be good signs. 

The one question I get, more than any other question, is whether I have any cravings.  I'm having difficulty distinguishing an actual "craving" from a famished feeling.  However, there is nothing like a hungry pregnant woman.  Seriously.  When that hunger hits, you need to satisfy that need at that moment.  Do not pass go, do not collect $200.00.  I was driving home last night at about 6:30 when a hunger pang hit and it became an all consuming desire.  It was all I could do just to make it home and not swing through the Taco Bell drive-thru.  But, when the hunger pang hit last night, it was very specific.  I wanted chili con queso from Rojo Mexican Restaurant.  But, I think I wanted that because it is cheesy and delicious and not because I was craving it, per se.  So, do I have any cravings?  I don't know.  I guess I've wanted Mexican food more than usual, and I really like anything strawberry-banana flavored.  Specifically, saltwater taffy.  But I still don't think that's too weird. 

Finally, Jeff and I are still on the quest for a new house.  We had put an offer in on a short sale out in Minnetonka that fell through.  We're going to look at another house in Eden Prairie tonight.  My old stomping grounds.  It has a pool.  I don't know how I feel about that just yet.  However, it's becoming very apparent that we're going to need to move before this baby comes.  I went to Target last weekend to pick up a gift for a friend's baby shower and I had a minor panic attack while browsing the infant aisles, finally realizing how much "equipment" is needed for a baby.  We literally do not have enough room for the three of us (plus Maverick, of course) in our townhouse.  So, house hunting is now a full time job.  Maybe Grammy and Pop-Pop will let us live with them?