One down . . . .

I have no idea how straining it is to host a shower but it is hard to be the honoree also.
I went to the baby shower that my mom's church (and my former church), hosted.
It was a lot of fun, they made little grilled cheese sandwiches with different types of small little bagels and bread, with this olive spread and shrimp spread. Purple chicken soup (you use red cabbage and it colors the soup). Raspberry Lemonade, tomatoe and mozzarella, vegetable plate and then for dessert this dark chocolate lava cake with raspberries and whip cream. It was very good and fancy without being weird. Then we opened gifts, I pretty much got only clothes (for the baby) and everything is so cute- kept getting comments that she will be the best dressed baby on the block, which I think she will be- considering I have 3 more showers and everyone seems to give her clothes. I am NOT complaining, trust me.
Don't watch Holiday on TV they cut out a bunch of cute parts! Do we really need all these commercials?
Anyway, tomorrow I will go and get little something for Robert and Jan who hosted the shower and then start on the task of writing thank you notes. I am going to do it this time- I even bought the thank you notes already. So I am one step ahead of the game. It is 6:35 and I am tired. I am going to do some writing and then take a shower and bed hopefully. Baby agrees and is kicking up a storm. G'Night!

Insomnia

Did you ever have a dream and it got you so mad at whoever the dream was about, you woke up and you have convinced yourself that the person really did something?
I had a dream that my husband woke up and decided to go out to the living room and play some game from his childhood with all his friends. However, he did so really loudly and when I complained stated that he did so because he could not find the original game so they had to improvise. I went to the garage to find the original tapes and when I got back he was gone. He had gone out with his friends and I was so mad- I started trying to call and text him but instead of his number I was sending it to a 555 number. I woke up and used the restroom (big surprise there) and Robby was snoring. So I nudged him and asked him to turn on his side. Here was the interchange,
Me: turn over
Him: What?
Me: Turn over, you are snoring.
Him: So?
Me: So? You need to turn on your side?
Him: What am I turning on its side?
Me: You! Turn on your side.
He then resettled himself and stopped snoring but usually he does not talk back when I ask him to turn over. He was asleep, by the way he does not remember me ever telling him to turn over so I like that- that means I am not interrupting his sleep. I am actually watching the movie the Holiday that I recorded last night. For a Cameron Diaz movie, I really like it.
I wonder how the cats are going to react to the new baby. I have wondered this aloud to several people and most don't have an answer, possibly because my cats defy explanation as it is. As my friend Molly said, "I have never met cats that like to bite when they are happy as much as yours does." I am paraphrasing but she is right- they usually do bite when they are happy.
Well, I probably should go back to bed, we are going to the 9:00 o'clock church service and then up to my parents church for my baby shower- I hope I have nothing but good things to say about it! Wish me luck!

Bothered and can't really say why-

Okay, I explained when I left the other site that I was writing on that I did so because it had an annoying habit of kicking you off when you went to post content and even though you were able to go back to the original page, copy the selection, sign in and post it- it was still a waste of time. Well, unless I am unsure of how this one works, the save now button does nothing. I have a laptop and something when you are dragging your finger over the mousepad it thinks that you want to go back to a previous page. I was attempting to drag the cursor over a selection that I had written to ensure that I would not write something stupid and managed to go back to the previous page. This is kind of ironic considering I was writing about things that are bothering and annoying me. So I don't want to really write more of it because that would just be annoying so I will summarize
1. my boss for making me come into work everyday next week, instead of just 2 days.
2. Anthony for being here all day and not doing anything (guess I should be used to that by now.)
3. Someone who is hiding something from me.
None of this is really baby related at all, except maybe #3. The baby could be the reason the someone is hiding something from me or at least acting weird. Maybe my paranoia is driving me a little pregnancy- That would need to be reversed.
Baby is moving around a lot when she moves around. Meaning I will be sitting here for about 20 or 30 minutes- nothing then she will get the hiccups, then do somersaults.
First baby shower is on Sunday at my parent's church, I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. I know that there will be no embarrassing baby games (At least I hope not) But my aunts and grandma will be there and that is another story- what am I going to do if one or both infer, imply or ask about how fat that I have gotten? Apparently, this happened when my mom was pregnant with my brother so you never know.
Maybe, blogging is not for me- I find it cathartic in some ways and intrusive in another. Although I used to write stuff on my fan website all the time but that was a lot more of poking fun and making up stories.
In other news, Anthony is being deployed on April the 2nd and we are having a going away party next Saturday, that will be interesting, to say the least. At least I have some warning now about what Joel (Anthony's brother) looks like. I have never met his other brother though- I will have to ask about him to make sure I am not caught unawares like I was when I first saw Joel (looked like some sort of unwashed Hippie Jesus.)
Well, I it is 9:35 and that is way past my bedtime. Monkey does not seem to think so and has set up residence right next to me, although this does not prevent me from getting up, it does give me pause. I will still get up, after some unnecessary viewing on the May 2009 Birth Club.

Annoying dogs

There are actually three shows on that I could be watching but am choosing to wait until tomorrow. (besides I don't like to watch the results show on American Idol cause it should be a 2 minute show. Anyway, baby is moving around a lot as usual (well not right now). But at dinner the restaurant that we went to- sat us in a booth and I had to sit sideways until the actual food came- and let me tell you baby girl did not like that once bit! Neither did I. So I told Robby- no more restaurants like that until after the baby.
Oh rats! The stupid tab button does not work. It tabs down to the next entry, it does not tab over 5 spaces like in Word.
So, I added a bunch of stuff on babies R Us on Saturday when I went there with my MIL and Grandmother-in-law. Lots of cute stuff, I am worried about all the stuff that I everyone seems to tell me that I need. I figure- a crib, sheets for the crib, blankets, clothes, diapers and accessories for diapers. What other necessities are there- she will be nursing exclusively. Robby tried to convince me to use formula for part of the time to get the baby used to being fed in an emergency situation but I already will be pumping for when I am at work. Formula is expensive anyway- I have no problem with a women who cannot nurse- for medical reasons. Some people get all mad when they find out someone is not nursing- like it is any of your business.
I think I am feeling feisty still, I need to go to bed and dream about more random guys from candy bar commercials. Seriously- I won't say who- it is too weird. And I thought the thing with Rider Strong was bizarre- I hope this is no indication in how my baby will turn out. Sigh.

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

I have not written in awhile and I would love to blame my crappy keyboard on my laptop but I actually have another keyboard that I have to connect to my laptop to do my work (for some odd reason the antiquate DOS program we use only responds to the outside enter key i.e. the enter key on the number pad.) So I am writing this while watching Jon & Kate plus eight. I upset Monkey by moving slightly and she left the safe haven of the blanket next to me.I am having extreme melancholy feelings tonight- I was reading a blog which lead me to another which made me realize that if this person could blog I could too. However, it is kind of making me feel, uh, sad. I feel kind of lonely most nights anyway once Robby gets on the computer and all there is to do is watch TV or be on the computer. I would organize the garage but for some odd reason I don't like to do so when it is dark outside, I envision some creepo outside the window, watching me sort clothes and other random junk.I also feel lonely cause I am pregnant and hormones make everything worse, which would be why I am crying. I thought to myself- I feel lonely cause I am alone and my little daughter moved just then as if to say, "You aren't alone Mommy, I am here!" I think that is God more than anything teling me that I am not alone but it is nice to have an actual physical presence to remind me. I am looking forward to meeting my little squirmy girl or as I like to call her at times, "My little hyper active Brazilian soccer team."On to more pleasant topics than my sullenness, the doctor's appointment went well, she said that my gluclose test was good and I am slightly anemic, which does not surprise me since at times when I have given blood they have not let me because I was too anemic that day. I looked up iron rich foods and guess what was on the top of the list- LIVER. Even if pregnant women could have it (cannot because it contains too much vitamin A) I would not- Yuck. I mentioned this to grandma brindley and she said that when she was 17 she had to eat liver for a month before she had her tonsils out because she was anemic. So, now she doesn't like it- that is so gross and I am so lucky I did not have to do that when I was little.Doctor said that I don't have to worry about the baby's position at this point partly because she is still small, Dr. said to wait until 35 weeks and we will determine that when the time comes. Here is hoping that she turns her little self upside down, cause I don't want to do a cesaren if she is breech (that is feet or butt first).She also asked about birth control that we want to use and I was thinking- uh I'm still pregnant I think I am good, but obviously she meant after the baby- that is good she is getting us thinking about times ahead. (I will leave all you good people in the dark about the rest of the conversation.) That was it really- I feel bad that I don't have a lot of issues going on- I will start writing it down- really the only thing that I have that is an ongoing issue is heartburn and there is no rhyme or reason for it. The best that I can guess is that when I eat something to close to bed time I am more likely to get heartburn. I don't eat a lot of spicy foods and citrus does not seem to aggravate it, but antacids help and thankfully are not too nasty tasting.Writing my feelings down does seem to help, even if no one reads them, at least I have them out. I am hoping that some of the lonely/left behind/ someone is too busy to spend any time talking to me will go ease with time and go away completely once the baby is born. I am hoping that by going to another church where we can actually maybe get involved will help. Isn't there something to be said for giving time and energy to someone else is like giving it to yourself? OR soemthing like that. Well, baby says goodbye and her eighth bout of hiccups of the day finally stopped.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Two days in a row! Wow! Well, not really a wow kind of message, although I am watching the Direct TV commercial that Molly loves, that is kind of fun.Well, I found out today that a gal at work, who believed that she was having twins, had a miscarriage. Kari had asked me about her having twins and I told her I didn't know and Kari asked her how she was doing and Amanda told her about the miscarriage. I held on while Kari was telling me but then I went back to my desk and cried. Crying now actually. I know it is not the same thing because I am further along but I cannot imagine what it would be like. Then I started thinking about how bad she must be feeling and then how I would feel if I got a miscarriage and at work I was just trying to get through the day and all you could see was this hugely pregnant lady wherever you went. Then I started to feel guilty and it just went down from there. Anyway, Robby made me dinner and I feel better. Robby said he was glad that I can feel the baby move and so am I. He is glad that he can finally feel her move too, usually right when I lay down she gets very active and does not like me laying on either side for some reason. I have been home about an hour and a half and Duchess just showed up, so I think some attention is in order, hopefully I will have cheerier news next time.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Baby is moving around like a busy busy bee. Pretty much on the dot of 9 am she moves around. She does so frequently throughout the day and depending on what I am doing. I finally gained weight for the last month, the first time in the pregnancy, which the nurse practioner said was still fine. I talked with a gal at work who just had a baby and she said that between her last appointment and after she had the baby she lost 30 pounds. All water weight (and baby.)Speaking of ladies who just had a baby, the gal who announced at the same that she was also having a baby. She was due Feb. 7th and had her baby on the 9th. She was supposed to have a girl and had a boy instead. SURPRISE! Apparently everything she has for the baby is pink! So, it is almost like she needs to have another baby shower. Everyone at work has asked me if I am freaking out because of the gender switch. Most of the women who have had babies say that they think that it happened that way because she found out so late that she was pregnant, thus the ultrasound was later, thus not as accurate. I am hoping that because mine was at 19 weeks it wasn't too late.I have enjoyed the week of being with just Robby in the house but I have had to go in to work everyday and work till 5, which is totally gross in my opinion and unnecessary but whatever. It just makes the day SO long! Tomorrow I have to take an extra half hour lunch or something like that. because I have to be there by 9:30, work at least 6:45 hours and stay till five anyway, enough of non-baby-related items. Next week I have to start tracking her kicking which I don't think will be hard since she moves like 10 times in like 5 minutes, Robby got to feel her and I think he was surprised, he was like, "Oh, it felt like bump, bump, bump." He wanted to know what it was and I felt that it was her foot, I explained that sometimes it is one a hand, foot, head butt or a butt butt, which is where her butt butts up against the side. Robby thought I was insane of course but what is new?We are signed up for the childbirth education classes starting April 1 on Wednesday, I thought this would be easier than the marathon Friday night and whole day Saturday. I hope that the class is not too scary for Robby, I would hate for him to like throw up or pass out. he is made of strong stuff but that is a survival instinct, he stays away from stuff that scares him- which includes death and pregnancy related bodily functions.So, I won't worry about him wanting to cut the umbilical cord or eating the placenta (people do that too- I did not make that up.)On a non- gross note, I think I may want to go to bed soon.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I am trying to watch epicurious.com recipes on hulu. I forgot how snooty the show epicurious is. Anyway, baby is a very busy little lady or at least just as active but is making herself more known to me. Not really wanting to make herself known to Daddy yet. I came in to ask Robby how long Anthony was going to be at the store and he put his cold hands on my belly, in order to feel the baby. Thankfully no one else has done that, with or without the lifting the shirt. I did run into someone yesterday from T-Mobile and he looked the type that wanted a hug or to touch the belly but luckily he did not. I also showed Robby why I could not go to the store on my own anymore but leaning over the counter and showing him the view that I was possibly giving a random shopper behind me in line at the store. Getting ridiculous and oddly enough messy, I know that I read the whole, leaking during pregnancy but did not really have the reality till today when I brushed my arm against myself and realized that I had leaked. Now, I really have to get a pregnancy bra. I have not minded buying maternity shirts, mostly because they can be worn for months. I am holding off on pants as long as I can but I think I will go online tomorrow and look for pants to buy, especially since I have a wedding that I have to go to on the 21st. I am not especially thrilled about it but baby probably will be. It is hard being tall and pregnant I have decided. Which just makes sense since it is hard being tall period.I watched the Duggar Family wedding on TLC and it was so cute! I highly recommend going to their website and watching. Except one of the family members kept doing all this awful stuff and thought they were so funny. Well, they are not related to me so what do I care. I think that Robby thinks that by me watching the show or shows like it that I somehow want that many kids- I don't. Besides we are about 10 years behind on our baby making for that family anyway. unless we adopted some. Well, I am going to put away leftovers and probably go to bed. Night!

Monday, January 12, 2009

As promised, I am updating the blog since I had a doctor's appointment on Friday. We were going to a concert that night so the appointment was late as it was at 4:00 we did not get seen until 4:30.The little nurse that showed us (Robby came with me) had me go pee in a cup (it is a dixie cup- which is weird). She dips a little stick in it to measure something (I am not really quite sure) but whatever it was I am doing good. The nurse said that I have "perfect urine" I told her that no one has ever said that to me and she looked at the chart and said, "Well, you had perfect urine last time too!" Apparently you are supposed to say that to patients every time? The doctor listened to the baby, she sounded good. She asked if I can feel the baby and I said, "Oh yeah." She said that I don't have to start counting the baby's kicks until 28 weeks. I just found out that my next appointment is Feb 10 which is when I get to take the gluclose test. I have had to take this before- it is awful! They take your blood then give you this awful syrupy flat gross soda. You wait an hour and then they take your blood again. Yuck! But the doctor has not wanted to have me take the test before so that is good news. The doctor said everything is normal and be thankful that I don't have any of the big nasty symptoms of some pregnant women. I am sore sometimes when I get up in the night, my hips mainly. Pregnancy books basically said that my muscles are spreading, joints are loosening and things are getting prepared for the baby.Oh, something happened before the appointment that was more interesting than the doctor (well weirder at least).I went into Motherhood Maternity with a very specific goal. The sales lady asked me what I wanted I told her, she showed me several options, this was the point that she should have gone away. She started explaining that they have these new pants and some run long. She asked if I had been in before, I answered no. Then she asked how far along I am. I told her a little over 5 months, her response was that, "Oh, you are a little late, most women come in at 3 months." How am I supposed to respond to that? I don't like that you clothes are not tailored for pregnant bellies. You make regular clothes and put a maternity tag on them." But I explained that I hadn't really needed them until now. She backpedaled and said, "Well you are tall the baby is growing upwards then will go out." So finally she left me alone. 2 minutes later I had picked out what I wanted and brought it up to the counter where the woman asked me if I wanted to try it on since I cannot return sales items. So I said okay. She asked me if I wanted to try on a camisole because the shirt I picked out was low cut. I told her that I already had one on and she said, "Well, is it one of ours?" I was like no. "Well, this are wonderful they are one size fits all and kind of help smush everything together." SO I took it to get to leave me alone. When I was in the room she started talking about trying on the support bras that were in there because doctors recommend that pregnant and nursing mothers should wear bras even when sleeping. I was like, "Okay, thanks!" (under my breath thinking "Go Away!" I put the shirt on, it fits fine. I take the shirt and cami off, was in the process of putting the last pieces of my clothes on when she opens up the door to give me another bra! Starts yapping away about the kind of bra it is and why I should get it. I told her politely that I was almost done but thank you anyway. Finally after she asks all these questions in order to sign me up for their mailing list and get a free gift, I get out of there. I cannot remember a more pushing sales person. Even if I loved their clothes I would not go back. So please don't buy me a gift card to that place! All things considered I made it, but seriously what sales person opens the door into the room while you are changing without someone asking for it! Argh.Baby is moving around, now I have to start on the awful bits, registering, decorating, stuff like that. Oh well I will survive.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

It’s a girl! If you cannot tell by the slight change in the border. I am very happy, to be honest, I would have been happy with a boy as well. I cried when I found out but I would have cried if it would have been a boy. When I told Molly she squealed, but she said she would have squealed either way. I don’t know why that is but it is true.I am very happy that we have the name picked out and barring some celebrity coming out of the woodwork and naming their child the same thing or the one person I know with the name suddenly becoming crazy, I am keeping it!Getting to the ultrasound was kind of an adventure as it was. We got a call a half an hour before the appointment to say that the person who was supposed to do the appointment could not get out of her driveway. I think it frustrated Robby most because he had worked hard to get the car out of the driveway and postponing it to the next day meant that he had to ask for time off- something he hates to do. The second person frustrated was probably Sara, who was probably more excited to find out that either of us. This is evident by the repeated text messages we received during the ultrasound. The technician just laughed whenever she heard the text message tone.One of the things that struck me the most about the exam was how many things that the technician looked at. Don’t get me wrong, I am very glad that she looked at all the inner workings to make sure everything looked good, but she pretty much saved the gender till the end (no pun intended). She was being stubborn however and hiding her head way way down. It actually hurt for the technician to try and move the baby around cause she would move the wand thing around to get her to move but she was having none of it! The technician was able to get the cutest little picture of her profile. This will be the last time I get to see her face till she is born, unless we have to get another ultrasound, then another look. So, I was happy with most reactions to the news. Most of the time, I get a couple of different reactions. The first is lots of excitement, hugging, squealing, that sort of thing. The other is congratulations about the girl and how much fun she will be-until she gets to be a teenager. Am I missing something? I went through a not close period with my mom from like 6th to 8th grade then I got over it. I was not perfect and I am sure I was way moodier that I needed to be but what girl isn’t? I think Molly and I agree that our teenage selves were the selfish, immature versions that we are today. Okay, having said that, who says that to people? It is like saying, “That is a nice new car you have there- you know in about 150,000 miles or less, stuff is going to start going wrong with it?” Uh, thanks, way to diminish the joy of the moment. No random strangers touching me or offering advice, maybe because I still am in that, is she fat, is she pregnant phase. I did have a dream that I was at this gas station and I had gone into buy something and as I was walking out this guy starting following me and he asked me if I was pregnant. I said yes and then he started asking all these questions like, “When are you due?” and stuff like that. I got into my car and am basically trying to get away from this guy, but my car won’t start. So he tells me to do something to the car and it works. So I say something quippy about how he probably wishes that he had not given me that piece of advice and drove off. What was interesting about the car was that it was a Volkswagen Bug but as soon as it hit the street it morphed into a monster truck. I don’t think I want to go interpreting that dream.At work, Rachel was excited that it is a girl because she “has a lot of girly yarn.” I like getting homemade stuff like that, it shows the person making it was really thinking about me. I have gotten some homemade stuff that was not so nice. Sarah (gal from work not sister-in-law) has started calling the baby “Fred.” She also states that I should tell her the babies name so that she can get used to it and if she doesn’t like it, I have a chance to change it. I think that part of the insanity in there is her joking with me, I think the other part is her being serious.The only complaint of Robby is not being about to feel the baby yet. I read that it is usually around 24 weeks but could be much later as well. At some point the baby will be so big that strangers will be able to see when the baby moves. So here is hoping that the next few weeks come quickly for Robby.

Monday, December 15, 2008

I decided to have a grouse fest, which is complain about stuff not some sort of festival involving birds.Forwards-backwards. I think I am coming down with a cold so it was a good thing that I got to stay at home and work today rather than go in to work. But I think I got a headache from staring at my computer screen, it is smaller than the one at work and I think that did not help matters. But my ears are starting to hurt and that doesn't help matters. I have this nasty boil thing underneath my arm and I think it felt a little better today. I went and put a hot compress on it and that seemed to help a little but it is still highly unpleasant. My uterus keeps pressing on my pelvic bone and the nerves down there, it is when I stand, move position or walk. Not that I thought pregnancy was going to be easy, but it is hard because everyone is different and therefore you cannot set expectations on what is going to happen to you based on what happened to someone else. What else was I going to complain about? Oh I guess just generally feeling like going through a haze.Okay what else? Last night I wrapped some Christmas presents and set them aside. This morning when Robby got up I had already been working for a few hours and I asked him to come look at something, so I was showing him the presents and he was like, "This is work? I thought you were supposed to be working?" I was super confused I thought, "Pointing to a stack of presents is work." Then he said, "You wrapped presents instead of working?" Then I laughed and explained that I had wrapped the presents last night and HAD been working all morning. He is so funny! I hope to go into work tomorrow, who knows what will happen on Wednesday so I am hoping to go to a couple of stores tomorrow after work and finish Christmas shopping so I am going to try and make a list and complete come Des Moines or highwater (Molly will get that reference.) okay, off the computer and on to the list!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

I just came from the Doctor's office, actually the nurse practitioner and she was really nice. I got a flu shot, did not get the quad testing, since it won't make a difference anyway, since we are keeping the baby. (testing is for birth defects, or disorders such as Down's Syndrome.)What else? She said that the pain and pressure on the my pelvis is normal, this is the uterus pushing against my bladder and pelvic bone. She felt the baby and said the baby is exactly where it should be. I listened to the heart beat and she was moving the Doppler thing around and got a better reading, she said, "Oh, they felt me moving around and came closer to me, what a cooperative baby!" Best news is that the sonogram is scheduled for the 22nd at 1:00, so if the baby is still cooperative we can find out! Yay! So, all in all good news! Oh and I forgot to ask how much, but I have actually lost weight.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Lots to report although not a lot baby related wise. At least not directly. Sometimes I think I feel something but it is more like a rustling or vibrating. Not a baby kick or anything.First off, Grandpa and Grandma Ober were told at Thanksgiving. Sheri had the idea to have Dave start with a thing about what we are thankful for. Grandpa went first and then Sheri signaled to Dave to go next. Dave said that he was thankful for all the wonderful additions that have made to the family this year, Kai and Eli. He was looking forward to the addition of another baby being born to Robby and Karen in the coming year. There was a good deal of teasing as he was asked if we knew about this or not to which he replied, “No, I have just decided it is time, I have waited long enough.” I thought that was super funny and super cute. The second piece was in regards to a movie Molly and I watched. The movie was “Sydney White” which was like a version of Snow White. It was actually pretty cute and funny at parts. The girl tries to join a sorority but is denied because the president of the sorority is jealous of her being prettier and more popular. So she ends up at the overflow housing with 7 guys. Throughout the movie Molly and I kept trying to figure out which guy was supposed to be what dwarf. Some were obvious (like the international student who never got on American time and was asleep all the time) or the disgruntled internet blogger who was pretty much angry all the time or the kid who could only talk through a puppet on his arm. One guy did not seem to fit, we were trying to figure out if there was a dwarf called “sleazy” There is not but the only that seemed to fit him was “happy” which was totally dumb, since when do you look at a horn dog and think “That guy is happy!” Most of the time, you think “Eww gross, I need to go take a shower.”So driving home the next day I decided that pregnant women have the capacity to embody all 7 of the dwarves. Bashful: Sometimes you like the attention, sometimes you would rather not be asked questions and just curl up on the couch with a good book.Dopey: This is my definite pregnancy brain drain talking. Where I called Monkey- Molly, Molly- Mom and forget how to spell everythng! Sleepy: I am getting better at sleeping and having more energy all around. I know have the wonderfulness of being dizzy if I stand for too long doing a strenuous activity. (poor Molly had to continue cooking breakfast in my stead. But I am sleeping just as much as usual and except for getting up to go to the bathroom five times, sleeping more soundly.“Happy” I put happy in quotations marks for obvious reasons. If you don’t get my drift or don’t want to then just think I mean usually giggly and not what I actually meant.Doc: Okay, this one I am a little confused about what they are talking about in the movie “Snow White” Was Doc really smart? Or was he a doctor? I will just say that when you are pregnant you tend to read tons of articles online, in magazines and books. You get to brandy about words like “Pre-clampsia” and “High-Risk Pregnancy” and your husband who is very brilliant actually has to ask what those things mean. (my friend Alina called and told me about her pregnancy- which is a High Risk Pregnancy, in case anyone is worried about me.)Grumpy: I am grumpy frequently but it usually only lasts a few seconds but it is very extreme and then it’s gone. Mostly at my poor husband or Anthony. It is absolutely nothing huge. We are talking about a dish not put away or the cheese moved away from the cheese drawer in the fridge. I usually just fix it and try to mention it to the boys when I am calm.Sneezy: Most of my family or anyone who has lived with me, know that I get the sneezies. It is worse now though, something about more mucus running through my system. Which is just what everyone likes to think about.I will have to see if I could add more dwarves as the pregnancy progresses.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I had to work over the weekend and was also utterly tired, so Robby went by himself to Great-Grandma Ober’s 90th birthday party. He brought me back a bouquet of red carnations and Mango Lemonade. So, he scored a bit of a home run. I think he was just happy that I had made him and Anthony food while they had their marathon WoW new expansion set fest. I asked him when he got back if he had mentioned that I was pregnant and he said no he hadn’t but it had been a lot harder than he anticipated. He is also convinced that not only are we having a boy, but we are having twins. Twins! I am supremely highly doubtful, considering the ultrasound showed only one baby! He says that sometimes an early ultrasound fails to show two babies because the babies heartbeats are too close to each other and the sonogramist- or whatever you call the ultrasound person can only detect one heartbeat. I say that he is crazy. I have no feelings about whether it is a boy or girl. I usually talk to the baby am encouraging using terms like “little guy” so hopefully if it is a girl she will not grow up to some PC-femi-Nazi who is offended when a female is referred to as a “guy” like when someone refers to a group of people and asks, “So, do you guys want to grab a bite to eat?” or something to that effect and than gets all mad.I looked up the question, “Why do people crave pickles?” Not pregnant women specifically but people. I heard that it was for the vinegar but the article I found that was not on Yahoo Answers or Wiki Answers was on a vitamin website. It said that most pregnant and non-pregnant people that crave pickles do so for the salt. The also said that those with under-active thyroids also crave olives. I don’t know if it counts as a craving though. I have eaten a lot of pickles but I try and moderate myself and always drink lots of water with my pickles otherwise I get way too thirsty. So my own theory is that I like pickles (my mouth waters when I watch a pickle commercial for goodness sake!) not because I crave salt but because my body needs more water, so if I eat something salty I am more likely to drink something to get rid of the salty taste. Great, now I want pickles and for some odd reason cheese (which according to the vitamin website means I am craving calcium and phosphorus.) My next appointment is Dec. 11, and I think I need to talk to Sara about Quad testing but I am looking on it favorably at this point. We shall see.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Today Robby and I met my OB-GYN for the first time, she was very nice and although her last name is Chong, she is not Asian. Not that I care but I had a REALLY bad experience with my first OB-GYN who was Asian and really kind of mean. I will not go into details about the exam, it was completely normal and kind of glad that Robby was there to get a hint of what women have to go through.The doctor said that all of tests looked normal and that everything seems to be progresing nicely. She did the Doppler test and you could barely hear the baby underneath my heartbeat. She said that as the baby moves away from my blood vessels that I will be able to hear things a lot better. She also mentioned that at the next visit is when we would decide whether or not to do the Quad testing, which can help determine risk factor for some birth defects. Dr. Chong said that most people who opt out of test are classified as high anxiety. Which Robby thankfully told me later that I am the definition of. He also wondered if the doctor could simply tell him the results. The way I feel is kind of split two ways- if the baby has Down Syndrome or something like that, it is not going to make a difference. We can stress about the possibility of it during the entire pregnancy or wait and see what happens. No birth defect is going to cause me to abort the baby. The only reason to do it is to determine if the baby has an abnormality, such as a hole in their abdomen which would require surgery, which can only be offered in Portland. Of course, I can't really do that since our insurance doesn't cover that. Argh. I think that I will go to bed soon. I took a nap this after (over three hours) made a very good lasagna and am still tired. I can tell because my left eye gets this tight feeling underneath it and my stomach is always upset when I am tired. My stomach is the barometer of my body I think. That and my ears (my ears are the first to hurt when I am getting a cold). That reminds me of a joke about the brain, the stomach, the liver and the colon arguing about who controls everything. Guess who won? Well, back to my book and then sleep.

Friday, November 07, 2008

have not written in such a long time! I feel very bereft! Poor baby. There are no new leads on the baby front, I had a headache on Wednesday and stayed home but other than that I am feeling good. No more morning sickness. Yay! Glad that is over, at least for now. I was getting all sorts of stories about it lasting throughout the nine months. When i came back on Thursday, several people who asked me if I was okay, including Meagan who thought that something had happened to the baby. She was really concerned, it was very sweet. She seems to be one that is really into babies, which is nice. She said that she is going to get me a Jim Gaffigan onsie for the baby. I find that hilarious- especially since he has a lot on his online store. I know this because she showed me the site, the same day she found out I was pregnant.Speaking of which, today Porcha asked me how the pregnancy was going and two people on my team, were like, "You are pregnant? Really? Are you kidding me?" I was like, "Eric, why would I lie?" He seemed very disbelieving but eventually did offer congratulations. Weirdo! I had the best idea, I want to wear a t-shirt that says something like, "Future Duck" or something like that for Cousin's Day in December. I will look into on cafepress. well, ttfn.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Well, it is Sunday morning, I am working on a report for work and watching Unsolved Mysteries. The new version without Robert Stack- not as creepy though.I can hear Duchess trying to get into the family room and I am going to wait until she stops making noise in order to let her in. Yesterday we told Robby's brother, sister and their spouses, Eli and Grandma and Grandpa Brindley.Robby snuck in the birthday bag with the little football with the ultrasound picture. Sara noticed in and asked whose birthday it was. I told her it was just a birthday bag and Robby didn't say anything. We gave the bag to Eli and as Sara, Silas and Eli were opening it I told them that we were giving it to him early because we were going to be busy on his actual birthday. I don't remember exactly what Sara said, I think it was something along the lines of, "Really?" She got really excited, took the football, walked around the table, over the couch and gave me a hug, and started to cry. which caused me to cry. I have no idea what was happening at the rest of the table and I am pretty sure that since no one else saw the football it was confusing. It was probably the best way to tell everyone. Sara said that she was going to send me a Doppler machine to hear the baby's hearbeat so I am looking forward to hearing that little heartbeat. I am also really looking forward to Eli and little no named Ober growing up together. I was telling Robby- just think in another 20-25 years our little baby could be in Eli's wedding or vice versa. I don't know where that came from but it made me very happy. Sara asked a lot of questions about symptoms and names for the baby. I think she is a little worried that it is going to be something awful or embarrassing, which I am not going to let happen. I am excited to think about it regardless even though I won't find out the name until a month before the birth or possibly until the next baby if this one is a girl. Well, back to work.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

only have something quick to say because I am getting tired. I have really enjoyed people at work asking how I am doing and really seeming to want to know. Who knows how long this will last- considering most people found out just last week in the team meeting. But Meagan was like- "Hey Mama-Jama how are you doing?" Porcha also called me Mama and asked how I was feeling. Kat, a gal that I don't know all that well looked at Porcha funny so she was like- "She's pregnant!" I laughed and promised that Mama was not a new nickname. Tracy called me Mama-sita. Nobody has called my Prego- thank goodness. I am not going to tell people not to call me that- some people would do it anyway. Not pregnancy related- that guy from CSI: Miami- Horatio- whatever- was named one of TV's worst actor's I thought that would make mom happy because if I remember correctly (which I don't) Mom does not care for him. Considering his most dramatic move is removing and putting his sunglasses on and off- I cannot blame her.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Well, no new baby news really. I had a severe headache last night and it did not go away over night so I worked from home today. Maybe I am allergic to my bed because I went back into the bedroom and laid down for a second and the headache came back. I feel much better now, thankfully and even got through a semi-frustrating day of work. I think that the headache was caused from playing Bingo yesterday- Spirit Mountain Casino has a kind of smallish room and half of it is smoke free but there is no magical divide in the room that stopped the smoke from coming over to our side. And then you have to walk through all the smokey slot machines and poker tables to get to the bingo hall and buffet line. Not very good planning on their part. Maybe baby is just not good luck- cause we totally lost at bingo. So, we won't be going back- even if it is cheaper.The nauseau is better as long as I eat consistently and drink plenty of water. Still going to the bathroom like 4 or 5 times a night. I have no idea how many times during the day. I am still surprised about people's reactions to the news. People that I would think they would be blase about it are all excited and jumping up and down and wanting to know details. Personal details- like when the baby was conceived- What? Do you want a picture too? One thing I was happy about was the same day that people at work found out I was pregnant- Tricia told everyone that she was 6 months pregnant and just found out herself! She had no idea- she was still having her periods and really had not gained any weight. Amazing! She has been with the same guy for 18 years using no birth control and was told years ago that she could never have children- but there you are! Is that not weird? Anyway, that news kind of was shocking enough that people were happy about me being pregnant but Tricia's news took precident. Which was nice because I did not really want to be the center of attention. That is not something I am looking forward too at Baby Showers- but I got through wedding showers- I can get through baby showers- as long as there are no chocolate melted in the diaper games, guess how many rolls of toilet paper can go around the pregnant ladies belly and all that. I guess those are the only ones that I do not like. And no disposable diaper cakes. I found out that the start up cost for disposable diapers (if you buy them pre made) is about the same as two years of disposable. BUT you can reuse the same diapers for future kids so you are talking about a lot of savings. The only issue that I am having is all of the green loving fad idiots saying how good it is for the earth and how "Green" you can be. I could give a rats patoot about being "Green" but I feel very strongly about this issue (thanks mom). Robby does not care either way about disposable or cloth but does not want to ruffle any feathers about it. Well, what will happen will happen. Nature calls

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Tonight was the night of the 50th anniversary of my parents church. I think Mom had told everyone before I had even arrived. It was nice to have so many people come up and offer congratulations. I don't really know what to say, other than thank you. I did not get a chance to say hi to the Erickson's but their little baby boy is super cute and looks like one of his uncles or probably his daddy at that age. Dad said that he would be very happy with a boy or girl but I am still trying to stay neutral. I want a girl so that I can have a girl but I also want a boy cause he will have a boy cousin around his age. The baby will be spoiled either way by grandparents. Well, 9 weeks down only 31 more to go. I am looking forward to nauseau stopping although it has gotten a lot better, especially since the cruise. Robby wants to take another one in 2 years but I don't know about that. He also wants to go to the beach this weekend. This sounds wnonderful to me but we shall see. Final thought- my little you and your developing baby says that this week the embryo is moving. This is also the time that the baby goes from an embryo to a fetus- sorry to rain on your parade but it is a baby= has been from day 1. So- there.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

The Baby and I had our first ultrasound today. Which consisted of really having to go to the bathroom and then she realized that she would have to use the weird stick in order to get a picture- that is okay though. It felt odd but not painful.Baby still has the yolk sac which will soon be replaced by the placenta. Baby's heartbeat is 162-167 beats a minutes- which is perfectly normal for this age. It was very strange to see this little blob, you could make out the head, the heart, the little arms. It was awesome. The sonographer said that she would put the due date at May 18th! Which is Eli's birthday. Althoug only like 10-20% of babies are actually born on their actual due dates.Robby was super cute about the whole thing- he cringed a little on the inside when the attendant called the baby Junior but that is pretty much because he does not want a Junior. I don't really blame him, I find it a little pretentious and wreaking of some other title, such as Earl of Snoville the Third or some such nonsense. The next doctor's appointment is Nov 11. and then you can do the gender ultrasound at like 16-20 weeks so to recap- Baby super cute- 8 weeks, new due date and everything looked normal! (I added the ultrasound picture on this page)

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Well, heartburn is back but it is probably caused by the spaghetti that I had last night- but it was so good! Mmm Hmm! I made it with peppers and carrots, so it is probably the peppers or all the acidity from the tomatoes. Without fail last few nights, Robby comes to bed, I wake up and cannot fall back to sleep. Waiting until he goes to bed is not an option because then I would only get like two hours of sleep. It is 4:30 in the morning right now and I have an hour until I can log in to my computer and start work, I have to leave earlier to go to the doctor, although technically I am meeting with a nurse this time who will check me out so to speak. Robby was so cute tonight as he was falling asleep- I said that I was having trouble falling asleep and he asked me to ask the doctor about what I should be eating during pregnancy, I told him I thought I was doing a good job- not forcing myself to eat stuff that was bad for me- lots of fruits, vegetables, whole wheat, lean proteins and he was like no- ask her about vitamins and supplements. Isn't that cute? I told him I am already taking folic acid but would be sure to ask her about vitamins, well I gotta go, I am sneezing like crazy and I am at Robby's computer so I don't want to get it too messy.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Well, I was kind of expecting the nurse consult today to be some forms, questions- la de da but I has with her for like an hour and half- This is not a bad thing- I mean she went over medical stuff, medical history. She said that the doctor will monitor my thyroid levels more than normal during pregnancy because my hormone levels can fluctuate more than most. She talked about so much that it was a little hard to take in. But, I will try and partake what she said. She said that my due date is around May 17th, a day before my nephew Eli's. She said that I may not be as further along though because my periods are so long and irregular. So I am getting an ultrasound on Thursday. I gave a blood and urine sample, which is fine- I am not quite sure what they are all testing for- they took like six vials of blood. I was so nervous before I went in that I went to the bathroom like seven times but don't worry. I still had to go. The ultrasound on Thursday I have to drink like 20 ounces of water, then they did a semi-invasive ultrasound, let me pee- then the abdominal ultrasound. Robby called me today on his break and wanted to know how the appointment was- I felt like a sneak thief cause I went out to the garage to talk to him. When I let him know about the appointment on Thursday he talked to his manager to get approval to come in late that day. I know it is a small thing but it really made me happy. We can be there together to get the first look at our little baby. It is way too early to tell the gender or even make out really anything (it is not even 3 inches yet) but this will help determine how far along and the due date. I am excited! Oh and the nurse gave Regence a kudos for allowing me (well not just me) to work from home three days a week. She said that she wished that more companies would allow this for the first trimester. She also said that heartburn, nauseau, insomnia- all normal at this stage, she was glad that normally I don't have heartburn but apparently I am prone to it. So I can take tums- whoopee! well, I gotta go- nature calls- Oh I walked by the baby clothes today and had a moment- cause I was like- in a couple more months- I will be able to pick out this little tan jogging suit or purple dress. It was fun!

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Okay so we told the parenst yesterday and today. My dad got super excited and clapped his hands and jumped up to give me a hug. Mom kind of sat there for a second and then kind of responded.Sheri and Dave- Robby just kind of blurted out- we just found Karen is pregnant. Which Sheri did think that I was- which is not a problem with me. They are sworn to secrecy and she wants to do something special for Cousin's day. Last year Sara announced it to everyone at Cousin's Day and Sheri put up a little mini mystery stocking. She wants to do the same thing this year- I think that is a super cute idea and I am kind of glad that she wants to wait until then. Hopefully by then most of the morning sickness or "Until 4 or 5 in the afternoon" sickness goes away. I am praying that the morning sickness will wear off soon. I am counting my blessings that it is not as bad as it could be. I have not thrown up and some smells have been stronger than normal I think.Speaking of normal, I am sitting with my keyboard on my knees and Duchess between the keyboard and my stomach, I am wrapped in a blanket and Monkey is sleeping between my feet ensconced in the blankey and very happy. I don't know if the position will work for a lot longer. I was reminded today that Eli's birthday is May 18th so we shall see when Baby Ober makes an appearance. He may share his cousin's birthday! That would be very interesting and kind of fun. Now, Robby is sitting next to me asking how the keyboard is working and wanting to share my blankey- No Way! Oh, I was also offered an almost brand new stroller! Taking it!Well, I have a doctor's appointment On Tuesday so be thinking of me then.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

I got my medical history information from the doctor's office and am wondering about all of the stuff that they asked- very thankful that I don't fall into some of the scary categories (like being French or Canadian) I am thankful about that everyday though. I am still debating about telling my parents earlier than Robby's family, not because I care about them more but because I know how excited my parents will be, I also feel that I need to talk about some of the pregnancy stuff to someone and my mom would be the perfect person. Robby is good to talk to about it, he is a very good sounding board but he does not have any first hand information about the subject. There are a lot of things that we will have to talk about down the line anyway, like is he going to be in the delivery room. He says that he would prefer not to be and that is fine with me. I watched a baby show today and she had her husband, her mom, her sister, the doctor and two nurses (plus the camera crew) in her room. I was like, that is way too many people. I just don't want that many people looking at me. I don't even like pelvic exams with the doctor and nurse in that area. I have heard that you get to a point where you just are a lot more open and don't care- but I have a real problem with that. I would be happy to have my parents, Robby's parents, Molly and Robby nearby- but that doesn't leave anybody in the room with me. So Robby or my mom will have to be in there by my head- unless they annoy me- then I may have to kick them out. I think that I have to stop reading all the medical websites about baby stuff or I will start scaring myself. I will have to start looking at boy baby names and see what I like. Robby insists that he will know the name and that will be it. I am trying to find a name that cannot be shortened or a name that if it is shortened I don't want to stab the person who shortened the name, in the head with a meat cleaver. You may think- wow! what an exagerrated reaction- must be the pregnancy- uhm no, I have felt that way for a long time. We have a girl's name picked out already and barring some sort of celebrity arriving with the same name or a serial killer, we are going to stick with it- I will NOT reveal the name to anyone before the baby is here- I have already told several people, if you forgot than tough- if you remember, kindly keep it to yourself please! Gotta go- Seems to be a theme- going to the bathroom, sigh! Guess I better get used to it- My days as camel bladder are over!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Yesterday I was still not feeling well. We got back from the cruise a week ago and although I did not feel seasick as I did on the cruise I was still feeling pretty gross. I was feeling sick to my stomach and had heartburn. I was feeling a little tired too and figured that the reason that my underthings were not fitting as well because I accidentally shrunk them in the dryer or something. I wanted to call the doctor to see why I was feeling gross but I figured that I would take a pregnancy test just to make sure before I went in. I was totally not expecting it to be positive. It immediately turned one line pink than the next, almost right away! So I forced myself to wait the full three minutes then proceeded to run into Robby's office and started crying. Since I have taken scores of tests before and they were all negative he was pretty used to me crying over a test. I told him it was positive and we hugged and all that good stuff. This morning I took another test just to make sure and got two more pink lines. Besides, getting a doctor's appointment (uh Women's clinic does not do deliveries anymore so I had to find another one and they were all weird about it too- offering to have me see one of their doctor's first then switching to another one- I would swear if I was allowed.)and looking up pregnancy symptoms, pregnancy foods- yada yada yada- I don't have anything new to report- other than I told Robby to start thinking of names- Oh and I think that Sheri knows because she was looking at me all funny at lunch on Sunday- only time will tell- Yay! Baby Time!