just me ranting again

Monday morning I go back to the OB for my six-week check and hopefully I will get the all-clear to resume normal activities. This, to me, means returning to the gym and I have to say I am a little bit scared. I have had times in the last 15 years or so where I have been what I called "out of shape" but my Today Body laughs at my Then Body when it hears that. I have NEVER been THIS out of shape in my whole life and I really don't know where to begin to get it all back.

I've been reading about things you should and shouldn't do to begin regaining your abdominal muscles. (Abs? Where are you abs? I'm looking for them on the side of milk cartons. I have put out an Amber Alert for my abs because they are gone-er than gone.) Everything says to start slowly with leg lifts and to try to do a sit-up right now is actually going to do more harm than good so I guess that is where I start. I'm thinking about dusting off my Prenatal Pilates DVD and try that out because it actually had some core work in it. (Which is why I promptly stopped playing it 4 months ago and put it back on the bookshelf.)

I have been trying to be more aware of holding in my stomach while I am sitting and walking and I have been walking a lot every day, usually in the morning with Jack in the stroller for 1 1/2 to 2 hours and in the afternoon with Chewy, usually for a much shorter time. I weighed myself at Publix 2 days ago and I have lost another 2 pounds since last week so I am hoping that after an active weekend, I may have less than 15 pounds left to go by the big weigh-in at the doctor. The thing is, I can't lose too much weight too quickly because I am still breast feeding and intend to continue doing so for a few months and losing too much weight and working out too hard can affect supply so I have to be very careful how I do things. At the same time, I know that my agency is expecting me to get back to work before the season is over the end of April or so, and to be honest, I expect myself to also, but maybe I need to lower my expectations a little bit? I gained 50 pounds in 9 months and I probably should not expect to lose it in 2 months or less. But it would be nice.

Anyway, yesterday we went to the dog park and Jack slept and Chewy ran and everyone had some fun.

miami winter blues

We have had quite a arctic blast the last few days and I don't think I need to tell you that people in Miami don't know what to do with themselves when the thermometer dips below 70, let alone into the (GASP!) 30's like it did the other night.

I always used to laugh at people in this town who would wear winter coats when it was in the 60's but after living here almost 5 years, I find myself less able to tolerate the cold but I will never become as delusional as some people.

A couple of weeks ago when we had our first "cold snap" the temps dropped into the 40's at night but warmed up relatively quickly during the day and it was close to 60 degrees one afternoon when I took Chewy and Jack for a walk. I put long pants and a jacket on the baby and covered him with a warm blanket and a hat and he looked pretty cozy to me. About 20 minutes into our walk, I ran into the UPS guy and the first thing he said to me was "You shouldn't have that baby outside today. It's too cold."
After looking at him in his short sleeved shirt and assuming he was joking, I laughed and said that I thought he would be OK. But UPS guy was undeterred. He went on to tell me that I should turn around right now and get that baby home before he got sick. Then he looked at me as if he was weighing a call to DYFS or if he would let it slide just this once but he was planning on keeping an eye on me.
All I could do was walk away. shaking my head.

Today I took the same walk and the temperature was again near 60 so I prayed I wouldn't run into UPS guy again. for fear he would put me under citizens arrest for child abuse. We didn't see him and I'm glad because Jack was obviously neither warm nor comfortable the whole time. (turn up your volume)


snoring baby from christina porter on Vimeo.

rollercoaster, thy name is pregnancy

What a weekend.

It's amazing how your moods can change from one day to the next when you are as pregnant as I am. The hormones can really mess with your head some days and Saturday was one of those days. I woke up feeling like I was never going to be ready enough for this baby or be a good mom and, even worse, that this baby was never going to come and I was going to feel like this forever. I was not the nicesst person in the world and Chris is honestly the last person who deserves my bad attitude, but I took it all out on him anyway and then felt even worse for doing it.

Eventually, I got it together and we went to a baby CPR and First Aid class and then back to Babies R Us to return the mattress and pick up (almost) the last of the baby necessities.

Then on Sunday, I woke up feeling great, with an incredible burst of energy and started doing laundry, washed all the crib and bassinet sheets, blankets, burp cloths, whatever I could get my hands on and mopped the floors. This was the most energy I have had in weeks (months?) and it felt really good. I actually feel decent today too and that is a nice relief after the way I've been feeling lately, and it makes me feel like maybe I will feel normal again one day after all. It is also what I think has kept me from completely freaking out about the other thing that is bothering me, which is my absolute HATE HATE WHITE-HOT HATRED for clothes.

I mainly have a problem with pants. They are my absolute nemesis, my Kryptonite, my achilles heel. I know I have mentioned this before, but the situation has gotten even more critical lately with each centimeter that my thighs have grown ( I am not even going to venture a guess as to how many centimeters that is, I just know that it's a lot of them and I hate them all). I have 2 pairs of maternity jeans and they are just no longer wearable. I tried to put a pair on today and almost cried. I know there are much worse things that could be happening and I should be happy that I am healthy and the baby's healthy but there just comes a time where I am so sick of being uncomfortable. I know I said that I was going to just give up and wear sweatpants every day but I am also so tired of looking like a total slob all the time and the worst part was this morning when I put on this dress:




(as worn this summer when it was still just a normal looking tent-dress.)

and it was so tight, it looked absolutely ridiculous. This is a dress that I bought with the thought that it was so huge and tent-like that I could wear it til the day I give birth and there was no thought that I would ever be able to fill it out the way that I did this morning. Of course this is not the first time that I underestimated the enormousness that I was really going to achieve, for example these pants:

that I bought in June with the same idea; that they were so gigantic that I would never not fit them. My thighs mock those pants now. They barely fit over my knees.

The good news is that 2 weeks from today, I will be holding my little boy and my bad moods and pants and my offending thighs will be the last thing on my mind and that is exactly all I need to think about to get me through all of this.

So take that, PANTS!!!

if you don't like to hear complaining, you may want to exit your browser now

Today we are at the 37 week mark, which means that we are full term! Which means that if I were to have the baby right this minute, the odds are that Kumar would be just fine! And I would not complain about having him Right. This. Minute.

I don't want to turn this into my complaint blog but blah blah no sleep blah blah back hurts blah blah fat face blah blah thighs rubbing together when I walk blah blah feel like my belly weighs 100 pounds blah blah double chin blah blah Braxton Hicks blah blah blah...

All went well at the OB yesterday. No news is good news and all that. I only gained two pounds since last week and I swear it is all in my face.

I'm tired and want to eat cookies but will eat an apple instead. At least for now.

Pictures!

Has anyone seen my cheek bones?

Has anyone seen Chewy's ball?

Can anyone see where I am hiding the basketball? (compare this pic to last week)

turn, turn, turn

Yesterday morning I woke up to find Chris already gone and a note on the kitchen counter that said:

I have been walked and fed.

Don't let me con you.

Love, Chewy
*********************************
Seems my sweet husband had gotten up early and walked and fed Chewy for me so I did not have to. He is the best husband ever.

The last few months, walking Chewy has been my only form of exercise. Even my prenatal yoga has taken a hit lately when I would rather take a quick nap than press play on that stupid DVD player. Because it's all that seperates me from incredible hugeness the last weeks of this pregnancy, you would think I would take these walks much more seriously but half-hour walks turned into 20 minute and now 15 minute walks and most mornings I have to convince myself to go just one more block because my tired legs and heavy belly are fighting with my guilt of not giving him enough exercise. I just don't have the energy anymore.

So taday, after walking Chewy and running some errands, I was so tired, I laid down to take a nap and that's when Kumar decided to make his move. I was fighting to stay asleep but little boy decided he was going to finally put himself into position for his exit. He has been laying sideways for months and months now but after a few minutes of purposeful squirming, I could definitely feel him in a whole new position. I may be wrong, and hopefully the OB will confirm this for me tomorrow but he seems to be in the head down, feet up position, all the better to kick my so hard in the ribs that I finally had to get up and move around to get him to stop.

As Chris said, he's coming in for his landing and ready for cross-check. All systems go.
I've been saying for months now that I want him to hold on until after the holidays because I know it's horrible to have your birthday mixed in with Christmas and New Year's but at this point.... I'll take him whenever I can get him.
I want a baby for Christmas.

nursery tales

After months of research (and a tiny bit of procrastination) we were all ready to order the nursery furniture this weekend and....it did not go well. I will just say that the furniture we tried to order on Sunday was not ordered due to circumstances outside of our control and our Plan B furniture has been discontinued (I find out today) so I am now in a mad scramble to find something that we like that we can also get in the next week or two.

We really liked the modern look of both the Plan A and Plan B furniture and the fact that they were relatively inexpensive was an added attraction because most of the time the modern cribs are the most expensive for some reason. I am doing extensive research today to find something that Chris and I both like.I have no real plan except just hoping that something will jump out at me that we can either pick up ourselves or is ready to ship because (big surprise!) furniture can take weeks and months to be delivered and also comes with very high delivery charges - sometimes almost as much as the furniture price itself. Bleh!

In other news, Chewy has been acting extremely aloof these days, even for him, the world's most aloof dog. In some ways I think it is good because he will not be able to get as much attention once the baby comes so it's better he get used to it early, but it also makes me sad because he is always sleeping in another room and literally walks away from me when I try to lay down and cuddle with him and this behavior is really beginning to border on just plain rude.
I guess he knows something is going on, with all the furniture being moved around and new things being brought into the house but I wonder if this is really going to help him adjust or if he is still going to be in a big shock some 4-6 weeks from now.
4-6 weeks? I remember when I felt like this time would never come and here we are now, at the final countdown. I guess this is going to be a shock to all of us, no matter how prepared we think we are.

reflections

Kumar has been getting so much more active lately, or possibly I am just feeling it more because he is beginning to run out of space. Sometimes I can see my whole belly shake from side to side and it is so incredibly amazing I can't wait for him to do it again and again.

Also, every afternoon now for the last 3 days, he has gotten the hiccups. My mom told me that I used to get the hiccups a lot before I was born so I guess he got it from me and it is so funny to feel the rhythmic movements. Luckily, he hasn't been very violent in any of his kicks or punches or even his hiccups and besides a couple of swift kick to the ribs, I still have nothing horrible to complain about and I actually wait for him to do it again whenever I feel it and am disappointed when he stops. Also, the pushing is getting more and more common, where one side of my belly (usually the right side, where his butt and legs are) gets pushed out so far I look deformed.

I can really spend hours just sitting and watching my belly morph into different shapes and sizes, and between the pushes and the occcasional Braxton-Hicks contractions I have been getting, the belly is really gettting a workout most hours of the day.

I am beginning to understand what women mean when they say that they miss being pregnant and feeling him move and roll around because this is the only time in your life that he is always right there with you and safe and giving you almost constant reassurance of his A-OK-ness. At the same time, I cannot wait for him to come out so I can kiss him and cuddle him and learn what he is all about because he seems like such a sweet and gentle little boy and I just can't wait to be his mommy.

busy little bees

This was a very big weekend at our house.

Chris woke up bright and early on Saturday and started painting the nursery!


Chewy really hates any sort of change and just took a lot of naps in the hopes he would wake to find it was all a bad dream.


Saturday afternoon, we had lunch with a friend who was in town.


Then we had dinner at Rosa Mexicana (yum) that had this on the wall right next to our table.
(I know it's really dark and hard to see but it was a wall full of men diving off a wall of water. Very cool.)

Sunday morning, we went to Home Depot to pick up more paint, and I came across this rug:
(I find this extremely disturbing and strange. No offense to anyone reading this who may actually own this and/or wishes to go purchase it upon seeing it.)

After he finished painting (at what may or may not have been 9:00 on Sunday night) I informed Chris that we absolutely had to switch the beds of the guest room and our room. He very kindly complied by taking apart the guest bed while I watched.


Chewy was really not enjoying this part. The guestroom bed is Chewy's favorite place in the whole world. And in his mind, we were DESTROYING IT! OH NOES!!


Last night (after much measuring and discussing) we decided to leave the beds in their respective rooms and just move the guestroom bed to the other side of the room to make room for the Crib! and Dresser! that have yet to be ordered but will be ordered Very Soon! So for now, one side of the room looks like a normal guestroom


And the other side looks like bit of a mess still but it is a work in progress.
THE END.

ugh

After much deliberation, I got a flu shot yesterday.

I never thought twice about getting a flu shot in the past. Either it was offered at the doctor's office and I got it or I didn't even think about it. My OB suggested that I get one a couple of months ago because it helps to immunize the baby for the few months after he is born when it is still flu season, (a newborn cannot get a flu shot, even though the hospital seems to load up babies with all kinds of other crazy shots in the couple of days after they are born, much to my paranoid-mother-to-be-dismay) and that sounded like it made enough sense to me, so I called my GP and asked about getting a flu shot.

This is where things started to get a little kerflunky.

Seems my GP does not believe in giving pregnant women flu shots and flat-out denied me. hmmmm... That made me think for a minute. Then, I went to a Walgreens where they offer flu shots and the NP would not give me one unless I got a note from my doctor. OK, this is when I started getting a little freaked out. So I did what anyone would do and got on my old pal Dr.google and started looking. And I found waaaay more information than I really wanted. I talked to other pregnant girls. I talked to girls who were pregnant last flu season. I asked Chewy his opinion ( he didn't really give me an answer but he did remind me of what happened when he didn't get his shots he was supposed to get. I assured him that I would not be fined by the county for not getting a flu shot, but thanks for the reminder)

After all of this, I was more confused than ever. Seems the opinions fluctuate from somewhere in the neighborhood of:
"YOU WILL GIVE YOUR BABY IRREPARABLE BRAIN DAMAGE AND/OR SCHIZOPHRENIA AND/OR AUTISM IF YOU GET THIS SHOT!"
to:
"IF YOU LOVE YOUR BABY AT ALL, YOU WILL GET THE FLU SHOT BECAUSE THE FEVER AND POTENTIAL INFECTION FROM THE FLU COULD GIVE HIM BRAIN DAMAGE AND/OR KILL HIM!" to a couple of opinions in the center of the two but enough hysteria is produced by the mere mention of a immunization that I just had to stop reading (after an hour or two and a couple of frantic phone calls to Chris and friends who already have children).

I put it off for a couple of more weeks and spoke to my OB again when I saw him this last time and he assured me that the shot if perfectly safe for me and the baby and that the chance of getting the flu late in the pregnancy and it causing some sort of complication is far greater than anything bad happening from the shot itself.

So, I found a very nice NP at the local CVS Minute Clinic , (who actually had a thimerosal-free shot specially sent from Ft. Lauderdale for me) and got it done.
The end.
And I am going to just not worry about it anymore. Because all this motherhood worrying stuff is exhausting.
Now I need some brownies.

typing with one eye open

Well, I cannot promise to be much more coherent then I was yesterday because I have definitely hit a wall when it comes to sleeping. It seems like just when I think it is as bad as it can be (the peeing, the waking up starving) even worse things come up (leg cramps, sore hips, stiff back) and I find myself grateful when I only wake up 3-4 times in the night instead of what feels like every 10 minutes. I wake up most days already exhausted but staying in bed is not an option because the stiffness and soreness hits a peak after 8 hours or so and only getting up and moving around makes it feel better so sleep is no longer an option after 7:30 AM or so.


Anyway, that's the story of why I walk around in a haze now and why it has become so difficult to write a real post the last few days. I was hoping it was just a post-trip hangover but am beginning to understand that it is instead the new status-quo. So, I will adjust, it just might take a little while.

Now, about my trip.


NJ is so beautiful this time of year, with the leaves changing, and I am really glad I got to see it for a couple of days. It was also incredibly, unseasonable cold so I didn't spend much time outside except for a brisk walk Monday morning with Cathy to get some exercise and check out the changing leaves and suburban Halloween decorations.

The shower itself was so overwhelming, with so many people and presents and I felt such love and gratefulness to everyone. I don't know if I can ever fully express how warm and fuzzy it all made me feel. My sisters, Cathy, Beth and Nancy, really went above and beyond in everything, from the invitations, decorations, cake, preparations, etc. They really thought of everything and on top of it all, gave us some really generous gifts, including a gorgeous quilt that Nancy made herself.


They even thought of what to do with all the gifts that were brought to the shower and will be shipping it down here to me this week. (and I, like a little kid, can hardly wait for it all to get here, though I really have a big job ahead of me now, making room for everything in our not-so-big apartment) We have already received a lot of big things (swing, bouncy seat, bassinet) all of which are still in boxes in the guest room/future baby's room but Chris and I discussed last night exactly how we will arrange things to make room for those things as well as the crib and dresser/changing table that we have yet to buy. Also, the room really needs to be painted (as well as our bedroom) and as much as I don't want to do it, my baby is not coming home to a house with scuffed-up walls, it just won't happen, and I think this may be the beginning of what "they" refer to as NESTING....


In other news, I went to see another pediatrician today and now we need to decide if we want to go to a big practice with slick offices and lots of doctors or a small practice in a charming office and only one doctor. There are many other things to take into consideration but for the most part, those are the big differences between the two and personality-wise, I really like them both so we will see. I don't have to decide until right before Kumar is born so I have a little bit of time to (obsess) weigh things.


On the way home from the pediatrician, I decided to give Kumar his first lesson in exercising his rights as a U.S. citizen.

I let him wear the sticker.

accentuate the positive

Looking back, I see that I have done a bit of complaining the last couple of (months) weeks, so today I decided to list the things I love about being pregnant:

1) While waiting on line for the bathroom, twice now a nice lady has looked at my belly at let me go in front of her.

2) Seeing Chris's face when he feels the baby kick. Bonus points for the look he had right after Kumar kicked him in the face.

3) Sitting quietly and feeling the kicks and thumps that are my son's way of telling me he's doing great. Or he's hungry. I still can't get that down.

4) Wondering who he is going to look like, if he's going to be a good sleeper, eater, pooper. Is he going to be as handsome as his daddy and have his sense of humor?

5) I can eat cookies or ice cream (or both) every night and I don't feel guilty about it. Because the baby loves the stuff and I cannot possible deprive him of something he loves. Until he's 16 and wants the car keys.

6) Knowing that at all hours of the day or night, Kumar is safe and secure in a warm place and getting everything he needs. These months are the last time I will ever feel this way and then the REAL worrying begins.

7) Seeing little boys running around and knowing that I am going to have one of those very soon.

8) Looking at the little onesies and things and thinking how cool it will be to dress him up.

9) Planning our first trip to the new Yankee Stadium with our son!

10) Wondering just how big this belly is going to get before this is all over. My body has become some kind of mad-scientist's experiment and I kinda like it. As long as I don't get stretch marks.

wednesday ramblings

If you will take a look at the bottom of this page, you will see that Kumar's Countdown has changed once again! (Go ahead, look. I'll wait here...)We are at 91 days and counting and have moved over to the (I hope you're sitting down) SEVENTH MONTH! I will give you a moment to collect yourself. I can hardly believe it myself.

Honestly, I am beginning to feel like a bit of a slacker because I really haven't done anything to prepare for this baby that is coming to live here in 3 months. (my exact due date is January 8th, 3 months from this very day OMG!) Sure, I have researched for hours on end the best stroller, car seat, bouncy seat, swing, breast pads, cloth diapers, diaper bag, diaper pail, (I'm just gonna insert an etc. here) but have yet to buy hardly anything except a cute little onesie that I found at baby Gap one day and couldn't resist. So, yeah, my baby has a onesie, and it may even be size 3-6 months so he will be able to wear it for a while but I think I may need a couple more things for him. My mom has been frantically knitting away almost since the day we told her about the baby so he has more sweaters and blankets than a Miami baby can ever hope for (thanks mom!) but things like a crib and a bathtub and things to wash him with and diapers to put on his cute little chubby butt (that I can not wait to squeeeeeze in 3 months OMG) they still need to be purchased and the room that he will one day be his needs to be cleaned out and painted and filled with baby things.... (*deep breaths*)
Still, that little voice in my head keeps telling me that there is plenty of time for all this and a newborn only needs a bassinet and diapers and his mama and he'll be OK for the first few months. It's true right? I have plenty of time right? Because most of the time I listen to that little voice but right now I am feeling a little ill-prepared, what with being faced with that seventh(!!!) baby all lit up at the bottom of my page.
OK, rant over.

On the Chewy front, he was as pathetic as could be all day yesterday, sleeping only on the floor instead of jumping on his favorite bed, chair or couch, and whenever I went anywhere near him, he would run away into another room for fear I would touch him. It was really tough to see and I kept calling Chris in near tears to tell him that I could not take it anymore he is like a dog who has been hit by a car and drags himself into the bushes to lick his wounds OMG what can I do to make him better?

Today, he is showing improvement. We walked about half the distance we normally do in the morning and about 10 minutes ago, he brought me a ball to play with. PROGRESS! Unfortunately, the Dr. said no playing for a week, so I had to just ignore the ball and the pathetic crying at the ball that followed but the crying for the ball is a gazillion times better than the pathetic crying in pain he was doing yesterday so I will take it. Hopefully it is just a strained muscle and he will be back to his old self soon enough. Because on top of the usual pregnancy hormone-induced sensitivity, I can only take the pathetic-ness only so long. I may have to lay down on the floor (as if I could) and cry right next to him.

UPDATE! Chewy is on the bed! Whoo Hoo!

100

Tomorrow, Kumar's countdown will be in the double digits! DOUBLE DIGITS Y"ALL!!(Yes, the excitement causes me to get all Southern and Shout-y but I am totally excited!)

It is unbelievable that we have come down to a matter of 100 days and I have to admit that when this all started out, the pessimist that lives deep down inside of me never really believed that we would get this far. I would skip ahead in the pregnancy books and read about being 20 or 30 weeks pregnant and thought that surely something horrible and tragic would happen before I could ever get to the point and surely I could never be so lucky as to have all of this really culminate in having a real live baby of my own.

Yes, that pessimist who lives deep inside of me is a real dark soul. Luckily, I don't let her out very much and have managed to keep her quiet for the most part and here we are at 100 days and it's all double digits from here! Until we get into the single digits which I still cannot imagine but I guess when that time comes, I will be just as shocked by my past pessimism as I am right now because looks what we did! We have 100 days left and we are actually viable at this point. That's right! Not that I would like to test this out but babies have been known to live who are born at this point and that to me in just incredible because he weighs less than 2 pounds and will look so much cuter 100 days from now so thanks but no thanks! I told Chris months ago that I made a deal with Kumar that he is not allowed out until he reaches 10 pounds. I figured that, knowing how kids are, I would say 10 pounds and if he manages to do 6-7, I would be happy. Little did I know that he is an incredible overachiever and has been eating enough the last couple of months that we just might get closer to 10 pounds than I imagined and I am now afraid of what I started.

Tomorrow I go for my OB checkup and glucose tolerance test so I have cut off all sweets this weekend (if you don't count that ice cream I had on Saturday but honestly, it was Weight Watchers ice cream AND it was mint chocolate chip and the mint is really kind of medicinal so it was kind of not really like having ice cream at all.) and am planning on getting up extra early in the morning to make a high protein breakfast with no sugar and no carbs to eat right before I go and hopefully it will turn out just fine.
Then I will come home and make the brownies I have been dreaming about all weekend. And maybe some more Rice Krispie treats.

Today is one of those days I prefer to not talk too much about. Chris and I were living within walking distance of the WTC on this day in 2001 and everything about it is etched in my memory yet I prefer to keep it buried somewhere in the back where it no longer burns with the sounds and smells and feelings that dominated that long, long, never-ending day.

This morning I did my best to stay away from the whole TV drama but they got me when I was in the car, driving on the highway and the radio station where I usually go to for a laugh started to play a montage of news clips from that day. That is what really gets me; the voices of the people, the eyewitnesses, and their reactions, their horror, their fear, their confusion about what they were witnessing. Grown men in tears. The shrieks of the crowds of people on the street as they watched people jump out of windows and then finally, the giant buildings pancake to the ground in a gut-wrenching thud thud thud thud thud. (and worse, the silence that enveloped the city afterwards.) Maybe this is what gets to me the most because I was one of those eyewitnesses but as it was happening, I didn't shriek or cry. I was numb. I could not grasp the enormity of what was going on and I remember not really feeling it for hours afterwards, when I finally had a meltdown and cried for it all. It was way too much to take in at once and now, 7 years later, it is way too much to relive.

This morning I cried while driving down the highway and I rubbed my belly and wished I could promise to protect Kumar from all the bad things of the world but if this day taught us anything, it was that nobody can protect anyone from bad things happening. Some of the best people in the world had to go through the most unimaginable last minutes of their lives that day and nobody could protect them from it.

So instead, I promised Kumar that I would teach him about the bad but also teach him to be kind and generous and sweet and that if he surrounds himself with all those things, he can push the bad things to the back of his mind where they are safer, and still live a happy life. And his mama and daddy will always do their best to protect him from the bad things. And hopefully we can.

life: the good the bad and the nerdy

Well, Ike turned out to be friendly to us here in S. Florida and I am very very grateful. Cuba, however is getting the full extent of Ike's wrath right now and who knows what he is going to do in the Gulf later on this week, but I am happy to report that we just have some high winds (not even Tropical Storm-strength) and perhaps some rain tonight. Whew.

There is another storm brewing right now in my life that I cannot discuss at the moment but will disclose completely by the end of the week when I will have come out the other side, hopefully in a much better place. You have to break some eggs to make an omelet and all that, so I do not expect it to be completely pain-free but it is something I have been contemplating for almost a year and have finally been compelled to do and I am kind of excited about it all.

Have I confused you enough?
Good.

This weekend we finished watching Dexter Season 2 and I am going to go crazy waiting until September 28th when season 3 begins. Oh yes. We finally broke down and got Showtime so we can watch the new season because it is just too good to miss.

The other thing that we get from Showtime is Big Brother After Dark. I have watched every season of Big Brother since it started (oh about 9-10 years ago) through the good seasons and the bad. (The bad meaning the ill-advised Winter season this past year when they really took it off the rails)
This season I took some time to warm up but I am now very into it and there is only 2 weeks left which is when the shows get more exciting but also when I break down and start looking at the message boards that give the spoilers from the live feeds that CBS offers (where you can actually watch online every single thing that goes on in the house, 24/7. ) and when Big Brother After Dark is incredibly boring so I haven't even been Tivo-ing it. The good news is that once Big Brother is over, the two best shows on TV begin again, Survivor and The Amazing Race. Chris and I actually thought about applying to the Amazing Race a few years ago but didn't and now it looks like we will have to wait to do the Family Edition in 10 years or so when Kumar is old enough to go with us. Until then, we can live vicariously through these people who get to take a trip of a lifetime while competing against other teams in an incredible journey around the world and back again. Yeah, I'm a little bit of a fan. And a huge nerd. Whatever.

22 weeks update

Yesterday I had my latest OB appointment. I saw him look over my chart that I knew included my weight but he did not say anything about it. Towards the end, he asked if I had any questions so I decided to bring it up. He seemed surprised by my question (which was something like, "Uh, I was just wondering if, uh, I uh, should be umm, concerned about ummm the 20 pounds I have put on since April?" ) looked back at my chart, and said he was not at all concerned. He said that because I am on the tall side and was on the light side when I got pregnant, as long as I am eating healthy and not getting all my calcium from ice cream, I should be A-OK.

RELIEF!

I have been worried about this for the last couple of weeks because it seems like I have really packed it on since my last visit and I was afraid I was going to get yelled at and told to stop being such a pig. I would like to not gain too much weight because I am just going to have to take it off again come January, but there is nothing I can do about the fact that I am hungry ALL. THE. TIME. I think this kid is just really hungry and I can't really blame him. My book, The Pregnancy Journal, says that he is starting to be able to taste the food I eat and if I was tasting pizza and lemonade and french onion soup (my three favorite things to eat this week, by the way) for the first time, I would be asking for as much as possible as well.

I am trying to make healthy choices and not overdo the sweets and blah blah blah because he gave me something to think about which is that at my next visit (Sept 30) I am getting my blood glucose tolerance test. I have been dreading this for my entire pregnancy. I don't really think I have gestational diabetes but I know that I have had blood sugar issues and I don't want to be even borderline where they make you do the second test which lasts 3 hours and I have heard is pure torture.

Anyway, to update the neighbor situation, the shutters are still closed and all is still quiet. I know it's sick but every time I walk past their door now, I take a deep breath to see if I can smell anything......funny. Sick, I know but I am convinced that something is rotten in Denmark and it's only a matter of time before we find out. Or they both show up in a couple of days and nothing is ever explained. Both disappointing. Sick.

OK, photo update time! I got a haircut today and I am so happy to have it short again. It's still way too hot here to have any kind of hair on my neck. The first picture was taken pre-haircut and the other one, today. So much better.

dexter next door

Chris and I spent the weekend watching the second season of Dexter on DVD. For those of you who are not familiar with Dexter, it is a series on Showtime, which we do not have (though I have debated getting it just because of this show) so we have to wait for the seasons to come out on DVD which is sort of torturous but so worth the wait. I have not been so hooked on a one-hour series since the Sopranos and I don't know what secret cable channels have but they really know how to put on a show.

We started watching season 2 on Friday night and after waiting 5-6 months for this season to come out on DVD, we kind of got carried away and are already half way through the season. I was sad to notice this morning that we only have 5 episodes left to watch but when it is midnight and an episode ends, we both look at each other and say, "One more and we can go to sleep." because we just have to know what happened..... (Really you should go out and get season one and tell me after 3 episodes if you are not totally hooked.)

Anyway, Dexter is a guy who lives in Miami and works for the fictitious Miami Metro Police Department as a blood spatter expert. The twist is that Dexter uses his inside info. at the MMPD to find out who is suspected of murder but for what ever reason, were able to beat the rap and Dexter takes justice into his own hands and kills them himself. And he doesn't just kill them, he does it in a very careful, methodical way. Somehow, you really find yourself liking Dexter despite this small quirk he has, and that is part of the magic.

Perhaps it was with a few hours of Dexter in my mind that I was coming home from my morning walk with Chewy and saw one of my neighbors who is usually very friendly and normal but was looking a little odd. He had just come out of the stairwell that leads into the garage, and was just sort of looking around with a perplexed look on his face.

Me- "Hi. How're you doing?"

Him-"What's going on?"

Me-" uhhhh... What do you mean?"

Him-(looking at me for the first time) " Well if you don't know I can't tell you."

Me-"What do you mean? What's happening?"

Him-" There was a murder."

Me-".........."

Him- " ...in the master bedroom."

Me-(having not had more than a thimble full of caffeine in my body for almost 6 months and being completely shocked and did I mention it was 10AM on a Sunday and I was up late watching Dexter??) "What master bedroom?"

Him-(walking away) "I can't tell you."

I ran up the stairs and as I walked past the elevator, I heard another neighbor who may or may not be the lead troublemaker/steroid abuser/loudmouth in the building say,

"Murder? In this building? No, I don't think so man." and get into the elevator.

Whaaaaaaaaaatttttt?!?!?!?!?

I go into the apartment and tell Chris everything that was said and that this guy is really giving me the willies and we decide that either:
1)He is really really messed up on drugs and totally hallucinating
2)Perhaps he stayed up late playing Clue and has gotten really carried away, in which case I should have asked him if he used the candlestick or the rope?
3)He was sleepwalking
or, the most likely to me,
4)He killed his live-in boyfriend and lost his mind a little bit and we are about to be living an episode of CSI Miami very shortly.

As I write this, it is Tuesday morning and have not seen that guy or his boyfriend again and they only live down the hall and I usually see one or the other at least once a day. Also, their hurricane shutters have been closed all weekend, though that is not completely unusual for some people in this building who close their shutters whenever we get a strong gust and there was a hurricane within 500 miles of us this weekend but I will not be convinced there isn't something going on until I see one or both of them again.
Chris wants to see him just so he can ask him why he felt the need to say something like that and scare his pregnant wife but I just want to know that we are not living two doors down from our very own Dexter. How long does it take til we can smell a dead body? Can I Google that?

5AM feeding

So here I am, up before the sun on a Saturday morning, eating cereal and watching Barefoot in the Park with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.
This hasn't happened in a month or more, where I wake up as usual and then cannot go back to sleep due to an unbelievably crushing hunger.
I guess Kumar (and therefore, I) is going through a growth spurt because I had a snack at 11:00 last night aaaaaaand......Didn't make a dent.

I hope I can get back to sleep soon though, because this is not how I wanted to begin my
BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!!!!

Maybe i'll have another bit of cereal and try to go back to bed.

Or maybe i'll wait up for Victor Velasco. He'll be passing through soon.

drip

Sorry I've been so horrible about posting this week, but now I have a torturous cold and between that and regular pregnancy brain, I really can't think straight enough to put together a coherent sentence. (more so than usual.)

I did upload additional vacation photos to flickr, which you can see by clicking on the pictures on the left.

Hopefully I will feel better after a couple of days' rest and I will have a full-trip-wrap-up then. So many stories to tell, from the drive-in movie to the mouse in the house. No I did not take that last thing very well.

pfpfpfpfpfttttt!

Have you ever had just one of those days? I knew waking up today that I would have a long day with a lot of errands and phone calls to make but even still.....It was just one of those days.

I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say that I will have a lot more to do tomorrow before our flight than I wanted to have. I hate getting on an evening flight just exhausted because I've been running around the whole day, but including having to drive Chewy to Ft Lauderdale in the morning, I have 3-4 other places to go, plus come home and straighten out the house blah blah blah, yes I said I would not bore you with the details, I am done now.....

Chewy's going to "camp" in Lauderdale and after being screwed-over by the last place, I really hope he likes it and they are nice to him.(That is always my worst fear, that people are not nice to him and don't see the good in him, because he is so sweet, and OH GOD I"M GOING TO SHUT UP BECAUSE I AM A HORMONAL MESS RIGHT NOW!)

It looks like a really nice place and as long as I remember to bring all his stuff he needs for the week, we should be OK.

So, we are leaving tomorrow for a much-needed week away, more needed by Chris than me, but I am just looking forward to being someplace where the temperature goes below 80 degrees at any time in the day or night and I am going to happily wear pants and sweaters and actual non-flip-flops on my feet.
I even went to the mall yesterday and bought 2 pairs of maternity jeans that are oh-so comfortable and I am really excited to wear pants that do not cut directly into my spleen. Even the Bella Band I bought is no longer enough and I had to break down and buy some maternity pants because I refuse to wear sweatpants every day for the next 6 months, thank you very much.

I will be posting from CA but they will be more sporatic because I intend to take a lot of naps and enjoy being outside in the CA air, and maybe even take a nap outside in the CA air, because i am crazy like that.