Fun Things During Pregnancy (27 weeks, 6 days)

A quick list:

* Putting on socks and tying my sneakers
* Trying to turn around to see while backing out of tight parking spaces in the rental car
* Trying to close the door of the rental when the door is completely open
* Shaving my legs
* Trying to give myself a pedicure (this "try" ended in failure)
* Picking things up at work and getting a lecture
* Getting back to sleep after superstrange, vivid dreams (last night I dualed a farmer with a windshield ice scraper; the night before I dreamt that I made friends with Karl Rove and Condi Rice)
* Trying to eat sensibly during the holidays
* Popping Tums all day
* Justifying a special pregnancy massage Friday afternoon

(The last one was pretty good. The massage therapist recommended by the midwife practice was very kind and gave me almost my full hour despite my being desperately late after being stuck in the infamous "Friday before Christmas shopping" traffic. A 10 minute drive took 45 minutes! I think my favorite part might have been the fortress of pillows she has on her massage table. At least two pillows for my neck, two for my legs, one for my belly, two for my arms and one for my back. I was surprised I could fit on the table. I might just see if I can come back to take a nap on her table!)

Who's Your Daddy? (27 weeks, 3 days)

I just wanted to write an entry to say that I really appreciate my husband.

My husband who has cleaned the kitty litter box since July.
...who has attended every prenatal appointment.
...who validates all of my decisions, even strange ones.
...who makes excellent greens, beans and cornbread.
...who has his own listing at IMDB.com (I'm very proud).
...who tries to parent me into early bedtimes, exercise, and protein.
...who goes to childbirth classes with me and is the "coach."
...who finished sealing our new front door this weekend.
...who made sure I didn't get a ticket when I freaked out at my fender bender.
...who gives Mouse his eyedrops as I have a hard time bending down.
...who works as much as he can, even if it is making animations for UPS videos on labelling hazardous materials.
...who survived the two days of irritability and any other pregnancy side effects.

Lots to appreciate, lots to love. I know he will be a good dad.

Of course, if Sprout keeps fidgeting like Aaron and getting long legs, that all gets blamed on Aaron.
(Old photo of us at railroad tracks off Duke East Campus)

Maybe I should have warned them....

(A post especially for my old A-Teamer friends Josh and Charles.) Have a good laugh at this: Aaron and I won competition at the last childbirth class. At the first class (which we missed) everyone was assigned to go to a La Leche League meeting and learning about breastfeeding. We didn't do that but we did go to "Breastfeeding School" at the hospital two weeks ago. That gave us an edge when we started class off with a long quiz about breastfeeding. Aaron's mom would have been so proud -- my husband knows what oxytocin and prolactin is and how to cope with infections. We won! I was surprised because you got a point if you raised your hand and answered a question correctly AND you were keeping track of your score. Keeping track of your own score? It was a competition, people! We might all be learning about natural childbirth, but that doesn't have to make us soft! At the end, we won by consensus of the other couples.

They should have known that they were dealing with a high school quiz bowl co-captain and 1992 Florida state champion.

We won a pair of fuzzy baby slippers with zebras on them. Ah, sweet victory.

Less than 90 days (27 weeks, 2 days)

Just got back from the midwife and everything was fine. Well, you know fine, except for me having to take the glucose tolerance test. It wasn't any big deal, but probably not a breakfast of champions. For the test, you drink about 5-6 oz of a high sugar drink and then they draw your blood. I opted for the orange flavor. To be honest, I don't think it was that different from the McDonald's orange drink that I used to get at the Y in elementary school. They never seemed to mix enough water with it, so it was always supersweet. If history serves as a guide, I'm sure I have a very good tolerance for the stuff. I do have a slight headache from it and need to eat some protein before I crash.

Baby's heartrate was great, and, hyped up from the sugar blast, Sprout kept kicking the midwife as she checked my measurements and his heartbeat. He's probably blacking out now from all of the sugar. The midwife said that the "stretching" I feel occasionally may be Sprout standing up or turning around (as I had assumed) or that they may actually be Braxton Hicks contractions. Who knew? I don't know what a contraction feels like. And, things must be getting serious now. We start appointments every two weeks from here and have to turn in a birth plan to the midwives soon.

(Sailor the Cat is an orange blur at the bottom of the photo here. I haven't had any dreams about him or dressed him up for the holidays so this may be his only shot at getting pictured at aboutsprout.)

For those needing help with John Hurt allusion....

I made an allusion to John Hurt in his big scene in Alien the other day in reference to the absolute strangeness of having an independently moving creature in me. For those who need a refresher (and didn't watch the last season of BBC's Coupling), here it is:


There are differences: I plan on Sprout coming into the world in less sci-fi way and currently we are not planning sequels.

My eBa(b)y Addiction (27 weeks, 1 day)

I have this one question: how did people have children before the internet? It is absolutely incomprehensible to me...Sure, sure, parenthood is one of those "since the dawn of mankind" things, but it could not have been easy and I'm not sure how we survived as a species. I would easily say my time online has at least doubled since we decided to have a baby. First there were the websites about getting pregnant. Those were then followed by first and second trimester boards and now onto third trimester.

I say this with only a hint of irony that internet is only a close second behind Aaron in this pregnancy. Aaron's great and all, but the internet helped me: research the midwife practice and hospital I go to, find the Bradley birth classes, research baby products and clothes, register for breastfeeding class, answer questions about health and baby development, and, recently, post silly pictures of my pets and vent about fender benders.

My biggest time consumer, though, is shopping on eBay. It is so much so that I often think "eBaby" instead of "eBay". Just yesterday, I bought a baby food recipe book/storage kit, striped baby socks, and socks with monkeys (and a supercute outfit for nephew Zachary). All NIB/NIP/NWT/mint condition! I have also bought crib bedding, nursery stuff, and boutique clothes, all for 50% or less of retail. I live online looking for the must have Maclaren stroller we covet, crib, monitor, car seat etc.

What renewed my eBay relationship was the Le Top outfit at right. We saw it for $50 at an online boutique, but I would never buy it for that, even if it is the cutest baby outfit I have ever seen. It is a footed onesie and matching velour jacket with a puppy in a plane. The onesie has puppies on the feet and the jacket has puppy ears! I have complained that baby boy clothing is dominated by this theme of bears/puppies on some form of transportation, but I forgive this outfit that cliche. My picture does it no justice at all. I found it on eBaby for so much less that I won't feel bad if Sprout wears it only once or twice. And, speaking of places I spend time, let me not forget to mention Freecycle and Craig's List. I'm not a big shopper. I really am not. I am too cheap for that and I don't think I am materialistic. But, online bargain shopping is so rewarding.

What would I do without highspeed internet? Could I feel ready for Sprout without it? I'm just glad that I don't have to face the answer to that question.

I'll try to post tomorrow after the latest midwife appointment.

Who Says We Don't Celebrate Christmas?

Maggie is doing her best Max impersonation from "The Grinch". Maggie hopes that Sprout will get here soon so that I won't remember to put embarassing head gear on her at holidays. Fat chance. This amuses me too much.

Some Quick Answers (26 weeks, 1 day)

Just quick answers to questions I have gotten this weekend and today....

Q: Are you registered somewhere?
A: Yes, we are registered at Target and at Babies R Us/Toy R Us. Both registries are available online.

Q: Is the movie working yet? How did you get it to work?
A: Yes, it appears that if you missed the movie, you should be able to see it now. Aaron changed something about the file that makes it easier. I found that at work where we use Windows, I could not view it without having downloaded the most recent version of Quicktime and then letting it take a few minutes to download.

Q: Have you picked a name yet?
A: Yes, we have decided.

Q: So....
A: Still not telling. This part we are keeping to ourselves!

Love to you all!

Even more milestones (25 weeks, 5 days)

I've been trying to make sure I record all the milestones so that we can remember them for later. We've seen a few more this week.

1. There are now less than 100 days to go.

2. I think I have to call my belly button as an "outie" these days. It's not way out there, but might as well be. I miss it. And, contrary to what my dad told me when I was very little, there is no ant that lives in there. I may never trust him again.

3. (This one is a little old.) According to WebMD, Sprout is officially viable and capable of surviving without me these days. A strange marker of time, but reassuring.

4. Sprout is SUPER active. He has been squirming and kicking so much that Aaron was actually able to SEE him kicking me last night for a couple of minutes. Definitely a moment where I think about John Hurt and his climactic moment in the movie Alien.

5. First car accident!

Yes, Sprout was involved with his first car accident on Wednesday. (Remember when I said I had a bad day?) First, let me say, Sprout is fine. I went to the midwives' today and got a full check-up. Sprout's heart rate was about 140 beats per minute and Wendy the Midwife said he was a real "sweetheart" for being cooperative when she used the doppler to check him out. Second, let me again say that Sprout is okay. The only things that were not fine were: the front end of my just paid off Civic Hybrid, my dignity after having gotten hysterical in front of the police, and my ability to focus for the rest of the week. It really was not a serious car accident. (You can see this from the photo below.)

On Wednesday afternoon, the power went off at the office. I stayed for 45 minutes but eventually ran out of things to work on without the phone system or the computer or a light source. A block away from the office, I stopped at the four way stoplight. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for woman on the cellphone in the midsize SUV who attempted to cross my path. Neither one of us were going very fast so the damage was not serious. Though shaken, I was able to stay very calm.

And, remember the guy who had run off the road and me wondering why no one stopped? After all, I would want people to stop for me? Well, putting that out in the universe paid off as a good number of people stopped to see after me. I guess 4 years of working in the same community really has made a difference. One of our community partners actually was in the lane next to the woman who hit me and saw the accident and stayed with me until the police got there. I did not, however, know then that she had seen the accident. She also called the zone commander (The Atlanta Police Department has 7 zone commanders to give you a sense of who he is) who we both know and work with to send a car out, rather than calling 911. (This becomes a critical detail later.) I'm still calm at this point and feel fine and lucky. No airbags, no cinching of the seatbelt, no stiff neck.

My colleague went onto the meeting in the building next to the intersection when Aaron and the police arrive. (Meanwhile, some of the school staff and people I know from the community all stopped to ask if I needed them and if they could help. I really see that as a silver lining on this crapstorm). Of course, I shouldn't have let her go, because when the police get there, they say that they can either issue citations to both of us or neither of us because they cannot determine who had the right of way. They will not include the statement of my colleague if she saw the accident because she is no longer at the scene of the crime and they will not amend the police report after they leave. (Remember, at this time, I'm not sure she has seen the accident.) They would not be able to tell if she was just telling them she was on the scene. The police report will say that we are both liable for the accident.

Okay, cue my hysteria on the side of the road. I am so angry now because it seemed completely obvious to me that if I had crossed 3 lanes of traffic before being hit and therefore just seconds from being out of the intersection that I was not at fault. So angry, that I am in fact crying and nearly hyperventilating. I couldn't believe that someone hit my car, and I was going to be responsible for paying for it. That's just not the way it is supposed to be: if you are at fault, you have to be responsible. If you are not at fault, you are not responsible. I'm always telling my 11 year old friend when she tells me something is unfair that she can't let that shut her down. That's great advice, but for her, something being unfair might mean not participating in a school program. For me, it is a $500 collision deductible! That's unfair! I really have other things to spend my money on right now. For brevity's sake, I'll just note that my tantrum continued on for a lengthy period of time, that I did not move the officers with my sniffling and crying, and that Aaron truly did his best from making sure I wasn't arrested and did not get a ticket. The (ir)responsible driver said nothing. After the police left, my colleague came out from her meeting and told me she had seen the accident. I called the officer and he told me that he still would not include her statement.

I went home mad. I went to bed mad. I woke up mad and went to work mad. I was mad at my bad luck. I was mad at people telling me that because I am pregnant I couldn't/shouldn't be mad. I'm pregnant -- I still have emotions! Further more, I was mad for not being able to be in control of the situation. That was the worst part. Immediately after the accident, I was calm. I saw the whole big picture. I was okay. Sprout seemed to be okay. It could have been so much worse. We could have lost so much more than the panels on the front of my car. I tear up a little to think of that one still. In the process of being focused on the big picture, though, I seemed to lose my presence of mind and good sensibility. I had a camera but didn't take pictures. I had someone there with me, but didn't even ask if she had seen the accident. I didn't tell her to stay. I cried in front of the police and the woman who hit my car and me and Sprout. I was not in control.

I know rationally that I can't always be in control, but not being in control definitely had a price...at least $500. I can't help but think of labor and delivery. I know I won't be able to be in control then. What sort of reaction can I expect to have then? Maybe something else positive about this is that I have a chance to reflect on that for the next few months and prepare myself for the moments when I cannot be in control like when the baby comes (and then goes on to live the rest of his life).

After 24 hours, though, I lightened up. I called the commander to ask if he would give a statement to my insurance company that in fact he had spoken with the witness. Armed with his statement and the statement of my witness the insurance company might be able to pursue the case with the other driver's insurance. He very clearly told me that he was going to have my colleague's statement included in the report because he knew that she had been at the scene. He would have a copy of the amended report for me soon. What I did not know is that my colleague and now hero had called the commander and talked to him for over an hour about what happened. By the time I spoke with him, he wished to discuss it no further and was ready to resolve the issue. I was thankful both for my colleague and for the commander knowing both of us from our work in the community. I was just so relieved.

And, then, today, we went to the midwives'. I was just so relieved that -- as we had thought -- Sprout was okay. I can really say that I know everything will be okay.

Big as a whale (25 weeks, 3 days)

Today didn't end up being a great day, but I'm going to have to write about it tomorrow to vent. Tonight, I just needed to calm down, but I promise Sprout and I are okay. Instead of focusing on my day though, though, I wanted to focus on something happier! Aaron and I went to the brand new Georgia Aquarium this Sunday. It was fantastic and the big exhibits were astounding. I was a giant geek running around going, "Ooh, penguins! Ooh, otters! Ooh, sharks!" Everything was the BIGGEST! BIGGEST FISH (the whale shark -- they have 2 of those, one pictured at right). BIGGEST TANK! BIGGEST LINE AT THE CAFE! I was not the biggest thing around this time! I even surprised Aaron by having gotten us 2 "fish scales" with our names on them. (As part of a fundraiser, you could put your name on one wall of the aquarium in little fish shapes that light up.) You have to understand that this was a big deal, because I kept it a secret from Aaron for a good 7 months! I can never wait that long to keep something from him. I always ask if he wants his birthday or anniversary gifts early, just because I am so terrible at keeping secrets from him!

We had a good time on Sunday and probably spent half of our time watching babies and "shopping" for strollers. That was probably worth the admission. Aaron even chatted up a lady who had both the brand of stroller we covet AND had her little boy in an Le Top cowboy outfit similar to one I've bought. Glad for the season tickets we bought as I will enjoy taking Sprout there in his stroller and Le Top outfit during the upcoming year.

This belly shot brought to you courtesy the new Georgia Aquarium.

Crib bedding: one decision down! (25 weeks, 2 days)

Well, time has been rolling on, as has the Sprout. As alluded to in my previous posts, Sprout and I appear to have had a growth spurt. There is no more room to grow! Not only does that result in the weight gain I whined about earlier, but it means that I can feel Sprout twisting and swimming all the time now. It certainly helps me feel connected to the Sprout and is very comforting. It also helps me feel winded on a regular basis and has introduced me to the joys of heartburn!

That's okay: I'm feeling positive enough that I can put a happy spin on that, too. Having heartburn -- after consuming almost anything from a hearty breakfast to a snack of a banana -- makes it okay to go for a tall glass of milk (maybe with a side of cookies) or milkshake. Oh, sure, still keeping my eye on weight, but I'd prefer to be happy, fat and heartburn-free.

Aaron and I have been making progress on getting ready for Sprout, too. Aaron bought a digital video camera so there can be many more Sprout movies to come. I, in turn, have made some executive decisions about the conversion of my office to Sprout's nursery. After many hours of deliberation, we've got a shade of blue to paint the room and I have crib bedding. (Now if I could just decide on a crib, I'd really be rolling.) The bedding is a blend of two different collections, one from Pottery Barn Kids and one from Land of Nod. Everything is the same shade of light blue, green, yellow and red. It was more than I first thought I was going to spend, but I still spent a lot less than retail, and spending less than retail can be magical.

From the picture on the bottom, I got the crib skirt with little jungle animals on it, a circular rug, pillow and memo board and an extra crib skirt that I am going to turn into window valances. From the picture on the top, I got the bumper and quilt. The pictures make it look like everything is not the same color palette, but it is and I hope it works to have it mix and match. Everything but the quilt was from eBay or the Pottery Barn Outlet in Gaffney, SC. Example of how I love a bargain? Here's my brag. The crib skirt was originally $60. While I can't figure out why someone would buy it for that amount, I was happy to get it for $14. Many thanks to the person who gave me the birthday gift that I applied to the quilt and bumper.


I still have plenty of time to make decisions on what I like and what we are getting for Sprout, I tell myself. However, we are just about 100 days from March 19. Putting it that way makes me feel like the day we get to meet Sprout is not terribly far away and so the urge to nest grows and grows.

Thanks again for all the kind words and attention you all have been sending my way!