The sixth week of Gavin's life was the best week yet. He grew noticeably, both physically and mentally. And I was able to start getting stuff done around the house. It was a giant leap forward in me feeling like a person again.
Up until this week, Gavin had been alternating a 5-6 hour nap with 5-6 hour marathon feeding sessions. Not that he ate continuously for 5 or 6 hours. But he ate every hour for 20-30 minutes. It was often all I could do to find time to pee and eat between feeding sessions. There was no time for anything else. Though I did watch an insane amount of TV.
But Gavin has finally evened out, and is eating every 3-4 hours pretty consistently. It makes for a slightly more sleepless night (though Kevin and I have a good tag-team set up that helps). It also makes it a lot easier to get stuff done during the day. So on Monday, I was able to put Gavin down for a nap in the afternoon and clean the whole kitchen. Over the rest of the week I managed to clean the entire upper floor of the house. Kevin's been making fun of me for being so excited about this, but it's really nice to feel productive again.
Gavin has also been a lot more fun this week. He's more awake and alert. We've started doing tummy time every day, and I play with him a bit. He's not entirely interested in his toys yet, but he seems to stare at them with intent. At least for a little while. And he has this piano he plays by kicking that he seems to have fun with. It's hard to tell, but I'm sure he's only going to get more interesting.
He's also bigger. Clothes that he was swimming in a few weeks ago now fit perfectly. Which probably means that we only have a week or two of wear left in them. We've got some 3-6-month clothing that he should be able to wear soon. We're also expecting to have to buy some more clothes before we do the Christmas family tour. And he just graduated to the next size up of diapers, which happened surprisingly quickly. We ended up giving a whole bunch of diapers to neighbors because Gavin got too big.
I'm excited for Gavin to learn even more tricks and to get closer to being on a schedule. But for now it's nice to have reliable chunks of time when I can do things, even if the timing isn't entirely predictable. The nice thing about maternity leave is that my schedule is completely flexible right now. And we're so close to smiles and laughs and an actual interactive person. I can't wait
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Friday, December 2, 2016
Thanksgiving
For the week of Thanksgiving, Kevin's sister and her new husband came to stay with us and meet their nephew. They cooked the big meal at our house, which was beyond convenient for me. And Gavin even slept through the entire meal, like a little angel.
Erin and Alex were out here for an entire week, and it was nice to visit with them, since we see them so rarely. They spent a lot of time holding Gavin and were a great help in getting him to calm down. Erin even changed a few diapers, making her the first person other than Kevin and me to do so.
Gavin continued to be adorable and lovable. He's still mostly a lump, but he's starting to be more responsive. His involuntary smiles are really cute and have me excited to see the real ones. And sometimes he grunts a bit when he smiles, which has me eager for baby giggles. He also spends a lot of time grunting and otherwise vocalizing, making us think he's going to be a talker. So long as he's not an extrovert I'll be happy.
Erin and Alex were out here for an entire week, and it was nice to visit with them, since we see them so rarely. They spent a lot of time holding Gavin and were a great help in getting him to calm down. Erin even changed a few diapers, making her the first person other than Kevin and me to do so.
Gavin continued to be adorable and lovable. He's still mostly a lump, but he's starting to be more responsive. His involuntary smiles are really cute and have me excited to see the real ones. And sometimes he grunts a bit when he smiles, which has me eager for baby giggles. He also spends a lot of time grunting and otherwise vocalizing, making us think he's going to be a talker. So long as he's not an extrovert I'll be happy.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Setbacks
A few hours after my mom left, I developed a pain in my lower back. It felt like I'd pulled a muscle, and I assumed I must have done something. But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't come up with any sort of triggering injury. I thought maybe I'd done something simple that was amplified by my extreme weight loss. I'd been losing almost a pound a day since Gavin was born, and I know that can make you susceptible to injury.
When neither rest nor stretching nor ice helped my back feel better, I started thinking it was a pinched nerve. It took over a week before Kevin convinced me to go to the doctor where I got my shingles diagnosis. In the meantime, I was confined to the couch. It was a real let down, after such an active week. But it took me three or four days just to wash the sheets on the guest bed so we'd be prepared for the next guests. And my grand plans of cleaning the house (or at least the toilets and floors) were thrown out. Luckily we were able to hire a professional cleaning service to come through and keep the house somewhat in order.
The shingles was exacerbated by Trump's win, which was a serious shock. I was almost glad to have a physical reason to stay on the couch for a while. During Gavin's third week of life, I let my world shrink. I focused on taking care of him and taking care of myself. I watched a ton of Star Trek in an attempt to feel optimistic about the future (turns out Deep Space Nine is not the right series if this is your goal).
At the end of this week, my dad and his girlfriend came to visit, and Gavin started to learn some new tricks. He seemed able to make eye contact and to be looking at things with more intent than before. It was exciting to start seeing him make some mental leaps, even if part of me still thinks that we're projecting skills on him before he really has them. We did go out and buy a mobile for his crib, but it was a couple more weeks before he seemed able to focus on it at all.
After dad left, I went to the doctor and started getting treated for my shingles. Just in time for Gavin to develop a second round of thrush that made it painful for him to eat from my left boob. It was just one more in a seemingly never-ending series of minor setbacks. And while we kept powering through, I still wasn't able to focus on anything much bigger than caring for my son.
When neither rest nor stretching nor ice helped my back feel better, I started thinking it was a pinched nerve. It took over a week before Kevin convinced me to go to the doctor where I got my shingles diagnosis. In the meantime, I was confined to the couch. It was a real let down, after such an active week. But it took me three or four days just to wash the sheets on the guest bed so we'd be prepared for the next guests. And my grand plans of cleaning the house (or at least the toilets and floors) were thrown out. Luckily we were able to hire a professional cleaning service to come through and keep the house somewhat in order.
The shingles was exacerbated by Trump's win, which was a serious shock. I was almost glad to have a physical reason to stay on the couch for a while. During Gavin's third week of life, I let my world shrink. I focused on taking care of him and taking care of myself. I watched a ton of Star Trek in an attempt to feel optimistic about the future (turns out Deep Space Nine is not the right series if this is your goal).
At the end of this week, my dad and his girlfriend came to visit, and Gavin started to learn some new tricks. He seemed able to make eye contact and to be looking at things with more intent than before. It was exciting to start seeing him make some mental leaps, even if part of me still thinks that we're projecting skills on him before he really has them. We did go out and buy a mobile for his crib, but it was a couple more weeks before he seemed able to focus on it at all.
After dad left, I went to the doctor and started getting treated for my shingles. Just in time for Gavin to develop a second round of thrush that made it painful for him to eat from my left boob. It was just one more in a seemingly never-ending series of minor setbacks. And while we kept powering through, I still wasn't able to focus on anything much bigger than caring for my son.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Mom's Visit
My mom came to visit during Gavin's second week of life. I was insistent that we not have house guests right away, because I wanted time to heal and start to establish a routine without other people around telling me what to do. And I'm really glad I decided to do that. Kevin and I were able to figure out the basics on our own, and by the time my mom showed up we had some stuff figured out.
The whole second week of Gavin's life was great. I was getting almost enough sleep (my mom stayed up with the screaming baby a couple of times, though I still had to get up to feed him and change his diapers). I was feeling good enough to go out and even start taking on some small chores like dishes and laundry. My mom and I went shopping a few times, for clothes for me and baby things. We went out to lunch twice and dinner once. Gavin and I even joined Kevin and Kina on their morning walk every day.
The whole week was great, and by the end of it I was ready to jump back into life. I was confident that I had this whole mom thing under control.
The whole second week of Gavin's life was great. I was getting almost enough sleep (my mom stayed up with the screaming baby a couple of times, though I still had to get up to feed him and change his diapers). I was feeling good enough to go out and even start taking on some small chores like dishes and laundry. My mom and I went shopping a few times, for clothes for me and baby things. We went out to lunch twice and dinner once. Gavin and I even joined Kevin and Kina on their morning walk every day.
The whole week was great, and by the end of it I was ready to jump back into life. I was confident that I had this whole mom thing under control.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
The First Week
The first week of Gavin's life was rough. He was born on Monday, and it was Friday before I managed to sleep for more than an hour at a time. On Tuesday night, I discovered the place beyond exhaustion where, even when Kevin woke up and took over, I spent the night sobbing instead of sleeping. It did nothing to help my situation, but there was nothing else I could do.
We were in the hospital until Wednesday morning. It was nice to be there, with nurses on call to help and other people taking care of nearly everything. Still, the room was small and people were constantly interrupting whenever I tried to take a nap. By Wednesday morning, I was more than ready to head home.
A lot of people say that in the car, on the way home from the hospital, they experience a moment of panic. The idea of taking care of another human being suddenly becomes overwhelming, and without the constant help of professionals they aren't sure they can do it. Kevin and I never experienced that moment. The truth is that while taking care of a newborn can't exactly be called easy, it is simple. Feed them when they're hungry, change them when they're wet, hold them when they cry. Then again, Kevin and I got a pretty easy baby. He's healthy and happy and really only fusses when he needs something.
That said, breast-feeding was initially a bit of a challenge. Gavin had trouble latching at first, because my boobs were too big for his mouth. The lactation consultant gave me a nipple shield, which helped immensely, though Gavin still seemed to be struggling to get enough food. He ate almost constantly, until my milk finally came in late Thursday evening/Friday morning. At that point he finally filled his stomach and I was able to get my first substantial chunk of sleep. Within another day, he was able to latch without the nipple shield, and breastfeeding has been pretty easy ever since.
Friday was Gavin's first doctor's appointment, where we learned he'd lost a pound since his birth. This wasn't too concerning, since it was in the 10% threshold. But they did want us to be aggressive about feeding him to get his weight back up.
It turned out that we were a little more aggressive than we needed to be. Which surprised me, and made me feel better in hindsight. But the next couple of days were really rough. I was supposed to wake Gavin up to feed him every two hours. In practice I only attempted to wake him every three hours, and since it took an hour to wake him up, he was really only eating every four hours. Which I was worried about even though Kevin kept insisting it was fine. We also supplemented with formula to make sure he was full.
Like I said, even though I was worried we weren't feeding him enough, it ended up being more than enough. At the next appointment he was up half a pound, and the doctor had only been expecting him to gain 3 ounces. So from then on, we were on a feed-on-demand schedule, and Gavin was allowed to sleep for 5 or 6 hours when he wanted to, which meant that I started sleeping again, too.
The other thing that happened during Gavin's first week was his first outing. He was too young for us to host Hallowiener this year, so Zach and Sarah chose to host a smaller version of the event. And even though Gavin was only 5 days old, we took him down to meet everyone. It was nice to get out of the house (though I ended up worried that he went too long without food), and Gavin was fantastic for most of the trip. He slept on the way down and nearly the entire time we were there. He ate a little bit just before we left. But he didn't get enough and ended up screaming for part of the drive back home. It was stressful, but ultimately a good outing. And Gavin got plenty to eat once we got home.
The first week was rough. But the memory of just how difficult it was is already starting to fade. Gavin started sleeping well quickly, and nothing too traumatic happened. As overwhelming as it all was in the moment, I can already see how people romanticize it all and decide to have another baby. Although I can only imagine how much more difficult it all is when you have another child to take care of.
We were in the hospital until Wednesday morning. It was nice to be there, with nurses on call to help and other people taking care of nearly everything. Still, the room was small and people were constantly interrupting whenever I tried to take a nap. By Wednesday morning, I was more than ready to head home.
A lot of people say that in the car, on the way home from the hospital, they experience a moment of panic. The idea of taking care of another human being suddenly becomes overwhelming, and without the constant help of professionals they aren't sure they can do it. Kevin and I never experienced that moment. The truth is that while taking care of a newborn can't exactly be called easy, it is simple. Feed them when they're hungry, change them when they're wet, hold them when they cry. Then again, Kevin and I got a pretty easy baby. He's healthy and happy and really only fusses when he needs something.
That said, breast-feeding was initially a bit of a challenge. Gavin had trouble latching at first, because my boobs were too big for his mouth. The lactation consultant gave me a nipple shield, which helped immensely, though Gavin still seemed to be struggling to get enough food. He ate almost constantly, until my milk finally came in late Thursday evening/Friday morning. At that point he finally filled his stomach and I was able to get my first substantial chunk of sleep. Within another day, he was able to latch without the nipple shield, and breastfeeding has been pretty easy ever since.
Friday was Gavin's first doctor's appointment, where we learned he'd lost a pound since his birth. This wasn't too concerning, since it was in the 10% threshold. But they did want us to be aggressive about feeding him to get his weight back up.
It turned out that we were a little more aggressive than we needed to be. Which surprised me, and made me feel better in hindsight. But the next couple of days were really rough. I was supposed to wake Gavin up to feed him every two hours. In practice I only attempted to wake him every three hours, and since it took an hour to wake him up, he was really only eating every four hours. Which I was worried about even though Kevin kept insisting it was fine. We also supplemented with formula to make sure he was full.
Like I said, even though I was worried we weren't feeding him enough, it ended up being more than enough. At the next appointment he was up half a pound, and the doctor had only been expecting him to gain 3 ounces. So from then on, we were on a feed-on-demand schedule, and Gavin was allowed to sleep for 5 or 6 hours when he wanted to, which meant that I started sleeping again, too.
The other thing that happened during Gavin's first week was his first outing. He was too young for us to host Hallowiener this year, so Zach and Sarah chose to host a smaller version of the event. And even though Gavin was only 5 days old, we took him down to meet everyone. It was nice to get out of the house (though I ended up worried that he went too long without food), and Gavin was fantastic for most of the trip. He slept on the way down and nearly the entire time we were there. He ate a little bit just before we left. But he didn't get enough and ended up screaming for part of the drive back home. It was stressful, but ultimately a good outing. And Gavin got plenty to eat once we got home.
The first week was rough. But the memory of just how difficult it was is already starting to fade. Gavin started sleeping well quickly, and nothing too traumatic happened. As overwhelming as it all was in the moment, I can already see how people romanticize it all and decide to have another baby. Although I can only imagine how much more difficult it all is when you have another child to take care of.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
One Month
It's hard to believe that Gavin is already a whole month old. I feel like I've been living in some parallel universe for the past month, and I'm still not sure I'm ready to return to reality. But I'm getting there. And part of that is keeping up with this blog again.
The past month has been unlike any other time in my life. I spend a lot of time watching TV while Gavin eats, since I can't really do anything else. We've had a never-ending parade of house guests. It's nice that we have such a huge and loving family, and it's been great to see everyone. But it also makes it impossible to start establishing any sort of routine. And while Gavin is still a bit too young for a schedule, I feel like I'm struggling to find time to cook and clean because all of my extra energy is being spent entertaining. Thankfully our guests have all been incredibly helpful. But I'm looking forward to getting control of my house back.
Gavin is doing wonderfully. He's a great sleeper. By the first week he was going down for a solid 4-5 hours every night, and that's still true. If everything works out right, I can get 6 or 7 hours of sleep. In practice that only happens 3 out of 4 nights, but it's enough to keep me sane. Generally, I'll feed Gavin after dinner, then try to get to bed by 9. Kevin stays up with him until midnight or so and gives him a bottle. Then I'm up between 3 and 4, more because my boobs are full than because Gavin is crying. If I can't convince him to eat, I pump. But that's always a bit of a risk, since I can't feed him for an hour or so after I pump. I just have to hope he'll stay asleep that much longer.
Gavin is also a pretty calm baby. He gets fussy sometimes, but he mostly only cries when he's hungry or gassy or needs a new diaper. I've gotten better about not letting him get overly hungry, because then he gets too upset to eat, and it can be hard to calm him down. But as we get to know each other that happens less and less.
As for developments, he's still mostly a little blob who eats and sleeps. He's started to make eye contact, which is cool. And he has a whole range of fun facial expressions, though I think they're still mostly involuntary. He likes looking out windows and at lights. Really he focuses on anything bright. We got him a mobile a week or so ago, and yesterday was the first time he really seemed to look at it. I had to put him in the crib so I could run to the bathroom, and he started crying. But I turned the mobile on, and by the time I was back he had calmed himself down and was fixated on the little hanging whales. I think the music helped, too.
For the most part, Gavin likes music. When we play it, he seems to get quiet and listen. Then only exception so far has been when I played "Dance Magic" from Labyrinth for him, which set off a tantrum. I'm hoping it was just a one-off thing. He's got to learn to love both David Bowie and Labyrinth, but there's still time to bring him around on it.
I'm mostly holding up well, too. I have, once or twice, felt myself slipping into a depression. Sleeping late and having trouble getting out of bed. But I've been able to snap out of it after a few hours. I really don't think it's a postpartum thing so much as a combination of the election results, the constant house guests, and my own lack of sleep. Bit by bit, I'm returning to myself. Reading books (slowly) and finding time to blog. By next week I'm hoping to start figuring out a schedule for Gavin and getting back to my life even more. Though I may still mostly be in hibernation mode through Christmas.
The past month has been unlike any other time in my life. I spend a lot of time watching TV while Gavin eats, since I can't really do anything else. We've had a never-ending parade of house guests. It's nice that we have such a huge and loving family, and it's been great to see everyone. But it also makes it impossible to start establishing any sort of routine. And while Gavin is still a bit too young for a schedule, I feel like I'm struggling to find time to cook and clean because all of my extra energy is being spent entertaining. Thankfully our guests have all been incredibly helpful. But I'm looking forward to getting control of my house back.
Gavin is doing wonderfully. He's a great sleeper. By the first week he was going down for a solid 4-5 hours every night, and that's still true. If everything works out right, I can get 6 or 7 hours of sleep. In practice that only happens 3 out of 4 nights, but it's enough to keep me sane. Generally, I'll feed Gavin after dinner, then try to get to bed by 9. Kevin stays up with him until midnight or so and gives him a bottle. Then I'm up between 3 and 4, more because my boobs are full than because Gavin is crying. If I can't convince him to eat, I pump. But that's always a bit of a risk, since I can't feed him for an hour or so after I pump. I just have to hope he'll stay asleep that much longer.
Gavin is also a pretty calm baby. He gets fussy sometimes, but he mostly only cries when he's hungry or gassy or needs a new diaper. I've gotten better about not letting him get overly hungry, because then he gets too upset to eat, and it can be hard to calm him down. But as we get to know each other that happens less and less.
As for developments, he's still mostly a little blob who eats and sleeps. He's started to make eye contact, which is cool. And he has a whole range of fun facial expressions, though I think they're still mostly involuntary. He likes looking out windows and at lights. Really he focuses on anything bright. We got him a mobile a week or so ago, and yesterday was the first time he really seemed to look at it. I had to put him in the crib so I could run to the bathroom, and he started crying. But I turned the mobile on, and by the time I was back he had calmed himself down and was fixated on the little hanging whales. I think the music helped, too.
For the most part, Gavin likes music. When we play it, he seems to get quiet and listen. Then only exception so far has been when I played "Dance Magic" from Labyrinth for him, which set off a tantrum. I'm hoping it was just a one-off thing. He's got to learn to love both David Bowie and Labyrinth, but there's still time to bring him around on it.
I'm mostly holding up well, too. I have, once or twice, felt myself slipping into a depression. Sleeping late and having trouble getting out of bed. But I've been able to snap out of it after a few hours. I really don't think it's a postpartum thing so much as a combination of the election results, the constant house guests, and my own lack of sleep. Bit by bit, I'm returning to myself. Reading books (slowly) and finding time to blog. By next week I'm hoping to start figuring out a schedule for Gavin and getting back to my life even more. Though I may still mostly be in hibernation mode through Christmas.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
The Birth Story
In the weeks leading up to delivery, I found a lot of comfort in reading about other people's experiences with labor. While my pregnancy was mostly easy, I was terrified of the part where I would actually give birth. So I sought out the stories of others in the hopes that I would feel better if I knew what to expect. I still had nightmares the night before I went to the hospital, mostly centered on getting separated from Kevin or having procedures that no one would explain. But by the time I got to the hospital, I did end up feeling a bit better.
We knew Gavin was going to be big, so I scheduled an induction for the day after my due date. The doctor had initially suggested I try to induce early, but that seemed to come with the same risk of c-section as a vaginal birth of a large baby, so we decided to wait until he was full term. I was hoping he would decide to come early, but it didn't happen.
That said, I was 4 cm dilated by the time I got to the hospital, and the machine said I was already having contractions, even though I couldn't feel them. We got to the hospital at 6:30 and set off a flurry of activity. One nurse got me hooked up to an IV, the other started getting all my vitals. My OB came in and broke my water. I had my blood drawn and went through an extensive check-in process where they took my entire medical history. Officially they broke my water and started the pitocin at about 7 in the morning. By 7:30 or so, Kevin and I were left alone in the room, with a nurse coming in to check on us every so often.
The machine they had me hooked up to said that my contractions were coming every 4 minutes almost immediately, but I couldn't feel them at all. Before too long, they were happening every 2 minutes and lasting for 1 minute, and I still couldn't feel anything. Until I could. It took about an hour for me to go from not being able to feel anything to desperately wanting an epidural.
I said I wanted the epidural around 11, and it took about twenty minutes for the anesthesiologist to get there. It's a little hard, because you have to sit perfectly still for 5 minutes, while getting contractions every two minutes, while someone sticks a needle in your spine. It briefly felt like my back was on fire, but a second later everything started to feel a lot better. With the epidural, I couldn't get out of bed anymore, so they also put a catheter in. Then they gave me a peanut-shaped thing to hold between my legs, which was supposed to help me dilate more. Once everything was in place, Kevin and I put on Zoolander, and I slept through the entire movie.
With the epidural in, I went back to not being able to feel my contractions at all. The machine was still saying they were coming every 2 minutes, and the doctor kept reporting progress on my cervix dilation. But I was content to just lie in bed with my completely numb legs while the doctor said that everything was coming along nicely.
Kevin and I were in the middle of a crossword puzzle when the doctor came back and said it was time to start pushing. This coincided with a shift change for the nurses, so I also got to meet new people, just in time to start the hardest part of labor. They taught me how to push, and we were off. For a while it was just Kevin and the nurse, holding my legs and counting while I pushed.
Before I knew it, the doctor was back. When I'd been pushing for about an hour, the room suddenly exploded with a bunch more people. It went from 3 to 10 very quickly, all while I was being told to keep pushing. Then the doctor pulled Gavin out, which was traumatic, but thankfully brief. The pediatrician and some nurses took the baby to weigh him and clean him and suction his lungs, while my doctor got to work stitching me up.
About twenty minutes later I was able to hold Gavin and relax for the next few hours before they moved me to the recovery room. I was also able to eat my first tuna melt in months while Kevin took a turn holding his son. The whole thing ended up being a lot quicker and less terrifying than I'd been expecting. As scared as I was at the prospect of pushing a baby out of my vagina, I'm really glad I didn't end up needing a c-section. My OB said she might push me a bit harder to induce early next time, because Gavin was so big (10 lb, 3 oz and 22 inches long). I guess we'll have to wait and see how big the next baby is. In the meantime, I'm thankful that everything went so smoothly.
We knew Gavin was going to be big, so I scheduled an induction for the day after my due date. The doctor had initially suggested I try to induce early, but that seemed to come with the same risk of c-section as a vaginal birth of a large baby, so we decided to wait until he was full term. I was hoping he would decide to come early, but it didn't happen.
That said, I was 4 cm dilated by the time I got to the hospital, and the machine said I was already having contractions, even though I couldn't feel them. We got to the hospital at 6:30 and set off a flurry of activity. One nurse got me hooked up to an IV, the other started getting all my vitals. My OB came in and broke my water. I had my blood drawn and went through an extensive check-in process where they took my entire medical history. Officially they broke my water and started the pitocin at about 7 in the morning. By 7:30 or so, Kevin and I were left alone in the room, with a nurse coming in to check on us every so often.
The machine they had me hooked up to said that my contractions were coming every 4 minutes almost immediately, but I couldn't feel them at all. Before too long, they were happening every 2 minutes and lasting for 1 minute, and I still couldn't feel anything. Until I could. It took about an hour for me to go from not being able to feel anything to desperately wanting an epidural.
I said I wanted the epidural around 11, and it took about twenty minutes for the anesthesiologist to get there. It's a little hard, because you have to sit perfectly still for 5 minutes, while getting contractions every two minutes, while someone sticks a needle in your spine. It briefly felt like my back was on fire, but a second later everything started to feel a lot better. With the epidural, I couldn't get out of bed anymore, so they also put a catheter in. Then they gave me a peanut-shaped thing to hold between my legs, which was supposed to help me dilate more. Once everything was in place, Kevin and I put on Zoolander, and I slept through the entire movie.
With the epidural in, I went back to not being able to feel my contractions at all. The machine was still saying they were coming every 2 minutes, and the doctor kept reporting progress on my cervix dilation. But I was content to just lie in bed with my completely numb legs while the doctor said that everything was coming along nicely.
Kevin and I were in the middle of a crossword puzzle when the doctor came back and said it was time to start pushing. This coincided with a shift change for the nurses, so I also got to meet new people, just in time to start the hardest part of labor. They taught me how to push, and we were off. For a while it was just Kevin and the nurse, holding my legs and counting while I pushed.
Before I knew it, the doctor was back. When I'd been pushing for about an hour, the room suddenly exploded with a bunch more people. It went from 3 to 10 very quickly, all while I was being told to keep pushing. Then the doctor pulled Gavin out, which was traumatic, but thankfully brief. The pediatrician and some nurses took the baby to weigh him and clean him and suction his lungs, while my doctor got to work stitching me up.
About twenty minutes later I was able to hold Gavin and relax for the next few hours before they moved me to the recovery room. I was also able to eat my first tuna melt in months while Kevin took a turn holding his son. The whole thing ended up being a lot quicker and less terrifying than I'd been expecting. As scared as I was at the prospect of pushing a baby out of my vagina, I'm really glad I didn't end up needing a c-section. My OB said she might push me a bit harder to induce early next time, because Gavin was so big (10 lb, 3 oz and 22 inches long). I guess we'll have to wait and see how big the next baby is. In the meantime, I'm thankful that everything went so smoothly.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
The World Turned Upside Down
When my son was just over 2 weeks old, I woke up to feed him at 3 in the morning. At this point I was used to these middle of the night feedings, and I used the time to watch Netflix or look things up online. On this particular night, I'd gone to bed early, as I was in the habit of doing, and had missed the election results. So I went to look them up and do a little cheer for our first female president.
Except that my phone said Trump won. My blood literally ran cold when I saw the results, and I spent the next hour convinced I was having a nightmare, hoping that at any moment the baby would start crying and wake me up. Except that the baby was already awake and eating contentedly. I didn't sleep much for the rest of the night, and I spent a good chunk of it wondering if I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life, bringing a child into a world that was apparently a lot worse than I'd ever imagined.
For the next several days, I focused entirely on my kid. It felt like the world was tumbling down around me, but I could feed him and change diapers. I could sort of comfort him. We took turns crying. He'd get upset and I'd bounce him and tell him everything was going to be okay. Then I'd burst into tears because it felt like I was lying to my son, and the first lie was supposed to be Santa Claus, not Trump.
Up until this point, I'd been doing really well with the whole postpartum recovery thing. I was taking walks every day and getting stuff done around the house. My mom had come and gone, and I felt like I had a handle on this new mom thing. I was eager to get back to reading and writing and start getting the house cleaned up. But Trump getting elected was a mental and emotional setback that I hadn't seen coming. It didn't help anything that I also contracted shingles (thanks to a combination of my depressed immune system from being pregnant and stress), which meant that for the next week I could barely walk. Instead I sat on the couch, cared for my son as best as I could, and watched silently while the world around me slowly came to terms with the results of the election.
To be honest, I'm still a little bit in shock. I'm still focused pretty heavily on taking care of my son, one day at a time. But I'm ready to start interacting with the world again. And part of that is finally recording the first few weeks of his life. The blog is likely to be jumbled and out of order for the near future, while I get things down as I remember them and feel able to write about them.
I wish my son had been born into a world where the US elected the first female president. But he wasn't. Which means I'll have to work that much harder to make the world a worthy place for him to inherit. I'm most scared about climate change, and whether there will even be a world for him to inherit. But having children at all is an act of hope, and raising them forces you to act on that hope to turn it into a reality. Now I just have to figure out the most effective way to help get our country back on the track it was on under Obama, to raise my kid into a kind, thoughtful person, and believe once again in a tomorrow that's better than yesterday.
Except that my phone said Trump won. My blood literally ran cold when I saw the results, and I spent the next hour convinced I was having a nightmare, hoping that at any moment the baby would start crying and wake me up. Except that the baby was already awake and eating contentedly. I didn't sleep much for the rest of the night, and I spent a good chunk of it wondering if I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life, bringing a child into a world that was apparently a lot worse than I'd ever imagined.
For the next several days, I focused entirely on my kid. It felt like the world was tumbling down around me, but I could feed him and change diapers. I could sort of comfort him. We took turns crying. He'd get upset and I'd bounce him and tell him everything was going to be okay. Then I'd burst into tears because it felt like I was lying to my son, and the first lie was supposed to be Santa Claus, not Trump.
Up until this point, I'd been doing really well with the whole postpartum recovery thing. I was taking walks every day and getting stuff done around the house. My mom had come and gone, and I felt like I had a handle on this new mom thing. I was eager to get back to reading and writing and start getting the house cleaned up. But Trump getting elected was a mental and emotional setback that I hadn't seen coming. It didn't help anything that I also contracted shingles (thanks to a combination of my depressed immune system from being pregnant and stress), which meant that for the next week I could barely walk. Instead I sat on the couch, cared for my son as best as I could, and watched silently while the world around me slowly came to terms with the results of the election.
To be honest, I'm still a little bit in shock. I'm still focused pretty heavily on taking care of my son, one day at a time. But I'm ready to start interacting with the world again. And part of that is finally recording the first few weeks of his life. The blog is likely to be jumbled and out of order for the near future, while I get things down as I remember them and feel able to write about them.
I wish my son had been born into a world where the US elected the first female president. But he wasn't. Which means I'll have to work that much harder to make the world a worthy place for him to inherit. I'm most scared about climate change, and whether there will even be a world for him to inherit. But having children at all is an act of hope, and raising them forces you to act on that hope to turn it into a reality. Now I just have to figure out the most effective way to help get our country back on the track it was on under Obama, to raise my kid into a kind, thoughtful person, and believe once again in a tomorrow that's better than yesterday.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
The Waiting Game
The last couple of weeks of pregnancy are easily the worst. I've reached a point where the baby could come any day now. But it could also still take several weeks for him to arrive. And there's nothing to be done about it. All of the signs of early labor double as symptoms of late pregnancy. This hasn't stopped me from obsessively googling everything from back aches to spotting to weird pressures and pains. But the hard truth is that the baby will come when he comes and there's not a thing I can do to change or predict when that will be.
Well, that's not entirely true. Because he's so big, my doctor offered me the option of inducing a week early. When she presented this option, she said I'd need to make a decision that day if I wanted to get an appointment before my due date. At first I was all for this. I've been wanting the kid to come early, if only because I'm so done being pregnant. But I also knew it was worth doing some research and figuring out what all the risks were.
After a lot of back and forth and going down a few rabbit holes on the internet, we decided it wasn't worth it to induce early. It turns out that the risk of a c-section because the baby is too big isn't all that different from the risk of a c-section after an induction. Plus the induction comes with a whole host of other risks, especially if your body isn't quite ready to give birth. Since there was no real justifiable reason to induce early, we decided not to. So now it's just good old-fashioned hoping that the stars align and the kid comes before his due date.
Though we did decide that it's worth inducing if he's still hanging out past his due date. Although that decision was also helped along by the fact that I appear to be closer to labor and therefore an induction would be less risky.
So that's where we stand now. As of my doctor's appointment this morning (yesterday, by the time this posts), I'm 3 cm dilated. Which means basically nothing. The kid could come today or next week or still be hanging out when we reach my induction appointment. I'm still hoping he comes a bit early, though now that's mostly because I don't want to trek to the hospital for a 6 am appointment.
In the meantime, we're about as ready as we can be. The nursery is all put together, and I think we have everything we need. I'm sure we'll discover more we need as we go, but the store isn't that far away. I haven't packed my hospital bag, mostly because the things I want to pack (pillows, shampoo, etc) are things I still use every day. But I should have time to do that once I know labor is starting. Which, by the way, is also weird. In the movies they always show the woman going into labor and rushing out of the house. In reality, it's only 8% of pregnancies where the water breaks before you go to the hospital. For everyone else, you time contractions for 60-90 minutes before calling your doctor who will decide whether you should come in or wait longer.
So it's all about waiting now. Waiting for labor to start. Waiting for it to shift to active labor. Waiting to go to the hospital. And then probably more waiting. But, as the kind nurse told me this morning, I can't be pregnant forever. Soon enough he'll be here, and everything will change. More importantly, I'll be able to have a tuna melt and a beer.
Well, that's not entirely true. Because he's so big, my doctor offered me the option of inducing a week early. When she presented this option, she said I'd need to make a decision that day if I wanted to get an appointment before my due date. At first I was all for this. I've been wanting the kid to come early, if only because I'm so done being pregnant. But I also knew it was worth doing some research and figuring out what all the risks were.
After a lot of back and forth and going down a few rabbit holes on the internet, we decided it wasn't worth it to induce early. It turns out that the risk of a c-section because the baby is too big isn't all that different from the risk of a c-section after an induction. Plus the induction comes with a whole host of other risks, especially if your body isn't quite ready to give birth. Since there was no real justifiable reason to induce early, we decided not to. So now it's just good old-fashioned hoping that the stars align and the kid comes before his due date.
Though we did decide that it's worth inducing if he's still hanging out past his due date. Although that decision was also helped along by the fact that I appear to be closer to labor and therefore an induction would be less risky.
So that's where we stand now. As of my doctor's appointment this morning (yesterday, by the time this posts), I'm 3 cm dilated. Which means basically nothing. The kid could come today or next week or still be hanging out when we reach my induction appointment. I'm still hoping he comes a bit early, though now that's mostly because I don't want to trek to the hospital for a 6 am appointment.
In the meantime, we're about as ready as we can be. The nursery is all put together, and I think we have everything we need. I'm sure we'll discover more we need as we go, but the store isn't that far away. I haven't packed my hospital bag, mostly because the things I want to pack (pillows, shampoo, etc) are things I still use every day. But I should have time to do that once I know labor is starting. Which, by the way, is also weird. In the movies they always show the woman going into labor and rushing out of the house. In reality, it's only 8% of pregnancies where the water breaks before you go to the hospital. For everyone else, you time contractions for 60-90 minutes before calling your doctor who will decide whether you should come in or wait longer.
So it's all about waiting now. Waiting for labor to start. Waiting for it to shift to active labor. Waiting to go to the hospital. And then probably more waiting. But, as the kind nurse told me this morning, I can't be pregnant forever. Soon enough he'll be here, and everything will change. More importantly, I'll be able to have a tuna melt and a beer.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Please Come Early
At 36 weeks, I had a final ultrasound to check and make sure everything was good with the baby. Actually, it seems my doctor was worried about how the umbilical cord had attached to the placenta. I never really got a complete answer about why they were worried about this in my case (I definitely don't have a history of it, as one doctor claimed, seeing as this if my first pregnancy). But I'm mostly willing to trust the doctors, and I was eager to get some measurements of the baby anyway.
It seems that my umbilical cord is attached to the side of the placenta rather than in the center. Which can lead to two things: a malnourished baby and excessive bleeding during labor. Well, the baby certainly isn't malnourished. Which either means that the umbilical cord implanted properly or that it isn't an issue. As I'm writing this I'm realizing how little I actually know. I'm not sure how I feel about that. As I said, I basically trust my doctors. They've done this a lot more than I have.
What I did learn at that ultrasound is that my baby is enormous. They said he already weighed about 7 lbs, 11 oz, putting him in the 87th percentile. The tech said I looked closer to 38 weeks than 36, and my mom said that's nearly what I weighed when I was born.
So now I'm hoping the the kid decides to come early. Even though Kevin was almost 2 weeks late and weighed well over 10 pounds when he was born, I have my fingers crossed that our son will come a little earlier and be a little smaller. Which he probably won't. I can still dream though.
The problem is that I'm now driving myself a little bit crazy looking for signs that I'm going into labor. According to the internet, literally everything could be a sign of early labor. Then again it could just be a symptom of late pregnancy. And it's basically impossible to tell until you actually go in to labor. Not that that's stopped me (or thousands of other women) from tracking these signs and convincing ourselves that the baby's coming only to be disappointed.
Two days after the ultrasound, I experienced some spotting over night. Then I had intermittent back pain in the morning. Convinced that things were starting, I call my doctor and moved my scheduled appointment up a day. Of course nothing was actually happening, but I did get some peace of mind about it at least. I also discovered that the cervix check is more painful than I would have thought possible. So now I'm both eagerly awaiting and straight up terrified of going into labor. But billions of women have done this and most of them came through it just fine.
I'm still hoping the kid decides to show up any day now. I still have three weeks until my due date, and two weeks until I have enough PTO to go on maternity leave. But I'm so sick of being pregnant and so anxious about birthing this monster of a child that I can't help but hope he comes early. Especially since he would be considered full-term at this point. In the meantime I need to try to stay away from the internet.
It seems that my umbilical cord is attached to the side of the placenta rather than in the center. Which can lead to two things: a malnourished baby and excessive bleeding during labor. Well, the baby certainly isn't malnourished. Which either means that the umbilical cord implanted properly or that it isn't an issue. As I'm writing this I'm realizing how little I actually know. I'm not sure how I feel about that. As I said, I basically trust my doctors. They've done this a lot more than I have.
What I did learn at that ultrasound is that my baby is enormous. They said he already weighed about 7 lbs, 11 oz, putting him in the 87th percentile. The tech said I looked closer to 38 weeks than 36, and my mom said that's nearly what I weighed when I was born.
So now I'm hoping the the kid decides to come early. Even though Kevin was almost 2 weeks late and weighed well over 10 pounds when he was born, I have my fingers crossed that our son will come a little earlier and be a little smaller. Which he probably won't. I can still dream though.
The problem is that I'm now driving myself a little bit crazy looking for signs that I'm going into labor. According to the internet, literally everything could be a sign of early labor. Then again it could just be a symptom of late pregnancy. And it's basically impossible to tell until you actually go in to labor. Not that that's stopped me (or thousands of other women) from tracking these signs and convincing ourselves that the baby's coming only to be disappointed.
Two days after the ultrasound, I experienced some spotting over night. Then I had intermittent back pain in the morning. Convinced that things were starting, I call my doctor and moved my scheduled appointment up a day. Of course nothing was actually happening, but I did get some peace of mind about it at least. I also discovered that the cervix check is more painful than I would have thought possible. So now I'm both eagerly awaiting and straight up terrified of going into labor. But billions of women have done this and most of them came through it just fine.
I'm still hoping the kid decides to show up any day now. I still have three weeks until my due date, and two weeks until I have enough PTO to go on maternity leave. But I'm so sick of being pregnant and so anxious about birthing this monster of a child that I can't help but hope he comes early. Especially since he would be considered full-term at this point. In the meantime I need to try to stay away from the internet.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Baby's First Vaccine
The scientist in me is sort of weirdly proud of the fact that my baby's first first is a vaccine.
A few weeks back, the doctor told us that we needed to make sure we were up to date on our whooping cough vaccine and to tell our friends and family the same. Anyone who was going to be spending significant time around the baby and hadn't had a booster in ten years was supposed to get one. So we spread the word and Kevin made an appointment to get his booster and a basic physical, during which he discovered that he'd had the booster just a few years ago.
This prompted me to call the doctor, and, sure enough, I'd received the booster just last year. I happily checked one more thing off the to-do list and didn't give it another thought.
Until the next doctor's appointment, when I was asked if I'd gotten the booster. I explained that I'd had it a year ago, and my doctor said I needed it again anyway. It turns out you're supposed to get one every pregnancy, between weeks 27 and 36, to pass the immunization on to the baby. It's not perfect, but it provides some protection until the kid can get a vaccine of his own (which I think happens at 2 months).
So after my appointment, I got to trek out and get the TDAP booster. Which was basically a non-event. I also have to get the flu shot before I give birth, but my doctor said to wait a couple more weeks for that, so I cover more of flu season. But I'm pleased to be starting off the kid's life the right way, getting his vaccinations started before he's even born. No preventable diseases here.
A few weeks back, the doctor told us that we needed to make sure we were up to date on our whooping cough vaccine and to tell our friends and family the same. Anyone who was going to be spending significant time around the baby and hadn't had a booster in ten years was supposed to get one. So we spread the word and Kevin made an appointment to get his booster and a basic physical, during which he discovered that he'd had the booster just a few years ago.
This prompted me to call the doctor, and, sure enough, I'd received the booster just last year. I happily checked one more thing off the to-do list and didn't give it another thought.
Until the next doctor's appointment, when I was asked if I'd gotten the booster. I explained that I'd had it a year ago, and my doctor said I needed it again anyway. It turns out you're supposed to get one every pregnancy, between weeks 27 and 36, to pass the immunization on to the baby. It's not perfect, but it provides some protection until the kid can get a vaccine of his own (which I think happens at 2 months).
So after my appointment, I got to trek out and get the TDAP booster. Which was basically a non-event. I also have to get the flu shot before I give birth, but my doctor said to wait a couple more weeks for that, so I cover more of flu season. But I'm pleased to be starting off the kid's life the right way, getting his vaccinations started before he's even born. No preventable diseases here.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Overbooked
Last week I tried to do too much and burned out in a major way. I'd been feeling good, and I kept adding social events to my calendar without thinking too hard about it. It came around to bite me, as I should have expected. But I did at least find the time to recover.
After the baby shower, Kevin, Zach, and Sarah had plans to go to the baseball game. I had plans to finish my book and take a bubble bath. But since Autumn and Ben were in town and I didn't hate the previous baseball game I'd gone to, I decided to join the group instead. The game got off to a bit of a slow start, but it didn't end up lasting too long. I'm glad I went. The last several times we've seen Ben and Autumn I feel like we've barely hung out with them. I was busy with my sister-in-law's pre-wedding events or packing or moving or cleaning or just staying in a different part of the city. So it was nice to have a chance to catch up.
That led in to a Sunday spent playing board games with everyone down at Zach and Sarah's. Again, it was nice to throw responsibilities out the window. I'm not going to be able to do that for too much longer. But it did mean that I was starting to fall behind on housework with no plan for catching back up.
Monday night, Washington was playing their opening game of the football season. And since Monday Night Football isn't broadcast on local channels, we went to a bar to watch the game. This is where things really began to fall apart. I have a touch of insomnia and I'm exhausted all the time seemingly no matter what I do. So I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to stay out until 10:30 to watch the football game. It's not like I was going to be using that time to sleep anyway. It turns out I would have been using that time to relax and get ready for bed, and everything get pushed back farther because we were out late. It would have been worth it if we hadn't been destroyed so completely by the Steelers.
On Tuesday, I had the monthly ladies night with my neighbors. I was still feeling alright, and these are new relationships that I want to form and nourish. So even though these people aren't exactly my people, I joined them all for dinner and small talk. They're all nice and they're all moms, and it's good to be around other mothers when I'm so close to being one. It's nice to complain about some of the pregnancy stuff with the other pregnant women. But I also spend these evenings envisioning myself becoming a completely different person, and I'm never sure how I feel about that. On the surface, I don't have anything against becoming a "Suburban Wine Mom". I've been halfway there for years now. But I'm also not entirely ready for conversations about nannies and insane first birthdays.
The next evening I was supposed to go downtown for an alumni event. This was actually the first of all of these events to show up on my schedule, and I hadn't even committed to it until I scheduled 9:00 am doctor's appointment for Thursday. I figured that would give me a chance to sleep in and recover from staying out. But I hadn't quite counted on doing that for so many nights in a row. So when 2:00 rolled around and I was contemplating my second cup of tea to make it through the evening and Kevin expressed a lack of interest in going, I decided I wouldn't go either. Instead I went home and sat on the couch and finally started recovering from my whirlwind social life.
I did manage to sleep in on Thursday. And since I didn't have to go back to work after the doctor's appointment, I managed to bounce back from all this craziness pretty quickly. I even made a dent in the housework I hadn't done on Sunday, though I mostly just watched TV. I need to remember to balance my life and not push myself to exhaustion just because I'll be exhausted anyway. I only have a few precious weeks of relaxation left before the kid shows up, and I shouldn't waste them.
After the baby shower, Kevin, Zach, and Sarah had plans to go to the baseball game. I had plans to finish my book and take a bubble bath. But since Autumn and Ben were in town and I didn't hate the previous baseball game I'd gone to, I decided to join the group instead. The game got off to a bit of a slow start, but it didn't end up lasting too long. I'm glad I went. The last several times we've seen Ben and Autumn I feel like we've barely hung out with them. I was busy with my sister-in-law's pre-wedding events or packing or moving or cleaning or just staying in a different part of the city. So it was nice to have a chance to catch up.
That led in to a Sunday spent playing board games with everyone down at Zach and Sarah's. Again, it was nice to throw responsibilities out the window. I'm not going to be able to do that for too much longer. But it did mean that I was starting to fall behind on housework with no plan for catching back up.
Monday night, Washington was playing their opening game of the football season. And since Monday Night Football isn't broadcast on local channels, we went to a bar to watch the game. This is where things really began to fall apart. I have a touch of insomnia and I'm exhausted all the time seemingly no matter what I do. So I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to stay out until 10:30 to watch the football game. It's not like I was going to be using that time to sleep anyway. It turns out I would have been using that time to relax and get ready for bed, and everything get pushed back farther because we were out late. It would have been worth it if we hadn't been destroyed so completely by the Steelers.
On Tuesday, I had the monthly ladies night with my neighbors. I was still feeling alright, and these are new relationships that I want to form and nourish. So even though these people aren't exactly my people, I joined them all for dinner and small talk. They're all nice and they're all moms, and it's good to be around other mothers when I'm so close to being one. It's nice to complain about some of the pregnancy stuff with the other pregnant women. But I also spend these evenings envisioning myself becoming a completely different person, and I'm never sure how I feel about that. On the surface, I don't have anything against becoming a "Suburban Wine Mom". I've been halfway there for years now. But I'm also not entirely ready for conversations about nannies and insane first birthdays.
The next evening I was supposed to go downtown for an alumni event. This was actually the first of all of these events to show up on my schedule, and I hadn't even committed to it until I scheduled 9:00 am doctor's appointment for Thursday. I figured that would give me a chance to sleep in and recover from staying out. But I hadn't quite counted on doing that for so many nights in a row. So when 2:00 rolled around and I was contemplating my second cup of tea to make it through the evening and Kevin expressed a lack of interest in going, I decided I wouldn't go either. Instead I went home and sat on the couch and finally started recovering from my whirlwind social life.
I did manage to sleep in on Thursday. And since I didn't have to go back to work after the doctor's appointment, I managed to bounce back from all this craziness pretty quickly. I even made a dent in the housework I hadn't done on Sunday, though I mostly just watched TV. I need to remember to balance my life and not push myself to exhaustion just because I'll be exhausted anyway. I only have a few precious weeks of relaxation left before the kid shows up, and I shouldn't waste them.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Baby Shower
The weekend after Labor Day, Zach and Sarah threw us a baby shower. We had originally thought to do it back in August, but between moving and various other family and friend events, we weren't at all sure we'd be able to get a registry put together in time, let alone find a weekend for the party. So it got pushed back a bit, which ultimately worked well.
Zach and Sarah made all sorts of brunch food and Jen provided a couple of juices that were delicious with or without champagne added. We skipped over the typical baby shower games in favor of just visiting with everyone, which is much more our speed. And we even got a surprise visit from Ben and Autumn, who came down from NYC to attend.
It was a lot of fun to eat delicious food I didn't have to cook and sit in a chair and chat with people. We got a bunch of cute baby stuff with a decidedly Star Wars theme. I may have to work to balance that out with some Star Trek gear. It was nice and low-key and a whole lot of fun.
Zach and Sarah made all sorts of brunch food and Jen provided a couple of juices that were delicious with or without champagne added. We skipped over the typical baby shower games in favor of just visiting with everyone, which is much more our speed. And we even got a surprise visit from Ben and Autumn, who came down from NYC to attend.
It was a lot of fun to eat delicious food I didn't have to cook and sit in a chair and chat with people. We got a bunch of cute baby stuff with a decidedly Star Wars theme. I may have to work to balance that out with some Star Trek gear. It was nice and low-key and a whole lot of fun.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Last Weekend Alone
Over Labor Day Weekend, Kevin traveled to New Orleans for the Bachelor Party of our future brother-in-law. So I got the house all to myself for three days. It was nice to have a chance to relax with no demands before the baby came. Especially since it's the last time I'll get a whole weekend to myself like that for years probably.
I stopped by the mall on my way home on Friday to pick up some bubble bath and lounge pants. I also got a couple of new books and went to an Indian restaurant for dinner, as I always try to do when Kevin isn't around. I was expecting Hurricane Hermine to hit, and I was ready for a cozy, rainy weekend.
Of course, Hermine ended up skipping past DC, leaving us with muggy weather and no rain. But I suppose I shouldn't really complain. Even though it never ended up cooling off enough for me to really enjoy a bath.
The lack of rain did mean that I was able to drive out to the used bookstore and get a stack of new-to-me books. I've found that used bookstores can be really hit or miss. The last two times I went out, I was only able to find one book I wanted to buy. But this time I found a whole bunch. So I now have enough books to get me through the rest of my pregnancy, and probably the rest of the year.
I also had grand plans to clean the house over the weekend. I ended up cleaning two toilets and the shower. But at least I did that much, along with a whole bunch of laundry. I just get tired and achy too easily to really stay on top of the housework lately. We should probably hire someone to come in before the baby comes. And maybe once after the baby comes while I'm still healing.
Other than that, I mostly spent the weekend reading and watching TV. I managed to get all of Kina's walks in. But I was definitely at the limit of being able to take care of myself and two animals. If Kevin needs to leave again before the baby comes, I'll have to get someone to come stay with me. Still, it was nice to have a few days on my own as a sort of last hurrah before life gets really crazy and demanding.
I stopped by the mall on my way home on Friday to pick up some bubble bath and lounge pants. I also got a couple of new books and went to an Indian restaurant for dinner, as I always try to do when Kevin isn't around. I was expecting Hurricane Hermine to hit, and I was ready for a cozy, rainy weekend.
Of course, Hermine ended up skipping past DC, leaving us with muggy weather and no rain. But I suppose I shouldn't really complain. Even though it never ended up cooling off enough for me to really enjoy a bath.
The lack of rain did mean that I was able to drive out to the used bookstore and get a stack of new-to-me books. I've found that used bookstores can be really hit or miss. The last two times I went out, I was only able to find one book I wanted to buy. But this time I found a whole bunch. So I now have enough books to get me through the rest of my pregnancy, and probably the rest of the year.
I also had grand plans to clean the house over the weekend. I ended up cleaning two toilets and the shower. But at least I did that much, along with a whole bunch of laundry. I just get tired and achy too easily to really stay on top of the housework lately. We should probably hire someone to come in before the baby comes. And maybe once after the baby comes while I'm still healing.
Other than that, I mostly spent the weekend reading and watching TV. I managed to get all of Kina's walks in. But I was definitely at the limit of being able to take care of myself and two animals. If Kevin needs to leave again before the baby comes, I'll have to get someone to come stay with me. Still, it was nice to have a few days on my own as a sort of last hurrah before life gets really crazy and demanding.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
New York Wedding
The weekend after our housewarming party, we went up to New York for our friend Becca's wedding. This was actually the second wedding. The first one was in India the previous month with her new husband's family. But New York is much easier to travel to than India, so we just went to the second wedding.
Being a second wedding, the whole thing was relatively casual and a lot of fun. Becca and her husband decided to do a Quaker-style ceremony where they married themselves, since the legalities had already been taken care of. The venue was a museum with a strange inflatable art exhibit, a planetarium show, and a mansion we could have toured (but we missed it because I am too slow).
They had dinner and dancing in a room in the lower level of the museum, after everyone had had a chance to explore the exhibits. There was a live band, which was fun. Except that the room was a little too small for a live band. The noise ended up being a bit overwhelming, and I spent most of that part of the reception outside on the balcony, where there were some lovely, comfortable couches.
All in all it was a very fun weekend. We got a chance to see some people from college that we really don't see very often, since Becca ran in a broader social circle than us. There were some people out from the West Coast that we hardly ever see. We ended up spending most of the afternoon before the wedding at a brew-pub with friends that I'm not sure we've seen since our wedding. It was great to play games and swap stories.
Being a second wedding, the whole thing was relatively casual and a lot of fun. Becca and her husband decided to do a Quaker-style ceremony where they married themselves, since the legalities had already been taken care of. The venue was a museum with a strange inflatable art exhibit, a planetarium show, and a mansion we could have toured (but we missed it because I am too slow).
They had dinner and dancing in a room in the lower level of the museum, after everyone had had a chance to explore the exhibits. There was a live band, which was fun. Except that the room was a little too small for a live band. The noise ended up being a bit overwhelming, and I spent most of that part of the reception outside on the balcony, where there were some lovely, comfortable couches.
All in all it was a very fun weekend. We got a chance to see some people from college that we really don't see very often, since Becca ran in a broader social circle than us. There were some people out from the West Coast that we hardly ever see. We ended up spending most of the afternoon before the wedding at a brew-pub with friends that I'm not sure we've seen since our wedding. It was great to play games and swap stories.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Housewarming
About a month after we moved in to our new house, we threw our housewarming party. We combined it with our annual crab feast and ended up inviting a ton of people. It was by far the biggest crab feast we've ever had, the first time we actually finished all of the crabs at the party.
We invited our usualy friend group, who always comes to these events. Kevin also extended the invitation to his new colleagues, who all came with their spouses. And we invited a few of our new neighbors which accidentally spiraled into inviting the whole neighborhood. Thankfully most of them were still out of town or otherwise busy due to summer vacation. But a few stopped by and it was nice to get to know them.
A bunch of people brought beer and wine, and we provided a keg and a cooler full of beer and soda. And even though people stayed up late playing beer pong, we almost ended the party with more alcohol than we started it with. We even gota fancy new cooler (full of Coronas).
The party was something of a whirlwind, and I wasn't really much help as a host in terms of cooking or cleaning. I tried to at least talk to everyone who stopped by, though, and it was nice to get to know some of the new neighbors.
The Monday after the party, we hauled the remainder of the keg up to the end of our driveway and invited our neighbors over to help us finish it. It was a nice, more low-key way to get to know some of them. Though the short notice did mean that even fewer people stopped by. But it was ultimately a very fun and successful housewarming party. It's been almost a month now, and Kevin is still working his way through the excess beer.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Falling Behind
It is astounding to me how easy it has become to fall behind on this blog. I used to get antsy if I went a week without posting. Now every time I turn around it seems like another month has gone by. I'm hoping this is a temporary thing. I'd hate to have this blog fall by the wayside completely. Especially because I enjoy going back and reading old entries and reminiscing about vacations and such. This is probably going to be the best record of the beginning of my kid's life, and if I fail to update it I'm worried that I'll just lose a lot of those memories.
But for now, the lack of updates is definitely due to my pregnancy, which is sapping all of my energy. It doesn't really help that I've also had a really busy social life lately on top of a weird work schedule that's leaving me more exhausted and stressed than normal. I find myself having to choose between walking the dog and washing the dishes or cooking dinner, because I literally only have the energy to do one thing after work before I just collapse on the couch and fall asleep.
Luckily Kevin is around to pick up a lot of the slack. His final work trip got pushed back far enough that he couldn't go. Which means that he's home to cook dinner and walk Kina and just generally do everything that involves standing and walking.
Today, though, I have the day off work. And I got a full 8 hours of sleep last night. And the house is almost clean (I'm about halfway through a sink full of dishes, but I had to sit down). So I'm devoting the day and my limited brain power to getting as caught up on this blog (and my book reviews) as I can.
My work schedule has been crazy. Well, not that crazy. But stressful. Especially for someone running on 6-7 hours of sleep a night. Which I know doesn't sound that bad, but I fall apart pretty quickly without 8 hours. The problem is that I don't have any PTO left that isn't devoted to maternity leave, and my company (well, HR) has been very resistant to me taking unpaid leave. So to deal with all the doctors appointments, both planned and unplanned, I've been working 9 hour days to build up as much of a buffer as I can. This pay period it happened to work out that I was able to use that time to get an extra day off. More typically though I've been working til 7 one night so I can leave at 4 another day. And since my commute takes anywhere between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours, (and sitting in the car is murder on my back lately), it's hard to get anything else done on work days. I try to use the weekends to catch up, but that doesn't always work out either.
The pregnancy itself is going alright. The kid is moving and there aren't any major health complications. I've been sleeping on the couch for weeks now, because it's easier on my back. I really miss the bed. But every time I try to sleep there, I wake up with my back muscles so tight that I'm having trouble breathing. Someday I'll be able to sleep in the bed again. In the meantime, I'm just moving slowly and trying to remember to eat healthy and counting down the weeks until I can finally put the kid down for five minutes.
And then the rest of my life has also been crazy busy. But that's the subject of another blog entry.
But for now, the lack of updates is definitely due to my pregnancy, which is sapping all of my energy. It doesn't really help that I've also had a really busy social life lately on top of a weird work schedule that's leaving me more exhausted and stressed than normal. I find myself having to choose between walking the dog and washing the dishes or cooking dinner, because I literally only have the energy to do one thing after work before I just collapse on the couch and fall asleep.
Luckily Kevin is around to pick up a lot of the slack. His final work trip got pushed back far enough that he couldn't go. Which means that he's home to cook dinner and walk Kina and just generally do everything that involves standing and walking.
Today, though, I have the day off work. And I got a full 8 hours of sleep last night. And the house is almost clean (I'm about halfway through a sink full of dishes, but I had to sit down). So I'm devoting the day and my limited brain power to getting as caught up on this blog (and my book reviews) as I can.
My work schedule has been crazy. Well, not that crazy. But stressful. Especially for someone running on 6-7 hours of sleep a night. Which I know doesn't sound that bad, but I fall apart pretty quickly without 8 hours. The problem is that I don't have any PTO left that isn't devoted to maternity leave, and my company (well, HR) has been very resistant to me taking unpaid leave. So to deal with all the doctors appointments, both planned and unplanned, I've been working 9 hour days to build up as much of a buffer as I can. This pay period it happened to work out that I was able to use that time to get an extra day off. More typically though I've been working til 7 one night so I can leave at 4 another day. And since my commute takes anywhere between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours, (and sitting in the car is murder on my back lately), it's hard to get anything else done on work days. I try to use the weekends to catch up, but that doesn't always work out either.
The pregnancy itself is going alright. The kid is moving and there aren't any major health complications. I've been sleeping on the couch for weeks now, because it's easier on my back. I really miss the bed. But every time I try to sleep there, I wake up with my back muscles so tight that I'm having trouble breathing. Someday I'll be able to sleep in the bed again. In the meantime, I'm just moving slowly and trying to remember to eat healthy and counting down the weeks until I can finally put the kid down for five minutes.
And then the rest of my life has also been crazy busy. But that's the subject of another blog entry.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Welcome to the Neighborhood
Once we got settled in our new house, we decided it was time to meet the neighbors. So one night after dinner we went out, armed with invitations to our house-warming party, to meet the other families on the cul-de-sac with us. We figured five households was a good start, and a decent number of people to invite to the party.
Everyone was very nice and welcoming, though four of the five houses belong to older couples. All of their kids were in their twenties and out of the house, except for the one high school senior (youngest of five). And then there's one oddball family with middle-school aged kids. Of the five families we met, two were planing to be out of town, but three said they'd drop by the party. That had been about what we'd been expecting, and it was nice to start meeting people and learning names.
We also learned about various social events. There's a semi-regular Wine Wednesday, a regular guys night every Thursday, a monthly ladies night out, and a bunch of parties throughout the year. Everyone kept telling us about the epic Halloween party; I'm eager to see how it stacks up against our Halloween party. One of the neighbors said she'd make sure we got on the various neighborhood email lists, and we thanked her.
By the time we got home, we had a couple of emails detailing the upcoming regularly scheduled events and introducing us to the neighborhood. Our friendly neighbor had also taken it upon herself to extend the invitation to our house warming party to the entire neighborhood, some 40-odd houses. So far only one of those households has RSVPed, so we don't really have any idea what to expect come Saturday.
On the bright side, we did get to attend a few events and start meeting more neighbors. The Wine Wednesday is hosted by one of the other pregnant couples. There were a lot of people there, too many for me to remember names. But I met both of the other pregnant ladies in the neighborhood, and they seem nice which is heartening. Both families already have toddlers, and there seem to be a lot of younger children around in general.
I'm actually glad we moved into such a welcoming, social neighborhood. Our housewarming party could get a bit insane, and we may actually run out of food for the first time in our hosting history. But it will be good to start socializing with people. According to everyone we've talked to, this is a neighborhood that likes to party hard. The people our age have told us they have a hard time keeping up with the empty-nesters, which makes sense. Hopefully it also means that Kevin and I will fit right in.
And now to hope that a reasonable number of people choose to attend the housewarming party this Saturday. It'll be good to meet more people; I just hate not knowing how many, exactly, are coming.
Everyone was very nice and welcoming, though four of the five houses belong to older couples. All of their kids were in their twenties and out of the house, except for the one high school senior (youngest of five). And then there's one oddball family with middle-school aged kids. Of the five families we met, two were planing to be out of town, but three said they'd drop by the party. That had been about what we'd been expecting, and it was nice to start meeting people and learning names.
We also learned about various social events. There's a semi-regular Wine Wednesday, a regular guys night every Thursday, a monthly ladies night out, and a bunch of parties throughout the year. Everyone kept telling us about the epic Halloween party; I'm eager to see how it stacks up against our Halloween party. One of the neighbors said she'd make sure we got on the various neighborhood email lists, and we thanked her.
By the time we got home, we had a couple of emails detailing the upcoming regularly scheduled events and introducing us to the neighborhood. Our friendly neighbor had also taken it upon herself to extend the invitation to our house warming party to the entire neighborhood, some 40-odd houses. So far only one of those households has RSVPed, so we don't really have any idea what to expect come Saturday.
On the bright side, we did get to attend a few events and start meeting more neighbors. The Wine Wednesday is hosted by one of the other pregnant couples. There were a lot of people there, too many for me to remember names. But I met both of the other pregnant ladies in the neighborhood, and they seem nice which is heartening. Both families already have toddlers, and there seem to be a lot of younger children around in general.
I'm actually glad we moved into such a welcoming, social neighborhood. Our housewarming party could get a bit insane, and we may actually run out of food for the first time in our hosting history. But it will be good to start socializing with people. According to everyone we've talked to, this is a neighborhood that likes to party hard. The people our age have told us they have a hard time keeping up with the empty-nesters, which makes sense. Hopefully it also means that Kevin and I will fit right in.
And now to hope that a reasonable number of people choose to attend the housewarming party this Saturday. It'll be good to meet more people; I just hate not knowing how many, exactly, are coming.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Baby Registry
Once we got settled in the new house, it was time to start focusing on the next big change in our lives: the baby. We've sort of been ignoring the whole thing up to this point, figuring we'll deal with all the details once we got in the new hosue. And now that we're finally thinking about the kid, it seems like it's all happening way too fast. It doesn't help that there is an overwhelming amount of stuff to think about.
The biggest casualty of this whole procrastination has been the childbirth class. By the time we got around to signing up for one, there was only on possible date before my due date. A six-hour Saturday class on a day that Kevin only has a 50/50 chance of being in town. Luckily, this is the age of the internet. We found an online course that we can do at our own pace in our own time. Now we just have to remember to do it.
The other big thing is the baby registry. We had to pick out everything from a crib and a stroller to bottles and a thermometer. It ended up taking a couple of weeks to research everything and figure out what we wanted and what we felt like we actually needed. The store recommended an absurd number of blankets. After we put them all on, we ended up taking about half back off. We figure that if we really end up needing them, we can buy them after the kid shows up. And at the recommendation of the store, we didn't end up putting any clothes or toys on the registry at all. Apparently people just buy what they want in those categories, and we can always go back and fill in what we need when the due date gets closer.
It's nice to have this all taken care of. Now we just need to wait and see what people want to gift us and what we'll have to buy ourselves. Hopefully we manage the timing well enough that we have everything by the time the kid actually gets here. That could be the trickiest part of the whole thing. Maybe we shouldn't have waited so long to get our act together.
Monday, August 15, 2016
First House Guests
Less than two weeks after we moved in to the new house, we hosted our first out-of-town guests. I had a family reunion up in Harrisburg, which is about a two hour drive from where we live. We've known about it for months, probably since last year. And from the beginning the plan had been for my dad to fly out and stay with us so we could all go up together. That got a bit shaky once we started looking for a new house. But luckily the timing worked out, so they got to see the new place on the same trip as the reunion.
Actually, the timing probably could have been a bit better. While the impending guests did give us motivation to unpack pretty quickly, the trip also coincided with a rough patch in my pregnancy. I was only getting 3 or 4 hours of sleep while our company was here. It left me short-temperered and irritable, which meant I was a less-than-gracious hostess. It can be hard to socialize when all you want to do is lay on the couch and watch TV.
Regardless, we ended up having a nice visit. The reunion was at a heritage picnic. There was live music and a whole lot of food. I didn't really know any of the people there beyond my immediate family, but my dad had a lot of fun reconnecting with his cousins and meeting their kids (and their kids). I had fun sitting in the shade and eating lamb sandwiches.
It was nice to see family, and it's good to know that our guest room works. I just hope I'm in a better mood the next time we have visitors. Although considering I'll have an infant at that point, it doesn't seem too likely. At least I have an understanding family.
Actually, the timing probably could have been a bit better. While the impending guests did give us motivation to unpack pretty quickly, the trip also coincided with a rough patch in my pregnancy. I was only getting 3 or 4 hours of sleep while our company was here. It left me short-temperered and irritable, which meant I was a less-than-gracious hostess. It can be hard to socialize when all you want to do is lay on the couch and watch TV.
Regardless, we ended up having a nice visit. The reunion was at a heritage picnic. There was live music and a whole lot of food. I didn't really know any of the people there beyond my immediate family, but my dad had a lot of fun reconnecting with his cousins and meeting their kids (and their kids). I had fun sitting in the shade and eating lamb sandwiches.
It was nice to see family, and it's good to know that our guest room works. I just hope I'm in a better mood the next time we have visitors. Although considering I'll have an infant at that point, it doesn't seem too likely. At least I have an understanding family.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Aching Back
My rash has thankfully cleared up. At this point I think it was a heat rash, exacerbated by the fact that we were moving. Lifting things, even light things, in hot, humid weather is no good. But shortly after we were settled in the new house (and with the liberal use of cortizone) it cleared up and I'm back to the more typical summer itchiness caused by a million mosquitos.
However, that means it's time for the next pregnancy symptom to rear it's ugly head: lower back pain.
I'd been anticipating this one. I've struggled with back pain since I injured myself in a dance class in high school. I'd done a good job, in recent years, of building up those muscles. But with the pregnancy I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was laid low with an aching back.
What I didn't expect was the cause of the aching back. It turns out that I'm actually mostly fine when I'm sitting or standing. If my back does start hurting at work, a five minute walk will clear it up. If I've been standing for too long, it's easy enough to sit down for a while. I quickly learned not to go barefoot on hardwood floors, since that makes my back hurt more quickly. And I rediscovered the joys of epsom salt baths.
No, what took me by surprise is my inability to lie down for more than three hours. This is probably true of any position, actually. I'm constantly fidgeting and moving around to get more comfortable. But it's especially noticeable when you're trying to sleep for a typical 8 hours and you find yourself physically incapable of lying down.
It took a lot of trial and error and 3 AM internet research, but I've finally figured out something that seems to be working. I start the night off with a pillow between my legs, curled up as close as I can manage to the fetal position. I hate curling up like that to sleep, especially with this bowling-ball shaped thing in my middle. But it does allow me to get a few precious hours in the bed on my right side while my cell phone/alarm clock charges. Sometime between 1 and 4 in the morning I'll wake up with the aching back and tight hamstrings. That's when I move to the couch in the living room. It's lumpy in the right places to support my back, and it allows me to stretch out completely, but it does require me to sleep on my left side (head near the table with the precious water and hated alarm clock).
Nothing is 100% comfortable, but between these two positions, I'm managing to eke out a solid 7 hours of sleep on a good night. There are still plenty of nights when I'm only getting 3 or 4 hours, whether because of hot flashes or stress or Kevin stealing my pillow. To be fair, the ball position leads to me taking up more than half the bed, so it's not that surprising when I wake up with him crowding my space.
It took a couple of weeks to hit this rhythm that's allowing me maximum sleep. Seven hours still isn't quite enough, and I can feel myself dragging come Thursday or Friday. But there were a few weeks there when I was starting to distrust my ability to drive and was wondering if I might have to stop working a lot sooner than I'd intended. When I alternated between being a zombie, and being a cranky, grumpy, crying mess. I've found another equilibrium finally, and I'm hoping it lasts for a while.
However, that means it's time for the next pregnancy symptom to rear it's ugly head: lower back pain.
I'd been anticipating this one. I've struggled with back pain since I injured myself in a dance class in high school. I'd done a good job, in recent years, of building up those muscles. But with the pregnancy I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was laid low with an aching back.
What I didn't expect was the cause of the aching back. It turns out that I'm actually mostly fine when I'm sitting or standing. If my back does start hurting at work, a five minute walk will clear it up. If I've been standing for too long, it's easy enough to sit down for a while. I quickly learned not to go barefoot on hardwood floors, since that makes my back hurt more quickly. And I rediscovered the joys of epsom salt baths.
No, what took me by surprise is my inability to lie down for more than three hours. This is probably true of any position, actually. I'm constantly fidgeting and moving around to get more comfortable. But it's especially noticeable when you're trying to sleep for a typical 8 hours and you find yourself physically incapable of lying down.
It took a lot of trial and error and 3 AM internet research, but I've finally figured out something that seems to be working. I start the night off with a pillow between my legs, curled up as close as I can manage to the fetal position. I hate curling up like that to sleep, especially with this bowling-ball shaped thing in my middle. But it does allow me to get a few precious hours in the bed on my right side while my cell phone/alarm clock charges. Sometime between 1 and 4 in the morning I'll wake up with the aching back and tight hamstrings. That's when I move to the couch in the living room. It's lumpy in the right places to support my back, and it allows me to stretch out completely, but it does require me to sleep on my left side (head near the table with the precious water and hated alarm clock).
Nothing is 100% comfortable, but between these two positions, I'm managing to eke out a solid 7 hours of sleep on a good night. There are still plenty of nights when I'm only getting 3 or 4 hours, whether because of hot flashes or stress or Kevin stealing my pillow. To be fair, the ball position leads to me taking up more than half the bed, so it's not that surprising when I wake up with him crowding my space.
It took a couple of weeks to hit this rhythm that's allowing me maximum sleep. Seven hours still isn't quite enough, and I can feel myself dragging come Thursday or Friday. But there were a few weeks there when I was starting to distrust my ability to drive and was wondering if I might have to stop working a lot sooner than I'd intended. When I alternated between being a zombie, and being a cranky, grumpy, crying mess. I've found another equilibrium finally, and I'm hoping it lasts for a while.
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Moving
We had a full week between closing on the house and officially moving into it. We set it up this way mostly so we would have a full weekend to get settled. Instead of having the movers move everything on Saturday followed by a rush of unpacking on Sunday, we took things a little slower. Kevin took Friday off to be around while the movers came, and we had both Saturday and Sunday to get settled in the new house. Which is especially important since I'm currently out of PTO in anticipation of my maternity leave.
It also meant that we were able to use that gap week to start moving over the things we could move over. We did our entire kitchen this way, bringing plates and glasses slowly so we wouldn't worry about them breaking. We brought games and DVDs and clothes. As we decided that we wouldn't need things until after we moved, we took them to the new house. By the time the movers showed up on Friday, all that was left was furniture, cleaning supplies (which stayed behind another day) and a single suitcase with last minute clothes and toiletries.
It's actually a good thing we were able to get so much moved on our own, even if I spent the week in a haze of exhaustion. The movers had a hard time fitting the rest of our stuff in their truck. Which actually surprised me, because I don't think we have an inordinate amount of stuff for the size house we had. But it all fit in the end, so I suppose it doesn't really matter.
The other upside of moving things piecemeal is that the house was already almost put together by the time we officially moved in. Clothes were in closets, linens were folded, the kitchen was all set up. It didn't take us long at all to go through the remaining boxes and do a few loads of laundry and dishes. By the time we'd been in the house a week, the only thing left to do was hang pictures. And if we still need to hang those pictures nearly a month after we moved in, well, we made good progress for a while at least. The finishing touches will happen this weekend, or at least before our housewarming next weekend.
It's so nice to be settled in the new house. There are a few things that are already driving me bananas - the dishwasher is tiny and the kitchen in general is a bit shoddy. But for the most part I love it. My books are all out in common spaces now instead of hidden away in my office. Kevin has his own office, so I can use the living room without disturbing him. I'm even getting used to the longer commute. Now all we need to do is sell the townhouse and everything will be settled.
It also meant that we were able to use that gap week to start moving over the things we could move over. We did our entire kitchen this way, bringing plates and glasses slowly so we wouldn't worry about them breaking. We brought games and DVDs and clothes. As we decided that we wouldn't need things until after we moved, we took them to the new house. By the time the movers showed up on Friday, all that was left was furniture, cleaning supplies (which stayed behind another day) and a single suitcase with last minute clothes and toiletries.
It's actually a good thing we were able to get so much moved on our own, even if I spent the week in a haze of exhaustion. The movers had a hard time fitting the rest of our stuff in their truck. Which actually surprised me, because I don't think we have an inordinate amount of stuff for the size house we had. But it all fit in the end, so I suppose it doesn't really matter.
The other upside of moving things piecemeal is that the house was already almost put together by the time we officially moved in. Clothes were in closets, linens were folded, the kitchen was all set up. It didn't take us long at all to go through the remaining boxes and do a few loads of laundry and dishes. By the time we'd been in the house a week, the only thing left to do was hang pictures. And if we still need to hang those pictures nearly a month after we moved in, well, we made good progress for a while at least. The finishing touches will happen this weekend, or at least before our housewarming next weekend.
It's so nice to be settled in the new house. There are a few things that are already driving me bananas - the dishwasher is tiny and the kitchen in general is a bit shoddy. But for the most part I love it. My books are all out in common spaces now instead of hidden away in my office. Kevin has his own office, so I can use the living room without disturbing him. I'm even getting used to the longer commute. Now all we need to do is sell the townhouse and everything will be settled.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Thirty
I spent my thirtieth birthday moving into a new house and gestating my first kid. Which is pretty much exactly how I've been wanting to celebrate my thirtieth birthday for several years now. Well, maybe not the actively moving part. But it's nice to be looking forward to so much positive change during a milestone birthday. Also, I'm hoping that the round numbers will make it easier for me to remember my own and my kids' age in the decades to come.
We got the keys to our new house the day before my birthday, so we had planned to spend the day taking over things we didn't want to bother the official movers with. Things that were fragile or too hard to pack. We also took Kina over to the new house, since we had to get her out of the old house for a few showings.
The air conditioner was out at the new house, which killed some of our plans. We got a load of stuff moved over, but it was ultimately too hot (and I was too pregnant) for us to do too much. It was a good start, though.
In the evening, Kevin and I went out for a nice steak dinner, as we always do to celebrate birthdays. I almost ate too much, but managed to keep from feeling like I was going to explode. And I celebrated with a glass of wine, which I once again managed to nurse for about an hour. I'm really going to have to figure out how to hold on to that skill in the future.
All in all, it was a pretty low-key day. But, as I said, it's exactly what I wanted for my thirtieth. I'm really looking forward to the coming year, which promises to be both excellent and busy. And given that I'm posting this nearly three weeks after my birthday, you can tell that the business has already started.
We got the keys to our new house the day before my birthday, so we had planned to spend the day taking over things we didn't want to bother the official movers with. Things that were fragile or too hard to pack. We also took Kina over to the new house, since we had to get her out of the old house for a few showings.
The air conditioner was out at the new house, which killed some of our plans. We got a load of stuff moved over, but it was ultimately too hot (and I was too pregnant) for us to do too much. It was a good start, though.
In the evening, Kevin and I went out for a nice steak dinner, as we always do to celebrate birthdays. I almost ate too much, but managed to keep from feeling like I was going to explode. And I celebrated with a glass of wine, which I once again managed to nurse for about an hour. I'm really going to have to figure out how to hold on to that skill in the future.
All in all, it was a pretty low-key day. But, as I said, it's exactly what I wanted for my thirtieth. I'm really looking forward to the coming year, which promises to be both excellent and busy. And given that I'm posting this nearly three weeks after my birthday, you can tell that the business has already started.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Closing Time
Last Friday everything finally came together and we closed on our new house. Things didn't quite go as smoothly as we'd been hoping, but at the end of the day everything worked out.
The previous owner moved out the Sunday before we closed, so Kevin and our realtor were able to do a walkthrough on Monday to make sure everything was still working. Kevin said the house was a mess, but there was a cleaning service scheduled to come through on Tuesday. Then our realtor did one final walkthrough on Friday, about an hour before we signed all the papers. While the house had been cleaned, the air conditioner had stopped working.
Luckily, we caught the broken A/C before we signed anything. We were able to add a condition to get it fixed: the owner would hold $2000 in escrow to be used against repairs and we would use her warranty before calling in anyone else. Negotiating that stretched our closing out to almost 2 hours. Although we also had a whole lot of paperwork to go through. I must have signed or initialed 200 pieces of paper during the meeting. But by the end we got our keys and we were able to go see the house.
Without air conditioning, we didn't want to hang out too long. But we loaded the car with a few boxes, picked up sandwiches, and went over to the new house. Kevin brought a bottle of champagne, too, and I had a couple of sips to celebrate.
We aren't officially moving in until the 22nd. We hired movers to take all of our furniture, because we're past the point of bribing friends with pizza and beer to help us move. We just have too much stuff now. But we are trying to get a decent amount of moving done ourselves. There are things that are awkward or fragile to pack and easy enough for us to move. I'm actually amazed at how much progress we're making in these little trips. And it helps that we can unpack it all right and put it away immediately. I'm hoping it makes the entire process go smoother and faster.
I'm really excited about our new house. It'll be nice to have more land and privacy than we currently do in the townhome. And the living room won't be doubling as Kevin's office anymore, so we can spread out a bit more. Plus the kitchen is everything I ever wanted in a kitchen. Now we just have to move in and unpack, then we can start focusing on the kid.
The previous owner moved out the Sunday before we closed, so Kevin and our realtor were able to do a walkthrough on Monday to make sure everything was still working. Kevin said the house was a mess, but there was a cleaning service scheduled to come through on Tuesday. Then our realtor did one final walkthrough on Friday, about an hour before we signed all the papers. While the house had been cleaned, the air conditioner had stopped working.
Luckily, we caught the broken A/C before we signed anything. We were able to add a condition to get it fixed: the owner would hold $2000 in escrow to be used against repairs and we would use her warranty before calling in anyone else. Negotiating that stretched our closing out to almost 2 hours. Although we also had a whole lot of paperwork to go through. I must have signed or initialed 200 pieces of paper during the meeting. But by the end we got our keys and we were able to go see the house.
Without air conditioning, we didn't want to hang out too long. But we loaded the car with a few boxes, picked up sandwiches, and went over to the new house. Kevin brought a bottle of champagne, too, and I had a couple of sips to celebrate.
We aren't officially moving in until the 22nd. We hired movers to take all of our furniture, because we're past the point of bribing friends with pizza and beer to help us move. We just have too much stuff now. But we are trying to get a decent amount of moving done ourselves. There are things that are awkward or fragile to pack and easy enough for us to move. I'm actually amazed at how much progress we're making in these little trips. And it helps that we can unpack it all right and put it away immediately. I'm hoping it makes the entire process go smoother and faster.
I'm really excited about our new house. It'll be nice to have more land and privacy than we currently do in the townhome. And the living room won't be doubling as Kevin's office anymore, so we can spread out a bit more. Plus the kitchen is everything I ever wanted in a kitchen. Now we just have to move in and unpack, then we can start focusing on the kid.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Itching
At my 24-week appointment, I'd intended to ask my doctor if it was normal to have as many stretch marks as I did. They essentially covered my belly at that point, though I didn't have any on my thighs or breasts. But then we started talking about my elevated risk for gestational diabetes, and the stretch marks flew right out of my mind. Besides, she'd looked at my belly in order to measure it. She'd have said something if it was abnormal, right?
A few days later, my belly started itching. I poked around on the internet, like I do with every new symptom, and found out that this was fairly common. Skin dries out more easily when it stretches, so it gets itchier. I upped my moisturizing regimen and tried to power through. Over the weekend I bought some cocoa butter, hoping that using it in addition to the shea butter would help.
At the glucose test, I was concentrating on giving blood. I've been dizzy in the mornings, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't faint. Besides which, I saw a technician instead of the doctor. And the internet had assured me that the itching was normal. So even though my stretch marks had become inflamed, turning my entire stomach red and angry, I didn't think to bring it up.
The next morning the itchiness and apparent stretch marks had spread to my thighs. I thought it was strange for the stretch marks to appear all at once overnight, but what do I know? They were supposed to be there all along, maybe it just took a while for my body to catch up.
The itching was bordering on unbearable at this point. I was putting on shea butter in the morning and cocoa butter in the evening. I have regular old body lotion at my desk at work, which I was applying 2 or 3 times during the day. And every time I woke up to pee in the night I was putting on more lotion, lest the itchiness keep me awake. Even then, it was managing to wake me up on all it's own. So I did what any millennial would do in my situation.
I complained on Facebook.
A friend of mine who had recently been pregnant herself and is a doctor to boot asked if I had the rash. I responded no, but it got me thinking. So I looked it up and started learning about PUPPP, or pregnancy rash. (I can't for the life of me remember what all those Ps stand for). It matched. The symptoms were the same and all the pictures looked familiar.
Of course, an internet diagnosis isn't a real diagnosis, even if having an answer made me feel better. So I called my OB and described my symptoms. She asked me to come into the office, which required shuffling my work schedule around, but I made it work. And then she told me that it's too early for the rash to be pregnancy-related and that I should make an appointment with my regular doctor. It felt like a complete waste of a morning, though she did give me permission to start using a cortisone cream.
The good news is that I am feeling better now. The rash has vanished from my stomach and it's become less itchy elsewhere. The last couple of weeks were rough, and I still have no idea what caused the rash. But it seems that it wasn't PUPPP, since the only cure for that is to give birth. My best guess at this point is that it was heat-related and the cortizone (and aloe and cocoa butter and shea butter) helped clear it up. At least I'll know what to try if it does come back.
A few days later, my belly started itching. I poked around on the internet, like I do with every new symptom, and found out that this was fairly common. Skin dries out more easily when it stretches, so it gets itchier. I upped my moisturizing regimen and tried to power through. Over the weekend I bought some cocoa butter, hoping that using it in addition to the shea butter would help.
At the glucose test, I was concentrating on giving blood. I've been dizzy in the mornings, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't faint. Besides which, I saw a technician instead of the doctor. And the internet had assured me that the itching was normal. So even though my stretch marks had become inflamed, turning my entire stomach red and angry, I didn't think to bring it up.
The next morning the itchiness and apparent stretch marks had spread to my thighs. I thought it was strange for the stretch marks to appear all at once overnight, but what do I know? They were supposed to be there all along, maybe it just took a while for my body to catch up.
The itching was bordering on unbearable at this point. I was putting on shea butter in the morning and cocoa butter in the evening. I have regular old body lotion at my desk at work, which I was applying 2 or 3 times during the day. And every time I woke up to pee in the night I was putting on more lotion, lest the itchiness keep me awake. Even then, it was managing to wake me up on all it's own. So I did what any millennial would do in my situation.
I complained on Facebook.
A friend of mine who had recently been pregnant herself and is a doctor to boot asked if I had the rash. I responded no, but it got me thinking. So I looked it up and started learning about PUPPP, or pregnancy rash. (I can't for the life of me remember what all those Ps stand for). It matched. The symptoms were the same and all the pictures looked familiar.
Of course, an internet diagnosis isn't a real diagnosis, even if having an answer made me feel better. So I called my OB and described my symptoms. She asked me to come into the office, which required shuffling my work schedule around, but I made it work. And then she told me that it's too early for the rash to be pregnancy-related and that I should make an appointment with my regular doctor. It felt like a complete waste of a morning, though she did give me permission to start using a cortisone cream.
The good news is that I am feeling better now. The rash has vanished from my stomach and it's become less itchy elsewhere. The last couple of weeks were rough, and I still have no idea what caused the rash. But it seems that it wasn't PUPPP, since the only cure for that is to give birth. My best guess at this point is that it was heat-related and the cortizone (and aloe and cocoa butter and shea butter) helped clear it up. At least I'll know what to try if it does come back.
Friday, July 8, 2016
A Quiet Holiday
Kevin and I did almost nothing to celebrate the 4th of July this year, and it was glorious.
Usually we'll take any excuse to grill some burgers and have friends over. But the grill is already packed away, and we're not buying any more charcoal until after the move. We can't host anything right now as we may have to clean and vacate the house with very little notice. Plus, this has been the first weekend in a while when we could just sprawl on couches and catch up on TV.
We did go out Friday night. Kevin got free tickets to Kinky Boots at The Kennedy Center. It was fun, though hard to hear the actors. Especially when they were singing. I'm not sure if it was a sound mixing problem or what, but it distracted some from the show. Lola was amazing, as he should be. He stole every single scene he was in. The rest was more or less forgettable. But it was fun to go out.
We went out a couple of more times, mostly to get food. We're trying to work our way through the pantry right now and now buy too much stuff that will be difficult to move. It's maybe a little premature for that, since we aren't moving until the 22nd. Last week I had bought food to cook and then we were forced to go out because someone wanted to see the house, though. So it seemed prudent.
We also went to see Finding Dory, which I thought was fine. It's not my favorite Pixar movie, but it was fun.
Other than that, I read three books and we watched half a season of Elementary. I also caught up on sleep. The more relaxed I got, the easier it was to sleep in. By Monday morning I actually achieved a solid 8 hours. I got to start the week rejuvenated instead of slightly less exhausted.
We don't have that many more lazy weekends in our future, so I was happy to take full advantage of this one. Before we know it, the kid's gonna be here, demanding every waking minute and most of my sleeping ones, too.
Usually we'll take any excuse to grill some burgers and have friends over. But the grill is already packed away, and we're not buying any more charcoal until after the move. We can't host anything right now as we may have to clean and vacate the house with very little notice. Plus, this has been the first weekend in a while when we could just sprawl on couches and catch up on TV.
We did go out Friday night. Kevin got free tickets to Kinky Boots at The Kennedy Center. It was fun, though hard to hear the actors. Especially when they were singing. I'm not sure if it was a sound mixing problem or what, but it distracted some from the show. Lola was amazing, as he should be. He stole every single scene he was in. The rest was more or less forgettable. But it was fun to go out.
We went out a couple of more times, mostly to get food. We're trying to work our way through the pantry right now and now buy too much stuff that will be difficult to move. It's maybe a little premature for that, since we aren't moving until the 22nd. Last week I had bought food to cook and then we were forced to go out because someone wanted to see the house, though. So it seemed prudent.
We also went to see Finding Dory, which I thought was fine. It's not my favorite Pixar movie, but it was fun.
Other than that, I read three books and we watched half a season of Elementary. I also caught up on sleep. The more relaxed I got, the easier it was to sleep in. By Monday morning I actually achieved a solid 8 hours. I got to start the week rejuvenated instead of slightly less exhausted.
We don't have that many more lazy weekends in our future, so I was happy to take full advantage of this one. Before we know it, the kid's gonna be here, demanding every waking minute and most of my sleeping ones, too.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
My Body is Teaching Me Patience
I'm moving a lot slower lately. It's not because I'm hurting. The aches and pains have finally subsided. Either that or they've become so omnipresent that they've just faded into the background. That happens. It's not exhaustion either. I'm actually achieving something close to 8 hours of sleep a night. My sleeping habits are close to what they were pre-pregnancy. It appears that I've reached a sort of equilibrium. And I think it's partly due to the fact that I've slowed down.
This started when I was tired and aching all the time. Which was at least partially due to a cold. I was so exhausted I managed to forget I was sick until I started feeling better. I hadn't realized that could happen. It left me shambling around the office like a zombie, taking twice as long to climb a flight of stairs or get to the metro. I was being forced into longer and more frequent breaks. And now that I'm feeling better, I'm continuing with that. It's helping me sustain my energy levels farther into the evening.
It's a little amazing how easy to has been to take a little extra time. I've been waking up earlier so my mornings aren't as stressful. I've been ambling around the office when I need to go to the bathroom or refill my water bottle (hourly occurrences at the moment). It's also amazing how little I care when someone I'm walking with starts to go faster or someone behind me starts grumbling. I'm moving at my own pace, and the rest of the world gets to deal with it, however they want.
I think this springs from the same part of my personality that enjoys a good blizzard. I'll take any excuse to slow down and look at the world around me. Right now pregnancy is providing me with that excuse. It's not forcing the world to come to a screeching halt like snow so often does. But it's helping a bit. Especially with how busy we've been lately and how busy we will be soon, it's been nice to move at my own pace for a while. I'm glad my body is forcing this on me.
I'm less glad about some of the other things that have been forced on me. My stomach is itching like crazy, apparently a side-effect of the skin being stretched out. If I spend too much of the day upright, I get a nice upper back pain, thanks to my newly weighty boobs. And I'm still getting up to pee every three hours at night.
On a bigger level, my vitals aren't exactly what they should be. My blood pressure is on the low side, which results in some dizziness and light-headedness, especially in the mornings. I haven't fainted yet, though. And the sugar content of my pee was high enough that the doctor decided to move my gestational diabetes test up three weeks. It doesn't seem like there's anything to be really worried about yet, but it's stuff to keep an eye on.
All in all I'm in a good place at the moment. I don't feel as big as I did a week ago. Probably because I've adjusted to this size and have yet to grow even bigger. My belly button switches between innie and outie a few times a day, which is fun. And the kid is moving around a ton. I'm still the only one who can feel it, though I don't know if that's just because he does most of his moving while I'm at work. When the doctor went to measure the heartbeat yesterday, he did kick the mic a few times. I'm definitely carrying Kevin's kid.
I don't how long these good feelings will last. I'm going to get bigger. Things are going to hurt more. I may have to be a lot more careful with my diet in the coming weeks. For now I'm trying to enjoy what feels like a bit of a reprieve. I hope it isn't the last one.
This started when I was tired and aching all the time. Which was at least partially due to a cold. I was so exhausted I managed to forget I was sick until I started feeling better. I hadn't realized that could happen. It left me shambling around the office like a zombie, taking twice as long to climb a flight of stairs or get to the metro. I was being forced into longer and more frequent breaks. And now that I'm feeling better, I'm continuing with that. It's helping me sustain my energy levels farther into the evening.
It's a little amazing how easy to has been to take a little extra time. I've been waking up earlier so my mornings aren't as stressful. I've been ambling around the office when I need to go to the bathroom or refill my water bottle (hourly occurrences at the moment). It's also amazing how little I care when someone I'm walking with starts to go faster or someone behind me starts grumbling. I'm moving at my own pace, and the rest of the world gets to deal with it, however they want.
I think this springs from the same part of my personality that enjoys a good blizzard. I'll take any excuse to slow down and look at the world around me. Right now pregnancy is providing me with that excuse. It's not forcing the world to come to a screeching halt like snow so often does. But it's helping a bit. Especially with how busy we've been lately and how busy we will be soon, it's been nice to move at my own pace for a while. I'm glad my body is forcing this on me.
I'm less glad about some of the other things that have been forced on me. My stomach is itching like crazy, apparently a side-effect of the skin being stretched out. If I spend too much of the day upright, I get a nice upper back pain, thanks to my newly weighty boobs. And I'm still getting up to pee every three hours at night.
On a bigger level, my vitals aren't exactly what they should be. My blood pressure is on the low side, which results in some dizziness and light-headedness, especially in the mornings. I haven't fainted yet, though. And the sugar content of my pee was high enough that the doctor decided to move my gestational diabetes test up three weeks. It doesn't seem like there's anything to be really worried about yet, but it's stuff to keep an eye on.
All in all I'm in a good place at the moment. I don't feel as big as I did a week ago. Probably because I've adjusted to this size and have yet to grow even bigger. My belly button switches between innie and outie a few times a day, which is fun. And the kid is moving around a ton. I'm still the only one who can feel it, though I don't know if that's just because he does most of his moving while I'm at work. When the doctor went to measure the heartbeat yesterday, he did kick the mic a few times. I'm definitely carrying Kevin's kid.
I don't how long these good feelings will last. I'm going to get bigger. Things are going to hurt more. I may have to be a lot more careful with my diet in the coming weeks. For now I'm trying to enjoy what feels like a bit of a reprieve. I hope it isn't the last one.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
On the Market
We finally got our house on the market. It's been a little over a month since we started working towards this goal. We probably would have hit it sooner if we hadn't had scheduling snafus with our contractors. But after weeks of packing and moving furniture and cleaning and watching our house slowly transform, we're finally ready to sell it.
The last push was particularly brutal. We got up early Saturday morning to buy the various things our stager told us to get (new towels, flowers, a welcome mat, etc). Then we had to get home to let the carpet installers in so they could finish the stairs. While they worked, Kevin and I cleaned the basement and he did some yard work. I tried to remember to take breaks while I cleaned the kitchen and found places for the things we had to hide.
Then I went shopping, because I've been in desperate need of a new bra for a little over a week now. By the time I got home, the heat had conspired drain the last of my energy. My plans to sweep and mop were thrown out the window in favor of recovering on the couch, especially since I had to stay up later than I'd intended. Kevin got a flat tire on the way to his baseball game, so I had to pick him up around 10.
The next morning we woke up as early as we could manage to finish getting the house ready. The cleaning seemed never-ending. It didn't help that I had to disappear at one point to get Kina to her grooming appointment, though it was necessary to have her out of the house one way or another.
Our realtor showed up a little before 11 and began shoving everything in cabinets. The blankets I'd carefully folded on the backs of the couches were hidden. Towels and soap were put away. Any trace of our pets had to be moved to the basement where they wouldn't be photographed. I never ended up finding the time to finish sweeping and mopping the main level.
The photographer came at 11, and we vacated while he took a bunch of pictures. It only took him 20 minutes or so to get everything done. Then we had to go deal with the flat tire of the night before.
When I finally got home, I basically collapsed on the bed.
But we managed to get everything done, or done enough. There's still some cleaning to be done. The sort of things that don't show up in pictures - toilets and showers. But at this point it's mostly a matter of maintaining the current state of the house while we cross our fingers for an offer.
It feels a bit like we've hit the eye of the hurricane. After weeks of working on the house in every spare moment, there's suddenly almost nothing to do. Hopefully that momentum we built up will carry me through making the bed and washing the dishes every day. But now there's almost nothing to do until we move to the new house in three weeks. I can only hope that we're under contract on the townhouse by then. It will certainly make life easier.
There's another whirlwind coming - one involving moving and unpacking. Then it will be all about outfitting a nursery and getting ready for the kid. I should probably look into signing up for a child birth class and other stuff like that. But for now I just want to enjoy the quiet. We haven't even made plans for the 4th of July, because all Kevin and I want to do this weekend is sit on the couch. And we certainly can't host anything at our place right now.
The heartening news is that I keep finding these pockets of quiet. Back in April I was sure that summer was going to be non-stop and that would turn into a nonstop life of childcare. But now I have a week or so of downtime. Hopefully this isn't the last rest I get before (or after) the kid comes.
The last push was particularly brutal. We got up early Saturday morning to buy the various things our stager told us to get (new towels, flowers, a welcome mat, etc). Then we had to get home to let the carpet installers in so they could finish the stairs. While they worked, Kevin and I cleaned the basement and he did some yard work. I tried to remember to take breaks while I cleaned the kitchen and found places for the things we had to hide.
Then I went shopping, because I've been in desperate need of a new bra for a little over a week now. By the time I got home, the heat had conspired drain the last of my energy. My plans to sweep and mop were thrown out the window in favor of recovering on the couch, especially since I had to stay up later than I'd intended. Kevin got a flat tire on the way to his baseball game, so I had to pick him up around 10.
The next morning we woke up as early as we could manage to finish getting the house ready. The cleaning seemed never-ending. It didn't help that I had to disappear at one point to get Kina to her grooming appointment, though it was necessary to have her out of the house one way or another.
Our realtor showed up a little before 11 and began shoving everything in cabinets. The blankets I'd carefully folded on the backs of the couches were hidden. Towels and soap were put away. Any trace of our pets had to be moved to the basement where they wouldn't be photographed. I never ended up finding the time to finish sweeping and mopping the main level.
The photographer came at 11, and we vacated while he took a bunch of pictures. It only took him 20 minutes or so to get everything done. Then we had to go deal with the flat tire of the night before.
When I finally got home, I basically collapsed on the bed.
But we managed to get everything done, or done enough. There's still some cleaning to be done. The sort of things that don't show up in pictures - toilets and showers. But at this point it's mostly a matter of maintaining the current state of the house while we cross our fingers for an offer.
It feels a bit like we've hit the eye of the hurricane. After weeks of working on the house in every spare moment, there's suddenly almost nothing to do. Hopefully that momentum we built up will carry me through making the bed and washing the dishes every day. But now there's almost nothing to do until we move to the new house in three weeks. I can only hope that we're under contract on the townhouse by then. It will certainly make life easier.
There's another whirlwind coming - one involving moving and unpacking. Then it will be all about outfitting a nursery and getting ready for the kid. I should probably look into signing up for a child birth class and other stuff like that. But for now I just want to enjoy the quiet. We haven't even made plans for the 4th of July, because all Kevin and I want to do this weekend is sit on the couch. And we certainly can't host anything at our place right now.
The heartening news is that I keep finding these pockets of quiet. Back in April I was sure that summer was going to be non-stop and that would turn into a nonstop life of childcare. But now I have a week or so of downtime. Hopefully this isn't the last rest I get before (or after) the kid comes.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Trading the Bs for Ds
Every year, we go to the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ festival at National Harbor. It's a fun day with unlimited tastings of beer, bourbon, and bacon (the bbq costs extra). The earlier you buy your ticket, the cheaper it is. So back in January I didn't hesitate to buy mine, forgetting for a moment that we were about to start trying for a kid.
I got pregnant and ended up giving my ticket to my brother. But I agreed to be the designated driver for my friends. Dealing with the metro+taxi is difficult enough when the metro is running reliably, which it definitely isn't lately. So having a driver made the entire thing smoother.
I didn't actually attend the festival this year. It's held in a parking lot, which gets super hot under the June sun. Instead I wandered around National Harbor. I found lunch and ice cream and looked in a few of the stores. I had planned to find an air-conditioned cafe to read my book in, but the weather was actually gorgeous. Down by the water there was a nice breeze and a bunch of benches under the shade, so I ended up spending most of my time there.
After the festival, we went back to Zach and Sarah's to play games and nap and eat pizza. Once people had recovered somewhat, we went to a party at Jen's. I was actually feeling surprisingly good for the entire day and even stayed out later than I'd initially intended. But boy did I pay for it the next day.
I did a bit of shopping on Sunday and did my best to help Kevin continue to pack and clean our house. Before long I basically collapsed, though. By early evening my entire body ached and it was all I could do to move from the bed to the toilet when I had to pee. Monday was no easier, and I essentially collapsed as soon as I was home from work. On Tuesday I finally started to feel better, but I'm going to have to remember not to push myself so hard in the coming months. The recovery time is just too long, and there's too much to do between now and when the kid arrives.
I got pregnant and ended up giving my ticket to my brother. But I agreed to be the designated driver for my friends. Dealing with the metro+taxi is difficult enough when the metro is running reliably, which it definitely isn't lately. So having a driver made the entire thing smoother.
I didn't actually attend the festival this year. It's held in a parking lot, which gets super hot under the June sun. Instead I wandered around National Harbor. I found lunch and ice cream and looked in a few of the stores. I had planned to find an air-conditioned cafe to read my book in, but the weather was actually gorgeous. Down by the water there was a nice breeze and a bunch of benches under the shade, so I ended up spending most of my time there.
After the festival, we went back to Zach and Sarah's to play games and nap and eat pizza. Once people had recovered somewhat, we went to a party at Jen's. I was actually feeling surprisingly good for the entire day and even stayed out later than I'd initially intended. But boy did I pay for it the next day.
I did a bit of shopping on Sunday and did my best to help Kevin continue to pack and clean our house. Before long I basically collapsed, though. By early evening my entire body ached and it was all I could do to move from the bed to the toilet when I had to pee. Monday was no easier, and I essentially collapsed as soon as I was home from work. On Tuesday I finally started to feel better, but I'm going to have to remember not to push myself so hard in the coming months. The recovery time is just too long, and there's too much to do between now and when the kid arrives.
Friday, June 24, 2016
Home Improvements
We got home from Las Vegas and immediately refocused on getting our house ready to sell. And I do mean immediately. The painters were able to start their work while we were still away, which meant that we came home to discover that the top floor of our house was unusable. Furniture was piled in the middle of each room, showers were taped off (they re-grouted for us), and plastic sheets covered everything. Not something you want to come home to in the middle of the night.
We spent a fitful night on the couch in the basement, being woken up periodically by the howls of our attention-deprived cat. After that we were at least able to get our bed back, though furniture has been shuffling around for the past couple of weeks. And I've used every shower in the house at one point.
We're close to done with the home improvements we needed to make before putting the house on the market, though. The cracks are all repaired. The lights are fixed. The walls are painted. The carpet is mostly installed. Now we're just waiting on carpet for the stairs and a steam cleaning of the basement. Then we need to go through and do a deep clean (dusting and mopping and all that fun stuff). But we're very close to actually getting our house on the market. I just hope that other people think the house looks as nice as we do and want to buy it quickly. It would be nice to not have to carry the double mortgage for too long.
We spent a fitful night on the couch in the basement, being woken up periodically by the howls of our attention-deprived cat. After that we were at least able to get our bed back, though furniture has been shuffling around for the past couple of weeks. And I've used every shower in the house at one point.
We're close to done with the home improvements we needed to make before putting the house on the market, though. The cracks are all repaired. The lights are fixed. The walls are painted. The carpet is mostly installed. Now we're just waiting on carpet for the stairs and a steam cleaning of the basement. Then we need to go through and do a deep clean (dusting and mopping and all that fun stuff). But we're very close to actually getting our house on the market. I just hope that other people think the house looks as nice as we do and want to buy it quickly. It would be nice to not have to carry the double mortgage for too long.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Vegas Woooo!
Several years ago, a high school friend of mine posted pictures of herself and her husband in Las Vegas on their babymoon. What on earth does a pregnant person do in Vegas? I wondered. Of course, this was also right around the time I swore off all future trips to Vegas. They were always full of hot weather, loud clubs, and entirely too much alcohol. It wasn't fun for me anymore, but I didn't understand that there was a different way to experience Las Vegas.
Fast forward and here I am, five months pregnant enjoying a relaxing, extended weekend in Ls Vegas with fun shows, excellent food, and good friends. Not to mention plenty of sleep. At least, I would have gotten plenty of sleep if I weren't 5 months pregnant and waking up to pee every 3 hours.
Kevin went out to Vegas on Tuesday for a work conference. Danielle, Eric, and I joined him on Friday for a much-needed vacation. And a much-needed reunion; it had been over a year and a half since we'd seen Danielle and Eric at this point. Getting together with them was the whole reason for the trip. Then it turned out that my dad was also in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, so we were able to spend some time with him, too.
We stayed at the Palazzo, which is on the north end of the strip and connected to the Venetian with a mall. It meant that we didn't really have to go outside to get food or drinks, which was nice considering the oppressive desert heat.
On Saturday night, I had my pre-planned night of debauchery, which takes on a very different meaning at this stage in life. We went to Delmonico's for dinner, where I had a single glass of wine with my medium-rare filet. I know I'm supposed to be getting all my meat well-done, but if I'm going to pay $60 for a steak, I'm not turning it into leather. I was proud of myself for making the single glass last nearly an hour, especially since it was a rather stingy pour (our water got 8 glasses out of a single bottle). Then I had a sip of Kevin's port with my chocolate cake and followed it up with a cup of coffee in the hopes that I'd stay awake.
After dinner we went to a 9:30 performance of Ka, which was fantastic. It's an amazingly vertical show, with a stage that moves up and down and rotates on all three axes. The show was spectacular. Alas, it wasn't spectacular enough to keep me awake. Despite my carefully planned coffee, I slept through the final battle. I would have slept right through the end if not for a fireworks display during the finale.
We spent the next day hanging out with my dad while Danielle and Eric celebrated their engagement anniversary. We got to see the World Series of Poker, which was amazing. There were several ballrooms in the convention center filled with tables. Then we wandered along the strip and watched most of the Nationals game and all of the final hockey game. At that point the heat combined with a cold I caught on the plane to knock me out. Kevin and I went back to the room where I fell asleep. Then Kevin went out gambling and won almost $600 in half an hour, nicely recouping our earlier losses (I went through $100 alarmingly quickly at a cash game earlier). He decided to stop then, which meant that we ended the trip in the red, gambling-wise.
We also used our relative sobriety this trip to allow us to get up to Fremont Street for some people watching and the incredible light show. Kevin had attended a seminar about the technology behind the light display over Fremont Street, and I thought that knowledge made the show a lot cooler. After the sun set we went back to the Palazzo where Kevin and Danielle tracked down some absinthe while Eric and I ate dessert.
Around this we spent a bunch of time lounging by the pool (before the sun crested the hotel and took away our shade), playing games, and drinking cheap champagne. It was a fantastic trip with just the right balance or relaxation and doing stuff. At this point I'm eager to go back to Las Vegas, though it'll probably be several more years since I can't imagine taking kids there. But that's what grandparents are for, right?
Fast forward and here I am, five months pregnant enjoying a relaxing, extended weekend in Ls Vegas with fun shows, excellent food, and good friends. Not to mention plenty of sleep. At least, I would have gotten plenty of sleep if I weren't 5 months pregnant and waking up to pee every 3 hours.
Kevin went out to Vegas on Tuesday for a work conference. Danielle, Eric, and I joined him on Friday for a much-needed vacation. And a much-needed reunion; it had been over a year and a half since we'd seen Danielle and Eric at this point. Getting together with them was the whole reason for the trip. Then it turned out that my dad was also in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, so we were able to spend some time with him, too.
We stayed at the Palazzo, which is on the north end of the strip and connected to the Venetian with a mall. It meant that we didn't really have to go outside to get food or drinks, which was nice considering the oppressive desert heat.
On Saturday night, I had my pre-planned night of debauchery, which takes on a very different meaning at this stage in life. We went to Delmonico's for dinner, where I had a single glass of wine with my medium-rare filet. I know I'm supposed to be getting all my meat well-done, but if I'm going to pay $60 for a steak, I'm not turning it into leather. I was proud of myself for making the single glass last nearly an hour, especially since it was a rather stingy pour (our water got 8 glasses out of a single bottle). Then I had a sip of Kevin's port with my chocolate cake and followed it up with a cup of coffee in the hopes that I'd stay awake.
After dinner we went to a 9:30 performance of Ka, which was fantastic. It's an amazingly vertical show, with a stage that moves up and down and rotates on all three axes. The show was spectacular. Alas, it wasn't spectacular enough to keep me awake. Despite my carefully planned coffee, I slept through the final battle. I would have slept right through the end if not for a fireworks display during the finale.
We spent the next day hanging out with my dad while Danielle and Eric celebrated their engagement anniversary. We got to see the World Series of Poker, which was amazing. There were several ballrooms in the convention center filled with tables. Then we wandered along the strip and watched most of the Nationals game and all of the final hockey game. At that point the heat combined with a cold I caught on the plane to knock me out. Kevin and I went back to the room where I fell asleep. Then Kevin went out gambling and won almost $600 in half an hour, nicely recouping our earlier losses (I went through $100 alarmingly quickly at a cash game earlier). He decided to stop then, which meant that we ended the trip in the red, gambling-wise.
We also used our relative sobriety this trip to allow us to get up to Fremont Street for some people watching and the incredible light show. Kevin had attended a seminar about the technology behind the light display over Fremont Street, and I thought that knowledge made the show a lot cooler. After the sun set we went back to the Palazzo where Kevin and Danielle tracked down some absinthe while Eric and I ate dessert.
Around this we spent a bunch of time lounging by the pool (before the sun crested the hotel and took away our shade), playing games, and drinking cheap champagne. It was a fantastic trip with just the right balance or relaxation and doing stuff. At this point I'm eager to go back to Las Vegas, though it'll probably be several more years since I can't imagine taking kids there. But that's what grandparents are for, right?
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Anatomy Scan
A couple of weeks ago we had the second trimester ultrasound, also known as the anatomy scan. This is the exciting appointment when you find out whether you're carrying a boy or a girl. That's what I knew going in. What I didn't know is that this is also the appointment where you get poked and prodded and rolled around for an hour while a technician measures every conceivable part of the fetus. This is made even more uncomfortable by the fact that you have to start off the appointment with a full bladder which you can't empty until they've gotten all their pictures and measurements.
We got the fun part of the appointment out of the way quickly. The kid was upside down, which meant that the initial image was right between his legs. And there was a rather obvious penis, front and center in the ultrasound. We are definitely having a boy.
From there, the technician pointed out various bones and organs. The bones were much more obvious than the organs. The kid has a nicely formed spine and arm and leg bones. Less obvious were the stomach and the brain, which looked the same. The heart was at least beating, but we had to take the technicians words about the kidneys.
Throughout all of this I was rolled to my side, then my back, then my side again. I had to get up and walk around at one point in an effort to make the kid flip head up. And they kept putting more and more goo on my belly. Just when I thought we were done, she had to come back and take additional measurements of the heart.
By every measurement, we had a totally normal kid. So that's something to be excited about. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that the head remains reasonably sized. Just a few more months until we can actually see him without the aid of a sonogram!
We got the fun part of the appointment out of the way quickly. The kid was upside down, which meant that the initial image was right between his legs. And there was a rather obvious penis, front and center in the ultrasound. We are definitely having a boy.
From there, the technician pointed out various bones and organs. The bones were much more obvious than the organs. The kid has a nicely formed spine and arm and leg bones. Less obvious were the stomach and the brain, which looked the same. The heart was at least beating, but we had to take the technicians words about the kidneys.
Throughout all of this I was rolled to my side, then my back, then my side again. I had to get up and walk around at one point in an effort to make the kid flip head up. And they kept putting more and more goo on my belly. Just when I thought we were done, she had to come back and take additional measurements of the heart.
By every measurement, we had a totally normal kid. So that's something to be excited about. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that the head remains reasonably sized. Just a few more months until we can actually see him without the aid of a sonogram!
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Halfway
I'm a little more than halfway through this pregnancy, and things are starting to get rough. Where the first semester involved me sleeping a lot and forgeting that I was even pregnant because nothing seemed to be happening, the second semester involves being tired but never getting enough sleep and feeling bigger and bigger with every passing day.
My belly is beginning to get in the way of my life. It's hard to get out of bed. If I sit on the floor or somewhere else low, it's even harder to get up. I'm trying not to do that, but the packing and cleaning involved with moving sometimes makes that impossible. I'm tired and achy in a way that I didn't think would happen for several more decades. By 8'o'clock most evenings I'm completely spent. But then I lie there for hours trying to fall asleep.
My belly is also covered in stretch marks despite the fact that I'm using shea butter religiously. I don't know if the shea butter is completely ineffective or if my pale skin means that it would be evn worse if I stopped using it. I don't really want to know either. So I continue to use the shea butter and track the growth of the kid by the stretch marks that are slowly climbing up my torso. They're just past my belly button now.
I'm sure the most of this isn't just the prgnancy. The misery is being compounded by the summer heat and humidity and the fact that we're getting ready to move. There's always something to do, and I'd always rather just be lying on the couch. Maybe it will get easier next month when we're settled in the new house. Then again, maybe it won't. At least I won't have to take the metro anymore after we move. I always arrive at the office lightheaded and shaky, needing to sit and drink water for ten minutes before I can think about starting work. The evening commute isn't quite as bad, since the train is emptying rather than filling, but it still sucks.
I realize that this is a lot of complaining. I expect it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'm going to get bigger and hungrier and more tired. Hopefully my blood pressure will stabilize and the dizziness will fade.
At this point, I'm just excited to get the kid out of me so I can finally put it down. Even if it's only for an hour at a time. I can't belive I'm only halfway through this thing.
My belly is beginning to get in the way of my life. It's hard to get out of bed. If I sit on the floor or somewhere else low, it's even harder to get up. I'm trying not to do that, but the packing and cleaning involved with moving sometimes makes that impossible. I'm tired and achy in a way that I didn't think would happen for several more decades. By 8'o'clock most evenings I'm completely spent. But then I lie there for hours trying to fall asleep.
My belly is also covered in stretch marks despite the fact that I'm using shea butter religiously. I don't know if the shea butter is completely ineffective or if my pale skin means that it would be evn worse if I stopped using it. I don't really want to know either. So I continue to use the shea butter and track the growth of the kid by the stretch marks that are slowly climbing up my torso. They're just past my belly button now.
I'm sure the most of this isn't just the prgnancy. The misery is being compounded by the summer heat and humidity and the fact that we're getting ready to move. There's always something to do, and I'd always rather just be lying on the couch. Maybe it will get easier next month when we're settled in the new house. Then again, maybe it won't. At least I won't have to take the metro anymore after we move. I always arrive at the office lightheaded and shaky, needing to sit and drink water for ten minutes before I can think about starting work. The evening commute isn't quite as bad, since the train is emptying rather than filling, but it still sucks.
I realize that this is a lot of complaining. I expect it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'm going to get bigger and hungrier and more tired. Hopefully my blood pressure will stabilize and the dizziness will fade.
At this point, I'm just excited to get the kid out of me so I can finally put it down. Even if it's only for an hour at a time. I can't belive I'm only halfway through this thing.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Insomnia Amnesia
So this is a fun new symptom. Initially I just thought I was reverting back to some of the exhaustion from earlier in my pregnancy. And, to be fair, I just had an incredibly busy weekend. Between the pregnancy, trying to sell our house, and negotiating the contract on the new house I haven't had a ton of down time lately.
But then I checked my fitbit and discovered that I was only getting about 5 hours of sleep a night. I thought the fitbit must be malfunctioning until Kevin confirmed that I was still awake when he woke up from a weird dream at 1 or 2 in the morning.
So it appears that I'm going to bed at 10, tossing and turning until 2 when I finally fall asleep and then getting up at 6:30 or 7 (complete with a trip or two to the bathroom) and then completely forgetting about the part where I toss and turn.
This past weekend I gave myself a day off. While Kevin and Connor were getting bookcases to the storage unit, I slept in until 10 for a grand total of 7 1/2 hours of sleep. It was sort of like catching up.
I'm sort of adjusting to it now. Things are calming down a bit with the house buying, and we're going on vacation this weekend which should help a lot. Also, I'm very glad I managed to cut caffeine out of my diet, which is a little weird to say. The truth is that I only actually managed to go 3 or 4 days without caffeine. But now that I've kicked the habit, a little goes a long way. I'm able to survive on the small amount of sleep I'm getting and within the 200mg/day restrictions I'm under.
The problem is that I know it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'll just have to keep taking advantage of lazy weekends and find my rest when I can. I'd honestly feel a bit better about this whole thing if I could remember my insomnia or use that time for something useful like reading or writing. Instead of it just getting wiped from my life without the benefit of rest.
But then I checked my fitbit and discovered that I was only getting about 5 hours of sleep a night. I thought the fitbit must be malfunctioning until Kevin confirmed that I was still awake when he woke up from a weird dream at 1 or 2 in the morning.
So it appears that I'm going to bed at 10, tossing and turning until 2 when I finally fall asleep and then getting up at 6:30 or 7 (complete with a trip or two to the bathroom) and then completely forgetting about the part where I toss and turn.
This past weekend I gave myself a day off. While Kevin and Connor were getting bookcases to the storage unit, I slept in until 10 for a grand total of 7 1/2 hours of sleep. It was sort of like catching up.
I'm sort of adjusting to it now. Things are calming down a bit with the house buying, and we're going on vacation this weekend which should help a lot. Also, I'm very glad I managed to cut caffeine out of my diet, which is a little weird to say. The truth is that I only actually managed to go 3 or 4 days without caffeine. But now that I've kicked the habit, a little goes a long way. I'm able to survive on the small amount of sleep I'm getting and within the 200mg/day restrictions I'm under.
The problem is that I know it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'll just have to keep taking advantage of lazy weekends and find my rest when I can. I'd honestly feel a bit better about this whole thing if I could remember my insomnia or use that time for something useful like reading or writing. Instead of it just getting wiped from my life without the benefit of rest.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Kicking Off the Busy Season
The Saturday before Memorial Day was the busiest Saturday I've had in a long time. Which is appropriate as this is shaping up to be the busiest summer I've had in a long time.
We got up at 6 in the morning. Kevin re-stained the stairs to the backyard while I swept and mopped and generally got ready for the barbecue we were throwing that afternoon. Then it was off to the home inspection for our new home at 8:30.
The inspection went well. There were a few issues, but some of them were maintenance things (trimming back trees that were overhanging the roof) and some we had been expecting (the seller had already told us she wasn't replacing the stove top fan, thus implying that it was broken). For the most part everything is in working order. The furnace is old, but it's still working, so that's an upcoming expense that we just need to keep in mind.
We ended up leaving the inspection a tad early. We'd gone over most of the major things and our inspector said that from there on it was just a matter of checking outlets and light switches. We went to the grocery store by the new house to see what was in the shopping center and pick up some last minute food items for the barbecue. Then I dropped Kevin off at home and went to my sister-in-law's bridal shower.
I arrived at the bridal shower almost an hour late because we hadn't really known how long a home inspection takes. But I was still one of the first people there. We ate some food and chatted and played some games and watched the bride-to-be open presents. Then I had to duck out a little early to get back to my house before guests started arriving.
Two of our friends were coming from NYC by bus. As I was leaving the bridal showed, I actually ended up behind their bus at a stop light. But then I got stuck in the wrong lane because I didn't actually know where I was going. I ended up missing my turn to get back on the highway and had to loop around a little bit. It ended up working out, though, as I still got to the bus stop right as they were getting off the bus.
From then the day is a blur of food and friends. Everyone from the bridal shower came to the barbecue, as well as a bunch of local friends. All told we had over 30 people through our house that afternoon, making it one of the biggest parties we've thrown and justification for the bigger house we're buying.
Sunday was devoted to my sister-in-law's bachelorette party. Though I'm not drinking, I had a lot of fun touring various local cideries and distilleries with the group. I'm looking forward to going back to Catoctin Creek once I'm no longer pregnant. They've expanded since I was last there and have a pretty exciting tasting menu now. Afterwards we all went to an escape room in Alexandria, which was a ton of fun. We made it out with 5 minutes to spare, which I think means that the puzzle was the perfect amount of challenging. Then we got dinner and I left the group at a karaoke bar while I went to pick up Kevin. He had been planning to metro home from our friend's house, but with all the track work going on lately, the metro has gotten really unreliable. It might have taken him two hours to get home that way.
Monday was devoted to packing up our house in preparation for selling it. We need to clear out a lot of stuff before the open house so that it doesn't look too crammed. We packed up almost all of the books and games, along with the clothes we aren't expecting to wear until the weather turns colder. Then Kevin got a storage unit and started moving boxes over while I filled up trash bags with junks we don't need anymore and things we want to donate. It's amazing how much stuff we got rid of and how much stuff we still have. But it's also nice to get a jump start on the packing, even though we won't be moving for another month and a half. Hopefully we'll be able to keep chipping away at this a little bit at a time and avoid getting too overwhelmed.
We got up at 6 in the morning. Kevin re-stained the stairs to the backyard while I swept and mopped and generally got ready for the barbecue we were throwing that afternoon. Then it was off to the home inspection for our new home at 8:30.
The inspection went well. There were a few issues, but some of them were maintenance things (trimming back trees that were overhanging the roof) and some we had been expecting (the seller had already told us she wasn't replacing the stove top fan, thus implying that it was broken). For the most part everything is in working order. The furnace is old, but it's still working, so that's an upcoming expense that we just need to keep in mind.
We ended up leaving the inspection a tad early. We'd gone over most of the major things and our inspector said that from there on it was just a matter of checking outlets and light switches. We went to the grocery store by the new house to see what was in the shopping center and pick up some last minute food items for the barbecue. Then I dropped Kevin off at home and went to my sister-in-law's bridal shower.
I arrived at the bridal shower almost an hour late because we hadn't really known how long a home inspection takes. But I was still one of the first people there. We ate some food and chatted and played some games and watched the bride-to-be open presents. Then I had to duck out a little early to get back to my house before guests started arriving.
Two of our friends were coming from NYC by bus. As I was leaving the bridal showed, I actually ended up behind their bus at a stop light. But then I got stuck in the wrong lane because I didn't actually know where I was going. I ended up missing my turn to get back on the highway and had to loop around a little bit. It ended up working out, though, as I still got to the bus stop right as they were getting off the bus.
From then the day is a blur of food and friends. Everyone from the bridal shower came to the barbecue, as well as a bunch of local friends. All told we had over 30 people through our house that afternoon, making it one of the biggest parties we've thrown and justification for the bigger house we're buying.
Sunday was devoted to my sister-in-law's bachelorette party. Though I'm not drinking, I had a lot of fun touring various local cideries and distilleries with the group. I'm looking forward to going back to Catoctin Creek once I'm no longer pregnant. They've expanded since I was last there and have a pretty exciting tasting menu now. Afterwards we all went to an escape room in Alexandria, which was a ton of fun. We made it out with 5 minutes to spare, which I think means that the puzzle was the perfect amount of challenging. Then we got dinner and I left the group at a karaoke bar while I went to pick up Kevin. He had been planning to metro home from our friend's house, but with all the track work going on lately, the metro has gotten really unreliable. It might have taken him two hours to get home that way.
Monday was devoted to packing up our house in preparation for selling it. We need to clear out a lot of stuff before the open house so that it doesn't look too crammed. We packed up almost all of the books and games, along with the clothes we aren't expecting to wear until the weather turns colder. Then Kevin got a storage unit and started moving boxes over while I filled up trash bags with junks we don't need anymore and things we want to donate. It's amazing how much stuff we got rid of and how much stuff we still have. But it's also nice to get a jump start on the packing, even though we won't be moving for another month and a half. Hopefully we'll be able to keep chipping away at this a little bit at a time and avoid getting too overwhelmed.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Wiggling
I'm fairly certain that I felt the baby move for the first time a few nights ago. I've been half waiting for this for a couple of weeks now, even though I knew it was likely I wouldn't feel anything for a couple more weeks. But as we were going to bed on Sunday, I'm pretty sure I got feel the first kicks or flips or wiggles or whatever it is the kid is doing.
On ultrasounds and the doppler it's been clear the the kid is moving quite a bit. It was really cool to finally feel that for myself. It was a bit like the rumble you get in your stomach when your hungry, but lower than the stomach. I'm excited for it to become more definite, and to get to the point where other people can feel it, too. For now, I'm going with it: 18 weeks is when I first felt the kid move.
More updates in two weeks, by which time we should know the sex!
On ultrasounds and the doppler it's been clear the the kid is moving quite a bit. It was really cool to finally feel that for myself. It was a bit like the rumble you get in your stomach when your hungry, but lower than the stomach. I'm excited for it to become more definite, and to get to the point where other people can feel it, too. For now, I'm going with it: 18 weeks is when I first felt the kid move.
More updates in two weeks, by which time we should know the sex!
Monday, May 23, 2016
Preparing to Sell
Once we knew I was pregnant, Kevin and I knew that we wanted to try and move into a bigger house by the time the kid came. Before he went to Hawaii we figured out what we could afford and looked at a few open houses. We developed a pretty good idea of what we wanted and what we could afford. But there wasn't much else we could do until he came home.
We hit the ground running when he did get home. We made a list of the work we knew needed to be done to the house (paint and new carpeting). We went to a few more open houses to make sure we were still on the same page. And then we met with a realtor to figure out some of the details.
The meeting left me reeling a little. It turns out there's a lot you need to do to get a house ready to sell. And considering that it takes 60 days to close we suddenly realized that we needed to move fast. Our to-do list exploded, our time frame shrank, and both of us are busy enough at work that we're not sure how it's going to all get done.
It was incredibly stressful for a while. I was already wondering if we could actually get into a new house in time to prepare for the baby, or if there would end up being a major crunch. But we made a to do list, and we've slowly been knocking things off of it all weekend. Most of the work right now is packing up stuff we don't need to get ready for an open house. This includes my library, a bunch of clothes, and a surprising amount of furniture and kitchen stuff.
At the moment our house is a mess of boxes and trash bags. Despite the way it looks, we've made good progress this weekend, and we're much more confident about our time table. The goal is to have the open house in three weeks, or at least be ready to. We won't put the house on the market until we're ready to make an offer, because we're expecting it to sell very quickly. But we want to be ready to pull that trigger at a moment's notice.
Now we just have to hope that everything else comes together. The goal is to be in a new place by August, which would then give us two months to unpack and prepare for the baby. Which should be enough time. If we can't get our act together, then it isn't the end of the world. We can have a kid in our current house, we'd just have to forfeit the guest room to do it. But we could make it work. I just hope we can get this all settled before hand.
We hit the ground running when he did get home. We made a list of the work we knew needed to be done to the house (paint and new carpeting). We went to a few more open houses to make sure we were still on the same page. And then we met with a realtor to figure out some of the details.
The meeting left me reeling a little. It turns out there's a lot you need to do to get a house ready to sell. And considering that it takes 60 days to close we suddenly realized that we needed to move fast. Our to-do list exploded, our time frame shrank, and both of us are busy enough at work that we're not sure how it's going to all get done.
It was incredibly stressful for a while. I was already wondering if we could actually get into a new house in time to prepare for the baby, or if there would end up being a major crunch. But we made a to do list, and we've slowly been knocking things off of it all weekend. Most of the work right now is packing up stuff we don't need to get ready for an open house. This includes my library, a bunch of clothes, and a surprising amount of furniture and kitchen stuff.
At the moment our house is a mess of boxes and trash bags. Despite the way it looks, we've made good progress this weekend, and we're much more confident about our time table. The goal is to have the open house in three weeks, or at least be ready to. We won't put the house on the market until we're ready to make an offer, because we're expecting it to sell very quickly. But we want to be ready to pull that trigger at a moment's notice.
Now we just have to hope that everything else comes together. The goal is to be in a new place by August, which would then give us two months to unpack and prepare for the baby. Which should be enough time. If we can't get our act together, then it isn't the end of the world. We can have a kid in our current house, we'd just have to forfeit the guest room to do it. But we could make it work. I just hope we can get this all settled before hand.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Houses, and Parties, and Moms, Oh My
About three hours after Kevin got home from 6+ weeks in Hawaii, my mom arrived to visit for a week. My brother had time off between Spring and Summer term, so the two of them did a bunch of tourist stuff, including the Air and Space Museum/Hangar and a visit to Monticello. Meanwhile Kevin and I worked and tried to catch up with life and met them for dinner.
We spent most of the weekend looking at open houses. Kevin and I are getting ready to start looking in earnest, and my mom wanted to see the sorts of houses we're looking out. Plus it's always fun to go tour homes that aren't your own.
We saw a big variety of homes. There were one or two we could see working out (ideally we would move one of the houses onto the lot of a different house, but that's not really an option). There were a few that had stark deal breakers (lack of yard, unworkable kitchen, stuck in the 70s). Most fell somewhere in the middle, and by the end of the weekend many of them had begun to bleed together. The upshot is that Kevin and I have a pretty solid idea of what we want, but we haven't found it yet.
We also went to a party thrown by Kevin's party on Saturday night. It was a Moulin Rouge themed casino night, and I had an absolute blast even though I couldn't drink and didn't really know anyone. There was fantastic food, including a mac-and-cheese bar. There were lots of gambling options, and I sort of learned how to play craps. I had more fun playing Texas Hold'em, though. And since everyone was playing with fake money, the dealers were pretty forgiving. Especially the blackjack dealer who routinely gave herself a worse hand if she was initially dealt 20.
It ended up being a jam-packed but thoroughly enjoyable weekend. And someday soon I'll have a weekend to myself again. Maybe. Actually, it doesn't look like that's going to happen for the foreseeable future, which makes me even happier that I refused to make any plans the weekend before Kevin came home.
We spent most of the weekend looking at open houses. Kevin and I are getting ready to start looking in earnest, and my mom wanted to see the sorts of houses we're looking out. Plus it's always fun to go tour homes that aren't your own.
We saw a big variety of homes. There were one or two we could see working out (ideally we would move one of the houses onto the lot of a different house, but that's not really an option). There were a few that had stark deal breakers (lack of yard, unworkable kitchen, stuck in the 70s). Most fell somewhere in the middle, and by the end of the weekend many of them had begun to bleed together. The upshot is that Kevin and I have a pretty solid idea of what we want, but we haven't found it yet.
We also went to a party thrown by Kevin's party on Saturday night. It was a Moulin Rouge themed casino night, and I had an absolute blast even though I couldn't drink and didn't really know anyone. There was fantastic food, including a mac-and-cheese bar. There were lots of gambling options, and I sort of learned how to play craps. I had more fun playing Texas Hold'em, though. And since everyone was playing with fake money, the dealers were pretty forgiving. Especially the blackjack dealer who routinely gave herself a worse hand if she was initially dealt 20.
It ended up being a jam-packed but thoroughly enjoyable weekend. And someday soon I'll have a weekend to myself again. Maybe. Actually, it doesn't look like that's going to happen for the foreseeable future, which makes me even happier that I refused to make any plans the weekend before Kevin came home.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Second Trimester
During the first trimester, it seemed like I was coming up against a new symptom or strange thing every day. But now that I'm in to the second trimester, I seem to have settled into pregnancy. My belly is starting to grow, which is exciting. And I'm definitely moving slower and have less energy towards the end of the day. For the most part, this whole pregnancy thing remains pretty easy.
The never-ending butt pain I was dealing with towards the end of the first trimester seems to have finally cleared up entirely. It will reappear if I have a particularly active day (> 15,000 steps), but I've mostly cut back on those, too. I've got some new aches and pains - round ligament pain is, surprisingly and specifically, a round pain. Those are mostly only triggered by sudden movements, though. So long as I move slowly and deliberately, everything is fine.
Of course that means that I'm moving a lot slower. Getting off the couch at the end of the night has become a process. Regular chairs, and even my bed, are still fine though. That may be because I can more or less roll out of my bed and catch myself. That's harder to do on the couch, especially when the cat and dog decide to get in my way.
I'm falling deeply in love with our bed. Even moreso than when we first got it. This is the point where I'm supposed to start to have difficulty sleeping, but it hasn't happened yet. I get up once or twice a night to pee, but other than that I'm sleeping soundly. I credit the Sleep Number bed entirely with this. It's like sleeping on a combination of a cloud and a hug. It perfectly cradles and supports me so I'm not tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. And when it stops, I can adjust to a different number and get my support right back.
The other, related symptom I'm supposed to be experiencing is particularly weird and vivid dreams. Which has half happened. When I wake up to pee it's often in the middle of a dream, and I'll think that dream was weird or frightening. But by the time my alarm goes off in the morning I'll have forgotten all about it.
And then there's the lightheadedness, but that's mostly past, too. For a couple of weeks, I'd start to feel dizzy right after Kina's morning walk. It could continue for an hour or two, until I'd been sitting at my desk at work for a while. It made metro rides particularly uncomfortable, especially when they decided to turn the heat back up. But now Kevin's home and I'm not walking Kina in the morning, so this has basically gone away. Metro rides still aren't my favorite, but as long as I get a seat everything is fine. With my growing belly, I basically always get a seat. We'll see if that's still the case when single-tracking leads to over-crowded trains in a few weeks.
All in all, this whole pregnancy thing has basically been a breeze so far. I'm excited for the next couple of week. I should start to feel the kid moving around pretty soon. And we're going to find out the sex in a few weeks, which means we'll finally be able to nail down a name. In the meantime, I need to do another run for some work-appropriate maternity clothes. Everything is so exciting while still feeling not entirely real.
The never-ending butt pain I was dealing with towards the end of the first trimester seems to have finally cleared up entirely. It will reappear if I have a particularly active day (> 15,000 steps), but I've mostly cut back on those, too. I've got some new aches and pains - round ligament pain is, surprisingly and specifically, a round pain. Those are mostly only triggered by sudden movements, though. So long as I move slowly and deliberately, everything is fine.
Of course that means that I'm moving a lot slower. Getting off the couch at the end of the night has become a process. Regular chairs, and even my bed, are still fine though. That may be because I can more or less roll out of my bed and catch myself. That's harder to do on the couch, especially when the cat and dog decide to get in my way.
I'm falling deeply in love with our bed. Even moreso than when we first got it. This is the point where I'm supposed to start to have difficulty sleeping, but it hasn't happened yet. I get up once or twice a night to pee, but other than that I'm sleeping soundly. I credit the Sleep Number bed entirely with this. It's like sleeping on a combination of a cloud and a hug. It perfectly cradles and supports me so I'm not tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. And when it stops, I can adjust to a different number and get my support right back.
The other, related symptom I'm supposed to be experiencing is particularly weird and vivid dreams. Which has half happened. When I wake up to pee it's often in the middle of a dream, and I'll think that dream was weird or frightening. But by the time my alarm goes off in the morning I'll have forgotten all about it.
And then there's the lightheadedness, but that's mostly past, too. For a couple of weeks, I'd start to feel dizzy right after Kina's morning walk. It could continue for an hour or two, until I'd been sitting at my desk at work for a while. It made metro rides particularly uncomfortable, especially when they decided to turn the heat back up. But now Kevin's home and I'm not walking Kina in the morning, so this has basically gone away. Metro rides still aren't my favorite, but as long as I get a seat everything is fine. With my growing belly, I basically always get a seat. We'll see if that's still the case when single-tracking leads to over-crowded trains in a few weeks.
All in all, this whole pregnancy thing has basically been a breeze so far. I'm excited for the next couple of week. I should start to feel the kid moving around pretty soon. And we're going to find out the sex in a few weeks, which means we'll finally be able to nail down a name. In the meantime, I need to do another run for some work-appropriate maternity clothes. Everything is so exciting while still feeling not entirely real.
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