24 weeks

The baby is almost a foot long and somewhere in the 1 - 1.5lb range, making this weeks fruit the Subway sandwich.  Actually, it's the cantaloupe.

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He's getting longer but mostly heavier every week.  His organs are developing and his fat stores are filling in.  And he's been moving around a lot this week.  Not just little kicks but pushing and rolling around.  It feels like he's learning to wrestle or tap dance in there.

I'm continuing to feel good, but I definitely get tired more easily.  I'm so glad we decided to move now and not later in the fall.  So many stairs...

The Gallery of Regrettable Living Arrangements

I had fun looking at these pictures showing residence hall life at UW over the past 100 years.

Here are some highlights:

Dorm decor was much frillier back in 1908.

And suspending twigs from the ceiling was the fashion at the time.

No man on campus would be without a giant picture of MOM on the wall to watch over him at all times.

Thinking was just as hard in 1909.

And cleaning was still reserved for the frantic 15 minutes before your parents came to get you at the end of the semester.

Kind of a creepy trophy collection hanging up in this room ("So this summer I killed a turtle and a..."):

The human male didn't evolve to have chest hair until after 1955.

Why they don't still have sweet wallpaper like this in Eagle Heights I'll never know.

Like woah.  Between "moochies!" on the wall and the nets hanging from the ceiling, I have to believe whoever lived here ate some "inspiration" mushrooms before decorating this room.

I can only hope that thing hanging on the wall is a picture and not a mirror:

And I can only hope that thing hanging on this wall is a mirror and not a picture ;)

Can you even imagine the amount of ground up pizza crust and Doritos in that carpet by the end of the year?

Sweet fire place:

And while matching decorations abound

You just can't buy high quality matching camel fur comforters these days.

Is there a number that starts with "W"? Wednesday

1. After an internal debate worthy of the high school forensics club, three trips to the parking permit office, and even more aborted efforts to log in/ register our car/ etc., we are now the owners of a UW parking pass.  You could fill the gas tank with Courvoisier for what we paid for that parking pass, but I think the pain will go away the first time I use my very own washing machine (3 days and counting).

2. The gym has booted the normal CNN morning show in favor of a channel (also by CNN) that actually broadcasts news.  You'd think that exchanging mildly witty banter and arguing for real stories would be a nice change, but the real news is way too depressing at 6:30am.  Yesterday's stories were on civilian casualties in Syria, a British man who'd had a terrible stroke and died while fighting a court battle to be able to end his life via doctor assisted suicide, honor killings in Pakistan, and a Hurricane Katrina 7-year retrospective.  Today I switched to the local news and watched a story about a cat with a face that's half black and half orange.

3.  We signed up for a 1-week trial on Hulu Plus to watch season 2 of Raising Hope and have watched a minimum of 4 episodes an evening so we can make it through all 22 before the 7 days are up because we don't actually want to have to pay for Hulu Plus or use my e-mail address to get a second free week.  We need to save that up for our next TV obsession.  Even though that show is pretty hilarious, I'm glad Daniel has worship arts this evening so we get a night off.  I used to think we weren't the kind of people who watched hours and hours of TV every night, but it turns out we are.  And it takes dedication.  

Baby Book Report - Babywise

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If there's one thing that pregnancy prepares you for in early days of having a new baby, it's the idea of getting up at night.  I don't think I've slept through an entire night since I got pregnant.  Good nights involve only a trip or two to the bathroom.  Bad nights find me standing over the medicine box in a dark kitchen, hoping that whatever I just chewed up was in fact an antacid.  But even though worst nights fortunately don't yet involve another human being with jet engine powered lungs screaming that he NEEDS something RIGHT NOW.

The authors of Babywise claim that it doesn't have to be that way and that using the methods described in their book will help you help your baby sleep through the night (or larger chunks of the night) at an earlier age.  Most of the advice centers around establishing a feeding schedule.  New babies should be fed every 2.5 hours (from the start of one feeding to the start of the next) and should not be spaced more than 3 hours apart.  Mothers should do whatever they need to (change diaper, unwrap the baby so he's cooler) to keep him awake for a full feeding.  Then the baby stays awake a bit, goes to sleep, and the cycle repeats.  As the baby moves toward the 8 - 9 week mark, he can start to sleep for longer periods during the night without waking to feed.

Problems - according to the authors - arise when babies eat a little then sleep, then eat a little then sleep so baby never really gets full and Mom is a 24-hour milk machine who never gets a break.  They also occur when every cry for comfort (unrelated to hunger) are met with an offer of milk.

While all of the advice in the book seems reasonable, I couldn't help but dislike reading it.  There seemed to be a not-so-subtle undertone that if the baby doesn't take to a schedule perfectly, it is because the mother is doing something wrong.  She's either feeding the baby too much or not enough or holding the baby too much or not enough.  There's no room for differences in a baby's needs or temperament.  If the baby cries during the night after 8 or 9 weeks it's because you are a bad mother, which is not super encouraging.

So while I'm going to try to work toward getting our baby on a schedule before I get back to work, I think trying to live and die by the recommendations in this book are a recipe for crazy-making.  I'm glad I read it, but I wouldn't recommend it to a friend - especially not a friend dealing with a baby who doesn't want to go to sleep.

   

If I had a million dollars...

I would spend at least part of it on really cute, really expensive baby clothes that would only be worn once or twice.

Like this tiny sheep cap and mitten set:

And little flannel PJs:

This albatross sweater for sure:

To be worn with trousers with knee patches while crawling around:

And of course some graphic print onesies:

Seriously.. too cute:

Too.  Cute.

All images from Boden Baby.

Apartment update

The move-in process is in full swing.  I'm at the point where I swear our stuff is secretly multiplying in the closets because every time we take another car load to the new apartment I think, "We have to be getting close to done," but when we return there's still so so so so so much left to do.

We moved almost all of our kitchen items to the new place yesterday, and this morning I turned on the water and started running everything through the dishwasher.  This is so gross that I can't believe I'm admitting it on the internet (although the only 3 people who will read it are people who already know this is true) but our current kitchen has horrible ventilation and honestly, a lot of our cups and bows and things are... sticky... with a stickiness that is not easily removed through hand washing.  And we have incredibly hard water.  (As a side note, all our good china is in those cloth china protector things so it hasn't gotten gross like our regular dishes).  Anyway, I was delighted to stop by after church and find that all the cups, plates, etc. that I'd put thorough the dishwasher were really actually finally clean.  I'm planning to wash EVERYTHING that can be washed before I put it away.

The apartment to do list is evolving.  I got to check one item off the list (getting the keys) and added a few new items in blue.

• Sign lease and e-mail back to landlords
• Receive copy of signed lease back
• Send in security deposit and post-dated rent checks (I was afraid I'd forget when baby brain really started to set in)
• Get keys to new apartment (done 8/18)
• Put in 90-days notice at current apartment
• Pay final rent to current apartment
• Schedule movers
• Get coupon for movers from friend or buy a Bucky Book
• Transfer utilities
• Turn on water
• Turn on internet
• Buy TV antenna/ digital converter box/ thing that will play Netflix movies
• Voyage to Ikea
• Futon???
• Kitchen table Computer desk
• Update address with services/ put in change of address with post office
• Figure out how to watch something/ listen to music while using treadmill in garage
• Pack and move small stuff
• Have movers take over big stuff
• Clean current apartment
• Unpack at new apartment
• Wash and put away dishes
• Transfer renter's insurance to new place
• Finish taking out trash at new apartment (long story...)
• E-mail new address
• Update address on magazine subscriptions
• Donation to St. Vinny's

We'll plan to take another load over tonight - hopefully everything from the storage unit plus more random odds and ends- and put away and wash one more load of dishes.  Even though it's a lot of work to get everything moved and unpacked, I think we both agree that it's going to be very nice living there.  

iThink iLike iT

Was the title way too much?

Yesterday evening we joined the 2nd decade of the 21st century and bought an iPad2.

Daniel got it all set up last night, and I played with it for a little while this morning.  I was proud of myself for figuring out how to open my e-mail, use Google reader, set up an Apple account, download the NPR app and listen to a program over the computer speakers all on my own and all without getting angry and throwing something soft.

So far today has been busy.  I got the grocery shopping done this morning and then loaded and unloaded a car full of kitchen stuff at the new apartment.  We're planning to take a second load over this afternoon once Daniel gets home from school and will probably load up the car once more tonight so I can unload and start organizing tomorrow morning while Daniel is rehearsing for the church service.

We also have tentative plans to have dinner at Eldorado Grill tonight as my official birthday dinner.  Here's hoping they'll make a virgin margarita!  Now I'm off to play with our new toy until Daniel comes home and it's time to start packing again.


 

23 Weeks

Things have been changing a lot around here!  I was starving at the end of last week and the beginning of this one, and it seems to have paid off in a big growth spurt in the last few days.  This morning when I stepped on the scale I realized I'd hit three milestones: 1. The 140 lb mark (up 10lbs from pre-pregnancy), 2. If I stood straight up and looked down, I could no longer see my toes, and 3. The skin on my stomach has stretched enough I can see all the way to the bottom of my belly button.  

Even though I'd heard a strong heart beat at my last OB appointment, I'd been nervous earlier in the week because I hadn't felt the baby move very much.  I guess he was just resting up to grow because yesterday morning I was rewarded with some great kicks that I could even see from the outside.  This week the baby is the size of a large mango or grapefruit, weighing in at a about pound and about 11 inches in length.  He'll double in weight (up to a whopping 2lbs) over the month.

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I'm still feeling great.  No weird skin changes or swelling, although I know I have plenty of time for both.

Also, check out the new "pregnancy" tab at the top of the blog home page.  Now you can view all of the Friday updates week by week without having to wade through the rest of my ramblings.

Happy Birthday to Me

It's the big 3-0!  I actually thought today was going to be totally boring.  My only plans were to go to the gym and to work like normal and to move a few boxes of books to the new apartment and take out the trash there (nothing says responsibility like taking out someone else's trash...).  But when I got to work there was a surprise in store.  My door had been decorated!

But that's not all...  There were balloons...

 Many many many balloons.

I'm sure I'll be getting a lot done today :).

It was such a sweet surprise!  I really appreciated the thoughtfulness and the hard work of the people who brought the balloons (and the ones who will make the balloons go away at the end of the day, hint, hint).

I also opened a few gifts from Daniel last night on my Birthday-eve: two keyboard books and a Big Star CD (not pictured).  He also gave me two cards.  One is birthday-related and the other is related to the big move.

  
If the rest of this decade is anything like today, I'll be a very lucky girl :).

You can trust me

for another 28 hours.  Or is that a year and 28 hours?  Because I won't be "over 30" until I'm 31, which will be next year.  In any case, this is my last day on earth as a 20-something, and - even though it feels like it was only two seconds ago- I thought it would be fun to think back about what life was like when I started my 20s way back in 2002.

Flat screens were the next big thing:

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And they were making those state quarters:

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Al Roker was still fat:

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As was Drew Carey:

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And we still used dial up

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To watch Homestar Runner

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And hoped not to get the blue screen of death.

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Oh 2002, how much has changed since then... we were listening to Nickelback and watching the second Lord of the Rings movie and drone bombing the crap out of weddings in Afghanistan (oh wait...).  It was a simpler time.  Only drug dealers had cell phones, and you only had to pretend to be friends with people you didn't like who you actually had real-life social interaction with instead of being fake Facebook friends with people you don't even see.  You could set a drink on an AOL CD coaster while constructing the perfect away message so that everyone would think you were out living it up on a Friday night and not dressing up a plastic rat in your dorm room with your crazy roommate (or was that just me?)  George W. Bush was the president (totally forgot about that guy...) and taking pictures of cats was something that only crazy people did.

Only. Crazy. People. [source]

I'm sure that in 10 years I'll look back on 2012 and think how silly and simple-minded we all were "way back then" before the alien invasion and flying cars.  But I'm not thinking about it now because that would mean having to rationalize the idea that one day I will be almost 40 (eek).  Anyway... enough rambling for now.  See you all next decade!    

Harvard class of 2034, here we come

Because it's absolutely never too early to start obsessing, you can buy these drool-worthy (literally) classic-literature board books for your favorite "gifted" baby.

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I do admit a certain curiosity of how Romeo and Juliet ends in a book where the target audience is 2-year-olds.

In other news, it's official - I finally look pregnant and not fat!  I know that people who know me have thought that (or have been kind enough to say it) for awhile, but this morning I had a stranger at the gym say congratulations, and I'm pretty sure she meant about having a baby and not my apparent victory in a hot dog and/or pie eating contest.  YAY!

Baby Book Report - Easy Labor

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The subtitle of this book is "Every Woman's Guide to Choosing Less Pain and More Joy During Child Birth" but really it should have been "Ha! Just kidding".  The thesis is that childbirth is the most incredibly, indescribably painful experience a woman will probably have in her entire life, that even experienced mothers forget how bad labor and delivery is, but that you should somehow prepare yourself for this unimaginable experience and come to the hospital relaxed.  Um... I'll get right on that.

The author is an obstetric anesthesiologist but he includes information gathered from other professionals involved in the birth process such as labor and delivery nurses, midwives, and doulas (which the spell-check desperately wants to change to "Douglass").  The rest of the book describes methods for controlling labor pain from the ubiquitous epidural to breathing techniques, to hypnosis to nitrous oxide (really... evidently it's all the rage in Great Britain).

All I can say is: bring on the epidural.  From what was written in the book and what I've heard from friends who have had children is that - because epidurals are much easier, safer, and less confining than in years past- you can have an un-medicated childbirth, but you have to really really really really really really want it.  In fact, a major reason that women choose to give birth at a birth center or at home is to avoid the "temptation" of medical pain relief.

I can tell you now that I have no such dedication.  With the new epidurals, you can move around and even walk around in some cases.  Friends say that you experience every contraction, it just doesn't HURT anymore.  And while I don't feel like I need to have it inserted before I have a single contraction, I don't feel like being in pain - especially being in screaming, swearing out of control in pain- will add anything to the birth experience.  Plus the idea of laboring for many hours without pain relief and then having an episiotomy* without pain relief is truly terrifying.

So in summary, labor = painful, not easy.  Epidural = good.

*Look it up (no gross pictures, but not for the faint of heart, either), then go look at your kitchen shears and tell me the thought of having that happen wouldn't keep you awake at night.        

We got the keys!

Our new home sweet home:

There were many days when I wasn't sure this was actually going to come through (including yesterday up until about 4:30pm), but we got the keys to our new place, and we're really really moving!

Proof!

We took over a load of stuff yesterday and packed the car last night so I could unload more this morning while Daniel was rehearsing at church.  Not bad for an evening's work:

There's rain in the forecast, but I'd love to take one more load over this afternoon (with Daniels' help, he's planning to take the afternoon off).  We have a few boxes of books (mainly books from our childhood) that would be good to take over plus more decorative items that are easy to move.  Moving one car load at a time actually makes the whole thing feel more manageable.  I can't wait to start putting things away and thinking about the nursery!

Good morning

After record high temperatures all summer, I think we hit a record low last night.  It was cold enough over night that I did the "wake up shivering and run around and shut all the windows at 3am" dance, and the Weather Channel reported that it was 47 degrees when I woke up to run.  Not that I'm complaining.  You couldn't ask for much nicer weather for a run, which was good for me during my wimpy 5-miler and good for the people running the Madison Mini Marathon this morning.  The only thing worth saying about my run is that a giant... not a tiny gnat... but a GIANT bug nearly flew into my mouth.

GIANT [source]

Fortunately/unfortunately it got caught in my lips (gross) and I was able to stop and spit it out before it actually got into my mouth and I (gag) might have swallowed it.

I went out to cheer on a friend and her sister who were running the Mini.

YAY! Kerri and Lacey.  Way to go!

I'm so happy for all the runners that the weather has cooperated so nicely.  Especially after the both the Madison and Green Bay Marathons were so hot this spring that they had to be canceled - in whole or in part.  And after Mini runners were soaked by heavy rain last year.  It was fun to cheer everyone on, although I feel like I'm more exhausted from standing and clapping for 45 minutes than some of the runners will be after they finish the race.  

I'm thinking/ hoping that maybe maybe maybe I'll be able to run this race (here's my race report from 2010) next year (the above statement about how out of shape I am currently aside and provided I can request the same weather).  If not, I have my eye on the Haunted Hustle, which is actually my favorite half marathon in town (race report from 2011).  In other local running news, it was announced yesterday that the Madison Marathon will be moved to November in 2013 and the dreaded "run to the airport and run back" course might be changed.  I doubt that training for a marathon is in the cards for me for next year, but I think it's a good idea that they moved the race.  Even though it might be cold and snowy in November, that would be less unpleasant than being baked alive on John Nolen Dr.    

22 weeks

I had my approximately 5 month check up yesterday and all continues to go well with the baby.  The results of the ultrasound are that- so far as anyone can tell- everything is in the appropriate place and developing normally.

This week the baby is about the size of a papaya.  He's about 11 inches long and weighs somewhere around a pound.

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He can hear, detect light (this weekend's experiment is to shine a bright flashlight at my stomach and see if he moves), and is developing his sense of touch.  His lips, eyelids and eyebrows are becoming more distinct and he might even be growing a little hair on the top of his head.  With the heartburn I've had, I'm expecting him to come out with dreadlocks.

I'm still feeling good, although I have to say I've been really hungry this week so I'm expecting a growth spurt sometime soon.  My belly is feeling a bit heavier, and, although I'm not having any back pain so far, I can see how that will happen in the next few weeks.  Other than heartburn, I haven't really had any negative side effects since morning sickness went away.  My gums aren't bleeding, I don't have stretch marks (in fact, I feel like I have plenty more room before anything really start stretching), and my belly button doesn't seem in any danger of becoming an outie.  I did hit a weight milestone at the doctor's office yesterday.  With clothes, shoes, after eating, etc. I was 140lbs.  That's the first time I've ever seen a "4" for that middle number.  Yikes.

Anyway, I'm still waiting to hear about picking up the keys to our new place (maybe today???) and am really looking forward to getting the baby prep show on the road.