Don't speculate about a speculum

This morning I woke up around 4 a.m. and thought my water had broken. I woke up Brian, we called the doctor, and they advised us to come in and get it checked out. So we did.

We go in, I pee in the cup, put on the paper-thin gown and lay down in the observation room. The nurse hooked me up to the baby monitor. Little Nugget has been very active and apparently is full of energy at 4-5ish. When she started to strap the monitor on, he kicked. HARD. The nurse jumped back like she expected a foot to be sticking out of my stomach.

Then I had to lay there. They said I needed to lay flat for 20-30 minutes. This would help them determine whether or not my water actually had broken. No sweat.

Then came the exam. Let me tell you about an instrument called the "speculum." Well, actually, those of you who've been through this already know. Those that haven't, trust me, you don't want to know. Let's just say that if they had this device at Guantanamo, water boarding would have been the warm up round.

Fortunately, everything checked out fine. My water did not break. All is good in the neighborhood.

More Shenanigans

I've found harassing people in the elevator to be a new favorite activity. This morning, a man joined me on the elevator and he was carrying a box of LaMar's donuts. This is another Kansas City institution. Krispy Kreme sucks. LaMar's donuts are awesome.

There were about five other people on the elevator. I looked at the box and looked at him. Meanwhile, he looked at me looking at his box of donuts and then looked at my protruding stomach.

I asked him, "You wouldn't by chance have a cake donut with chocolate icing and coconut shavings on it, would you?"

He looked at me and said, "Uh, I don't know. I just asked for a store variety."

I said, "That's okay. I'll just follow you and check it out."

He really thought I was going to follow him when he got off the elevator at the 6th floor. When he exited, I told him, "I'm going to go put my coat up and will come back down."

I didn't.

Earlier in the year, when I was leaving the cafeteria after lunch, I saw a guy carrying 5 boxes of grocery store bakery cookies. He was heading to the elevator, so I said, "Why don't you let me help you with that."

He said, "Actually, I'm just taking all of these back to my desk so other people will eat them. Why don't you take a box." He then proceeded to hand me the box of sugar cookies. I said, "Thank you, but I'd much rather have the cheesecake brownies."

He handed them over without argument.

For the record. I would have NEVER done that pre-pregnancy.

Do you really want to know?

Ever since my stomach popped out, everyone - and I do mean EVERYONE - I see, run into or otherwise ride in the elevator with, has to ask me, "So how are you feeling?"

I think I am asked this on average of 20 times per day.

Of course, I just smile and say, "just fine." But one of these days...

Picture it: Engineering Company World Headquarters 2010
11-month pregnant lady steps onto elevator with middle-aged engineer. He's wearing a white, long-sleeved button up collared shirt with a sweater vest over the top. His shoes are worn out brown loafers and he is wearing black pants.

The engineer looks at the pregnant lady, smiles nicely and says, "So how are you feeling?" No, good mornings or afternoons. No talk about the weather. Also, keep in mind this is a socially-awkward engineer. They usually don't make eye contact or speak to anyone they are not familiar with. Up until this moment, a pregnant woman posed no threat to him.

11-month pregnant lady says, "Well, if you really want to know, my back hurts like I've been chuckin' TVs all day and forgot to lift with my legs. My hips feel like the only thing holding them together is the skin around them. I ate too fast this morning, so I puked in the parking lot and now need to buy breakfast since I am hungry again. I'm tired because my pillow fort/mountain didn't live up to high expectations and I ended up tossing and turning all night. Plus, I'm trying to drink coffee only on days when I really need it. Did you know it is a natural and light laxative for some people? The caffeine can get you moving, but the coffee can REALLY help get things moving if you know what I mean..."

Middle-aged engineer exits elevator and never speaks to any strangers again for the rest of his life. Pregnant lady goes to cafeteria for coffee and breakfast.

Mount St. Baby Mama

Saturday night/Sunday morning I woke with the horrible feeling of acid reflux encroaching all the way up my throat to the back of my mouth. To combat the problem, I tried sitting up a little bit more in bed. I woke up two hours later with a very sore back so I laid back down only to wake up again in two hours with the acid problem. In frustration, I got out of bed and went into Evan's room and sat in the new glider my parents bought Brian and I for Christmas and was able to doze off for a little while.

We've mentioned my "pillow fort" in previous posts. The original pillow fort consisted of three king-size pillows, two of which were the memory foam, and three regular size pillows. Each night I would position the two memory foam pillows length-wise on the bed and side by side. I would lay on top of the two memory foam pillows, but kind of slide in between them, using two of the regular pillows to prop up my legs. I could lay on my side without my hip hurting if I stayed on the memory foam. Plus, the other pillow would prop me up so I didn't roll over in the night. I would use the regular king-size pillow as a pillow, but since I was on top of the memory foam pillows, I put a regular size pillow underneath my king-size pillow to prop it up. It's definitely a process. But it worked.

Last night, I had to abandon the fort concept and go with a pillow mountain. I have confiscated all un-used pillows in the house - except for the ones on the couch. All three king-size pillows, and three regular size pillows are stacked in a manner that will allow me to "recline" in bed and still support my back. The other three regular size pillows are stacked so that I can drape my legs over them. It's the poor-mama's version of that old person bed that folds up. And it worked! Last night I was able to sleep for 6 straight hours! I woke up not because I was uncomfortable, but because I had to go to the bathroom.

It works and that's all I care about, although I have to admit that when I left this morning my big pile of pillows looked absolutely ridiculous next to Brian and his very modest one pillow.

Some more new purchases...

We thought we should probably start buying this kid some clothes... Lemme explain something...we both hate shopping. If it can't be done online, then we usually don't buy it. But we figured we probably need to get a reserve of clothes built up for this booger, so yesterday Linda & I ventured out to enjoy an afternoon of shopping on the Plaza. Our first stop was gonna be Gymboree. However, with it being Sunday morning, they didn't open til noon, so we stopped by a Latté Land and chilled out for about an hour and walked around for a bit. When Gymboree finally opened, we stepped in and both of us stared dumbfoundedly at the selections. But shopping for kids clothes is kinda fun. We bought Evan three outfits, a few for the 0-3 months range, and then another for the 3-6 months range. While I like the clothes they had there...it was pretty expensive, even with one of those outfits being on sale...we spent a little over $100.00. The lady at Gymboree was successful though in reeling me in and signing me up for a rewards card. I don't think I'll get much use out of it, but now I'm sure I'll get tons of junk mail now... I think Target, Kohls and, yes, even Walmart will be my favorite clothes shopping friends in the years to come. Upon leaving the Plaza, Linda said she thought that I will probably enjoy shopping for him more than her.

Here's the outfits we got him:

Last month, we were browsing through a Pottery Barn catalog and noticed a cool piggy bank in the form of a bulldog (like our dog, Truman). Since we decided on a "frogs, snails and puppy dog tails" theme, we wanted to pick up this silver-plated piggy bank for Evan's room. We stopped by the Pottery Barn on the Plaza, but they were out of stock. They said the Town Center location had a few in stock so we drove all the way over there... That alone was $42.00! Man, this kid is expensive! But he's worth every penny. I'll have to refer back to this post and those words when I get upset with him in the future.

Evan would be about 15.7 inches long now, and weighs about 3 lbs, which is about the size of a head of cabbage. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in Linda's uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision -- which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.) Also, Evan's brain just keeps getting more wrinkled. All those grooves and indentations increase surface area, meaning more room for that oh-so-essential brain tissue. His bone marrow has also now started to take over the production of red blood cells, a job that the spleen and other tissue groups had done til now. He's also adding some brawn -- his grip is now strong enough to grasp a finger. Now that Evan can regulate his own body temperature with the white fat he's been gaining and the brain developing. He'll start to shed the lanugo, the downy body hair that has kept him warm and sprouted a few weeks ago. He may still have a few remanents of lanugo though when he pops out!

Less than 10 weeks to go now til I'm officially a dad! Holy crap! It was just ten weeks ago we found out that he was gonna be a boy... That's so freaky to think about... I know to Linda it seems like such a long ways away, since she's gotta carry the kid til then... But to me...it seems just right around the corner. And really this pregnancy, in my mind, has flown by since we found out on August 3rd.

Just 10½ weeks left!

Man, that just seems right around the corner. We've got, what feels like, a crap ton still to do:

1. The changing table/dresser - I'm still needing the weather to cooperate so I can finish stripping, sanding and restaining what was my grandmother's old dresser...that will be converted to a dresser/changing table combo for Evan. But since Kansas City got hit with some major snow storms at the last of December and first of this month...and since we lack an appropriate workspace due to our condo...I have to use our front porch. Now that we've come out of the deep freeze and the 18 inches of snow is now melting away, it makes it a bit difficult to get that restarted since everything is so soggy.
2. My leave of absence from work - I'm still needing to get a solid answer. Not the, "...well, this may work this way, or this might work that way...". Since I work part-time now, and I'm just about 100 hours shy of the 1,250 hours within 12 months needed to qualify for FMLA/Paternity Leave, it's been confusing to my HR people for some reason. It doesn't make any sense to me... Case in point; if I have a family member die, I would get 3-4 days off paid for bereavement, with the possibility of extending that out using vacation days or unpaid leave if needed...but for the birth of my child, I get nothing? Seems weird. If things go accordingly and we have no complications (knock on wood), I'm only wanting to take about a week or two off to get settled and adjust to life with a newborn.
3. Finding a daycare provider - One of my friends, Deb, who has two small children suggested her daycare provider. Deb swears by this woman. She said she is great and has been doing it for years out of her home...her kids love her. Deb gave me her number and I called and left her a message a few days ago, but haven't heard back. That doesn't sit well with me for some reason. I'm hoping...hoping hoping hoping...that I'll be able to arrange my work schedule with coworkers trading shifts to bunch up all my hours on the weekends and I would only work two or three days a week. If I can do that, then we maybe able to avoid daycare costs all together? That way, after Linda goes back to work, I'd take care of Evan Monday through Friday (since Linda's got the normal job with regular hours). But Linda's not so hip on me working 12-14 hours on both Saturdays and Sundays since we wouldn't be able to see each other as much and do things as a family. That's understandable though... I dunno what we're gonna do yet.
4. Finding a pediatrician - A coworker of mine suggested the pediatrician she uses for her two sons. At our last appointment, our OB also suggested the same practice with this doctor. I called earlier this week and they seemed really nice. They told me that once we deliver, we will want to schedule the first appointment 2 weeks after Evan is born for the check-up. They also said that when we are asked who our pediatrician is when Linda goes into labor...just mention this doctor's name. Seems weird though to use someone who you've never met. I want to arrange some kind of prenatal meet-and-greet...that way we know who he is before Evan arrives. Since we are planning on having him circumcised, I'd like to know who would be operating on him. (Yes, I know there is a lot of debate over having your son circumcised. I'm not here to talk about that, so please leave those comments for another discussion board and not our blog.)
5. Finish the window trim - Okay this has absolutely nothing to do with Evan's debut into the world, but our window replacement has been a work in progress for three years... I only have one more window to finish in our bedroom. I was gonna get them all done a few weeks ago, but when I was repainting the trim in the laundry room I somehow managed to develop tendinitis, or repetitive motion injury, in my elbow. I woke up the next day, and consequently for the next week with a throbbing forearm that felt like I had hit my funny bone, but that feeling would last for hours. And every now and then that funny bone feeling still occurs. I had wanted to get all this done before Evan gets here...so with finishing this project we will be one step closer to getting this condo up on the market and hopefully sold and moved into a bigger house in a better school district before Evan hits kindergarten age...at least out of downtown Kansas City.
6. The baby shower - Granted I really have no direct planning in this area...and thankfully Linda's friends and family are wanting to throw us one. I'm hoping Evan stays cooking until after the shower and doesn't make his big appearance before then... We only have a few outfits that my dad and future step-mom have bought him...and the crib, but no bedding... I hope he doesn't come early like my niece did... I believe my sister had my niece at 34 weeks. Also, my friend Deb (mentioned above) had her son at 35 weeks. Linda will be ending her 35th week when our shower takes place, on March 6th.

Will all these things get done?

Linda is in the midst of the 29th week. Evan would weigh about 2½ pounds now, or about the size of a butternut squash, and he'd measure a bit over 15 inches in length. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. His bones are soaking up lots of calcium. During this trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited into his skeleton each day. Evan's energy is surging and he is fatting up even more. His wrinkled skin should be smoothing out now with the white fat that is being deposited under the skin. This is different from the brown fat that was deposited earlier in the pregnancy. White fat is what we have outside the womb...it's primary use is for energy. Brown fat is found mostly in newborns and hibernating animals...and is more strictly for generating body heat. His tooth buds had formed weeks ago, now his permanent tooth buds are forming under his gum line, which will sprout his adult teeth in about 6 years. Space in Linda's uterus is getting cramped and it's apparent with Evan's kicks and jabs. Although, for some reason, he's still shy and hides on me. I've felt a few kicks, but whenever Linda wants me to feel, he squirms away! I can tell he's gonna be his mother's son...stubborn as all hell...a typical Aries.

Update

We had another doctor's appointment on Friday. Everything seems to check out. Nugget's heart rate is strong. My belly is measuring within all the normal parameters and the blood pressure is good.

The doctor looked through my chart and said that I have gained a total of 10 pounds since the start of the pregnancy. She said at 28 weeks, this is usually the halfway point in terms of weight gain and that I should expect to gain about 10 more pounds between now and delivery. She also said that if she were going to recommend any changes, that she would encourage me to gain more weight than less.

I haven't really been too concerned about how much weight I've been gaining or not. Before pregnancy I certainly never denied myself food or worried about diets or whatever. And, considering I made Brian take me to Baskin Robbins for a hot fudge sundae on an absolutely horrible winter weather day, I think its safe to say this attitude has carried through the pregnancy. It's just now I can't stand to look at a lot of the things I loved before. Like barbecue, pasta and bacon.

We start seeing the doctor every two weeks now. The little baby up on top of the screen says that we have 77 days left. Some days that seems crazy, other days it seems like it is SO FAR AWAY. I also agree with the statement that good posture will help. Nothing helps. I can be the model of good posture but if I am sitting for more than 30 minutes, my back is going to hurt. If I stand for more than 10 minutes, my back is going to hurt. I'm sure this will only get worse as Nugget starts his big weight gain down the final stretch.

I can't imagine my stomach stretching out anymore than it already has, but I know this will happen too. When Nugget starts moving around, it's really quite weird. Sometimes he's way back towards the back and I can't really feel him when I'm poking my stomach. Then its like he is suddenly trying to break through the front of me! Sometimes I feel a little something or other that moves when I press my fingers onto it. Maybe it's a foot? Maybe it's a knee or elbow? Who knows? Nugget still seems shy around Brian and seems to stop kicking when he puts his hands on me. I told Brian that in a few months, he won't be able to hide from him anymore.

We're going to go check out the Sherlock Holmes movie today. I wonder if he will kick and move around with the sound system base like he did during Avatar? That was one of the most active and strongest movements he's had. This was replicated last night with some Opera. We heard classical music can help his development, so Brian put together a playlist on the iPod and I put the big headphones on my tummy when I'm watching TV and turn it up loud. I wonder if he moves so much because he likes it, or the strange new sounds are scaring him? I hope its the former...

Perfection

Yesterday, my back started hurting about mid-afternoon. It does that when I've been sitting for really long periods of time, or standing for moderate to long periods of time. So, I got up and did a few laps around the floor. This didn't help. I tried stretching in my cube. No relief. So, I decided that at 5 pm Central time I was going to go home. I could have stayed at worked a solid two more hours on my projects but just couldn't focus. As stated in my previous post, it has been pretty busy at work lately. I wouldn't say its stressful, just busy and a lot needs to get done. In the PR/Media Relations world, there is a big difference between having a lot to get done and stressful situations. I've been fortunate to work for a company where we don't have too many PR stressful situations.

Anyway, I called Brian, who had the day off, to let him know I was on my way home. We talked about what to have for dinner and agreed upon the TGIF Fajita dinner that was in the fridge. They are delicious and perfect size for two people. When I got home, dinner was made and ready to eat.

We ate dinner together and then decided against watching American Idol and to watch a National Geographic documentary he rented from Netflix called "In the Womb." The movie covered the entire nine months of pregnancy, showing how the baby developed from conception through delivery. It was neat to see the images, both real and computer generated, and get an even better account of what's happening in there.

Even better, before the movie started, Brian reached up into the pantry and pulled out two Betty Crocker Warm Delights! I had the chocolate fudge brownie. YUM!

Dinner, warm dessert, and an interesting movie with Brian to end the day. What could be better? Oh, Truman and Frankie were snuggling up with us, too!

Extra Bonus:
Sometime over the weekend I figured out the perfect position to lay in on top of my pillow fort. So now, instead of tossing and turning, I sleep through the night! Hooray!

Where'd the time go?

I just can't seem to believe that we have hit the 3rd trimester now. It really wasn't that long ago that I was praying everyday that everything was okay and we'd make it past the first trimester. And here we are...with only 12 short weeks to go til we will have that bouncing bundle of joy with us.

Saturday, we decided to face our fear and despise for Walmart and try to get the rest of our registry done. For one thing, both of us hate Walmart. I used to work at the one in our hometown right after high school. I hate everything Walmart stands for and is. They ruin small businesses. Target isn't much better, but at least their employees are more competent and professional, and the clientele at Target is a bit more polished. It never fails...each time I go into a Walmart, any Walmart, there's a white trash family beating their kids. Case in point and one of my favorite websites to visit for shear wonder is PeopleOfWalmart. Have a look if you've never been, it's pretty funny, and all too familiar. The pictures could be from your local Walmart! Anyhow, I digress...

Linda and I thought Walmart would be a better place to register since, sadly, there's a Walmart practically on every street corner and it would be much more readily available and probably less expensive for our family and friends to get items off our registry. We walked into Walmart near Linda's work...asked about 5 (not kidding) employees where we needed to go to sign up for a registry. None of them could answer us and we were finally directed back "to the kiosk in Electronics". We wondered...well, Linda waddled...around Electronics for a good 15 minutes (it's not that large). The only kiosks we found were for internet orders, cell phone something-or-another, and the PhotoMaker. We didn't see any employees. Asked some guy that appeared to be an employee...he irritatingly pointed to his smock that read Time Warner. We both stared blankly at him and he read off his smock that said his companies name. He was just a vendor or a promotional guy assigned there from Time Warner for the day. Well, you know what? Your cable service and customer service sucks too. A simple, "I'm sorry, I don't work for Walmart..." would have suffice. Linda and I searched for an actual employee and found none. I approached Mr. Attitude again and laid the sarcasm on thick and asked, "Since you were so helpful before, maybe you could actually point us to where a Walmart employee is?" We finally got an Electronics employee and told him we needed to get a baby registry started. No response from him, except him rolling his eyes...and he walked past us and to a computer behind the counter. Not a word from him...and had acted like we were bothering his social time with another employee. He fumbled around with his computer...didn't appear as if he knew what he was doing. We stood there in front of his computer for a good 5 minutes without a word spoken, except him asking if we had a walmart.com account. Linda's patience was extremely thin...more so than usual...and she had had enough. We left and went to Target. There it was really easy to get the registry started... Signed up from their kiosks (easy to find) and got the scanning gun from the employees who seemed knowledgeable and helpful.

It's funny, yesterday morning on my facebook status I updated, "Only one more trimester to go! Holy crap! I'm gonna be a dad in just 3 months?!? Where'd the time go? So much stuff still to do!" One of my friends commented, "News flash! You ARE a dad! Just bc Evan hasn't made his debut doesn't mean you aren't a dad! But having a child is amazing..." I had never thought of it like that, but she's absolutely correct!

It seems Linda's pregnancy is almost text book. She has also started to feel Braxton Hicks contractions. It kinda freaked her out at first, which I'm sure it would anyone who has never been pregnant before. She also has had more problems getting comfortable and not sure if she has sciatica, which is a common ailment during pregnancy, especially when you hit the 3rd trimester. But here we are in our 28th week and officially now in the 3rd trimester. Some websites and doctors claim the 27th week is the beginning of the 3rd trimester, while others say the 28th week is... Whatever the case, we are now, without a doubt, in the 3rd trimester now. By this time, Evan would weigh about 2¼ pounds, about the size of a Chinese cabbage, and would measure almost 15 inches now from head to heel. His eyes have opened and he is sporting eyelashes now. He can blink and is probably able to see light that filters through to the womb. In his bag of tricks, he has added coughing, sucking, hiccuping and taking practice breathes. Some studies have shown that he shows signs of REM sleep, which means he could possibly dream. What the heck would a baby in utero have to dream about? That's another deep thought amongst many I've got... He's still gaining more weight and putting on more baby fat. The brain continues to develop billions of neurons... The lungs are continuing to mature, but they have reached a point that if Evan was born now, he'd have a good chance of survival...with lots and lots of medical help.

Evan will be here soon!! I can't wait!

Not really myself

Maybe its the hormones. Maybe its the fact that soon I will be responsible for raising a small child. Maybe its working 12 hours every day this week and knowing I'll be working a good portion of the day on either Saturday or Sunday, or perhaps both. I'm definitely not myself.

I attribute the work issues to increased irritability and my current inability to be mad without crying - which is ESPECIALLY FRUSTRATING. I'm tired of people coming to me with just problems and no one offering up solutions. This is at work and outside of work. If you don't have a solution and this isn't mission critical, I don't either.

This is different from how I am usually. Before, I was the problem solver. Now, I'm about ready to throw my hands up in the air and say, "Then I guess that's just too bad."

Other changes are also evident.

Bacon and Barbecue: Pre-pregnancy, these were two of my favorite food groups. Now, I have no desire to even look at it. I'm in Kansas City and live near some of the best barbecue restaurants in the world. This is a problem.

Italian isn't really doing it for me either. I think the garlic gives me bad heart burn.

On a positive note, I am starting to celebrate small victories I use to take for granted. Examples include:

• Pooping
• Putting on socks
• Buttoning my coat all the way
• Pants that stay up without having to be adjusted all the time
• Sleeping all the way through the night
• Sitting without back pain

Whoa. That's Deep, Dude.

Last Saturday Linda & I went to see a movie. We hadn't been to the movies since last summer when we were visiting friends in DC and went to see Public Enemies. We decided to see Avatar. When we first saw the previews for Avatar, both of us claimed we had absolutely no desire to ever see that movie.

It looked retarded...what was up with those blue cartoon people, that reminded me of Jar-Jar Binks, in this Sci-Fi geeks dream world? But as I heard reviews and read my friends status updates on facebook, I became intrigued when everyone said it was a must-see, especially in 3D...and more so in IMAX 3D. I admitted to Linda last week that I kinda wanted to see it...just to see what the hype was all about. She admitted that she kinda wanted to see it too... We decided that if we were really gonna battle the movie theatre then we'd go all out and see it in IMAX 3D...so we spent the $25.00 for both of us and bought tickets for the sold out 3:00 showing. Plus for the next 5-10 years our movies theatre outings will be filled with the latest Pixar or Disney kids flick... Both of us hate crowds...especially movie theatre crowds... But all in all, the movie was good. It was worth the price to see it in 3D, however the story line was cheesy and predictable...but it was visually stunning. It's not a movie that I would see in regular format or even wait to rent...you have to see it in 3D on the big screen.

Right as the movie started though, Linda said that Evan was really reacting to all the noise. You know movie theatres surround sound system really amps up the bams and booms and explosions so much so that you feel it in your teeth. It was reassuring to know that Nugg's hearing is intact! Linda tried to get me to feel his kicks and squirms...and it got me thinking. I mentioned this to Linda on the way home...it was almost a philosophical conversation. I wondered how that must be for Evan to experience this stuff...small clues to an outside world that he doesn't know exists, and have no clue what or why it's happening. I know his little brain can't comprehend and process all of it, but is there an element of fear? Do babies in utero experience emotions such as fear, sadness, happiness, confusion, etc.? I can't imagine not knowing where I am, not being able to see what's going on, and then hear this loud boom and not be able to piece it all together... I know, weird conversation and thoughts, but sometimes that's how my brain works... I wonder about Evan...he's on my mind all the time. From deep stuff like this, to little things like how big his little pinky is... I'm an odd duck, what can I say?

Are we there yet?

We found out we were pregnant on Aug. 3. Since then, my stomach has popped out, our guest bed room has been eliminated for a baby room, I have assembled and now sleep on "the pillow fort" each night and Truman now "loves me more" than Brian. And that's just the highlights.

The last five months have flown by in a blur. But now it seems that it is moving fast and slow all at once. My body aches. My hips hurt so bad in the morning I waddle around like a penguin until they loosen up a bit. The need to reach under my desk to unplug the network cable cord is not working out so well for me. I've requested a spare from IT to take to meetings. Bending over is hard to do. You should see the production and effort it takes to put on socks. I have to hold my breath. I can't wait for sandal season to begin. Putting pants on in the morning is starting to become dangerous and I think I am going to have to start sitting down to get that process started. Weevels wobble and this one will definitely fall down.

One of the symptoms I was actually looking forward to has not yet happened. All my preggo friends or friends with kids talked about how they were hot all of the time when they were pregnant and how lucky I am to be pregnant during the winter time because its like to forces balancing each other out. I am actually freezing most of the time. I wear giant sweatpants and sweatshirts around the house and to bed. This is one reason why we haven't had an updated belly shot in awhile. I'm usually not wearing a top that will properly show my roundness. I have the spaceheater going in the living room and sit right in front of it, sitting on a heating pad, wrapped in a blanket with a 60+ pound dog lying on top of me. And I'm still cold.

If I sit for an extended period of time, I have to get up slowly. Not because I'll pass out from standing up too quickly, but because my lower abdomen won't stretch out as quickly as I can stand up and it reminds me of that frequently. Bend over and touch your toes or reach as far as you possibly can. That stretching in your hammy is what I feel just below my belly button when going from a sitting position to a standing position.

Hot fudge sundaes. Until yesterday, I haven't really had a real strong craving for anything in particular. On Sunday, I NEEDED a hot fudge sundae. It did not matter that we just got another two inches on top of the 14 inches of snow that fell over Christmas and New Year's. I was not going to be denied. Yes, we have ice cream in the freezer, but we don't have hot fudge. I required hot fudge. So, Brian conceded and we went out for ice cream on a day where the high temperature was about 16, which will be the warmest day of the week.

Ok. Sorry for the gripe session. I know I'm only going to get bigger. I know I'm only going to get more uncomfortable. It's hard to believe we still have three months left and its hard to believe we only have three months left. Right now, I'm ready for the next phase. Tomorrow, I'll freak out.

Hello 2010!

A new year and a new decade is now upon us! So glad it's here. Looking back 2009 wasn't that bad of a year...had some ups and downs, but it was leaps and bounds better than 2007 and 2008. I can't wait to find out what 2010 has in store and to meet my son!

Linda & I had a low key New Year's Eve...went to a friends house, but both of us had worked a lot around the house yesterday and were home by 11:30 and stayed up late enough to see 2010 at midnight, then went to bed.

Christmas was good this year...would have been better except for the blizzard we got. I wrote last on Christmas Eve and the Kansas City area received a huge snow storm/blizzard that dumped almost a foot of snow over 4 days. It wasn't fun...and it was definitely a white Christmas. Reports had stated that this was the first time in over 50 years that we received more than an inch of snow on Christmas day. I'm not one that likes snow...much less cold and ice...so I was not digging the weather. If I could have it my way, we'd spend the winter in a tropical climate, preferably next to a beach. We spent Christmas Eve night at her parent's house, about 45 minutes away from home. Christmas morning we woke up our cars buried in their driveway and were worried about getting out and back home and to my families Christmas's. Her parents live on a gravel road and we were lucky that the snow grater come through right as we were leaving and plowed a path for us to get out. Needless to say the roads and highways were not in the best of condition and we made it home after about 1½ hours with no major problems until we pulled into our back parking lot that hadn't been touched by a plow and we got stuck. With the help of our next door neighbor, we dug out and decided to skip one of my families Christmas's. We decided to venture out later that night and was able to visit my sister and the rest of my family. Evan even got his first Christmas presents! My dad got him his first pair of overalls...or "bibbers" as my dad calls them...along with other great outfits and onesies.

We are on the cusp of the 27th week of pregnancy... Last week, in the 26th week, Evan's ears have developed and are more sensitive to the sounds of the outside world...meaning he should be able to hear not only Linda, but me too! His testicles have also began their descent from the abdomen to his scrotum...journey that will take three days! Something I'm sure he'd love to know I'm broadcasting on this blog... He is continuing to inhale and exhale small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is helping his lungs develop. This practice will help him once he is born and takes his first gulp of air. He is also continuing to fatten up and weighs a pound and is the length of an English hothouse cucumber, measuring head to heel. He now has eyelashes!

In the 27th week, the week we are beginning, Evan weighs about 2 lbs. now, which is about the weight of a head of cauliflower. He'd be about 14 ½ inches long with his legs extended. He is sleeping in regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes and perhaps sucking his thumb. Linda has said that his kicks and punches have definitely gotten stronger and usually around 12:00 or 1:00 his punches are really strong. However, he seems to be shy around me...each time I try to feel his hits, he clams up and doesn't do anything. I have been able to feel some nudges, but nothing really strong. Linda said the other day, it felt as if he was banging on a drum and she was able to actually see her stomach move! Evan's brain is continuing to develop and is very active now. Although his lungs are still immature, we are at a point now in the pregnancy that if he were born, he'd be able to survive with lots and lots of medical help. His nostrils have also opened up...which had been previously fused shut.

Hard to believe we've only got one more week in our 2nd trimester, then it's the final stretch!