Uh huh.... Uh huh... Oh yeah? That's nice...

I guess I should be used to this by now: the endless offerings of parenting information. And I'm sure it will only get worse, as the years go by. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate being told the "what no one told me"'s, but what I don't want is the, "Oh you think you're tired now???" (Yeah, no duh I'm gonna be tired when the baby comes... I've already been told by the midwives I'll hafta wake him up every two hours to nurse for at least the first week or two...) or the, "You're going to need this, and you're going to need that, and you HAVE to get this..." (most of these things require extra space in the house, which we don't really have, and I've known plenty of people who have raised their children perfectly well without them.) Stuff like that.

Anyways, just had to vent a bit. :-) I just don't enjoy being told what my child will be like when he hasn't even been born yet (Jeremy and I were similar, but pretty opposite, personality wise, as children, so it's a mixed bag when it comes to assuming what Jeremy Jr will be like--and assuming he will be exactly like Jeremy simply because he's a boy doesn't hold well in my book. I have three VERY different brothers who are all like my father in some ways, but none EXACTLY like him.)

/rant

Tomorrow's Christmas. I kinda wish I could still get excited about Christmas the way I used to when I was a kid. But that's okay. It's easier for me to fall asleep these days, not anxiously waiting to wake the next morning and tear into gifts. I'm hoping the day goes well (we're hosting Christmas lunch), and everyone enjoys their gifts. :-)

Merry Christmas!

No news is not necessarily good news...

So, last night, I had yet another "hopeful" experience. I fell asleep on the couch while Jeremy and Stephin played the vi-day-yo games, and woke up really crampy. They felt like they could have been contractions, and I was really uncomfortable, so I thought, "This is it! It's about time!"

Well, I went to bed because it was really late, and I certainly didn't want to be starting my labor off half asleep and exhausted. After snoozin' for a few hours, I woke up, again feeling crampy, and decided to try and time them. A few of them managed to make themselves apparent as 5 minutes apart, but they were so mild, I had a feeling that wouldn't hold.

Sure enough, they kinda went away. I was wide awake by then, and remembered from my Bradley class that you need to "keep busy!" during early labor--try to do stuff, walk, nap, shower, whatever. Just do something!

I needed to do something, so I got dressed and went to the mall. Maybe walking around there will help get things going? Well, wouldn't you know that the stupid mall doesn't open until 9?!?! It's the busiest shopping day of the year, and they don't open 'til 9?!?!?!?!

I was not happy. :-(

Got myself a Starbucks, went to CVS, went to Best Buy (they had opened at 8), chatted with one of the guys I knew there (from my Sony days), and then returned to the mall at 8:50. Wouldn't you know that the ONE store I had really wanted to go to had been open since 8?! Grrr.... I could have stayed at the mall instead of having to go back. Oh well.

So anyways, I returned home at 9:30-ish, and it doesn't look like Jeremy Jr's comin' my way today. :-( Oh well. Ohhhhhhhhhh well. I guess now I will have to take it easy, because my Birth Assistant has forbidden me to go into labor until after 3 pm on Christmas day--she's worked the past two Christmas Eves/Christmases, and would like to be able to spend this one with her family. I don't blame her. You hear that, Jeremy Jr????? You can either come today, or forever (until Monday evening) hold your peace! No funny business!

I guess I will take it easy the next day and a half.

The Jeremy Jr. Game is now LOCKED!

I hope you had a chance to cast your vote! As our due date approaches, and we have already passed several guesses on the poll, we thought it only fair to remove duplicate votes and lock the game. So if you didn't get a chance to vote, SORRY! But you've had plenty of time. :-)

So now we wait and see who was right, who was wrong, and who was wayyyyyy off (I'd be very surprised if we went 5 days past our due date and ended up with a 7lb-er who was only 18 inches long.... Especially since everyone thinks I'm having twins as it is! Nope... we're pretty sure there's only one....)

As an update, we had our 37 week appt yesterday. No news to report. The midwives think he's a LITTLE further down than before, but not much--definitely not enough to be considered "ready". I, on the other hand, am getting more and more uncomfortable. Between back aches, pelvic aches, and swollen hands and feet, I'm soooooo ready for him to make his appearance already!

Anyways.

We're gonna go brave Target now... I'm hoping it's not too crazy (wishful thinking, I know...) Wish us luck!

Epidurals Linked to Breastfeeding Problems

See? Yet another reason to go "AU NATURAL!" :-) It's not very surprising, though, considering that babies are born with a 'sucking' reflex that peaks at usually 30 minutes old. If the baby's drugged up (yes, when you have an epidural, it drugs the baby, too) then the baby's natural ability to suck may become impeded, and create problems down the road.

Of course, if you don't plan on breastfeeding, drug on! :-) Not all women will experience problems, though. Looks like they do, however, want to consider this "an adverse side effect".

Something to think about.

Finally!

Last night, I went to bed around 11:30, and didn't wake up until almost 10 am today.

YAY!!!

Aw, it felt sooooo good to sleep. And sleep I did! Hopefully that trend continues.

Just wanted to tell someone! :-)

Can't Sleep...

Seriously, this is kind of annoying... I've been up for a good hour now, just thinking about things, and it's keeping me up. So long days of 14 hour 'naps'. Booooo... Stupid brain can't shut down. It did for a bit there, and then I had weird dreams, and so now I'm up.

I think I'm just really anxious... It's like subconsciously I think I'm gonna go into labor at any second, like if I fall asleep I'll miss it or something, or my water will break, and so on and so forth. I just can't 'be still'. Grrr... very annoying.

So, I'm trying to tire myself out by blogging (not working), checking slickdeals for last minute Christmas gifts (don't need 'em), email (done), whatever I can do to try to fall back asleep. Jeremy gave me the dead laptop, though.. I've only got a few minutes left on the charge, so that's not gonna help. I may just give in and get up, go to the grocery store, and just hope I crash late enough in the day that I'm not missing anything (like lunch with friends).

And that's that. I'll let ya know how it goes.

He (the baby) represents the feelings of 60% of Americans.

At least I know there are many Democrats (and probably some Republicans) that can relate to the baby. I'm not saying I'm one of those (I love Bush... Don't agree with everything he's done, but y'know what? We, the US of A, voted him into office, not once, but twice... there's a reason for that, so to wander around now wearing pins and bumper stickers that say, "Impeach Him" is just ridiculous... He's done nothing 'wrong'. We may not agree with everything he does, but he's still Commander in Chief, and unless that's the title you hold yourself, he deserves your respect, whether you want to give it or not. /rant) :-)

I don't know what's more funny... the fact that the baby's crying (lots of babies don't like strangers, even if they are the President of the United States), or the expression on Bush's face.

I just thought it was a cute pic. :-)

Any day now!

Today, we are 37 weeks, which means, Jeremy Jr is now considered "full term" and could come at anytime.

Woah.

I'm excited/nervous/impatient/restless/hoping he comes soon/hoping he waits 'til after Christmas. :-) As much as I want to meet this child o mine, I don't really want to spend Christmas held up in my bed. Now that I'm not working, it's easier for me to wait a little longer (before I was so anxious for him to come, I was trying to rationalize pre-term labor... not that you can just turn labor on and off, but I was tellin' myself, "Well, he's probably fine, if we went into labor tonight, he'd be okay..." and stuff, but God knows what He's doing!) This week, I'm kinda busy getting ready for the holidays, along with numerous appointments throughout. Next week, though, the craziness will be over, and I'll be able to just relax and..... wait. Hopefully he doesn't make me wait TOO long (like, he'd better stay away from January.... Stay away, Jeremy jr! It's baaaaaad.... don't do it!!!)

Oh, and we still don't have a name picked out. I guarantee you, this child will be born, and we won't have a name for him for a couple of days... Eventually, we'll figure it out, but right now, he's still "Jeremy Jr". I think I'm starting to regret calling him that for the past 9 months. Now, everything just doesn't sound right.... Uh oh...

On a different note, we went to Laurence and Katharine's Christmas party last night, and had a great time! Met some folks from their trip to Israel (how cool is that, huh? Maybe someday we'll go) that were really neat (Dave & Judy, and Judy is ranked 28th in the world on XB Live for Zuma! Wow... that's pretty impressive... If you're not impressed, you should be.)

Katharine had lots of great food there, too! I was very impressed with the spread she put out (she had told me bits and pieces of it, but once it was actually all out.... yum!) Luckily (for me) she still had a bunch of stuff leftover, so hopefully she'll be bringing that along to our Mom's lunch tomorrow!

Oh, I almost forgot! Big Fella's leaving today!!! Woot! :-) He's gonna go hang out with Laurence and Katharine for a few weeks (until Jeremy Jr is two weeks old, about...) That'll be a nice break. :-) And I know Laurence is really looking forward to it--he loves Big Fella (I really don't know what people see in this animal... whatever... to each his own, I guess... :) They'd better not spoil him too much, or he won't want to come back (aww, darn...) ;) I guess I say that more for Jeremy than for me.

Okay, time to wake Jeremy up so we can start our day! Need to head to Home Depot and get a hose to fill up the Aqua Doula (this thing is pretty big... takes up almost as much space in our room as our bed!) and try to get the stupid paint out of the carpet before we pick up Charity at the airport. Enjoy your last Sunday before Christmas!

Just an observation...

I'm one of those people who will open the fridge to find something to eat, find nothing, close it, only to return shortly thereafter to open it again, even though I know the results will be the same. "Well, maybe something else will catch my eye this time..." Usually, the answer is no. Though yesterday, i was disappointed because I actually did finally see something I wanted (cottage cheese and fruit) but then couldn't find any fruit in the pantry (I do the same thing with the pantry after I leave the fridge...) Grr...

I just mention this because I'm the same way about looking at peoples' blogs... I'll click on it during the day, then again at night, then again first thing in the morning, expecting/hoping for something to be different, only to find it usually isn't. Eventually, folks'll post new stuff, but it's usually not between the hours of 12 a.m. and 8 a.m. Most people don't randomly blog in the middle of the night (like I do, I guess). What's wrong with you people?! I need fresh content everytime I click on the link for your blog!! :-)

Just thought I'd throw that out there, in case anyone is getting ready for work right now, and needs to see some fresh content on my blog. :-)

Thursday

Why Thursday sucked:

~Stupid cat knocked blue paint over onto our white carpet.
~Spent an hour scrubbing said carpet.
~Paint is still there.
~Had to do blood work at my appointment today (don't.... like... needles....)
~Didn't have time to get real food for lunch, so I ate leftover pizza, and now have massive heartburn--no more tums in the house....

Why Thursday was GREAT!:

~Had my 36 week appointment, at which the midwives said they would fill out the paperwork so I don't have to work anymore while pregnant (yay!)
~Cleaning crew showed up and CLEANED MY HOUSE! (double YAY!)
~Called Aqua Doula rental gal, and she said she could drop it off tomorrow! (Triple YAY!!)
~I didn't have to work. (Always a good thing)

Just thought I'd share. :-)

Play our game!

As most of you know, we are approaching the end of our pregnancy (yay!) but still have anywhere from 2 days to 5 weeks left (booo...) However, there is still plenty of time for you to cast your vote on when you think Jeremy Jr will arrive, how long he'll be and how much he'll weigh. The winner gets a prize from us, and a pat on the back for their excellent divining skills.

So cast your vote, and have fun! We'll be sure to let everyone know when he actually comes, and the site will automatically calculate your score, based on what you got right (so even if you don't get the date right, you could get the weight and length correct...)

Couple of clues for you:
~We're 99.9% sure he's a boy (unless our daughter's growing a third leg.... unlikely...)
~At my appt. today, we were a fingertip dilated, about 50% effaced, and he is waaaaaay high up there (doesn't really mean much, but normally babies settle into a better position before Mom goes into labor...)
~I was born about 10 days early.
~My brother (next after me) was about 10 days late.
~Stephin (the youngest in the family) almost made it to his due date (scheduled c-section changed that).
~I've been having some mild contractions, though sporadically (again, doesn't really mean anything, but if it helps you, go for it!)
~I don't normally eat a lot of spicy food, but plan on starting to learn to like it this weekend (I'm done bein' pregnant... want to meet this child of mine already!)
~Ultrasound at 21 weeks showed him growing about 9 days ahead of schedule.
~Original due date (based on ultrasound at 9 weeks) was Jan. 3rd.
~Due date based on LMP is Jan. 5th.

Let's have some fun! I already put in my $.02. :-)

P.S. Use the ticker on this blog to help figure out how far along we are at any given time. So if you think he'll be born at 39 weeks and 5 days, you would know that that would be three weeks from tomorrow (if you're reading this on 12/14, that is...) and so on...

All Done!

Yesterday, I had my annual review with my boss at the super-posh Sheraton Premiere hotel here in Tyson's. It went pretty well... I was actually quite surprised on how I did. And not only did I manage to max out the "merit increase" %, I also maxed out my bonus (which I was not expecting...) Both very good things! Guess I was doin' alright after all.

We also talked about my pregnancy, and how increasingly difficult it is to complete quality store calls right now. Let's face it, stores are BUSY, I'm BIG, and in PAIN (though the Chiropractor has definitely been helping... right now, it sucks, but I'm hoping the same thing that happened earlier in the week will happen now, and this afternoon, I'll see significant improvement). It's not a very good combination for getting people to pay attention to Playstation products. So he decided that it doesn't sound like I should be working anymore.

Sounds good to me!

Seriously, though, working quality shifts has been tough... It takes me longer to manuever through the stores, wears me out, and puts me in a sour mood. So now, I just need to get the midwives to sign off on me not working anymore, and I can start my maternity leave on Monday. Yay!

I'm very glad, although it is definitely getting more difficult to "relax" and "take it easy" right now. I just can't get comfortable! And last night, I got up FOUR TIMES! to go to the bathroom.... That's like every two hours. Guess it's my body's way of saying, "Get used to it."

How to Interact with Preggers

Borrowed from Laurence & Katharine's blog. Thought it had some good information that warranted repeating. :-)

Dear Non-Pregnant Person,

I hope you find these guidelines helpful in your interactions with pregnant women as failing to follow them may result in serious physical harm. If you are thinking, surely she doesn't mean me- then you should probably read this twice.

1) The appropriate response to a couple telling you they are having a baby is "Congratulations!" with enthusiasm. Any other response makes you an a$$.

2) Through the wonders of science, we now know that babies are made ONLY by the mother and father- not grandparents. Unless the baby is in your uterus or you are the man that helped put it there, you may not ever use the phrase "my baby".

3) On the same note, unless you made the baby as defined in ..2, the pregnancy, birth and raising of the child are not about you. You do not have input. No one wants to hear your opinion unless they ask for it.

4) The body of a pregnant women should be treated the same as any other body. You would not randomly touch someone's stomach if they were not pregnant, nor would you inquire into the condition of their uterus, cervix or how they plan to use their breasts. Pregnancy does not remove all traces of privacy from a woman.

5) Likewise, no women wants to hear comments on her weight- ever. A pregnant woman does not find it flattering that you think she is about to pop, must be having twins, looks swollen or has gained weight in her face. Telling her she looks too small only makes her worry that she is somehow starving her baby. Making such comments invite her to critique your physical appearance and you may not act offended. The only acceptable comment on appearance is "You look fabulous!".

6) By the time we are 20-30 years old, most of us have picked up on the fact that the summer is hot. We are hot every summer when we are not pregnant. We don't need you to point out that we will be miserably hot before the baby comes.

7) There is a reason that tickets to L&D are not yet sold on Ticketmaster. Childbirth is actually not a public event. It may sound crazy, but some women really do not relish the idea of their mother, mother in law, or a host of other family members seeing their bare butt and genitals. Also, some people simply feel like the birth of their child is a private and emotional
moment to be shared only by the parents.

8) Like everything else is life, unless you receive an invitation, you are NOT invited. This includes doctor appointments, ultrasounds, labor, delivery, the hospital and the parents home. You do not decide if you will be there for the birth or if you will move in with the new parents to "help out". If your assistance is desired, rest assured that you will be
asked for it.

9) If you are asked to help after the birth, this means you should clean up the house, help with cooking meals, and generally stay out of the way. Holding the baby more than the parents, interfering with breastfeeding and sleeping schedules and making a woman who is still leaking fluid from multiple locations lift a finger in housework is not helping.

10) The only people entitled to time with the baby are the parents. Whether they choose to have you at the hospital for the birth or ask for you to wait three weeks to visit, appreciate that you are are being given the privilege of seeing their child. Complaining or showing disappointment only encourages the parents to include you less.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

We'll start with the Ugly:

And then the Bad:

I went to the chiropractor yesterday. I'm so glad I did! She had this special table just for preggers--Jeremy Jr really liked just being able to hang and move. And she was able to help my back so that I don't have so much back pain all the time. Ohhhh, very nice. However, my biggest complaint was the pelvic pain I've been experiencing for a couple of months. Apparently, it is normal in pregnant women, especially those on their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc child. Chiropractic care can help about 50% of them. I must be in the other 50% because when I came out of there, I was in more pain (down there) than I was going in. I have to walk reeeeeeeally slooooooooowly now.

It was kinda funny, because Katharine and I were gonna get together and make goodies for her party yesterday, and we both decided against it, so got lunch instead. Well, everytime we had to walk somewhere, Katharine would "run" on ahead and I'd be stuck shuffling along behind. Normally, she'll try to pick up the pace, since she's shorter than me, but yesterday, she had to keep waiting for me to catch up. So even though the chiropractor helped my back, the main reason I went to see her is unresolved, and making it nearly impossible for me to work. Add to that I've been having contractions for the past couple of days, and yeah, work isn't really happening for me right now.

And now the Good.

We got to hang out with Laurence & Katharine (and Katharine's Mom) last night. It was a nice, relaxing time. I sat on the couch the whole time (which I haven't been able to do comfortably for some time now!) and talked with Katharine and her Mom. The boys joined us later in the evening, and we ate yummy pizza and talked some more. Eventually, it was dueling laptops on the loveseat (ooooooooo..... ;) Aren't they cute?!

36/28

Wow... We're getting closer! 36 weeks! This is the last week where it'd be bad for Jeremy Jr to try to make an appearance (although I'm sure at this point, he'd be fine and wouldn't require any kind of extensive hospitalization). Starting this coming weekend, we can move into the "any day now!" phase of our pregnancy.

Scary...

We still have quite a bit to do. Nothing major--we have a little co-sleeper crib for him (Thanks Andie!), plenty of clothes, diapers (Thanks Uncles!), etc. I am definitely ready for his arrival. Well, in the "I've had enough fun being pregnant" sense. I don't think I will ever reach the point where I'm truly "ready". I still have rooms to clean, thank you cards to write, meals to cook and freeze, curtains to put up, goody baskets to prepare, so on and so forth. Luckily, Jeremy's Mom is comin' down in a week, so as long as Jeremy Jr doesn't get overly excited to meet his grandmother and decide to arrive the first day she's here (none of that, now, Jeremy Jr... be a good boy and let Grandma get settled in first...), she'll be helping get a lot of those things done.

Wow.

This week should go by fairly quickly--busy weeks usually do. Tomorrow, (Monday) I have an appointment with a Chiropractor first thing in the morning. I'm hoping she can 'realign' me so I don't have so much pain when I walk and do simple things like getting dressed, and putting shoes on (that's a complicated enough process nowadays... certainly don't need the added stress of pain to make it even moreso...). Tuesday is work day, and then small group Tuesday night; Wednesday is work day and a Christmas party at night; Thursday is mid-wife appt day, I don't think anything at night (except for homework from the midwives); Friday we have a home visit with our birth assistant (she's gonna make sure everything is set up correctly, all the supplies are in one place, etc); Saturday is a work day (blaaaaaaaaaah....) and another party day (woot! Katharine & Laurence's party!) and then Sunday, brunch with Andie & Ruben mid-morning, then Jeremy's Mom comes in the afternoon...

Phew. I'm tired just thinkin' about it all.

And all through this, I get to deal with contractions (some of them can get pretty painful, but they're sporadic so nothing comes from them... yet....) and a very active baby who just LOVES to move around WHILE I'm having a contraction (he's such a sweetie already, isn't he... taking after his daddy, even in the womb... ;-) He's alredy getting me ready for sleepless nights, too. While I do manage to get my sleep in, it's usually very uncomfortable, and interrupted multiple times by bathroom runs or... who knows?!

To be able to roll over painlessly with little effort again... That's what I want for Christmas!

I'll be glad when it's Christmas! At least I've completed almost all of my Christmas shopping. Families are pretty much done, just need to get a few friendly presents and I'm DONE! Oh, and I bought it all online. Woo hoo! It's cheaper and it comes right to my door--no fighting mall traffic, crazy customers, long lines, disgruntled employees, and haulin' it all back in. Ah yes, it's a beautiful thing.

Well, be checking here for updates! I will be posting SOMETHING (if I can) once we are in labor, just to let you know the ball is in motion.

Have a great week!

Nine months?!

Holy crap... I just checked on our blog, and was NOT expecting to see our ticker move us into the 9th month window.... But, it looks like we are! Only 31 days to go (hopefully less!)

So... it really seems like this is gonna happen then... In a few weeks, Jeremy and I are gonna be parents... We're going to be responsible for another human being's... everything!

Wow... it's so surreal.

Tonight we have our "Birthday Planning Meeting" at Birthcare. We get to meet our birth assistant, probably all the midwives, and, I guess, plan for the big day!

I'm gonna cry.. :`)

Anyways, what that really does is make me even less motivated to work. Heck, I'm NINE MONTHS PREGNANT after all! Do I really need to be running around busy stores during Christmas time, trying to sell people Playstation stuff, when I just form obstacles for people to manuever around?! I think not!

Okay... time to get ready for work. :-P

NY BANS most trans fats from restaurants.

Wow.... That's all I can say.

Maybe the worriers should call up their restaurant friends in Europe, where many countries already outlaw trans fats. They seem to have adjusted well.

And I hope this spreads to the rest of the country! It certainly can't hurt--if it makes foods more expensive, then we won't buy them.... Or maybe we still will, and then just complain about it, like the whole gas thing...

"Meh, stupid government is letting the oil companies make millions of dollars while I have to pay $2.50/gallon of gas in my fancy new SUV. MEEEEEHHHHH! WAAAAAHHHHH! It's a conspiracy, a conspiracy, I say!"

Guess it's just a different kind of oil that's under scrutiny now.

Flatulence forces plane to land

Maybe it's a good idea "the boyz" (my two younger brothers) aren't getting on a plane this holiday season.

Then again, they've always been pretty proud of their gas, and would probably start clapping for each other, rather than trying to cover it up with a match......

.......much to the horror of my parents......

..............and the other passengers........

Eh... Se la vie.

35/35

35 weeks/35 days to go... That's pretty cool.

He could be here in as little as two weeks! Omigosh, we still have so much to do....

On a related sad/kinda good note, my parents have cancelled their trip to Portugal over the holidays, due to silly people at the Portuguese Consulate's office who haven't processed my Mom's paper work for a new passport or green card or something... Whatever it is, she wouldn't be able to re-enter the country with what she has now, if she left. So they've decided to postpone the trip until next summer, maybe. It stinks for them, but it's not a terrible thing--now we don't have to hope Jeremy Jr comes too early, or has to wait too long after the new year! Not that he would listen to "Pawpa" and "Grandma?" anyways... He's gonna do what he wants to do when he wants to do it!

That's my boy...

Okay, there's more...

So I was looking around that church's website to see what else they had on there, and found some more amusing articles.

For your enjoyment:

Accpt Jesus as your Lord and Savior, get a free PS2! (Updated now for free PS3!)

What Would Jesus Do? Thongs

Kwanzaa: Ghetto slang for Murder!

So... I'm confused... Apparently this site is not meant for readers under the age of 18... This site is www.landoverbaptist.org... I dunno. Proceed at your own risk. Seems kinda... shady.

I'm not sure what it is, but it does make for some amusing reads (stay away from the lewd ones... there are plenty...)

Ah! I found something!

The Landover Baptist Church is a complete work of fiction. It is a satire/parody.

So there ya have it.