Weekend News

Friday I had an OB appointment. I'm measuring right where I should be - 28cm for 28 weeks- and my blood pressure is good at 102/64. I had my blood drawn to check for gestational diabetes and anemia. I should get the results today or tomorrow.

Then we had some leisure time at our nearby Starbucks. We LOVE to sip our decaf coffees and read and hang out there. I'm reading "Diaper-Free Before 3" by J. Lekovic which Stacey & Angele recommended. And I'm reading "Good In Bed" by Jennifer Weiner which is frivolous and fun.

Saturday we made our requisite Babies R Us visit where we bought this adorable bouncing Tigger that sings the Tigger song.


Then we went to Pottery Barn Kids where we purchased their fantastic large wooden blocks.


And I finished this cardigan for Kylie.


It was incredibly fast and easy to knit (neck down and no seaming!). I picked a bright apple green yarn to balance all the pink outfits we have. The buttons are little ladybugs. I'm certain I will knit another one of these soon except next time I'll make the sweater a bit longer and the button holes a bit smaller. You can read the knitterly facts here.

Sunday we slept late and had brunch at Denny's. You've gotta love all the grease and carbs they have there for just $5.00. At one point during the meal, I looked over at Karen and said, "Soak this in. It won't be too long before sleeping late and eating out on a whim are distant memories". But we just smiled together. It's hard to be nostalgic for the past when we are so looking forward to meeting Kylie.

Later we spent some time with friends Jeff and Heather and their son Ethan. J & H gave us even more hand-me-downs such as some burp cloths, baby socks, bottles, an outfit, a Boppy and an infant bathtub. They've been incredibly generous with us.

And they even had presents from Jeff's Mom. She gave us two outfits, a bunny and a frame. You can see these gifts here. What a sweet lady!

And last but not least, we had chili and chips & dip and fruit salad with friends Jozette and Michelle and their 15 month old daughter Jillian while pretending to watch the Super Bowl.

All in all, it was a great weekend!

-Wendy
[28w,0d]
[33 Babies R Us visits]

Two memes at once

It's been a while since I've played along with Erstellen Mutterschaft's Photo Friday. This week's theme is sofa love.



Here I am, 7 weeks pregnant in September, knitting a hat for baby Ethan while plopped on our media room's leather sofa. Note the knitting lamp I'm peering around, the three remote controls to the television system, the two cushy pillows, and the two bottles of lotion on the nearby stand (we are big on night-time foot massages in our house!).

If you were to surprise me with a visit, this is what our couch would look like--in all its comfy glory.

The second meme I thought I would answer is Two Sharp Sticks "how did you learn to knit" question.

I learned to knit the summer of 2004 when I was 33 years old. I had recently moved from Tennessee to Portland, Oregon and had quit my full time career to become a stay-at-home housewife. I was really struggling with "how to stay busy". I met my friend Suzi at a nearby Starbucks with ugly plastic needles and ugly yarn and she showed me the knit stitch. I had tried to learn to knit from a book with disastrous results. As she showed me how to knit, I was jumping up and down with frequent, happy exclamations.

At one point, another Starbucks guest stopped by the table and had to ask, "What the heck are you so excited about?"

"I learning to KNIT!!!!" I exclaimed.

And a joyful little knitter was born. I still have my first knitted scarf with its horrible, hole-ridden, uneven stitches. I keep it to show new knitters what new knitting looks like and to remind myself how far my knitting has come.

PS- The second meme is a contest and if I was fortunate enough to win, I would like any of the knitting books offered except the "Men In Knits" book. If you read my blog, you know why.

-Wendy
[27w,5d]

Round ligament pain or Braxton Hicks

I'll be able to feel the difference between round ligament pain and Braxton Hicks contractions, right?

I walked around a lot on Monday and felt the usual tightening pull of the ligaments on my right side. But a couple of times, it seemed that my belly got tight and hard as well. A couple of times I would stop and rub/shake my belly as if to say "loosen up in there!" It was only later that I thought hmmm..... wonder if that was a Braxton Hicks.

I'm pretty sure I'll be able to feel the difference but wanted to put it out to you all to get your thoughts on it.

I haven't noticed any hiccups from the baby (something to look forward to!) And I seem to be getting used to turning from side to side in bed at night. I'm not grunting or rocking the bed as much and I'm able to fall back asleep more quickly. Of course, as soon as I write this I'll have another growth surge and this will change.

I do notice that I'm breathing deeper (and more noisily!) throughout the day and particularly at night. Have you seen the movie "Ghostbusters"? There's a scene where Sigorney Weaver, who is possessed with some dog demon, is sleeping on her bed and is sort of panting and gasping. Karen says that this is what I sound like when I'm asleep at night. And then I'll take a couple of long breaths in a row and then go back to panting. And many times I'll gasp myself awake. Not a pretty picture nor sound!! I told Karen that if it keeps up, I'll get her some earplugs.

-Wendy
[27w,2d]

Visit from Karen's parents

Karen's parents are visiting us from Tennessee. They arrived on Saturday night and will be with us most of the week.

Karen's mom gave us this pretty plaque right when she got off the plane. It's from Karen's sister Amy. Thanks Amy! It's beautiful!



It feels great to be in the last week of the second trimester.

-Wendy
[27w,0d]

Ring of fire

Last night we had another Bradley Childbirth class (4 down, 4 to go). In class, we learned about the second stage of labor or the pushing stage. There was lots of discussion about how some women's parts are blissfully numb while others experience the "ring of fire" (lots of burning sensation) when the baby's head is crowning.

I've heard the phrase "ring of fire" before. But last night was one of those times when you inexplicably get the giggles over something silly.

You see, it hit me where I've heard the phrase "ring of fire" before. From the movie "Finding Nemo"! There's a scene where Nemo is being initiated into the "bonds of tankhood" so that he can be part of the club with the other fishes in the dentist's fish tank. Bloat, a pufferfish, announces with this booming voice, "You can be part of us...if you swim through....The Ring of Fire!!"

And the other fishes are doing this tribal chant. Something like "za-who-wha-hey-ya-ho-ho-ho" over and over as part of Nemo's initiation.

So in the Bradley class, every time someone would say "ring of fire", I would have to bite my tongue to keep from snickering and snorting with laughter. I just have this image of Karen and the nurses doing the tribal chant while the doctor screams, "Ring of Fire!" as my baby's head crowns.

Even as I write this, I'm giggling. Yep. I'm so weird that way. Karen is just shaking her head at me.

-Wendy
[26w, 4d}

Enabling the addict

I'm an enabler. Yes, I admit it. I realize, even as I do it, it is pure folly to encourage the addict in her habit, but I just can't help myself. My partner is a knit-o-holic. It's bad...very bad. She must have at least 2-3 projects on the needles at a time as one at a time just won't do. She must have "stash" - the knitters term for the miles and piles of extra yarn they keep in every available cubby hole in the house...just in case. And heaven forbid should she have a project in mind that she wants to start and not be able to get the pattern and yarn needed for said project within 20 seconds of having decided upon it!

So, here's where I come in. I drive my love all over town seeking the exact knitting book, pattern and yarn she wants. I wait in the car, playing Bejeweled on my cell phone (geesh, I love that little game), and hope that when she returns she has found what she wants. I then drive her cute, smiling, and utterly blissed out little self home so she can pull out her yarn winder thingie (I'm sure there's a technical name for that contraption, but heck if I know what it is!) and gets her skeins of yarns turned into nice knitting-friendly little balls.

Let's look at how this addiction and my enabling of it has played out over the past few days.

Tuesday:
About 3pm Wendy coyly kisses my neck and says "I think I'll go over to the Knitting Bee. Wanna drive me?". This is followed by further nuzzling and purring noises. "Of course!", I respond with enthusiasm. And off we go.

We arrive and Wendy hops out to go fondle the goods and make her purchase(s) and I fire up Bejeweled. My game is barely underway (only about 5 minutes have passed) when I'm startled by the car door opening and Wendy climbing back in. One look at her and I snap shut my cell phone and ask "didn't you find what you wanted?". She looked as if both our cats had died and the world was on the verge of destruction (really, I'm not kidding). "I'll just go over to the Naked Sheep tomorrow. I know she'll have what I want there. It's probably too late to go there now since the traffic will be so bad trying to get across town.", she says with a very heavy sigh.

My first thought was "cool...now we can go get an early dinner"...but somehow I knew that wasn't the best choice of response. I gently said, "I'm happy to take you over there. As long as we're together, traffic will be fine. How else are we going to spend the late afternoon?". She put up a perfunctory refusal but eventually I wore her down (notice how I take responsibility for this!) and off we went - across town, thru rush hour traffic - to her beloved Naked Sheep Knit Shop.

We arrived, she went in and I went back to my Bejeweled game and after a decently respectable passing of time, she emerged. This was a different Wendy! She was all smiles and clutching her purchases, which she informed me were *exactly* what she'd been looking for. And, glory of glories, she got herself a new canvas Naked Sheep tote bag (it was on sale after all). She proudly showed me what she had bought, stroking the yarn and holding up the new tote for me to oooo and ahhh over (which I did). Then, with a blissful sigh, she says "I sooooo needed that fix!". She was perfectly content on the drive home and commented on how it was so wonderful that I indulged her habit.

I just smiled...after all....I'm an enabler.

Wednesday:
It's after 6pm. We've eaten dinner and are sitting in our office blog surfing and checking email when she squeals with delight. She just found a new knitter-blogger site that has this "darlin' little baby sweater" pattern that she's just got to make! A quick check of the Powell's website and the book containing the pattern is located at the Powell's location on Hawthorne. "Wanna go for a ride?", she purrs at me. Even though I know I'm about to be driving the get-away vehicle for the 2nd time in as many days, I take the bait, "Sure...where do you wanna go?". The plan was to go to Powell's and get the book and then swing into the Yarn Garden (which just happens to also be on Hawthorne) to hunt the yarn she'll need. Off we go! Book is procured, and Yarn Garden is searched. Unfortunately the exact yarn she wanted wasn't there but the book she bought had several additional cool patterns in it, so she was able to say "well...I'll just order the exact yarn I want online...that way I'll be sure to get just the perfect thing".

I just smiled (and drove us home)...after all....I'm an enabler.

For those of you who don't live with a knitter, you don't know what you're missing. But, let me warn you - should the one you love take up the art of knitting, I can pretty much guarantee that you'll be an enabler too.

- Karen
[26w,3d]

Nursery pictures

Our changing table/dresser was delivered yesterday. It was fun to put our burp cloths and blankets and baby socks in their rightful drawers. I also spiffed up the toy chest and closet.

All of you nursery voyeurs... enjoy!!








-Wendy
[26w, 2d]
[32 Babies R Us visits]

Who is the warm one?

During a plethora of Sunday night television shows, including Rome, The L Word, Desperate Housewives, and Battlestar Galactica, I was able to finish knitting these fingerless gloves for Karen.

This pregnancy has really affected my body temperature. Karen used to be the "warm one" and I was the "cool one" but our roles have reversed. These days, I'll run around the house with just a t-shirt on and the heat cranked down, while Karen is stuck wearing both a turtleneck and sweatshirt just to stay warm. Many times, I'll reach down to hold her hand and find that her fingers are chilly. So I whipped up these handwarmers for her. Aren't they lovely? Pattern and yarn information can be found here.

I have to add that last night was a bit of a hard night. I awoke at 1:30am feeling extremely nauseous and very sweaty. It didn't pass for at least an hour and then started up again at around 5:00am. And then this morning, after my Jazzercise class, the nausea hit me again. It felt very similar to the constant pukey feeling during the first trimester so I'm thinking that my hormones just kicked in to high gear or something. Or my body didn't like that mexican food for dinner. Or perhaps I was fighting a bug. But last night in my panicked, "I'm going to throw up" mode, I was convinced that it was food poisoning. Good grief, wouldn't that be awful! And then I started worrying about failing my upcoming glucose test. How about you? Did any of you experience these type of symptoms in your second or third trimesters?

-Wendy
[26w,0d]

99 Days!

Tomorrow I'll be at 26 weeks and we will have 99 days of pregnancy remaining! Hurray! It's great to be in the double digits.


To celebrate I bought these two cute dolls. The one on the left is a ballerina fairy and the one on the right is a pink-haired mermaid. They have the sweetest embroidered faces. I've had my eyes on them for months. Kylie won't be able to play with them until she is at least three but I just really wanted a couple of dolls in her room. Of course, my next toy purchase will be a plastic tool box complete with tools. I'm an equal-opportunity, gender non-specific toy giver!



-Wendy
[25w,6d]
[31 Babies R Us visits]

A bit of pampering

I treated myself to a bit of pampering yesterday and had a manicure/pedicure. Oh my! I went to the Coldwater Creek Spa and was it ever decadent! The manicure was good but the pedicure was an absolute sensation. They put a hot wrap around my neck, a cooling compress over my eyes, put a wonderful smooshie pillow behind my back, covered me with a warm blanket and laid me back in a zero gravity chair....heaven! I vaguely remember the time passing and 45 minutes later, my "nail therapist" had to nudge me to tell me it was over.

I picked out a fairly opaque color, called Negligee (don't you love that?!?), for my fingernails and a hot red for my toes called Hollywood. Cute, huh?



Cute, huh? :) I can't wait for Kylie, Wendy and I to all go have a girl's day out someday in the future and all get our nails done together!

- Karen
[25w,4d]
[29 Babies R Us visits]

I'm Jazzin' again!

Today was my first time back to Jazzercise after my UI (this is how I will refer to my heart attack from now on....UI or "unfortunate incident"). It's been almost a month and I have to admit that I was missing my regular Jazzercise workouts badly. I saw my primary care physician on Friday (Jan. 12) and she said she wasn't ready to say I could start back and that she wanted me to wait and see my cardiologist (next week on the 23rd) before giving it a go. However, in my infinite wisdom, I decided that she was just being overly cautious and that surely if my UI didn't kill me, a little low-impact Jazzercise shouldn't hurt!

So, I gave it a go...and am so happy I did! It felt great! I've been pretty much inactive these 3 weeks since the UI so I wasn't sure how I'd do, but I stayed with low-impact moves and was able to work up a good sweat without getting out of breath or feeling any ill effects...yea!

I think I've been the victim of a bad case of conflicting wants. I wanted to go to Jazzercise AND I wanted to lay off and let my heart heal/recover. So, what do you do when you have two things you want but they conflict? Well, you choose. And for the last 3+ weeks, I've chosen to lay off. But, the thing about conflicting wants is that they have a lot of conditions attached to them many times that help make the choice between two things easier. My desire to go back to Jazzercise had a couple of conditions: I don't die while doing it (the primary condition!) and I don't hurt myself or cause damage while doing it. It's amazing how much I have feared another UI or doing anything that might damage my heart further or hinder my recovery in any way. And the fear has been almost paralyzing. I don't think I really allowed myself to really grab onto the fear and let it show visibly, but my actions (or inactions) have demonstrated it was there. But, the fears and the conditions finally became secondary and I decided to just go for it...and made a choice to go.

So, this is a big day! I'm Jazzin' again and felt really, really good! Wendy and I had a blast whooping and yee-hawing our way through the workout and our instructor even played a few of my favorite songs to welcome me back. Of course, I think she also made sure the defib unit was ready just in case. ;)

I hope everyone's day, like mine, held a little victory for you somewhere along the line no matter how small.

- Karen

[25w,3d]

When did that happen?

Lately I've found myself supporting my weight often. When I put on undies, pants, socks or shoes, I'll rest one hand on my dresser for extra support. When did this start happening? I used to be able to bring my foot up to my belly button, while balancing easily on the other leg to put on a sock. It was a dancer-like skill that came to me as easily as brushing my hair. Now all of a sudden, I'm clutching on to furniture to do the simplest of moves. Hmmmm.....

I've also become addicted to rubbing my belly in circles. I rub it all the time! Who knew that rubbing my belly could be so dang soothing? Or so publicly acceptable? I have to tell you that I'm already dreading the loss of this wonderful sensation once the baby is born. Maybe I'll start a national campaign with a slogan like, "Women! Pat your bellies! It feels friggin' awesome!" or something like that. I mean if men can publicly "adjust themselves" we should be able to give our lovely bellies a little circular pat. Who knows? It might start a wave of renewed self-esteem in women. We would no longer eschew our bellies with sighs of remorse but rather give them loving little pats. (Go ahead and pat your belly for a minute right now. It will make you smile.)

Lastly, my forgetful placenta-brain has reached a new level. Early in the pregnancy, I could remember at any moment the items on my to-do list...I just had no real desire to do them. Now, I can't even remember what's on the list. This results in me walking around in a daze and occasionally telling Karen, "I think I've forgotten something. I just have no idea what it is".

I can hear you saying, "Write down your to-do list so that you don't forget". Nope. Don't want to do that either. I'll have the thought, "You should write that down" but it's quickly followed by an "Who cares?' attitude or my new favorite phrase, "I don't give a fig". It's really quite liberating for this former over-organizing queen! Don't know when this happened, but I'm enjoying it.

-Wendy
[25w,2d]

Snow

No haircut for me today because we have snow!

I hadn't watched the news or the weather channel yesterday so this was a nice surprise this morning.

Part of me wants to get out and take beautiful snow pictures with my camera. But as I'm sitting here, I'm watching people trying to walk and run and falling on their bums. So I think I'll stay snug as a bug in my house and be content to take a few pictures from the patio.

-Wendy
[25w,1d]

Random musings

On New Years Day, a friend asked me if I was going to make any resolutions for 2007. Before I could answer, she laughed and said, "You could resolve to get less sleep. That's a resolution you know you'll achieve". She nailed that prediction. I just didn't realize my sleeplessness would kick in quite this soon.

In college, I created the mantra "Sleep hard, sleep fast". This meant that I needed to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and to make my sleep as restorative as it could be in the short time that I could give it.

Nowadays, I'll fall asleep around 10 or 11pm and sleep HARD. But then I wake up at 2:00 and then at 3:00 and 4:00... well, you get the picture. I'll go out on a limb and say that this baby is going to want a 2:00am feeding. Because when I wake up at 2:00, I'm WIDE awake and fully alert. I swear that baby Kylie is prepping my system to attend to her needs.

Part of the wakefulness is feeling the baby kick, or the need to go to the bathroom, but it seems more than that. And the rest of the early morning's sleep is just off. This past week, I was tickled pink with 2 out of 7 nights of "good sleep". I knew that sleep could become a challenge in the third trimester. I just didn't expect it to start at 24 weeks! And if it's like this now, who knows what it will be like later!

-------

I went swimming for the first time in a long time this Sunday. I swam for around 30 minutes and it was fabulous. Floating weightless was worth the "joy" of putting on a bathing suit. And it really helped the swelling and circulation in my hands and feet. I plan to swim at least once a week from here on out.

-------

When I first found out I was pregnant, I had this scatter-brained idea of letting my super-short hair grow out. You see, any time I gain any weight (even a pound or two), I can see the gain in my face. And I've had more than a few moments of stamping my feet and crying, "That's not fair!" about this situation. So when I knew I was going to gain a bunch of weight, I thought it would be smart to let the hair grow out, thinking particularly that a longer length would help my face look more angular and less round/fat.

BAD IDEA!! The self-esteem dip of letting your hair grow out along with letting it go back to it's original color (no more blonde highlights) and the dip of an ever-growing belly is just TOO MUCH! Now I remember why I've worn my hair short for so many years. My hair looks crappy longer. It just lays there like a limp rag and no amount of fussing with it helps. So tomorrow, it gets cut. And if I look like a bowling ball face (complete with sagging jowls) with a bit of peach-fuzz on top, so be it. I hope and I pray that this is the right decision!

--------

I just finished reading "I Don't Know How She Does It' by Allison Pearson. It's a fiction book about a working mom trying to do it all. I got a bit frustrated in reading how frenetic the main character's life was but it had some very clever writing so I stuck with it. It certainly has some laugh-out-loud moments and many times I found myself nodding along with the author's assessment of how women and working mothers are treated in the workplace. A light-hearted, easy read that I'm happy to recommend.

-Wendy
[25 weeks, 0 days]

Books and Birthstones

I'm so organized it's scary. Really. For the heck of it, I started a list of the books we have for Kylie. If you are really bored, you can check it out here.

I also added an Amazon.com wish list on this blog's sidebar. There's not much on it right now but I'm sure I'll be filling it up with new book titles in no time. (Psssssss..... Mom...Dad....feel free to check the wish list often!)

I just learned that Kylie will either have a diamond birthstone (for April) or an emerald birthstone (for May). Lucky little girl! I had yucky topaz for my November birthday. I never really wanted anything with my topaz birthstone in it.

-Wendy
[24w,5d]

First Bradley Class

I want to give a shout out to RSG and HG for lunch yesterday. Seeing you both was lovely and comforting and energizing all rolled into a ball of fun. Thanks!

Last night was our first Bradley class. There are four other couples taking the class with us. And all of them were so cool about the lesbians in the room with them. The Bradley teacher, Kara, did a fantastic job of using the term coach or partner instead of husband. I really felt relaxed and at ease throughout the evening.

Rather than give you a detailed account of the class, I'll leave with some highlights of what I liked best.

It was great to be in the presence of other pregnant women. Just seeing their bellies made me happy.

However these are tiny women. Just looking at them inspired me to slow down my Hostess cupcake consumption.

We practiced our pregnancy exercises together. And let me tell you, when the other women got into squat position, they looked fantastic. Just sitting there, looking totally at ease with their backs straight and their asses practically touching the floor. When I got into the squat position (it was my first time by the way), my face turned red, I made strange grunts, and I was nowhere near the ideal position. That's okay though--it was just the motivation I needed to start doing these exercises all the time. I'm such a competitive little sprite that next week, I'm determined my ass will be just as low as theirs and the look on my face just as placid!

I'm inspired to do the 15 squats and butterflies, 30 pelvic rocks and 100 kegels a day that's been recommended.

This week we've been asked to track all of our eating. Already it's been enlightening and I know that I'm not getting nearly enough protein.

Two former students returned to class with their 3 week old baby and told us their birth story. In listening to them, I thought for the first time that I might be able to have a natural childbirth. I loved their story!

At the end of class we had a 10 minute massage from our partner along with a guided meditation/relaxation from the instructor. It was so soothing. I've decided to look for other bits of material that Karen can read to me during the first stages of delivery and to create an Itunes playlist of relaxing music.

All in all, it was a very good first class.

-Wendy
[24w, 4d]

Laughter is the best medicine

Wendy looked over at me a bit ago, pointed to her chest and announced "I've got a uni-boob"! Now, that's funny! I mean, her chest has been growing in leaps and bounds as her pregnancy has progressed but "uni-boob"! What? Through my sputtering laughter, I had to ask her what she meant. Her reply was to lift her chest in her hands and say "Well, they used to be so perky and lifted and now, well... there's just this one continuous bump". You see, we're on the second attempt to find a comfortable bra that fits my dear one and the latest find is a bra by Medela (the Pump-in-Style breast pump people) that, while quite comfy for her, does kind of mash her girls just a bit into what I suppose you could call a uni-boob.

In the end, it may not seem that funny to you, but for what ever reason, it struck me as utterly hilarious....and I needed a good laugh! My girl can crack me up when I least expect it and I love it when she gets me good and tickled. I think these past couple of weeks since "the incident" have been a bit tense for me and each note of laughter that can be injected into the day is like a sweet, cool breeze on a hot day. For a few brief moments, I'm not worried about what happened or what might happen tomorrow or the next day...I'm just blissfully laughing in the moment.

Yes, laughter is truly the best medicine there is!

- Karen
[24w,2d]

Getting over a bad day

I had a bad day yesterday. I could write about the details of the bad day but suffice to say that I had a disappointing doctor's appointment. Everything is fine with me and the baby though... no worries there. It's just that the visit was a bit of a let-down.

So rather than write about the bad day and get myself (and maybe you) all riled up, I shall write about gratitude instead.

I'm grateful I have a partner who really knows how to be with me when I'm in a snit. She knows how to let me fuss and yell and get a lot of the anger out. She's a great listener and wonderfully does not try to prematurely calm me down. When the storm begins to abate, she knows just when to begin to soothe, hug, rock, kiss and offer loving words of wisdom. It's so cool to be with someone who really GETS you and understands you and knows how to be with you. Thank God for Karen.

I'm grateful for good restaurants. I used to manage a restaurant and firmly believe in the line "If you're stressed, it's fine dining we suggest." (This is a line from the song "Be Our Guest" from the movie soundtrack Beauty and the Beast.) Last night I had a fine, delicious meal served by an unobtrussive yet responsive waiter. By the time we left the restaurant, my shoulders had dropped from being bunched up around my ears and my brow had smoothed out.

I'm grateful for shops that have wonderful sales and for the ability in our budget to indulge in some occasional retail therapy. Last night I bought an adorable Disney onesie and a Winnie-the-Pooh sleeper outfit at 70% off at the Disney store at the mall.

I'm ever so grateful I know how to knit. Knitting is my best meditation and can make me feel ever-so-much better. Yarn is always there for me and it is a loving friend.

I'm grateful for an extremely comfortable bed with the perfect combination of pregnancy pillows. At the end of a hard day, slipping into a scrumptious bed is quite the thing.

So last night as I was saying my prayers, I got to honestly pray, "Thank you God for this hard day. And thank you for Karen, Kylie, my family and friends, the waiter, the food, the sales lady, the yarn and the comfortable blessings of a great house with a great bed that got me through it." Amen.

-Wendy
[24w,1d]

Sunday morning muss

Just letting it all hang out with my cat friends early Sunday morning. Phoebe's the grey cat beside me (she disdains the camera) and Chloe is the white cat in the left corner (she is a photo monger).

This picture shows my ever-flattening belly button and my linea nigra (lovely belly line).

Tomorrow is our doctor's appointment. Wish us luck!

-Wendy
[23w, 6d]

Baby Kicks

Baby Kylie was really active yesterday. Her movements are beginning to feel less like flops and more like nudges and kicks. At one point yesterday, I felt her nudges way up high in my abdomen. I looked down and could actually see my shirt move each time she kicked. I said to my belly, "What are you doing way up here? You usually do this much lower."

It may have had something to do with the fact that I was stuck waiting at the Social Security Office (to get my new name social security card ordered) for almost two hours with three screaming babies in close proximity. And no, these babies weren't fussy... they were screaming. And honestly, I don't blame them. The atmosphere in that office was incredibly tense and exasperating.

But it felt like Kylie was nudging me as if to say, "I hear crying babies! Do something Mom!"

Does every pregnant woman do this? Take our own experiences and transfer them onto our baby?

I've found myself lately saying things like:
"The baby is hungry" (when I'm hungry and then I feel the baby kick)
"The baby likes the music" (when I have music on and then I feel the baby kick)
"The baby says hello" (when Karen is talking to my belly and the baby kicks)
And so forth

The rational part of me knows that the baby is just moving around in there as she is supposed to do for her own growth reasons and not my emotional ones. But it seems that I can't help myself from making these little observations.

I guess it's natural since she's living inside me and at this point is "a part of me" but I wonder if I'll be able to quickly break this habit once she's born and is her own individual.

Or whether it will pass as the kicks become more usual and less "fun". (I have to admit, right now they are really fun. I laugh almost every time I feel her and delightedly announce "the baby is kicking". I know this will change soon but for right now I'm really enjoying this phase.)

Oh and one last thing about kicks. I was a cheerleader in high school (go ahead and laugh) and my family and friends like to compare her kicks to cartwheels, back handsprings and flips. I enjoy it. It makes me smile and I know it's just light-hearted fun. Yet I wonder, if in some way, we are already deciding whether she will be a little gymnast like me or a basketball player like her other mom rather than her own person who might like the tuba instead. Hmmmmm.

-Wendy
[23w, 4d]
[28 Babies R Us visits]

Picture time- 6 weeks vs. 23 weeks

Today's picture brought to you courtesy of Hostess Cupcakes! The quicker, fatter, upper!



PS - I got my first stretch marks this week.

-Wendy
[23w, 2d]

Baby dreams

My baby book tells me babies start having rapid eye movements this week. Rapid eye movements suggest that the baby is sleeping. The book states that the baby simply dreams of things in her life such as stretching or playing with the cord.

But it wasn't stated as absolute fact. After all, how could they know for sure exactly what she's dreaming? And I've had lots of fun imagining what else she could be dreaming of.

In addition to having a body connection, the baby and I could have a mind connection. If so, Kylie could be sharing my dreams. Have you had the experience of living with someone, comparing dreams in the morning and found that your dreams shared certain elements? For example, just last week, Karen told me she had a dream wherein she was designing roller coasters. That same night, I had a dream that I was at an amusement park. And neither of us remembers seeing or hearing anything about parks or coasters in the days before. I've had this happen several times where someone else's dreams "bleed over" into mine or vice versa. So perhaps I'm entertaining Kylie with some of my dream images.

Or

If you believe in reincarnation, perhaps the baby is dreaming of her previous life? Maybe she's remembering what she loved about her last life like playing in the grass, or riding a bicycle, or eating ice cream, or kissing her first love. And maybe with these memories that haven't yet washed away, she's also anticipating her life-to-come.

Or

If you believe in heaven, perhaps the baby dreams of that landscape which has beauties beyond our imagination. Maybe she remembers angels singing. Or of being in the presence of family members who wish her well on her journey and are excited to welcome her back once she returns to heaven.


Or maybe she's just dreaming of playing with her cord. Who knows? All I know is that in this world of "scientific and medical pregnancies", it's nice to enjoy a bit of mystical contemplation of the life inside me.

-Wendy
[23w, 1d]

Finished crib blanket

I managed to finish knitting this cabled crib blanket before the end of 2006. I started this blanket on 9/20 when I was eight weeks pregnant and starting to feel really nauseous. The knitting helped me get through that first trimester- stitch at a time and day at a time. It was fun to watch it grow along with my expanding belly. I am very pleased to have it completed. All that white yarn (while lovely and soft) was starting to get boring.


Kylie's Cabled Crib Blanket
Yarn: Blue Sky Organic Cotton
Needles: US 9 circular
Pattern: "Quick Knitted Afgans" book by Stauffer. The original pattern called for a 64" x 50" blanket. I opted to make it 30" x 50".
Finished 12/29/06


Happy New Year Everyone!
-Wendy
[23w, 0d]
[27 Babies R Us visits]

Making the switch

Well, we did it. We finally switched the blog to the new Blogger since it is finally out of beta. We haven't upgraded our template or anything yet...and kinda doubt we will for at least a while... but I'm just hoping nothing strange starts happening now that we've made the switch. It's kinda like getting a new car or something - you're all excited about the cool, new stuff but are afraid to punch all the buttons without carefully reading the directions so that you don't hose something up!

Hopefully, the transition will be an easy and painless one!

- Karen
[22w,5d]

A week ago

One week ago, I was just settling into the cardiac intensive care unit after having had a heart attack. It still all seems so very unreal to me. What I can tell you that's different is that I seem to notice every little twinge and shift in my body and wonder "is it happening again?". I'm hopeful that this fearful stage will pass and that I don't continue being hyper-sensitive to everything my body does. I find myself caught in this very weird place where all in the same moment I feel fear about doing anything that may cause something "bad" to happen and feel this strong desire to just get my life back to normal the way it was before last Saturday. I suppose that once you get a wake up call like this one, you never really go back to life as it was before, but I really do hope the constant "am I OK?" checks that run through my mind eventually lessen and go away.



I've received alot of blogger notes, calls, cards and a beautiful flower arrangement from my office that I really appreciate. My 6 yr old niece, Emily, sent me this cool note which I adore:



I suppose it'll just take some time to let this whole experience settle in. What I do know is that I am so very grateful for Wendy and our baby and for every precious minute of life I have. As the song says "...life goes on...".

- Karen
[22w,5d]

Up for grabs

We interrupt this blog for a brief commercial message.....

Due to more than one recent occurrence - the baby on the way and my heart attack - we've decided to not use our timeshare weeks this year. We have two: one in Mexico and one in Provincetown. So, we'd like to offer up these weeks to any of you who may be interested in a little vacation - or anyone you may know who'd be interested. There are actually several resorts under the same plan in Mexico to choose from. Here's a few links, if you're interested:

Harbor Hill (Provincetown MA) - Main site
Harbor Hill (Provincetown MA) - RCI site

Villa del Palmar - Cabo
Villa del Palmar (2) - Cabo

Villa del Arco - Cabo
Villa del Arco (2) - Cabo

Villa del Palmar Flamingos - Nuevo Vallarta


We're asking $750 for the Mexico week and $550 for the Provincetown week. This is to cover our maintenance fee and the fee to put the reservation in your name. The week in Mexico can be taken at pretty much anytime but the week in Provincetown must be booked between Mar. 30 - May 25, Oct. 19 - Nov. 2 or Dec. 21 - Jan. 4.

If you're interested, please drop us an email and we'll discuss the particulars. Also, we are considering selling these two timeshare units, so if you might be interested in owning vs. renting, let us know that as well.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

- Karen
[22w,5d]

Name Change

I officially changed my last name today. I now have Karen's last name. (I really want to type it here but I guess it's more prudent not to). We are now the M***** girls!

I decided to do this because I knew, from the moment I was pregnant, that I wanted to give baby Kylie Karen's last name. And I thought it might make things easier for all of us to have the same last name when we meet with doctor's, teachers, etc.

The process started on 12/8. I had to go to the courthouse, sign an affidavit, pay my $105 fee, and post my notice on a public bulletin board. I then had to wait 20 days to see if there were any objections. Today, I went to the courthouse, stood in front of the judge while she signed my documents, shuffle even more papers and then the deed was done.

I had a big, goofy grin on my face the whole time. I"m so happy to have done this. I wanted to have my picture taken with my cheesy grin and my certified name-change document, but I won't receive my documentation for five more days.

Then I get to start changing my social security card, driver's license, passport, banking and insurance documents and so forth and so on.

But Hurray! I get to start the new year as a "new person". How cool is that?!

-Wendy
[22w, 3d]
[26 Babies R Us visits]

How I remember it

Karen and I are so happy to be at home. We're both resting comfortably.

I wanted to take a moment and share some of my experiences and memories of her heart attack and heart surgery.

Scariest:

Seeing the ER room fill with 10 people, all poking and prodding and hovering around Karen with her arms and legs spread-eagle and seeing the chest paddles brought into the room.

Being escorted to the cardiac surgery waiting room and sitting by myself for the first time. My head was buzzing with questions. When do I call her family? What will I say? When will I call my family? How long will this surgery last? What will the result be? And on and on and on. No answers- just tons of questions and nothing to do but feel the fear.

Going home for the first time after her attack, seeing Karen's pillow on the bed and her picture above the bed, and feeling all "what-could-have-happened" crashing in on me like a killer-wave.

Funniest:
After three hits of nitroglycerine, Karen's pain was down from a 9 to a 4. At that point, the doctor ordered morphine to bring her pain all the way down. When he asked her if she was feeling the effects of the morphine, Karen said "There's Mr. Hand!". (This is a quote from the movie "Looks Who's Talking" wherein Bruce Willis is a baby in his mom's womb. He's received the effects of Mom's painkiller and he says in a drunken voice while playing with his fingers- "There's Mr. Hand"). When Karen said this, the doctor met my eyes and nodded like, "Oh yeah, she's feeling it!" He then asked again, "What's your pain on a scale of 1-10" and Karen replied, "What pain?"

Grossest:
Yep. Karen puked on me in the emergency room. It was my fault because I fed her a few crackers and ginger ale when she told me she felt nauseous(the pregnant woman's answer to everything) so it was only fitting that I got showered with it.

Sweetest:

Holding hands and looking deep into each other's eyes and saying our "I love you's" before she was wheeled into surgery.

The first time Karen stood up from her bed after her surgery, she held out her arms to hug me and then she "twirled" me as if we were dancing.

On Christmas, she squished over in her hospital bed so that I could lay beside her with my head on her shoulders.

Thanks to everyone for your supportive comments. We love our blog family.

-Wendy
[22w, 2d]

Heart attack...or a very surreal Christmas

Well...where should I begin? Let's start with a brief chronology of the events of the past few days:

Saturday, Dec. 23
10:40am - As I was finishing an hour of Jazzercise, I began to feel lightheaded, nauseous and had some burning and tightening in my chest.
10:50am - I walked out of Jazzercise and opened the car door, where Wendy was waiting, and told her I needed her to drive us home as I was feeling sick.
11:20am - Wendy came to a screeching halt outside of the emergency room at the hospital and I was taken inside via wheelchair.
11:30am - I threw up all over Wendy as they put me in an ER room where within minutes about 10 people were poking, prodding and otherwise doing whatever they do to keep one alive while they're having a heart attack.
12:40pm - I was taken to the cardiac cath lab where an angiogram was performed and a stint was placed in my left anterior descending artery (which was completely blocked).
1:30pm - Surgery complete, I was taken to the cardiac intensive care unit for recovery and monitoring.
1:45pm - Wendy joined me in recovery.

Sunday, Dec. 24
I spent the majority of the day in CCU but was sent to the much more restful cardiac floor around dinner time where I spent the night. After being woken every 30 minutes to have vitals taken and blood drawn every few hours, the new floor was like a Hilton in that they only drew blood at 1:30am and then woke me up again at 6am.

Monday, Dec. 25
I was discharged around 1pm and sent home.

I have 4 new prescriptions for various meds to keep my blood pressure down and blood thin and pumping, have been told not to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for a couple of weeks as well as to limit my activity until I visit my cardiologist on Jan. 23rd for follow-up.

How's that for a festive Christmas?

I will say that I never really thought I was going to die. There were no moments of unconsciousness nor any visions of a light from beyond calling to me. I did offer up quite a few prayers for both myself and Wendy but most of all just remember thinking "holy crap...I'm actually having a heart attack!" over and over again. It still doesn't seem quite real to me, but here I sit with a teeny little stint (with a barcode on it to identify it and a card with that info to carry in my billfold) in my heart which now has my arteries all open and the blood flowing. Nothing like a little scare to make for an interesting Christmas!

Wendy held up beautifully through the whole ordeal and is doing well. We both got a wonderful day after Christmas present when Kylie kicked hard enough for me to feel her for the first time today! We have our next appointment to check on Wendy and Kylie on Jan. 8 but Wendy seems to have popped even more in just the last few days.

So, here we are....home, resting together and feeling very, very, very grateful to be alive and kicking as we head into the new year.

We want to wish you all a happy holiday season with your loved ones and we'll be posting more about all our experiences of the past few days and the days to come.

- Karen
[22w,1d]

Practice your kegels, dear

I remember the first time I heard about my kegel. I was in my high school Marketing class and I had asked to go to the restroom. My female teacher replied, "Hold it in dear. It will make you a better lover". When she saw the blank look on my face, she went on to define the PC muscle, also known as the Kegel muscle and how if it was strong, I would be able to do interesting things with my urine flow and it would quote "make me a better lover".

Later in life, aerobic teachers would remind me to practice my kegel exercises. My favorite suggestion was to kegel while standing in line at the supermarket. My aerobic instructor confided that she got a small, perverse thrill as she smiled and made small talk with others while flexing her "love muscle".

Now kegels are back in my life. The Bradley method book that I'm reading recommends 300 flexes (done within five minutes) a day. A more advanced kegel exercise is to flex the muscle and hold it for 10 seconds at least 36 times a day. The gold-medal round is to flex and then release the muscle in thirds (high, middle, and low). Try that one out!! I dare you!

But enough about that.... it's time for a belly picture.



See that distracted look in my eye? Can you guess what I'm secretly doing?

-Wendy
[21w, 4d]

Show and Kiss and Tell

Karen made it safely home yesterday. I loved showing her the deliveries that had been made in her absence (furniture, bugaboo, etc) and she enjoyed showing me the gifts from her family. You can see the gifts here.

And now we are ready to settle in and snuggle for the holidays.

-Wendy
[21w, 3d]

Headed home

I'm in the Cincinnati airport awaiting my flight home. I've spent the last 10 days in TN with my family and seeing my dad through his two surgeries. He's recovering still but from all indications, things were successful and he should experience great results from having this done! I'm glad to have been there for it all although it was a bit tiring and stressful at times.

It was fun to also be home and share my excitement about Kylie with my family. My sister and mom are both tickled and showered us with some wonderful gifts. We'll post the pix on our Flickr site once I get home and Wendy and I take photos of everything.

Right now, I'm sitting in the Delta Crown Room (a nice perk for folks like me who travel way too much!). My flight leaves in about an hour, but it's quiet in here and I can get to email and the internet while I wait. It sure beats sitting at the gate.

I've managed to pick up a bug while away and was worried enough about how it was progressing that I started on a round of antibiotics on Monday. My mom assures me that after 3 days of taking the meds I shouldn't be contagious and that I shouldn't pass along anything nasty to Wendy. Keep your fingers and toes crossed that is the case! After not having seen my sweet wife for 10 days I'm ready to slather all over her, but am horrified to think I might make her sick. Send healthy, non-germ-sharing vibes our way!

- Karen
[21w,2d]

Santa rides a Bugaboo

Christmas came early to our house. The Bugaboo stroller we ordered arrived today! It will sit by the Christmas tree for the rest of the holidays. It's freaky how much I like looking at this thing and playing with it. Chloe, our younger cat, had to jump in it immediately upon arrival and sniff it out. She deemed it acceptable for "her" house with a quick cat nod.

I also finished knitting a stroller blanket for the Wee One. To make this lovely blanket, I had to learn intarsia knitting (see those colored hearts? The process to do that is called intarsia). And I'm addicted. I knitted this blanket in under a week! I had hoped to finish it before the Bugaboo arrived and I made it! I guess having one's girlfriend out of town tends to speed up progress on one's projects.



For those few knitters who read this blog, here's those knitterly stats we love:
Yarn: Blue Sky Cotton
Needles: Size US 9 circular
Finished size: 28 x 28 inches
Pattern: Heart blanket found in the "Knits from the Heart" book by Kristin Spurkland - modified to include intarsia hearts



-Wendy
[21w, 1d]

Karen's dad is okay

Karen's father had another surgery today wherein they ran the electrode wires down his neck to a pulse generator inplanted in his chest cavity. Once again, he sailed through surgery. He is home resting from these two incredible procedures.

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We are so thrilled that he is home safely (albeit very sore) for the holidays.

-Wendy
[20w,0d]

Childbirth Prep

I was talking with my Mom the other night about how when she was pregnant the choices for childbirth were either 1) take a new class called "Lamaze" or 2) get knocked out and meet your baby when you wake up. Nowadays, the choices are mind-boggling: Lamaze, Bradley, Hypno-birthing, Birthing from Within, or your standard hospital class.

My friend, RSG, let me borrow lots of her books that explain the different approaches and I'm slowly working my way through them. I read one thing recently that made a lot of sense: that my job as the laboring mom is to relax during contractions and to not tense up and fight them. I told Karen that one thing she could say to me as my coach during labor is "Your job is to relax".

Well I got to practice this method last night.

I stayed up later than usual last night. My ab muscles were tight from holding me up all day. And when I had a hard sneeze, I felt the immediate pain of a pulled muscle/tendon/whatever.

Hard as I tried, I could not get comfortable in bed. Laying still hurt and shifting around hurt more.

So I got to practice taking deep belly breaths and relaxing my body. Let me tell you... it's not as easy as it sounds!! (You knew this and I knew this... but still!!!) Your natural inclination is to tense up against pain and to hold your breath. Then you realize you've been holding your breath and you overcompensate making yourself dizzy. "Your job is to relax; the way through is to relax" I chanted over and over.

I managed to get some sleep and woke up resolved to practice this active-relaxation stuff every day!

-Wendy
[21w,0d]

Good Lovin' and Burp Cloths

I've started to feel the baby flutter more often these past two days. And I almost always feel her between 6 and 7pm.

She made me giggle as she unexpectedly started fluttering when the song "Good Lovin'" by the Rascals (can be found on The Big Chill soundtrack) was playing. I guess she was telling me "All she needs is lovin'....good lovin' baby!"

Some of you may remember that I was looking for an excellent burp cloth (see post here). I found the perfect cloths at Kohl's. It's strange how a small success can make one so happy.



Have a great weekend everyone!

-Wendy
[20w, 4d]

Dad is home

Whew! The big brain surgery is over and my dad is now back home and resting comfortably (well...comfortably is a relative term when you've just spent half a day having a hole the size of a dime drilled in your head and had electrodes poked around in there). We were so excited to get the word from the doctor after the surgery ended saying that dad had "sailed through" and he felt that his prognosis for relief from his Parkinson's symptoms of heavy shaking and rigidity in his hands was in the higher end of what they'd hoped for.

Dad stayed in recovery for about 2.5 hours and then we met him in his room after that. The scary and yucky part happened just after he got to his room and the local anesthetic they used for the surgery wore off. In a matter of minutes, he went from talking with us and looking pretty good to barely being able to move, grunt or anything as the pain gripped him. He said on a scale of 1-10, his pain was an 11. And...the nurse wouldn't get him any pain meds until she spent f-o-r-e-v-e-r asking him about a zillion medical history questions that he had answered that morning when he was admitted. Somehow, those records didn't make it to the floor and the nurse was just "doing her job" in asking all the questions, etc. OK... I get it that she has to "do her job". But, what I don't get is how a man has just undergone brain surgery and the nurse asks him "why are you here?"!!!!????!!! Is this a philosophical question? Duh! HE JUST HAD BRAIN SURGERY!!!! I thought my sister and I were going to whale on the woman trying to get her to give him something for the pain that was getting worse by the second. By the time she did give him something it was so bad that it took 2 shots of morpheine before he felt any relief at all. And....it took about 8 more hours and 4 more morpheine shots to get him to the point where he qualified his pain as a 4 on a 1-10 scale!

Needless to say, we were not happy with how all that came down, but by the time the doc came to check on him this morning, he was managing his "4" pain with aplomb and was just ready to go home! We had them give him one last pain med and then made the 3 hour drive home. He's now resting in his favorite chair in the den.

There's something in this whole process that I noticed. When my dad is well I call him dad or pops when I talk to him. But, when he's sick or in the hospital, I always call him daddy. I think it's the little girl in me that thinks of her daddy as the strongest, biggest and bestest man on the planet and is ready to yell out to the world that "my daddy can do anything"! All in the same moment, I feel the sense of wanting to care for and protect him and at the very same time, wanting to curl up in my daddy's arms and just be his little girl once again. I'm just so very grateful that he is home and this phase of the process is over!

Just to give you an idea of what they're doing to my sweet pops, here's a picture that shows a bit about Deep Brain Stimulation.

There are still two more steps before he'll be able to experience the full benefits. He has to go back on Monday to have the "battery pack" inserted (this is the control unit where all the electrodes in his brain are connected and controlled) and then a final appointment to actually turn on the unit and get the juice flowing so that he gets the relief from his symptoms on a permanent basis. The whole thing won't be over until mid-January. But...for now, we've made it through the toughest part and are very hopeful about having him dancing a jig within another month!

Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts and prayers!

- Karen
[20w,3d]

Nursery

Some nursery furniture has arrived!!

While it was being delivered, I had to refrain myself from squealing like a kid at Christmas. After it was delivered, I sat in our glider and had a lovely little cry. "It's so beautiful," I kept whispering to myself.

The crib bedding is a gift from our realtor/builder/friend Candace. Our house was part of a small parade of homes before we bought it and our builder had this room outfitted as a little girl's room (a bit prophetic don't you think?). When Candace learned that we were having a girl, she announced that she had never sold/returned the crib bedding that she used during the show and that she would like to give it to us as a gift. WOW! We were blown away. So we are the proud owners of this lovely Wendy Bellissimo teaberry bedding.

The crib is a lifestyle/convertible crib from Europa baby Peyton Collection. The window treatments and lamp are from Pottery Barn Kids. And the toy chest was purchased at a lovely local store called Goodnight Room.

Right now, the furniture is on gliders so that we can move it around on the carpet. Our changing table/dresser will be delivered sometime in January. And I still have to pick out a nightstand.

Here's some pictures. I think Kylie (aka The Biscuit) is a lucky little girl. I know I feel blessed to have a nursery like this for our little one.






On another note, last night my friend and neighbor Heather and I went out for an early dinner. I had the quesadilla explosion salad from Chili's and an appetizer. About 15 minutes after Heather dropped me off at home, my belly "blew up". My belly always gets larger at night but this was phenomenal expansion. I would have loved to have seen it on time-lapsed photography!

I walked around the house, rubbing my belly and saying over and over, "Holy Crap!". Finally, I could take it no longer. Someone had to see this belly. I called Heather and asked if I could come over so that she could witness this freak of nature. She took one look at my belly and said, "I guess that was an explosion salad!"

I don't know if it was the pregnancy hormones, or the stress of worrying about Karen and her Dad, or what but I melted into hysterical laughter. I just laughed and laughed holding my tight-as-a-drum belly. Heather took several pictures as I giggled. Here is one of them:



I know it doesn't look that big but trust me... it felt twice it's normal size.

-Wendy
[20w,3d]

Karen's Dad

Just a quick post to let you know that Karen's father made it just fine through his brain surgery for his Parkinson's. She'll post when she can but she wanted you to know how much she appreciates your thoughts and well wishes for her Dad and family.

-Wendy
[20w,2d]

Plank girl

I can no longer easily bend at the waist. In fact, I don't have a waist anymore. I have hips which suggest where the waist used to be but the waist itself is gone!

This morning, as I sat and bent to tie my shoes, I noticed that in order to tie these shoes I had push my legs out to the side in order to bend over. Uuggghhh. Not the prettiest of pictures.

And when I sit and read or knit, I'm only comfortable when I make my torso straight like a board.

Here's a picture from a few days ago. See...... no waist.

-Wendy
[20w,1d]

Too much orange...

If it's possible for there to be too much of the color orange in the world, I'm in the place where possibility becomes reality and where orange is freakin' everywhere! Here in east TN, even at Christmas time, the place is still painted in Univ. of TN orange. It's a bit much even for a TN girl born and raised...particularly for a girl who moved to Oregon and just came back home for a visit!

I got here all safe and sound and will be doing hospital watch Wed and Thurs while my dad has his surgery. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers! But, I knew I was certainly back "home" when the first shop I passed in the airport upon landing had an orange Christmas tree....no kidding! Then today, my mom and I made a trip to Babies R Us and I'll be darned if right as I walk in the door there's an entire rack of orange sleepers and orange Santa outfits...really...orange Santa outfits!

So, now I'm taking respite in a Starbucks where I can use the wireless internet connection (my parents have dial-up...heaven forbid!) and pretend I'm back home in Oregon and all is calm and oh so *not* orange!

- Karen
[20w,0d]

The week in review

This week has seemed to fly by for me as I've been really busy with work and getting prepared to be out of town (visiting family in TN and to be with my dad who's having some surgery) for the next 10 days. We've found out our biscuit is a girl on Monday, gone nuts ordering the furniture we'd picked out for her and then on Friday got a further thumbs up from our doctor about the continued health and well-being of both Wendy and Kylie.

I hate to even think of leaving Wendy here for 10 days but think she's surrounded herself with a pile of knitting projects, a new scrapbook project to begin and a mound of chocolate chip cookies and Hostess cup cakes for those moments when nothing else will soothe. But, we decided that she'd stay here with the animals and just nest. I'll miss her horribly but am looking forward to a visit with my family and also to seeing my dad safely through his surgery. He has Parkinson's disease and is having Deep Brain Stimulation surgery to help relieve some of his more annoying symptoms. While the thought of having some neurosurgeon poking wires into my dad's brain is a little frightening, our hopes are high that it will give him some much needed relief from the constant shaking and other symptoms this horrible disease have brought to him. He's had to shave his head in preparation for the surgery (which will be this Wednesday) and I can tell he's feeling pretty upbeat about the whole thing because he told me he was going to attach an old TV antenna to the back of his neck and head and go walking into church with it to try and get a laugh out of folks. That's my dad! Please send your thoughts and prayers our way as he makes his way through this whole thing.

Right now, Wendy is laughing hysterically while listening to a recording of Elvis laughing his way through "Are You Lonesome Tonight" where he got so tickled he could barely sing. Wendy loves Elvis and is just cracking up over this! If you have any inkling you'd like to join in the laugh visit here and enjoy!

The other really funny thing that happened this week is that Wendy freaked both the cats and me out on Wednesday with a bad case of the belly growls. You can't even begin to imagine the sound that came from her belly! It was so loud, I thought the cats were fighting but when I turned in the direction of the noise, Phoebe (our older cat) was staring at Wendy's belly with this horror-struck look on her little cat face. Her sister Chloe, made a quick exit as she fled the noise and Wendy could only laugh and gasp and point at her belly. Of course, all this happened while I was on a work conference call!

We had lunch with our friends RSG and HG and they brought us a sweet little girl outfit and some books for Wendy. Our dear friend Heather has also been showering us with sweet gifts for Kylie as well. Thanks ladies! Wendy's posted photos of their gifts and a bunch of other "girl stuff" we've already been given at our Flickr site if you want to pop over and have a look.

Anyway, it's getting late and I've put off packing as long as I think I can. My flight leaves at 7am in the morning so I've got to make an early start. I'll try to post a couple of times while I'm away just to say hi and update about my travels and my dad's surgery. In the meantime, I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

- Karen
[19w,5d]
[25 Babies R Us visits]

Doctor's appointment

We had our regularly scheduled doctor's appointment today. Everything is just fine with me and the baby.

All the ultrasound results came back completely normal.
My blood pressure is 112/64
Baby's heartrate is 140ish (manually calculated)
Belly growth is 20cm (which corresponds with 20 weeks - how cool!)
Placenta is at the back of the uterine wall (which may make it easier for Karen to feel baby's kicks).

I really like our doctor. She has a wonderful smile and good bedside manner. However today she slightly freaked me out.

If you recall from many posts ago, I've been having pain in my ribs on my left side. An upper abdomen ultrasound and complete blood work didn't reveal any problems.

So for now, we are labeling this pain as costochondritis. On a good day, this just amounts to a feeling like a stitch in my side but in my ribs. On a bad day, it feels like my friggin ribs are being pulled apart and broken. There is no treatment except anti-inflammatories or steroids, neither of which is viable while I'm pregnant. So mostly I just grin and bear it and get on with my day-to-day stuff.

But this week I developed a new sensation - a pulling or tugging feeling in the center of my body in the space between my belly button and my sternum. It feels very much like a pulled tendon or muscle or like some unknown internal organ was bulging forward in the middle of my body. I mentioned this to the doctor today and she just smiled at me and said that this is normal because of how the uterus is expanding and all the organs start to get smushed.

Now I realize this is true. I've read about it and it makes sense. The rational Wendy knows all this.

But COME ON! Palpate my abdomen for goodness sake!! Reassure me that the pulled-muscle feeling isn't my stomach or intestines getting ready to burst through like some freaky aliens. Palpate my abdomen and let me say, "Ouch!" when you poke at it and you say, "Poor baby but you'll be just fine".

Don't just smile with your sweet darling smile-- you might irritate the hormonal woman on your table.

And then there is the inevitable let-down as you leave the doctor's office. Because somehow, totally unrealistically, you expect the doctor to say that you are the most incredible pregnant woman on the face of the Earth. And that your baby is beautiful and perfect in every way. And because you are so very special they want to see you once a week simply to praise you.

Instead, you are told that everything is "normal" and we'll see you a month from now.

Sigh.

Deep Sigh.

(Please tell me I'm not alone in the after office-visit let down phase).

-Wendy
[19w,4d]

Stationery and Snoogle

I'm fortunate in that my grandmother (mom's side) writes me a letter several times a month. I treasure her letters! She tells me about her days, the weather in TN, how her garden in doing and how much milk/gas costs. She is a frugal lady and doesn't care much for frivolous gifts.

When I moved to Oregon, I started a tradition of sending her stamps for Christmas (quite the practical present!). This year, I thought I would send some lined stationery to accompany the stamps. Well, guess what?! It is incredibly hard to find stationery these days!

I checked at Target, at Hallmark and at a stationery store! All I could find was thank-you cards and invitations and small card-stock note cards. No boxed sets of writing paper and envelopes.

And for some reason this shocked me. I was amazed that the advent of the personal PC has caused us to stop hand-writing letters to the degree that stores no longer stock writing-paper sets.

Anyway, I got over my shock when I found some lined stationery at my local drug store (of all places!) but it was a wake-up call to remind me how quickly things change.

(And part of me laughs at the thought of me as an old lady saying to my grandkids, "In my day, we had to write each other letters. We didn't have those new-fangled computers when I was a youngster!)

On another note, I broke down and purchased a snoogle pillow. Oh! I"m so glad I did!! I'm sleeping much more comfortably. So thanks to everyone who recommended this very wonderful pillow.

-Wendy
[19w,2d]

Two lines are not balls

Wendy and I were up before the sun this morning, anxious and nervous about our ultrasound. I think Wendy woke up a bit before I did but not by much as we were both awake by 5:30am. Before every appointment, Wendy gets nervous and a bit on edge about the baby's health and well-being but this was the "big day"...the day we were to find out boy or girl so we were both nervous. But, you know how it is when you first wake up and aren't sure if your partner is awake yet, right? You kinda shift around in the bed and maybe reach over with a little pat to see if you get any response. Well, I barely shifted and Wendy's whisper voice says "It's Christmas!" Yes...yes it certainly is!

Now, being the planners that we are, we have spent inordinate amounts of time at every baby store in the area trying to pick out the baby's room furniture, the stroller, the car seat...well...pretty much everything. So, today was to be the moment of truth: did we buy the girl stuff or the boy stuff? And, you know that we've been holding off on buying much during our previous 23 visits to Babies R Us, right? Well, the itch to go buy something was about to kill both of us.

So...on with the story... In retrospect, perhaps Wendy started drinking the 30+ ounces of fluids that she was to consume at least one hour prior to the ultrasound a bit early (since we were up and awake so early). I say this because by the time we got to the hospital, she was already floating in fluid and needing to go pretty badly. We had to wait about 20 minutes before the tech came back to get us and when she got up to walk back with the tech, it took her a good 30 seconds to stand and push herself forward...I think all the clenching she was doing made it just a bit difficult to walk! :)

Anyway, the tech had a trainee with her who was going to watch and also do a bit of the scan so we got Wendy settled and began. The ultrasound jelly is usually very cold and Wendy was v-e-r-y pleased when it was toasty warm instead! Her bladder was so full that the baby was smashed in there pretty tight and for the first few seconds didn't move at all. But then, the tech moved over and we saw the heart beating strong and wonderful...whew! Within the next few seconds, the baby kind of spread her legs and rolled up on her shoulders and Wendy squeezed my hand tight. I knew what she was thinking...we didn't see anything dangling besides two little legs. However, the tech didn't proclaim gender at that point...sigh.... Here's the first picture...a lovely little profile (we both think she's got a cute little nose!):


When the tech snapped this next picture Wendy kind of giggled and said "it looks like an alien baby"....hee hee....


The scan progressed with views of the arms, hands, legs and feet and all the in-between parts. The heartbeat was 150 and it was quite a sight to watch it beating away. She even waved at us:


After about 10-15 minutes, Wendy was so uncomfortable, they told her she could go relieve the pressure...but only a bit...and gave her this teeny cup and told her she could eliminate just that much. Come on people! When you've gotta go that bad, how do you stop?!?!?! Well...somehow Wendy managed and felt better after and was able to finish about another 25 minutes or so before they finally let her completely relieve herself. Yow!

During the intervening time, the student tech took over for a bit and was much slower than the original one. And, the student tech was also a bit more heavy-handed and pressed down on Wendy much more. Within a few minutes, Wendy announced that she was getting really light-headed and they had to roll her on her side to let her recover a bit before we could continue. But, continue we did...

Now, at this point, we'd been watching the biscuit intently and watched as the techs measured and labeled and pointed to all the parts, but they hadn't said a word about the gender. Finally, the main tech (now back at the controls) asked "so do you want to know the baby's sex?". Well, duh! "You bet we do!", we both scream at her! And, with a simple twist of the little ultrasound wand thingie, she got the angle, locked the view in and here's what we saw (I know it's hard to see but you gotta love the label "Special Parts"):


The tech is pointing and says something to the effect of "here's what we look for...these two little lines here"...and Wendy says "...and lines are not balls, right?". Guffaw! "Yes...that's right. Those are the labia. You have a girl!", says the tech. And that's how we came to first officially greet our little girl! I have to admit...I teared up! The tears were as much from laughing as from tears of joys and relief! I'll admit that I had really hoped for a little girl...had felt the baby was a girl from practically the moment of conception and had just tried to hold the thought of "healthy baby" (regardless of the gender) in my head during all these weeks of waiting. But, to actually know that what I'd thought and believed to be true, really was true, was just amazingly sweet.

The techs left the room to have the doctor take a look at things and gave us a few minutes alone and we both just hugged and laughed and shed a few little tears of happiness together. Our little girl has made herself known and we are so excited, happy and grateful.

We've had her name picked out from the beginning and today made it official. So, let me formally introduce her to everyone: ladies and gents, I give you, Kylie. We're pretty sure her middle name will be Read...so she'll actually have the same initials as mine as it turns out. :)

There's a couple more ultrasound photos on our Flickr site if you'd like to take a peek, but unless we decide to get a 3D/4D (which we're considering), that'll be the last peek at the little nipper until her birthday.

OK...I know this post is long but hey...I'm on a roll!

After the ultrasound we made all our calls to parents, family and friends who were waiting to hear the news and then made a quick stop at home before heading out to shop, shop, shop! So, the damage today was pretty hefty...we ordered the crib and changing table/dresser for Kylie's room, ordered the stroller we've been coveting since before Wendy even got pregnant and even scored our car seat (which we had a great discount coupon for at, you guessed it, Babies R Us). I'll have to post pictures of the furniture after it arrives: the crib will be here within a week and the dresser in about 4-5 weeks. The stroller is the extravagant Bugaboo Cameleon


and the car seat is the Britax Marathon convertible


We decided on the Bugaboo because we just loved it!! We decided that if we could drive a previously owned SUV (which we do) and buy alot of baby clothes at the consignment shop, we would splurge and treat ourselves to this grand indulgence. Go ahead...laugh if you will, but we are tickled to pieces with our extravagent new baby Rolls Royce!

Finally, we had to buy a few "girl things" to put in Kylie's closet. Fortunately, Babies R Us had a few clearance racks and we found some really cute things that should come in handy in the spring and early summer after she arrives:






And last, but not least...the woobie. This cute little thing caught our eye a couple of months ago. It's a blanket shaped like a little stuffed bear without the stuffing. It's so soft...we hope Kylie will love it as much as we do.


OK....that's it....whew! Thanks to everyone who sent their best wishes and were waiting to hear the news and for all the excitement you've shared with us. We're both tired and happy and as Wendy says "I'm as full as a well fed tick". (Yes, we are from the south...can't you tell?)

- Karen
[19w,0d]
[24 Babies R Us visits]
...and one baby GIRL in the oven!

It's a girl!

All of you who guessed "girl" were right on target! We have a beautiful, healthy little girl growing well and strong inside Wendy...yay!!!

Pictures and more info to come later, but now...we must shop!

- Karen
[19w,0d]

Tomorrow - the biscuit is unveiled!

It's late Sunday night and I'm wondering if I'll be able to sleep tonight. Tomorrow morning at 8:30am PST, the biscuit's gender is to be unveiled (as long as the little nipper cooperates and spreads his or her legs for the camera)! Wendy and I both are nervous and excited and have lots of folks anxiously awaiting the news.

So, keep your blog ears on out there for the results we'll have to share sometime tomorrow! You know of course that we're leaving immediately from the ultrasound and heading out to order our stroller and crib. We have made way too many trips to Babies R Us and restrained ourselves for way too long so we plan to go spend some $$$ and get a few things we wanted to wait until we knew the gender before we bought. Woo hoo!

To entertain you in the meantime, here's a couple of photos of Wendy and I. We're including a photo of us in our Christmas cards this year. However, neither of these will be going out...but dang, aren't we just cute?!?

First, the belly....

Then, the boobs!


Who'd a thunk the top parts would grow as big as the bottom parts!?! Personally I love it all!

- Karen
[18w,6d]
[23 Babies R Us visits]

More ramblings

One of my neighbors has rented a CRANE so she can put up her holiday lights. As I type this, she is dangling from her roof and stapling lights to her trim like some crazy person. I'm getting quite a laugh out of it.

We plan to put up our tree and such this weekend. I hope that our youngest cat, Chloe, will not climb the tree this year but I believe this is just wishful thinking.

I'm pleased that as of last night, I've finished all of my holiday knitting. I'm sending packages home instead of traveling to TN for the holidays.

For the past two days, I've felt a bit drained of energy. I tell myself that it's probably a growth spurt for the baby. Plus the belly seems to be growing by the hour. When I bought my maternity pants, I was told by the clerk that they should last the entire length of the pregnancy. Now I'm not so sure.

I've been amusing myself by looking at lists of favorite children's books and then reserving them from my local library. I found a great book this week. It's "Over in the Meadow" by Olive Wadsworth. It's a counting rhyme book with beautiful illustrations.

I'm Jazzercising around 3 times a week but I still get breathless every time I walk up the stairs in my house. I've started to get my "fat Wendy" double chin again. And my newest food addiction is Strawberry PopTarts. They have absolutely no redeeming food value but Oh My Gosh they taste great!!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

-Wendy
[18w, 4d]