Hot tamale

Not much to report from the Iaco house. Baby's been active, moving around like crazy at different times, sometimes not the most ideal times (3am is a popular time!). He doesn't wake me, but if I get up during the night to pee, he's all over the place while I'm trying to get back to sleep. I'm not complaining--it's really quite cool! Fascinates the hell outta me! The belly's getting bigger, too, but thankfully no sign of stretch marks. ☺

One issue I've had to deal with more and more is acid reflux. Now, I don't really know the difference between this and heartburn so it could be either, but since there's a lot of burping and some residuals, I'm calling it reflux. I've had to deal with this before--I was on Prevacid for a short time and was taking it when needed. I'm not taking anything now but just learning to deal with it and avoid doing things that exacerbate it.

Yesterday, we attended an all-day childbirth class at the hospital where we'll have the baby (Delnor). It was somewhat interesting--I don't know that I learned a lot of anything new, but there were a few things that were informative. Paul definitely got more out of it than I did. I'm still undecided about the flu vaccines (both of them). I hear so many different things about each one that I don't know what to believe anymore. The swine flu vaccine still isn't available for pregnant women, but it sounds like it's close to being ready.

We have a bunch of busy weekends coming up. Next weekend is Homecoming at IC and a birthday party for Paul's niece, Claire. The following weekend is a baby shower for my cousin, Sarah, then one for me the next day (hosted by Paul's sister--it'll be mostly people from "his side"). The weekend after that is Halloween, then another baby shower for us hosted by my sister. November will bring us birthdays galore, then Thanksgiving, which we're hosting. YES, you read that right--we're hosting Thanksgiving. I'll be just about 9 months pregnant and probably not doing much that day, but we'll have 25 or so people here, both sides of the family, ready to pitch in. We promised last year that, if we moved, we'd host it. Well, that's what we're doing. I'm actually looking forward to it though!

I'm still working, both at the vet clinic and tutoring. Not sure how long I'll do these, but I'm hoping to stretch it out as long as possible. The thought of not working is just so weird to me! I know the baby will be equivalent to a couple full-time jobs, but he won't be making me any money. ☺ A lot of changes will be happening after he arrives!

Enjoy the fall weather!

One busy little man

I just got back from seeing the OB and I'm happy to report that everything looks great! Baby is measuring the same as last time, which she said could just be because of his position. Right now, he's assumed to be head down. There has been TONS of movement lately, and in just the past few days, I've felt more body parts--fists, feet, that sort of thing. He pushes out, I push back in. It's fascinating as all hell to me! I know women go through this all the time, but I don't.

I realize I may be giving away the sex of the baby to those who may not have wanted to know (sorry, Cathy!). It's getting harder to avoid referring to him as a HIM. ☺ So there you have it--he's a boy!

His heartrate was great, my blood pressure is great, and the doctor said I look really good for being 7 months along. Admittedly, I'm feeling uncomfortable at times, but not all the time. My biggest issue is finding a pair of pants that fit comfortably--I mostly wear granny-type elastic waist pants.

My work schedule is nice in that I can spend my days off laying around, not letting things swell up like most women have to. Hee hee! I still bowl on occasion (in a league). Being pregnant hasn't helped or hurt my average, which has pretty much always sucked, but I still have a good time.

My next appt is Oct 19 for an ultrasound (to check growth). We are also scheduled to go to an all-day childbirth class on the 10th. Neither one of us is all that excited--we've heard they cater mostly to those who are young and inexperienced with babies, of which we're neither.

I'm also trying to decide about the flu vaccines (both the regular and H1N1). The last one I had was a regular one 10 years ago, and 3 weeks later, I was violently ill. That pretty much turned me off to getting more, but it's been said that getting one can also protect the baby later. That's the only thing that attracts me to it, but in general, I'm TOTALLY freaked out about getting them. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone about this--thoughts, research you've done, etc.

It's getting COLD out there, but most times, I'm still a hotbox. Enjoy!

Week 29

Well, here we are at week 29. Things are progressing smoothly, though baby is measuring BIG at this point. I should measure 29 cm, however I'm at 32 cm (as of a week ago). It's alarming to me, but I guess nothing to be worried about. Heartbeat was good, and everything else has been normal. I've been a bit more sore than normal--a lot of pressure in the nether-regions, but a nurse just said that's normal. I guess I have 2.5 more months of this.

Last Saturday, we went to the wedding of a former Japanese student of mine whose family I got to know in Japan. Emi and Chris married 2.5 years ago, but at a JOP in CA, so this time was in a church in the suburbs. Emi's family came in from Japan--her parents, 2 sisters, and little niece--and I hadn't seen them in about 9 years. It was so awesome! Paul said the thing that stuck with him the most is how each of their faces lit up when they came down the aisle and saw me sitting in the pews. It was like being a celebrity all over again. Emi told me later that they were all looking so forward to seeing me. That was so nice! Her mom gave me a bag full of gifts (including a HUGE package of dried squid skin! MY FAVE!!). Emi had requested they find me a shirt with the most bizarre English on it possible. They did a fantastic job with that, as you can see! ☺

Now that the house swap with my mom is over, I'm starting to get things really cleaned up in the house--basically, rooms put together, including the basement, my office, and the baby's room. I have ideas for a mural (an EASY one!) for the baby's room, but it's getting motivated that's sometimes the hard part. I tire out pretty easily nowadays, mainly because I'm not sleeping all that well at night. But I'll slowly get there! It's different now that I'm not teaching--I don't have that added stress.

Speaking of work, I'm still working at the vet clinic, but not sure for how much longer. Part of me would leave there now if I didn't still need to make some money. They hired my replacement several months ago and have her doing all my duties, so I've been put to work on "projects." I feel very unneeded there these days. I am also tutoring ESL to a young girl from Germany. It's just one day a week for 1.5 hours, but it's a lot of fun! The money is pretty good, but definitely not enough to pay my Discover bill every month.

For those who have been concerned, I've officially retired the Vespa for 2009. I'm sad, but I know it's getting serious now. A few days ago, I was driving in the car and the baby was kicking like crazy. I kind of wondered if it was because my car bounces a lot, which got me thinking about the scooter being bouncy (not much more than my car though), and I decided that, combined with the fact I'm now in the third trimester, was enough to make me put it away for the winter. *sniff*

I have to see my OB every 2 weeks now, plus we have another ultrasound in mid-October. October is so far shaping up to be a busy month with baby showers (one for me, one for my cousin who's due a month after me), IC's Homecoming, birthday parties, etc. I'll have another shower the first of November as well. It's going to be crazy around here!

We're in for a week of rain but warm temps, so I'm happy. Enjoy!

Big babies

When we were trying to get pregnant, I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. Apparently, I was grossly mistaken. In my family, everyone has big babies. BIG. Over 9 lbs is the norm, though a few have managed to avoid that by having babies early (and getting them in the 8 lb range).

I won't be so lucky. Nope. Nosireeeee. This baby's gonna be BIG.

I had an appt on Wednesday. It was one of those 10 minute boring ones where I asked a bunch of silly questions and got a bunch of equally silly answers. YES, I can still ride the scooter. NO, those blemishes are nothing to worry about. YES, you are going to give birth to a kindergartener.

The doctor measured my uterus, and what should be measuring at 26 cm (the same number of weeks I am along), is measuring at 29 cm. Does this mean I can be 29 weeks along? Silly question....

The bump is getting bigger every single day, and more and more uncomfortable. I know this is what I signed up for, but HOOCHIE MAMA. I feel huge. Really huge. No-longer-seeing-my-coochie huge. And there's still 3 more months to go.

Work has been ok. I'm still at the vet clinic, but it's getting harder and harder to do things. Holding animals is tough because the table is right where my uterus is, so I run into it when wrestling an animal. I spend the majority of my time at the front desk, checking people in and out. Not very exciting, but I do enjoy it! I don't know how much longer they'll let me keep doing this--hopefully 'til I pop.

I did manage to get 2 more tutoring jobs! One guy only has 18 hours left on his contract, but the other is an 8 year old girl who has 177 approved hours. I told the woman I spoke with yesterday that I'd need time off for the baby, and they're cool with that. Both jobs are ESL-related, which I really enjoy! Hopefully they work out ok.

Enjoy the beautiful weather this week! I hope it doesn't get too ugly. I'll be out on the scooter today, when I'm not cleaning the house. Paul and I will be swapping houses with my mom next week. She has her 5 college friends coming in and since she's not living in the palatial mansion she'd hoped to by now, they're staying at our house while we stay in the condo. Paul and I are actually looking forward to the condo--cozy, just like old times!

I'm still here!

It's been almost 3 weeks since my last update, but not much has really happened. Thankfully, life is quiet and settling down. School ended for me, and this is the first fall semester in 14 years that I haven't started teaching again (save for the year 2000, when I'd just started in the admissions office at UIC at the end of August, so it was practically like starting a new semester). It's weird to not be teaching, yet at the same time, I feel much less stressed and a whole lot "lighter." Like being on vacation!

Baby's doing fine. We both know the sex now, but I won't divulge as I know I have friends who read this and don't want to know. We're in the process of collecting a TON of stuff that people are handing down to us. It's quite amazing, really! This kid will be well-dressed for the entire first year of his/her life. We're still in need of a changing table--we have a crib (white) and a dresser (wood-colored), so I guess the mismatched theme is IT.

Last week, we had new kitchen appliances delivered. VERY EXCITING! We now have a stainless stove and we'll soon have a stainless-colored fridge. It's not actually stainless, which is nice because it'll be magnetic and will repel fingerprints, however we need to have a copper water line installed because Sears won't install the fridge if there's a plastic line (bastards!). Right now, the new fridge is sitting in the middle of the garage, taunting me with its beauty and majesty. Sickening, really.

That's about it! We have our 3 year anniversary coming up Sept 2nd. Nothing big planned, just a nice dinner out. September is shaping up to be a busy month for us, as is October, November, and well, we all know what's happening in December.

More later!

Baby pictures

Here are the latest pictures of the little nubbin! We had an ultrasound yesterday, which proved to be quite eventful. Apparently, the little bugger was curled up the whole time, preventing the tech from getting photos of certain angles of body parts that she needed. This led to me having to get off the table and jump up and down several times. It was the strangest damn doctor's appointment I've ever had! It did seem to help a little though. She was able to see the baby's sex and, because we don't want to know, I asked her to write it on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope, which she did--she even doubled the envelope to make sure I couldn't see through it. The 'lope is adhered to the fridge right now, where it'll stay until I can't stand it anymore (which was, like, last night...but I'm waiting to open it). It's not easy for someone who's not known for her patience.

So far, the baby looks good! They did mention that s/he's measuring large, but the OB said this is nothing to be concerned about...yet. I'll go in in 3 weeks for a glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes, which can sometimes cause the baby to be bigger than normal. I have a feeling I'm just going to have a damn big baby. Wouldn't be the first time in the family! Baby weighs 1.5 lbs so far, and my baby bump measures quite normally (23 centimeters).

You'll notice in picture #1, baby is either yawning or giving us a big, hearty laugh! In #2, there's a leg extended above the baby. S/he had its hands on its head as well. It was cute! We did get a 3D shot, but it was a wee distorted looking. It's interesting how they get those--she would focus in on an area, I'd have to hold my breath, and after about 5 seconds the 3D image would appear. She did several views but only printed the first picture, which I thought was the worst. I'm not even bothering to put that on here, but if you want it (I know my dad will), shoot me an email to request it.

I did learn that I have an anterior placenta (I think this is correct), which is why I haven't been feeling the baby like most people. The placenta is located at the top of the uterus, in front, so that adds an extra layer to the whole thing. We did feel something Saturday night that I'm sure wasn't gas! It was really cool!

Next appointment won't be for another month, at 26 weeks or so. We're closing in fast! I can't believe I'm more than 1/2 way through!

In other news, I got stung by something yesterday while out on a short scooter ride. I was making a left hand turn onto a busy street when something flew into the strap of my helmet, between the strap and my face. It fluttered for a second and I reached up to get it out, and the damn thing stung me! I have no idea what it was, but it was big and my finger swelled up like crazy (Paul said it looked like a bowling pin). Can't say I've ever had this happen before! Of course, this won't prevent me from riding the scooter. ☺ Still have the OB's ok to ride, so I'm going with that.

We're headed to Waynee World this weekend with Paul's sister, her husband, and their kids. Should be a fun time!

Enjoy!

The Bump

Here, by request, is a photo taken moments ago of the baby bump. I'm 20 weeks and 3 days along, but it's not very impressive. In fact, I just look fat. Not pregnant, just fat. And my butt's big, but that's a whole other problem. ☺ I still have remnants of a waistband where my pants sit (most of the time), so maybe when that "rounds out," I'll actually look more pregnant.

It's getting uncomfortable for me to bed over these days. I can't imagine what it'll be like week after week until the end! Thankfully, things are going smoothly, as I've mentioned before. For that, I'm grateful.

Only 5 more classes left (Aug 7 is the last day). I'll be soooooo happy when this is over! This schedule is killing me. I HATE HATE Tuesdays and Thurdays right now. I'll stay at the vet clinic for a while longer. They've hired a new girl who started a couple weeks ago and will essentially replace me after I go. I don't know if I'll go back--depends on if they'll let me work on Saturdays only. Getting childcare during the week would be too tricky with Kate living WAY south of me and my job being WAY north of where we live. Doesn't really work out too well. I'd like to continue teaching, but not sure where. We'll see! I may just want to stay home and take care of babies!

More later!!

Almost half there!

I've been trying for sometime to update this blog, as I know there are a few people who like to read it (amazing to me, really!). I feel like there's been a lot of nothing happening lately. A lot of work, not as much play as I'd like this time of year, just a lot of nothingness, it seems. Work has been kicking my butt--this Tues/Thurs business is for the birds. I generally leave before 7am, giving me 1 hour or so to prepare for class, teach from 8:30 to 11:15, go home and change clothes, throw food in my lunchbox, and head out the door to the clinic, where I spend the next 6-8 hours working. I get home anywhere between 7pm and 8pm (depending on the day).

Frankly, I've had it with this schedule. It's truly for the birds. I only have 3 more weeks of it, but it's made the summer fly by, making it hard for me to really love and appreciate my last summer of "freedom" (for lack of a better word).

Tomorrow, I'll be officially 20 weeks along and I feel really good! I can't believe the halfway point is here. WOW. I'm sure many will think I'm jinxing myself by saying this, but it's been such an easy pregnancy so far! With the exception of 2 weeks of queasiness and some milk issues in the first trimester, things have been smooth sailing this whole time. I still get tired every afternoon (don't always have time to nap though), and I have to pee A LOT (I used to be a twice-a-day pee'er). And...I'm fat. I'm just plain fat. I don't look pregnant yet, just really fat. I've been VERY lucky to have had a couple people loan/give me maternity clothes, so I likely won't have to buy much!

This coming week is going to be exciting. First, our bedroom furniture is finally being delivered on Monday! YIPPEE! We also bought a microwave to go above our stove, but we need help getting that in. We're hoping to go shopping for a new fridge and stove very soon as well. There are still tons of boxes to be unpacked, and things to be put together (including the crib we inhereted!), but we're slowly but surely getting there.

Keep your fingers crossed for warmer weather!! I'm still riding the scooter when I can, mostly just to school. It's the quietest and least populated ride...and it still feels so good. ☺

Coming along

We're slowly but surely getting this house put together. To say we have a lot of shit is an understatement. Ugh. There's stuff I packed before I moved in with Paul that went immediately into storage, plus the stuff he had, plus what we accumulated together...it's crazy. We're trying to be organized about how we put stuff away. Thank goodness we have GREAT storage!! We have a crawl space that's the size of our entire family room, and attic storage off of our bedroom closet. The problem is that I want to unpack everything, not just store it again!

Baby's doing well, I guess. Everyone asks how I feel and frankly, I feel pretty damn great! I get tired still (despite being in the second trimester), but I think that's getting better. I have a baby bump which is still small, but it's definitely getting bigger. I'm not yet wearing maternity clothes, but I have outgrown all of my regular bras (hasn't stopped me from still wearing them...I figure I have a few more weeks that I can get away with it).

I'm still having problems with back pain, but that's nothing new--I've had back pain for most of the last 20+ years. I've been to chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists, and physical therapy. I've spent hours sitting on heating pads and ice packs. I'm thinking I just recently complained of all this same stuff before...

Anyway, we're still trying to get used to having Salsa around. She's loud, sometimes mean, and demands so much attention when we're in the basement (and we often are, since the only connected computer is down here). She's truly exhausting at times.

I'm off to try to find chairs for the family room. I think I may have, but we'll see...

Enjoy the HEAT!!

< insert sigh of relief >

WHEW! We're finally settling in AND we have connection to the outside world! YAY for internet service. Still have a boatload of boxes to unload, but things are slowly getting put away. My mom finished the kitchen and dining room, neither of which I had any motivation to do myself, so that was HUGE.

The cats are back home. Salsa disappeared for a while today and I thought she'd gotten into a ceiling panel that was left open. I seriously thought she was stuck somewhere in the walls of the house--frankly, that's not beyond Salsa's capabilities. Anyone remember her day-long adventure spent stuck in a car engine in 2004? Alas, she was not in the walls this time, just hiding in a box, refusing to answer when called. She's back to being a pill but Daisy (surprisingly!) doesn't seem too bothered by her.

Baby is doing well! It seems I can finally drink milk again. Must have been a first-trimester weirdness--I've heard of a lot of weird things happening in pregnancy, so I guess I'm not surprised. I'm starting to show a little--just a small bump, but it's there. Not feeling any movement yet, but that will likely start soon.

I should have pictures of the house posted soon on my photo site. The weather has been shitty the past few weeks but at least it's starting to warm up! We finally turned on the air for the first time since we arrived. This weekend will be spent at a birthday party, then Father's Day with Paul's dad here at our house. Our first shot at entertaining! The place is a disaster, but oh well.

Enjoy!!

WE'RE HOME!!

This is the first chance I've had to update, and I only have a few minutes to do it (I'm at the vet clinic and it's crazy busy!). Just an update that we closed on the house last Friday!!! YAY!! I cannot tell you how happy we are to be in our own home. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who let us stay with them.

I also owe a HUGE thanks to my mom, who has been at my house unpacking boxes every day since we moved there (save for today, but that's ok!!). She's put our kitchen together, which was no easy feat!! Even when I pooped out, she kept going. We could not have gotten where we are right now without her help. THANKS, MOM!!

I'll update more later--we still don't have DSL yet, but we're working on it. Hopefully we'll have it in the next day or so.

HOME SWEET HOME!!

Wouldn'tcha know it...

Apparently, there's been A SNAG. I don't know what but it amounts to something akin to the bank not being able to read some paperwork and so it all has to be resubmitted, or some equally inane bullshit.

The closing has been put off until Friday at 3pm.

I'm taking bets as to whether or not it'll really happen then. My vote is NO. Anyone else?

To the person who left the anonymous comment that my baby's due date is actually Dec 6th, the correct date should be Dec 8th. My last period was March 1st. If you add 7 days and subtract 3 months (as many calculations state), the date is actually the 8th. The doctor's office, however, has deemed it the 7th for whatever unknown reason. Frankly, I don't care when the baby arrives, as long as it's healthy. If it happens to be on the 6th...so be it.

I'm in a reeeeeeeally bad mood today, so stay far away.

I promise to write more after they cancel Friday's closing...

FINALLY!!

We have a closing date!! Can I get a collective woo-hoo? This Thursday (time still unsure), we'll be finally closing on our new house. It's obscene that it took this long to get the loan approved, but I'm over it. I just want to get settled in the new house. We'll be sleeping there as of Thursday--Paul and a few of his cohorts will be spending a few hours after work moving stuff up from the garage. I refuse to spend the night anywhere else, once that house is ours. Ahhh, the relief is overwhelming!!

Sunday, we'll be making THE BIG MOVE, which basically means we're getting a truck and moving shit from storage to the house. My brother's coming to help, and hopefully we'll be able to recruit a few others for that day. It sucks that I can't do much lifting, but I'll be responsible for directing the shit to all the different rooms.

I had an OB appt today and it went pretty well! They don't last long--she just listens to any questions or concerns I have. Today, she did a pap smear as well (fun). Here's the lowdown: I've lost a pound, which isn't too much of a concern right now. I'm also not really showing--there's a little tiny bulge, but there was a bulge there to begin with, so I'm not sure what's baby and what's just regular fat. So far, I'm chalking it up to just being fat.

I raised with her my concern about riding the scooter. Actually, I'm not as concerned as everyone else seems to be. As it turns out, riding the scooter IS NOT AN ISSUE. Riding it will NOT bring on premature labor, as some have suggested. She did say that it might be more of an issue in the 3rd trimester when my center of balance won't be "normal," but until then, I can ride. She admitted that she's not the most restrictive OB there is, which I like. I hate being treated like a china doll when there's no reason I can't do the simplest of tasks.

Gotta run--battery's running out on the laptop. More soon!!!

Starbucks sucks.

I went there this morning, hoping to use some free Wifi, and guess what...it's not really free. I had to buy a stupid Starbucks card and put $5 on it, even though I don't drink coffee. I don't particularly like any of their non-coffee drinks, either. The card allows me 2 hours a day of Wifi, but it has to be used at least once every 30 days. Plus, I had 40 minutes to spare before tutoring this morning and it took 30 to get conneted. Screw that...I'll stick with Panera (where I am right now) and Corner Bakery (nice, but no place to plug in so I stay as long as the battery lasts, which isn't usually very long).

Anyway, enough bitching about that. On to bitching about other things....like homelessness. Today, we got word that on Friday, we'll likely "be cleared to close." Been there, heard the same damn story before, so I'm not really buying it. Even if we get clearance, we likely wouldn't close on Friday but sometime next week, and since they never seem to have computers updated on Mondays, it would likely be Tues or Wed. I know I should be happy about this, but again, I've heard this shit before and been disappointed, so I expect nothing different this week.

Baby related: nothing really new. I have an OB appt next Monday afternoon. I plan to talk to her about the milk issue. I would give anything to drink a tall, ice-cold glass of milk. I could, but I'd pay for it later. I guess if/when I need to clean out my system, that would be the way to go! I did go buy some goat's milk today, but I've heard it tastes nasty (unfortunately, I heard this AFTER I bought it). Wonderful.

Boy, I'm just a big ole bunch of flowers today, aren't I??

It's so hard to remain positive these days. I know I'm probably doing wonders for the baby with all this negativity. I find myself laying around, depressed so much of the time, basically when I'm not at work. I just want to cry, but can't--I'm too pissed off. I know there's nothing I can do, but that makes it 10 times worse. I feel like no one is doing anything anymore...not sure if that's really true, but it sure does feel like it.

Sorry for being on such a downer. I'd give anything for a comfy bed, HEAT (Ken keeps his place at 64 degrees--the HEAT--while the air is at 84...still, his house is like a fridge). I'm grateful to have a place to stay, however this needs to END. NOW.

Enjoy the lovely weather!

13/3

Well, I'm now 13 weeks pregnant, and creeping up on 3 weeks homeless. I cannot tell you how much this SUCKS. I'm so depressed that I basically do nothing but sit around watching bad network TV when I'm not working (because, of course, there's no cable or internet where we're staying). I don't want to see anyone--and trust me, you don't want to see me...I'm horrible company these days. There's not a damn stinkin' thing I can do about this either, except sit around and dream about how to decorate the house that I don't live in. FUCKING SUCKS.

Ok, now that that's out of the way, everything else is ok. IacoBaby has been doing well, I guess. I feel good, except there's one thing that affects me: MILK. Most people wouldn't find this devastating like I do--I LOVE LOVE LOVE drinking milk and used to go through a gallon a week (or less). Now I get diarrhea. BAD. It's been just over 3 weeks since I've had milk, except one small 1/2 pint from McDonald's last week for breakfast, which hit me 2 days later. Today, I said SCREW IT and bought a gallon. I'll pay for it, but it's sooooo good to drink the great white elixir yet again.

That's it for today. Nothing new, which is the only news, I guess. One good thing we did: saw the movie UP yesterday in 3D. VERY good movie! Weird to see it with just the 2 of us--the last couple of movies we went to involved taking children, so this is the first kids' movie we saw without them. And we missed them.

Enjoy the rain!