My belly moves noticeably from the outside now when Baby Jeanes is practicing Kung Fu fighting! I saw it for the first time this morning. I was wearing just a thin stretchy tank top instead of a t-shirt and had my laptop sitting on my legs. Baby Jeanes had been pretty active for a while, but I suddenly noticed my belly actually twitch when s/he let loose with a really good kick. So I sat and watched for a while and saw about four or five good ones before s/he got tired and settled down.
How. Weird.
I mean, I've seen the bellies of other pregnant women doing the creepy alien thing when they're really far along and you can see the skin moving around and shifting with the movement of the baby, but it's incredibly weird to see it happening to yourself for the first time. I'm not at the creepy inner alien phase yet, just the periodic outer twitch phase, but man ... WEIRD.
The whole thing is weird! Human procreation is weird! Maysie was telling us about Noah's reaction to how babies are made (hey, he asked) and y'know, dude ain't wrong when he seems a bit stunned by the process. Why can't we all be Cylons? Although I guess even they are pretty gross, too.
I think mostly I'm just so constantly surprised by my body actually having the capability to produce human life. There are so many things it's NOT good at doing that this seems overly ambitious, you know?
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Started out good, but ended with rant.
It occurs to me quite a lot that even though I've moaned and complained variously about the discomforts of this process, I'm extremely thankful that that's all they've been: discomforts. I've had no pregnancy-related complications that threaten me or baby Jeanes and that's something to be grateful for!
Pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes are two things I worried about but so far, so good. The diabetes one wouldn't surprise me all that much but my bloodwork has been fine and I'm feeling pretty physically OK (for sickly ol' me.) I definitely need to be getting more exercise. That one is self-inflicted and not the fault of being pregnant, of course.
Last night Andrew and I went out for dinner and after we got home I was reminded of how much I need to start doing some more regular forms of exercise. Man, did my back ever hurt! Andrew is the one who nearly killed his entire self on some stairs while we were out, and I'm the one with the pain afterward. Unfair, I say. I had a bit of a preview at the One Of A Kind Show of the backaches to come, and I guess I'll just have to get Andrew to give me some nice massages or something (especially since La gave me that incredibly awesome Lush massage bar at Christmas.) But yeah; I do think that going for some regular walks will help, even if it makes it hurt a bit more at first.
Time is really flying now. I'm five months along and kind of in disbelief about that. It STILL doesn't seem entirely real that we're going to have a baby, you know. Yes, I feel like there's a human being growing inside of me but that isn't any kind of prep for what it's going to be like to LIVE with a TOTALLY DEPENDENT BABY. All my selfish ways and decisions are going to be secondary to making sure our kid survives each day. As a 34 year old with ingrained habits I think it's going to definitely be a rude kind of awakening! There are a few camps of parent out there. The kind that we have the most contact with, fortunately, are the kind who want to share useful advice and empathy, but there's another kind. The kind that like to maliciously shake their heads and say smugly, "Oh, you have no idea what you're in for. You'll see."
Yeah ... thanks. Does it surprise anyone that the first kid is a challenge? How can it not be? There was a time when I did not want to have children. I knew I could change my mind in the future when I hit my thirties, or encounter a surprise pregnancy and have to deal with that, but I really resented the idea that people saw being childfree as a negative of my personality. When I saw the kind of behaviour, though, where the parents seemed to relish the idea of someone sharing in what seemed to be their misery I felt a bit better about my decision. There are all kinds, of course, and even in the spectrum of the childfree there are wildly varying approaches and feelings about kids in general but I hope I never turn into the kind of parent who treats the role as a negative experience overall. Yes, there will be challenges and times when I question my sanity and the decision to have a child but I fully expect that overall I will like parenting and LOVE our spawn.
Seriously. My cats piss me off regularly (every day!) and I love and forgive them, so how much more am I going to love and care about a human being that's made up of me and Andrew?
Pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes are two things I worried about but so far, so good. The diabetes one wouldn't surprise me all that much but my bloodwork has been fine and I'm feeling pretty physically OK (for sickly ol' me.) I definitely need to be getting more exercise. That one is self-inflicted and not the fault of being pregnant, of course.
Last night Andrew and I went out for dinner and after we got home I was reminded of how much I need to start doing some more regular forms of exercise. Man, did my back ever hurt! Andrew is the one who nearly killed his entire self on some stairs while we were out, and I'm the one with the pain afterward. Unfair, I say. I had a bit of a preview at the One Of A Kind Show of the backaches to come, and I guess I'll just have to get Andrew to give me some nice massages or something (especially since La gave me that incredibly awesome Lush massage bar at Christmas.) But yeah; I do think that going for some regular walks will help, even if it makes it hurt a bit more at first.
Time is really flying now. I'm five months along and kind of in disbelief about that. It STILL doesn't seem entirely real that we're going to have a baby, you know. Yes, I feel like there's a human being growing inside of me but that isn't any kind of prep for what it's going to be like to LIVE with a TOTALLY DEPENDENT BABY. All my selfish ways and decisions are going to be secondary to making sure our kid survives each day. As a 34 year old with ingrained habits I think it's going to definitely be a rude kind of awakening! There are a few camps of parent out there. The kind that we have the most contact with, fortunately, are the kind who want to share useful advice and empathy, but there's another kind. The kind that like to maliciously shake their heads and say smugly, "Oh, you have no idea what you're in for. You'll see."
Yeah ... thanks. Does it surprise anyone that the first kid is a challenge? How can it not be? There was a time when I did not want to have children. I knew I could change my mind in the future when I hit my thirties, or encounter a surprise pregnancy and have to deal with that, but I really resented the idea that people saw being childfree as a negative of my personality. When I saw the kind of behaviour, though, where the parents seemed to relish the idea of someone sharing in what seemed to be their misery I felt a bit better about my decision. There are all kinds, of course, and even in the spectrum of the childfree there are wildly varying approaches and feelings about kids in general but I hope I never turn into the kind of parent who treats the role as a negative experience overall. Yes, there will be challenges and times when I question my sanity and the decision to have a child but I fully expect that overall I will like parenting and LOVE our spawn.
Seriously. My cats piss me off regularly (every day!) and I love and forgive them, so how much more am I going to love and care about a human being that's made up of me and Andrew?
Monday, January 19, 2009
Baby Jeanes has moved from Riverdance to STOMP.
Andrew FINALLY got to feel some substantial kicks from baby Jeanes. We were sitting side by side in bed doodling around on our respective laptops when I suddenly felt a series of no-kidding-around kicks that were quite different from the usual more subtle sensations. I grabbed Andrew's hand and put it where I thought they were strongest and he felt at least three good ones.
I've felt kind of guilty about being the one to feel all the baby sensations, silly as that is, so it was really nice. Yes, I'm doing all the heavy lifting of the carrying and growing of our kid but I'd still like to share the positives of the experience with Andrew and the kicking is definitely the fun part. At this point.
It's comforting that Andrew thinks I'm noticeably showing because I've had more than a few people say that I'm not showing at all and that pretty much just makes me feel like I must be a TOTAL fat-ass or something. (Don't worry if you've said it to me; I overreact to pretty much everything lately, OK?) Andrew is the one who sees me without my clothes so he's the one who can tell the best, I realize, plus I'm still wearing regular jeans that stretch so they probably inhibit the belly, but I just kind of want to look verifiable-y PREGNANT already. If I'd started out wafer-thin there'd be no question at this point, I realize, but at least I've gotten to wear my regular clothes for a good long time, right? I'm down to just a few shirts at this point, and Maysie was sweet enough to send me home with some of her maternity clothes to try out the other night so those plus some shopping on my part should have me set.
On a related note I have to find a pretty maternity dress to wear because our beloved friends Colin and Jen are getting married next month! Hooray! I'm so excited to go and take part, and I hope that the deities of maternity wear will smile upon me and have a dress in existence that will satisfy my needs. I'm not one hundred percent sure what those needs are at the moment other than it being a-line and able to contain my ridiculous pregnancy boobs. Oh, I have not complained here about my boobs and I'm afraid to start because they might sense it and go even more insane. I am afraid of these breasts.
Hmmm. What else? I guess not much else pregnancy related. We went to St. Catharines and Niagara On The Lake over the weekend to visit Jerome and then go to dinner with Andrew's Nana and Grandpa Bill. Seeing Jerome was super awesome fantastic, as always, and we totally fell in love with his house. It's seriously the kind of house we'd love to raise our kid in, just the right size for our needs and freaking gorgeous besides. It has CHARM, people. CHARM. I hope you love your house as much as we do, Jerome!
After that we went to NOTL to see Nana and Grandpa Bill. We met them for dinner at a restaurant/hotel/spa that is quite nice and even though I shouldn't have I ordered the prime rib for dinner. I had to because it came with Yorkshire pudding and ... come on. Yorkshire pudding! I ordered it rare and the chef was obviously incredibly good at his job and sent me a perfectly rare piece of meat. The problem was that it was also an enormous piece of meat and I could barely eat half of it. So I had to take it home and reheat it, at which point it was no longer perfectly rare. Sob. Oh, but my life is filled with tragedy.
Then we came home. The next night (Sunday night) we went to Maysie and Dan's and had delicious homemade pizza and a night full of excruciatingly depressing episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Depressing or no it is the best show on TV, so it's totally worth it. Uh, to me. I had pre-watched the episodes on my own at home so didn't break down bawling every few minutes when we were with the friends, but I assure you that I cried my face off in private. Pregnancy hormones FTW!
I've felt kind of guilty about being the one to feel all the baby sensations, silly as that is, so it was really nice. Yes, I'm doing all the heavy lifting of the carrying and growing of our kid but I'd still like to share the positives of the experience with Andrew and the kicking is definitely the fun part. At this point.
It's comforting that Andrew thinks I'm noticeably showing because I've had more than a few people say that I'm not showing at all and that pretty much just makes me feel like I must be a TOTAL fat-ass or something. (Don't worry if you've said it to me; I overreact to pretty much everything lately, OK?) Andrew is the one who sees me without my clothes so he's the one who can tell the best, I realize, plus I'm still wearing regular jeans that stretch so they probably inhibit the belly, but I just kind of want to look verifiable-y PREGNANT already. If I'd started out wafer-thin there'd be no question at this point, I realize, but at least I've gotten to wear my regular clothes for a good long time, right? I'm down to just a few shirts at this point, and Maysie was sweet enough to send me home with some of her maternity clothes to try out the other night so those plus some shopping on my part should have me set.
On a related note I have to find a pretty maternity dress to wear because our beloved friends Colin and Jen are getting married next month! Hooray! I'm so excited to go and take part, and I hope that the deities of maternity wear will smile upon me and have a dress in existence that will satisfy my needs. I'm not one hundred percent sure what those needs are at the moment other than it being a-line and able to contain my ridiculous pregnancy boobs. Oh, I have not complained here about my boobs and I'm afraid to start because they might sense it and go even more insane. I am afraid of these breasts.
Hmmm. What else? I guess not much else pregnancy related. We went to St. Catharines and Niagara On The Lake over the weekend to visit Jerome and then go to dinner with Andrew's Nana and Grandpa Bill. Seeing Jerome was super awesome fantastic, as always, and we totally fell in love with his house. It's seriously the kind of house we'd love to raise our kid in, just the right size for our needs and freaking gorgeous besides. It has CHARM, people. CHARM. I hope you love your house as much as we do, Jerome!
After that we went to NOTL to see Nana and Grandpa Bill. We met them for dinner at a restaurant/hotel/spa that is quite nice and even though I shouldn't have I ordered the prime rib for dinner. I had to because it came with Yorkshire pudding and ... come on. Yorkshire pudding! I ordered it rare and the chef was obviously incredibly good at his job and sent me a perfectly rare piece of meat. The problem was that it was also an enormous piece of meat and I could barely eat half of it. So I had to take it home and reheat it, at which point it was no longer perfectly rare. Sob. Oh, but my life is filled with tragedy.
Then we came home. The next night (Sunday night) we went to Maysie and Dan's and had delicious homemade pizza and a night full of excruciatingly depressing episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Depressing or no it is the best show on TV, so it's totally worth it. Uh, to me. I had pre-watched the episodes on my own at home so didn't break down bawling every few minutes when we were with the friends, but I assure you that I cried my face off in private. Pregnancy hormones FTW!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Look at the baby!
OK! Here are the ultrasound pictures as promised, just ... late. Forgive me!
Here is baby Jeanes lolling on her/his back in November, head to the left:
Here is baby Jeanes from the front in November, waving at us with his/her right hand:
And finally here is baby Jeanes from last week, from the front as well but flipped in the opposite direction, possibly with her/his hand up beside her/his face:
That last one is less obvious than the other two, unfortunately. I was so jazzed by the end of the ultrasound by how cool it had been to see baby Jeanes spazzing around that I forgot to ask for a picture, so I was surprised when she handed us one. I think it made more sense to me at the time, having just been looking at live images, but it isn't so clear to me now. I do think those are some fingerbones to the side of the face, though.
Baby Jeanes is pretty consistently kicky and wiggly in there. Not constantly, but more than enough to keep me reminded of his/her presence. Especially when I'm on my side. When I move to my back and try to get Andrew to feel what's going on in there the baby calms down a lot, probably because things spread out more and there's more room to stretch out.
Otherwise, not a lot is new in the realm of baby-making. Sickness is gone, heartburn is present, there's some weirdness with the relaxing of ligaments but nothing too notable. All in all it's evening out into the second trimester honeymoon, I do believe. I approve!
Here is baby Jeanes lolling on her/his back in November, head to the left:
Here is baby Jeanes from the front in November, waving at us with his/her right hand:
And finally here is baby Jeanes from last week, from the front as well but flipped in the opposite direction, possibly with her/his hand up beside her/his face:
That last one is less obvious than the other two, unfortunately. I was so jazzed by the end of the ultrasound by how cool it had been to see baby Jeanes spazzing around that I forgot to ask for a picture, so I was surprised when she handed us one. I think it made more sense to me at the time, having just been looking at live images, but it isn't so clear to me now. I do think those are some fingerbones to the side of the face, though.
Baby Jeanes is pretty consistently kicky and wiggly in there. Not constantly, but more than enough to keep me reminded of his/her presence. Especially when I'm on my side. When I move to my back and try to get Andrew to feel what's going on in there the baby calms down a lot, probably because things spread out more and there's more room to stretch out.
Otherwise, not a lot is new in the realm of baby-making. Sickness is gone, heartburn is present, there's some weirdness with the relaxing of ligaments but nothing too notable. All in all it's evening out into the second trimester honeymoon, I do believe. I approve!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Moody me.
So, um, Andrew didn't get the ultrasound shots scanned on Friday but he'll try to today, promise!
I really must be feeling more energetic and happier now that I'm feeling much better physically. Dan commented on it when we were at their place for a Battlestar Galactica night (must catch up since the new season starts so soon!) I was thinking about it and yes, I think it's true. Except that I'm also still hormonal and prone to sudden mood changes, something that happened on our way home from said delightful evening.
When we left Maysie and Dan's place it was snowing out but it wasn't deep or anything. We walked to Bathurst to catch the streetcar to Bathurst station, something we normally do since it's a shorter walk. Now, this snow wasn't the lightly falling, pleasant kind of snow. It was small and mean flakes that drove persistently against us, borne on an unpleasant wind. The kind that stick all over your clothes and collect on your hair like a white blanket and then instead of brushing off bond to your hair and clothes, then melt there.
As we were walking to Bathurst we saw a streetcar go by. This isn't uncommon so we were prepared to wait for the next one which usually doesn't take too long and we were optimistic, borne as we were on the high of having had a great night with friends. The streetcar stop is situated so that hopeful cab drivers pull up constantly right in front of you and stare at you a bit until you either shake your head or just look disinterested and this happened quite a few times. We briefly discussed grabbing one since the weather was so bad but it's expensive so I suggested we should wait. So we did. We waited and waited. And waited.
The snow got meaner and meaner, coming down more heavily, and the cold combined with the inescapable annoyance of the flakes against my face got more and more uncomfortable until suddenly I couldn't take it any more. My stoic resistance to spending cab money suddenly and completely transformed into disgust and major frustration at the discomfort we were experiencing and I said we should take the next cab that came along. Andrew readily agreed, thankfully, and even though it then (of course) took a bit for a free cab to come along we got one and got in. Phew!
Now, I'm an emotional person, something I readily admit, but even I am a bit bemused by how very quickly my moods can change on a dime these days. One minute I'll be humming along, thinking about how cute my cats are and what I'm going to be eating for dinner later, the next I'll be welling up with tears over how radically our lives will be changing and worried about whether we'll be prepared. Then I'll think to myself that we won't have a choice and it'll all work itself out and I'll feel better and eat a banana. Then I'll feel the baby kick and get overcome with the total weirdness of growing a human in my very own body.
So, I'm all over the map, but managing to keep it together for the most part and remind myself a lot about how I have to keep it together for this kid since ain't nobody else going to mother it for me! (Despite the apparent need my sisters and mom have to grab it and hug it and smother it with love, I'm sure they don't intend to keep it after it starts crying or wetting itself. And besides; I might turn out to be okay at the mothering thing after all.)
I really must be feeling more energetic and happier now that I'm feeling much better physically. Dan commented on it when we were at their place for a Battlestar Galactica night (must catch up since the new season starts so soon!) I was thinking about it and yes, I think it's true. Except that I'm also still hormonal and prone to sudden mood changes, something that happened on our way home from said delightful evening.
When we left Maysie and Dan's place it was snowing out but it wasn't deep or anything. We walked to Bathurst to catch the streetcar to Bathurst station, something we normally do since it's a shorter walk. Now, this snow wasn't the lightly falling, pleasant kind of snow. It was small and mean flakes that drove persistently against us, borne on an unpleasant wind. The kind that stick all over your clothes and collect on your hair like a white blanket and then instead of brushing off bond to your hair and clothes, then melt there.
As we were walking to Bathurst we saw a streetcar go by. This isn't uncommon so we were prepared to wait for the next one which usually doesn't take too long and we were optimistic, borne as we were on the high of having had a great night with friends. The streetcar stop is situated so that hopeful cab drivers pull up constantly right in front of you and stare at you a bit until you either shake your head or just look disinterested and this happened quite a few times. We briefly discussed grabbing one since the weather was so bad but it's expensive so I suggested we should wait. So we did. We waited and waited. And waited.
The snow got meaner and meaner, coming down more heavily, and the cold combined with the inescapable annoyance of the flakes against my face got more and more uncomfortable until suddenly I couldn't take it any more. My stoic resistance to spending cab money suddenly and completely transformed into disgust and major frustration at the discomfort we were experiencing and I said we should take the next cab that came along. Andrew readily agreed, thankfully, and even though it then (of course) took a bit for a free cab to come along we got one and got in. Phew!
Now, I'm an emotional person, something I readily admit, but even I am a bit bemused by how very quickly my moods can change on a dime these days. One minute I'll be humming along, thinking about how cute my cats are and what I'm going to be eating for dinner later, the next I'll be welling up with tears over how radically our lives will be changing and worried about whether we'll be prepared. Then I'll think to myself that we won't have a choice and it'll all work itself out and I'll feel better and eat a banana. Then I'll feel the baby kick and get overcome with the total weirdness of growing a human in my very own body.
So, I'm all over the map, but managing to keep it together for the most part and remind myself a lot about how I have to keep it together for this kid since ain't nobody else going to mother it for me! (Despite the apparent need my sisters and mom have to grab it and hug it and smother it with love, I'm sure they don't intend to keep it after it starts crying or wetting itself. And besides; I might turn out to be okay at the mothering thing after all.)
Thursday, January 8, 2009
DENIED, AGAIN!
We had the anatomical scan ultrasound today and I was SO. EXCITED. to find out the gender. I went in all happy to discover the gender of our large-banana sized child, and ultimately was denied this knowledge. Yes, the umbilical cord was totally in the way of the specifics.
The experience itself was nice, though. The tech was the same one who gave us our first ultrasound and during that one she was uncommunicative and reserved, but I'm pretty sure that was due to the mixup of how far along I was. This time she was much chattier and quite informative, seeming totally charmed by our bouncy kid. Apparently baby Jeanes was moving around a LOT, all wiggly and twitchy (although I couldn't really see this from my position during most of the ultrasound.) She'd be trying to measure the limbs and the baby kept moving them out of position. This mostly just made her laugh, though, and she told us that all of her babies today had been hyper.
After she'd taken all the measurements she turned the screen toward me and pointed out a few things like the baby's face and legs and arms. It had one arm up and a hand over its left eye which the tech thought was totally adorable. I was more worried that it was trying to suck its thumb, though! Then she did her best to see the gender but showed us how the cord was in the way. I jokingly said that it must be a boy if it was so active, taking after its dad, but she said that she was leaning more toward it being a girl. Since she couldn't say for sure, though, it was just a guess and now I have to try not to take it too seriously.
So yeah, I'm a bit disappointed but it's hard to be too upset when we could see our little mini human being all energetic and lively. That's pretty reassuring. After we left the clinic I made a lot of jokes about our naughty, uncooperative baby but I'm not literally blaming the kid. Honest! Oh, and Andrew took the new ultrasound shot and the ones from last time to work so he could scan them, so hopefully later today or early tomorrow I'll post them.
The experience itself was nice, though. The tech was the same one who gave us our first ultrasound and during that one she was uncommunicative and reserved, but I'm pretty sure that was due to the mixup of how far along I was. This time she was much chattier and quite informative, seeming totally charmed by our bouncy kid. Apparently baby Jeanes was moving around a LOT, all wiggly and twitchy (although I couldn't really see this from my position during most of the ultrasound.) She'd be trying to measure the limbs and the baby kept moving them out of position. This mostly just made her laugh, though, and she told us that all of her babies today had been hyper.
After she'd taken all the measurements she turned the screen toward me and pointed out a few things like the baby's face and legs and arms. It had one arm up and a hand over its left eye which the tech thought was totally adorable. I was more worried that it was trying to suck its thumb, though! Then she did her best to see the gender but showed us how the cord was in the way. I jokingly said that it must be a boy if it was so active, taking after its dad, but she said that she was leaning more toward it being a girl. Since she couldn't say for sure, though, it was just a guess and now I have to try not to take it too seriously.
So yeah, I'm a bit disappointed but it's hard to be too upset when we could see our little mini human being all energetic and lively. That's pretty reassuring. After we left the clinic I made a lot of jokes about our naughty, uncooperative baby but I'm not literally blaming the kid. Honest! Oh, and Andrew took the new ultrasound shot and the ones from last time to work so he could scan them, so hopefully later today or early tomorrow I'll post them.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
DENIED!
So, Andrew went to Ottawa for the weekend. My only request was that he bring me home a caramel apple from The Purple Cow, since the caramel apple craving is still upon me and The Purple Cow does them PERFECTLY. He arrived home on Sunday and all was well, we were happy to see each other and I forgot about the caramel apple until much, much later when Andrew suddenly said, "Oh, I went to the Purple Cow to get your caramel apple and guess what?"
"What?" says I, with a feeling that the story would end with no caramel apple for me.
"IT WAS GONE," he informed me.
I did not believe it, but he insisted it was true. Apparently he went to the store and it was like the candy store from The Chocolate Touch when John Midas goes back to get the shopkeeper to help him; totally empty inside.
I accused Andrew of simply forgetting my caramel apple and coming up with this implausible lie, but he continued to maintain that he was telling the truth. Sigh. So, in the end I had to believe him.
The hope is that they're either renovating or relocating, but since Andrew couldn't see any evidence of either I am lost in a limbo of not knowing. And I'll REALLY have to make my own caramel apples now.
This is all really for the BABY of course, not me. The BABY wants the caramel apple, or makes me want it ... or something.
The morning sickness is still mostly a thing of the past so I'm letting myself relax a bit about it. Other common pregnancy things abound, but I can deal. Heartburn is a big one and while heartburn is no fun there's a certain freedom in realizing that anything I eat is going to result in it. I can eat things that I used to be more cautious about before, like hot dogs (not healthy, but tasty when you really want one) or red peppers or whatnot and know that they'll do me no more harm than anything else. As long as I have my giant-ass tub of Tums (Andrew bought me a HUGE container of them after I told him this would go on until the baby Jeanes is born) and my wild cherry Rolaids chewables I'm good.
I'm LOVING how the kicking is getting more pronounced every day. It really is the coolest part of pregnancy so far, just feeling proof that yes, there truly is a little sprog in there kicking around. I was never sure how I'd find the whole experience of pregnancy and it's been very surprising so far, but I always figured that if I did end up having a kid I'd find this part the most fascinating. I'm checking a lot to see if I can feel anything from the outside at all so that Andrew can start sharing in the weirdness, but it's still not strong enough for that. Soon!
"What?" says I, with a feeling that the story would end with no caramel apple for me.
"IT WAS GONE," he informed me.
I did not believe it, but he insisted it was true. Apparently he went to the store and it was like the candy store from The Chocolate Touch when John Midas goes back to get the shopkeeper to help him; totally empty inside.
I accused Andrew of simply forgetting my caramel apple and coming up with this implausible lie, but he continued to maintain that he was telling the truth. Sigh. So, in the end I had to believe him.
The hope is that they're either renovating or relocating, but since Andrew couldn't see any evidence of either I am lost in a limbo of not knowing. And I'll REALLY have to make my own caramel apples now.
This is all really for the BABY of course, not me. The BABY wants the caramel apple, or makes me want it ... or something.
The morning sickness is still mostly a thing of the past so I'm letting myself relax a bit about it. Other common pregnancy things abound, but I can deal. Heartburn is a big one and while heartburn is no fun there's a certain freedom in realizing that anything I eat is going to result in it. I can eat things that I used to be more cautious about before, like hot dogs (not healthy, but tasty when you really want one) or red peppers or whatnot and know that they'll do me no more harm than anything else. As long as I have my giant-ass tub of Tums (Andrew bought me a HUGE container of them after I told him this would go on until the baby Jeanes is born) and my wild cherry Rolaids chewables I'm good.
I'm LOVING how the kicking is getting more pronounced every day. It really is the coolest part of pregnancy so far, just feeling proof that yes, there truly is a little sprog in there kicking around. I was never sure how I'd find the whole experience of pregnancy and it's been very surprising so far, but I always figured that if I did end up having a kid I'd find this part the most fascinating. I'm checking a lot to see if I can feel anything from the outside at all so that Andrew can start sharing in the weirdness, but it's still not strong enough for that. Soon!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Post-holiday entry.
Happy 2009! I'm still pregnant, so things are going well on that front. Christmas broke me a bit, I think, so I haven't felt much like writing but I've been feeling bad about not updating so here I am.
I would have definitely handled the holidays better if I hadn't gotten that dumb cold. I'm actually still trying to get over the last of it, but traveling and not getting a lot of sleep probably made that harder to do. Seeing family and friends was incredibly awesome, of course, and Christmas day I hardly noticed how sick I felt, it was so good to spend time with my family and enjoy the nieces and nephews. My mom got a Wii and I actually had a LOT of fun playing it, something I did not expect. It's just that everyone looks dumb when they play that thing, so it's not so bad. I still giggle to myself when I remember watching Andrew boxing. Heeeeeee.
It might have been easier if we'd been able to stay longer in each city we visited, giving us a chance to catch our breath, but since all the places we stayed involved people giving up their actual beds for us we definitely didn't want to overstay our welcome! Thank you so much to Hayley, Alannah, and Jenny and Colm, all of whom let us sleep in their very comfy beds. This is not something I plan to repeat, since ... no. It's just not right. We are really blessed to have such generous people in our lives who were willing to sacrifice to help us make our holidays work out.
I guess the multi-city Christmas craziness that has always been our way (out of necessity) will have to shift somewhat with the arrival of baby Jeanes. Accommodations will be even trickier and I suspect we'll end up staying in hotels and trying to perhaps stay longer in one place so that we aren't run ragged. Eek. I dunno. I guess we'll think about it when we have to. Alannah has already demanded babysitting privileges and we'll definitely take her up on them while baby Jeanes is still tiny and adorable and hold-able. If we can make Post-Christmas Christmas work next year, La, you're booked!
The morning sickness is definitely almost entirely a thing of the past, thank heavens! There are still moments, but they're laughable compared to what it was. I still crave kind of random things and no one craving hangs around too terribly long (although I could eat a caramel apple anytime.)
The BEST part is feeling the baby moving. I'm much more able to distinguish between regular internal workings and the kicks and jazz hands going on in my uterus. Hilariously the baby is most active when Shelley is lounging on me and purring. This tends to happen when I'm using my laptop on the sofa and Shelley kind of sprawls along my left side between me and the sofa cushions (I'm sitting sidewise with my back against a sofa arm in case I'm not making myself clear.) This means that his purrs are pretty much right up against where the baby is probably trying to sleep, and he/she is probably annoyed at the rumbling and vibrations. Cat purrs are surprisingly strong, if you're not that familiar with cats. Sorry baby, but I'm not kicking my cat off for anything. Get used to it!
Still hoping to find out the sex this month so I can switch to using an actual gender to refer to our spawn. I'll be calling on Monday to make the appointment, so here's hoping they can get us in there soon.
Ummm ... not much else happened. We went to a New Year's eve party thrown by one of Andrew's old co-workers from the computer store. I was kind of reluctant since I was still feeling sick, didn't know anyone and couldn't even drink any booze to just relax myself and go with it. It turned out to be more fun than I anticipated, though, and we had a nice time. The host booked a suite in a hotel across from Nathan Phillips Square so we got to look down at the mass of people and enjoy the fireworks when midnight hit. There was even a fantastic vibrating chocolate fountain that I thoroughly enjoyed until someone moshed into it and ended the chocolate fun by splattering it down the wall. Fruit and chocolate are the PERFECT combination, people. Luckily for the host there was an immediate cleanup effort by family and friends and all was well.
OK. That's really it, I guess. Or at least I can't remember anything entirely relevant right now and will post later if something occurs to me.
I would have definitely handled the holidays better if I hadn't gotten that dumb cold. I'm actually still trying to get over the last of it, but traveling and not getting a lot of sleep probably made that harder to do. Seeing family and friends was incredibly awesome, of course, and Christmas day I hardly noticed how sick I felt, it was so good to spend time with my family and enjoy the nieces and nephews. My mom got a Wii and I actually had a LOT of fun playing it, something I did not expect. It's just that everyone looks dumb when they play that thing, so it's not so bad. I still giggle to myself when I remember watching Andrew boxing. Heeeeeee.
It might have been easier if we'd been able to stay longer in each city we visited, giving us a chance to catch our breath, but since all the places we stayed involved people giving up their actual beds for us we definitely didn't want to overstay our welcome! Thank you so much to Hayley, Alannah, and Jenny and Colm, all of whom let us sleep in their very comfy beds. This is not something I plan to repeat, since ... no. It's just not right. We are really blessed to have such generous people in our lives who were willing to sacrifice to help us make our holidays work out.
I guess the multi-city Christmas craziness that has always been our way (out of necessity) will have to shift somewhat with the arrival of baby Jeanes. Accommodations will be even trickier and I suspect we'll end up staying in hotels and trying to perhaps stay longer in one place so that we aren't run ragged. Eek. I dunno. I guess we'll think about it when we have to. Alannah has already demanded babysitting privileges and we'll definitely take her up on them while baby Jeanes is still tiny and adorable and hold-able. If we can make Post-Christmas Christmas work next year, La, you're booked!
The morning sickness is definitely almost entirely a thing of the past, thank heavens! There are still moments, but they're laughable compared to what it was. I still crave kind of random things and no one craving hangs around too terribly long (although I could eat a caramel apple anytime.)
The BEST part is feeling the baby moving. I'm much more able to distinguish between regular internal workings and the kicks and jazz hands going on in my uterus. Hilariously the baby is most active when Shelley is lounging on me and purring. This tends to happen when I'm using my laptop on the sofa and Shelley kind of sprawls along my left side between me and the sofa cushions (I'm sitting sidewise with my back against a sofa arm in case I'm not making myself clear.) This means that his purrs are pretty much right up against where the baby is probably trying to sleep, and he/she is probably annoyed at the rumbling and vibrations. Cat purrs are surprisingly strong, if you're not that familiar with cats. Sorry baby, but I'm not kicking my cat off for anything. Get used to it!
Still hoping to find out the sex this month so I can switch to using an actual gender to refer to our spawn. I'll be calling on Monday to make the appointment, so here's hoping they can get us in there soon.
Ummm ... not much else happened. We went to a New Year's eve party thrown by one of Andrew's old co-workers from the computer store. I was kind of reluctant since I was still feeling sick, didn't know anyone and couldn't even drink any booze to just relax myself and go with it. It turned out to be more fun than I anticipated, though, and we had a nice time. The host booked a suite in a hotel across from Nathan Phillips Square so we got to look down at the mass of people and enjoy the fireworks when midnight hit. There was even a fantastic vibrating chocolate fountain that I thoroughly enjoyed until someone moshed into it and ended the chocolate fun by splattering it down the wall. Fruit and chocolate are the PERFECT combination, people. Luckily for the host there was an immediate cleanup effort by family and friends and all was well.
OK. That's really it, I guess. Or at least I can't remember anything entirely relevant right now and will post later if something occurs to me.
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