Google

I just did a google search for "luv to discover" child care, hoping to find a website for one of the daycare centers we're interested in. I got excited when google came up with a page that had the words "quality care" and "we will go with Luv to Discover if..." because it meant that there was someone out there with an opinion on the daycare center!

But alas... my heart sank when the link brought me to my own blog.

Shotgun Renewals

Every now and then I look at my husband and think of how much I love him and find myself jokingly asking him if he'll marry me. Usually his response is a funny confused look that says "Uh, Honey, we already are married and have been for a few years now."

I did this again recently but this time his response was to laugh and ask, "You mean like a shotgun wedding?"

Hehehe... Maybe I'll mention that to my sister. If she can't think of enough activities for the couple's baby shower she's hosting for us, maybe we can turn it into a Shotgun Vow Renewal Ceremony!

Human Pin Cusion

Tomorrow I get to start a special 3-day diet. Why you might ask? Well, read on my friend, read on.

The results from my blood work last week came back with high levels of glucose, which means that I have to go in for further tests to determine if I have gestational diabetes. First I have to be on this diet for 3 days, then I get to go get my blood drawn again first thing in the morning on the 4th day. If you don't already know, then let me tell you now that I do not like needles so this was not happy news to me. In fact, not only do I have to get my blood drawn again, but I have to have it have it drawn once, then drink my orange goo again, then draw again every hour for 3 hours. Count them up... That's four more needle pricks! UGH.

I know that just because my first test came back high does not mean I have gestational diabetes, but it does make me a little nervous. Part of me feels like my pregnancy has been going so smoothly and uneventful that it makes sense for something like this to pop up. But try not to worry about me too much, because I really am not all that upset about it. Even if the next tests come back positive, I know that it can be treated with diet and exercise (which I have already started - exercising), and won't have any bad effects on the baby (assuming it is treated).

...Pause...

Ha! Fooled you! I was only kidding! Well, actually I wasn't. I was in the middle of writing my blog entry when my midwife called back to tell me she told me wrong. Apparently the lab had written that anything less than 130 glucose level is normal and since my results were at 135, I was too high. However, my midwife assures me that those numbers are wrong and that anything less than 140 is normal. So I'm OK.

Sorry for the scare. Hope you can forgive me.

Tummy Tummy Tummy (28 weeks)

You really would not believe how quickly this pregnancy thing is going for me! I can't believe it's been so long since posting tummy pictures! And it figures that I feel like I need to post them when I have so many other posts that I would like to place. I wouldn't want to overwhelm you with too many posts to read at once, so I'm trying to spread them out. Besides, what if I run out of things to say? Then what?


Oh right... we're talking about pictures. These two were taken at 25 weeks. Yep, that's a tummy, and yep my beloved pregnant jeans are getting too tight.


And here I am at 28 weeks (just this last weekend). It as a really dark morning so the pictures are a little blurry, but they are what they are. I think that this picture is the first one that really makes me look like I'm pregnant instead of just fat. However, I'm willing to admit that it might be my imagination. :P


I think you owe me a congratulations for getting those pants on again! Though they went on, I can't say that the process was pretty. In fact, I seem to remember a comment along the lines of "they should sell jean grease to help women get their pants on" came out of Michael's mouth.

Daycare Take II

As I mentioned last week, we have been looking at daycare options. Since we don't really know what our options are, we decided to keep an open mind on Family Care providers (ran out of some one's home) and Day Care Providers (actual centers), but just to narrow things down a little we decided to limit the search to places that would accept part-time infants.

If you're anything like me, you would think that finding a place that accepts part-time infants would be easy, and you'd be right but oh so very wrong at the same time. It's easy to find places that allow you to drop your infant off 3 times a week... but only charge you for those 3 days? Ha! You have to pay for all 5 days no matter what! And that can get pricey! Wooo-eeee*! We went to a daycare conference on Saturday just to see some of our other options and we found places that charge $400+ per week for infant care!!! Do the math... That's over $1600 a month!

Anyway... We've looked at three places so far:

1. Family Care Provider - This ended up basically being a woman who takes care of a few children in her house. She was Afgani and wore the covered clothing, sat on the floor, and couldn't shake Michael's hand. The advantage of this would be that she could introduce the baby to another language, which we like. The disadvantage would be that I could not understand her. Though she speaks English, her daughter had to translate for her many times. There really wasn't much to this place and it seemed like the most common form of entertainment for the children was the couch and the TV. $50 per day for part-time.

2. Little Lighthouse - We really liked this center a lot. The director has 20 years of experience and mentioned (on several occasions) how much they love coming to work everyday. She told us about how infants just need a lot of attention and they are held and talked to and sung to. They also do baby sign language (at least the simple signs like "more" and "food"), which we really like. $65 per day for part-time.

3. Luv to Discover - This was an interesting center because it was really small and was actually the basement of a house. The director had the basement of her beautiful house converted into a certified center. It was smaller and seemed cleaner than the Little Lighthouse. The director was really super-friendly and easy to talk to. We liked this place as much as the other center, but it is further out of our way and less convenient. We have to verify the price with her, though. $55 per day for full-time (might increase for part-time).

Needless to say, after seeing the two centers, we knocked the first one off our list pretty quickly, especially since it didn't seem to save us much money and the child would get so much more out of the center!

Our decision is this:
We will go with Little Lighthouse if Luv to Discover is $5/day difference in price. We will have to think about it more if it's $10/day difference (that adds up quickly). In the mean-time, though, I will try to find a Family Care provider that gives quality child care at a price lower than those options. I'd like to see more variety of family care providers so that I don't base my opinion on just the one.


* That's the sound of a surprised cowboy. Duh. I just don't know how to spell it. Woowee? Wuwee? Whooowhee? Whookwee? (the k is silent)

If you can't say anything nice...

I have to admit that I expected to get some comments about the names that I announced over a week ago.

There are really only two possible explanations for such silence.

1. My readers are pleading the 5th and exercising the lesson their mothers taught them long ago. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

2. Aliens have abducted all my readers (all 3.5 of them) and thus they have not been able to log in to see my recent posts.

Well, all I can say in response to that is... Say hi to Marvin for me. :P

I told you I have issues

Today I am taking the test to see if I may have gestational diabetes. All I have to do was drink a small bottle of orange soda pop like stuff, wait an hour and get my blood drawn. No peeing. No eating.

I'll give you one guess as to what happened the moment I drank the orange goo... Yep. I had to pee. So now I get to spend the next hour trying to convince myself that it's all in my mind and that my bladder is actually empty.

I'm definitely a cat person

I had some friends over last night for scrap booking, and as always, it was nice to see them again. One of them is expecting her second child in July. Her first just turned 2 years old (she is super-super-cute) and she was saying that she has started to really act up for no apparent reason. They (and the daycare center) believe it's because the little girl has started to sense the changes due to the new baby. She is no longer the center of Mommy's attention because Mommy no longer picks her up as much and Daddy is now more active in things like that. My friend says that her daughter has just become extremely needy in recent weeks.

While having this conversation, my cat kept insisting on being on my lap, which makes it quite difficult to do anything else but hold her. And that brings me to my point... what I found particularly interesting about the conversation is that while she was talking about her daughter's actions, she might as well have been talking about my cat's recent actions.

My cat has never really been a lap cat, though I've always wanted one of those! However, recently that's all she's been - a lap cat. She insists on me paying attention to her and if I don't, she'll sit there and cry until I do. This is very strange behavior for her and has only started in recent weeks. She is almost always snuggled up to me, whether it be on my lap in front of the TV, or on my side in bed, or even when I'm sitting on the toilet! She just can't get enough attention.

Do you think she's sensing the change that is about to come? Or do you think it's more simple than that and she's only being more cuddly because I'm warmer or something? Hmmm... Am I going to have to deal with sibling rivalry even before there are siblings to rival?

Outta my way, Fatty!

I think it's official. I am a big fat pregnant woman.

I have now reached the point where I am slow. People pass me in the hallways! Or if I'm walking with someone (especially the one particular tall coworker I have in mind), I basically have to run to keep up. I am now one of those people you find yourself behind in the hallway and you wonder "Should I pass or should I wait? UGH! Why are you moving so slow! I have things to accomplish and places to go, you know?!" Yep, that's me. I prevent people from going places quickly or accomplishing anything at more than a turtle's pace.

I have also started to breathe really hard. It used to be that if I was breathing hard, or sighing loudly, it was because I was really tired. No more. I am now a loud breather. I think it comes with the fact that it takes so much energy to walk places (especially if I take those annoying things called staircases).

I can no longer see my... um... woo hoo hoo. Or even the bottom of my breasts. Without going into unnecessary details, it is a nice reassurance to know that it's all still there (I can see it in the mirror!). Shaving's a bitch (and no, I don't shave my breasts). Enough said.

I perform an interpretation dance every time I go to put on my socks. Sometimes it's my interpretation of a dying flamingo. Other times, it's my interpretation of a one-legged surfer. Regardless, I'm sure it's entertaining. Someone should give Michael a video camera.

Getting out of my big bath tub is no longer graceful and exotic. But then again, maybe it never was.

And finally, I can no longer stretch or sit like a normal person. I went to my yoga class again last night (first time in two weeks due to being so busy), and I noticed a big difference right away. I could not bend like I did just a couple weeks ago, and forget the funky cross-legged position the instructor wanted us to try (it's supposed to open up our hips). I found myself wondering how it was possible that my butt never quite reached my ankles if I was sitting on my knees. Hmm... yoga apparently is not something that is easy to describe in email. How about this - you just imagine me in a yoga position... now imagine me falling over. You get the point.

Daycare Take 1

We've started looking into daycare. Yes, you've heard me right... daycare for our yet-to-be-born child. So far we've visited two places: one family care provider (works out of her home) and one child care provider (standard daycare center). Without saying much right now (there will be more to say after seeing more places), it's really beginning to look as though it's one of those things where you get what you pay for. And that sucks.

It's just the hormones

I wish I had seen this cartoon when I had my Christmas Card episode. Oh, did I not tell you?
Michael and I bought some cute little Christmas cards this year. We liked them because they were simple yet pretty. However, when I sat down to start signing the cards, I realized the message inside had something to do about "God bless you and God bless the USA".

Now, I'm not saying I don't believe in God. And I'm not saying I don't believe He should bless my friends and family, or even this country... but I can say that it wasn't quite the message I wanted to send out to everyone. I'm just not quite that patriotic.

So, back to the store we go, to return the cards. Michael went to go look for a Chanukka card for our neighbors while I went to the counter to return the $5.00 box of patriotic Christmas cards. Much to my dismay, the lady behind the counter said that they are not allowed to accept returns on seasonal items.

Oh, you'd think the world was ending if you saw the way I responded. I was so upset that I couldn't return the cards. I was more upset that I was upset at all (they were only $5!). I was even more upset to know that I was just over-reacting, which made me over-react even more. And most of all, I was upset that I felt sorry for the lady behind the counter, who obviously didn't know how to respond to such an emotional pregnant woman. She kept appologizing saying "I'm sorry, but it's store policy".

I ended up leaving (with my $5 patriotic cards), and once outside I called Michael. And since I come from the Nix family, I could not speak when he asked me what was wrong. My worried husband came rushing outside to see what horrible thing happened to cause his wife such grief. All I could do was snap at him and tell him that it sucks to be a moody pregnant woman. And Michael, being the big-hearted person he is, only gave me a hug and then took the box of cards into the store and "donated" them to the ladies behind the counter, knowing very well we wouldn't use them anyway.

Wake up, baby!

One of my email mommy buddies wrote to describe a precious story in regards to her baby (due in April as well). She said that last night he was restless and kept kicking and stretching and thus kept her awake. However, she thought of a great idea and decided to start patting her tummy. Apparently her baby stopped moving. So she stopped patting. Then her baby started kicking again and then when she started patting her tummy again, he stopped. After patting for awhile, the baby calmed down and let her get her sleep.

How adorable is that? To think that it's possible to calm down the baby even before it's born is just really neat. I was really glad that she shared the story with the rest of us.

I haven't gotten to the point where my baby's movement have kept me up at night, but I will try to keep the method in mind for when the time does come.

In the mean time, I've decided to do some experimenting of my own. If my friend can pat her baby to sleep, maybe I can pat mine awake. So, I patted my tummy in the standard "da da dadada" pattern, halfway expecting to feel a "da da" back, right? OK, OK... so that comes across so much better when said out loud than when typed, but I'm sure you know the pattern I speak of.

Well, much to my surprise and enjoyment, my baby did indeed kick back! I'll admit that her "da da" needs a little work on the timing, but she's still young and still learning. Give the kid a break, sheesh! =)

You've come a long ways, baby

For those of you who are keeping track... I am now officially in my third trimester. Woohoo!

The best part about that is that if baby decides he's too excited and wants to join the world now, then he'd still have a good chance of survival. What a relief.

Three more months to go... three more months to go... three more months to get accustomed to the idea of labor. Three more months. That's not much time at all! I wonder if I should tell the doctors that I signed up for one of those Fed-EX babies... the kind that show up on your doorstep one day. No labor. Just a beautiful baby.

Tummy goes to Williamsburg

The three of us (Michael, my tummy and I) went to Williamsburg this weekend. We stayed in a really cute bed and breakfast.

Our room came complete with George Washington wallpaper and chickens under the bed!

Things I learned during the trip:
1. Women had rights during the 1700s.
2. George Washington cut down some cherry tree and said "I can not tell a lie"
3. We need a new mattress on our bed.
4. Clip-on ponytails hold up well to the wind.
5. 3 hour road trips in a car suck when you're pregnant.

But all in all, we had a lot of fun and it was nice to get out and walk around. I like visiting places with my Michael!

Sheep Appetizer

My mom and sister came out last weekend to help decorate the baby's nursery, and I know I should have posted some pictures sooner, but part of me wanted to wait until we were completely done.

So, just to satisfy some of your cravings, I'll give you an appetizer (more to come as we finalize the details)...

I do not have any before pictures because there wasn't much to show. The room was white. That's it. Boring, so moving on... We put up a chair rail around the room and painted the top part a creme color. The bottom part was going to be a tan, but it ended up darker than I originally anticipated. However, I actually really like the result, so I don't mind.




Around the top of the chair rail, we pain-stakingly painted a stencil with sheep jumping over the fence. How cute! Go, sheep go! Between the sheep, we stenciled in different words (love, dream, inspire, believe, etc) with pastel colors. The words are actually the only source of color in the room, and I like how subtle it looks.

Like any time that we start doing a home-improvement project, I learn something new. This time I learned that stencils can work in either direction. Yes, I had the option of picking between clock-wise sheep and counter-clock-wise sheep. Brilliant me thought that the counter-clock-wise ones would end up being upside-down. Hey, everyone has their stupid moments!

And finally, if you're curious what the room will be like for the baby, here is the answer. The baby will see flying sheep! French flying sheep, none-the-less!

Knock knock... who's there?

The moment you've all been waiting for...
Or at least the names for the moment you're all waiting for. :P

Before I continue, I am obligated to point out that these still might change. Who knows how we will feel in 3 months from now, let alone when we actually go to fill out the forms at the hospital!

I am also obligated to point out that I'm super excited about these names! Ready? Here we go...

Drum roll please...

For a boy we have chosen Keagan Asher. Technically we like the way Keagan Asher sounds better than Asher Keagan, but all in all we like the name Asher better as a first name. Then there is the whole silliness of us wanting the middle name to start with an A because we both have A middle names. So... most likely it will be Keagan Asher.

For a girl we have chosen Lori.elle Ashlyn. We like the fact that Ashlyn is similar to Asher, so we're happy with the middle name. For the longest time we couldn't decide between Ellia or Lori.elle, though, because we love the nickname Ellie. But then a brilliant thought occurred me when I realized that there was an "Elle" at the end of Lori.elle, and thus I could still use the Ellie as a nickname. The way I envision it, Lori will be the standard nickname that friends use, but for special affectionate people (like family), maybe Ellie will work. I have always been Jen to my friends and Jenny or Niffer to my closest friends and family.

So there you have it:
Keagan* Asher
Lori.elle Ashlyn

Consider the topic open for comments. =)


* The spelling is still up for debate. In 2005, Keegan ranked as the 240th most popular name and Keagan ranked 653. The spelling of Keegan is 4 times more popular than Keagan. So... should we have a poll? Keegan or Keagan?

It's enough to make me cry

OK, just a quick post since I already wrote one this morning....

Part of the status report of the prosthetic limb we delivered for my project says the following:

Jesse grabbed a quarter, put it in a slot, picked up is hat and put it on, then took it off, shook people’s hands, and generally was a good showman. He expressed his enthusiasm for the project and for this type of prosthetic in particular; he said that an arm like this one would make it possible for a person like himself to do many things by himself that currently require assistance. He then said that if he could take it home, he would.

A bit of background - Jesse is the man who is testing our prosthetic arm. He lost his arms a while ago in an electrical accident. I'm sure many of you have seen him on TV. I've mentioned him once or twice before.

Anyway, it's easy to understand just how difficult some of those movements are for someone with a prosthetic arm to do (especially Jesse, who is missing both arms). And the fact that he was able to do those things on just his second day with the arm... well it's just amazing. It's mind-boggling really. I mean think about what this arm is going to mean to a man like Jesse!

And to know that I was involved in making it happen... well it seriously has brought tears to my eyes.

I'm too easy

One thing I've learned to accept about myself is that I'm way too easily persuaded. If you want me to agree with you about something, then all you have to do is tell me your opinion. In my defense, I do have limits... I doubt I'd agree with anyone about certain touchy subjects like gay rights or racism. However, on the whole, it doesn't take much to change my mind.

And my poor husband has to be the one who deals with the results. I'll totally agree with him on something one moment and then turn around and talk to someone else who has a different opinion. The next thing Michael knows is that I return disagreeing with him completely. Well, that is until he tells me his opinion again and the whole vicious cycle begins all over again.

Obviously with this "handicap" of mine, there are greater and lesser consequences. However, today I'm dealing with a silly lesser consequence. Or so it may seem silly to everyone else. It's not so pleasant for me. Oh, right... you still don't know what I'm talking about.

Well, to make it a short, detail-less story... I read yesterday about how I'm in my last week of my 2nd trimester and that one of the things that is common in this stage of the pregnancy is constipation. I swear as soon as I read that, I became constipated. Yes, I'm too easily persuaded. Like I said, I have issues. But this time, it's not pleasant for me at all.

How pathetic am I that I'm so easily persuaded that when I just read about how common something is, I convince myself that it must apply to me too. Ugh. I wish I could say a couple years of counseling and I'd be fine, but maybe I'm beyond that point.

Single and pregnant? Uh... congrats?

Again, I don't have much time to write, but for those who are wondering, the CDR is going well. I presented yesterday and I think that it went OK.

I had a friend who had a baby a few years ago and while pregnant, she out-grew her wedding ring. I know that it really bothered her at the time and she ended up wearing it on a necklace instead. I remember thinking that it was really cute, but completely unnessary to be upset about it.

Well, once again, I have to chalk that up to "ignorance is bliss".

Yesterday I presented my slides in front of a lot of people from all around the world. And many of these people hadn't seen me in quite some time and thus this was the first time to know I am pregnant. And since my mom and sister were in town to decorate the nursery, I had taken off my rings for the weekend. So... yesterday I was getting all sorts of comments about the pregnancy, but I couldn't help but notice that many of the conversations started with a look to my left ring finger.

UGH! I swear! I'm married! I'm not pregnant outside of wedlock! Please look at my finger today! I'm wearing the rings today! Look again! Let's have a "do over"!!

Hmmm... how to bend like that

I read that at this point in time (26 weeks and 3 days), we might be able to hear the baby's heart beat through mommy's belly. And since I doubt I can figure out how to bend myself in half to put my ear on my tummy, I guess we'll have to put this on the list of things that Michael can do that I can not. I try to tell myself that it's only fair because he can't feel the baby move as much or as often as I do, but still... I wanna hear the heartbeat! (did that sound as whinny as I wanted it to?)

I'd love to write more to tell you about my weekend, but sadly I have a really big presentation to give in 10 minutes and the last thing I should be doing is reading up on my baby's progress. =)

Huh. Would you look at that!

I do believe my belly button is getting more and more shallow. I wonder when it'll pop.

The Future is Here!

Not that this has anything to do with the baby, but I thought it might interest some people to see the project that I'm working on.

PBS recently aired a pilot documentary titled "Science Investigators". In the pilot segment, there is a brief overview of the DARPA program I'm working on with some nice human interest coverage of the Walter Reed Program and of Jesse Sullivan (the patient who will be evaluating our limb over the next few weeks).

Anyway, check it out...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/si/
Chapter 5 "Building a Bionic Arm"

It's strange to think that I'm involved in something that seems so "out there" when it comes to cutting edge technology. Do you know what I mean? This is one of those things that you never think you know the people working on it because they must be the smartest people in the world. Yet, here I am... one of them... or at least I'm trying to convince people I'm one of the smartest people in the world. lol. Do you think my baby will believe my act?*


* Sneaky, eh? Did you see how I twisted this around to make it about my baby after all? Hehehe.

It's different from this side

I remember two different women at work who were pregnant last year and I remember my reactions to them well. I do not work with either of them, but pass both of them relatively often in the hallway.

I apparently saw one girl relatively often because every time I saw her I found myself thinking "Damn! She's still pregnant? Hasn't she been pregnant for like a full year now??"

The other girl took me by surprise and apparently I didn't see her as often as I thought I did because when I did see her, I thought "Damn! How long has she been pregnant? Didn't I just see her yesterday with a flat tummy? She looks like she's going to pop!"

Well, it's interesting to be on the other side of that story now. I'm sure that there are people who see me often enough that eventually they will start to wonder just how long I plan on continuing this pregnancy thing.

And today, I experienced the first example of someone being surprised by my pregnancy. I walked into the lobby and the security guard did a double take of my tummy and exclaimed "Damn, girl! When did that happen?!" Apparently this would be an example of the second scenario from above, where this security guard probably feels like she sees me often enough that me being this far into my pregnancy should not be a surprise to her.

I had to giggle because I knew exactly the thought process that was going through her head.

Smart Baby

Today's Baby Progress:
Over the next few days brain wave activity will begin!

Uh, maybe I'm missing something here, but I've been reading for quite some time now that the baby is sensitive to sounds, and every now and then the baby seems to be really active when strange sounds (like running water in the bathtub) are present. So, tell me how that's possible? How can my baby be reacting to sounds without existing brain wave activity?

Anyone? Anyone?

$$$ (Cha Ching Cha Ching Cha Ching)

When Michael and I were planning for our wedding (which by the way, was a blast - both the wedding itself and planning for it), we were constantly surprised at how much people were getting rich off of the whole wedding concept. For example, if you buy little bottles of bubbles, they're easily 2-3 times more expensive if you buy the wedding ones. Buying little white flowers? Make sure you don't buy them from the wedding section of the store.

I'm beginning to realize that the same is true for pregnancies. I recently bought myself "Mozart for Mothers-to-be" because I had heard good reviews on it*. However, when it comes down to it, it's just Mozart, right? It's not like the picture of a pregnant woman on the cover changes the music. So yes, I'm beginning to see that I am a sucker for baby stuff.

Why was it easier to say "no" to the unnecessary wedding themed stuff? (no need to really answer.... I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I was aware of the entire cost of the wedding back then, whereas now I'm still ignorant of the overall cost of the baby).

So... here I am at work, listening to my Mozart for Mothers-to-be and trying to not be disappointed in the fact that I do not hear anything lullaby-like about the music (though I do love Mozart).

And just for an additional little chuckle, I'll share with you the selection of CDs they advertise inside the cover of this one:
Mozart in the Morning
Mozart at Midnight
Beethoven at Bedtime
Mozart for Meditation
Mozart for Your Mind
Debussy for Daydreaming
Chopin and Champagne
Rachmaninoff for Romance
Bach for Breakfast
Mozart on the Menu
Bach at Bedtime
Vivaldi for Valentines
Baroque at Bathtime

Do you see the pattern? Your baby will stay clean if you listen to Baroque music during bathtime. However, I would not attempt to listen to any Chopin because "bathtime" doesn't start with the letter C. If you listen to Chopin during bathtime, you'll end up with God knows what.

In for a romantic evening? Well your only option is to listen to Rachmaninoff. If you listen to Mozart, you'll either fall into deep meditation or your mind will begin to wander off to other things. Of course, if you don't like Rachmaninoff, you can always put off your romantic evening until Valentine's Day.

Besides, the thought of listening to Chopin at breakfast does make my stomach turn. Maybe we now know why.


* Though More Mozart for Mothers-to-be did not get good reviews because people were surprised that it was full of opera music. Uh... hello? Do people really not know that Mozart was known for his operas?

Pregnancy should affect the workplace more

I had a friend ask me to let her know how my pregnancy affects me in the work place, and though I intend to let her know as soon as I know, I have not yet seen much of a difference (other than an occasional comment of how I should try to take on less now that I'm pregnant).

Anyway, this isn't completely related, but today I've decided that I wish my pregnancy had more of an effect on my work. However, I'm thinking in terms of process efficiency. All I had to do to make this baby is start the process (no, I'm not going to go into details), but as soon as the process was started I am basically able to just sit back and trust that the design will work out.

Eventually my baby will end up with all the necessary inputs and outputs, without me having to verify specification details. Images will be seen as inputs to the eyes. Ears will conveniently input sounds. Mouths are dual direction signals... inputs for food and oxygen, but outputs for noise and carbon dioxide. Food goes into the mouth and out of the other end. And imagine all the sensors spread around the body just in the skin alone! How many analog inputs does that require? Who cares? It's all taken care of in the effecient process known as "gestation".

It's really a shame that more things do not operate like the human body. More specifically, and more relevant to me (it's all about me anyway, right?), I wish the design process for the stuff I'm doing at work could be "that simple". I'm constantly being told new information that I have to incoporate into my design, and am constantly being tossed curve balls in this design process that make me wish I could just press "start" and assume the end result will meet all specifications!

And to think that my critical design review is in less than a week! In case you don't know... that's the review where I get up in front of everyone and convince them that not only do I know what I'm doing, but I have a plan and that plan is solid and will not change. Ha!

Uh... I don't get it.

First, let's give you the update... yes, the baby is still doing well. I had my monthly appointment again yesterday, and the heart rate is somewhere in the 140s. This time, though, we were actually able to hear the valves closing. They made a clicking sound with every beat. If you've ever heard shrimp while snorkeling, then you will know what I'm talking about. Well, maybe not completely, but that is what it made me think of.

Second, I don't understand today's baby update.
"Air sacs will develop in baby's lungs"
Huh? I don't get it! How is that possible? It's not like the baby has free access to oxygen. Or even not-so-free access. OK, so this is probably going to demonstrate to everyone why I did not go into biology, but the way I understand it is this:

I breathe in oxygen. My lungs transfer the Oxygen to the blood stream. The blood stream transfers oxygen to the organs in my body. The placenta is one of my organs and acts to filtrate and transfer nutrients, including oxygen, to the baby*. I find it amazing that the baby does not share the mother's blood. Anyway... this oxygen is in the blood. It's not in air form. So... how on earth do the lungs develop the air sacs when there is no air???

It's amazing that any babies are actually born. There is so much that happens! It baffles my mind.


* And please, no need to comment on how most mammals eat the placenta after giving birth because it has so many nutrients. And yes, I already know that some exotic cultures do this as well, but believe me when I say that I have had enough people tell me this already. And my reaction has yet to change. Yuck.

Meet Miss Sexy Tummy

Remember my first obsession with Miss Gorgeous Tummy?

Well, here's another one... Well call her Miss Sexy Tummy. Oh and believe me, as soon as I find myself a sexy little red piece that looks similar to this, and as soon as my belly button turns inside out, I'll be trying my best to duplicate this one as well.

Wish me luck!

Christmas Tummy

I wanted to post these pictures as well, but I figured I'd do it in a separate post from the ones with Michael. I don't think I like them nearly as much, but they are cute non-the-less.

Did I mention how beautiful Colorado was when we were there? I barely even notice the pregnant woman in these pictures when I look at them. All I can see is purty snow!

Well, OK... I guess I also see a red nose. It should come as no surprise that standing out on the porch in the middle of winter is not exactly a warm place to be when you're wearing silk PJ's!

The cold didn't bother me, though. Life is good. I am happy. Besides... I'm pregnant, which means I am my own furnace!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Ok, I know, it's a little late, but I've had a pretty busy week!

Michael and I went to Colorado for Christmas this year and it was absolutely gorgeous! I love the snow! Give me a white Christmas and you've made me a happy camper!

Wow! Look at that tummy! These pictures were taken at 24 weeks.

Ahh, how cute! Who needs mistletoe? Look how adorable he is! I love my husband!

Good Pregnant Day (continued)

Fourth:
We got our nursery bedding delivered and it's super cute! Strangely enough, I still haven't received the material swatches yet. I ordered samples of the material a month ago thinking it would arrive quicker and we'd at least be able to see the colors to pick paint. Oh well, it's the thought that counts. Hopefully it will still be delivered, though, because I could use the samples for my scrapbook! Oooooo! Ahhhh! Oohhh!

Good Pregnant Day

Yesterday I had a kick-ass pregnant day!*

First:
Michael and I finally decided on baby names! Woohoo! However before you get too excited, Michael is hesitant to declare them golden. It's more like silver or maybe even fools golden. He claims they're subject to change without notice, but I'm more confident than he is.

I bet you're expecting me to tell you what the names are, but I refuse to. You can't make me! Actually, in all honesty, I want the names to sink in a little more before we go spreading the news. They're names we've liked for awhile now, but the concept of them being the "chosen" ones is what I feel like needs sinking into.

Second:
I went to my first prenatal yoga class last night. Originally I was going to do prenatal pilates, thinking it would be more of an exercise, but the class got cancelled. So, yoga it is (though every time I go to type "yoga" it comes out as "yogart" or "goga". Weird).

I wanted to join a prenatal class in hopes of trying to do something to strengthen my back and to meet other mommies-to-be. The class was a lot of fun and very relaxing. I enjoyed it quite a bit. And there are other mommies-to-be there! Imagine that! Actually, there are two women who are already mothers and four of us newbies. What's strange about it is that the one girl who seems to be my age has the same due date as me! WEIRD!

I'm going to try out the yoga class on Saturday to see how it compares. I'm told that it's a larger class, which might be nice in meeting even more people, but on the other hand, I might like the personal attention I can get from the instructor at the smaller class. Either way, I'm going to decide which class to join soon, but I'm excited that the first one went so well.

Third:
I took a nice bath last night to relax and apparently the sound of the running water got the baby all excited. She was doing a little dance under the water. I think it might have been the most active I've ever felt the baby be. How strange it is that I can see her move inside of me! It's a little creepy, honestly. Creepy, but again, I love it!


* But a sucky scrapbooking day. Michaels didn't have the stuff I wanted and every printer I try using keeps eating my paper... so I can't finish the "baby name" page that I'm obviously excited about! UGH! Go figure.

Baby Updates

Have you noticed? My baby progress updates change more often! I like it!

Today's update: Gaby's grip will get very strong this month.

However, I just have to add my own disclaimer and tell you that the only way my baby's grip is going to get very strong is if he takes after his daddy's* side of the family. My grip is pathetic.


* Oh my gosh! Daddy. I just had a "I'm having a baby moment."

Quiz Results

A bit of background: To satisfy those inquiring minds on whether or not we're having a girl or boy, I decided to perform a scientific experiment to find out. Upon researching top gender-predicting techniques, I developed a survey with 20 proven dimensions of accuracy. I then allowed sufficient time to pass to erase any lingering knowledge of survey results before taking the quiz myself. Obviously, the procedure I went through to obtain this information was very scientific and thus the results are in no way biased.

Thank you for waiting patiently for me to obtain my quiz results. I had intended to post the answer right away, but that was before I realized that some of them required me to go home (preferrably) and stand in front of a mirror naked. I'm sure that there are a lot of things I can explain away at work, but that one might not be on that list. =)

Here are my results*:

1. Boy - I guess I'm carrying low??
2. Girl - Fetal heart rate ~150.
3. Girl - I'm a-likin' da sweets.
4. Girl - Michael had the nerve to lose 5 pounds!
5. Boy - I'm told face weight should not be my concern.
6. Girl - If I must pick one, the left is larger, but they're both huge!
7. Girl - Haha! I suppose we'll call that a circle.
8. Girl - Definitely have the acne, but should come as no surprise.
9. Girl - Age at conception plus July = 28 + 7 = 35 = odd
10. Girl - Though I'd be willing to admit that this is just me being hopeful
11. Girl - Thinner and stringy hair as always, though I did buy some great fake hair pieces!
12. Girl - My leg hair is growing less than before, but my tummy is certainly now fuzzy!
13. Girl - My tummy line stops at my belly button. How cute!
14. Boy - No bad morning sickness for me, thank God!
15. Girl - Remember, I need the counter-balance so that I don't tip over onto my face!
16. Girl - My feet have been quite pleasantly warm (excluding time spent in Estes Park)
17. Boy - Watching my own eyes dilate is just plain freaky.
18. Boy - Beach ball is today's guess. I'm told it looks "symetrical" so beach ball it is.
19. Girl - Huh. I never noticed before that I usually feel the baby to the left.
20. Girl - Thank God the baby hasn't kicked me in the ribs! That would hurt!

That makes for a total of 5 boys and 15 girls. I guess that settles that question, huh?

* Subject to change. Some of these answers are just plain guesses! Take #1 for example, you try to define "high" or "low" when it comes to where I'm carrying! It looks like I'm carrying the baby in my tummy to me! Or #7, where my pendant went from straight line to circle, to straight line, to circle. Hmm... is there something you'd like to tell me, baby?

Old Wives Tales

I'm sure everyone has heard of certain old wives tales when it comes to determining the gender during pregnancy, and if you haven't, well then I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised to hear that such things exist. Some of them are quite entertaining and make you wonder just how someone would ever believe it!

Here's my little made-up quiz of stuff I found on the web. Stay tuned to see how I score!

1. Carrying High, Carrying Low
G - Carrying high
B - Carrying low

2. Heartbeat
G - Fetal heart rate above 140
B - Fetal heart rate below 140

3. Craving Something?
G - Sweet
B - Salty

4. Weight Gain
G - Husband doesn't put on a pound
B - Husband puts on weight during pregnancy

5. Is Her Face Round and Full?
G - Round and rosy
B - No change

6. Breast Sizes
G - Left one is larger
B - Right one is larger

7. Pendant Swing
G - Holding a pendant over my hand, swings in a circular motion
B - Holding a pendant over my hand, swings back and forth

8. Got Acne?
G - Yes
B - No

9. Combine my age at the time of conception with the number of the month I conceived and the result is:
G - Odd
B - Even

10. Ask yourself - Moms to be are right 71% of the time
G - I'm having a Girl
B - I'm having a Boy

11. Beautiful Hair
G - Thinner and stringy
B - Shiny and full of body

12. Hair Growing Faster?
G - Leg hair grows the same as before
B - Leg hair grows faster than before

13. Linea Nigra
G - Tummy line runs to navel
B - Tummy line goes all the way up past navel

14. Got Morning Sickness?
G - Green at the gills
B - Bliss for being missed

15. Growing in the Rear?
G - My tush is growing in size
B - My tush is not growing

16. Cold Feet?
G - Toasty feet
B - My feet are colder now

17. Look in the mirror for 1 minute...
G - Pupils do not dilate
B - Pupils do dilate

18. Tummy Shape
G - Shaped like a watermelon
B - Shaped like a beach ball

19. Baby Kicks Left and Right
G - To the left more often
B - To the right more often

20. Baby Kicks High and Low
G - Low in the stomach
B - High in the ribs