Week 17

August 19, 2011

Best Moment: The only thing we've really been able to focus on this week is staying cool. I did join a pre-natal yoga class with the hopes of getting a little exercise and hopefully meeting some other mamas-to-be (since I don't currently know any.) We also received our new dining table and chairs, which will be great for hosting family and friends after the Bean arrives, and far more comfortable that our semi-broken Ikea folding chairs circa '04.

Symptoms: Not to beat a dead horse here, but this pregnant lady is HOT. I stopped voluntarily going outside back in late May so, needless to say, not being able to escape the heat inside my own home has been pretty rough. The round ligament pains also continue. On the plus side, I think it's getting easier to sleep on my side-- either because I am just getting used to it, or because my growing belly actually makes it more comfortable than sleeping on my back.

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really. Except we did go back to a restaurant where I had a major aversion to a salad early on in the pregnancy, and even though I haven't felt nauseous in weeks, nothing on the menu there sounded good, and I wasn't able to stomach my entree--even though it wasn't salad-- because it reminded me of the last time we were there. Weird.

What I Miss: Um, air conditioning?

What I Can't Wait For: I'll give you one guess...

Milestones: Jelly Bean weighs 5 oz. and is 5 inches long. He can now move his joints and his sweat glands are beginning to develop. (Dare I suggest he might have very well developed sweat glands after this week??)

Full of Hot Air

We are currently on day 6 of no air conditioning during a summer of record-breaking heat here in central Texas. (For reference, the high today is supposed to be 105, and 109 by Friday. Awesome. Can't wait.)

This saga began last Wednesday evening when we arrived home to a very warm house. It was unpleasant, but with a few industrial sized fans blowing right on us, we managed to sleep (somewhat.) We figured that the AC repair crew would make it out on Thursday, and the problem would be solved. When they didn't arrive until 5pm the next day, we became a little concerned... and then a lot more concerned when they told us the compressor was out and that they would need to order a new one. I don't know much anything about air conditioners, but, as I understand it, the compressor is essentially what pumps in the cool air. So, you know, it's kinda important.

That night we stayed in a cheap motel on I-35 with high hopes of a cool house by the weekend. Said hopes were dashed when we found out that the compressor would not be in until Monday at the earliest. That meant a full weekend with no AC. Let me provide a little color... with a drafty, poorly insulated house from the 1920s and outdoor temps well over 100, that means it is no less than 94 degrees inside our house at any given time. You could, if given enough time, bake cookies on our kitchen tiles.

We managed to get a portable AC unit to tide us over, and very quickly discovered that the portable unit is fantastic if you only want to cool approximately 3 cubic feet of air immediately in front of it. Unfortunately, if you want to cool your whole house, or even one room, no dice. Necessity being the mother of invention, J has rigged up a little contraption whereby we put the AC unit at the foot of the bed, duct tape our sheets over it, and then prop up the sheets between the AC unit and the bed with... wait for it... golf clubs. This creates a small wind tunnel of cool air on our legs. It's still 94 degrees on our face, but the cool air under the sheets makes sleeping somewhat tolerable.

Cooking is another story altogether. After eating out for 3 days, we decided that was no longer sustainable and now it's become every man for himself, foraging in the fridge for whatever assortment of foods we can throw together that require no heat whatsoever to prepare. Last night we had leftover pasta, cold rotisserie chicken, and grapes. What's that you say? You want an invitation to dinner? Come on over!

After a weekend spent full of creative ways to spend time indoors in other people's AC (aimlessly strolling the aisles of Target, getting stroller demos at Buy Buy Baby, lengthy visits to the grocery store... and pharmacy... and Lowe's, a movie, church, a couple more meals out), we are plum out of ideas. And patience. The compressor wasn't in yesterday, but thankfully arrived today. Can they install it today? Of course not. That would be too easy. So we're crossing our fingers for tomorrow.

This enormously whiny post is just to say... it's hot and we're tired of it, but, boy, are we thankful that we even have a house with the possibility of AC. I've seen a few homeless people since this ordeal began, and my heart goes out to them. I am really conscious of the homeless during the cold winter months, but have never really thought about their needs during the summer. If anything, this experience has given me the conviction that I need to be more intentional about helping out the needy in the off seasons-- not just around the holidays when it's top of mind. And when that air conditioner shudders to life (hopefully) tomorrow, I will never, ever take it for granted again.

It's a...

At last Friday's doctor's appointment, our ultrasound tech was able to figure out Jelly Bean's sex, but we didn't want to know immediately. OK, I did, but Jason wanted to do something a little more fun. So I (begrudgingly) agreed to have the big reveal sealed up in an envelope and then I exercised the utmost in self-control all afternoon as I carried it around in my purse.

We had talked about doing a "gender reveal party" with a big dramatic slicing into a blue or pink filled cake, but since we a.) have about 4 friends left here in Austin; and b.) had given these 4 people zero notice, we decided that scenario probably wasn't going to pan out for us. So we opted to just do our own mini gender reveal party, with a few pink or blue frosting filled cupcakes from Sugar Mama's Bakeshop (yum.) We dropped off the envelope on Friday night, made our cupcake order, and waited patiently until Saturday afternoon.

The original plan had been to eat them for dessert after a nice dinner, but I decided I couldn't wait. So at about 3pm we headed to the back patio at the Hotel San Jose (one of our favorite places, which happens to be located across the street from our old apartment), ordered a couple sparkling waters, and sliced into the first cupcake. The result?


It's...

a...

BOY!!

I'll admit it... I was totally shocked. A combination of the Chinese gender prediction chart, some old wives tales (particularly those concerning fruit and my less than stellar complexion), and a "gut feeling" had convinced me it was a girl. But we are so excited for our boy, and I am totally on board with all things blue! Now on to the nursery and picking out a name...

Week 16

Post-cupcake gender reveal on August 13th (in front of Jo's Coffee on South Congress)... details to come!

August 12, 2011

Best Moment: We had our doctor's appointment on Friday and, sure enough, the ultrasound tech was able to identify Jelly Bean as a he or a she. We asked her to put the results in a sealed envelope so that we could stage our own mini-gender reveal party. I'll give you the results tomorrow, but, we were very happy to learn that Bean appears to be healthy and developing right on track. I also bought my first maternity clothes on Friday after the appointment (including the dress above.) I got maternity jeans that are actually cute and look pretty high quality for $13.98 (!!) at Target. Yes, you read that right. I couldn't believe it either, but no complaints here. Especially for something I may wear for 5 months (or less... considering it's currently 104 out and I have no desire to wear long pants any time soon.)

Symptoms: Over the past few weeks, I've had periodic sharp (and sometimes shooting) pains up and down my abdomen. They have felt almost like bad, but very brief, cramps. I wasn't sure if I should be worried, but learned at my doctor's appointment that they're called round ligament pains and are totally normal. Good to know. I've also been waking up once or twice a week with "charley horses" (does anyone else call them this?) or really bad calf cramps. Apparently this is also totally normal.

Cravings/Aversions: I still really like sweets and fruit, and occasionally some red meat. Nothing too out of the ordinary though. The only thing that doesn't sound good, much to Jason's disappointment, is BBQ. He has been hounding me for a trip to the Salt Lick for weeks and I just can't do it.

What I Miss: Not too much. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm definitely in that second semester sweet spot.

What I Can't Wait For: Now that we know if we're having a him or her, it's time to start thinking about nursery decor! It's a little overwhelming, but it should be lots of fun, too.=

Milestones: Bean is the size of a large avocado (about 4.5 inches) and is about to embark on a growth spurt-- meaning I should be experiencing a growth spurt as well. Good thing I got those maternity clothes!

Week 15

At Geoff's wedding... actually 15 weeks, 1 day. And I'm posting this a little late, but better now than never!

August 5, 2011

Best Moment: This week we traveled to Portland for my brother's wedding. The highlight of the week has been celebrating with Geoff and Brooke, visiting with our extended family, and sharing our baby news with everyone.

Symptoms: I've been feeling pretty great! It's definitely getting a lot more obvious that I'm pregnant. I "shopped my closet" and wound up trying on a bunch of different dresses to find suitable options for the rehearsal dinner and wedding. I found two good ones, but I'm definitely due for a maternity shopping trip soon. (The ruffles on the dress above definitely hide the bump!)

Cravings/Aversions: I like to think Jelly Bean just has a serious sweet tooth, but I'm not sure I can blame my sweets cravings on him/her. Regardless, I'm finding that dessert every night is pretty much a necessity.

What I Miss: I haven't missed alcohol very much during this pregnancy, but, quite honestly, I missed toasting the bride and groom with a glass of wine or bubbly and enjoying the adult beverages at the reception. But, again, forgoing the wine in favor of sparkling water is a small sacrifice for the end payoff.

What I Can't Wait For: We have a doctor's appointment and another ultrasound next week... and a possibility of finding out if Jelly Bean is a he or a she!

Milestones: Now the size of a large apple, Jelly Bean is "breathing" amniotic fluid in through his or her nose and through the upper respiratory tract.

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend we traveled back home to Portland for my brother's wedding. The weather forecast held true, and we enjoyed beautiful 80-degree weather (truthfully it was a little chilly for my Texas heat-thinned blood! ...my friends and relatives in the NW are now laughing at me considering that it was one of the nicest weekends they've had all summer), and more importantly-- a beautiful and touching wedding. My camera is still broken, so these shots are courtesy of my cousin and mother-in-law.

The beautiful bride and groom.

Laura & I giving a reading during the ceremony.

The "three of us" at the reception (that would be me, J, and baby for those of you counting... ; )

Beautiful garden setting for the cocktail hour and dinner. And in the background, you can see the ice cream truck arriving. So cute! The ice cream truck (which also had cupcakes) was in lieu of a traditional wedding cake.

The wedding was gorgeous and it was so great to see so many extended family members. A trip home for this type of big family event is always kind of a whirlwind, and the 3.5 day weekend didn't seem nearly long enough. I've definitely had some homesickness since we arrived back in Austin, but I know that this whole living thousands of miles away from everyone we know and love is just a season of life. It's the best thing for our little family right now, and hopefully we'll be back out west at some point in the next few years.

Side note: my blues did not improve when we are arrived home at 2am Sunday night (or Monday morning) after a long delay in Denver, waited for our bags, walked all the way out to the long-term parking lot (because we didn't want to sit around and wait for the shuttle at 2am), and worked up a nice sweat in the 90-degree heat along the way, only to find that my car wouldn't start. Of course. So we walked all the way back to the terminal and took a cab home. On Monday, we went back to jump start the car, but no luck. So now my car is in the shop and we're just crossing our fingers that it's nothing serious. I'm really, really hoping that after weeks of preparing for and dealing with the move, and now several weeks spent unpacking and organizing-- plus the wedding travel, work travel (greetings from Atlanta!), and now the car fiasco-- that life slows down soon. Is it Friday yet?? (OK, end whine.)

Week 14

July 29, 2011

Best Moment: We are so happy to be done with the move!! We still have boxes piled up in corners throughout the house, but the worst is behind us. The picture above is from Friday night when we had our first relaxing "date night" in weeks. We also got our first baby gift from J's parents-- an adorable baby "layette" from Carters, including lots of little nightgowns, onesies, burp cloths, and other items, all decorated in a pale yellow ducky theme. My favorite item was a terry cloth towel with a little hood shaped to look like a cute duck-- perfect for my Oregon duck! ; ) Opening the baby gift made it seem so real. I know I keep saying that, but I seem to spend a lot of time very conscious of being pregnant, but not all that conscious of the fact that I am going to actually have a baby in a few short months. It's funny how I think about being pregnant all the time, but then suddenly the thought strikes me that I will have an additional little person living in my house soon, for whom I am 100% responsible, and it seems startling (albeit exciting.)

Symptoms: I've started trying to sleep on my left side as all the books advise, and, man, it's tough! I either wind up on my back or stomach, or wake up multiple times a night because sleeping on my side feels so uncomfortable and unnatural. But I'm hoping it will get easier with time. I see one of those huge pregnancy pillows in my future...

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing out of the ordinary, although my appetite went through the roof essentially the second I graduated from the first trimester to the second on Friday. Get this girl some grub!

What I Miss: Sleeping on my back without feeling guilty about it.

What I Can't Wait For: Now that we're settling into our new place, we're in major nesting mode. We're looking forward to furnishing our house and replacing some of our 10-year-old (broken) IKEA furniture.

Milestones: I've completed the first trimester. It seemed to drag on forever, but all of sudden I'm more than a third of the way through this pregnancy and now it seems like the next five and a half months could fly by!