Update - Week 30

Wow week 30! I feel like I'm really pregnant now. Our little one is kicking up a storm. Sometimes it makes my whole body move. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes he kicks my ribs.

I'm still feeling really good. And when I saw the doctor yesterday he said I passed the glucose test with "flying colors" - they were looking for something 140 and below and mine was 69 and he said there was nothing for him to tell me to do since, after going through all my stats (weight gain, protein and iron levels, bp, etc.) he said "you can't improve upon this." When he felt my tummy for the baby he told me where his head, spine, bottom and limbs were and then said "this is where babies normally are at this point in the pregnancy." The baby's heart rate was about 130. So the baby and me are completely normal. I guess after hearing so many problems all the time it's hard to believe these things ever go perfectly well. But so far so good! Praise the Lord!

Martin and I went on a church retreat last weekend. I did some hiking there and hung out in the pool but didn't really swim too much. I was just trying to cool my body temp down since the place didn't have air conditioning.

Hoping to go to the gym and do some shopping this weekend. Martin and I are also hoping to have a romantic picnic dinner on the Potamac Saturday evening. We'll see if the rain holds off.

Got the software for my computer at home that I need to log into the system at work so I can telework. Now I have to do a bunch of paperwork for that.

We received more gifts this week. It becomes more real every day.

My OBGYN

So my doctors are on the front page of the Washington Post (WaPo) today! For good reason though - although it must be a slow news day. Anyway, if you get the chance to check it out in hard copy, you'll see 2 of my 3 doctors (i.e. one of whom will probably be delivering our child!) - the guy with the beard and the woman in red. And then on the inside page you'll see nurse Jean who I really like. But there are no pictures online.

Boy/Girl Count

Today I found out that my friend Laura H. is having a boy too. (Yeah!) Seems like everyone is having a boy these days. But then I thought of all my blogging friends who have kids. Most of you all have girls (Nancy 2, Melissa S. 2, Jen L. 1, Catherine 1). But most all my friends from church and my grad school friends that are having kids have / are having boys (Krista 3, Laura H. 2, Laura B. 1, The Mills' 4, us 1). Laura H. said it must be the water. Well, it must be the Northern Virginia water. All those having girls are not in NVA. All those having boys are in NVA. This holds true with the Winstons too who have one girl, born in PA, and one boy, born in NVA. But then the Mills' and Larissa screw up my perfectly fit data because the first two of the Mills' boys were born in PA and IN and Larissa's boy was born in PA. But I can still draw some conclusions here: The likelihood of having a girl in NVA is nil. But moving from NVA to PA or IN would not guarantee having a girl either. Maybe MD.... Granted I need a few more data points here (but 20 isn't bad!), but I have some friends who are pregnant and not finding out so I have some more data coming in. Might be able to get some more solid conclusions then.

Update - Week 29

Still feeling good and the baby is kicking away. Glucose test was good. The baby supposedly weighs 2.5 lbs and is 15 inches long. Sometimes it feels like he's really stretching out in there because I'll feel something at the top of my stomach and something down at the bottom at the same time. Going to the doctor's next week.

I organized my maternity clothes in my closet and got some of them hemmed and dry cleaned the ones that needed to be dry cleaned. So I'm feeling better about what to where everyday. I still have a bunch of stuff that needs to be ironed before I wear it. Oh, and for some reason I got a bunch of red clothes. I'm not much one for red (I think I can only take it once a week) so I got the red rotation down now too...:) I'm thinking about going shopping next weekend to get 2 undershirts for all the tops I have that show too much cleavage (what is it with all these low cut maternity clothes?), a white blouse to go with this skirt I bought, and some nursing bras. It's a good thing that I'm pregnant in the summer since I got so many clothes from my sis who lives in FL. I'm finding I'm wearing a lot more skirts since they are more comfortable.

Also (as you may have read in my last post) we started organizing the desk and closet in the spare bedroom in order to make room for baby. Got a few things for Salvation Army and threw out a bunch of stuff. My dad is working on building us a changing table and that will go where the desk is.

Saturday I did my weights class and then Martin and I went hiking in Great Falls, MD. Well, Martin said it really wasn't hiking since we didn't go up any hills but if it's walking in the woods on a non-paved servace, then it's hiking to me and that's what we did. Only walked about 3 miles but it was good. Drank lots of water and tried to stay cool. Oh, we also timed it well in that we got to see a lock demo on the C&O tow path. Sunday we went swimming for a little bit. I did laps for about 10 minutes. And last night we played up-close tennis (where you stand close to the net) so that's been my exercise for the week.

We booked our "baby moon" yesterday. Going to the eastern shore of Maryland the first weekend in October. The bed and breakfast we are staying in is right on the bay. Martin will be able to do some bike riding around the area and I'll get some time to read. It's only about 2 hours away but it will probably be the last time we go farther than an hour away from our hospital/doctor.

Got an appointment with a pediatrician for next month. There are two practices that we are looking at. I think we might check both of them out before deciding. They let you come in for a free meet and greet appointment before the baby's born.

My friend Kelly (whose wedding I was in in Louisiana) was in town last week. I met her for ice cream and she gave me our first baby gift. It's this adorable long sleeve yellow body suit with a bear on it and it has a hat that's got bear ears on it. Very cute! (Catherine, your mom told me she had the gift from you in the car on Sunday but then they brought the other car to church. So I might get it this weekend on the retreat if they remember or bring that car to the retreat...:) Otherwise, I'll get it next weekend.)

So yeah, we're going on our church retreat this weekend. Sounds like there's lots of places to walk around the retreat center. Looking forward to spending time with 2 couples from our home fellowship group.

That's about it for this week! Only about 11 more to go!

Five Years in DC

I have friend who sends out an email on the anniversary of her move to DC every year. I'm not that nostalgic, but somewhat so, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to write about the five year anniversary of my move to DC on August 20, 2001.

This is actually a significant milestone in my career as well since as of this coming Monday, I will be vested in the government's defined benefit pension plan. For those of you know a little about pensions, DB plans are becoming more rare and so I am fortunate to have one.

But other than that, the milestone is just a chance to take a look back. Since Sunday I hadn't really done that much until last night. I was going through boxes of junk to make room for the baby and I've finding things I had put aside and meant to do since moving here. (Seems as though I have a box from each move though so all the stuff isn't 5 years old.) Some of them I no longer want to do and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I had such high aspirations. Now the priorities have changed and while I'm sure of the priorities now, it makes me sad that I never finished some of things I planned to do. Most of what I'm talking about is giving up on organizing things that I no longer wish to keep or organize. Then there are the books and journals I never finished or kept up with.

But probably what got to me most was the things that I meant to research. One, was that I wanted to keep up more with economics once I left academia. I found a list that said "ways to keep up my economic skills while working." One of the things on the list was "attend seminars at local universities." That sounds so absurd to me at this point. I have no desire to do that. Then I was going to research my mission as a Christian in the field of economics and look into if and how capitalism is Biblical and read all these Christian econ papers. No desire to do that at this point either. What does that say about my calling as an economist? I like my job and I try to do my best but I certainly don't do more than is required of me or think philosophically about my job. It's a job to me. Nancy had a post on her blog the other day about doing everything unto the Lord and not just looking forward to free time. I think that plays in here too. Am I doing my job unto the Lord if I'm not thinking about what my mission is for my job? Am I doing my job unto the Lord if I'm not fully integregating my beliefs into my profession? How easy it is after 5 years in the same job to forget why you are doing it! How easy it is to use my job to support me financially in order to pursue other endeavours.

Thinking about this is overwhelming to me at this point. I have a baby on the way, why am I thinking about this? Partly because decisions about continuing to work tend to keep creeping up. I am already counting down the days until baby #2 comes and I can quit for good. Will that excuse me from thinking about the field in which I was educated for 7 years and will probably go back to someday? Will I actually have time to catch up on these things that I have been wanting to do for years....probably not.

The research was not just economic stuff. I wanted to go back and listen to or read sermoms that I had missed or Bible studies that I didn't finish or material for training classes that I was supposed to read but never did.

I will probably never finish these things and I'm not sure I even have a desire to and that drives me nuts since I can't stand to have stuff go un-finished. I'd rather leave these projects lying around the house with un-realistic aspirations to finish them rather than call it quits.

Anyone else like me? Anyone have any advice for my neurotic behavior?

Well, this ended up being a pretty depressing post. So time to turn it around. Yes, I have less and less time for these projects but what have they been replaced with? Many new friends, many experiences that I wouldn't trade for finishing projects, and many things that I have done and completed, including things at work that made the Treasury better. Life has changed a lot in five years. Went from being single and thinking I wouldn't get married soon to being married with baby on the way in five years. Went from being a newcomer to being a oldschooler by DC standards and knowing my way around and the resources and social outlets that DC has to offer. All has been for the good.

I'm not saying that I shouldn't be thinking about my mission anymore but I shouldn't be creating these silly projects to fulfill that mission. Thinking is not something that I can cross off my to do list but it is something that will accomplish the goal of being intentional with whatever I'm doing at the time. (Blogging also helps accomplish this!) I'm probably all over the place thought-wise so if you're following this you deserve a metal. But this type of journaling is what I wanted to do with my blog.

So, here's to 5 years in DC - to meeting the man of my dreams and getting to marry him, to my awesome church and the friends I've made there, to my good job, to being close enough to friends from home to visit them, to free museums, great biking trails, ultimate frisbee leagues, and all DC has given to me!

Scroll down

I guess there isn't a way to reorder post. See below for a posting (Tagged!) that I started last week and just finished today.

Update - Week 28

In this picture and outfit I actually look pregnant! I don't look like this all the time though. But I'm making progress.

I had my glucose test done on Monday. Haven't gotten the results yet so I'm assuming all is well. One of the receptionists at the doctors office told me I didn't look 28 weeks pregnant.

So this is the third trimester. I've been feeling like I have a lot of energy this week. Not sure if it was the sugar from the glucose test, the fact that I exercised/walked a lot last week, or the fact that I was stressed out and on an adrenline rush this week from being overwhelmed with all the stuff I had to catch up on getting back from vacation. But it's nice to have the energy.

The stress hasn't come from work but from a bunch of things on the to do list that are almost but not quite done so the to do list is long and overwhelming. Plus, we have a leak in our bathroom and we don't know where it is coming from - possibly the neighbor's pipes in our ceiling. This is going to be a major pain to fix.

I'm starting to get that itch for a new house. I've lived in the current place for about as long as I lived in my last place. That's only about 2 years but that was the longest I lived in one place since I was 18. Just feeling like we don't have enough room especiallly with the baby (even though we have 2 bedrooms). But we'll hold off until next spring, when hopefully the market and interest rate situation is more stable and when we've saved some more money.

Visted my brother and grandparents and aunt and uncle and parents and a Jen L. and her family last weekend. It was a whirlwind tour. Good times though, good times. Won't be back in PA before the baby!

Signed up for a breastfeeding class in a few weeks. I'm finding I don't have much time to read up on that so I'm going to take the class instead. Plus I have my mom (the WIC queen), my sister, a lactation consultant, and a Le Leche League member to help me out too. The class is right down the street from us so that's cool.

This week I haven't done too much baby prep except talk to people at work about my leave plans. I found out it's definitely better to take Leave Without Pay (LWOP) rather than drop down to a part time employee. By doing LWOP, I still keep my same life insurance coverage that I have now and I'll still get full time "creditable hours" for promotions. I will only get half time for annual and sick leave and for my annual (non-COLA) raises though but I totally expected that. So I told my boss my plans and he liked them - particularly the part about me teleworking on MWF so I wasn't incommunicato 3 days a week. He was fine with me only working 20 hours to start. So now I have to start the paperwork for the teleworking. I'm going to try it 2 or 3 days in Sept and then once a week in October until 2 weeks before my due date when I'll only telework. The only disadvantage to LWOP is that I think they don't want me to do it for more than a year. So after a year, I'll either have to go back to full time or change my position to part time. However, I really don't want to have to change it to part time since at that point I'll be ready to try getting pregnant again. And I plan to quit my job after the second child. But lots can happen in a year and a half and I shouldn't be thinking too much about that now since there's not much I can do.

Not getting anywhere with names. We're not going to tell until the baby is born anyways, but I can tell you that we have not agreed on a name. Martin is pretty set on one that I'm not too crazy about so I have to come up with something better. But I might cave in the end. I made the mistake of telling Martin that I never really had a boys name picked out because I assumed my husband would come up with the boy name. The name isn't bad, I'm just not sold. So we'll see.

Tagged

My first tag! How exciting! I was tagged by Nancy.

1. One book that changed your life: Mountains beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World
by Tracy Kidder
2. One book that you’ve read more than once: none (although do books that I started and then quit and then restarted count? if so then Little Women)

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: Bible

4. One book that made you laugh: I remember chuckling while reading before but I don't remember which books I was reading at those time. I usually read non-fiction or depressing fiction. So I'm stumped on this one...

5. One book that made you cry: Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen

6. One book that you wish had been written: Wedding Horror Stories by me and Melissa N.

7. One book that you wish had never been written: Recursive Methods in Economic Dynamics (aka Stokey/Lucas).

8. One book you’re currently reading: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. For book club.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: something on breastfeeding

10. Now tag five people: I tag Catherine G., Amy L., Martin E., Cara H., and Dave M.

Pictures of Steven and my sister and her family

Update - Week 27

I was at camp all this week. I definitely think the Lord gave me supernatural endurance (thanks for your prayers!). I walked sooo much and never really got tired. I was slow but I walked a lot. The weather was great at camp, although probably a little too cool for the pool. Well, the water was too cool. I'm still feeling really good. Although my belly is getting bigger and with that comes more discomfort in sitting and trying to sleep.

I had to tell the folks at camp that I was pregnant though. No one suspected until I told them.

I think I may be going to exclusive maternity clothes this week because if I put on regular clothes they may fit when I'm standing up but are uncomfortable when I sit down.

Filled out the registration form for the hospital this week and talked to the insurance company a little bit. I did need to get a pre-authorization from the insurance company but my doctor already took care of that. So that's good.

Martin's mom is going to make the invitations for the shower. That'll be cool and will allow her to be a part of the shower even though she won't be able to make it.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll have a picture in the next update.

Update - Week 26

Well, I'm surviving the heat. It hasn't been too bad since I haven't been outside much but I had some killer commutes this week. Tuesday and Wednesday were awful, awful, awful both ways on the metro. And I didn't get a seat (of course).

I wore two maternity outfits this week. The picture shows one of them. (I could have sworn I was smiling in that pic. I meant to.) Thanks to my sister for the cool clothes! I should have taken a picture each day since I look so different depending what clothes I wear. The day after the picture was taken I wore a black khaki skirt and regular shirt and I couldn't even tell I looked any different than normal. I've gained 11 pounds during the pregnancy.

Just doing the class at the gym but no other exercising. Martin hasn't been getting up to go for a bike ride since it's so hot and find it very difficult to be motivated to get up before he does.

Had a doctors appointment on Wednesday. All is good. Next time I go it's for the yucky glucose test. Fun. I'll be starting appointments every two weeks now.

The baby is moving a lot. He's very active.

I've been getting up every day at 3:30am to go the bathroom. Must be preparation for when the baby comes.

Went to Babies R Us last Saturday. Laura B. and I were there for 2 hours. I'm still undecided about the stroller. I'll probably make one more trip (and take Martin) to make the final decisions. Still getting input from other moms.

Martin and I have been having lots of name discussions. Still can agree on a name. I know we have three months but it feels like we aren't getting anywhere or haven't come up with anything new in a while.

I think all the breastfeeding and child care classes may be taken up so I don't think we are going to do those. But we will do the childbirth classes since I'm already signed up for that.

Going to camp on Saturday for a week. Hopefully the walking and heat won't be too much. I think I'm going to take the camelback and wear it all week so that i'll drink enough water. Looking forward to being outside and not thinking so much about what I have to wear everyday. Hopefully I get some reading done too for my book club and the parenting book Martin and I are reading. And of course it will be fun to be with friends and the kids at camp. My next update will be a little late because of camp.