So this is 30...

It actually does feel a little different than other birthdays. Not sure how to explain it. I mean, I've been saying "I'll be thirty in June" for a while now so it's not like it sneaked up on me. But there was that sort of excitement or oh, you should feel bad for me sentiment associated with that statement. Now its time to get over it and so that's I guess what's different. Time to accept and move on. No pity party. And why should there be. I'm almost the youngest at work so it's not like I get any sympathy here. Or in my econ circles. Or even in other circles. Plus, I have much to be thankful for and no regrets like - man, I wish I would have done that before 30. Anything that I want to do can be done at 30+. I'm married with a baby on the way so not fearing the biological clock. Got a job in my field that pays well so I"m not obsessed with "getting ahead." I guess we haven't exactly reached our housing goal but that doesn't need to be done by 30. It's weird to see the number in print. It looks so different. Is that really my AGE? Anyway, I'm totally rambling.

They say kids will keep you young. That's good. Maybe they'll be a lot of kids there tonight at the musical Annie. I'll be in the young crowd then.

I've had three co-workers wish me Happy Birthday already today. I don't remember telling all of them. Maybe something is up....:) I was going to go get myself some ice cream at lunch to celebrate.

Last weekend of my 20s....

And what am I doing you may ask. Most appropriately, I'm going to a bridal shower. If there was one thing that characterized the majority of the youthful yet independent decade in my life it would be going to weddings and doing wedding related things. I've been in 8 weddings including my own, was invited to about 50 weddings including 16 in one year (2004, but only attended about half of those), attended close to 35 weddings, planned my own wedding, and became a wedding reception cooridinator for my church in the course of the last decade. And I loved every minute of it. I thought that going to weddings would be a drag after your own but it's great - where else do you really get to dance with your husband (beside your own kitchen when you're practicing your swing moves for the next wedding:) and think about your own marriage vows? Plus, you still think about what you liked and didn't like about how they did the wedding. There's no "oh, I wish we could have down that" because everything had a reason for having to be done the way we did it. And now I'm getting useful tips for the brides that I work with.

The baby decade almost always overlaps with the wedding decade. I think the baby decade probably started for me in about 2001 when my former college roommate had her first child. I was 25 then so maybe 25 - 35 will be the baby decade, although it might have to go longer if i want to have 3 or 4 kids. Don't want to have to pop them all out in 5 years.

Other plans for the weekend...watching a movie tonight. Going out to dinner with Martin on Saturday. And having lunch at a friend's on Sunday. So pretty low-key otherwise but typical.

Martin is taking me to see Annie at Wolftrap on Thursday. I've lived here almost 5 years and I haven't been to Wolftrap (outdoor stage / cultural arts center) yet. So very excited about that. That's been a goal of mine. Trying to get some folks together for a birthday party next Saturday. The good thing about having a b-day around the time of our Nation's b-day is that there are always fireworks! The bad thing is that most people are out of town. But it will still be a blast. Our place can probably only handle 15 people anyway.

Update - Week 20

This has been a good an exciting week. Obviously the ultrasound was exciting but it was so much better than I thought. I thought we were going to see this lesser formed human floating in water and not doing very much. On the contrary! We have a very active little boy! He was moving so much it was making him tired since he yawned during the ultrasound. I mentioned that I started crying when i saw that and I think that the reason was that realized how much of a little person he is already, doing things we do. He moved his arms a lot and I swear he seemed to be playing peek-a-boo with us. He looked like he was having a good old time. (Some may say that was due to the candy bar I ate earlier in the day.) It sort of gave me this feeling like he's not as helpless as I thought. Also that he's his own person, separate from me, which one knows but it's little things like this that make one realize them more or to a deeper extent. I will scan the pics tomorrow and try to get them up on the blog. That pictures don't do the ultrasound justice though. You see mostly the bones which make the kid look like an alien but I'm sure he's much cuter than that - just look at his daddy!

I got Martin a "I love my Daddy" frame for Father's Day. I told him to put the ultrasound pic in it and take it to work.....he didn't seem to think getting asked a ton of questions about it all day at work would be fun. He's not as much of a slacker at work as I am.

When I came home yesterday, I started looking at boy clothes online. I felt like I needed to pick some sort of theme. Baby blue is nice and I like strips (and plaid of course!) and some more medium blues. As far as theme though, I wasn't crazy about the sports or boats or Pooh clothes. Seem pretty cheesy. I guess we won't be able to get away from Blues Clues, which is fine. But I really liked the clothes with stars on them and especially anything dealing with space or a space ship. So maybe that will be the clothes theme. Still going with the pastoral sheep and bunnies for the eventual nursery since hopefully that will last through multiple kids. But the space stuff will be this child's thing.

Gotta get serious about the boy name now. We have two names (with middle names) that we like but we're not sold on either one. We think we can come up with something better.

Still feeling good. Starting to notice my ankles getting a little swollen and I'm going the bathroom more. I flew to Boston over the weekend to visit my friend (and trainer!) Jen K. I could really tell the difference in the circulation in my legs during the flight. And it was only an hour. I need to stop cross my legs as much and putting my feet up. Jen and I had a great time in Boston. We walked around a lot on Saturday morning and watched some World Cup games and went to the movies and a museum. I didn't even crash when I got home. I have slept more this week though. But I did get up this morning and exercise! And we went to the pool last night.

Just last week I started to notice my pants being too tight. I started using this expander thing that my sister bought me. It's worked really well. This week I've worn just my bigger pants and that still works. No maternity clothes yet and hopefully I can hold out for about a month (with the expander things to help) until I get some maternity clothes from my sister. Going to FL July 21-24th. My sister is ready to deliver any moment although her due date wasn't until July 10th. Hopefully she'll have the baby next week, just not on my birthday....:)

I told my friend Alison (who will be at camp with us in August) last week. I also told my prayer group at work. I think that's everyone now. (Martin also told his friend Brian this weekend when he went to visit him). Now we have to go around again telling everyone it's a boy. I think I may stick to email for this news.

IT'S A BOY....(within a 95% confidence interval)

All is well according to the sonogram. It was really amazing seeing the face and watching him move his arms and legs. He even yawned while we were watching. I started to cry...

Only got one good shot of the between the legs view so that's why she said she was only 95% sure. But with that one shot she pointed it out to us.

He was moving around a lot during the sonogram.

Heartbeat was 139 bpm this time. Oh, and my due date according to the sonogram was moved up to November 4th.

Update - Week 19

Still feeling good this week. My stomach is getting really hard but not really showing yet. I've gained 2 lbs so far. Baby Center says baby is as long as a small zucchini. (Must be the kind you find in NVA Giants because in PA the zucchinis are much bigger and better.)

Martin and I went for a bike ride on Saturday - 22 miles! I felt really good and I didn't even crash the next day. I've determined that my fatique is totally random. Or at least based more on my eating which I'm being more aware of now. Got some more exercise last week when I had to park my car far from the metro at a friends house since the lot was full. I think I do more walking than I realize with my commute. Not enough for me to feel like I'm exercising but enough to keep me active during pregnancy. I still should do more exercising, esp. weights.

Update on the pediatrician search...I found another recommendation on the dc urban moms website. It was for a practice in seven corners, near where I used to live when I first moved to DC. I checked my insurance company's website and they were on there. But as I found out earlier that doesn't mean much. There were like 36 doctors listed in this practice. They have separate waiting rooms for sick and healthy kids and some of the doctors have privaledges at Fair Oaks so it sounded really good. I called and asked if they were taking new patients. The lady said well, what insurance do you have (oh, no, not again) and I told her but this time she said yes! She also indicated that they don't have a waiting list so I can just call back later to make an appointment to meet the doctor in October. They have free "expectant parent" visits. The receptionist was really nice too - a big plus for me. So I think we'll still ask around but now I know there's a least one good practice that we can get into.

I told my boss's boss this week. He was very nice and told me about his girls (ages 5 and almost 2) and being a parent. I think he's going to be a good ally. He said anything they need to do to keep me here and happy they will do. So that's really good. I started trying to contact the HR people too. Just getting a hold of someone over there is a project. I was encouraged by something on OPM's website though that sounded like to switch to part time I just needed to pick the number of hours (between 16 and 32) and get people here to fill out the form and sign off on it. Hopefully then all the calculations (salary, leave, insurance coverage) are done somewhere else automatically depending on the number of hours. I thought I would have less flexibility in choosing the number of hours to make it easy to calculate my leave for example. Maybe I'll try to keep it to even numbers just so I can keep track of it.

Stuff I've been thinking about...how much are we really going to use a stroller, especially in the early months which will be winter (i.e., do we need a "travel system'?) Along with that I'm trying to imagine where the baby will be when he/she is not sleeping or nursing or in the car. And should we try to hold the baby as much as possible (or as much as our backs/arms will allow us)? In the genre of "natural mothering" is this issue of baby carrying or baby wearing. See link. So what do y'all think of it?

I think Martin and I should probably read a parenting book or two in prep for the baby as we won't have time afterwards. Got some good suggestions from Catherine so that's next on the prep list.

Had my flower girl's family over for dinner last Friday which was really fun. I was drilling Linda with questions about birth and breastfeeding (her mom was a Le Leche Leaque councelor). Always good to see parents in action too.

Also been thinking more about the birth and how that relates to my low blood pressure. Something to ask the dr about next time. Getting excited for the sonogram on Wednesday!

PS Oh, we took the fan to the ladies house on Sunday. She wasn't home but the guy that lives with her was. He was very nice and we told him the story of how we got the fan. He said it was luck and I said I thought God really wanted them to have the fan. He was really excited to tell the lady about the fan so hopefully he'll tell her that story. It wasn't nearly as big a deal as I was thinking it might be - in a good and bad way I guess. It was easy enough but then I was a little disappointed that we didn't get into a conversation about God. I guess I was thinking with something like this that there would be more opportunity, like God was doing something big. And he still could. She contacted my volunteer coordinator and wanted to send a thank you card to who donated the fan.

addition to the ruby tuesday

I forgot to mention another reason Tuesday was such a good day. My volunteer coordinator (Jennifer) emailed me that day to say that she had a case where there was a women who needed a fan. She was denied cooling assistance from the state and couldn't get one from the Salvation Army. So Jennifer asked if my church could help out. (This was one reason I wanted to do the financial education volunteering - to be more connected to the poor/needy in our area and be able to help them, possibly using the assistance fund that our church has.) So I contacted the guys that run the fund and they said sure and the one guy said that just last week his neighbor had asked him if he wanted a fan because he got one from work and couldn't use it! I was so excited to see how God provided. So I'm going to get the fan and deliver it tomorrow. Although now I'm nervous. I guess I thought one of the deacons would go with me (okay, one is - my husband - but he's just going to be there for moral support). I want to communicate to the woman my initial excitement over the fan and how God worked the situation out. And to ask if she has anything we could pray for her about. Not knowing much about the woman, this is pretty scary for me. I'm not a quick thinker and I often feel like I miss opportunities to share my faith in God. Even talking about how we got the fan is something that's not the norm for me. I don't get excited about much and don't express my excitement much or in a dynamic way at all. I've been thinking about it all week. I have a plan of what to say and my husband says I should just trust that God will use me and bless the situation and if He doesn't then I've still done what I've been called to do. Plus, he's like, you're bringing her a fan that she needs, what do you think she's going to do you - be mean? I had some folks ask me for directions this morning. I was totally comfortable talking to them and delighted to help them. I should have the same attitude tomorrow and not be nervous. Please pray to that end.

Our baby is the size of a "large sweet potato"

I always find the fruit/veggie comparisons amusing on baby center's weekly update. They also say that the baby is probably moving a lot now. My doctor asked me on Monday if I felt the baby yet. I said not really. I thought I had, maybe a few times. He said that that's how it starts and eventually you'll recognize it as the baby. If you gently tap the top of your hand that's sort of what it feels like to me, only it's coming from inside my abdoman, right below my belly button. It only last a short time so by the time I'm like, hmm, is that the baby, the feeling is gone.

Baby Center also said it's time to start wearing bigger clothes. I'm realizing that I've been wearing clothes that have been too big on me for the past two years. Two years ago, before getting married, I lost 15 pounds and never bought new clothes. So I've been fortunate in that i'm still able to wear most of my clothes. My sister bought me this pants expander thing so that should help for a while yet. One thing that I am going to have to buy now though is some new bras. I've been told that's the only way that you can tell that I'm pregnant now - because I'm getting more top heavy. So I've figured out a way to get Martin to take me shopping - promise to go on a bike ride with him afterwards. So we're going to the Leesburg Outlets on Saturday and then doing the west-most section of the W&OD trail. There's a LeggsHanesBaliPlatex outlet where i've gone before so hopefully they will have something that fits. I don't even know what size is bigger than what I'm wearing now - E? F? DDD?

Also, some news about my sister. Apparently the doctor thinks she will deliver at least a week earlier than her due date. So I might have a niece or nephew that shares my birth month (or even day!). And so they might even find out the gender of their baby before we do if she delivers really early. We'll see. Still planning on visiting them in July though.

Update - Week 18

Ugh, I can't believe this. I just typed a really long entry and it didn't post right so now I have to start over.

A lot has happened this week which I covered in some other post. But here's the regular update stuff. Feeling really good this week. My back even feels better. I did the Denise Austin workout tape on Tuesday morning. It's whimpy but it's good because I don't sweat enough to have to wash my hair afterwards and because it's short, so I can do it without being late for work. The tape is also good because since the footwork is easy she has you doing stuff with your arms the whole time so it's a good upper body work out. It also really loosened up my back which is why I think it feels better.

I realized on Saturday that I'm still prone to exhaustion and that I need to make sure I eat enough. After going to a picnic and then to babies r us and the grocery store we came home and I just crashed. I could barely get up to eat. Thankfully all we had to do that night was red up (straighten up, for the non-SWAP folks) the house which i was able to do on Monday and Tuesday. Saturday night we just watched a movie (Fun with Dick and Jane) and then I was fine on Sunday when we had lunch with Nancy and Duncan.

I found out that the pediatrician that was recommended to me does not take our insurance for new patients. Apparently they used to take it and will still take it if you're an existing patient which is why i found them on my insurance company's website. So back to square one on that.

Beside telling the folks at the wedding and the crew at work, I also called my former boss and friend/mentor Lisa to tell her. Through a conversation with her and with Nancy I was thinking more about why I think I'd prefer to have a girl. Girls tend (I'm totally generalizing here so bare with me) to like structure. They can be disciplined/trained more easily and earlier. I like structure and discipline so I'd like that. Examples of girls who do well with structure - my sunday school class (I've had just girls lately and it's been great - they color and do the craft and listen), Lea (my flower girl who I babysat), and Amelie (Nancy's daughter who Nancy said has a much longer attention span than her friend who is a boy). Of course there are boys who like structure too (Calvin). In fact, what made me think of this is when Lisa reminded me of my last summer at camp when I was the boss to two completely different personalities (Kyle and Angie - the bride from last weekend) where the guy was the one who was more structured. Being Kyle's boss was easy. But i learned so much being Angie's boss about respecting different people's personalities and learning from them and learning how to motivate people to use their gifts when they are different from mine. One of the things I've been praying about is that I would learn a lot from and be outdone as far as being a Christian by my child. So bring on the boy! (But the little girls' clothes are soooo cute!!)

a ruby tuesday

Just thought I'd share my day yesterday with y'all. It was good day (aside from the 1.75 hour commute on the way home - which all the good stuff trumps). On my way into work, I saw the first dogs. Closer than I ever had - no fence between us. I thought I had my camera in my purse but I didn't or else I would have posted some pics. I would have pet them but Barney was taking off down the alley between Treasury and the WH and Mrs. Beazley was going nuts over the sniffing dog that just went passed in the SS van. The two (yes, two!) official federal presidential dog walkers didn't seem to mind too much that Barney was off to the races. I guess they figured the SS would stop him from getting too far.

I get into work (oh, need to mention that I hadn't told my boss about the pregnancy yet at this point - Monday, when I was going to tell him, was a busy day at work) ready to tell the boss man and get an email from him saying that he won't be in at least until the afternoon because he was in court. I figured he had jury duty but then was reminded by his secretary that this was for this crazy case that he had told us about where he was a witness for the defense. His neighbor was charged with public drunkness and resisting arrest when he got beligerent after complaining about these cable guys who were working after midnight (the man didn't think they were really cable guys even after the police told him they were). Anyway, the guy ended up copping a plea to a lesser offense and my boss made it into the office before the time staff lunch ended at 1pm. I got asked to go to a congressional hearing on the Hill at 2pm and I had to leave at 1:30 so I had from 1-1:30 to tell him. I figured it was a good time since he was in a good mood about not having to testify and telling us all about his court experience and because he wasn't entralled in some project at that time. Still, I was really nervous - my heart was beating out of my chest. But I did it. I think I freaked my boss out in the way I introduced it. I asked if I could talk to him about an adminstrative issue and I shut his office door and said I had some news. He thought I was leaving for another job. So the pregnancy announcement was a relief for him. I told him about my expected maturnity leave and that I wanted to cut back on my hours/days when I come back. He was fine with all that and said he was willing to work things out and accomodate and be flexible. He said congratulations and that it was good news. Although I think I could see him thinking about how this would affect the office and that it would be a pain. Maybe I'm just reading into it too much. Plus, I guess, what's he going to do? And this is better than me leaving. Anyway, I'm glad that's over. Although I still have to come up with proposal for cutting back my hours. I didn't tell him what I was thinking exactly.

The hearing on the Hill went well and I felt like the expert because I went with this legislative affairs person who I was able to school on the issue. So that was fun. And it was fun telling others in the office. My boss's secretary gave me a big hug and was very excited. I was afraid that I was starting to show but it seems that no one caught on because of that. One guy (this happened today so I guess its not part of the ruby tuesday) said he knew it because I had been glowing the past few weeks. He also said another hint was that I hadn't gotten my hair highlighted again (when the roots started growing in from my highlights that I got a year ago). That is one thing I would not have expected a guy to pick up on. He said specifically it wasn't because I was showing because I wasn't.

When I got home yesterday, there was a package waiting for me - the baby bargains book! My friend Nancy got it for me and it was delivered so quickly! Started thumbing through that at breakfast this morning.

So that was my fun day.

comments

i changed the settings so anyone can comment now (without setting up a blog). so please do! sorry amy that i didn't do this earlier. but now you have a great blog!

doctors appointment / ultrasound scheduled

Doctors appointment this morning went really well. Didn't even have to get undressed for this one - it was really quick. My iron levels and blood pressure were all good. Heard the heartbeat again. Still about 150 bpm. Got the order for the ultrasound. June 21st at 3:25. So that's when we'll find out the gender, Lord willing. So you only have two more weeks to get your votes in (see post below).

Self-Proclaimed Queen of Details

We found out on Memorial Day that the wedding we were planning on going to on the 3rd was actually on the 2nd! We were buying the gift in BB&B and the customer service rep asked for the wedding date and I said the 3rd and she's like, "hmm, funny, this says the 2nd." "Oh, that must be wrong," said I, the self-proclaimed queen of details. Well, sure enough, went home and checked the invite - June 2nd! I will chalk this one up to the pregnancy. Otherwise, I don't know how I would have missed that one.

I had a doctors appointment that day that I got reschedule to today (Monday) and had to take off a half day of work on Friday last minute but we made it to the wedding. Glad we did too. It was really fun and we got to see lots of friends I hardly ever see - Kyle, the Williams, Steph S., Charity, and the bride Angie of course. Got to tell all of them in person about me being pregnant. That was fun too.

Update - Week 17

Sorry this is late....so still feeling much better. Had some lower back aches and constipation but other than that I'm feeling really good. I think exercising will help the back pain some but I've been slow in getting back on the horse. Except on the weekends. The Saturday before memorial day Martin and I did two bike rides (for a total of about 25 miles). Then went hiking/fast walking on Sunday. And was in the pool Sunday and Monday for a bit. But need to do more during the week. Got some pregnancy exercise videos (old school ones - Denise Austin and Kathy Smith, both from the late 80s/early 90s). I'll probably get the FitMama one too. I can still do my Core Secrets workout on the ball too. And now that I'm feeling better I could get back on the elipse or bike. I tend to get a little dizzy when I exercise though so unfortunately I have to take it easier than I'd like. So maybe I'll stick with the pregnancy workouts. Might be good too since I have haven't done much exercise in the last month.

Finally told the Winstons this week as I ran into Tor on the metro. Wanted to tell Linda and Lea in person but oh well. We'll see them soon when we get together for dinner. We told Martin's college friends too via email.

On Tuesday we went for a tour of the maturity ward at Fair Oaks with our friends John and Laura B. who are expecting their first around the same time we are and who will be delivering at the same hospital. It was so fun. It's amazing the security measure (sensors on the babies so they don't get stolen from the hospital) and the pampering that they do now-a-days. There's Internet access in the private recovery rooms and they serve tea and cinnamon rolls at 4pm each day. They also have room service. The labor and delivery rooms are pretty big and they don't see too "hospitally." They also keep the baby with you right after birth more than I expected. I was very pleased with the tour.

Laura B. and I found out that we need to start looking for pediatricians now because they might have 6 month long waiting list. So I started asking around. I have 2 friends (Laura H. and Linda) that go to the same practice and they also take our insurance so I'll probably check that one out. I want to see a doctors who's not pill/test happy. Like they want to do every test or prescribe something for the smallest thing. So hopefully that will be the case.

Also starting to look at all the baby products out there. That's pretty overwhelming. Going to get the Baby Bargains book (thanks to Nancy!) so that should help.

Update - Week 16

Wow, four months pregnant! I read something today about approaching the half way point. This hasn't even really hit me yet. I mean being pregnant has but not the fact that I'm going to have a baby. The pregnancy stuff is all about me me me. But soon the attention will be on little martin jr. or heather jr. I try to imagine what life will be like. I realized that's just impossible. Not so much because it's so different from anything I've ever experienced, although that is true. But because each child is so different. I have no idea the temperament of the child. Like will I be able to take the baby with me to the grocery store? Sure, I see moms at the grocery store with babies in baby carriers strategically positioned on their buggies (shopping carts for you non SWPA-people). But I have no idea if I'll be able to do that. At least at first. And of course that's just one example. Will I be able to sleep? And those are pretty benign questions...what about harder ones like, what if my child has a serious health issue or what if I end up on bed rest? Uncertainty is always a challenge for us planners but it's even more than that when it's such a lifestyle change in one's home life. Like, moving to a new place involves lots of changes (commute, possibly new friends/church/job) but you know that when you come home at night you will still have a similar routine to what you have now. With having kids (I guess this is true for marriage too but I don't think to the same extent) normal routines will change. But uncertain times are always blessings in that they cause us to rely more on God and draw us closer to Him. I'm not even going to pretend to know what I'm doing. It's all going to be God.

Something that will be particularly hard for Martin and me is having to slow down. We put a lot of effort into being efficient and getting things done quickly. Our expectations will have to change a lot now.

Told the STEP folks this week. And some more people at church. I think I can say for sure that I'm feeling better. More energy and not nauseous, but I still can tell I'm pregnant - can't do as much, uncomfortable sitting and laying down, etc. I can tell that I'm feeling better though because I can actually bear to stand on the way home on the metro. Before I was way to queasy/dizzy to stand all the way.

One more week til the next doctors appointment and a week and a half until I tell my boss. I'm starting to get my speech ready.

Walked about 5 miles on Saturday but haven't done much else in the way of exercise this week. :( I really need to start strength training. I bought 2 pregnancy workout tapes on eBay this week so hopefully that will motivate me to get back into a routine.

Gotta give total props to my mom who cleaned our refrigerator, oven, microwave, and shower this past weekend and to both my parents for getting our front and back porches ready for summer with beautiful flowers! That was truely a blessing and a relief to me.

Update - Week 15

Feeling a lot less nauseated this week. Although I'm having a hard time finding food that tastes good to me. At least anything healthy. Make grocery shopping really hard. My cold is gone and I had no excuse not to exercise this week but I didn't. Maybe my body wouldn't feel as tired if I exercised.

Martin and I did go for a hike on Saturday though. I barely made it through. It was supposed to take 2 hours and it took four. I just couldn't get my muscles to move. That was frustrating especially since this is the best time of year weather-wise in DC to be outside and I know how much Martin likes to bike and hike. Plus, he (and I too) feel like we want to do so much BC. If we do anything like that on the weekend them I'm too tired to do the housework I need to do.

I haven't gained any weight yet. I can tell that my stomach is different (protruding outwardly more) but with most clothes I wear you wouldn't be able to tell that I'm pregnant, especially looking at me from the front. At least that's my perception. I could be totally deceiving myself. My boss left for vacation today so I won't be telling him for at least another 11-12 days. I'm thinking on making June 5th my target for telling him. I can't be showing that much more in 2 and a half weeks, right?

Told a few more Harvest people this week. Still have some people I want to tell in person or on the phone and haven't gotten a chance to contact them since we've been so busy. We had/will have had 3 different sets of house guest this week.

Sorry for complaining so much. I need to focus on the positive and fun things. Only 5 more weeks until we find out the gender of the baby! Oh, and my pregnant friend Laura (who has the same doctor as I do) and I scheduled a maturnity ward tour for the 30th! That will be fun. And my brother is coming to visit with my parents this weekend. This is only the 3rd time he's come to DC in the 5 years that I've lived here. Until next week....

Security Clearance

Last night I did my 5th security clearance interview for a friend (I have really trustworthy friends). Anyway, by this time I got the drill down. I could probably even rattle off all the questions they ask. So I made sure to check the guys' ID this time (before I let a stranger into my house). If you've ever done one of these you know they find people with NO personality to do these interviews. Just the facts ma'am. This guy wasn't so bad. He smiled once in a while. He told me I needed to put away my snow shovel that's still propped up in my front entry way. As he was leaving it started raining really hard. Well, he was in such a hurry to get to his car, that he got into my car instead! It was so funny! I'm watching at the window as this guy gets into my car and closes the door before he realizes it's not his own! He was also driving a silver car but I'm pretty sure it was much bigger than mine. I must have left my car door unlock since I was on the phone with Martin when I got home. So much for security.

Update - Week 14

Well, I couldn't tell if the pregnancy sickness has gone away yet because I had a cold most of the week. Stayed home from work on Monday. Feeling better now. I seem to have more of an appetite now which is good.

Martin's been out of town this week which means I've actually had to cook and take the garbage out and get up to get my own glass of water (gasp!). It's been rough but I'm making it through.

This week the baby is the size of my computer mouse, so says a pregnancy website. Looks like the size measurements have gotten away from food (peanut, bean, grape, lime, jumbo shrimp). I kinda liked the food references though. I'm not sure how my computer-moused-size child is fitting in my belly though. I used to be astonished at people who found out they had grapefruit-sized tumors in them without knowing. Like how could you not know? Now I understand.

At Bible Study last night a few of the women were talking about when they first felt their babies. They said that with the first one, you wouldn't recognize the feeling anyway if you did feel it - you'd just think it's gas. So last night I'm lying in bed and I felt this like buzz. So now I'm wondering if that was the baby. Or if I just thought that was the baby because of what they were saying.

Still haven't told work. But did tell Denise and Cara on Sunday and Nancy S. and Denny and Nancy M. on Monday and Dave M. and yesterday.

Poll numbers mean nothing...but boy or girl?

Living in Washington long enough, one gets quite sick of polls. While I don't think it will have any predictive value, I'm going to start one anyway. So, boy or girl? Let me know what you think. We're going to find out the gender if we can at the sonogram at 20 weeks and we'll let y'all know. So you have 6 weeks to get your final answer in. If you've already told me your prediction please vote officially on this post. Like any good poll, I'm going to try to influence your answer: so there hasn't been a girl born to a Etner male in 55 years, heartbeat was over 145bpm which some say indicates a girl, timing of conception would lead one to conclude it is a boy, but apparently the husband eating lots of green leffy veggies could increase the chance of a girl and Martin has been eating a salad everyday for the last year. Have fun!

We heard the heartbeat!!

150 beats per minute. Apparently that's really good. Saw a different doctor this time. He is really really nice and personal. He really took time with us and answered our questions. Also got a better idea of the philosophy of the practice regarding the necessity or lack thereof of screening procedures and birthing. And we got a schedule of the doctors appointments. Everything else was good too. Next appointment is June 2nd.

After the appointment, Martin and I went for a 17.66 mile bike ride! It was great. Slow but great. I wanted a t-shirt that said, I'm three months pregnant, what's your excuse?

Update - Week 13

Well, my sickness didn't magically go away last week, but I guess it's getting better. I feel some more energy this week although I had one or two bad days. Monday I had a headache all day. I think it was dehydration though. Then I threw up my breakfast yesterday but I think that's from my prenatal vitamin. Going to start taking that at night. Weighed myself this week. I lost two pounds. This is the least I've weighed since college. Oh the irony. Not worried, I'm sure the weight gain will come soon enough.

Tomorrow is our next doctor's appointment. I'll write again to let you all know how it went.

This week was more telling people, but we're not done. Told my book club and then Chris P. at church and Melissa S. and the rest of my college friends. Gotta get around to telling the rest of the camp folks and the Winstons!

Talked to my mom about her childbearing experiences. She was in labor with me for 14 hours although she didn't go to the hospital until 7 hours into it. Apparently your mom's experience is a good indicator of what your own will be like. She went natural except for some pitocin to help things along. But with my sis and bro she didn't have any meds. By the third child she didn't even know she was in labor. She had Justin an hour after getting to the hospital. Funny, the way I remember it, we were waiting for HOURS for them to call with the news. Of course, I was only 4, so I guess it seemed like hours to me. Melissa also shared her child birth experiences with me. I'm encouraged by all these 8 hours or less labors. I thought you were lucky if it only took 12 hours.

Man, I can't wait to find out if our baby is a boy or a girl.

Lots of people ask about a nursery. Since we'll probably move next year and we'll have the baby in the room with us for a while, we're not going to decorate the second bedroom too much. But I did have this crib set picked out: Clover fields. Lambs and bunnies. The light green matches the bed spread in the spare bedroom. It's gender neutral. I'll probably still want to buy all the stuff in case we do want to use the borders, etc. one day. I picked this out when my sister showed me what she had picked out last fall. I guess Martin hasn't seen it yet so it still has to go through his approval.

Decided to wait and tell my boss as late as possible - hopefully June.

Well, time to eat my yogurt...until later....