Pictures

Here's pictures of me and Steven and the changing table my dad made.

Update - Week 33

Gotta get my post up before blogger's "scheduled outage" at 4pm (oh, it's pacific time, I guess I have lots of time).

Anyway, what a week. So breastfeeding class went well. Not sure I learned that much new (most of what was covered I had already read in "So That's What They're For!") but it was good to hear it again and be able to ask questions. I think sometimes you don't think to ask questions until you hear something the second time. And it was good for Martin to learn. Okay, maybe I'm just trying to justify the $50 we spent on the class. Hopefully we'll get re-embursed by our insurance company. I've heard that we get $50 for classes.

Friday we finished organizing the spare bedroom/baby room. And Saturday morning Martin and Mike moved the desk out. That desk took up a lot of space. And it looks better in the living room so I'm happy with the change.

Went to a baby shower for another Heather on Saturday. Someone asked me if baby showers took on a new meaning now that I was pregnant. Not really. I haven't been to that many baby showers I guess. I can only think of 7 (Melissa, Jen L., Nancy, Catherine, Laura H., Carrie, and a gal from my church when I was in State College). Those were all in the last 6 years. Only 4 were after I got married. I also went to a few cousins' baby showers when I was little. I threw a temper tantrum at one because I wanted to play the games but I couldn't write fast enough to keep up with the moderator. Okay, sorry, tangent....but yeah, it wasn't that different except that I knew better what to buy. And was able to be more engaged in the conversation. I guess it made me look forward more towards mine too. But still doesn't feel real yet. This will be MY baby shower on Saturday. Like I'M having a kid. I still don't feel old enough to be a mom. Not sure I ever would have.

More about showers....so Krista (the gal hosting my shower) said there are 27 people coming to the shower. She said that like makes it the "mother of all showers." Now, for those of you from western PA, you're like "What?" and your amazed that people have showers at their houses. So let me paint the picture of a NVA shower (although I've seen this in State College and MD too). Typically, you have about 15 women at someone's house sipping tea and mimosas (except the mom-to-be) and eating fresh fruit and pastries. There may or may not be some kind of game and then of course the presents. But very intimate. Yet, somewhat dressy in that you'll often see women in skirts and heels. Oh, and they're often held in the morning as opposed to the afternoon. So contrast that with the western PA shower - at least 40 women (I've seen ones up to 80 women) sitting at rows of tables in a church fellowship hall eating a full lunch buffet (of the standard "shower" menu - cold cuts and buns, rigatoni, fried chicken, cake, and a ton of other food). Here each woman has been given a printed program with games and a pencil. There are some sort of mints or candy on the table in a baby bottle or bootie-shaped container. The shower last for about 3 hours at least because of all the time needed to open all the presents. I love both types....so I think I'll have one of each...:) Just kidding mom, we won't have a 40 people at the next one. Anyway, looking forward to Saturday.....

Went to Babies R Us on Saturday. Got the pack and play and car seat base. Sunday we moved the changing table in and moved the second desk to John and Laura's when my parents got here. The changing table is great! I'll post some pics soon. It really matches the room. Just need to get some baskets for it. But now we have a place for baby stuff. Didn't get to rearrange our bedroom but we have a little bit of time for that yet. We set up the pack and play in the living room for Steven while he is here. We're seeing how it all will look....

Went for a 2-mile walk on Sunday. And a little walk Monday night. That's about all in the way of exercise. :( But I'm still feeling well and haven't lost my energy yet. I do have some lower back/pelvic pain/pressure. All normal stuff but just annoying. Bending over is getting really hard too. That's especially annoying because I'm turning into more of a klutz than I normally am. So Martin graciously follows me around and picks stuff up for me. He's a great husband. He even does it joyfully.

I did have one hormonal moment on Sunday. I wanted to use the Internet and Martin was using it. I waited until he was done but when I went to log on the Internet was down. I all crabby about it and jealous that Martin got to use it but not me even though I waited patiently and had thing to take care of on the computer that were SO much more important than what he was doing. (This wasn't the first time that he'd log off and I would try to log on and it wouldn't work. But apparently it's Cox Cable and not me logging in.) But I got over it eventually. And Martin is very understanding....

Monday my mom cleaned our entire house and did quite a bit of ironing for me. She rocks. Oh, and she waited at our house for the dry wall guy to come and give us an estimate on fixing the bathroom ceiling. $500 and that includes painting. Not bad but our deductible on our insurance is $500 so we're paying for everything now.

Tuesday Carrie and Steven arrived and my dad came back down. Steven is so adorable and big now. (Yes, I know, pictures soon.) Steven didn't have a very good day yesterday though. He got a fever and my parents and sister actually took him to the ER here in Fairfax. They spent 7 hours there last night. Looks like he has an ear infection. Although it took a bunch of un-fun tests to figure that out. Please pray that he gets well soon. My parents and sister really were impressed with the doctors here. That's good to know.

Other than that, the only baby prep stuff we accomplished this week was (I think) deciding on a name. We have something to go with that I'm good with and Martin really likes. Still aren't going to tell in case we want to change it (and we've been advised not to hear opinions...:) but I think you all will like it. It actually only breaks one of my "rules." You know - must be two syllables, can't be shortened, can't start with a vowel, can't have a T, R, or N in the second syllable.

Only about another 7 weeks and you'll all find out...:)

Victory!

I finally was given a seat on the metro last night! Okay, so the guy was getting off in one more stop and he was a pretty big guy sitting next to a pretty big lady so he was probably relieved to get up BUT he was clearly getting up for me. I was wearing the red dress that I had on in a previous posting's photo which is form fitting. If I have on what I have on today (skirt and loose button-down blouse) I don't think I would get one. Well see though. I'm only going to be riding the metro for 5 and a half more weeks!

Picture!

Update - Week 32

Wow, 8 months pregnant. Craziness. There's only 8 more weeks until the due date, and realizing the baby could be here in 6 weeks (like that's no time!) is pretty scary and exciting. These next two weeks will really make things seem more real too. This weekend we are rearranging furniture and getting the changing table that my dad made for us. After much deliberation as to where to put the extra desk, we're going to creatively store it at our friends'(John and Laura's) house. They just moved from a one bedroom condo to a three bedroom townhouse with a basement so they have some extra room for furniture. Our friend Mikey is coming over on Saturday to move the desk and rearrange our bedroom furniture with Martin.

I think we're coming down to a decision on the name. I think I'm acquiescing to the name Martin likes but I'm going to try to leverage my concession by choosing the middle name, names of potential future children, and getting some new purchases for the house that I want.....:)

Tonight is the breastfeeding class. Both Martin and I have been reading up on how to prepare for the birth and breastfeeding. Not that we think we'll be totally prepared but knowledge is helpful indeed.

I'm feeling really great still. No heartburn or cramping or anything. I feel a little creaky when I get up after sitting for a while but usually I can walk that off. Didn't get to exercise much this week. Well, I was on my feet most of the day on Saturday since I was helping out at a wedding and then in the evening we went out to eat with some friends in Old Town and walked around there before and afterwards. So that was my exercise. But it wouldn't be hard to get out of bed a half hour earlier (6 instead of 6:30) and exercise. I need to get back into that groove.

Not much more to update on. Most things are where they were last week. Although we do have someone coming in on Monday to give us an estimate of the repairs needed in our bathroom from the leak we had.

Looking forward to having my mom and Carrie and Steven here next week. Taking Mom to Babies R Us on Monday night. Carrie and Steven arrive on Tuesday and are staying at a hotel near us (on government's dime). Then we'll have everyone at our place Friday and Saturday night. Carrie said she's already bringing us baby clothes that Steven has grown out of.

I'll try to get a picture up soon.

Update - Week 31

This week went by quickly. I"m still feeling great. Little lower back pain but that's all. My friend Laura B. was right, even when you look pregnant you still don't get a seat on metro. Didn't get one this morning. It was ridiculous.

We did get out of work early on Friday so I was able to go shopping on Friday afternoon, in the hurricane. I got a white maternity blouse that I had been looking for for a while, some nursing bras (although I think I might return them - not sure the size is right), and some other things. Mostly successful shopping trip.

Saturday I got some more organizing done around the house and I went to the class at the gym (which I just realized I won't be able to go to until Oct. 14th. - so I think I'm back to the workout tapes). Also organized on Monday too. It's not getting me down like before, I guess because I'm making progress now. And on Sunday I started organizing pictures which was not really on the priority list but more fun than organizing old mail.

Martin and I went to the portrait gallery and out to eat on Saturday instead of the picnic. Although we probably could have still had the picnic since the rain stopped around that time. But we still had fun.

Wednesday I stayed home the whole day from work. I was just going to take 2 hours off for the pediatrician appointment but then we got a hold of the plumber to tell him that the ceiling was still leaking and he was able to come Wednesday morning. We weren't sure how long it would take and Martin was busy at work so I just stayed home. The plumber found the leak (after cutting 2 holes in our ceiling) and fixed it in about an hour, leaving a big mess to clean up. It was actually one of our pipes, which is good in the sense that we don't need to involve the neighbor who just lost her job and doesn't have homeowners insurance. All the dry wall in the ceiling and probably some of the wall is going to need to be replaced. Insurance won't cover the plumber (although he was only $80) but they will pay for the dry wall after our $500 deductable. We'll have to see how much it's going to be.

The meeting with the pediatrician was fun. He was about our age and we were asking about his philosophy of treatment (agressive vs. conservative, sort of like is he going to want to give our child medication all the time or be willing to wait and see or consider other remedies). So he starts out by saying "I don't know how much you know about economics, but...." and after I tell him I'm economist he continues with, "well you know, you want to find the place where marginal cost equals marginal benefit." We liked the guy although we are going to check out one more practice that someone else recommended. The waiting room at this place was a little small and if we ever move closer to Martin's work, this place will be farther for us. Oh, and the funny thing is there's this restaurant/diner in the same building that you have to go past to get to the office. They have these big advertisements for ice cream as you walk by. I can just see it now..."mommy, can we get ice cream?....after we see the doctor and only if you are brave and get your shots." Who am I kidding, I'm the one that will want the ice cream!

Had a little taste of working part-time this week with having Monday off and taking Wednesday off. It's nice not commuting. The neigbborhood is really quiet during the day.

Been reading "So That's What They're For" - a book on breastfeeding. I have one more on breastfeeding to read too and a class on the 14th.

I asked Martin to do some reading too, just so he knows what's going to be happening during the whole birth/labor process. It's going to be a lot easier for me if he knows what's going on and what's normal and what's not so he can comfort me during the time rather than me try to explain to him what's going on then.

Picked out the cloth diapers today. $130 and that should last for the first 4-6 months. Very excited about those numbers.

Martin and I decided to rearrange our bedroom so that the baby won't be by the window where it's colder (this was the more likable option rather than switching sides of the bed). Hopefully we can do that and move the desk out of the 2nd bedroom before my parents come with the changing table on the 17th. That gives me a little over a week to finish re-organizing. That would be so great to be done by then. Because that's when all the baby stuff is going to start coming in.

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.

Are you a Lactivist?

Check out this CNN article on the debate about breastfeeding in public. Personally I don't see what the big deal is since practically every woman who breastfeeds in public does it discreetly and you see a lot more boob walking down the street in the summer time or on the beach or on other magazine covers than when you see a mother breastfeeding or what was on that mommy magazine cover. I don't understand thinking that it's gross either - that's what they are there for...hello? As long as the woman is discreet, I can't see how someone can be bothered by the fact of just knowing that it's going on. You probably won't see me at nurse-in however, so I'm not sure if I qualify as a lactivist.

Update - Week 25

Today I'm wearing maternity clothes for the first time. I'm wearing the dress that my sister wore to her shower when she was about as far along as I am now. It's a loose spandex dress and I still don't look pregnant, certainly not what Carrie looked like at her shower...enough of my weekly whining about not looking pregnant....

I'm feeling great! Still sleeping more (and exercising less though). But I was in the pool last weekend a bunch and I will hopefully make it to the gym this weekend so I'm at least working out once a week.

Last weekend's visit to FL to see Carrie and family was great. Steven is sooo cute. I didn't want to leave him. Learned a lot about parenting and newborn care and breastfeeding. The running joke over the weekend was how many breastfeeding conversations Martin had to listen to. He was a really good sport though and appreciates being included in all the decisions/discussions/etc. for which I am grateful.

One thing I came to a conclusion about regarding newborn care is that pacifiers aren't bad. I thought I was against them (and Carrie was at first too) but after seeing how they are useful and don't substitute for my sister, I'm for them, at least at first. For two year olds, that's a different story.

I also learned that even after you go through the checklist of baby's needs - hunger, needs diaper changed, wants to be held - he/she can still cry! I guess at some level I knew this but it becomes more a reality when you experience it. It's somewhat frustrating to know you can't do anything to comfort the child because you either you don't know what it is or you can't help it - like stop their hiccups. And Steven is a really "good" baby too - he sleeps a lot and is usually content - yet I still realized this.

This weekend I'm going to go to Babies R Us with Laura B. who is due the same month I am. Hopefully we'll narrow down the decisions on a lot of the stuff. We are both reading Baby Bargains.

Looks like my friends from Bible Study are throwing me a shower here on Sept. 23rd. That should be really fun. My mom and sister will actually be able to make it too.

Got a lot going on this next week before camp - I'm meeting with some new financial education clients tomorrow, then Monday I have a meeting with the STEP tutoring evaluation group, then doctors appointment and Bible Study (which we're leading) on Wednesday. Plus we have to finish planning and packing for camp and go grocery shopping one more time. AAHHH. Guess I'll need the vacation. Been feeling like I need to spend more time in prayer and more time in the Word and in prayer with Martin lately. Being submerged in the Christian community at camp for a week will be good. 9 more days...

Pictures from trip to Panama City

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Me and Martin at Mexico Beach.



Steven in his swing.



Carrie and Steven at the beach.



Me with Steven at the airport.



Grandparents looking on.



Our neices and nephews: Erik, Rachel, Butterball, and Pixie.



Baby and mama.



All dressed up for church.