Bedtime

Some common pregnancy ailments have paid me a visit the last week or so. I'll save you the unsavory details, but it's certainly made for an interesting nightly ritual. I've had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for the past 4 or 5 years, and have been able to keep it under control, but pregnancy has really kicked it into overdrive. And with my pillow that props me up like a window display (however comfortable it may be), getting ready for bed has become quite an event...

After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I take a handful of multivitamins and wash them down with a Pepcid. Then I don my wrist braces and curl up in my curly pregnancy pillow and wait for Nick to get into bed.

Even though I feel about as attractive as a rock, my favorite part of the night is when Nick sits next to his propped-up wife and reads to our son. Currently he's reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and we'll move on to The Hobbit in a few days. This is also Baby D's favorite time of night. It is obvious that he knows his Daddy's voice because he starts jumping all around as soon as Nick starts reading. He doesn't stop kicking and punching until the end of the chapter when we all curl up and fall asleep. I love it!

30 Weeks

Only 10 weeks to go now! I can't believe I'm this far along already! Time hasn't slowed down yet, even though everyone is warning me it will...Baby D is now the size of a jicama...however big that is! (Actually, that means he's about 3.75 pounds and 16 in. long!)
I'm getting pretty round, too! For the first time on Saturday, I had a person assume I was pregnant and was sure enough to make a comment! It was a cute Jamaican man at North Market and he said to Nick and I, "Ahhhh! When is the happy occasion!?," while motioning to my belly. I'm REALLY surprised it hadn't happened earlier! I had heard so many horror stories of strangers approaching women (pregnant or not) and asking when they are due, or ones where people grab women's bellies. Thus far, everyone has been very respectful and kind, and more excited than anything! But, am I really going to be offended if someone assumes I'm pregnant! I AM! :)

Gardens!

Man, I love Spring. It just reminds me how much I love gardens, trees, and flowers. And that leads to my love of gardening itself! There is nothing like heading to a greenhouse on a bright April morning and taking in everything there is to offer our little backyard. Our yard, thankfully, was a blank slate when we moved in, but we only had time to drop 50 day lilies in the ground before the fall/winter craziness hit. And our lust for everything green and flowering surpasses a few day lilies... :)

But this Spring, watch out! We're planting trees, vines, herbs, vegetables, petunia, impatients, viburnum, lavender, etc...anything I can get my hands on! I've been spending some time at my favorite greenhouses in town, as well, which is the BEST way to spend a beautiful April morning. Here are my favorites:

Above is Oakland Nursery, one of Columbus's largest inner-loop nurseries with the most impressive collection of any type of growing thing imaginable. Prices are a bit higher than what you'd find on the outskirts of town, but they have great end-of-season sales (forsythia is on sale now!).
This one is deMonye's Greenhouse, also a great choice for sheer volume of stuff. DeMonye's has a great collection of potted tropicals and indoor plants, but is known for their seasonal sales, such as their The Wave Petunia sale last weekend. This is the type of petunia that grows like it's on steroids in gardens and baskets everywhere. They had thousands of flats of them in every color imaginable stacked on about a hundred huge carts. I bought 6 or 7 flats and that was MODEST compared to what some people bought.

I have also found that our neighborhood Lowe's has great sales as well, though their selection is more directed to those won over by racks of brightly colored pansies and pre-made baskets (not that there is anything wrong with that!). I have purchased some great lilacs and flowering trees (all on sale RIGHT NOW) to enjoy next year! I have found, even though I am an impatient person in general, I love planting things now in hopes of a beautiful next year! And, though we're enjoying our yard right now, I can't wait to see how it looks in years to come!

Helpful Website!

I am usually pretty skeptical of information found on the internet, but this website is just too practical and helpful to not pass on. For those of you who are expecting a baby (which, by my count, is EVERYONE IN THE WORLD), Dos and Don'ts with Babies has some really great guidelines for how to take care of your new little one, such as the helpful one below:

Sweet Sweet Spring

When I was growing up, I don't remember Spring being an especially exciting time, nature-wise. I remember rain, daffodils, and then the leaves appearing. Pennsylvania is rampant with Dogwood Trees, as well, and those were beautiful, but as far as other flowering trees, they're just not sticking in my memory. And, even after living in Michigan for 5 years, the flowering trees never stuck out to me.

Then we moved to Ohio! Flowering trees are on every corner here, and are overflowing with blossoms, both fragrant and stunningly beautiful. Forsythia, Weeping Cherry, Snow Cherry, Magnolia, Crape Myrtle, Crabapple, Redbud.... I've never seen anything like it, and each year seems to get better and more abundant! Bulb flowers, though blooming everywhere here, take a backseat to the trees... The picture above is one of tons of magnolia trees in Goodale Park next to the candle shop.

So maybe my memory is a bit cloudy and I wasn't able to appreciate nature's beauty on a horticultural level, but I pray that I am continually surprised and delighted year after year here once Winter recedes and Spring takes over and the trees explode! I also pray I can stop buying flowering trees for our backyard...it's only so big! :)

Oh, Little Pooch...You Have No Idea What's Coming...

Well, Maeby has caught on to what's happening in "her" room. Even though we have always called this room the "nursery," thus far it has largely functioned as the place in which Maeby's kennel resides, as well as a sometime guest room, when our actual guest room is overflowing (which happens more often than you may think!). It also remains the only room which we didn't paint during our whirlwind move-in month!

This changed a few days ago! Maeby's kennel moved into my studio room (soon to be replaced full-time by her bed in the dining room), and in a few hours, the room was painted! And last night we decided to tackle putting together the crib and changing table. So we laid all the pieces out and dove into the instructions. I think this was the point that Maeby realized something serious was happening. At first she was, "Oh, look! They're painting my room a nice blue color! How sweet of them! And what a comfy rug! Wow! How generous!" then it moved to "Huh. That's odd. There's new stuff in my room. Weird. I already have my kennel and love it...what else could I need?" and now it's more "HOLY CRAP I THINK SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG HERE!!!"

She started trying to thwart the process by licking each piece of the furniture, just to test it out. She then attempted to help with the instructions by getting in our way each time we went to check them. She made sure to lay down directly on the parts we were working with, in the middle of the space. There was a lot of sighing and leaning against us, or walking out of the room in a huff only to bring back a toy (her current favorite: a tiny pink hippo) and shoving it in our hands.

She finally resolved to just lay quietly near us as we worked on the final pieces. The whole show was just so hysterical and endearing that it took us longer than we thought to put everything together because we were laughing so hard at Maeby!

We'll try to give her some special attention, but I think she's in for a rude awakening in about 12 weeks' time. I think she'll be depressed for a while, but she'll come around. We're just excited that our son has a great playmate to join him right away! There is no better companion for a little boy than a lab! Especially one that still thinks she's a puppy!

Toured!

Tonight we had our hospital tour at the OSU Medical Center. I went into it not expecting to see much and certainly not expecting to be impressed. I have been around and in hospitals all my life, just because of so many family members in the medical field, and really have no problem with them (except for the fact that they overuse the colors Teal and Mauve), so I was just going because it was the thing to do.

6 or so other couples were on the tour with us, led by Jill, a L&D nurse. The OSU hospitals are quite a maze, the result of year after year of construction. What appears from the outside to be one large building is actually a series of Halls: Doan, Rhodes, and James that all attach to the Ross Heart Hospital (our answer to America's "Let's Build the Most Impressive Cardiac Hospital Ever" Phase of the early 2000's). Once inside, the signage is pretty good, but it can still get confusing. So, for that reason alone, the tour was well worth it. Jill told us where to park, how to get to the right set of elevators, and how to check into the maternity ward. (All information we will gladly share to any visitors out there!)

This is where it got cool. OSU Maternity Ward has recently undergone massive construction. What we were presented with looked more like a four-star hotel than hospital. Hardwood floors and walls in both light and dark finishes, wide hallways with 12" tall ceilings, and soft lighting greeted us as we moved into the curving corridor and then into a labor, delivery, and recovery room. One wall was an huge window, letting in tons of natural light, with all of the rooms being private with a private bathroom. They provide all sorts of labor support like laboring balls, support bars, and large shower for pain relief. I was also impressed to hear that they are encouraging some of the latest research in skin-to-skin contact with the mother/baby and are pushing the 2010 breastfeeding initiatives. I don't know why I was surprised; this is a teaching hospital...I suppose they should practice the latest in research their faculty and students are learning.

All in all, I'm glad I got to appreciate all the thought and effort they put into the maternity ward at OSU, because I'm sure that the next time I'm there, I won't really care about the hardwood floors or panoramic views...

Hunk a' Burning Heart

In light of full disclosure to everyone out there who isn't pregnant, who might be, or to those who prefer to suffer in silence, I need your help!

I have never really had heartburn before about mid-pregnancy, a few months ago. It's a common symptom of pregnancy, especially third trimester and one I was fully expecting to endure. It's pretty obvious why it happens; the baby takes up space where your stomach once was, and all the little openings and closings between your mouth and it are all relaxed ('cuz of that pesky Relaxin)...there's really only one natural result: heartburn.

It's gotten worse over the past week or so, but what really bothers me is that I can't pinpoint what foods are exacerbating it. So far, I've noticed that garlic, onions and pizza really do it, but besides that, it's pretty much everything else at some point! What's super weird is that I eat a lot of Indian and Ethiopian food, which some people might consider spicy and a likely culprit, but that doesn't bother me at all! The only foods that I think are "safe" are cereal, bread, and some plain meat...but, even then, some of those bother me!

I can take Tums, and I'll be asking my doctor tomorrow what else I can take during pregnancy, but I'm not very interested in taking too many drugs for this. My question for everyone out there is what foods cause you trouble, and what made it feel better? The Internet hasn't been very helpful on this issue, so I covet your responses!

Everybody to the Limit!

I'm not used to physical limitations; I've always been pretty healthy and strong and never really thought much about "taking it easy." I have rarely found something that I cannot do because I am physically unable to do it.

Well, I think I hit that physical exertion wall this past week - on Friday I spent most of the day on my feet, registering at a Columbus baby boutique called Fireflies and Fairy Tales (super cute!) with Caitlin in the morning and then pouring and packing candles like a crazy person in the afternoon. Friday night I was hurtin', all creaky and back-achey. It was weird, but I guess it was bound to happen! I'm glad I made it 70% through my pregnancy before feeling this way! And now I know to NOT stand for 12 hours in a row! Funny thing, that! But I'm still sleeping pretty well (thanks to my AWESOME pillow!), and feeling overall great. My only cravings continue to be Chicken Pot Pie and Fruit, so nothing too weird yet.

In Baby D news, our little man is the size of a head of Chinese Lettuce, roughly 15" long and 2.5 lbs. He is moving all around a lot, and is most active when Nick reads to him at night...he knows his Daddy's voice! His movements during the day are enough so that you can see them by looking at my belly, which is hilarious!

Baby Stuff Hilarity

Nick and I are going through the process of registering at various baby places because, well, I guess it's the thing to do! I've always found registering a little strange, but the BABY registry process is absolutely hysterical. We went to Babies 'R' Us on Sunday, sat at their giant specially-made-for-the-registry-process-desk, got our registry packet and scan gun (which is the ONLY reasons Dads tag along for this) and sent us on our way!

As we headed towards the WALL of baby bottles and breast pumps, Nick and I just started laughing. I can't believe that they would expect two childless adults who have spent the last 6.5 years together, traveling, getting graduate degrees, hanging out with other childless friends, starting arts organizations, to know what the heck a NUK is...or the proper way to store and freeze breast milk, or what bottle nipple is most soothing, or what baby proofing equipment is necessary, or why fancy Boppy covers cost $40, or what a layette is/are, or why my infant needs a bath robe when I don't even own one, or why baby washcloths come in 8-packs.

Other couples came in, grabbed scan guns (wielded by the father, of course), and headed confidently to various departments, sure of the crib skirt they wanted, the right Bumbo seat color to match their nursery and the perfect Baby Einstein video to make their infant's brain swell with imagination. I just laughed and started pointing at stuff that looked cool and Nick scanned away. (A note here about Nick- even though he did admit to LOVING the scan gun - who doesn't - he was absolutely awesome the whole time! I think he had more fun than I did!)

So, I apologize if you take a look at our Babies 'R' Us registry and it doesn't make any sense. It was created by childless parents who have no idea what they're doing. :)

We did, however, also register at Amazon.com, because the book selection at Babies 'R' Us was PATHETIC and their Pat the Bunny book cover did NOT even have a soft bunny to pat on it! And they only had dumbed-down versions of Dr. Seuss books. I repeat, they carried DUMBED DOWN VERSIONS OF DR. SEUSS BOOKS. I didn't think that was physically possible. Amazon has a great selection of everything else under the sun, including great natural toys, furniture, the Flip video camera, and other awesome baby stuff. So, hopefully we'll be able to navigate that page a bit better!

It's STILL a boy!

Nick and I had a debate this morning whether or not to try and fool everyone today...and I won...so, I hope you enjoyed imagining our faces when the doctor supposedly told us that our little Baby Boy was a girl!

Then I sincerely hope you looked at a calendar! :)

Mistakes can happen...

Well, we had a bit of a surprise today at our ultrasound this morning! After taking another look at Baby D, Dr. Jenkins amended his previous guess and announced that Baby D is actually a

BABY SHE!!!

Whoops!