No, no, no, no, no!!!

No! I’m thinking that if I say it enough, it will mean it’s not happening. I had the second person in a few days tell me that I’m waddling. It can’t be – I won’t let it. It’s too early for me to be waddling! Maybe it’s just because I’m exhausted and just not thinking of my gait, so I’m defaulting into a waddle. I’ll have to be more conscious and think positive thoughts of good posture ;)

Wow – this is going to be an update-o-rama! So much has gone on in the past couple of weeks, and Matt and I have just been really busy with life in general. Can’t say that it’s one specific thing, but just life. This weekend, Matt was gone for a couple days on a golf trip to Ocean City with the guys. He had a great time, and I had a good time home alone too :) I think the nesting bug hit me, and I cleaned the house all day Saturday. It really needed it. But in a few days, we'll have it cluttered again, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts :) I also had a wonderful evening on Thursday - the girls from my bible study group threw me a really nice baby shower! I'm the 5th one of us to have a baby this year (out of 7 ladies total), but I'm the only one having her first - we've had quite a baby boom! So that was a nice time. And then Friday night, I met up with some friends for what I thought was our monthly girls night out. However, when I walked into my friend Melissa's family room, everyone was there yelling 'SURPRISE!'. They got together and threw me a surprise shower - and it was definitely a surprise! I think I screamed, and almost peed my pants :) So, Friday was another really nice evening with friends. Lots of chit-chat, drinks for them, Sprite for me, and I was probably out until 12:30am. But I had a wonderful time! Thank you everyone for loving and caring so much for me, for Matt, and our tadpole!!! You're the best!

This weekend, we're at 34 weeks! Oh my goodness - only 6 more weeks to go. Some parts of me are feeling ready, and other parts really want to keep the baby in for another few months. The nursery is coming along - but I'm less than happy with the paint we bought. We bought the eggshell finish since it is supposedly durable enough to clean. But the fingerprints that I stupidly got on the wall are not coming off - a damp rag with plain water made a big 'ol smudge, and then the magic eraser made it worse. I guess we'll have to put a 3rd coat on. Poor hubby. As for baby updates, the tadpole is still moving and shaking (and sometimes having little spazz moments). I think that is one of the things I’ll miss once she’s born – watching my tummy wig out when she’s moving in there. I think that I’ve also felt her hiccupping! It’s a little faster than I thought it would be, but quite rhythmic, so I guess that’s what it is. Or she’s taking after her mom and figuring out a way to play the drums ;)

Our childbirth classes started last Monday. So far so good. At least they’ve led to some interesting discussions between Matt and I. All those new anatomical terms, and learning what will likely happen on delivery day… I think it’s becoming a whole lot more real to him. In more ways than one, I think it’s a little sad that dads can’t get the ‘whole’ experience of carrying and giving birth to a baby – not just the pain and discomfort nad hormone raging, but the emotional aspect, the bonding, and learning just exactly what is happening to your body. Your stomach is pushed up and cramped closer to your lungs, your bladder is pushed down and is frequently being ‘stepped on’ by the baby (hence the every 30 min potty breaks), and just the whole issue of how my body is going to be able to do exactly what it’s supposed to do and deliver a baby. It’s surreal. But, the birthing classes are interesting. We have two more to go. I also have to schedule a tour of the hospital too. That should be interesting too :)

Oh, and I can’t remember if I talked about it or not, but we had a nice long weekend in Ocean City over Labor Day weekend. It was such a nice time – we got to relax on the beach, enjoy a few days away, and went out for a date night one night – Smitty McGee’s for dinner, and then putt-putt golf. Our putt-putt games are high stakes – loser buys ice cream for the winner. So the first game, I won by one stroke – SWEET! I was already tasting my Dairy Queen blizzard when Matt says he wants a re-match. Alright then – we go to a different course to make it fair. This time I pantsed him! I had 2 or 3 hole-in-ones, and won by 8 strokes! He was a little bitter, but to be honest, the clubs at the second place were not great and were shaped funny. But I still beat him, and got my peanut butter cup blizzard as my reward :). You may think we’re crazy – but putt-putt is serious business for us! We know almost every course in Ocean City, which ones are good/bad, or easy/challenging, or have rotten clubs or bad turf. I should blog about that – Ocean City putt-putt. Maybe we’ll get a few free games :)

Hmmm…what else? Not much – just day to day. Both of us have a lot going on at work, though my workload has been slowing a bit since my long term projects are being delegated to others in anticipation of me being out for 3 months. Hopefully Matt’s big contract job will be finished soon and his life will be a little less stressed (and his cell phone will stop ringing at 6:30am with work issues). Other than that – we’re just status quo.

No belly picture right now… maybe once Matt gets home from the Ravens game, we can take our 34 week picture. But, needless to say, I’m still growing, and still gaining, but we’re right on track. My doc has been really happy with how ‘boring’ of a patient I am – nothing to worry about!

Until next time – be well :)

Miss you Aunt Kay…

This past week (9-16-09), Matt’s Aunt Kay (his mom’s sister) passed away after a 31+ year battle with multiple sclerosis. She was a wonderful woman, and I always enjoyed sitting and talking with her when I got the chance at family occasions. She was soft spoken, but always had a lot to say, and some good stories too. We will all miss her very much – her courage, her love for family, and just her presence.

So last week was bittersweet – sadly, you lose someone special, but happily, you also get to see so many other relatives who come from miles away for the viewings and funeral. So, despite the circumstances, we got to spend some good time with Matt’s relatives from southern VA and Ohio, catching up on each others lives, perusing through old photo albums, and also laughing at memories. It was a full 4 days. It really makes you think though – these family times should be enjoyed on a more regular basis and during normal life times, not just on the occasion of a funeral. Strange how funerals do that…

Turtles???

This was just too funny for me not to say anything about right away. I know that I've been pretty lax with posting updates, but I will send a more informative update soon :)

To begin - pregnancy has certainly had an effect on my dreams lately. Not really nightmares, but very vivid dreams. The other night, I dreamt that I was going to give birth to turtles!! At first (in the dream), it wasn't such a big deal since the turtle eggs were in the ground and ready to hatch. All I had to do was sit on them to keep them warm. But then, things changed, and in addition to being pregnant with a baby, the turtle eggs somehow got into my belly, and were going to hatch before the baby was born. I couldn't understand how they would get out, but then someone told me that they would hatch and chew through my belly to escape. Great - fair enough. And for some reason, I had no problem with that :) I was just patiently waiting to give birth to my turtles, and also making plans to be near the water so that when they hatched, they could crawl away and live in the ocean. Too bad that I woke up before anything happened and they actually hatched. But I just remember being so excited (and confused) during the whole dream that I was going to have a baby AND give birth to turtles!

Hmmmm... I wonder what other hormone- or heartburn-induced dreams that I'll have in the next 8 weeks :)