I can now talk without breaking into a coughing fit, but the cough hasn’t completely disappeared. SInce talking was the worst, that’s a good thing. I really tried to get Dave to register an AIM account so that we could have a conversation that wasn’t punctuated by violent coughing fits every three words, but he wouldn’t go for it. Oh well.

He worked 15 hours yesterday, a UM televised doubleheader of women’s basketball at noon, and hockey at 7.  Today he is working with his freelance guy.  He had Monday off, but still, that’s a lot of work for one week. Poor guy. (Well, not poor, since he gets OT, or he wouldn’t do it. But still. TIRED guy.)

Last night the widget was bouncing around, and looking at my belly was like looking at a Whack-A-Mole table. I can’t discern parts yet, but there were lumps and bumps popping up everywhere, leading me to conclude that the widget was doing jumping jacks. WEIRD.

It seems so weird to be so…. pregnant. I’m 24+ weeks, you know? That’s 60% done. I have less to go than I’ve already gone.  I have a link to this countdown calendar that tells me I can say I’m 6 months pregnant now, but that seems like too much, so I just say 5. (Plus, people tend to use the formula: (9-n) +x=duedate month, where n=’months pregnant’ and x=current month, and n=5 gives a more accurate due date. i think being due midmonth affects the equation.) But, the days to go part can’t be challenged — I’ve been pregnant for 170, and have 110 to go. In 11 days, that will be LESS THAN 100. That is NUTS. I was clicking through a monthly calendar, checking for the dates to schedule my GD test, etc, and was all "Click-Feb, Click-March, Click-Apr, Click MAY BABY OMG!" FREAKY.  There’s so much to DO! I have to get the backroom organized! I have to prewash the diaper whenthey get here! We have childbirth classes and I’ll have a shower and I’ll start to see the doctor every 2 weeks, and then every week and OMG I have to give birth! Oy!

I have to have the 1-hour GD test in a few weeks, and I’m thinking about going to the hospital lab because the people watching is better at the lab up the street. Is that weird?

My 24 week appointment went well. Everything is measuring spot-on, my concern about the discrepancies between my scale and the doctor scale were laid to rest when I had it confirmed that the rate and total gain were the same.  At 24 weeks, I’ve gained 12 pounds, which is below the average, which is where it should be. Babycenter tells me I should only gain 15 pounds, which makes me give them a great big middle finger. I know I shouldn’t gain a LOT, and probably less than average, and I’m eating well and exercising (does coughing count as abs work, too?) but 15 pounds is going to be surpassed, for sure. I plugged in the figures for someone who was underweight, and they got a range of 28-40. Overweight, FIFTEEN! That’s it, fatty! FIF!TEEN! Whatever. March of Dimes was much more helpful in providing a graph of weight gained over time, and I’m holding steady to my own curve, which is okay, IMO. ANd my doctor, who reportedly can be pretty aggressive about weight gain, had zero problems with where I’m at.

The coughing/illness of the last two weeks was diagnosed as bronchitis, and I started a 6-day round of antibiotics today. I sure hope it helps. The coughing is annoying, to me and others, I’m sure, and it HURTS. It’s coughing-til-I-see-stars at this point, to where I almost throw up from the momentum. I wake myself up coughing, and Dave, and it SUCKS. My voice is slowly going away, right now I sound like one of Marge’ sisters on the Simpsons. Oh, and lets not mention that if I feel a really powerful coughing fit approaching, I better get to a bathroom right away, lest I totally piss my pants.

How does sex end up making one so totally UNSEXY? UGH. UGH. UGH.

Oh, and here’s a belly pic from today:
 

My guts have been off today, and I haven’t felt well, but whoa, can I be stupid. 

I was replying to an email tonight, after I’d gone grocery shopping and before dinner, when I thought i was going to just — hurl. Everywhere. I couldn’t even finish the email, I went upstairs, didn’t hurl, didn’t anything, and got chilled, so I crawled under the blankets and felt miserable for a while, trying to think of what I could’ve eaten that had such an effect… hmm, cereal and banana for breakfast…. two pieces of wheat toast and a yogurt for lunch….. and… and that was it. WELL, FUCK. Not to mention, I had completely forgotten to drink anything, too. Not taking medication means not standing at the sink every few hours.

Once I figured it out, I summoned Dave, who brought me a bottle of water, and some peanut butter granola bars.  I choked those down, and then had him bring me a peanut butter sandwich. Once I felt like I wouldn’t DIE standing upright, I went downstairs and ate a banana. I feel much better.

Before I went to the store, I had even SAID, "I need some protein or something," so I picked up ground beef, which we NEVER eat, and swiss cheese, and Dave was going to make burgers. I also got the granola bars then, too. And I was hungry, but Dave wasn’t, so I didn’t want to ‘spoil my dinner’ with a granola bar, which is why at 7:15, I thought I was dying. We had no burgers tonight, maybe tomorrow we will, and the granola barBECAME my dinner. I tell you what, the widget won’t let me neglect it. Oy.

I’m actually looking forward to school for the food, in part.  I eat a good lunch there, usually, more protein and fresh veggies than I do when I lunch at home. ANd, I always get water with my meal, so that I WON’T FORGET. The lack of structure of vacation, on top of the last week of being sick, fucks with my schedule, eating included.  I also need to just REMEMBER to EAT when I AM HUNGRY. Never thought THAT would be a concern, but indeed, it is.

At least I have a great husband who was great about shuttling peanut butter protein up to me as I turned green under the covers…

Note to world: When you have an upset stomach, a kicking baby poking at your intestines does NOT help. Oof.

And in other baby/poop news, I ordered diapers today! Yeehaw! I ordered from babybecause.com, and will soon be in possession of:

36 Infant unbleached chinese prefolds
4 Kissaluvs, size 0
4 Kissaluvs terry doublers
6 Imse Vimse Bumpy Soft covers, size small
4 Imse Vimse Bumpy Night covers, size newborn
1 package Snappis
1 small Bummis tote (for around town)
1 medium Bummis tote (for day trips to the lake or whathaveyou)

This is in addition to what I already have:
5 Kushies AIO, size small (? 10-22lbs)
2 Kissaluvs, size 0
1 Kissaluv contour
4 wraps of various makes and sizes. (I forget specifics, it was al from an ebay sale.)

ANyway, yay! Diapers!

I’m feeling like a lamer because I will miss 2 weeks of Y classes on account of sickness (last week) and stitches (this week). The doc said I could shower with the steri-strips, but I googled up wondering about swimming, and basically, it says "nope."  I really liked the class, and want to go back, and am also afraid that they’re going to think I’m a big fat quitter or something. urgh.

Classes start tomorrow! I still don’t know about my under-registered Networking class, and while I would LOVE to have it ths term and get it over with, theres also part of me that’s like "ooh, only two classes? sweet!" But it just means I have to make up that class as a PARENT and not a PREGNANT PERSON, so I’m not foolish enough to recognize that having it now would be a whole lot better.  Oh well. I’ll figure it out.

I’ll put the details of the biopsy behind the cut (har!) for those that are squeamish about such things. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I still haven’t LOOKED at it to know what it looks like. And hopefully this will answer some questions.

And for another dream to report, I must have been feeling the widget wobbling around in there while I was asleep, because my dream last night was that I was laying on a beach, and Mrs K’s Sadie toddled up to me and started batting at my belly and saying "baby! baby!" And in the dream, i was like "whoa! It’s Sadie! I know her! Kindof!"  And tried to get up and look around for Mrs K to introduce myself.

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(I thought I was getting better, but it seems that the sinus thing just moved to my throat and chest. UNGH. AND, Dave is in Portland today, so he can’t come home at lunch with cough syrup or anything. 🙁 )

I had a dream over the weekend, that even the most amateur of dream-interpreters could probably figure out.

In the dream, Dave’s best friend and his girlfriend had moved back to Portland from Michigan, and bought a house. A real fixer-upper, but on the river, with a long dock. The house was oooollddd, there was no insulation anywhere, just studs and exterior planks, with big gaps between the planks.  When we went to visit, we took FatKitty with us.

Of course the friend and GF wanted to take Dave on a float trip down the river, and I had to stay and take care of fat Kitty. I fed her grapes and cherry tomatoes, and was afraid she’d choke, so I was cutting them up into tiny pieces. Then she made a mess, and I had to clean it up, and I was trying to find paper towels and stuff so that I didn’t leave this new house a mess of tomatoes and grapes. But while I was trying to clean, FatKitty went upstairs, and I had to go up and try to entertain her so that she wouldn’t fall down the steep staircase, or fall through the gaps in the walls. And the whole time, I was really pissed that everyone ELSE was floating down the river without me.

WhatEVER could I be ANXIOUS about in my SUBCONSCIOUS????!!! I have NO idea! *eyeroll*

I have eaten vanilla ice cream and toast today. I hate being sick.

I went to the hockey game last night with Sara, the girlfriend of Matt, who is Dave’s coworker.  It was fun, although eerily subdued, until we realized that it was still winter break, and so the student balcony was almost empty. With no students, there wasn’t nearly enough ref-heckling or bare-chested bell-ringers circling the rink for each goal.  Either way, UM won 6-2, and each of those six goals warranted a rousing response from the crowd, and that roused a response from the widget. Yeehaw!

My throat started to tickle a bit at the game, but I thought it might have been the kettle corn or something, but by the time I got home, my head and sinuses had completely filled up. UGH. I woke up with the sinus pain, and still have it, and haven’t even gotten DRESSED today, just passed in and out of consciousness. Dave was a sweetie and got me OJ and ginger ale, and made me chili ramen noodles (my preferred decongestant meal) but I still feel like ASS. FUCK. I hate feeling like ass.

Anyway.

So, instead of doing anything productive, I’ve been watching PBS and sleeping, and surfing the web, and beginning to think about registering for baby stuff.  I started two online registries*, at BRU and Target, but as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t actually HAVE a BRU here, just two aisles at Toys R Us instead, so while I know SOME things are available here, the online selection is undoubtedly greater than what is available in-store.

Things we have already include a crib, stroller, infant seat, super-duper electric breast pump, and 2 slings. I am borrowing a changing table and bassinet from Amy. I plan on ordering our diapering supplies this month.  Things I’ve picked out are a swing, pack-n-play, Boppy & slipcovers (after working in the infant room, I do NOT understand why they even bother selling the cute, but unwashable not-slipcovered Boppies…), bouncer/rocker thing and some other stuff. Things I don’t want include some cheesy Pooh-ass diaper bag or whatever (you know the kind), a diaper genie thing (since we’re doing cloth), or a giant plastic baby tub.

Any recommendations or anything?  And what happens when someone thinks I’ve made a horrible error in omitting the Pooh-ass diaper bag from a registry, and I get one anyway? Are exchanges/returns a possibility at Target and/or BRU, and with what amount of hassle?

*Most of you know my name, and if you wanted to check out the registries and offer any advice, that would be cool, too.

Widget pics are up in the pregnancy photo album, on the right. A face!

Also, last night as Dave was falling asleep, he had his arm draped across my belly, and totally felt the widg kick, repeatedly. I’d feel it too, of course, and as he announced each nudge, he’d call it out, and I’d start laughing. It was VERY cool.

Our ultrasound went great. We didn’t find out what we were having, all the parts are in place and measuring right and all of that, and we got some profile and face shots that I’ll scan in later. I’m a bad mama, since I looked at the non-profile one and had no idea what it WAS, until dave was like "that’s a FACE, gretchen." Oh, yeah. Now I see it. (In my defense, he had time to study it while I was de-gooping and stuff.)

So, yeah, I have a FACE IN ME. Weird.

Dave went to work, and I took a nap, and then Andy called, and he and I went to lunch and then rejoiced in the miracle of the renovation and reopening of the cheap seats theater.  The previous owner went bankrupt, and they’ve been closed for MONTHS, and today was the first day they were open again. We just happened tonotice that the sign had been changed and updated, and we were 2 of a handful of people that were there in the afternoon. It looks a ton better, and the prices are still low (lower than the last place, although the $2.50 tickets may be an introductory price for now, but they will STILL be the ‘cheap seats,’ offering second-run movies.)  The snack prices are about the same, also low, and I’m totally excited.  The cheap seats are right around the corner from my house, and for what I’d pay for a ticket at the first run theater (which isn’t a super-great theater), I can get a ticket, AND lemonade and a popcorn.  I’ve never done movie snacks except at the cheap seats, and I’ve totally missed it. (I only got water today, since we’d just had lunch.)

We watched Jarhead, which was really great, and I figured out which parts I needed to turn away from pretty easily (Basically, puking, burning feces, and branding) and even cried a bit at the end, when they showed what the soldiers were doing int he present-day, since it’s easy to forget they are everywhere, I think. 

After that, came home, Dave and Matt are hanging out in the basement, I’m watching the news an surfing the web and all is good.

And there’s a FACE IN THERE!

Today was my first aqua class. I totally wish I could’ve captured the whole thing on film, because it would probably end up being one of those videos that gets sent all over the internet with a "can you believe THIS?" type of tagline.

First, I was there early, by about 15 minutes, and the lifeguard said I could share a lane with the lap swimmers who were finishing up, but I really wanted to meet the instructor when I could see her, which would mean while I was wearing my glasses. So i waited.  Two other pregnant women showed up, and got in the water, and the next lifeguard said "you can get in" and I explained again, "No, this is my first time and I wanted to meet the instructor with my glasses on…" But, of course, the instructor was late, so about 30 seconds before she walked in, I said "fuck it" and took off my glasses and got in the water.

Oh, yum. That felt GREAT. It was in the warmest pool of the Y, and immediately felt good, sighted or not.  The other two women realized i was there for prenatal, and started to talk, and then the instructor showed up. (Incidentally, she left before I was out of the pool, so I STILL have no idea what she looks like. It’s a little thing, but I think unless you have poor vision, you don’t understand why it’s nice to meet someone when your vision is 20/20.)  To set the scene, you must know that the other two women (there were only three of us) were both younger than me, I’m certain, and had blonde hair pulled back in ponytails, and were not only wearing the same SUIT, but had the same TOWEL. Then there’s me, in my black Old Navy bargain-bin maternity halter tankini, that feels all kinds of weird compared to my normal tankinis, blind, and with my newly cut brown hair floating about unrestrained. Just to set the scene — Sweet Valley Twins, and me, a grown up Ramona the Pest.

The first exercise, we straddled a swim noodle like a horse, and ‘bicycled’ around the pool. It was then that the instructor asked me all kinds of questions (the other two had been coming for a while) and the other women chimed in with their experiences.  One has two boys already, the other is a first timer like me. We’re all due within the same month, we’ve all been feeling movement. We’re all mid-Master’s degrees, but I’m the only one that’s taking classes now. None of them could imagine ever teaching middle school kids, including the instructor, who HAS a middle school kid. (That’s not so unique. I’m always suprised at how "I taught 7th and 8th grade" gets the same kind of reactions that "I wash the exterior windows of skyscrapers" probably get.) After a few rounds of horse-bicycle stuff, we got kickboards. THIS is when it gets funny.

Sweet Valley Twins? They’re off, kicking away. Me? I think if I moved, it was backwards. It was too funny to be too embarrassing, honestly. Even the instructor laughed. I haven’t used a kickboard since I was maybe 9, and I was spending so much ENERGY and NOT. MOVING. AN. INCH.  The SVT’s have lapped me, and I made it to the wall, basically.  The next one was a side stroke, with one arm on the kickboard, which was slightly easier, but still not at all intuitive.  On the second ‘side,’ I got to the gutter at the deep end and had to stop, because I was getting frustrated and asthma-y, and I just had to breathe. It’s one thing to be doing weird shit with my normal body, but with my new pregnant body, it was totally different. But even with the instructor laughing at with me, it still felt good.

The next round was using foam barbells. I really liked those, even though, again, it would have been funny to watch.  We were in the deep end, arms extended to our sides, hands on the barbells, and were jogging in place. Well, the SVTs were jogging in place. I kept jogging up to the wall and having to jog back to ‘place.’  Eventually, I just started jogging in circles, because I could not stay ‘in place’ like the SVTs. So, picture it, the SVTs, perfectly lined up, jogging in place, and me jogging in circles like a drunken duck. FUNNY STUFF.

ANd yes, who the hell knows WHY I was able to propel myself sans-arms when in a VERTICAL position, but completely immobilized by not having use of my arms in a horizontal position. I am an ENIGMA, and you know it.

After that, we did some stuff hanging off the wall, and then we had some time to do some free swimming, which I totally took advantage of.  The SVTs used kickboards (showoffs!) and I just did four laps, if only to prove that I wasn’t a complete and total sinking barge.  The laps felt really good, too.

The SVTs (who were really nice, don’t get me wrong) also do the yoga class on Mondays, which is taught by the same instructor, so I guess I’ll be able to actually SEE her then.  One asked why there weren’t more prenatal classes through the week, and the instructor said "oh, we just don’t get many people to the ones we DO offer. If it were a regular class, it would never be continued, but because it’s a therapeutic class, we do them no matter the enrollment."  So I piped up, "Why aren’t there any classes after working hours?" Because, DUDE, who CAN go to the Y at ONE in the afternoon on Wednesdays?  I can see having mom&baby classes during weekday hours, because your targeting SAHMs, usually, but pregnant people are often working people. I mentioned that the only reason I was able to take the class was because I was a student with a REALLY flexible schedule.  I think the already-mom is a SAH, and the other first timer works down the street, and is able to take a full lunch hour. (Side note, most places don’t offer ‘lunch hours’ here, it seems. Dave gets one, but most people get 1/2 hours. When I went to Phoenix, I was totally amazed by having a FULL hour for lunch. )  The instructor sounded like she’d never considered that. "That’s a great idea! I never even THOUGHT about that!" and she kept going on about it, sort of working it out in her head what it would take to get an after-5 prenatal class going. The other women agreed that there would probably be more people in an after-5 class, too.  How could they NOT have considered it? So weird.

After, when I hauled myself out of the warm water, I felt like a moose. I’ve always loved being in the water, and oh, pregnant? It was FANTASTIC.  It was almost startling to be reminded of the new body as I got out. Either way, it felt great, and I can’t wait to go back. I’m so glad I signed up.

Next time, though, I need to remember to bring a comb or hairbrush. Also, I bought a WordLock at Staples today, for my gym use, and I totally love it. It’s orange. I haven’t had to frig with a locker combination since junior high (by high school, I wasn’t so worried about my stuff, I guess) and having one I could program with a word of my choice is pretty cool for my already-stupider brain.  (However, you can’t spell SNARK with it. Yes, I tried.)