The teams I’ve had to shoot most this week are from my alma mater and our rival, and by sheer coincidence, every game I’ve attended I’ve been wearing the opposition’s team colors. Truly a coincidence, but I can imagine people recognizing me from the stands and thinking I was doing it just to be a spiteful asshole, since I really feel no undying love for my alma mater, or the town, or the people, and Idon’t spend halftime shmoozing and hugging people in the stands or whatever. It’s pretty much a no eye contact experience for me. But, I did feel kind of like an accidental jerk witht he color thing, so I saved my ONE purple shirt to wear today, if only to prove that I WASN’T a bitch. I roll in, and what is the other team? Purple and white. Playing in their purple uniforms. FUCKING A. Can’t win at all. (Also, bizarrely, they have the same school song — musically, the words are obviously different — so it was this sea of purple and hearing the same song twice, and just.. weird.)  Woo-town won, which means they go to the state game next week, which I hope I don’t have to shoot because it’s in Augusta. Usually if they get to the state game, someone wants to go and they take the pictures, so we’ll see.  I don’t mind taking the action pictures, but I’m so NOT a sports photog — i get some good ones and some duds, but it works out. I do like taking the pictures of when they win, though, because everything is slowed down a bit, the players are beaming, and you know, there’s no one putting a hand in their face and blocking both our shots. I definitely got some good emotion shots, which is really more of my specialty (well, that and weird details of things..) so that part was fun.  One more game tonight, and I’m pretty much done.  All week I’ve only had one unexpected conversation — I expect the ones with #1 Fan (oh, today in a ’93 warm up jacket), with Mr B from the Aggravator, etc,  — today’s was with Molly, where I got to see her 6 monthold and be told that "My priorities will totally change" (to which Dave said "SHIT! We can still solicit hookers and do blow with a BABY, can’t we?") which is what everyone tells you, that and "it’s worth it" and "you’re life will totally change." NO SHIT. Anyway. She looked good, I got to hear about how sick the baby was in her first few weeks, etc etc.

Speaking of MY baby, yet another Oh My God, we’re having a BABY moment last night.  I logged into my target registry to see if anything else had been discontinued, because I registered in the middle of them shifting all of their stock around, so it’s been an issue, and I saw the word FULFILLED on a couple of things. !!! I wasn’t trolling to see if I’d scored anything yet, because, hello, I don’t even have a shower scheduled, so it was so WEIRD to see that someone, somewhere, is buying into this whole "gretchen’s having a baby" scheme. I mean, WEIRD. I’m having a REAL LIVE BABY that will use stuff that’s ALREADY BEEN PURCHASED. Ho. LY. SHIT. CRAZY.

Today: Ellsworth! Mexican Food! More Basketball!

1) It is snowing today. Not snowstorm snowing, but at least it is SNOWING.

2) "Woo-town’s"* number one fan that had moved to the old people section? Apparently, it was temporary. He was there last night, in his purple/gold t-shirt ("WHS #1 FAN"), purple/gold clown wig, purple/gold face paint, and purple/gold jester hat, leading the crowd (from the BLEACHERS) in lots of "Gimme a W!" type stuff. Also, heckling refs.

Maybe the world isn’t coming to an end, after all.

*Yes, Amy, apparently that’s the new town nickname? or something? Seriously. Woo-town. Woo-hoo-town.

Uh, yeah, sorry about leaving the whiny post at the top for so long… moving on….

The cat doesn’t have diabetes! This rocks. We are very happy to know that. Her test was more than two weeks ago, but I got sidetracked with the back and all that, and totally forgot that I hadn’t HEARD anything yet, so i called yesterday, and the vet left a VM saying she’s all good. Yay! Of course, after the tests she sort of backed off the crazy thirst/peeing combo, and is even acting downright frisky (well, okay, chasing imaginary flies on the way from sleeping in her chair to sleeping on the couch might not be ‘frisky’ in your world, but trust me. It is in hers.). It’s all good.

I have the diabetes info session next week, but have had zero instructions or restrictions placed on my diet or whatever at this point, so I’m assuming I’m not that serious (as it was, only the lst of four draws was ‘elevated’) and living as such. Which is why I made cookies last night while Dave got his slot car track running. Not a bad evening in our house, eh? Cookies, slotcars, and happy non-diabetic fat cats.

Weird realization: Hello, I have ELEVEN WEEKS LEFT. ELEVEN. That is so not anything. In fact, I will likely be a MOTHER when I watch the Survivor and Amazing Race finales this season. THAT IS FUCKED UP. I’ve never watched a reality show finale with something eating from me. THAT IS FUCKED. UP.  Also? WE HAVE SO MUCH TO DO. ANd then? I HAVE NO JOB. It will all work out. It will all work out. It will all work out.

I’m starting to work on my seminar topic, which is basically boiling down to internet addiction, I think. Ha! A HA HAHAHAHA! Yes. Well, see, my original seed ideas were swirling around the question of "are we more connected as a society with al these global connections, and/or are local communities affected by that?" I mean. I probably qulaify as an internet addict. I spend a LOT of time online. Granted, it’s my job, a major part of my chosen career, and I spend hours a day in a computer lab with nothing else to do. I guess I could work on homework, but you know what I mean. I also have made all these great friends, real live FRIENDS, over the last several years by way of Digs, my journal, IM/ADL, whatever. I would bet that there are more people participating in my Digs (online) shower than will be at my IRL shower. See? I just said "IRL shower." Most people just have A Shower. I have the online one and the real one.

When I was in junior high, I signed up for a penpal through Teen magazine, and got one from Missouri. We wrote HUGE letters to each other, from seventh grade until we graduated, and then after, these 12-20 page long missives about boys and school and our families and whatever. Really, it was like a journal. She came here to visit before we went into 9th grade, I went there before 10th? 11th? and she came here for my high school graduation. It was the last time I saw her in person.  After 6 years of being each other’s diary, we just.. grew apart. She was southern Baptist, I was uh, yankee Stoner. It just got weird. We contacted each other a few times in the last ten years, she wrote me a letter telling me her biggest secret, because she had to tell someone and know that it was okay to do what the godfearing Missourians would tell her was murder, and I really wonder who else knows about that, still. I wrote her a few times as I tried to figure stuff out, but in the end, that was that. She’s married, lives in South Florida now with her husband and two little boys (I google her and get her sorority alumni updates, which is how I know all that), and I hope, is very happy. I still have all her letters in a box at my parents house, because it feels weird to throw them out. I think about sorting through them, organizing them, and finding her address and mailing them to her because really, it was a 6 year diary. Iwonder where mine are.

I tell that story, because it really was the precursor to my fondness for the internet. It didn’t exist in 1987, at all, but to have that outlet, that was really important. My online journal over the years has been the subsititute, really. I used to write to K in history class, or math, or other times I was supposed to be doing something else, and now, here I am, at 30, doing the same thing…  Being used to that distant, text-based friendship is just how I am. I have GREAT friends in real life, I do. Andy and Josh brought me a cheeseburger in BED when I couldn’t move. Amy will be there when I have the widget. I have great friends in real life, and some of those I met because of the internet.

Anyway. Yeah. Internet addiction, affect on community connectedness, etc. that kind of stuff. And on that note, I’m trying to think what would be easier — a mailing list for Dave to send out the news once the widget arrives, or training him in TypePad (admittedly, NOT HARD and he IS SMART), or both. GEEEEEK.

Also, been shooting the tournaments. It’s a bad year for WaCo basketball teams, as I’m down to just two that made it to the semifinals. The girls team from my alma mater, and the boys team from our rival school. Greeeeaatt. I had to call Amy and shriek into the phone "OH MY GOD, WE"RE OLD!" when I relayed the sad, sad fact that our school’s "number one fan" is now sitting in the OLD PEOPLE SEATS and not the bleachers, didn’t ONCE do the bellowing "GOOOOOOO OUUUUURRSCHHHHOOOOLLL", and even -gasp! — wasn’t wearing PURPLE. How did that happen? We’re old!

Oh, one baby related thing: I am one that would never, ever, ever ask someone if they were pregnant, comment on it, anything, unless I had been told they were pregnant, or the person was in labor and I could see the head crowning.  I’ve heard of too many people that get burned in that scenario, are mortified, and warn everyone else to bite their tongues when they see a big belly. But, as it turns out, not only do I not ASK, I also don’t TELL. One of my undergrad profs, I see her all the time coming and going, but I’m in my giant blue coat, so, whatever. Giant coat. Last week, though, on the day I took the belly shot, actually, she walked by me at the mailboxes, where I was NOT in a a giant blue coat. She did the usual, beam, "Hi, Gretchen! How are you!" and then was suddenly distracted by the mass that is the widget living inside of me… but she didn’t say anything, just looked back at me, maybe waiting for me to say something, and I just… smiled. What was i supposed to say? (I was really tempted to be all "OH, hey, there’s coffee cake by Becky’s desk" and walk off, but I didn’t.)  I figure she’ll ask around (I would, anyway, just feel out some contacts and say "hey, is Gretchen pregnant?" and then the next time I saw her, say "COngratulations! I hear you’re expecting.")  But, I don’t say anything. It’s weird — I don’t hide the belly, at all — i kind of like how the shirts I’m wearing accentuate it, really… the pants just suck because they are always drooping — but I also don’t get alll "BBBAAAAAYYYBBBEEEEEE" on anyone who is within 3 feet. Just, hmm. Weird.

For whatever reason, I’ve become obsessed with getting a crib bumper. I had ordered one on ebay, allegedly red gingham, but it was PINK gingham, and that aint gonna work. I haven’t re-ebayed it, and after a fruitless search for soemthing that is gender neutral and doesn’t absolutely SUCK, I’m thinking I’ll make a slipcover for the pink gingham one.  I found a fabric at Joann that I LOVE, and Dave was with me and loved it too — gender neutral, an aqua base with asymmetrical ovals in lime, yellow, and orange on top, a sort of retro/mod ish print on a canvas-y material. But, it’s 7 bucks a yard, which I don’t think I’ve EVER paid that much for a fabric, EVER. And googling the hell out of it  (the end of the bolt called it "Teal Fruit Loop") isn’t getting me ANYWHERE. 

My request!

Does anyone have one of those 40% off coupons that Joann sends out in the monthly flyer you ahve to sign up for that you’d be willing to part with? I used to be on the list, but fell off or something, and re-adding myself says that it will take approximately 6-8 weeks for it to take effect, and that’s like, oy, full term.

It’s so ridiculous, really, since I plan on keeping babe in-room for an indefinite amount of time, but it’s become a point of hyperfocus for me or whatever. I have no idea why. Anyway, I just thought I’d put it out there in case anyone was about to toss the flyer.

Oh, and a "damn, this is one small state" thingie for you:

The SVTs that I wrote about last month, in my aqua class? WELL. Okay. This is complex. 2 weeks ago, one of the SVTs and I were the only ones in the class, and after we talked for a long time because it turned out we had taught several of the same kids, me in middle school, and she when they went to her high school. That was a close-enough connection, enough to have a conversation, right? So, yesterday, Jess was talking about wanting to do the Kenduskeag, and how they needed a canoe, and blah blah blah, they have friends who ahve lots of canoes, and L teaches at OHS, and blah blah and I was all, "Wait!? Does she have 2 boys?" and, in about 3 minutes, yes, the SVT is a good friend of Jess’ husband, and thusly, Jess. Then she said "Oh, yeah, she and her husband, JR Lastname have been friends of ours for years… blah blah blah." And the name sounded SO familiar, and I couldn’t quite place it, but I knew that L had mentioned that her husband was a guide, so I figured it was either from the Lake, or from the group that took my classes down the river the last few years. I emailed my mom, asking "I know this name, who is it, do you know?" and sure enough, L and her husband have a camp on the stream, husband is an active maine guide based out of said camp, and L did some work for the land trust last summer. "So, if I mention your names, she’d know who you are?" Mom: "OH, absolutely." (Since my dad is also a guide, and part of the land trust, and you know, it’s a small damn town. Therefore, L of the SVTs is connected to me via students, Jess’ family, and my own PARENTS. I have to miss class this week because of a faculty meeting, but heh, I can’t wait to be like "Hey! I think we’re almost cousins!"  Plus? She’s due a month before me, apparently lives at the Lake all summer, which means that HELLO someone to hang out with at the Lake/on the beach/whatever when I go up this summer. BUILT IN SUMMER FRIEND for the widget. Not bad.

Well, I didn’t end up taking pictures at the waterworks today, because when we got back from breakfast with friends (ha! complaining about our antisocial-ness, and fr the first time EVER we meet 6 people for breakfast at Pat’s) there was a message from my friend Jess looking for someone to go with her to Freeport. Since she has 3 kids, and is a SAHM (until recently, when she started working part time for Bean) I know that if she has opportunity for a day away, it’s a rare thing, and I called her up to say "HELL YES!" (See: Previous mentions of recognizing the loss of spontaneity that comes with motherhood) We left around noon, and spent a REALLY long time in LLBean, but she had a list, and a discount, on top of the sale that was happening. I didn’t get anything — couldn’t find the Quallofil blanket I had seen in the catalog, and didn’t want to waste my 30 Bean bucks on anything else — but I did really hold back from buying an orange fleece pullover, because, really, who knows how big my baby will be by the time it needs an orange fleece pullover.  But the 3-6 mos size? WAS SO CUTE. And soft. Oy.  Near the end of our time in Bean, I could be found resting on benches and watching Jess’ bag of stuff, and I was getting super tired.

We ate lunch at the Freeport Cafe, one of my favorite spots down there. A cup of corn chowder, BLT on rye, and a tall coke later, I was rejuvenated and we headed off to Babies R Us in Portland, where I was in search of diaper liners. I’d seen them there before, with Amy, but goddamn if I couldn’t find them. I pored over the diaper section, and even peeked through the shelves to the stockroom to see if I could see anything labeled "GERBER," but I couldn’t. I was SO. PISSED. We did another lap, and Jess noticed a sign that said Gerber, so we headed in that direction, but it was all sippy cups. I realized there HAD to be a section with cloth diapers, that even people who don’t CD use them for cleanup, burp cloths, etc, and we hadn’t seen them yet.  I turned the corner and there they were, the long-sought after beige box. So, I uhhh, bought some.  Annemarie, this pic is for you:

I left 2 boxes on the shelf, seriously, so that if anyone else came in they could find at least a box. When I checked out, the girl said "oh, wow, we have these in? They sell out really quickly. Do you want me to see if they have more?" Heh. I told her we’d come 2 hours in search of them, but that this should tide me over for now.  I also picked up a Nicole Miller Snugli carrier, that was on sale, and I had a coupon for, for 20 bucks. We have the fleece slings, but there’s still that niggling "but everyone has a Bjorn, too!" and for 20 bucks, that itch has been scratched. Hell, I can ebay it if I don’t like it. I found a pack of neutral gowns, as well, and had a coupon for those, too, and topped it off with a $5 off coupon I got from a formula company (that thinks I had a baby in December) and a free roller shade for the car.  Then we left, got drinks from Target after waiting in the World’s Slowest Express Line (seriously, credit cards should not be OFFERED in that line, and apps not FILLED OUT) and headed home. Oof, now I’m tired.  But I do have over 1000 diaper liners now.

One way to make yourself feel a little more like you have friends is to not go to work in favor of watching the gay cowboy movie with Andy. Just a tip.

It was a crazy day, ANYWAY. I had the one hour glucose test, and I thought I’d go in, drink the stuff, and wait an hour, but it ended up that I went in, waited for more than half an hour, THEN drank the stuff and waited another hour. Meanwhile, fatkitty was fasting at home for her OWN diabetes test, and I had made plans with Andy to see the 12:30 Brokeback Mountain showing, and I didn’t leave EMMC until 11:40, anyway.

I raced home, scooped the cat into her new, larger carrier (WORTH the 25 bucks to be able to get her IN with one motion, no treats, etc) and hauled her off to the vet. She got drawn, and at 12:25, I was releasing her back into her living room territory (and giving her a scoop of food, for which she was most thankful.)  I met Andy at the theater, and we sat down during previews and didn’t miss anything. It was a crazyass morning.

The movie was great, oh, I crieeeeed, it was so good. SInce I had eaten all of 2 slices of wheat toast, 120z or whatever of that nastyass orange soda glucose drink, and a granola bar, Andy and I headed to Uno’s where I scarfed down a flatbread before racing to make my class. Then, the ATM started screwing up during class, so we left early. Whew.

Today I’ll go in and work, class tonight, and tomorrow I get my Rhogam shot. Whee.

Seriously, this winter is freaking me out. Exta special freaking out, because I am PREGNANT.  It is FEBRUARY 5! FIVE!  And 45 degrees and pouring rain. We haven’t had a significant snowfall YET this year. There is no snow visible outside, except for one small rotten patch where we, okay, DAVE, had shoveled the few inches we’ve gotten from the driveway. January, we had that warm stretch and people were like "Oh, this is weird, but HAHA, its the January Thaw! You know we’re in for it soon!" And we’ve set record high temps for the last THREE WEEKENDS.  January was almost 10 degrees warmer than normal. It freaks me out, this is MAINE, there is supposed to be SNOW.  Everyone keeps saying "oh, just wait! We’ll be eating our words!" Thing is, we’d be up to our NECKS in snow if it had been cold enough for what rain we’ve had to BE snow. But no. 45, 50, those kinds of temps. That is FUCKED UP.

And it really bothers me when people are like "Oh, I LOVE IT! I HATE THE COLD!" Great. Move the fuck away. We NEEEED winter inMaine, for so many environmental reasons, and, for the capitalists out there, our economy needs winter, too.  Yes, there are those random weird 45-50 degree days where the sun beats down and the icicles start to drip, and everything smells cold and clean and you’re reminded that winter doesn’t last forever, and it feels gooood. But this kind of weather, this miserable soggy no-snow weather, this makes me scared. It’s really just too… not right. At least Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow — so maybe we will get some winter before this is all over.

Yesterday was productive — we cleaned the house, I got ALL the dishes done, not just "all the dishes except this one pan that I’ll let soak" that ends up being added to throughout the day, I washed my prefolds for the first time and now that they’ve shrunk up a bit, I can see how they’ll fit an infant (because unshrunk? I was really concerned. In my head, I was thinking "These do not look like AnneMarie’s . . ." but now they do.), and we had a wasted trip to the vet’s office. 

The vet wants a fructosamine test, and had just said "yeah, drop in and a tech will draw it," so weloaded her up and went out, and the tech was all "Um, did he mention fasting?" (he hadn’t) and she left to asks omeone else, and came back with one of those "my stupid boss" eyerolls and apologized for wasting our time, because a) it needs to be a 12hr fasting test, and B) needs to be done on a Monday or Tuesday to get to the lab in time.  Which means I need to try to wrestle the cat into her carrier on Monday, by myself, and WITHOUT TREATS. FUCK. I am SERIOUSLY considering buying a bigger carrier for her, since she so barely fits in the one she has — it’s like a shell she should be molting soon. The carrier has been hers since she was a kitten, and we don’t need it but once a year or less, so it feels silly to upgrade for an 11 year old cat that probably has diabetes, but then, if she does have diabetes (which, from what I’ve heard and the vet has said, is really affordable to manage, so it’s not a death sentence) will we be needing it more?  Dave wanted to take her in the sling, figuring it would probably be the easiest method of transport. Heh.

I called Debbie, my former coteacher, who picked me up and drove me around town as I did some errands — returning the OldNavy overalls (SERIOUSLY, wouldnt mat overalls have MORE room in the belly???), picking up catlitter, a valentine for Dave (An alarm clock that sets itself! I gave one to my dad for christmas,and my parents are raving about it. We have lots of little power bumps here, why, I’m not sure, but Dave is always having to set all the clocks, and this one will be his new alarm clock, which isthe most important one. You know, geeky gadgety valentine.), toilet paper, and what I THOUGHT were gender neutral infant gowns. I’ve been looking for them everywhere, and they seem to come in femme pink and lil slugger blue, and that’s IT, but I saw a package that them with little multicolored stars all over. Since I hadn’t seen any gender neutral ones before, I bought them for myself, and then Debbie bought a package of caps and the little mittens to match. Hee. When I got home, though, only one was the star pattern, and the other was all blue stars with a patch featuring a teddy bear hitting a baseball.  Oh well.

We wrapped up the errands with tea and pie at Governor’s, and I got to hear all about the craziness at school. Oy, seriously, I am so glad I’m not there. SO GLAD. Oh, and? Angie, my former coworker who really pissed me off by the end of the year last night with the ‘coy fertility’ talk while I was miscarrying, who ended up being, in fact, pregnant, and insisted her May wedding was NOT so sudden because of pregnancy, had her baby the first week of January. "6 weeks early," and um, 8 pounds.  Even the kids were doing the math on that one.  Which, whatever, why not just be honest? We had a short engagement, and I KNOW people were wondering if I was pregnant. Actually, telling my parents was "Dave and I want to get married next month but I’m NOT PREGNANT." Literally.  And people can DO the math…. so weird.  Of course, as they say "The first one can come at any time, but the rest take 9 months."

Dave had to work the hockey game, so I watched from home as Maine got their asses handed to them by UNH, breaking a streak of having trounced UNH at home every time for the last five years or so.  They split for the weekend, but still. UM vs UNH is like the Superbowl of UM Hockey, so it’s an especially painful loss, but more importantly, when did I start to care? hee.

Today we are thinking we’ll tackle the baby room. There’s some stuff that needs to come out — crates of teaching materials, the big table that held my sewing machine, some other stuff — and we need to put together the changing table (yay, Marden’s!) and make it look a little less like a big closet, and more like a bedroom.  I need to put the books on the shelves, and clean the light fixture (which BUGS me every time I look at it, but I have issues with dirty overhead light fixtures) and condense all of the baby clothes that are floating around — random stuff like the Misfits and UM onesies, the gowns I just got, the "you WILL have a baby" outfit Amy got me when I had my miscarriage, etc, and just try to get a baseline to start from in there.  Baby will be in our room indefinitely, but we still want to have a place to corral all of its stuff.

But seriously. We need some winter, stat.

Busy morning! I had the appointment with a dermatologist today, which was sort of very old-fashioned and odd. There are no derms that take Aetna in this town (WEIRD!) but I can submit a claim, and the Funky Nipple needed to be dealt with, so I foudn the one derm listed on EMHs website and made an appointment.  The office is in his house, there was not a single computer in sight, and I was the youngest person in the buiilding by at LEAST 30 years. They had a TYPEWRITER. CRAZINESS.  But, he looked at it, had had my path report faxed to him, and prescribed me an ointment to take for the next 2 weeks. Hopefully it will work.

After that, I went across the street to the hospital, because I decided I wanted my next set of labwork done there, since it would invlove the 1 hour glucose test, and if I had to take the 3 hour, it would be at the same lab, and the hopsital lab is way more conducive to people-watching than the lab near my house. Plus, at the lab near here there’s a guy that draws blood with fingerless gloves, which kind of creeps me out. Anyway.

The OB had given me a sheet of labwork, but wanted me to do the Rh and glucose in a few weeks, BUT, my thyroid med is running out with no refills, and to refill, I need TSH drawn. The hopsital said they could do part of the order (TSH) and hold the orders for the other stuff for me. yay. So, TSH drawn. And in two weeks, I’ll get to hang out and peoplewatch for anhour. The hospital lab faces the elevator banks, and it sort of hearkens back to my love of airports and peoplewatching there, because I like to try to figure out if people are sad or happy and why. But maybe I’m weird. And, the hospital has better reading material, more than once copy of tbe BDN, and hmm, I wonder if they have Wifi?

After that, I went to fill the prescription, and this is where it gets cool. 

There’s a girl who works in the pharmacy in my neighborhood that I met at a former coworker’s bachelorette pre-party this summer. We all met for dinner at Applebee’s, and they took a school bus to a bar that featured a mechanical bull, and I came home after dinner. Anyway, this girl and I were at the end of the table and talked most of the time, and then i went to fill a prescription one day and it was like "hey, I know you…" etc, etc. So I have this weird in at the pharmacy.

Today she was working, and I dropepd off the rx, and she looked at it and was like "oh, is Dr Derm the really old guy? No personality?" and I laughed and said "yeah, but he’s the only game in town it seems . . ." and she was all "NO! I have a great guy!" and then told me all about Dr BetterDerm and how great he was, blah blah blah, and gave me his name and address and number. It was just. . . cool. It was so small town, you know? After I left I thought "shit, i should’ve asked her who her ped was . . ." but I didn’t

I did make an appointment with a ped, though. There are only 3 groups here — one is down the street now, but my SIL works there, and I don’t want her to have access to our medical records. The second is a guy who is obsessed with making babies smarter, which is cool I guess, but really not my thing to have a math curriculum for 6month olds.  The final one has mostly women doctors, which I prefer, and the doc that is taking new babies looks really nice on the EMH website. That’s so wrong, but she looks young, and I think that’s a good thing. I think maybe it goes along with my preference for female OB/GYNs, in that they have smilar parts as me, and so know what stuff is like. I also think younger is better (for me) because I imagine I’ll be getting a host of advice from older people as it is.

We’ll see, though, we have an appointment next month to meet with her for a prenatal visit. . Any question ideas? Our parenting plans are to breastfeed, vax, not circumcise, and cosleep with baby in-room at the minimum. (These are my ideas, i totally respect yours if they are different, and I don’t want this to be a debate post. My very best friend and I disagree on the vaxing, but we still love each other and respect that difference, so really, please don’t flame me or try to "educate" me, because I’ve alread done that myself. Okay?) The one I have so far is to ask about supplemental newborn screening, where babies are tested for a host of metabolic disorders and such at birth, but after that, I don’t know what to ask.  Dave will be with me as well.

I also think I’ll be able to discern between medical advice and parenting advice, and as I’ve mentioned before, I plan on being pretty instinctive about the parenting thing. If the ped says somehitng like "give the baby sausage at 4months and make sure s/he sleeps through the night" I would probably nod and smile, and do what felt right to ME. Which would be hot dogs, not sausage. SHEESH. Just THINK Of the spices in sausage! However, since I have such a history of allergies/asthma/eczema, I would definitely listen to medical advice.

SO! Any questions I should ask?

Dare i say it? I’m not sick! This is the first day all week I’ve ONLY had to take my Synthroid. No cough syrup, no allergy pill, no decongestant, no Tylenol (Yet, we’ll see how the boob progresses today), just my regular ol’ synthroid. YAY.

I left the house yesterday for the first non-medical reason in almost a week. (I’d gone to the pharmacy on Thursday, and for the biopsy on Friday.)  I got showered and dressed and we got lunch and went to Target and to Borders, and I felt like a HUMAN! BEING!

I saw Jen at Borders, and while we were talking in the vestibule, a guy walked in with a newborn tucked into a KKAFP.  Jen "awwwwwwe!"d and I was like "Hey! I have two of those!" (not to the guy, or anyone in particular) I was just so excited to see one in USE, I couldn’t contain myself. I can count on one hand the number of slings I’ve seen in these parts, and that was a first for the KK.  I even went in and found Dave,and stalked the pouch-wearing dad to make Dave look and see how it works with a newborn. He’s tried it with the cat, but the cat hold is more of a sitting-up baby hold, not the cradled newborn one. So adorable.

After we came home and had dinner, i was still restless, so I decided to register at Target.  I called my friend Jess, to see if she wanted to go (she’s been after me to register, and WANTS to go with me) but her husband was out for the evening, and leaving three kids under the age of 5 alone in the house isn’t really cool.  I went, and registered anyway, and found it was anticlimactic. For one, I think they must be cleaning out and making room for new stuff, because SO much was on clearance, but nothing was so clearanced that I bought it. everything Avent, for instance, was on clearance. I could find NO first aid type stuff, or the bath seat I like, or even the cotton gowns for newborns, that have the elastic at the bottom, or drawstring, or whatever. They had some in gender specific colors, but not just yellow or white or whatever.  I figure I’ll get Jess to go with me to TRU to add the things I couldn’t find yesterday. I can always add more later, if I find that everything I did last night ends up being moot. Either way, it was something to do that was out of the house.

Today I’ve been catching up on my neglected housework. Laundry is running through, emptied all the trash from upstairs, did the dishes, etc. Someday we’ll have to tackle the nursery. Maybe once I have a changing table we can start setting it up more. As it is, the crib is in there, and the dresser that was mine until we got the new furniture, and both have the collected baby stuff in there already. I need to get more of my sewing stuff out of there, and organize the shelves, but it’s so intimidating at this point! Argh.

But hey! I feel better! And Dave has tomorrow off! And my dishes and laundry are already done! So, yay!

Thanks for all the good thoughts for me and my left nipple, y’all.  I’m taking Tylenol for the pain, and trying to rationalize it as breastfeeding prep, since now I know what deep nipple pain IS. Yikes. It’s better when I’m laying down (maybe the blood backs off or something?) but when I get up for the day, eek. Oh well.

So, I’ve always been a huge fan of down. I’ve had down comforters for almost ten years now, and down pillows for a while, and our current bedding is a down blanket, with a down comforter on top. I have a down throw on the couch (oil is expensive, you know!) for snugling under in the evenings. I loooove the down. But, and I think I mentioned it here, but maybe not, I recently bought a new pillow that was non-down, and realized (with the exception of my recent illness) that switching pillows instantly removed my habit of waking up at 5 either sneezing, or stuffed up and needing to blow my nose. I mean, INSTANTLY. It was weird, since I’d always blamed it on the 20 pound furball wedged between our pillows, but even with her there, I slept through the night and woke up breathing.

My eczema developed after Dave and I moved in together, and I honestly thought I was allergic to him, since the places where we make the most contact while sleeping (back of legs, inside elbows, etc, from spooning) are the worst affected.  I wasn’t sure if it was because he’s much more hirsute than I, so carrying more allergens in general, or if it was his soap, or what. With lots of environmental changes — we only use dye/scent free soap, laundry detergent, lotions, everything — it’s never really improved, except with the prescription hydrocortisone cream.  I thought it might be something in Levant, or our bed, but moving and getting a new bed, same thing.  I decided it must also be the fault of FatKitty as well.

But then, my mom bought the same blanket I’ve had for a few years, which I love. She said she started to itch after using ot for a few months, and thought I should get rid of mine. My eczema started before we got this particular blanket, but now I’m wondering if I could’ve developed an allergy to down over the last four years.  Or, if the combo of Down+Dave+FK=fucking eczema! in me. 

Does anyone have any experience with this? They make a down-alternative blanket to the one I have, and a down alternative comforter, but I looooove the warmth of down and wouldn’t want to sacrifice that, and cash, to no avail.  We’ve had the blanket for a few years (I got it when we picked up my wedding dress in Portland, I think, so maybe 2.5 years?) and the comforter for maybe 2 years, and both were inexpensive — the blanket is 50 bucks at Target, and the comforter came from overstock.com with the pillows for 80 bucks, I want to say (at some HUGE percentage savings, overstock is fab), so it’s not like I haven’t gotten somemoney’s worth out of each. I just don’t know. ARGH!

Still waiting for my scholarship to post, and I will get my FA money, and be able to order the last few things we want to supply ourselves for the baby (cloth diapers, convertible carseat, crib mattress) before having any kind of shower.  I’m anal about those things, and know that most people would balk at the price of a Britax carseat, and end up just buying one that is cheap and hangs out at the bottom of safety ratings charts with their ‘front shields have caused at least one death’ warnings and stuff. If we just buy it, we’re all set, and can tell people as such, without having our choices judged based on price, you know?  Plus, I’d rather buy it when we have the money now, and know that that base is covered.  I’m ridiculously excited about ordering my CD stash though. CRAZY excited. Hee.