Month: May 2012

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What’s the big deal?

As you know if you know me, or may have gathered if you don’t know me but have ever stumbled upon this blog before, I’m a very laid-back person. I don’t get riled easily, I don’t follow controversy, I HATE confrontation, and I’m not a fan of debate. (which brings back terrible grade school memories, ick)

For this reason I rarely discuss hot-button topics, here or in my non-internet life – politics, religion, etc. But there is one topic which gives people fits that I just don’t get – homosexuality.

What the?? I can hear many eyeballs putting on the brakes right now. And that’s ok. Like I said, I know this is a very hot-button topic, sometimes scalding actually. And kind of out of left field since lately I’ve been talking mainly about being pregnant here.

But I read an excellent post by Glennon over at Momastery today, and it got me thinking. And agreeing.

What’s the big deal if someone is gay?

I just don’t understand it. How can that possibly determine their worth as a person? Does one’s sexuality really serve as a legitimate foundation for judging every other quality about them, usually without even knowing them personally? Their work ethic, their morals, their overall ability to simply be a contributing, functioning human being?

And why, too, should that be the determining factor in what rights they are given? The right to marry, the right to have children, the right to actually be happy like the rest of us “normal” people (please know that i mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. gay or straight certainly does not determine normality in a person. actually, what does? who’s the standard for “normal”? uh-oh, there’s another whole post…)?

Again, I just don’t get it. Call me liberal, call me anti-religion (which i kind of am. not like i hate god and all organized religion, but i just don’t have a very strong religious lifestyle), call me crazy, but being gay certainly does not make a person unworthy of the love and happiness a straight person has. Hell, I know a lot of gay people who are infinitely happier than many straight people I know.

I really hope I can raise our children to be tolerant, no not even tolerant but unquestionably accepting, of this also. Besides her absolute safety, the 1 thing I want D to know above all else (well, and Dv2.0 now too) is that she can come to us at absolutely any time, anywhere, with anything, and know that we will never love her any less. Yes, we may be severely disappointed and possibly heart-broken, but we’ll never not love her.

You’re gay? So what! You got a tatto? So what (as long as you were 18 and it was legal)! You’re pregnant? Umm, well not so what, but we’re definitely not going to abandon you. You’re in jail? Ok, so maybe my “so what” answer wouldn’t work for everything, but I could never stop loving her. Yes I’d be beyond pissed and trying to imagine the worst punishment she’d ever endured, but the love would always be there.

So I guess this is just a long way of saying why is being gay such a big deal? Love whoever you want to love. Be happy.

 

 

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Friday Funk – 17 weeks

Well I’m really closer to 18 weeks, since that’s how far along I’ll be tomorrow, but I obviously don’t have a picture from that yet. So you’ll just have to do with an almost week lag.

I have some comparison shots for you, though, between the day we found out I was pregnant and last Saturday’s 17 week pic. And I did find one of those little surveys that I filled out below. Almost halfway, wow!

  • How far along?  17 weeks, 6 days
  • Total weight gain: I’m actually really embarrassed to reveal this, and I usually couldn’t care less about telling people my weight. But I’ve gained 15 lbs. so far!! Ugh. This better slow down – I gained 33 total with D, so I’m almost halfway there now but not even to the halfway mark of this pregnancy!
  • Maternity clothes?  Some. I got some maternity capris that I love, so I will be wearing those and my gauchos much more frequently now. I have noticed that my pants/shorts are starting to get tighter in the butt, but at least that didn’t happen nearly as quickly this time as it did with D. Tops, I’m still fine wearing regular ones.
  • Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
  • Sleep:  When D sleeps through the night, it’s pretty good. Fortunately her wake-ups are back to her normal zero lately now that the HFM subsided. Sometimes I have to get up to pee, but that isn’t a constant yet.
  • Best moment this week:  Um, it’s Friday? 🙂
  • Miss anything?  Beer, especially now that the weather’s warming up, and oddly enough sushi. Sushi isn’t even one of my favorite or most frequent meals, but lately I’ve been thinking how good it would taste.
  • Movement:  Started feeling some tiny flutters here and there last week, which is about 3-4 weeks earlier than I felt D move.
  • Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
  • Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
  • Gender:  Not finding out.
  • Labor signs:  No.
  • Symptoms:  Nausea is finally gone, THANK GOD. And I feel pretty much back to normal. A tiny bit of heartburn here and there, but nothing major. Kind of weird, too, because I didn’t have any of that until the 3rd trimester with D.
  • Belly button in or out?  In. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
  • Wedding rings on or off?  On.
  • Looking forward to:  My next appointment and ultrasound in a week and a half. And a long weekend for Memorial Day!

 

 

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Off-kilter

Last night while taking D for a walk in the stroller, I realized that I am totally incapable of walking in a straight line.

I know, weird, but true.

For whatever reason, I can’t keep on a straight track, even with a guide to hold onto like the stroller. I constantly veer a little to one side, then back to center, then off-center again. I noticed I did the same thing while jogging with her in the stroller last week, too.

(side note – jogging with a non-jogging stroller sucks. i do not recommend it.)

And I don’t just do it when I’m pushing the stroller. Whenever I go for a run I’m always all over the side walk. Talk about the least efficient route possible. I’ve probably added miles to my runs over the years simply by not being able to keep a straight course.

I wonder why this is. No, it’s not the pregnancy-induced center of gravity shift. My belly isn’t nearly that big yet, fortunately. Plus, like I said, it always happens, pregnant or not.

Anyone else do this, or am I the only off-kilter one in the bunch?

Ah well, as long as I don’t start tripping every time I wander I guess I won’t worry about it. For that would make for some really long and painful walks.

 

 

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D v2.0

{written on 2-22-12 – 4w4d. i have a couple posts that i wrote before we shared the news of this pregnancy that i’ll be putting up in the next few weeks.}

So I think I’m pregnant again. YIPPEE!!!!

I won’t know for sure until this afternoon when I get home from work and can take a test, but I’m pretty sure. And here just last week before we went to Tucson I told R I thought our efforts had failed again this cycle. Guess I’ve proven myself wrong. Thankfully!

**Warning: This post may contain material not suitable for those not wanting to know the ins and outs of my body’s monthly cycles, so if you fall into that category, TURN BACK NOW!**

We tried for 4 cycles this time around, whereas with D I got pregnant on our 2nd try. Well actually we could technically call it 5 cycles, since the very 1st one we did have good timing, but I think I was more ready to get this ball rolling than R at that point and it wasn’t a very concerted effort. So I guess that one doesn’t really count.

Then there was 1 cycle in there where I was frustrated so didn’t keep track of anything, and we totally blew our chances. Well played, body, well played. I kept track from then on.

So in all, we tried for 5-6 months.

Like the 1st time around when we were trying for D, I did keep track of my morning temps, signs from my body during different phases of each cycle, and used ovulation predictor strips. TMI? Sorry, I warned you. I didn’t feel like doing any guess-work this time either.

There were a couple cycles in there where I thought we had excellent timing, so I was starting to get discouraged when I thought this one was a bust as well. I was even going to call my doctor to chat if this cycle didn’t work. Yes, I realize 4-5 cycles is really nothing to be worried about, since it can take perfectly healthy couples a year or more to conceive, but I was just hoping there wasn’t something wrong since it took a shorter time frame for D.

Plus, charting and counting days can really wear on you when all you want and hope for is that one positive sign. It starts to suck the “fun” out of the whole process, if you will.

What did I do differently this cycle than the last that may have made a difference? The only real things were cutting out coffee drinks in the mornings and actually eating breakfast (i do still usually have a caffeinated soda at lunch, so i didn’t cut out caffeine completely) and drinking 8 oz. of pomegranate juice every day.

I’ve heard that pomegranate juice is supposed to help thicken the uterine lining, thereby lengthening the luteal phase of the cycle and making a more hospitable environment for implantation. Plus it’s just good for you.

My luteal phase tends to be on the shorter side, so I was afraid that was causing our lack of success. I had drunk the juice in some of the other cycles too with no luck, though, so I can’t put all the credit on that. But maybe it did help?

I’ve really had no symptoms that would clue me in, mainly just a lack of my little monthly friend. I did read back to my journal entry from the day I found out I was pregnant with D (yes, an actual pen-to-paper journal!) to see if there was something I could be watching out for, but I didn’t have much to report then either. Just really sore boobs, which I don’t have this time.

Here’s what I can report:

  • Light cramping on 8dpo, then more crampage around 10-12dpo, which was when I totally thought the jig was up. The 10-12dpo cramping didn’t really feel like menstrual cramps though – they were more like a gas/bloated feeling, so that’s kind of when I started thinking ok, if it hasn’t shown by 11dpo (which was when it usually did before) then I may just stand a chance.
  • Pretty hungry and peeing a lot, but that also could have simply been because we went on a couple of long walks in Tucson and I was trying to drink a lot of water after the flights out, since they always seem to dehydrate me more than usual.
  • Very tiny, fleeting waves of nausea and barely heartburn over the weekend. Like if I weren’t on high alert hoping I was pregnant, they wouldn’t even have registered on my radar. Maybe just a “hmm, that was a weird feeling”.
  • Temp was up higher than the rest of my luteal phase this morning. I didn’t take the thermometer to Tucson (temping on vaca? no thanks), so I was just curious to see what it would read today even though I really didn’t need it.
  • Super emotional today. Actually, that’s just really about 1 thing – this morning I found out I’m being inducted into my high school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, and the wonderful comments I’m getting from all my friends on my Facebook page are practically making me cry. Maybe I’d be doing that even if I wasn’t pregnant.

Other than those very minor symptoms (which can hardly be counted as symptoms), I’ve really felt zero difference so far. That was another reason why I was still pretty skeptical until yesterday and today (14-15dpo). I assumed that since my body’s been through this once already maybe the 2nd time around it would get more of a head start feeling stuff. Dumb idea? Maybe.

I did weigh myself this morning in anticipation of a positive test this afternoon. Starting weight this time = 149.5. That’s exactly 5 pounds lighter than my starting weight last time. I actually did weigh myself last Friday morning before we went to Tucson thinking maybe if I was pregnant this time I’d take a 10dpo reading, and I weighed 151. Why I now weigh less after eating a ton over the weekend (In-N-Out = YUM!!), I have no idea. But that’s where I’ll call my starting weight, 149.5.

Whatever’s going on in there I’m just praying that the pregnancy sticks, and I hope this feeling great continues the whole time! I really shouldn’t get ahead of myself until I take that test this afternoon, but now I finally have a pretty sure feeling that I will see those 2 pink lines this time. And I have a really cute way to break the news to R if I do see them.

 

**Edited on 2-23-12: I was right – I’m pregnant!! I bought some pregnancy tests after work yesterday and took one right when I got home, and there were those 2 pink lines, bright as can be! I took D into her bedroom and put an adorable little “Big Sister” t-shirt on her that I’d gotten a few months ago, then sent her out to show Daddy. Needless to say, R was very surprised, since I’d told him last week I thought we were out again this time. I took another test this morning just because I had 3 and I could, and there were the lines again, even brighter than last night. Here we go again!

 

 

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Because I can’t cook, but I love COOL WHIP!

All right. Those of you who know me well (actually if you know me at all this will come as no surprise) know that cooking is definitely not my strong suit. In fact, I really don’t like it much at all.

Yes, I can follow a recipe and make a perfectly edible, if not even downright tasty, meal, but I just don’t like doing it. It’s time-consuming, I don’t know how to cook without a recipe or substitute measurements or ingredients in my head, and I always say if you want to torture me, make me chop something. Plus, if you can keep a secret, I’m actually kinda lazy. There, now you know.

BUT! Continue reading “Because I can’t cook, but I love COOL WHIP!”

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Memories Captured – May edition (a.k.a. 21 month stats)

Since I’m WAY behind on my D monthly update posts and I just saw that the May link for Memories Captured is up, I decided to do a combo for your blogging enjoyment. Let’s see if I can remember all that’s happened since D’s last update that I wanted to report while simultaneously putting up an astonishingly cute recent pic of the little one:

  • She weighs around 26 lbs., and I have no idea how tall she is. Terrible Mommy, I know. But I forget how tall she was at her 18 month checkup – 34″? Something like that? So by now she’s a little bit taller. We’ve unfortunately been in so often for sicknesses and ear recheck visits that I’m very up-to-date on her weight, but I don’t think we’ll get another official height measurement until her 2 year checkup on her birthday in August. (what?? 2 years?! wow.)
  • Speaking of those illnesses, she was just diagnosed with another case of hand, foot, and mouth. Come on! This poor kid can’t catch a break. I swear she’s been sick more often than not ever since she was about 6 months old. Attributable to daycare? Possibly. But at least it’s not another ear infection, for if it were, I’m afraid we’d have to go for a tubes consultation.
  • I can see her becoming a little more independent each day, but she still loves to run up to me, give me a huge hug, and wrap her legs around me monkey style. When she pats me on the back while giving hugs my heart practically explodes.
  • Dies of laughter when I get real close to her face to smother her with kisses or tickles. It’s the best.
  • Pretty much a champ eater still. Obviously feeds herself always now (has for a long time) and is getting better and better with her silverware. Just the other day one of her daycare teachers said she’s one of the best eaters in her class, so that’s great. They’re learning how to drink out of cups with no lids, too. I let her try this at home with a cup of water the other night, but it ended up all over the living room floor. We’ll keep practicing.
  • Watching her skinny little legs run through the house makes me smile every single time. Those tiny footsteps ring through the rooms like nobody’s business and always make my heart sing.
  • LOVES to play at the park. She scampers up the equipment to zoom down the slides and usually throws a fit when you have to take her out of the swings to go home. I bet she’d live there if you let her.
  • Her hair has finally grown! It’s long enough to get in a tiny little pony tail in back, but she’d just pull the pony tail holder out if I actually tried to leave one in.
  • Words these days:
    • Elmo
    • hi
    • bye-bye
    • ball
    • boat (and “row, row” for the song)
    • box
    • eyes (usually said when referring to glasses or sunglasses)
    • hat
    • hot
    • shoes
    • hop
    • more (also stills signs this one)
    • mee (said when signing “please”)
    • mama
    • dada
    • dada version 2 (how she says her own name)
    • bus
    • purple
    • orange
    • blue (sounds more like “boo”, but whatever)
    • ice
    • ooo (while waving her hand, it’s how she says something is cold. i think it’s her version of “brr”)
    • bubble
    • octopus (except she likes to transpose the syllables and say “op-o-tus”)
    • thank you (not entirely sounded out correctly, but again, whatever. we get it)
    • makes all the animal sounds (moo, ba-ba, ee-ee-ee for monkeys, woof-woof, mrrow with a blink for cats, hoo-hoo for owls, zzz for all bugs, sss for snakes, good roars for lions and bears, hop-hop for frogs, neee for horses, makes an excellent fish face, does a great elephant noise complete with her arm for a trunk)
    • apple
    • moon
    • all done
    • boom boom boom (for thunder)
    • arms
    • ouch
    • no (this one has just appeared in the past week or so and is, of course, my least favorite)
    • knows that cars/trucks go “vroom-vroom” and trains go “choo-choo”
  • Does an excellent Cookie Monster impersonation, and usually pairs it with saying “Elmo” when she wants to watch them or Sesame Street. Those are her 2 favorite guys right now.
  • Doesn’t yet know she’s going to be a big sister, but we’ll work on that the closer #2’s arrival gets.

As always, I’m sure I’m forgetting a million things – sorry, sweet pea. But rest assured no lack of listing will ever diminish the incredible joy you continue to bring to our little family. We love you!

 

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St. Thomas!

I promised you pictures (and a good tan, which i got) from our Caribbean vacation last month, so here they come!

Fish eye view off our balcony at the Ritz. I sure do miss waking up to this each day…

A back side view of the residence area of the Ritz in which we stayed, from a beach you could take to walk into town.

The always plentiful booze stock, of which I was unable to partake this year. That makes 2 trips in a row to St. Thomas that I’ve been pregnant and not able to drink. Ah well, there are much worse things in life.

Family pic our first night in town, out for some extremely delicious Island Time pizza.

The whole gang at Havana Blue, an awesome open-air restaurant right on the shoreline.

Cruz Bay on St. John, where the ferry comes in from St. Thomas.

Sandy Cay, BVI, one of the little islands we visited on our day of boating. We tied up offshore and had to swim in. Surprisingly, D loved that.

The beach on Jost Van Dyke, BVI, just waiting for our swim-in arrival.

The water bug herself, goofing around with someone’s sunglasses. Or as she calls them, “eyes”.

Mommy and D at One Love on Jost. I seriously love that island. It’s more fun with a few painkillers in you, but sober is good too.

Me, my sister M, and my mom on the boat back to St. Thomas.

Me and R. I love this pic of us. Once the Dramamine kicked in and the urge to barf every 5 seconds passed, I actually had a great time on the boat. Lucky for me, nausea is worse in those pregnant women who also get seasick, of which I am one.

D running around at dinner one night. Fortunately we had our own (soundproof) room. If you ever go to Sunset Grill and have a decent-sized party, see if you can sit in the wine room. It was wonderful.

The last weekend we were down there we moved over to my sister M and her husband’s boss’s house on a different part of the island. He’s currently living in the UK and let us have free reign of the joint. That view wasn’t so bad either.

I knew D would make a bee-line for the pool as soon as she saw it after how much she loved swimming in the ocean, and I was right.

We went to an absolutely gorgeous beach on one of our last days – Magens Bay. It’s completely smooth, not a shell or rock in sight, and you can wade out really far. It was super calm, and since there weren’t any cruise ships in port that day we lucked out and it was empty. It started raining while we were there, but even that couldn’t damper the beauty of the place.

Our last picture before heading to the airport to come home. We were definitely sad to leave!