Oh my word

This is why I shouldn't watch TV before bed. I saw a story featuring this product on Nightline and it got me all riled up and now I can't sleep.

But, honestly, prenatal education?

Isn't it bad enough that parents are trying to teach their kids to read from day 1? Or forcing them to learn how to play an instrument before they can walk? Or teaching them all the continents before they reach Kindergarten?

Call me crazy but I think it is more important that my child develop a love of books, an appreciation for music and an ability to relate to the world than be the first in their class to identify words, music notes and countries.

But apparently that isn't even enough for some parents because they are turning to products that supposedly will help advance their children later in life. Products that can be used while their child is still in utero.

Although, I have to say, maybe their kid will need all the help they can get because they obviously aren't coming from the greatest gene pool if their parents buy this crap.

But maybe that's too harsh.

It is just that all of this makes me kind of sick. Aren't kids naturally curious? Won't they discover things on their own? Is it really necessary that we point everything out to them or that we make them "learn" before they are ready? Isn't it better for them to ask questions than for us, as parents, to feed them information?

I realize I have zero children at this point and I have no idea what I'm really talking about. But this just struck me as wrong.

And now that I got that off my chest, maybe I can get some sleep.

Changing pad = great cat bed

We walked into our apartment the other night to find our cat, Junebug, asleep on Mini-McEvoy's changing pad and (new) changing pad cover. Even Cobbler (the stuffed cat that Junebug is inexplicably terrified of) was not enough of a deterrent.

Eh, the baby might as well get used to having cat hair all over his/her stuff. As long as the cats don't try to sleep in the crib, I think we are good.

In the home stretch

We made it through the Christmas holidays and, although I seem to say this a lot, I feel like we are really in the home stretch right now. One of my goals was to not have this baby on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve or New Year's Day and I'm happy to say we accomplished that goal.

Now we are really ready to have this baby.

But at my last two appointments: no progress whatsoever. No dilation. No effacement. Baby is still floating (but still head down).

And yes, I talk about my dilation status with pretty much anyone who cares to know and probably a few who don't. Is this the beginning of my modesty flying out the window?

Anyway, I feel the waiting game has truly begun now. All of the baby's things are washed, folded and ready. There are no more last-minute baby items to buy. Our hospital bag is packed. Our apartment is clean. The cat's claws are trimmed. What more can we do but wait?

And walk. And eat eggplant parmesan. And any number of supposed labor inducing tricks.

Birth Preferences

Last night in our birth class we went over birth plans and discussed some things we may or may not want to include in them. Adam and I had already talked and thought about this so we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted but it was good to get an idea of how to organize the birth plan.

Once we create our list of birth preferences (i.e. - a birth plan), we will discuss it with our doctor this week. When she approves of everything there, we'll make a copy for our file and then we'll bring a copy (along with some goodies) with us to the hospital for the nurses.

Our instructors recommended dividing it up into Labor, Delivery and Postpartum and using bullets instead of paragraphs. We will also start it out with a brief statement (saying who we are/this is our first baby/etc) and finish it with a big "Thank You!"

We haven't written the plan yet and I won't go into all of our preferences but here are our four big sticking points:
1) We want intermittent monitoring
2) We want freedom to move about during labor
3) We want to deliver in the position(s) of our choosing (except for squatting on the floor which my OB has already said she cannot do and which I don't see myself doing anyway)
4) We want the baby to be placed on my chest immediately following delivery

All of this of course comes with the caveat that everything is okay with the baby and myself. If anything goes wrong at any point, we obviously will put aside our preferences for safety's sake.

Honestly, if I can get these four things I will feel that I had the birth experience I wanted.

I really think it is crazy that this is even necessary though. I don't think it should be a battle to get what I want. And, in all honesty, I don't think it will be. Although I would rather have had a midwife, I think our OB is going to be pretty good. It is obvious she is not used to med-free/natural/intervention-free births but she seems open to them and I think that talking about all of this beforehand is going to be really helpful. And there are some things I'm still unsure about like whether or not I want someone to "coach" me when I push.

One thing I'm pretty sure about: I have no desire to watch the whole thing in a mirror. I realize this may change but, at the moment, I think it must be like watching a pot of water boil.

But grosser.

Pity Party

Last night I had my first pregnancy-induced pity party. I thought the fact that I've made it to 34 weeks without such an occurrence was pretty good - but this one was a doozy.

It all started because I need new shoes. My feet are really not that swollen - just the tops are a little puffy. However, they are puffy enough to make my work shoes uncomfortable. So, I was a little surprised to discover that my feet are now 1/2 size larger than they were pre-pregnancy.

And here's where I reveal that I now wear a clownish size 11 shoe.

And NO ONE carries size 11 shoes. Except for Payless and Target and all of these seem to be of the ballet flat variety which offer no support for my fairly high arches (thanks a lot, ballet classes).

It all came to a head when I entered one final store on the Grand Shoe Store Tour of Little Rock 2009 and I found the perfect shoe. I asked the guy if they had a size 11 and he said, "Sure! Let me go check" with such confidence that I just knew they'd have it.

So when he came out moments later with an apologetic look on his face, yet a shoe box in his hand, I was a bit confused. Until he said this:

I'm sorry, ma'am, we don't have a size 11. But we have a size 8.5

while holding the box of the size 8.5 shoes to me.

I didn't know whether to cry or scream at him. Instead, I acerbically informed him that I last wore a size 8.5 when I was in 7th grade and walked out.

Ordinarily, I think I'd laugh at this. But all of this came on top of the fact that I can't find a bra that fits either. Visions of a future filled with ordering everything from specialty sized shops that cater to ginormous ladies with ginormous feet swirled through my head.

I just felt like nothing on my entire body fit. My pants are falling down, my bra is too tight, my pathetic excuse for a winter coat (it is really a glorified windbreaker) doesn't fit over my sweater, my shoes are too small and my socks are falling down. (Insert 2-year old whine here.)

So I unloaded all of this on poor Adam during dinner and had my little pity party of one (because he certainly wasn't joining in). In fact, I think he made fun of me for it so I'll take back the "poor" in front of his name and insert "totally unsympathetic and snarky" instead.

And I of course felt silly for it later because it really isn't such a big deal. I only have two more weeks of work and I'm pretty sure I can get by with my slightly uncomfortable shoes during that period.

As far as as my unmentionables are concerned, I may make a trip to Expressly for You (feel free to laugh because I do) and get sized for a decent bra. I realize I'll probably have to go larger once the baby is born but at least I'll have something comfortable until then.

So the world is once again back to its rose-tinted self. And I should be happy because I'm still sleeping like a log at night, I'm not swollen all over, my baby is healthy, I am healthy, school is almost out and Christmas is almost here.

The pity party is officially over.

P.S. - Should I explain the picture? That is a picture of Dawson Leery crying on the show Dawson's Creek. It makes me giggle. It reminds me of college when the girls and I would watch Dawson's Creek while eating entire boxes of macaroni and cheese. I think this is from the episode when Dawson's dad dies in a car accident because he was trying to retrieve an ice-cream cone he dropped on the floor of his car. Tee hee.

Oh, dear

Adam's assignment from our birthing class this week is to surprise me with "contractions" that I have to relax and breathe through. The only caveat is that he cannot do it while I am driving. I think he is going to enjoy it way too much.

Other than that, everything is going swimmingly. Mini McEvoy checked out great at our doctor's appointment on Tuesday and is still head down (with his/her back to my left side). I continually promise the baby that lots of love and toys will be waiting on the other side if he/she stays that way.

(Little does Mini McEvoy know that lots of love and toys will be waiting on the other side, regardless.)

(Can I add that it is every difficult to talk about this baby without using the word "it"? I'm trying my darnedest but it is awkward at best).

Update: Yep, Adam just came home and gave me a "contraction." It is going to be a long week...

Big ole' eye roll

What I'm about to write about comes from the worldly experience of someone with zero outside babies and only one safe-in-the-womb baby BUT is this really necessary?This is a sign that (presumably) new moms can buy to put on their stroller/car seat so that strangers will not touch their baby. Until I saw this, I didn't realize a person could pay money to be passive aggressive but some wonderful company has figured it out.

I understand the need to protect a newborn from all the big bad germs out there but does that also mean that you can no longer verbally communicate with others? Is it so hard to say something if you think someone is getting too close? Wouldn't that be better, and nicer, than letting a sign do all the talking?

Besides the fact that I think this sign would just attract people rather than repel them.

Anyhoo, I'm off my soapbox now.

"I have a Masters but then I got married"

Being a pregnant vegetarian, I am hyper-aware of my protein intake. My doctor is always quizzing me about protein and reminding me to eat protein at every meal.

My doctor seems happy with how I'm doing so far (no anemia - yea!) but tried to recommend yogurt for a quick morning protein. Unfortunately, I have an aversion to yogurt. Or, perhaps more correctly, I have a hatred for yogurt.

For one, it is never cold. You could literally take it right out of the refrigerator and eat it and it will still taste lukewarm. Why? I have no idea.

Two, the flavor always tastes super fake to me. It always taste like someone added a candy version of fruit to the mix. I went for a honey-flavored version once and it was what honey would taste like if Willy Wonka made it rather than bees.

Three, I've never been able to add things to regular yogurt. For example, I tried making my own honey yogurt once and I just ended up with honey flavored lumps interspersed throughout the yogurt. Gross.

So, try as I may, yogurt just doesn't cut it for me. Possibly adding to my hatred for all things yogurt is the advertising of yogurt. That's why this short video below makes me laugh until I cry. It is so true and so funny.

Enjoy!

Reason # 10, 562, 342....

....why I love my Subaru.

On the way home from camping this weekend (more on that later), we encountered this


coming towards us in our lane. Adam was driving and luckily reacted in time to avoid a direct head-on collision. He drove the car off the road and we hit this


The only significant damage caused to my wonderful beloved Subaru (as far as we can tell at this point) is this


All of us are fine. We were a bit rattled but we had an hour to calm down before the Perry County Sheriff arrived. Mini McEvoy is doing well and was moving around normally all afternoon and evening. I am going to the doctor tomorrow for my bi-weekly checkup and will, of course, mention the accident just in case she wants to do an ultrasound to check on everything.

In the meantime, we are thanking our lucky stars that everything turned out okay. It is amazing how quickly an accident like that can happen.

I'll never be able to make fun of Adam's driving again!

Shower Pictures

As promised, here are some photos from the shower weekend. My friend took all of these so I cannot claim the credit. Liz, if you are reading this, were you getting artsy with these pictures or did my computer somehow make them look like this? Either way, I think they are good.

All of us on the Riverfront's jungle gym thing.

Emerging from the World's Longest Slide

Reading a baby book at the shower

Ima Lucky Girl

My friends and family threw me a baby shower this weekend and it was so much fun. Mini-McEvoy got so many wonderful gifts and it was so much fun to see everyone. Plus, there was cake. From Community Bakery. What more do I really need to say?

I did not take one photo but I hope to post some (once others post them, ahem) soon. Rest assured, a good time was had by all. The weather really cooperated this weekend so we were able to spend a lot of time outdoors at the RiverMarket walking around, eating, going down the World's Biggest Slide (not really, but kind of), eating, running away from mimes and eating. I also got to introduce Mini-McEvoy to his/her future best friend/soul mate Mini-Boineau. I'm glad we can say their first meeting occured while they were both in utero.

It was all over too soon which just reminds me that we really do need to set up some sort of reunion weekend in the Hamptons at some point in the not too distant future. I see large amounts of cinnamon toast, truth-or-dare games and gay wedding marathons in our future.

Possibly the best part was bringing all of the gifts to our apartment and realizing that the cats DID NOT jump all over, sleep on or in any way mess with Mini McEvoy's things. I think this bodes well for our future.

A squash and a shower

We're still in the squash stage and will be for the next 2 weeks, I believe. I officially switch to week 30 on Saturday but it is doubtful I will be blogging between now and then. My sister/brother-in-law/niece and my friends (most of whom I haven't seen since my wedding 2 years ago) are coming to town for my baby shower!

I am so excited to see them. The only problem I've encountered is that all of the usual things we would do (i.e. - going to smoky bars and drinking copious amounts of alcohol) are not an option. I'm sure we'll think of some pretty good alternatives though.

Um, thanks?

I am usually not home to enjoy daytime TV but today I happened to catch a segment of a TV show called "The Doctors."

First, let me just say that IF these are real doctors I would be very concerned to be their patient. They all kind of seem like doofuses. I don't often use the word doofus but it seems extremely applicable here.

On today's show they had what amounted to the worst endorsement for cloth diapers I've ever seen.

Enjoy! (And for some good and actually pertinent information on cloth diapers, I suggest going to Jillian's Drawers.)

Being Pregnant Must be a Lot Like....Getting Old

Since I'm still in my 20s, I have not yet begun to feel the effects of aging but I think being pregnant must be a lot like getting old. I wake up every morning and some aspect of my body has changed.

Some days, it is a good thing: my belly is a little bigger, my hair is thicker, my face is glowing-er.

Some days, it is a bad thing: I have a weird pain in my thigh, my belly itches, there is a rash on my knee.

The thing about it is that my body is not the same one day to the next. That sameness is something I've counted on for basically my whole life. Even puberty was gradual. Pregnancy, on the other hand, is day-by-day and each day is different than the one before it.

I really love the days that bring proof of my baby. Like the day the baby kicked so hard Adam could (finally) feel it. Or the day I looked down when the baby was moving to see my belly moving. Even the days that bring puffy ankles. Each day is memorable, exciting and welcome in its own right.

I wonder if I'll miss these days when the baby is finally here.

Finished the bird mobile

Here are some pictures of our completed bird mobile. The whole thing cost $12 and I think it came out great. Here's what I used:

Branches
Scrapbook paper (for birds)
This bird template
Ribbon (to hang the branches to the ceiling)
Thread (to hang the birds to the branches)
Spray paint

And here's how they turned out: (The picture quality isn't great but you should get the idea).

The mobiles (crib mobile on left - changing table mobile on right)

Close-up of changing table mobile

Baby's Perspective (changing table mobile)

Close-up of crib mobile

Baby's Perspective (crib mobile)

Close-up of Paper Bird

Also, if you are wondering, the green bird prints are from Target (in the $1 section!!)

Branches and Squash

Yesterday was a beautiful, spectacular fall day in Arkansas and we wanted to spend it rambling around so we headed to Petit Jean.

While up on the mountain we robbed two trees of their branches in order to make mobiles for the crib and the changing table area. I felt bad about getting live branches but Adam said we had to. So, we picked branches that would eventually be cut anyway.

The best part is that these branches came from Camp Mitchell which is not only where I went to camp for every year as a kid but also where Adam and I wed almost exactly two years ago.

An added bonus was watching Adam try to wrangle the branches from the trees. Those poor trees did not want to let go. Pictures of the completed mobiles to come.

The baby this week is the size of a squash. Appropriate for this time of year, I think.

I didn't sleep at all last night

Last night was probably the first of many sleepless nights caused by Mini McEvoy. This is what the baby was doing all night long:



In other news, I got my H1N1 vaccine today. Yay! Now I don't have to worry about pigs sneezing on me.

Baby's First Plane Trip (in utero)

I suspect our upcoming trip to New York will be the first of many trips for Mini McEvoy. I'm a little nervous about swelling to the size of, well, the plane but I'm looking forward to the trip nonetheless. I will be drinking gallons of water and will insist that Adam let me put my legs up on his. (I also may insist on a foot rub or three.)

This week, baby is the size of an eggplant. Mmm..eggplant parmesan.

Nursery Decor

Maybe it is a little misleading to call a corner of our bedroom the "nursery." We live in a 1-bedroom apartment (until the summer, at least) and so Mini McEvoy will get a corner, albeit the best corner, in the room.

That little fact is not going to stop me from decorating but I am trying to keep the decorations cheap, easy to move and to a minimum. A focus of my decorating has been on the mobile. I don't like any of the mobiles available in stores (they seem to be more for the adults in the room rather than the baby lying in the crib) so I decided to make a mobile instead.

I first saw this and thought I'd give something similar a try. I liked the fact that this would look interesting from the baby's perspective.

But then I saw this and fell in love with the branch part. (Not so much the star part.)

I think I'll be able to cobble something together. We'll see what happens. Mini McEvoy may end up with just a branch hanging above his/her crib.

I have to say I've already felt a little Mama guilt because my baby will not have his/her own nursery. Despite the fact that this situation will remedy itself when the baby is 6-7 months old, the guilt remained until I saw Oprah's tour of a typical Danish house.

It reminded me that I really don't need a big house to be happy and neither do my kids.

Feeling like a watermelon!

This week the baby is the size of a prune but I feel more like a watermelon. Not that I feel like I look like a watermelon but I want to EAT WATERMELONS ALL DAY EVERY DAY.

I can definitely classify this as my first food craving. I'm not sure what it means to be craving watermelon but I certainly am. There are moments in the day when I can just picture a huge juicy watermelon in front of me and I am holding a giant spoon. Yum. (Good thing I'm eating some right now, otherwise I'd be drooling all over the keyboard.)

In other news, after a few days of absolutely no pregnancy symptoms (which had me worried beyond belief) the nausea etc has returned full force. I have to say I am really happy about this. Until I can actually feel the baby move, I'd prefer to have as many pregnancy symptoms as possible just so I can "feel pregnant" every day.

Good news: this weekend, we get to tell our families. We are so excited and ready to let our loved ones know. This secret has been too hard to keep!