belly update

Happily getting bigger every day. Starting to get to a weird physical place though, where my body feels close to popping. I'm so used to being rough & tumble with my body, the words of advice from my midwife was to "be delicate" with myself. All the tossing & turning I do at night doesn't help, but T got me a body pillow today so I think that'll help relieve some of the pressure on my hips and back. I've also committed to doing my prenatal yoga video more often, as it really seems to help my comfort level.

Started my first day of my new job at ArtWorks today (YAYYY!) and it felt great to be downtown again, riding the bus instead of driving, and having an office of my own to report to (even if I share it with one other woman :)). Plus, as I'm reading through grant possibilities, trying to match them with our prospective projects I am reminded how happy it makes me to be supporting an organizing whose mission I truly believe in. All is good. Despite a few early hiccups when they found out I was pregnant...

Not much else to report, lately. In eight more days we'll hopefully know Baby Ree's gender, so I'll have lots to say then, I'm sure! So excited for it!!!

Sending you all lots of love and good thoughts.

funny parents

This video is hilarious to me.

ho-hum

So, things are going well.  Todo está bien.

I've been feeling the "quickening" lately (as they call it,) which is really just the early butterflies in the tum that signals the baby is moving around.  I felt it first last week sometime (according to my online resources, this was about a week earlier than typical) when I was lying in bed in the middle of the night and was half asleep.  All of a sudden I thought, "whoa! what was that?" and it felt like a pop or something under my skin.  Weirdest thing was I could feel it on both sides of the skin and it was kind of amazing.  Woke me right up, and I kept trying to sense it again but Baby was having none of it.  The rest of the week I kept trying to put my hand on where I thought I could feel the Baby and see if I could feel any push back, but nothing.  Today at work I was lying on the couch with the kids watching TV and I felt what seemed like popcorn or bubbles randomly tapping on my belly from the inside.  This was definitely not gas.  Something way more magical.  I can tell Baby Ree was playing hard to get but reassuring me that she or he was indeed there; sending me love, keeping all my hopes up.  It's such a crazy feeling to sense that something is growing inside you.  With you all the time.  It makes me feel really connected and... I don't know... holy.  Like some kind of magic is taking place inside of me everyday.  Amazing.

J is staying with us this week, as Mom & Dad are off to PR for their first vacation alone (ever) in almost 28 years.  He's really trying to not be a burden as I can see him struggling with his own issues, trying to be "good."  Nonetheless he worries about things constantly.  When are mom & dad going to call?  What are they doing right now?  Will I get him on the van alright for work, and will I be there when he gets home?  His issues are simple but they are never ending.  We had to remind him of where he put his basketball three times last night, despite the fact that he was not going to need it until the weekend, probably.  He is a handful but I am reminded of how lucky I was to have had a hand in raising him, and how well-prepared I am because of it for a "normal" child.  He's pretty preoccupied with C & I having babies now, and he asks a lot of questions.  It's kinda funny.  He insists he will NOT help to babysit, though.  He will be "in his room" when the babies come over, he says.  We'll see what he thinks when he finally gets around them.  

Well,  T & I went to Kings Island on Sunday with a few friends so here's a picture of me and Dora the Explorer since I apparently look a lot like her now that I have the same haircut.  I've also included one of us last weekend at the pool with Mom, C, Stu, & T.  Big bellies galore...

Rebirth

This weekend has been awesome so far.

Happy 33rd to me!  It's weird how getting a year older really doesn't change anything.  It is always a fun thing to have an excuse to celebrate, though.  And reconsider where you are in your life.  Although I've been doing so much of that already with the baby coming.  It seems like life's biggest changes don't come to you on birthdays or weddings or other such "turning points."  They come when you least expect them, I think.  Sneak up on you when you aren't looking.  Part of the magic of life, I guess.  Surprise!

Friday T & I ate a delectable five course meal at Slims.  Every course, tiny as some of them were, had so much flavor and complexity of taste.  It was really a treat!  Afterwards we saw Pineapple Express (really funny Seth Rogan movie) and crashed out pretty early.  Saturday we woke up early, went to Ikea and ordered ourselves a new couch.  T's so happy about it, as he's hated the hand-me-downs we've had for so long, that are way past their prime.  Afterwards, I got a pedicure and met up with my Sister & Mom for shopping and manicures.  Later on we went out with the family for dinner on Fountain Square.  It was really cool to see how active Downtown was.  There were two different wedding parties, a Reds game, and people of all kinds camped out on Fountain Square watching the game on the big screen TV overlooking the Square.  It felt like a real city that people come down to, just to hang out in.  (Go figure!)  Not some "scary" place where riots happen.  Congrats to Cincy for really improving our town.  It makes me proud to live here.

Last night we had a Rock Band jam session at our house with a bunch of friends.  T made fresh salsa with our homegrown tomatoes and peppers and I made yummy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  We stayed up way later than my usual 11 PM expiration time, and had a really good time.  It was a nice way to continue the birthday celebration and I was happy to have so many friends around.

Anyhoo... here's the latest belly photo.  Bump is getting ever bigger.  T said he thinks it got much larger just in the past week alone.  Who knows.  Baby Ree must be going through a growth spurt.  

I made sure to smile this time.  :)

Sending you guys lots of love.

update

mehhhh....

I didn't get the job offer.  I guess it came down to me and someone else and despite their "very hard decision" they went for the other candidate.  :(  I did however get a personal phone call from both the hiring manager and the director, both of whom were severely apologetic and want me to apply for a different position altogether just to get me on board.  It would be in Development--for which I have little to no experience, besides the writing--but it would be a valuable area to fatten up on my résumé and it might be more realistic of an undertaking given my "condition" in the upcoming months.  I still didn't mention the pregnancy to either of them yet.  It just didn't seem like good timing.  

I have ambivalent feelings about it all.  Ideally I would have had a "Job" by this past February so I would be qualified for paid maternity leave when the time comes.  Unfortunately that is a moot point at this juncture, I guess.  Worst case scenario, I know I can always go back to bartending whenever I want to.  My boss already assured me he'd hire me back whenever, if I wanted to come back.  As much as I'd love to say I got my MA for something other than pouring drinks, the schedule would really help for the two of us once we had the little one to take care of.  I could be home days, work a few nights a week and Tim would be home from work to stay with the baby during my shifts.  I really think I want to spend as much time as possible with the little one anyway for the first year or so.    

On a happier note we had our second midwife appointment yesterday and it went well, but quick.  Heard the Baby's heartbeat again (such a beautiful sound!) got good results on all the blood work, and made an appointment to find out the gender.  October 7th will be the happy day for the sonogram.  Only 6 weeks away now, and lots to look forward to!  I can't imagine waiting another 20 weeks after that before we found out!  As the song goes, "the waiting is the hardest part."

Hope all is well in your part of the world.  

As promised...

I'm not doing a bang up job of posting here.  Mostly because I feel like all I'd have to say lately is, "crabby this" and "crabby that".  Also, I wanted to give it a few weeks before I took another picture since I really needed a haircut and that last picture seems so anticlimactic.  

So... I cut my hair myself (no more longish pieces in the front... that was just not growing out well,) and finally made T take another picture.  He insisted on a better back drop this time, since the last one was l.a.m.e.o.  I swear I'm not making a stupid face, I just feel like it takes forever to pose.  Anyhooo... here's the pic:  

(I swear I'm not that angry looking all the time.)

Had an interview on Monday with ArtWorks for the MuralWorks Program Coordinator position.  I think it went well, but I was only the first interviewee, so it was hard to gauge their interest and what kind of competition I am up against.  Upon further research I've also discovered that even if I get a "real" job prior to Baby Ree coming, I won't be guaranteed paid maternity leave.  Apparently you have to work somewhere for a consecutive 12 months in order to qualify for that benefit.  Boosville.  I'm really torn between wanting another income and spending the first year of Baby's life with him/her at home anyway.  I guess I want both.  Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of modern woman.  We can have it all, and if we don't do it all, we're somehow falling short.  

My wishes vary day to day, right now.  Sometimes hour to hour.  I don't really know what I want.  Besides a happy healthy baby.  I guess that's really all you can ask for.

16 days away

On August 23rd I will be officially 14 weeks pregnant.

This may not seem like a big milestone to most, but being officially out of the first trimester will give both me & T some breathing room.  People seem to think pregnancy isn't a big deal until you're all big and showing, but I can say from experience that the first trimester seems pretty darn hellish to me.  It may be the near exhaustion from small errands like doing the groceries, or standing on my feet bartending for 7 hours at a time.  Or it could be the constant nausea unless I eat every two hours.  Or it could be the not fitting into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes, but looking pseudo-ridiculous in pregnancy gear that I haven't quite grown into yet... maybe all of the above.  

Miraculously though, those things supposedly go away during the second trimester.  At least, that's what I'm told.  I see it in my sister, too, who is about 21 weeks along and just found out on Tuesday that she's having a boy.  We went shopping together after her doctors appointment and every store we went into she happily purchased something cute and blue.  She looked radiant in her cute maternity clothes and her big belly.  Me... right now I just look like I drink too much beer.  And feel like crap.  And worry about money.  (Well, that part might never go away.)

On the upside, I went out last night with a bunch of girls from grad school and told them about baby Ree and it was so much fun!  We sang karaoke at the Comet, and I barely noticed I wasn't drinking alcohol.  It helped that I ate a giant quesadilla (kept my big mouth busy when I wasn't singing or yelling over the music) and it was kinda fun watching them all get drunk.  I'd been feeling weird about telling people before I was out of the first trimester, but it was a really good feeling to be surrounded by so much love and support.  Telling women close to my own age, is a totally different experience than telling some of our other friends--so many of which are much younger, not to mention male.  Talking about it tends to feel like I just told them I had sprouted another head.  haha.  I guess they're just not used to that sort of information being a positive thing.  ah, well...  

I'm excited to be a mom!  I'm really happy for Baby Ree to be in our lives!  We're at a really good point in our lives and T's going to be such a great dad.  It's pretty much the most rewarding thing I think I might ever have the privilege of doing.  Now if I can just make it to August 23rd, I think I'll feel a whole lot better.  Small milestones (probably for the next 18+ years) will help me get through the tough parts, I think.  In the meantime... I'm making T take a picture of my belly every week, so we keep track of our progress.  Here is the one from last Saturday:  I guess it doesn't look that big yet, but it certainly feels big. 

(god, I need a haircut!)