33 Weeks - 49 Days To Go and Counting

Ah...Monday. It used to be a day I dreaded. I was one of those people who always had a serious case of the blahs for at least half of Sunday (because I was anticipating Monday's arrival) and the entire 24 hours of the day itself. I resented Mondays because Mondays meant I was losing my freedom and returning to the workday grind. No sleeping in. No leisurely strolls or friendly brunches. Nothing but workworkwork.

Why now do I feel pretty damn good when I come to work on Mondays? I don't wake up with a scowl. I don't growl at my cats or kick little old people on the bus just for the savage joy of watching them stumble (well...I never actually kicked the old people, but there were days when I seriously considered it because some of the Geritol Gang are just rude. And pushy. And annoying). These days I get up on Mondays and it is just another day. I head to work...plod through my day...and I don't feel angry about it. PROGRESS! (cue singing birds, rainbows and frolicking kittens)

How did this happen to me? I'll tell you how...I'm pregnant so our weekends aren't filled with party invitations followed by hazy booze-fueled bouts of silliness followed by a late morning wake up call and a trip to our favourite brunch place followed by a lazy family nap. Noooo. Our weekends are hectic, expensive, and depressingly utilitarian for the most part.
Laundry? Check.
Dishes? Check.
Groceries? Check.
Paint? Ummm...soon?
Crib, stroller, car seat, glider chair, baby clothes, diapers, changing table, diaper cream, baby tub, dresser, SNOT SUCKER, etc etc etc? ... ... ... ... (followed by the sound of a door slamming as Leigha and Scott run from the room to hide their shame)

Yeah, that pretty much describes our weekends in a nutshell. We're hitting the panic stations just in case our child fails to take after her perpetually late parents and actually makes her debut early. I admit, there is little chance of this but we're determined to be prepared. Are we done yet? Are we even close to being done? Not a friggin' chance. There are a million and one things left we still need to do, buy, move, paint, pack, donate, organize, clean, etc. before we can sit down and start feeling even remotely ready for what is to come.

In other words...we don't look at all like these two jerks I found while surfing the web looking for my weekly Baby Centre update. I noticed the picture on the 33 week intro page is of this calm looking couple who are obviously happily anticipating the arrival of their baby without a care in the world. Tra la la-de-dah. Isn't life just sooo wonderful for these two smug SOB's? Since Scott and I are NOT looking anything like these two, I feel like pulling out the handy dandy sniper rifle, hunting these two down and using them for target practice just because they've made me feel so inadequate. Justifiable double homicide, people, and I should know...I'm a lawyer.

This seems to be more in line with how things are in the Worth/Craig household right now and I'm apparently not the only one feeling the heat. Scott seems to be on his way to a full blown meltdown too.

Fun Fun Fun.

So before I degenerate into a beebling idiot, here's the Baby Center update and the 3d update and blurb can be found by clicking here.

Conversations with Bug

I was zoning out on my way to work this morning and I realized that I was unconsciously rubbing my baby bump...again and I began to wonder why I've been doing it so much lately. All the sudden I had an epiphany: I'm doing it to try to connect with Bug. It is kind of like I'm having a one-sided conversation with her...a silent monologue of touch.

Sometimes I'm saying hi and letting her know that I'm thinking about her.
Sometimes I'm trying to let her know that I'm here to protect her.
Sometimes I'm trying to soothe her so she'll feel better about staying where she is for another couple of weeks and other times I'm asking her to just move a bit so I know she's ok.
And other times, I'm just telling her over and over again that her mom loves her.

Since I'm the kind of person who wanders around the house talking to her cats (don't worry, they don't answer back...MOST of the time) I have no problem doing the same with Bug in private. However, since I spend so much of my time at work and on transit, I'm thinking this mother/daughter chat by touch is pretty cool with the bonus that I don't look crazy in public.

31 Weeks

I was planning on doing at least one more posting over the weekend but our internet router decided that it had had enough of the poor working conditions at our place and quit. Sadly, quite a number of electronics that have spent any amount of time in my company lately are now either on strike or they've come down with a serious case of Alzheimers. Perhaps we should offer health benefits?

My cell phone has decided that I now merit my own time zone: BC + 30 minutes (which, given my size, I have problems disputing). If this was a one time glitch, I would have found it mildly funny, but every single time I correct the time, my phone goes into a sulk and then changes it back when I'm not looking. My clock radio screams and goes off channel when I dare touch it and my ipod is now just plain ignoring me most of the time when I try to use the touch wheel. Why shouldn't my router join in on the "fun"? Sigh

I've always had some effect on electronics (batteries in watches die quick deaths, radios get louder when I am nearby, etc) but lately the problem has gotten so much worse. I'm beginning to wonder if Bug is going to be like me and if the two of us are what is causing these additional or accelerated glitches. I'm just glad my computer here at work is still working (although that may be because our IT dude recommended I place the tower as far away from me as physically possible when he first realized my effect on electronics).

Anyway...so here we are: 31 weeks along. The Baby Center's update this week is ho hum but it does have a pretty good picture showing roughly how big Bug is...no wonder my stomach is as hard as a drum and I'm constantly running for the bathroom! I'm surprised the kid can move at all in there! The 3D pic and blurb are here but again, I'm not blown away by the amazing info. I read my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" week 31 update this morning and there was at least one thing I remember thinking was cool...but do you think I can remember what that was? Noooooo, not a chance. Gah!

Bug and I are doing well. I'm feeling pretty good most of the time if you don't count being tired, having a sore back, feeling like my pelvis is being pushed down to my knees, and the almost constant sensation that my hips are being pried out of their sockets.

I know it may not always sound like it, but for all my bitching there really is nothing like this whole experience...I wouldn't trade it for all the ibuprofen in the world (which is - these days - saying a LOT).

Prenatal Lessons from Classical Roman Poets

Scott and I attended our first prenatal class last night. Each Thursday for 5 weeks straight we're heading to St. Paul's for a 2 hour birthing primer. I wish I could say it was going to teach me how to survive this process intact, but given my current physical state I'd say that train has already left the station.

I had the impression that we were going to be sitting on the floor practicing breathing or watching a graphic birthing video but overall it was pretty damn benign. We learned about the various phases of labour and a few natural pain management/relaxation techniques, ate some chocolate puffed cereal squares, got to know our classmates a bit, and that was about it.

My worst moment came when I realized how incredibly tight a space the pelvis is. The nurse took an unrealistically small doll and a skeleton's pelvis to illustrate how the baby travels from the uterus to the outside world and boy, was it a tight fit. I almost asked for my epidural right then and there.

So where was the drama? The images of panting women and the blood, sweat and screaming? Just between you and me, I bet that last night there were any number of women labouring away up on the third floor in the maternity ward cursing the prenatal class they attended just weeks ago because that smiling, perky little nurse teaching it sold them a bill of goods about the joys and rewards of natural child birth without showing them the grim and gory reality. Pfft! Suckers.

Can you tell I'm suspicious of this whole process?

Personally, I think Virgil was a bit off in the Aeneid warning us all about Greeks bearing gifts. My advice? Beware of nurses advocating natural childbirth who ply you with chocolaty snacks.

Butter Chicken Negates my Self Control...Again.

I hate to admit it, but I think I might be guilty of buying into a pregnancy stereotype because I honestly expected my 3rd trimester to be even more about food than the 2nd was. I imagined I would be a hearty eater right up until the last month or so when (presumably) my innards would be so cramped by my uterus that eating would become more of a grudgingly performed chore than one of life's little pleasures. After all, I thought, why wouldn't that be the case? Bug is now around 3 pounds (give or take) and I know she's supposed to at least double that before she pops out in that short and painless fun-fest otherwise known as labour and birthing. Hey, I don't know what your birthing experiences were like or what you've been told by women who've gone through it, but MY labour and birthing will be EXACTLY as I've just described it or my OB will be forced to figure out another way of breathing after I rip out his lungs.

So if I'm 9 weeks away from my EDD (estimated due date) and Bug isn't anywhere close to what will be her full size at birth, it seems reasonable to expect I will need to be able to eat a fair bit right now, hey? Well surprisingly, that isn't the case. Over the last week, I've found that if I take the noshes I manage to choke down during the day and add them up, they don't compare to the total daily volume of food I was scarfing down so easily just a couple of weeks ago. If I try to eat more, I suffer. Whooo Boy, do I suffer! Let's just say Tums became a 5th food group until I figured this out.

So why is this an issue? Well...I was actually doing pretty well adjusting to the necessary change in my eating habits until I bumped into my old nemesis - butter chicken - today at lunch. My good friend Pat and I met up for a midday meal at our fave Indian takeaway joint and I completely lost my head. I ate about 4 times more in one sitting than was advisable. I just couldn't help myself. I went with the best of intentions but when I got that plate of butter chicken and that big hunk of naan (Indian flat bread) in front of me, I went into a kind of trance and ate every bloody bite. Doh! Now? I'm "sitting" here at my desk (hunching is more like it) wishing with every fiber of my being that I was able to just fast forward through the rest of my day because I'm in so much pain I can't even sit up straight.

Strangely enough, they don't make Tums in "idiot strength" so I'm afraid I'm stuck with this until further notice. It should make my visit to the dentist tonight a real joy.

Week 30

Hooo boy! Is it that time already? I'm now 30 weeks along (or in my 31st week as Scott felt compelled to point out...thanks for that, Scott).
30 weeks.
30.
The big three-oh-my-friggin-gawd-why-the-hell-did-I-sign-onto-this-for-and-how-do-I-get-off-this-train week?
Yup. 30 weeks and the fear of giving birth to a full sized baby (or - cringe - oversized) is now in full swing.

Ahem...well the calendar don't lie so here's the updates for this week: Baby Center is here and the 3D preggo picture and info can be found by clicking here. Again, I refuse to subject you to the Visible Embryo's "artwork" but I did learn by reading the info there that Bug's irises are now pigmented (blue until well after birth and then we'll see). Other than that, everything they have to say is covered by the other blurbs.

Bug is doing well. She's getting very strong (ouch! ooof!) and more than a bit crowded these days if the amount of fidgeting she's doing is any indication. Also, now when she "fins" it is more like watching someone trying to stretch their way out of a plastic bag.
Weird.
Funny.
And sometimes, if you happen to be the plastic bag, not overly comfortable.

I'm not sleeping all that well but that could be due to any number of things, including Bug's little late night/early morning forays into interpretative dance. Since she actually seems to be a good little sleeper for the most part, I shouldn't complain...although I apparently just did.

I'm not quite sure why but suddenly I'm absolutely crazy about milk. I've always liked milk, loved it even, but these days I can't get enough of the stuff.

The Financial Hemorrhage has Begun...

On Friday I came to my most shocking realization yet: we've got about 10 weeks (give or take) to get our house and our lives in order before Bug comes and that, my friends, just isn't very damn long!

I know it sounds like I've spent more than half this pregnancy being surprised by the obvious, but for some reason I just can't help it. Every single time I think about certain things I'm struck by how scary and wonderful having a baby is, how unprepared I am and how incredibly excited and twisted up I am inside. You know, my typical self, but the bonus pack version NOW WITH 50% MORE CRAZY!

So with this realization came a renewed push to "take care of business" - aka buy the basics. Scott and I have been putting this off for quite some time. At first, we justified it by saying we wanted to wait until after a certain point to make sure that everything was going to be ok. Then, just when we thought we were in the clear, things got a little NOT ok so we used that to justify further procrastination. Mind you, we knew at the time that it was poor tactical thinking but it sure helped our sanity to wait until things settled down before dipping our toes into the baby shopping pool.

The problem is that now we're about 10 weeks away from D-day (Delivery Day) and Scott and I have bought exactly squat for Bug besides a cute little cloth doll (see pic in my Aug 1st post here). I imagine just about everyone reading this is thinking we're nuts but fear not, we've now fully immersed ourselves in the very scary (and ridiculously expensive) world of baby crap. Car seats, strollers, furniture, clothing, and...accessories? We need to accessorize our child? We need accessories to have a child? To care for a child? To keep ourselves from looking like idiots while fumbling around trying to figure out what the hell we're doing with our child?

Apparently so.

And what a bloody racket baby stores are running! They are like the bambino mafioso.

You need a stroller? Have we got the one for you...however, you'll probably have to sell your firstborn in order to afford it...

Oh you like that convertible crib? Here's the form to take out a second mortgage on your home...

No, this doesn't come with ANY of the features we have on display. Those will cost you an arm and a leg but we do have a special going on this week...you get to choose: right or left...

I swear, if I win the lotto, I'm going to set up a baby store. It is quite literally a license to print money and maybe THEN I could afford some of the junk we saw on sale this weekend. Gah!

Some good news? Well, we bought the cutest crib bedding AND I'm pretty sure we found her a crib we like with a price tag that didn't send us both running for the TUMS. Oh happy day!

Sir Walter's Legacy

I was riding the skytrain home yesterday when I realized something...all but one of the people who have offered me their seats on transit since I started getting noticeably preggers have been men.

All but one!

I realize that this post shows how much things have changed for me over the last few months. A couple of months ago I laughingly wished that someone might someday give me a seat on transit and now I actually have the gall to complain when - on occasion - I'm forced to stand.

My, my...somebody thinks she's more special than the rest of you now, doesn't she?

You have to admit though, it can't be a coincidence that the "offerers" are almost all from the same demographic - mature men. Absent from this gallant group? Teenagers, men under 30, and - surprisingly enough - women of any age.

I kind of understand the teenager thing because I'm not so old that I can't remember what a completely vacuous idiot I was back then. I was so wrapped up in my own little daily dramas (What do my friends think about this or that? Does this boy like me or my best friend? Does this outfit make my butt look big? You know, all the earth-shatteringly important crap that makes the Dalai Lama look like a poser) that I just didn't have room left in my pea-sized brain for ridiculous social niceties like politeness.

Men under 30? I'm not quite sure how to explain this one except perhaps to note that men mature so much slower than women. Maybe before they hit 30 they are still stuck in the teenage stage where nothing much makes an impression because they are too busy stewing about such mammoth issues as "what is the correct amount of hair gel to get that 'Edward Cullen' hairstyle the girls all seem to like without having it go all crunchy?" (Twilight movie reference for all you out there who aren't into vampires.)

Women though? Quite frankly, I'm baffled, befuddled, bewildered and bemused. (and apparently overly fond of synonyms for confused that start with the letter "B") Why? Well, there isn't a woman out there that is completely clueless about the discomforts of pregnancy, either through firsthand experience or via someone they know who clued them in and yet when I walk onto a bus or the skytrain suddenly every woman there finds their phone, grocery list, knitting, shoe laces or split ends the most fascinating things in the entire world. So fascinating, in fact, that they won't even look up if (and when) I accidentally step on their foot...and I know this from numerous instances where that has actually happened (remember...I can't see my feet, let alone anyone else's...)

Why do women always wait for a Sir Walter Raleigh to throw down his cloak for the damsel in distress instead of doing it themselves? What ever happened to feminine solidarity?

This realization has opened my eyes so never again will I let a pregnant woman stand without offering her my seat (you know, provided I'm not pregnant, tired or completely busy counting my split ends.)

28 Weeks

So today marks yet another major baby milestone. Apparently, 24 weeks is the first point at which the medical community considers a baby to be viable (although I've read about younger children having survived in VERY rare cases) and 28 weeks is where a child's chance of survival jumps almost to its highest because their little lungs are in better working order. Of course, a baby born at this point would require a long stay at the hospital and a lot of medical help, but it represents yet another developmental stage that allow Scott and I to breathe a little easier and focus more on our excitement (and anxiety) about Bug's impending arrival.

The Baby Center update can be found here and the 3D rotatable pic and info is available via this link. This week's blurb and ridiculously disturbing pic from the Visible Embryo can be found here.

I'm going in on Wednesday of this week for another ultrasound so hopefully I'll have another fantastic pic of Buggero to post soon although (as I've said before) it won't be a fancy-schmancy 3d one like the one I found on Google images for this post. I actually don't think we're going to do the 3d ultrasound since this poor kid has been ultrasounded within an inch of her life since June.

Our update: Scott and I finally pulled the trigger yesterday and bought a sectional couch for our living room, a pull-out couch for our new den/guestroom and a leather swivel/recliner for our new upstairs living space too. It was a depressingly expensive day and all we walked out of the store carrying was a furniture care kit because our new couches won't come until October 17th and the chair won't arrive until December 3rd. Somehow, walking out with a little cardboard box after spending thousands of dollars just didn't seem right, you know?

The bonus? I don't have to spend time I need to get the nursery ready shopping for our other furniture anymore.

The drawback? I now have no excuse to drag my butt any more when it comes to clearing out the mess I've made in the den (aka nursery). Sigh...

Ka-Sproing, MoFo!

Ahhh...I remember the good old days when Bug's movements were soft and oh-so-cute instead of strong and oh-so-bloody-crazy. Even after the little butterfly flutters moved on to teensy little bumps, and then those teensy little bumps morphed into more insistent punches and kicks I still thought it was great because it confirms that everything is humming along as it should.

However, there comes a time (and I knew that it was a possibility from reading things off THE DREADED INTERNET) where your child can hit you so hard in just the right place that you cough, choke, or double over as much as is physically possible around that basketball you used to call your belly. Somehow, I thought I would be spared this rite of passage since I'm a girlie girl and I'm having a girl. Surely she wouldn't kick the crap out of her mom, would she? Hell no! She's inside me right now dreaming of our first mom and daughter manicure and anxiously awaiting the the theatrical release of Sex in the City 2, right?

Ummm...apparently not.

The other night while Scott and I were watching tv, she somehow managed to kick or punch me so hard on the ribs that I yelled out loud. If you had synesthesia, the sensation would have sounded like a cross between a sproing and a nuclear bomb blast with a bit of attitude mixed in for good measure: kind of like a "Ka-Sproing MoFo!"

I know that sounds funny but I was in pain for over an hour afterwards. Bug has been pretty active lately but I have to wonder how the hell did she manage to get so strong at 27 weeks and what prompted that little outburst?

Of course, SOMEONE was forcing us to sit through TSN's Sportsdesk so that may explain a lot...football highlights piss me off too and don't even get me started about baseball.

Week 26

Although this baby isn’t as cute as Bug, I have to admit he or she sure is a cutie pie.

My OB has ramped up my ultrasound schedule to every 3 weeks or so which is both good and bad. I am now working a shorter week so every minute at work is precious BUT (of course) I also get to see Bug on a regular basis which is way cool. Hopefully the little Bugger cooperates and shows her cute little mug once in awhile (and by once in awhile I really mean every single time I go in for an ultrasound).

The Baby Center update is here...like last week, it is rather cheap with the baby facts. Quite honestly, most of the time I could care less about most of the mommy crap they talk about: I HAVE AN OB WHO WILL TELL ME ALL THAT. Call me crazy but I don't think I'm being unreasonable expecting a site called "Baby Center" to have lots of baby factoids.

That being said, I do like getting advanced warning of some of the stuff I can expect at certain stages. Advanced warning was pretty much the only thing that kept me from taking the potato peeler to my stomach last night when I woke up insanely itchy and I’m sure I’ll benefit from knowing scratching makes your stretch marks worse. However, I am far more interested in what little Bug is up to these days than I am about itchiness, linea negra, and stretch marks.

There was one thing that stopped me short in my tracks...on the Baby Center website Week 26 is in the third trimester section of their pregnancy timeline.

Ummm...

I think for the sake of my sanity I'm going to put on the blinders and simply pretend I'm in my second trimester until I give birth...it sounds less stressful somehow. That way I can tra-la-la my way through the rest of this pregnancy without any worries, telling myself I have all the time in the world. Of course, once I hit months 8 and 9 everyone will be a little confused when I calmly inform them I'm still in my second trimester but that's their problem, not mine.

The 3d rotatable pic and blurb are here and the Visible Embryo's update and very creepy pic is here. I am starting to have serious questions about the V.E.'s artist because the baby pics are starting to take on a decidedly satanic appearance...perhaps some therapy is in order?

My update: I'm feeling pretty good most of the time although Bug is getting strong enough to wake me out of a deep sleep when she decides it is time for a Revolution of the Dance Dance variety. I guess having a child that weighs 2 pounds pinging around in your belly isn’t always going to be particularly comfortable.

Yesterday we bought her a couple of bedtime stories: "Goodnight Moon" and "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" so we can read to her while she's inside my belly. Apparently, it is a good way for her to get to know our voices and for her to get to know these stories so she'll find them soothing after she's born. I read Goodnight Moon to her last night but instead of soothing her, she seemed to take it as a signal to host an all night kegger...most definitely NOT the intended effect.

Quite frankly, I'm a bit worried about what Hand Hand Fingers Thumb might do tonight since it is a story about a bazillion bloody monkeys playing the drums. I'm thinking it might be wise to rework it just a teensy bit so I can get some sleep. Do you think she'll buy that the story is actually about a bazillion little girls all calmly sitting down to tea or cleaning their rooms?

Cripes, I’m so screwed, aren’t I?

Apparently it's time for week 24's update?!?

Holy bloody crap! I mean, I know I'm a couple of days early posting my 24 week update (2 whole days!) but even taking into account the extra time, it just seems absolutely unreal that I'm this far along already. eek!

Anyway, 24 weeks have just flown by and quite frankly, Scott and I aren't prepared at all, unless you consider buying your unborn progeny a toy preparation of some sort. Behold, a picture of the one and only thing we've bought to prepare for our child's impending birth: a cloth doll!

Now I know this isn't an essential like a car seat or a crib but it is the very first thing we've bought for our little Bug so I thought I would post a pic to show we're not in denial or anything. Yes, we realize we have a baby on the way and yes, we know we need to buy the essentials too so please don't report us to Child and Family Services. We will buy all those important things too...eventually.

Put.
Down.
That.
Phone.

The Baby Center update this week focuses mainly on what's going down with the mom but there are a few interesting tidbits here. Also, the 3d rotatable pic and blurb can be found here. The Visible Embryo has an update this week although the picture they use is rather disturbing...the baby's eyes make it look possessed by the devil. Vewy, Vewy Scawy but if you're feeling brave it can be found here.

Move over Scott...Make Way for GEORGE!

DQ's Raspberry Truffle Blizzard...

I am naming it George.

George and I are going to be very happy together.


Sorry, Scott...it was good while it lasted.

Meow!

I haven't been sleeping all that well lately. Who can sleep when instead they could be busy calculating the odds that wishing hard enough might actually transport them to the McDonald's drive-thu at 3:30 AM, industriously sweating litres, or just feeling ridiculously perky? Not me, but hey, if you slackers want to waste 1/3 of your life sleeping I'm not going to criticize...

(I know it may sound stupid now but when I finally figure out exactly how hard you have to wish to get some damn McNuggets at that hour you WILL eventually thank me for it!)

Anyway...finally got some shut-eye last night sometime between Scott's periodic mumbling sessions and my 2 cats' nocturnal gymnastic routines but I woke up almost wishing I hadn't. I dreamt that I carried this baby for 9 months only to give birth to a kitten. A cute, fluffy (pronounced flue-fy) little kitten, but a kitten nevertheless.

I spent the rest of the night wondering how people would deal with that.
As though it could really happen.

Now I'm going to spend the rest of my workday wondering who the hell would actually take a kitten, put them into a little blue outfit, pop a soother into their mouth, strap them into a car seat and then snap a photo to post on the Internet.
Because, as you can see from the above, that really DID happen.

Aaah...nothing like time well spent.

Apparently I'm Full of Beans...

So I know I'm a terrible mother for not posting this weeks ago...I did, after all, have this taken when I was 7 weeks along, but it is tough taking a picture of a transparency without getting an annoying reflection or background image in there somewhere.

Given the evidence clearly shown in this photo, we can safely assume Scott is part Lima Bean and our child is taking after him. Always knew marrying someone adopted was risky but my baby: a legume? Maybe I should have called this one Sprout instead of Bug...

11 weeks along!

Hey all.

Another week and more important developmental milestones have passed so if you want to take a look at the Baby Center update for this week then just click here and the 3d rotatable view of Buggero is here. Finally, The Visible Embryo is giving an update as well so just click here if you're interested.

Personal Update: I hate to say it but the easy ride is most definitely Oh Vee Eee Are. I've been feeling sick almost 24/7 for the last week and my hormones are working overtime. Add to that that I'm not sleeping well and I've morphed into the stereotypical pregnant woman who eats too much and cries at the drop of a hat (sobbed my eyes out watching Heroes last week and NOT when Nathan died). Luckily for Scott, he was in Kamloops for 4 days with his buddies on a yearly golf trip so he missed the emotional shit show I called a weekend. If I didn't know this trip had been planned months ahead of time I would call the timing suspicious to say the least...

I actually feel bad for my cats. How many times in one night can an animal be chased down and forcibly cuddled by a woman turned into a sobbing maniac by a tv commercial or random storyline before it all gets to be a bit much? I guess we can all breathe easier now because Scott's home...he is, after all, much easier to chase down than the cats.

Why do I do this to myself?

Really, I should have known better. I just had to tempt the Fates by saying I've had a pretty easy time of it with this pregnancy...

Gah.

I feel like someone took me out on a bender while I was asleep Monday night and pumped enough tequila into my system to give me a three day hangover right before dragging me home behind a crosstown bus.

Next time I say anything spectacularly stupid like that, I'm begging you to just hit me over the head with a lead pipe and put me out of my misery. By the time I come out of the coma, the worst should be over and I'll be better off having missed it. God, I'll probably send you a thank you note!

Note to self: BabyBug better be a model or a genius or better yet, a modelesque genius to justify putting his/her mom through this! No pressure or anything, kid...well maybe a little pressure.

Hello, My Name is Leigha and I'm an Addict...

I admit I'm one of those pissy people who always makes snide comments and my famous "fuck off and die" face at people I come across who happen to be smoking (even if I'm the one who has moved into their space) but now that I'm pregnant I've come to appreciate the crapfest overcoming an addiction really can be.

My addiction is by far one of the most insidious and surprising things I can think of: diet coke. Insidious how, you might wonder? Well...

a) it isn't illegal so I can get it almost everywhere at any time without fear of reprisal or consequences (unless Scott is close by and I swear that man can hear me thinking about it);
b) it is relatively cheap so you never hear of someone hitting rock bottom as a result of their addiction to it; and
c) to my knowledge, no one has ever cited diet coke as a contributing factor to the demise of their marriage or died as a result of their addiction to it, unless you count those idiots who die from tipping pop machines (and I would bet they are mostly Mountain Dew drinkers anyway so good riddance!).

However, I swear that whoever developed this drink somehow Frankensteined together the most addictive elements of crack, nicotine, and shopping to create a bottle of fizzy goodness I have never been able to resist...until now...because, of course, Babybug shouldn't have Aspartame.

So here I sit.
Primly drinking my Vitamin Water.
Staring at an ancient bottle of diet coke on my desk desperately wishing it was full of the aforementioned fizzy goodness.

6 months and 3 weeks more of this to go, people. In the meantime, if you see me perched on top of a pop machine mumbling to myself, please talk me down gently and whatever you do, don't tell Scott!

A New Kitten will Join the Pride...

Ok. So if this entry is filled with laughable spelling mistakes or just plain gibberish, you can blame my cat Neelix's butt as it seems bound and determined to place itself directly on my keyboard just as his cute little face bobs up and blocks my view of the computer screen. Someone sure is desperate for attention tonight (and for once it isn't me!).

It is kind of making me wonder how my two furry little monsters will deal with a third little monster in the house, especially one that isn't content to simply eat kibbles, occasionally snarf up psychedelic garden herbs and sprawl on my bed snoring. Will my cats be ok with the changes a baby will inevitably bring or will they end up compulsively popping kitty prozac and sniffing pheromones out of a brown paper bag in the back alley? I honestly don't know.

I remember when my brother Cullen was a baby...I loved him but I was also fiercely jealous. We used to share a bedroom and I remember waiting until he was dead asleep to sneak over to his side of the room and wake him up in the hopes that my parents would tire of his endless whining and send him back for a refund. Will my cats resort to tormenting their new human brother or sister in a misguided attempt to have me send him or her back to the pound?

Given how cat-centric we are, I actually suspect my kid's first word will be "Meow" so the disruption to our pride might be minimal...

9 weeks and counting!

So here we are at our (adjusted) 9 weeks.


Here is Babycenter's 9 week update

The Visible Embryo blurb isn't giving an update for this week so we'll move on to the 3D pic of Bug here. I hate to admit it but I didn't realize until just now that there is a lot of info on that page below the fascinating 3D picture so feel free to scroll down if so inclined. LOL Guess I'm easily distracted by the pretty pictures...

That's all I'm going to write today. Sorry, but I'm not going to give my traditional personal update this time because today has been a helluva day and I'm too busy being disappointed in someone I once thought was a friend to really focus on anything else. Take care all...