Ya Dig Me?

At Baltimore residents, we spent Friday afternoon preparing for a giant blizzard that was heading our way. It dumped almost 3 feet of snow on us and our streets have still not been plowed. This winter wonderland created quite a few interesting things for us:

1.  As a pregnant woman (9 weeks!), my cravings and food aversions change by the moment. While I may have wanted pancakes on Saturday, by Sunday they sounded repulsive. Same thing goes for lunches and dinners, as well as snacks. So on Friday, I went to the grocery store after work and tried to hit every craving I might have and buy just a small amount of food to satisfy it.  I did an OK job with it, aside from not buying any meat because it grossed me out. Now, we are two forced vegetarians, snowed in with two grumpy dogs.

2.   Our dogs are miserable. Miserable.  Sable, our pit bull, hates any weather that is not 75 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze. In the winter she shivers constantly and in the summer she pants all the time. So 3 feet of snow is her own personal hell. But, she is a smart dog and has found the only place in our backyard that has no snow — our covered patio set. She wiggles her little body under the cover and does her business. I don’t even want to imagine what that is going to look like when the snow melts.  Our coonhound, Casey, does not hate the snow, but is a bit of a princess and likes to go to the bathroom about 10 times a day.  With only about 4 feet of a shoveled path out back for them, she has been cranky, panicked and nervous that she is running out of clean snow.  Yesterday, we walked her in the middle of our unplowed street so that she would finally poop.

 

3.  Our streets are still not plowed.  We live in the City and while I have heard rumors of some City streets being semi-plowed and almost passable, the plow trucks have totally missed our neighborhood. When we got hit by the huge storm in 2003, it took almost 4 days for the plows to come and save us. This all means that I am working from home today. We are expecting 6 – 12″ of snow tomorrow night into Wednesday also. 

4.  We were scheduled to go to a Meet and Greet tonight for a midwife practice we are looking to use. Mind you, I am 9 weeks pregnant and have not finalized which doctor I want. We think that the midwife practice is going to be it, but really wanted to meet the women before we said yes. Now that there is all of this snow, I assume we will just need to make our first appointment with them rather than wait til the March Meet and Greet.

Now, I love snow. I do. I was born in a snow storm. But this is a little ridiculous. I am getting a little stir crazy. There are only so many board games that Lauren and I can play, and our Netflix hasn’t been picked up because our street is covered in 3 feet of snow.

The positive thing about the snow storm… Jury duty was cancelled today! Yay!

You Never Know When You Will Be Stranded

Part of my job that I love is the fact that I get to travel up to Philadelphia every 6 weeks or so for meetings. They usually all occur on the same day — a marathon if you will — and then I am done. Typically, I come up the night before and stay in a hotel.

Today was one of those marathon days.

I got up early this morning and headed to my office in Baltimore to get some work done before our all day meeting. Around 2:30 p.m., I packed up my belongings and headed up 95 North to Philadelphia.

Thankfully, Lauren has been reading her What to Expect When You’re Expecting chapters and has been watching my insatiable appetite that comes and goes, and packed me a bag of snacks for the road. 

Now, when I say some snacks… I mean SNACKS.  I came down this morning to pack everything up, and the entire dining room table was covered with small baggies, containers and bottles of fun. 

It was a ton of food, but it was wonderful!!!! She knew that I would need snacks today during meetings, tomorrow during meetings, on the way up and back from Philly and for class tomorrow night.

The tote bag of food just looks like I am going camping for the weekend and needed to plan incase we got stranded in the woods.

But hey, I am not complaining. I quickly broke into the bag this morning and have enjoyed it’s contents all day long. Feeding a pregnant lady is kind of like feeding a small army — except we cry a lot and complain about our massively expanding breasts.

Thump Thump Thump

We went for our second ultrasound today and got to hear the baby’s heartbeat. It was a sturdy and healthy 145 beats per minute and it is measuring at 7 weeks, 2 days, which is right where it should be.

Seeing that little flicker of a heartbeat was the coolest thing ever. I think Lauren and I both sat there with our mouths wide open for a few minutes. The ride is official and just beginning.

And oh, what a ride it was this weekend!

Friday night was nice and quiet. Lauren cleaned the house while I moaned about feeling ill all night. During my grumpiness she vaccuumed the whole house, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, did laundry and occupied the dogs. She and her dad also finished installing our attic and she moved a ton of boxes.

Saturday was again spent with me feeling like crud. Thankfully, it was a nice relaxing day for us all. My mom spent the day with us and we all watched movies. Our neighbor and her daughter came over too.  Sunday was much of the same.

This feeling sick thing is really hard wrap my brain around. It seems like if I eat a large meal, I feel ill — but if I eat small meals, they might not be enough and then I get hungry and then nauseated. I think I am learning what a “small meal” should look like and that if I eat a real small meal instead of a cup of applesauce and call it a meal, I feel better.

Lauren is being a great trooper as I turn my nose up to half of the contents of our cabinets. She has perfected the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which seems to be the one thing that always makes my tummy feel good. I tell her all the time how lucky I am to have her as my wife and that I don’t think I could find someone as patient… but I don’t think she knows how much I truly truly mean it.

Surprisingly, I can be a bit of a monster at times…

Well… Now I’m a Liar

All that talk in yesterday’s post about not throwing up yet, but just feeling sick…

Yeah… that’s out the window.

I am home from work, wishing they made a nice little cushion to kneel on when spending lots of time driving the big, white porcelain bus.

Driving in the Slow Lane

The joys of pregnancy have started in full swing.

In the past few days, that lovely demon of a symptom — morning sickness — has joined our team, along with her delinquent friends — killer headaches, all-the-time-irritability and crying-for-no-reason.

The one that has been the most bothersome, obviously, has been the morning sickness monster that has suddenly taken over my life.

Now, let me be clear, I have not thrown up… but I am to the point where I wish I just would. I am constantly nauseated. A dull little ache of nausea is with me when I wake up, when I attempt to eat breakfast, when I am out with friends or family and when I am just sitting at my desk. I am sure Lauren is going to buy stock in Canada Dry Ginger Ale any day now.

On Saturday it was horrible. We slept in late — mistake #1 — and ate cereal for breakfast — mistake #2. Now I have never been a cereal person. I have a mild gluten intolerance, so cereal and it’s oatmeal, bagel, muffin family always give me heartburn. Well, when you have a little creature growing in you, that typical heartburn feeling turns to nausea.

Maybe I am just hungry — I thought… so we went to join my mom, aunt and other family members for lunch.

By the time we arrived, I was a little motion-sick from Lauren’s driving, hungry from not really eating and tired. I was in prime socializing shape.

I devoured some bread — mistake #3 — ordered pasta with a nice cream based sauce for lunch — mistake #4 — and then had a few bites of cheesecake for dessert — fatal mistake #5. By the time we were finished, I thought I was going to lose my lunch all over the table. 

The drive home was awful. Lauren is a great driver, but at that point, unless I was floating on a motion-less cloud, everything was going to make me ill. I made her drive at a snail’s pace in the right lane on the highway the whole way home. I also made her stop and get me a fountain diet coke to ease my tummy.

Soon after we got home, she left for PA with her family for the night and I moaned on the couch all night about how ill I felt.

Luckily, it seems, I am beyond my foolish ways and now understand the importance of eating small snacks throughout the entire day. By the time I am hungry, it is already too late. I need to constantly have something small — a few slices of orange, a couple crackers, a piece of cheese — around to snack on.

I blame my ignorance and trouble with this constant need for snacking on society. It’s hard to be pregnant and know that you have to eat when you have grown up in a world when you are told not to eat a lot. This whole pregnancy is kind of like a mind-game sometimes.

The headaches feel like the worst sinus pressure headaches ever, and I can barely listen to the radio, watch tv or read a book without bursting into tears. I am a ton of fun to be around, I tell ya.

In other news…

We are 7 weeks pregnant! More than 1/2 way through the first trimester. Yippee.

We interviewed an OB practice yesterday. They seemed nice and were very honest and open with us, but we aren’t sure if we want to go with them. We have a meet and greet with a midwife practice in two weeks and will make our decision then.

I think I know what my decision is, but we need to get all sides before we decide.  It probably doesn’t help that I watched and am now obsessed with The Business of Being Born…

Introducing…

Baby Bunny

Well-Done

Today was a good day.

I officially started week 6 and so far the nausea fairy has not reared her ugly head. I am hoping to hold her off as long as possible. I woke up around 4 a.m. feeling a little woozy, but I can’t be sure if it is Baby Bunny that is making me feel like the boat is rockin’, or if it is these damned prostesterone supplements. Side effects are the same.  Only 4 more weeks of taking them, thank god!

Speaking of waking up at 4 a.m., that seems to be my new routine. I go to bed between 9 and 10 p.m. (usually closer to 9 if I have my choice) and then get up around 2 to pee. After that I pretty much toss and turn for the rest of the night. It’s like I can’t get comfortable. My boobs hurt so my normal stomach sleeping is awkward and I hate sleeping on my side. I feel like I just rotate all night like a pig on a spit.

Anyway, today was great. My boss was in town from our Corporate office in PA and we had my annual review. I did well and am very pleased with the feed back. We also had a meeting with a potential website redeveloper to spruce up our current, out-dated look with more emotional images and content. I am excited for this project and can’t wait to be a part of it.

At lunchtime, we had a meeting with two great friends that went very well. For the first time since finding out that we had Baby Bunny growing in there, I ordered a burger. Not just any burger. A delicious lamb burger with greek sauce and spiced fries. I have had it before and it is outstanding. Unfortunately, having to order it well-done just made me sad and made the meal almost not worth it. I cheated a little and ordered it medium well to well done. There were only a few tiny specks of pink, so it was not a big chared sad burger, but it was still more done than I normally prefer. Ah, the joys of eating a boring diet. Thank god I haven’t started craving sushi yet. That will be a sad day for the books.

Other than that, things have been going great. I had a minor mental breakdown last night and did some yelling, a lot of crying and tons of hugging with Lauren. Sometimes I just feel totally insane and out of control. I am trying to verbalize when I feel like this, but most of the time I just want a pudding cup and to curl up in bed.

We started our Belly Book  last night. It is pretty entertaining, if you haven’t seen one before. I can’t wait for our first ultrasound tomorrow so we have a picture to put in it!

Get On The Bus!

So this weekend started off with my birthday surprise. And what a great surprise it was!

Lauren helped arrange for my friends Quinn and Kirsten to come into town from Brooklyn. They surprised me on Friday night and stayed until Sunday. It was wonderful.

Saturday we wandered around town, toured Quinn’s alma mater (Johns Hopkins) and had some tasty food at Golden West Cafe in Hampden. Oh! And I bought some delicious dark chocolate with fresh grated ginger in it. Yum! I bought Lauren some milk chocolate with coconut milk and curry.

Saturday afternoon/evening we headed over to Silo Point for the opening reception for their first on-site restaurant: Miguel’s. It was a great time. There were some butlered hors d’oeuvres, an open bar and a tequila tasting. I was able to enjoy the snacks while Lauren and Quinn were held captive at the tequila tasting table. They didn’t seem to mind too much.

After the reception died down a bit, we headed inside to dine at Miguel’s. Not only was it opening night, but it was also the playoff game for the Ravens… so service was a tad delayed… but the food was amazing and incredibly affordable. We got a ton of tortilla chips, great salsa, to-die-for guac and some real food. I got a jimica and orange salad with pumpkinseed vinagarette and tasty chicken tacos with a mole sauce, Lauren had a yummy burrito with pork, chicken and steak, Quinn had some taquitos and Kirsten had chicken tacos with a delicious pineapple salsa. Our bill — $55. Not bad!! Not at all. I would totally go back.

The weather yesterday was rainy and gloomy so after breakfast (french toast, turkey bacon and fruit) we headed to the American Visionary Arts Museum for their new exhibit. We all really enjoyed it.

Sadly, we had to send Quinn and Kirsten home on the bus after the museum and then we can home to rest and spend time together. We watched a tiny bit of the Golden Globes and I fell asleep while we watched Food, Inc. Not a bad movie, but I am now totally freaked out by ground beef and have an unrealistic fear of E. Coli. Fantastic! Just what I need when I am pregnant — more food aversions.  ugh.

Today is MLK Day so I had off of work. Despite having some kickin’ heartburn, I have been really productive. I went to the grocery store and did the week’s shopping, made lunch, walked the pups and made lasagna for dinner.

Yawn. I think it is time for a nap!

Oh, So You Want Cupcakes for Dinner…

Welcome to the world of nothing sounds appetizing.

Every single evening Lauren patiently rattles off the contents of our freezer, fridge and cabinets in hopes that something will sound pleasing to me. Even though she tells me that we have the same thing every night, she still calmly describes the delicious vegetable stir fry, pasta marinara or roast she could make. Any every night I make the “ewwwww” face and wait until she finds something that will work for Baby Bunny and me.

Tonight is no different.

After taking a nice nap, I woke up and was not hungry… but a little peckish.

Lauren, seeing that I had that “What the hell are you going to feed me” face, went into panic mode.

Do you want a veggie burger? No.

Do you want a chicken stir fry? No!

What about a salad? Eh… Not really…

So after a moment of thinking… she says the most brilliant thing…

How about some tater tots, a salad and a fruit smoothie!?  Oh, Yes please!

A total hodge podge of random items in our fridge was better than any “balanced” meal she could make.

I proceeded to eat a cupcake and smile as I wait for what I think will be a glorious dinner.

I do not wish pregnant hungry on anyone. It’s not even hungry. It’s either starving, hormonal eating of anything in sight or it is highly hormonal and aggrevated hungry where nothing in the world sounds good.

For poor Lauren, who has never been the cook in our house, this is probably the most challenging point of her life.

Maybe this is my body’s funny little way of preparing her for a toddler that wants to eat broccoli, yogurt and a banana for dinner. Or maybe I am just being a pre-madonna. No need to comment on that one!

And We Shall Call You…

It’s a little weird to just call the thing living in my body “baby” or “the baby.”  It sounds so sterile and distant.

And while we want to try to wait as long as possible before finding out the gender, we do need to call it something.

So begins the quest for the perfect bun in the oven nickname.

When my mother was pregnant with me, I was Guido. My parents chose not to find out my gender before I was born, so for 9 long months, everything was Guido this and Guido that. My aunt even made me a sock bunny with “Guido” stitched on the butt. At my college graduation… “Go Guido!” rang out in the audience as I blushingly grabbed my diploma.

Lauren was “Katie” throughout her whole gestational life. I look at her now and cannot imagine calling her that (especially since a potential name for me was Ashley, and we would have been Mary Kate (Katie) and Ashley — ugh!).

Last week, when I would have given my left leg for a hashbrown, I suggested we call our little baby just that — “Hash Brown.” Small. Little. Tasty.

Lauren’s mom insists on calling it Katie and is even keeping a journal to Katie. I love it. I think it’s so cute. Not what we are going to name her, but adorable in it’s own way.

Our neighbor’s 2 year old daughter calls it Baby Bunny. When she came over for dinner the other night, we asked her what was in my belly and she excitedly said “Baby Bunny! Baby Bunny!”

Lauren’s best friend lives in Japan and wanted to call our baby Lunchbox — don’t know why — but settled on something more ethnic… Bento. Of all the options, I kind of like that the best.  It is the small container that holds all of my food. Not so bad… Bento. It’s different, and fun.

Aside from the gestinational nickname debate, all is going well.

Today is my birthday — woo hoo — and we are headed to my dad’s for dinner. This weekend we have some kind of mystery plans, and will be getting an attic installed in our house. Soon, we will be able to see our basement floor and no longer will have totes and boxes and junk everywhere. We will cram it all into our ceiling and pretend it’s not there.