Thursday, July 17, 2008

You're Just Not Pregnant Enough

Despite my exhaustion, grumpiness, lack of patience and general unease, I am apparently not pregnant enough.

Yesterday morning I went in for my monthly doctor appointment to check on the baby. My husband and I walked together half way. The man walks really fast and I hadn't drank much water. By the time we parted at Dupont Circle I was feeling slightly faint and buzzy. I slowed my pace down for the rest of the walk and started drinking water. By the time I got to the last major intersection, I was really looking forward to sitting down in an air conditioned office.

I was waiting for the light to change when a heavy set woman in a wheel chair asked if I could help her cross the street. Of course I could help her! You quickly realize how short those intersection lights are when you're pushing an adult with a broken leg in a wheel chair! We made it across with zero seconds to spare when she asked me if I was going down the block. Indeed, I was, and I pushed her the rest of the way to the GW Medical Faculty Associates Building. I guess I didn't look faint and pregnant when she asked me for help...but she was worse off then I was. I also got to feel like I'd done my good deed for the day.

Fast forward about 50 minutes. I'm sent to get some blood work done at the clinic in the basement. I enter the clinic and the room is packed. I sign in right after a noticeably pregnant woman. Immediately someone gets up and gives her a seat. I lean against the wall hoping the line will start moving (at this point people weren't even going in or out which seemed rather suspicious). About ten minutes later another pregnant woman signs in. Immediately someone gets up and gives her a seat.

I'll admit they were both doing a glucose screening (they were each drinking a bottle of orange sugar like goo) which usually occurs between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. I am only 17 weeks and 2 days. I just look like I ate a lot for breakfast and swigged some Bud to wash it down. So I held the wall up for about half an hour before I was called in. I'm glad I didn't pass out as I am not the best with the whole blood thing, especially after standing in an over air conditioned basement waiting room with bad lighting.

I shouldn't complain that I'm not pregnant enough because before I know it, I'm going to be way too pregnant. If my memory serves me correctly, carrying around a nine pound, six and a half ounce baby wasn't a picnic either.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

That's Entertainment

My husband worked late last night, so I must admit we were watching the Baby Einstein videos by 5:00 pm. When the DVD ended I flipped over to regular TV (which I never do). I went to On Demand. And I discovered the coolest thing: there's a kids section! Who knew!

I flipped through the many options and I found a "Bilingual Baby" section. We chose the "French 1" video and it was awesome! The babe loved it, I loved it, what else do you need? We watched it twice, and then watched "Italian 1".

In the world of more adult oriented entertainment, my husband and I have been watching Tina Fey's "30 Rock" on DVD at night. It is too funny. If you're looking for something new to watch, give it a shot. It is a lovely short escape from reality and makes us both laugh out loud (which is rare). Nothing wrong with a little parental escapism I say.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

So Much to Say


I don't know where to start! So much has happened in the past few weeks and I haven't had the time to share it with you.

I guess I'll just start with the big news: I'm expecting my second child this coming December 21st (great timing, right?). My blogging has been rather abysmal because of my racing mind, lack of energy, and general freaked outness. We are thrilled and scared and can't really believe it. I didn't realize my body would be able to do this whole human creation thing again, but by the looks of my protruding belly, it is! So, that's our biggest story. It will sure make this blog a tad more interesting with tales of balancing a toddler and a newborn. But maybe I'll be too tired to even remember I have a blog.

In other exciting news, the babe sings along to the ABC song pretty darn well now, and yesterday she counted from one to six on her own...no prompting...two separate times! She did it again today standing in front of the window counting cars. I guess she really isn't a babe if she's counting cars, right?

Oh, and how can I forget. Potty training. We have invested in a potty for her room and a potty for the downstairs bathroom. I am taking a very slow motion, no pressure approach to the whole thing. But I figured seeing the potty would help her understand the concept. I have sat her down quite a few times over the past couple months, but no success. One day, while she was sitting on the potty and I was sitting on the potty (teaching by example, of course) she stood up and ran off to the kitchen. I was not fast enough and she was back in the bathroom before I could do anything. I realized she was wet and cleaned her up. She was wet because she had gotten up off the potty, walked to the kitchen, and peed on the carpet. Not quite grasping the concept of peeing in the potty, I suppose.

Fast forward to last Saturday. My dear friend from NYC was visiting and we were playing with the babe in her room. At one point the babe stood by her potty and started pulling at her pants. "Do you want to go potty?" I asked. She nodded her head, so off came the pants and diaper. To both our surprise, she sat down and went pee right in front of us. Needless to say, I was in total shock. I can't really explain the feeling of seeing your little baby pee in a potty for the first time. It was simply, remarkable. On Sunday we had a repeat performance, and yesterday, she even peed in the downstairs potty (which is much wider and practically swallows her in). We'll see how much training we can get done by December 21st!

And last but not least, a week and a half ago we did a one night family road trip to the Big Apple. It was the babe's first time to New York City, and it was so cool to be with her in my old town. We spent the majority of our time in Central Park (see pic above) and it was a very special 21 hour trip. She even learnt how to say "apple" on the drive back (she had previously just said "app").

My Mother in Law is now in town visiting and the husband and I have very early dinner reservations (5:30 pm so we can put the babe to bed) to re-attempt celebrating our three year anniversary. We went out last night and had to go to four restaurants before we could get a table (it was a tad disappointing). We're going to my favorite sushi place, Sushi Taro, even though I can't eat raw fish. I can't really explain why I want to go there so badly, I just do.

So, three years of marriage, one toddler, and one baby on the way. Who woulda thought, eh? Oh, and happy belated Canada Day!