Lullaby and good night

The crib has been ordered! A very special thanks to our parents for their extremely generous gift. It was so kind of you all and we really appreciate it (and so does the baby who is now assured a place to sleep!).

When Jeff and I first thought about the crib and the nursery furniture, we envisioned the color would be white. After looking though, there was something about the dark wood finishes that captured our attention. After some wavering, we chose the color licorice, which is about as dark as you can get. We placed the order last week and were told to expect the crib to arrive in 10-12 weeks from then. By that time, our child's arrival will be right around the corner!

The latest (and lengthy) health and wellness report

I wanted to give an update along the health line since that's what people seem to ask about the most...and thanks for caring, or for just plain old being polite! The second trimester has me feeling pretty much as well as the first thus far.

A big change I have noticed is that I find myself getting winded more easily and have some shortness of breath here and there. The winded part I attributed to my body telling me I should probably get more exercise, but wasn't sure what to make of the shortness of breath. Come to find out that much of both are actually due to my baby and uterus growing, leaving less room for my lungs to breathe, increased progesterone, causing me to take more breaths per minute and the rising demands on my circulatory and respiratory systems in general. Who knew? I didn't until recently. Whew. This news flash surely takes away that silly thought of getting more exercise, right? Ha! (Well, I did get my Pilates in over lunch today, so if you want to pat me on the back and give me a "Good for you!" who am I to stop you?)

Speaking of exercise though, how fantastic is this weather for getting outside? Seriously, mid 70s here in November? Keep it coming! It's Tuesday and I have to admit that I'm kind of sore from doing yard work (which I like to call exercise) on Sunday, but it was so nice just being out there. Plus, Jeff and I golfed at about 4:15 yesterday and we managed to sneak in seven holes before darkness prevailed just over an hour later (yuck to the getting dark way too early part). It was beautiful out and although walking the course was slightly more trying for me than it was back in September, it still felt really great. If only fall could last longer. No doubt I’d be running marathons (while on break from all the triathlons), waking up at dawn, having a gay ol’ time scrolling through my plethora of silky maternity running shorts, finding just the right color to wear each morning, training every day, five and a half months pregnant and all. Sounds fun! OK, totally lying. Anyway...

As for some of the negatives (keeping in mind when looking at the big picture, these things really aren't so horrible), here goes:

Three migraines have reared their ugly heads during my pregnancy, but fortunately I haven’t had one since the beginning of October. Also, none has been debilitating enough to get me to succumb to any prescription meds. My Relpax preference hasn't been studied enough to be deemed safe, but according to my doctor, Imitrex, which I used to take and still have, can be used. However, some sources say there isn't enough data on any of them to really consider them safe, which leaves me wanting to avoid them entirely. The fingers stay crossed hoping that continues to stay possible.

I've had around 20 bloody noses which I’ve said previously is fairly common in pregnancy .

I get this odd pain in my rump (always on the right side) somewhat regularly and I’m not entirely sure what that is all about. It could be due to the extra weight I'm carrying or the fact that I haven’t been able to give up wearing heels, or possibly a combo of the two. (Actually, I have found that wearing some kind of a high heel feels better than wearing a flat, but it may be time to put some of the stiletto types on hiatus until I pop the little one out.) Sometimes though, this pain arises seemingly out of the blue, so it continues to leave me puzzled. It comes and goes and is a nuisance, like an achy, sore or pulled muscle, but what makes it most annoying is that it’s in a tough spot to stretch out. I’ve tried some of my Pilates moves to remedy it, and although those look pretty sweet, they are getting less comfortable as my belly grows. Jeff has even had me rolling on a baseball sometimes which provides some temporary relief (and it also looks super cool), but nothing helps all that much until it randomly goes away.

My back has been sore lately (and it hadn't been since I had some lower back pain for a couple of weeks during my first trimester), mostly in one spot towards the middle on the right side. It doesn't always bother me, but when it does, it lasts for longer than frankly I am pleased with and is neither comfortable nor easily relieved. I imagine this gets more intense as the babe grows and the pound count increases. I would say this has been the greatest of the health bummers as of late, but thank goodness it doesn't remain constant.

Hey, if this is the worst of it right now, no real major complaints (after I have just completed a comprehensive listing of complaints!). That’s the basic health update; for the most part, besides these few ailments, all continues to go well! Oh and by the way, in the last week or so, my belly has gotten noticeably bigger. With four months from tomorrow until my due date, there's plenty of time to assign new meaning to the name Notorious B.I.G. (and I'll vow to "love it when you call me Big Mama").

Happy voting day.

The bundle’s first live music show

Jeff and I headed out to see the Matt White show last night and not only was it outstanding, the baby was getting his or her groove on too! I'm convinced we have a little rock star in me, but that could be wishful thinking on my part (because I love me some music and love me some people with musical talent). Appease me and let's pretend the kicks and punches I've been feeling lately are actually air guitar moves and hand to mouth microphone simulations.

Let me fade back into my promotions days. If you haven't heard of Matt White, check him out . However, it completely worked in our favor that apparently many of you haven't heard of him because that meant we sat front row, three feet away from him as the band performed last night. Not to mention, tickets were ridiculously cheap (13 bucks, so around $20 thanks to Ticketmaster). We couldn't believe it, but the venue was like a petite grade school auditorium (perhaps more like a gymnasium), a sentiment echoed by both opening acts and the headliner. We knew it would be small, which we were pumped about, but we had no idea of just how intimate it would end up being. There had to be less than 50 people there. Seating was set up like a basic church style of two groups of seats on each side and an aisle in the middle. Facing the stage, we sat in the left section and had the first two aisle seats. Matt (yeah, I'll fake like we're tight) could literally spit on me (and I was so captivated by the closeness that I may have welcomed it if he had)!


If you haven't sensed, I could go on and on (which I probably will continue to do). I'll start my conclusion with saying that after the show, the band came off stage to hang out with the audience for a bit. We ended up being able to score their set list (with the drummer's permission), and thus began the mission of getting the guys to sign it for us (I know, total whack jobs, but absolutely worth all the entertainment. It was Jeff's idea, and it was brilliant.).

We were talking with the drummer for so long though that eventually Matt retreated from the few stragglers that remained without us getting his signature. We finished our chat, snagged a John Hancock from the guitarist that hadn't yet signed it (yes, we know their names, but I'll refrain from using them so as not to sound like a name dropper :) ) and decided to wait to see if Matt would appear again. No such luck until a guy breaking down the equipment asked us if we were waiting for Matt, so we told him the deal (he was the last of the four to sign the set list and we hoped not to leave without his mark too). He said he’d see if he could help, went back in the room Matt was in and then came out and invited us in. Yes, he invited us in! Matt, his band mates and a couple others were hanging out and we were finally able to bug him and he let us do so, graciously.


We tried to clarify that we weren't crazy, probably just annoying, but they made us feel entirely normal, welcome even. We got to chat the group up for about ten minutes maybe. Awesome. They asked how we had heard about them (an iTunes discovery of mine about five months ago), we talked about what they thought about the venue, where else in Minnesota they’ve played, had some other miscellaneous banter and we ended the conversation with some pregnancy talk, which was really fun! We let them know that it was our baby’s first show and they were all so courteously interested about the pregnancy. It was charming, even if they were as I said, just being courteous. Thanks for reading my recap; we had a blast. It's a night we’ll remember and hopefully they’ll get their well-deserved support and then it will be even cooler sharing this memory with our child.

(FYI: When a word or phrase is highlighted in a different color than the other text within a post, it is hyperlinked so you can click on it for more information...for those that didn't already know. There are several examples above, and in previous posts if you hadn’t noticed.)




Sorry about the poor quality of these photos, but I was trying to be discrete and these are from my phone.

Our baby at 21 weeks

At 21 weeks, the baby is about the length of a carrot.

(For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against the torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of the head to the baby's bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, the baby is measured from head to toe. ~cited from babycenter.com)

20 weeks: Photos

Doctor appointment: 20 week ultrasound

Our baby is looking "smart, limber and awesome", according to some choice words the woman doing our ultrasound used today! :) Well, we have a feeling the smart comment after looking at the brain was not much more than a warm fuzzy, but she really meant the limber part (see last photo labeled "foot over face" and notice the baby's hand appears to be holding the foot!) and we like to think she meant the awesome part too!

She pointed out a few key features that help ease the serious concerns at this stage about our baby having some of the main abnormalities they check for, so that was wonderful to hear. That part made me start to cry. It was just nice hearing any kind of reassurance. All four chambers in the heart looked good and the baby’s fingers and toes are all accounted for (no, he or she isn't missing a big toe in photo four, it's just bending!). Seeing the details of the spine was really cool too. As we had planned, we did not succumb to the suspense getting the better of us and still opted not to find out what we are having. It wasn't clear anyway, so even better for us knowing that no one could have spilled the beans accidentally. I've gained nine pounds, and even though that's normal, I can't help but wonder how many more will be packed on in the second half!

Everything combined made for an extremely surreal and moving event today. Our eyes could not stop staring at the monitor and we are both so in love with our baby. We met with our doctor after the ultrasound and he said that everything looked fantastic!

Diaper champ

Let's just come right out and say it: yes, Jeff changed all the poopy diapers, three to be exact, when we watched Makayla Levy (just shy of four months old) this past Friday night (Friday, October 17th). I was one heck of a cheerleader though and I only had to leave the room once while gagging and that, my friends, is a considerable fete.

Back during my babysitting days, my recollection is that changing diapers seemed to come fairly naturally. In the past several years though, ever since I changed the sloppiest, nastiest, most rotten diaper of my nephew's (all while I had a winter scarf that I had sprayed profusely with perfume tied to my face about four times around to cover my nose as I still gagged continuously from the stench), it hasn't come as easily for me. I could go into many more details about the seemingly never-ending crap fountain that I faced that day, but I'll spare the gory details.

Luckily, everyone likes to remind me that it will be different when I'm changing my own child, and I sure hope they're right. But especially now, with a nose like a bloodhound, I just couldn't do it. Sorry Makayla, but you sure were a sweetheart, stinky butt and all! She was such a good little girl for us, and we had a really enjoyable time with her. We appreciated that Mike and Missy trusted us enough to give us the opportunity. Both Jeff and I were able to do one of Makayla's feedings, so that was fun too. I was somewhat surprised when I looked over and Jeff was trying to breastfeed her during his, but I figured he must really know what he's doing. After all, he did take a parenting class in college.