Carrie

...in Week 29

Cramped Quarters for Baby

Your baby measures about 10.4 inches from crown to rump, or a total length of about 16.7 inches from head to toe, and weighs about 2.7 pounds. As baby grows, conditions in the uterus become a little cramped, so there isn't quite as much room to kick those tiny legs or wave those teeny arms. Therefore, you may feel a little less movement now, but that's normal. If born now, your baby could probably survive outside the womb -- although in a neonatal intensive-care unit. As your due date approaches, you may be feeling relieved and excited, or anxious about motherhood, your baby's health, and labor and delivery.

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Less movement? No, can't say so. In fact, she's kicking my side right now, and I can see my belly stretching a bit. Hubby finds that particular activity disturbing so far, but I'm sure he'll get over it!

Hubby managed to catch con crud at Arisia, and he passed it on to me over the weekend. By Monday evening, I was calling my dad for a list of meds I can take, yadda yadda yadda. I'm much more prone to calling OB/GYN Dad than my actual doctor. She's great, and completely capable, but my dad's my dad, and I can bother him whenever I want (more or less....)

I at least managed to sleep through most of the night last night, with only a few coughing fits. And I think my nose is a little less runny...

I was a complete and total grumpy bitch last night. I stayed late at work to finish up a valuation, and then my Metro train broke down, leaving me sitting on the tracks for 30 minutes, so I missed the MARC train and had to wait for a later one. And then Weis didn't have the fingerling potatoes that I wanted to serve with dinner, and I had to make do with red. I know that's really not a big deal, but at that point I was so tired and stressed and grumpy that it put me over the edge. We got home and Hubby tentatively asked if I needed him for anything. I bluntly told him that unless he intended to help with dinner to get the hell out of my way. He skedaddled (It's a real word! I checked the dictionary for spelling!) pretty quickly.

Dinner was good despite the stupid potato thing, and a few spoonfuls of Barefoot Contessa Orange Chocolate Sauce (I know, sooo not good for me, and I'm sooo not proud of it!) made me feel a bit better. And there was an entertaining episode of Bones, and then Hubby brushed my hair before bed, and the kitties were really sweet and cuddly in bed.

So I'm feeling much better this morning, and I'm looking forward to a weekend of rest and domesticity. I can finish cleaning up the dining room from the Arisia Mother Nature costume, and I think I'll cook some more goulash, because it was awesome and freezes REALLY well. And we'll do some more work in the office-that's-slowly-becoming-the-nursery. And I'm going to make a small-ish trial run of Hubby's birthday cake. His birthday falls on Superbowl Sunday this year, so I'm baking an actual layer cake for the first time in years to bring with us to the Superbowl party. Oooohhhh, I really hope I don't screw it up too badly!



Yeesh. When I logged on to LJ this morning, I was thinking about how this was going to be such a short post, because I really didn't have much to say...

...in Week 28

What a Pair of Peepers!

Your baby measures about 10 inches from crown to rump, or a total length of about 15.75 inches from head to toe, and weighs about 2.4 pounds. She is able to dream when sleeping and her eyes can now open and close regularly. Regardless of what color your eyes or Dad's eyes are, baby's eyes likely will be blue (if you're Caucasian) or dark gray or brown (if you're African-American, Latino or Asian). Eye color doesn't change until several months after birth, once they've begun to produce melanin in their irises. Her lungs are almost fully developed, so there's a good chance that baby would survive if born prematurely.

Your uterus extends well above your navel. As baby gets bigger and stronger this month, you may experience leg cramps and mild swelling of ankles and feet, difficulty sleeping, shortness of breath, lower abdominal aches, clumsiness or scattered Braxton Hicks contractions (hardening and relaxing of the uterus). These contractions are normal but if they start showing a pattern, call your health care provider. You may also be urinating more frequently as the uterus continues to push on your bladder.

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So, she's getting big, and more active. Ooooh, so much more active.

Today, she's managed to wedge herself right up under my ribs. Not particularly comfortable, and it's a bit difficult to get a deep breath. I've also experienced a few Braxton Hicks contractions this past week - again, not that comfy.

This week marked a huge change for me; I have cut back on my work hours. It's only two hours a day, but so far it's a huge deal! I'm actually getting to bed at a good hour, and getting plenty of sleep. The extra time in the evenings lets me get more done . . . or just spend more time with my feet up.

And great news! One of my friends, Michelle from the Galactic Quorum (a podcast about Battlestar Galactica), gave birth to her daughter this morning! She and Hubby met at Balticon last year, and we got to meet briefly at DragonCon. We've kept in touch via Twitter, and it's been a lot of fun comparing preggo complaints and excitement. So congrats to Michelle, and welcome to her new little girl!

Spending time with the Boston crew this past weekend gave us an opportunity to make plans regarding our Victorian Zombie Hunters costume group for DragonCon 2010. It's going to be so amazing! We have costumes sketched out, masks planned, color schemes developed . . . And Hubby will be building some sort of "cage" that fits over our stroller to house the Baby Zombie! I can't wait!!!

This past weekend, we went to one of my favorite conventions, Arisia. It's up in Boston, it's not huge, and it's so relaxed. I love going.

Much time was spent with friends. There was game playing, costume planning, eating, drinking, and much joking around.

I didn't actually attend many panels. Just one on costuming electronics, Dueling Easels, and I finally got to see Moon, which is an amazing movie. And I sat in the Con Suite and watched the ridiculous amount of bread that was piled up on tables. Not just sliced grocery store loafs, either. No, this was a huge variety of good bread, from rye to dinner rolls to focaccia. Just bags and bags of bread, piled up on the tables. Arisia has one of the best con suites I know of, IMHO.

And there was the costume. The "wow, awesome, but that takes a lot of guts!" Mother Nature costume, where I walked around in a cropped vest, wide belt, vine crown and flowing, see-through skirt. The vest and belt were covered in leaves and flowers, all of which I stitched on over the course of the past week. They looked so great! Oh, and body paint. We can't forget the body paint, because Regan, Scone, and Hope did SUCH an amazing job! Some crappy photos are beneath the cut. Crappy, because once again I forgot my damn camera and had to rely on my phone.

( Mother Nature )

I ended up reluctantly involved in a lot of "Rah, Rah, Power of Woman and Fertility!" conversations. I guess you find a lot of that at these cons. Frankly, it got old after a bit. But I felt comfortable and lovely - pregnancy is a beautiful thing, and I've talked to too many women over the past few months who absolutely hated their bodies during the process. That makes me so sad! So I wanted a costume that celebrated the wonderful things that I was experiencing.

I'm really sorry that my crappy photos don't do justice to the paint job and rest of the costume - I never really photograph well....

...in Week 27

Baby Can Suck Her Thumb!

Your baby measures about 9.6 inches from crown to rump and weighs a little more than 2 pounds. Hands are active and muscle coordination is such that she can suck her thumb now, which is actually a good thing! It helps calm her, while also helping to strengthen jaw muscles and encourage the suckling reflex. Your baby can even cry now, but you won't be able to hear her. You may see stretch marks as your uterus continues to expand. Most women have gained about 16 to 22 pounds by now. Balance and mobility also may be changing as you grow larger.

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So. Approx 9.6 inches crown to rump, add in legs . . . this kid's over a foot long already. I'm staring down at my belly in a tad of disbelief. And honestly, I have a hard time with the fact that I'm already 2/3 of the way through this pregnancy. It doesn't seem like it's been very long at all! Of course, that's how I'm feeling this morning. Who knows how I'll feel tomorrow?

It's been a very busy week. Lots of sewing, trying to get this costume ready for Arisia. The top is almost complete, and it looks really cool! I have most of the skirt together. Tonight, I'll finish that, and get the belt sewn. And then I can worry about sewing on the rest of the leaves and flowers while at the con for Friday and Saturday (costume's being worn on Sunday).

I came in to the office after my check-up on Monday, and told my supervisor that I needed to start cutting back on hours. After consultation with Hubby (train and pick-up schedules) and the HR Manager (insurance, benefits, salary), I'm cutting back to 30 hours a week. Well, it's actually 35, but there's still that stupid mandatory lunch hour that I can't seem to escape. But I'm essentially cutting 2 hours a day, which gives me a little more sleep time in the morning, and general rest time in the early evening. I start the new schedule next week, and I can't wait!

Remember the fund-gathering that I mentioned for Tee Morris and his daughter last week? It's been only One Week, and the online community has already donated/gathered over $16,000. Some was used to cover the cost of the funeral and a wake, and the rest is going toward Serena's trust fund. I'm so blown away by this community. It's a group of amazing people. In addition, there's an charity auction planned for early March. There will be some pretty great stuff, signed books and events, and I'm knitting a scarf for it. I'll add a link once there's one available.

I'm feeling good, Baby's feeling great, if her kicks are anything to judge by, and Hubby's happy. Life's pretty good for us, right now!

Natalie Morris, wife of podcaster/author/new media specialist/friend Tee Morris and mother of Serena (known widely online as Sonic Boom), passed away yesterday morning.

I didn't know Natalie as well as I know Tee, but this is such a tragedy. My heart goes out to Tee and SB. When Hubby called me at work yesterday to tell me (I hadn't been keeping up with Twitter, where it was announced to the general online community) I was absolutely stunned.

If you know them, then there's a very good chance that you're also connected to us through Twitter, so you know what's going on. But we are in the process of setting up a trust fund for SB, and there's an additional ChipIn fund to help Tee with funeral and other expenses. I'm so proud of our online community, of the help that has flowed in. If you would like to contribute to either, the links are below.

The "Short Term" fund for Tee:

The "Long Term" trust fund sign up, for Serena/Sonic Boom:

...in Week 26

Baby's on a Schedule... for Now

Your baby measures about 9.2 inches from crown to rump and weighs almost 2 pounds now. A pattern similar to life outside the womb is starting to develop. You may notice a distinct wake-sleep cycle, where periods of activity alternate with quiet times on a regular basis. Your baby's senses are coming into full bloom. Its hearing is fully developed. As the fetus reacts to sounds, its pulse increases. Your baby will even move in rhythm to music. Lungs are growing but are not yet mature. Patterns of your baby's brain waves appear like a full-term newborn. The baby's constant movements should be reassuring. You'll be putting on weight at the rate of about 1 pound per week now. You may be feeling some rib pain as your baby grows and pushes upward on your rib cage. The pressure may also cause indigestion, heartburn and shortness of breath. You may even be feeling stitch-like pains down the sides of your abdomen as your uterine muscle stretches.

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So. I'm officially into my 3rd trimester.

The Little Brat, as I've started referring to her fondly, moves. A lot. It makes me happy that she's so healthy and active, but it's also often a bit uncomfortable. In addition, her idea of a sleep/wake schedule doesn't actually conform to mine. And sleeping doesn't happen much, unless I use the invaluable, doctor-prescribed pills. I try not to rely on those too often.

I feel like 2010 is NOT off to a great start for those around me. At least three deaths that I know of (and I'll apologize for the multiple posts, but one of these requires a separate mention, which will follow this post shortly), illness, house difficulties... Many days where you just want to stop and start over again from the beginning.

But I'm trusting that things will look up. I'm off to Arisia next weekend, which means that I have a LOT of sewing to do this weekend. The really awesome "Science Experiment Gone Wrong" costume that Hubby and I had planned, which involved glowy lights "peeking" through my skin and a "portal" on my belly through which you can see the horrible thing growing there, just didn't come together, as we were too busy to construct the heavy crafts and electronics. But I am doing the Fertility/Earth Goddess costume. Lots of flowy see-throughish green and brown and gold fabrics, and Regan is painting my belly and other parts of me. If this comes together the way I envision, it will be very neat. I just have a lot of work to do!

It's cold as a witch's tit outside. I finally gave up on trying to button my coat, and I've started wearing my mother-in-law's loaned wool cloak. It's very well made, but it's absolutely enormous. Honestly, too large for me to wear comfortably. The arm slits and pockets aren't comfortable to get at, the wide shoulders drag down... It's very unattractive. But damned if I'm going to run out and buy a maternity coat that I'll get maybe two months' use out of. So there.

There's a huge Real Estate conference down in Florida next week, and all of our brokers are attending. That means almost of entire week with a nearly empty office. It will be both relaxing and productive for us, or at least I hope it will!

And last of all, it's my Father-in-law's 75th birthday today. Three quarters of a century is pretty damned cool. We're all going out for a very swanky dinner tonight - I brought tall, fancy heels to wear, which means that you aren't peeling me out of my comfy sneakers until I'm good and ready. I expect that I'll hate myself by the time I get to the restaurant. But at least I'll look about as good as it's possible for a 6+ month preggo lady to look!

A happy belated New Year's!

I did a wonderful thing this past week. I stayed mostly offline. It was a little scary. It was sometimes difficult. I accasionally found myself reaching for the iPhone I'd purposefully left upstairs, and then panicking because it wasn't Right There In My Pocket.

Instead of obsessively monitoring my email, I snoozed, and focused on little baby kicks. Instead of reading fanfiction, I worked a puzzle, or scrubbed my stovetop. I watched tv with Hubby. I slept some more. Actually, I really did sleep a lot, aside from waking up at 6:30 on New Year's Day for some weird reason, and wandering around the first floor of our house for 30 minutes before going back upstairs to resume sleepytime.

New Year's was relaxed - about half of the expected guests to our little get-together backed out, due to illness or travel or the weather. I actually managed to stay up to watch the ball drop (and to groan over Dick Clark's heavily make-upped corpse - seriously, the necromancers were slacking off this year...), and to drink my one glass of champagne, which went straight to my head, and to do some cursory clean-up before kicking people out and going to sleep.

Hubby and I finally got around to seeing Avatar. Cliched trope of a storyline (okay, who else was remembering Fern Gully the entire movie?), fascinating concepts for alien life that weren't always followed through on (all of Pandora's creatures have four eyes and six legs EXCEPT for the humanoid Naavi? Really?), and - as expected - phenomenal CG that will, hopefully, set the standard for science fiction movies for the next several years, and, again hopefully, encourage the studios to actually invest in more original sci-fi and fantasy endeavors. Good, worthwhile endeavors, even.

And we started watching Babylon 5, which I'm really enjoying. We're only in Season 1, so the really intense plot-lines haven't started up, and costume/make-up/set/etc quality isn't so terrific, but I'm liking it. I'm glad that I gave Hubby the box set, ever if we were supposed to wait until Baby's arrival to start watching. At least this way I'm awake enough to really pay attention!

So that's it for me, I think. Regular weekly posts will resume this Thursday.

So, you've all been free of my lengthy posts for two weeks. I've been busy!

Went up to Long Island to visit my mother's family, and that just happened to fall on the weekend of the blizzard that hit the east coast. Which meant that I ended up staying an extra day. For the most part, it was a very nice visit. My grandmother made herself miserable worrying about this or that, which seems to be the state of being that makes her happiest (I know, it doesn't make much sense), and the rest of us enjoyed being snowbound for a few days.

So I flew home on Monday night (and my office, as was much of DC, was closed due to the weather). On Tuesday morning, my supervisor called me and asked me to stay home. Can't risk the clumsy pregnant lady slipping on ice and hurting herself or the baby. And then we closed early on Wednesday, and the office was closed on Thursday and Friday. So I worked about 6 hours last week, and only needed to use a single day of vacation. Score.

Christmas was very nice, spent with the in-laws. Got all sorts of fun kitchen toys, most of which I tried out this weekend. And I gave Hubby this wall sculpture thing that he'd really, really admired at WorldCon back in August (I sneaked back and bought it, and had it shipped to me). He had no clue what he was opening until he'd torn off some of the paper. And then he was grinning like a loon. "You . . . you didn't." "I did." "Awesome!" It needs to be re-framed, as the box-frame is lovely but the foam backing thing did not hold up at ALL well during shipping. But I'll post a photo once we have it re-framed and hung. Because it's seriously awesome.

Hubby's office basically closes between Christmas and New Year's, so he's at home right now, starting to clear out the office-that-will-become-the-nursery. He's got a LOT of work ahead of him. That room is a sty, an absolute blight in my dream of a clean, tidy house. but I have a slowly growing vision of the nursery, and we still have a few months to get there!

So, I guess I'll resume my weekly baby/life updates on Thursday. Honestly, most of what she's doing these days is growing, but there are still a few nifty things, like skin going from translucent to opaque, blah blah blah. So you're not off the hook yet!

We finally managed the baby-stuff shopping trip this weekend, and have now registered for all sorts of important things, like car seat, stroller, crib... The furniture and gear that I am assured we really can't do without (Just kidding there - I know how important the car seat is...). So we have a registry on Amazon. Whoopdie doo.

We're also receiving a bunch of baby clothes from friends who became parents in the past year. As Hubby assured them when they offered, we are not those stuffy people who insist upon all-new for their precious baby. After all, the kid's going to grow out of each set within a few months, right? And especially in the first several months, there will be spit and puke and gods-know what other substances, requiring that we change the darling little girl several times a day.

Hubby felt the baby kick! He described it as very weird. Remember that special effect that they use in movies like The Mummy, where there are bugs or whatnot crawling around beneath someone's skin? That's what it makes him think of. Sorry, Lovee, but there IS something crawling around under my skin, and it'll only get bigger and weirder over the next few months.

...in Week 22

Baby's Busting a Move!

Baby's eyelids and eyebrows have developed and her muscles are growing stronger--something you can feel by the strength of the movement in your tummy! Chances are, baby's kicking up a storm and doing somersaults inside your womb. Her hair is starting to grow, too, but the pigment that determines hair color won't kick in for a few weeks.

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Aaaand we're rolling right along. Stretch marks on my back and hips (still not on the belly, though), sciatica, daily heartburn, and this little brat in my belly doing the lindy-hop. And walking into the bathroom this morning, I think I felt large and unattractive for the First Time. Still no where near whale-size yet, but the belly is starting to out-poke the boobs. I got over that little moment, but I can't say I enjoyed it.

Fighting to put together a baby registry at the moment. Last weekend's attempt to see/test baby stuffs was canceled by snow, so we're going to try again this Saturday. After loooots of research online, in Consumer Reports, and with other parents, I've got a short list of cribs, strollers, car seats, and baby slings to try out.

And we've decided to use the Gro Baby washable diapers. The set-up of snaps and velcro allows you to adjust diaper size for 7-32 lbs, and the insert system has received rave reviews. There is also a set of biodegradable inserts (which take a series of months to break down, as opposed to decades for regular disposable diapers) for when you're on the go and don't want to deal with cleaning or packing away soiled diaper inserts.

And seriously, how many bibs and burp cloths do I actually need? Every mother I've spoken to has replied with some variation of "You really can't have enough."

And holy crap, I've still got a list of holiday gifts to buy. I don't want to think about that...

We had some house guests this weekend. It was lovely, and pleasant, and so good to see them!

It was also a bit stressful, because I found myself running around and cooking and cleaning, and doing all of the things a good hostess should do, but without the loving help of a host. Because Hubby sat around and enjoyed the food, drink, and cleanliness (this has become the general pattern when we have guests over), and then promptly left yesterday afternoon for his Sunday gaming group, leaving me to do laundry and yet more cleaning. And he didn't get home until 9:30. And he found me in frustrated tears, because of the work that I'd done, and he hadn't, and the fact that he had to leave for NYC again this morning and I would really have liked to spend a quiet evening with him but instead had to call at 8:50 to remind him to COME HOME. And by that point I was just running over with exhaustion and hormones and what-not, so I just lost it.

So, he calmed me down and we had a good talk. It's been a while coming, but he understands my point of view, and thinks that I'm right, especially that it's not fair/right that I have to run around working while he plays with guests. We'll be working to fix the division of labor.

I feel SOOOO much better about things now!

Also, my belly button has become amusingly shallow. I hadn't noticed until Hubby stuck his finger in, to tickle me. It used to be a deep innie, but definitely isn't anymore!

...in Week 21

Drink Up, Baby!

Your baby measures about 7.2 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 10.5 ounces. He is steadily gaining fat to keep warm. Growth rate is slowing down but organ systems, like digestion, are continuing to mature. Buds for permanent teeth are beginning to form. Soon, baby will rely on your milk (or formula) to quench his thirst and ease his hunger. For now, he'll rely on amniotic fluid. The swallowing reflex is in full swing and your baby will begin to "drink" amniotic fluid, which helps his digestive system to develop.

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Oooooh, I'm so tired.

So, yesterday morning was neat. I've been able to feel the baby for weeks now - these vague little flutters and rolls as she squirms and rolls about. But yesterday morning, upon sitting down at my desk, I felt a real kick! And then another! It was so neat!

And then she just wouldn't stop. I described it to one person as the baby doing a poorly controlled lindy-hop in my uterus. It was distracting and actually a little uncomfortable as the day progressed.

In addition, I'm finally starting to feel actually heavy. I've gained 13 pounds, there are some stretch marks on my back and back of my hips, and I'm starting to trudge along just the littlest bit instead of my usual gait.

Oh, and here's the really wonderful news. Hubby has been up in NYC for the past week, for an emergency project. And they're sending him back up next week (hey, at least they're bringing him home for the weekend!) That's been bad enough. But now they want to sign him on for a 90-day contract on this project. I can't do three months without my husband right now, even if he's home for the weekends. But Work is applying a lot of pressure for this - Northrup Grummen has some mobile tech in a lot of NYC's emergency response vehicles, and it's not working right; that's a rel problem, and something that does need to be fixed (and none of this is confidential, so it was okay for him to tell me, and okay for me to blog about it - I checked). So Hubby might be doing some sort of one-week-there, one-week-home thing for a while. I think I can manage, if I can get some near-by friends to help me around the house. But it won't be easy, nd I'm not looking forward to it. Hubby's actually going to use the "My pregnant wife started crying when we discussed it" card, to try to get as good a deal out of this as he can.

Um. Other than that, I'm feeling okay. The kitties have been SUPER nudgey, needy and affectionate this week, due to our absence last week and Hubby's this week. It's especially nice at night, to have those warm little furballs curled around me.

I am feeling vaguely amused by my unexpectedly Christmasy lunch.

I was at the grocery store last night, where I saw a jar of heart of palm. My mind immediately went "Ooo! I could do salady things for lunch tomorrow! So I grabbed the HoP, a can of chickpeas, a can of sliced beets, a small thing of button mushrooms, and some romaine.

This morning, amidst the horror and chaos cause by some naughty kitty (I suspect Atari) stealing yarn out of my bag and unraveling it into a horrendous mess that actually required scissors to untangle, I sliced up beets, HoP, and mushrooms, dumped in chickpeas and some balsamic vinagar, and bagged the romaine separately, so that it wouldn't get mushy.

(Then I took out garbage, thought I'd missed my usual train, and headed over for the later train, only to find that my usual train was running late, and I had to try to dash to the train so that the conductor would stop yelling at me for holding up the train - he apologized as soon as he saw the baby belly... This morning was really a bit of a mess.)

I just went into the kitchen to put my salad together, and the balsamic and beet juice have dyed all of the white veggies bright red! Over the romaine, it all looks incredibly festive. Tasty, too!

I think that it says something about the mood I'm in, that I'm wasting my time typing (and yours, reading) about a salad.

Thanksgiving was nice. It was great to see my dad and step-mother, and all of my sibs. It was also really, REALLY nice to spend time with people who are realistic and down-to-earth about pregnancy. None of that "Oh, you can't do this, or you can't eat that - it might hurt the baby" crap. Almost every time I mentioned some other thing, Dad looked at me and said, "Well, you turned out just fine..."

Caught up on my sleep - Check
Spent some quality time with each family member - Almost Check - Jeff had to work
Helped Dad with this dance performance thing he's been roped into for his synogogue - Check
Got some good advice about baby and the baby equipment that I actually need - Check
Finally converted Dad and Randi to a Mac - Check

So, basically, it was a lovely, relaxing visit. And we had a pretty relaxing day yesterday. And I slept last night. So why the hell did I sleep my entire way to work, and am now feeling exhausted? At least I don't feel ready to cry at the drop of a hat, like last week...

Oh, and Hubby has been sent up to NYC for the week, for some emergency work thing. So my quality of sleep just went winging out the window.

On the other hand, I'm compiling a list of baby stuff that I want to check out. I suspect that I will need to find a companion for the trip to Babies R Us, or wherever I go. Those places are scary!

We did it.

Actually, the convention went very well this year. The guests were great to work with, my staff is phenomenal, my events went well...

The largest problem, really, was that FedEx sent a ton of equipment from GPX Gaming (they are a primary sponsor/partner, run our game room, and provide a LOT of tech equipment) out to California! So there were shortages in the game room and panel/workshop rooms. But we manged pretty well.

The Gear-Master's Ball was lovely. Hope really outdid herself with the decorations this year. We had moving parts on our table centerpieces! And The Clockwork Dolls provided an amazing concert for our attendees. These guys were really great - even the Tech crew loved them! (And for the rest of the con, the Dolls held a tea party at their table. Actually, they just got rid of the table, draped a crate in lovely lace, set up chairs, and had tea and scones.)

Saturday's Steampunk Fashion Show, which provided the intermission entertainment during the Masquerade, also went smoothly, despite moving of run-through times and much "huh? I don't really know what's going on. Wait - we need another male model? Okay, I'll just grab an attendee..." Everyone looked so great.

Most of the time, I don't really feel like I deserve a lot of the credit that I'm given for convention events such as the Ball and Fashion Show. I'm just the logistics person. I make sure that things and people are there when and where they should be, that everyone knows and has whatever they need, and I'm the one running here and there to keep things going when it looks like a glitch may occur. But the performers and artists deserve the real kudos.

And speaking of running around, there was a lot of that this year - probably more than was really good for me. Staff had a radio shortage this year, so I did without, since I was usually in either ConOps or Programming, and could be reached with their radios. But it also meant that I often needed to physically go to someplace to sort out problems (now, this is often the case anyway, because it's so much easier to calm or help people face-to-face, but it was more so this weekend). I did try to use the escalators and elavators as much as possible, but the stairs often proved faster. As a result, I was always tired, even beyond the usual pregnancy exhaustion. I ate because I knew I had to, but I was often too tired to have an actual appetite (and I apologize profusely to the friends and fellow staffers who sat there watching me worriedly as I clamped fingers over my mouth in an attempt to quell nausea).

Hubby and I were pretty dead by the time we got home. I think I was in bed by 7:30, and asleep by 9.

I'm sorry to my friends, who did not really get to see much of me this weekend, and I thank all of my amazing staffers, who really worked their asses off. Big thanks to Hospitality for feeding us, Tech for their help and hours and hours and hours (and hours...) of hard work, and Programming for lending their space to Decorations and keeping me smiling. And congrats to Siham, for the fantastic success of Anime USA's first-ever Maid Cafe and Host Club! I'll miss you in Marketing, but you deserve to see your babies become even better and better.

...in Week 19

Baby's Sideshow Eclipses Your Discomfort

Baby measures about 5.2 to 6 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 8 ounces, and she starts growing again this week. You can feel it, along with backaches and even some heartburn! Sure, there are some discomforts these days, but your baby is also moving around. Feeling that baby flutter, somersault, and even kick will make you quickly forget that your back is aching and your heartburn is raging.

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Great. So this is where Baby stops much of the interesting physical development and just starts getting bigger. (And yes, I know that's an immense simplification. Shut up.)

But you know what really matters?
Our anatomy sonogram was this morning. Cue the warm goo and odd squoosh/probing of my belly. Add in an ordered emptying of the bladder and 10 minutes of walking, bending over, and bouncing around, in a pathetic attempt to convince Baby to roll over for some of the important shots and measurements.

Photo! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Foenixfyre/Sonogram11-19-09smaller.jpg (Sorry, but I can't seem to get the image to size correctly to this page...)

Results? Baby's looking great at 9 ounces. She's got a slight curve to her left pinky finger, which is sometimes an indicator of Down's Syndrome. However, her chances of having Down's, based on the Ultrascreening (nuchal translucency sonogram + bloodwork) are 1 in 10,000. And upon studying my own left hand (the doctor asked to see it), it turns out that I have the same slight curve on my own pinky. Funny, but I'd never even noticed it! And I certainly don't have Down's Syndrome (yeah, yeah, cue the intelligence jokes). So we're really not worried about that.

AND SHE'S A GIRL!!!!!

It was difficult due to her position, but we spent a lot of time looking for a penis (most time I've EVER spent looking for one...) and we couldn't see one. Nothing between those little legs.

So, I can't say that it's completely conclusive, but the tech and the doc seemed pretty certain.

And this means that we've cemented her name (we're not sharing the first name, but middle is Victoria, for my father, Victor) and can start working on the nursery! Well. I can start picking colors and whatnot, and Hubby can actually continue cleaning out the room-that-will-be-the-nursery.

Hooray!

Added to that, Anime USA starts tomorrow. Oooooohhhhh, there's so much to do! So! Much! To! Do!

Press stuff, and a little marketing stuff, and prize support stuff and soooo much Formal Ball stuff...

We'll get it all finished. The con will be awesome. I'll report in on Monday.

In Week 18...

You're 18 Weeks Pregnant. Your baby measures 5 to 5.6 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 5.25 ounces. The rapid growth spurt is tapering off, but reflexes are kicking in. He can yawn, stretch and make facial expressions, even frown. Taste buds are beginning to develop and he can now distinguish sweet from bitter. The baby can suck and swallow, and he may even get the hiccups. The eyes have become sensitive to light, so if a bright light is shined on your belly, baby will probably turn away. Your uterus, about the size of a cantaloupe, can be felt just below your navel. You're most likely feeling the baby move at this time.

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I had one of those "Slow the hell down! You're pregnant!" moments this week.
Hubby and I flew up to Providence, to visit some people at Brown on Saturday, coming back Sunday evening. It was a great weekend, and I went to the Brown store and bought a onesie! And booties! My first baby clothes purchase!!! And we saw a lot of old friends and had, in general, a good time.

But the travel, despite being pretty smooth and easy, took a lot out of me. I didn't sleep well on Sunday and Monday nights. When Tuesday rolled around, I wasn't feeling so great. And then I had a fainting spell at the office. Embarrassing and distressing? Oh, you bet.
So I went home, and spent the day sleeping. Fortunately, I had Veteran's Day off, so that was an extra day to recoup.

The real bummer? I had all this stuff planned for that day off. A lot of cleaning and scrubbing, a lot of cooking and baking. There were errands to run and a new exercise video to try, and sewing, and the library...

As it was, I did get some laundry done, and cleaned a good portion of our bedroom (enough that Hubby has to hold up his end of our deal and put up the new blinds that I bought weeks ago!), cooked my pretty fantastic (if I do say so myself, even if it's impossible to find diced prosciutto these days and I had to settle for the thin sliced junk) ragu, and baked peanut-butter cookies and lemon bars. We're having some friends over tonight to eat said ragu and yummies. And I made a LOT of ragu, so we can freeze a few batches and haul that out next week when I have no time to cook because I'm putting out last-minute fires for Anime USA, or later on when I'm simply too tired to pull together dinner.

But the fainting thing was a kick in the ass. I keep getting those. I'm pregnant, my body is exhausted from supporting this little developing parasite, and I have to find time somewhere in my schedule for actual rest. It ain't happening much over the next week+. Anime USA has started consuming my life, just as it does every year. I'm staying up later because that's when most of my co-staffers are available. Instead of sitting quietly during the few lunch breaks I manage to take during the week, I'm usually sending emails, making calls, and frantically going over spreadsheets, music lists, staff requests...

It's a very good thing that Hubby has decided to attend the con this year. He'll remind me to take breaks, even if it involves hauling me back to my hotel suite by an ear.

But coming back to the resting thing. There just isn't enough time in the day. I'm up at 5, out the door by 6:30, and home by 6:30 or 7. And there's dinner, dishes, laundry, and whatever other cleaning to do, and convention work...

Okay. I know. This is easy-peasy practice for when the kid's here, and growing up, and there will be extra-curricular activities and homework, and who the hell knows what else. But I'm more stressed and tired than usual right now, when I'm supposed to be relaxing and focusing on growing a baby, and all of the other mommy crap that the mothers around me keep saying.

I hate to say it, but I'm thinking seriously about cutting back on my work hours. I may arrange to leave at 3:30 or 4 instead of 5. It's not like I actually get that lunch break anyway - unless I actually leave the office, no one respects the whole "I have a plate of food in front of me. Go away until I'm finished eating" concept.

I'm going to think pretty hard on it for the new few weeks, and talk with the doctor at my next check-up. But having even that extra hour or so in the evenings would be a big help. I could go to bed earlier, or take a little nap . . .

Eh, I'll figure it all out one way or another.

...in Week 17

Lanugo, Vernix and Baby Fat... Oh, My!

Your baby measures about 4.4 to 4.8 inches from crown to rump and has doubled its weight in the last two weeks to about 3.5 ounces. Fat begins to form aiding heat production and metabolism, the lungs are beginning to exhale amniotic fluid, and the circulatory and urinary systems are working. Baby doesn't look the way you'd expect her to. She's covered in lanugo (downy hair) and protected from her watery home by vernix, a white cheeselike substance. Though they seem strange, the lanugo keeps baby warm, and the vernix keeps baby's skin from dehydrating.

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Yeah. This is one of the "oh, what is that thing in my uterus" stages.

Long week, made better by the fact that I'm actually able to sleep comfortably at night, thanks to the body pillow.

( Housework frustrations are frustrating. )

Just glanced up through this post. How is it that I go to write out a quick baby update, and yet I end up spewing these long rants all over the page? I'm tired from just reading over it!

This was such a nice weekend!

Hubby and I threw an impromptu Games Night/Party on Friday. Beer, chips, veggies, dip, lots of different games, friends. I ditched for bed around 11, and Hubby says that people left around 2am. I'm really glad that I hang out with such a relaxed group, that the hostess feels comfortable leaving them to their own devices.

And that's a pretty damn good thing, because Hubby has talked me into throwing a New Year's Eve party . . .

Remember last year? All I wanted was a quiet evening with my Hubby, and he dragged me out into really horribly cold, windy weather to a party in northern VA. I didn't have fun, I was exhausted by the time we got home, and yes, it was pretty miserable. So this year, I don't have to go anywhere, it'll be pot-luck (although I'm going to try to get that day off from work for a little cooking and decorating), and I can go to bed whenever I damn well feel like it. Still not the quiet evening together, but I think that this is a good compromise. Especially since Hubby has PROMISED (and I have his sworn word in email) to clean up all dishes and trash by 3pm the next day. That'll be a nice reversal, since I'm always the one to collect and clean after our rarely-thrown parties.



My massage and facial on Saturday were heavenly! My masseur went over some really great stretches and relaxation techniques for my lower back and hips, and he convinced me to go ahead and buy myself a body pillow, which I'd already been considering. Pregnancy massage has some very interesting differences, since you can't lie on your belly. But it was all wonderful, and I've scheduled another session for December. I wish I could do it two or three times a month, but our budget doesn't really support that!

Halloween brought us some great Trick-or-Treaters. The number of store-bought super heroes and princesses was down, while the home-made and inventive stuff was up! Hooray! It just warms the cockles of my heart. There was a really fantastic set of Celtic warrior twins, with kilts, woad, and all (and yes, I know the historical inaccuracies. But these kids were pretty young, and they came up with it all on their own. So shut up). These two must have been about 14, and they really made my night. (Also, between the face paint and the loose blouses, I realllllly couldn't tell their genders. All I know is that they were clearly identical twins. Young, strong, and attractive faces. I would have loved to pull them in for photos, but I didn't want to scare them!

Hubby went to church on Sunday, and Officially Became a Member. I tease him about belonging to the Church of Believing Everything and Nothing, but I really do like Unitarians. When he got home, I dragged him out to buy a New Lamp!!! The old lamp, which has been in our den for years, came from a parent's attic (I can't remember which one, although I think it may have been my Dad's). It was fine, servicable, didn't actually match anything, but fine. and then Branwen knocked it over a few months ago, and there's been a piece broken out of the base. But I stopped suggesting that we replace it abot two years ago, because I was tired of being shot down. And then, out of the blue, Hubby suggested that we replace it! I promptly had to jump up and perform the Happy Booty Dance of House Furnishing Victory.

Yes, I really did. And yes, Hubby laughed very loudly, and declared that he loved me very much.

Damn straight.

So we bought a new lamp, and I also bought my body pillow. And sleeping on it last night brought one of the first full nights of relatively comfortable sleep that I've had in weeks. It's awesome. From now on, I'm putting a body pillow on the list of Things That Every Pregnant Woman Must Have.

And I did a little cleaning, and tried a new preggers exercise video, and watched the Vikings beat the Packers. Since we didn't particularly care about either team, Hubby and I just cheered for Brett Favre. (To be honest, the defense for both teams completely sucked, and should be horribly ashamed of themselves.)

And now it's Monday, and I feel like I can actually get through this week intact. (Until I start thinking about how close Anime USA is, and I start hyperventilating just a teeeny bit...).

...in Week 16

Quick, Do You Feel the Quickening?

Your baby now measures about 4.3 to 4.6 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 2.8 ounces. As this week begins, your baby has fingernails, and the hair on his or her head is starting to grow. Although baby's brain is still tiny, it is beginning to send signals to muscles that allow arms and legs to begin moving. She also begins to have the ability to make facial expressions. Because her facial muscles are more developed she is able to squint and frown and starts to make sucking and swallowing motions with her mouth. Also around this time she finds her first toy—the umbilical cord. She grabs and pulls on it in much the same way she’ll play with toys after she is born.

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Okay, that last part? A teeny bit disturbing. Hubby compares it to a robot tugging on his power cord.

It's been a rather long week, with a rather busy weekend.

( I think the nesting urge has hit; )



( I'm also starting to experience some of the pregnancy aches and pains. )



( Anime USA is coming up. )



( And work is Work. )

Oh, what else . . .


I received my H1N1 vaccine last Saturday. On Friday, I receive a phone call from Hubby. "Can you leave work right now?" The answer was a big NO, because we were rushing to get a draft package to clients. Then Hubby churns out this story about the county hospital trying to take my OB's office's supply of the vaccine, so if I want it, I have to go at that very minute. So I'm rushing around, clearing the hour+ off, soothing an angry President (who understands that yes, this is really important, even though he's pissed at the timing), dealing with a hundred little issues . . . and Hubby calls back. I'm to call the OB's office. So I do, and it turns out that the entire story was bull. They simply received their batch earlier than expected, and were bumping up their vaccine clinic to the following day. *groan*

So I got my butt up on Saturday morning, and made it in by 9. I'm so glad I did, because the line was very long! I've never seen that many baby bellies before. But the shot was quick and painless.

Hubby and I went from there to the Renn Faire! It was wet and muddy, but we saw some good shows, ate Stuff on a Stick (a staple of the Renn Faire - you can get any sort of food on a stick, including fried macaroni and cheese.), and purchased honey stuff from The Bee Folks. I got two Mead-making kits (spiced and elderberry), and a bottle of cranberry honey, which is wonderful, with just a hint of tart.

In any case, I'm looking forward to a relatively empty weekend. Just my massage (and I threw in a facial, because if I'm going to pamper myself, I'm damn well going to Pamper myself!), and getting my new laptop set up. And I want to clean the bedroom (or maybe I'll start working on those books). And I'm going to sleep! I'm not getting out of bed until 9 at the earliest, both days. Hooray!!!

And Halloween will be fun. Hubby has gotten tired of watching Sleepy Hallow, which we watch every year on Halloween (come on, it's Johnny Depp! In period clothing! Hawt!), so perhaps we will watch The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Huh. This was long. Well, I did warn you...