I was never a dog person...

The past week has been very hectic and exhausting. I've been terrible at updating the blog, but here's the rundown on the events of the last week.

Last weekend I was in charge of an academic conference here at FarmU. The conference was a success with attendees from around the world as well as here locally. There were a few hitches, but all in all, it went off well. On Friday, I started to have a rash on my belly and stretch marks rapidly appeared. By Sunday, my arms and legs were covered in tiny bumps. I itched all over! I did some googling, which suggested that I had a condition called PUPPP. If you google for the images (which I haven't linked to) you will see what I looked like.

After not sleeping, I called the midwife first thing in the morning. She saw me right away, which was a relief. My condition apparently was bad enough to get me a trip to the dermatologist. I left with a definite diagnosis of PUPPP and a prescription cream. She recommended an antihistamine and oatmeal baths as well. On Thursday I went back to the dermatologist (after the rash spread to the tops of my feet, backs of my hands, and the backs of my knees). I wasn't sleeping and I was starting to really scratch a lot. Ice packs at night helped, but made me too cold to be able to sleep. The sleep deprivation was getting to me. The dermatologist recommended that I try light therapy as well - as it's been known to help with psoriasis and eczema. They (the medical field) knows little about this skin condition other than that it's caused by pregnancy. There are no apparent harmful outcomes for either mother or baby from it - other than the severe discomfort of the itching. Thus, it seems that little research has been done on how to treat it. Both my midwife and the dermatologist told me that some women end up being induced early (obviously not this early) because the itching is so unbearable. I couldn't have understood that before - but after this week I completely get how itching could be so traumatic.

So, I got my first session of light therapy as well. As of today, I am feeling dramatically better. I still itch, but it's more like a case of mosquito bites now rather than the ceaseless, unending itching of a few days ago. I'm sleeping through the night (well, except to get up to pee!) and that has improved my mood 100%.

I had my regular appointment with the midwife on Friday and she was happy with the improvement over just one week. The baby is doing fine and moving regularly. Tadpole has even had several cases of the hiccups, which are very funny to feel. Tadpole is head down and hanging out int he right position. On Monday, I'll be 33 weeks. Full term is 38-42 weeks (with 40 weeks being the "due date"). So, we're looking at 7 weeks to go (with a range of 5-9 weeks considered normal). So, we're just working on managing my PUPPP symptoms. It should magically go away once the baby comes.

So, that's the latest baby news around here.

Kicking me

So, this child, Tadpole, has decided to make today the First Day of Serious Kicking! I've had movement for the last few weeks, and felt kicks internally for a little while. Thursday I felt a kick with my hand (during class) and last night during a movie we watched there were a few more. But today has been completely different. I was taking a break from homework this morning, sitting in a chair and reading a book (Birth: The surprising history of how we are born by Tina Cassidy, more on this later) and Tadpole just starting moving and kicking or elbowing or whatever. It's just a strange sensation. I couldn't understand it before it happened, and I find it difficult to explain just how it feels. This whole process is a very surreal and strange.

Which I guess is my segway to Birth. I picked this up at the library yesterday along with a few other baby/pregnancy/birthing books. It's an interesting look at the history of human birth, from Lucy to modern times. Cassidy discusses how human birth differs from other mammels and describes how birthing practices have changed of the centuries (and even the last decade). While it's certainly not the book for the squeamish (she unflinchingly describes horrific events and procedures), it's very interesting to hear how we've ended up using the tools and techiques we now rely on. It's also fascinating to consider how quickly things have changed since WW2. I wish I could talk with my grandmother (who, although living, wouldn't be able to have a conversation like this if she even remembers it) about what it was like to have my dad and aunts in the 40s and 50s. I never thought to ask about this before. Now that I'm pregnant, an entirely new area of conversation is available - topics that I was never interested in nor even thought about before now.

Is This Really Our First Garden Post of 2009?

I do believe it is.

This year, we decided to keep our garden fairly small and just do what we could in our front patio area. We have a small dirt patch, maybe 3' by 12', where we planted 5 tomato plants, 5 eggplants, peas, and a bunch of potatoes.

If you can see around Kimberly in this picture, you can see the start of our container garden from a few weeks back:
On the concrete part of our patio, we put a bunch of stuff into containers, including an additional 5 tomatoes, 6 sweet peppers, 6 hot peppers, basil, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, nasturtiums, and our trusty fig trees.

If you can see around Kimberly in this picture, you can see the start of our container garden from a few weeks back:[On a side note, the guy we had out garden with last year, the Hippy Librarian, was in France this past year teaching english. While he was there, he bought a bunch of seeds from the fantastic Seed Savers. He had a garden center start the seeds for him, so when he got back he could immediately put them in the ground. He was pretty surprised to find over 800 plant starts going when he got back (something like 600 tomato plants, 100 eggplants, and 100 peppers). Needless to say, he had more plants than he could plant. We originally were only going to have the dirt patch garden, but since he had such an abundance of plants, we took pity and took some. I have to say, they look fantastic.]

The garden has been going now for about 2 months, and things are starting to get ripe. As you can see from above, we have some peas, although the delicate plants have not fared well against the violent rains that have rolled through over the last few weeks.

We also have a pepper plant that is going crazy - there has to be 40-50 of the hottest peppers I've ever eaten on it. And some of them are even starting to turn red [it should be noted that this plant is actually from last year that we wintered over in our living room; I think this is why it's already so large and fruitful]:


As always, we have a photo set started on Flickr, which we will be updating as things become ripe and ready to eat.

Things are Progressing Nicely...

...if not rapidly.

Here's the latest photo of Kimberly and the Tadpole in front of our patio garden (more coming on that in a little while).

As you can see, her belly is getting larger, and larger. She says it's not really her fault, and that the "stupid tadpole" (her words, not mine) is getting big and her short torso can't handle it. She said something about taking up smoking to slow down the growth, but I'm not sure what that's all about. Sometimes my wife says weird things., unlike me.

If you want to compare pictures of the giant-ness of her belly over the course of time, I made up a set on Flickr of all the baby pics. Feel free to check it out.

And here's another picture of Kimberly, looking lovely in her stylish maternity dress. This is from a wedding we went to this past weekend in Pella, which is a lovely little town in central Iowa.

Reaching the end

I've mentioned before (but not for a while) that a classmate of mine is struggling with the recurrance of her cancer. We just found out that she was moved to a hospice home this weekend after a brief visit to the ER. She's got a great blog set up and it's so nice to see all of the messages of support from the friends she made far and wide. But it's terribly sad as well. Her father has been able to fly in (he's not local) and her sister and niece have come to visit. But this feels like a sudden downturn and has come as a shock to most of us.

No one's talking about time lines, but hospice is a clear signal that recovery isn't what we're hoping for now. I just wish her peace and hope that her family has left nothing unsaid.

Dressing this body

So, I've never been a clothes horse. I'm not particularly concerned with name brands or current fashion and I generally dislike fashion. My shopping memories consist to a large extent of me, Mom and Sis laughing hysterically at each other in dressing rooms at the terrible garments we'd find, and then try on. An ugly swimsuit, prom dress, and even the outfits we made Mom try on for my wedding were all humor mines. And, the important thing here is that we weren't laughing at our bodies or mocking how each other looked but rather at how terrible the clothes were for our bodies. The bodies, eh, they were what we have, it was the clothes that were problematic. Somehow I think that we've all ended up with fairly functional body images (which is an impressive feat I think for Mom, raising two daughters in this challenging era of women's figures).

Anyway, this is all prologue to this new pregnant body. I'm not particularly distressed by the extra weight (as much as I joke about feeling like a hippo these days!) nor do I feel unattractive. But this body surprises me frequently. I still regularly wake up in the morning and am surprised to find out that I'm pregnant. I don't notice until I move, and then, oops, there's a belly there! And I am a poor judge at the amount of space that I take up these days.

The most recent surprise has come with some new clothes. I finally can't wear any of my pre-pregancy pants/skirts and needed to get some new clothes. I'm actually amazed that I was able to last until 22 weeks without nay major purchases (except for the shirts that Sis helped me find). So, I ordered a stack of stuff from Old Navy (good choice for the pregnant among you if you're looking for "disposable" maternity clothes for not much money). I got them in the mail yesterday and I'm having a hard time figuring out if these clothes fit. They certainly don't fit the body I currently have (everything is loose and a little tent-like) but I suspect that they'll fit the body I'll have in a few weeks. Thus, I'm having a bit of a disconnect. I feel like I'm swimming in these new clothes and that they make me look like I'm hiding or wearing a sheet, but I don't want to buy clothes that fit my current body, as I won't have it for long! It's very strange. I've always tried hard to buy for the body I have (versus buying clothes hoping that I'll lose those 10 pounds or whatever). So, in the meantime, I'm trying to remember that this body is very temporary and whatever it looks like today will be different tomorrow... and if my clothes don't fit now, they certainly will in another month.

I'm in my 6th month (counting medically) at 22 weeks. I'm doing great other than the heartburn. If we do this again, I'm stocking up on Tums in advance. Being shortwaisted is definitely not convenient when pregnant. But, I have few other complaints and compared to some of the women in my swim group, I'm getting off easy with side effects.

Bring Back the Slide Rule!!!

In real life, I'm a Luddite. Although computers are great for watching Red Sox games, listening to radio stations from the West Coast, and managing my financial investments (read: losing money), I think they're kind of over-rated. Sure, they do lots of good things, but really, they're just an expensive way to kill time. Give me a quill and some ink, and I'll make do.

Because of my status, it's kind of funny that this blog even exists. Actually, it probably doesn't exist, it's just a bunch of 1's and 0's in some server farm in a Googleplex somewhere in eastern Oregon. And it's even funnier that I have a Flickr page, and a Facebook account. These things are great because they allow me to look like I'm feverishly doing actual work on my computer, when in fact, I'm killing time.

This is my way of announcing that I'm sinking further into the world of computers. We have a Twitter feed. Its right there ---------> on the sidebarof the blog, as well as on the Twitter page, and its synched up with my Facebook account. The feed is intended to keep everyone updated on the baby, and its easier because I can update it with text messages (oh yeah, I'm addicted to texting too - see how luddite-ish I am).

I'm sure there's some way to receive tweets (what a nerd I am) on your mobile device, if you can't wait to be in front of a computer to keep track of our mundane lives. My goal is to update it every couple of days up til the birth, then "live tweet" the labor and delivery. Kimberly is excited for that. If only I could instantaneously upload video, too (actually, I'm working on that, but don't tell Kimberly).

I keep telling myself I'll get rid of it once the baby pops out, but I probably won't. It will just get incorporated into all the other technology crap I update half-heartedly.

Anyways, please follow us. The only thing worse than having no friends in real life is having no followers in cyber-life. And really, you can't wait for exciting updates like: "baby kicked" and "Kimberly is the size of one of Jupiter's moons" or "baby x just pooped through her diaper" and other exciting 140 character-or-less/poorly punctuated and spelled non-sequitors. Just do it.

[And an internet shout-out to whoever gets the tag below]

There once was a little toad

who liked to live outdoors in the nice plants. One day, some mean people trapped him and left him overnight. The next day, the woman discovered him and screamed and shouted. "Oh my" she said. "A toad!"

The orange cat got so excited by all the noise that he came over to investigate. "What strange creature is this?" he wondered. Mr Toad was very confused. He didn't like all the loud sounds nor the look of that orange cat. "I must get away" he thought. So, he jumped and jumped.

That just made the sounds louder! and the cat got closer! "Oh no" Mr Toad thought. "How do I get away from this terrible place?"

The orange cat was very intrigued by this new toy. All of his old toys only moved when he touched them, but his owners must have realized that he found them boring. This new toy was so much fun. He put out his paw and tapped the new toy.

"Wow, look at it move!" thought the orange cat. Mr Toad got so scared that he just kept jumping. "Maybe I can get away if I jump further" he thought. Then, a big fleshy hand appeared from the sky. Mr Toad tried to jump away, but the hand took him. And then, "what is this I see?" wondered Mr Toad. "Oh, it is the outside! Hooray!" Mr Toad jumped out onto the grass. "Oh no" thought the orange cat. "I've lost my toy again. well, maybe they'll get me a new one soon."

Events described above based on true events. Some identifying details may have been changed. Current status of Mr Toad is unknown.

Happy Birthday

So today's the day when the entire nation celebrates PEter's birthday (at least this is what he tells me)!

Happy Birthday PEter, and Happy 4th of July to all of you. Enjoy some fireworks for us.

I can now

rest my arms on my belly. That is all.

Say Hello To My Little Friend

I invite you to be the first to say hello to our new baby.

We went for our first (and only) ultrasound today, and Baby is doing well. It has all the right parts and no extra miscellaneous pieces. [That's a tiny head and face above].

Baby was doing some dancing in the belly, kicking and waving all over the place. Apparently this is a good thing. As you can see from the handy caption the sonogram lady added above, those are in fact feet. Two of them, which is good.

Our sound lady was really nice, and a little wacky, which is how we like em. She kept showing us the face, then reminding us that, although it looked like a creepy baby skull, Baby did in fact have skin and eyes and hair. When I asked crazy sonogram lady if she could tell what color hair the baby had, she looked at us as if she could tell by comparing our genes. [Above are random Baby parts, including a cool shot of the spin, once again in complete form]

Overall, the sonogram was pretty cool. It's very satisfying to know that the baby has all the right parts, is healthy (as far as can be told through pictures), and is the right size.

The last big question is: girl? Or boy? 3 lines? Or turtle? Did we find out? Or are we waiting to be surprised? All I'm saying right now is

Growing...

So things are growing around here. There's the out-of-control garden we planted (with dozens of pots and our little patch of dirt). We've managed to fill every available spot of dirt with something green and growing. By last count, we have our fig trees, 10+ tomatoes, 10ish pepper plants, sage, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, six eggplant, peas, chives, potatoes, nastirsums, and some volunteer squash from the compost heap. We've already made pesto once and I dried some sage last week. Half of the tomatoes have little green ones growing. The hot peppers are ridiculous (one plant has 30+ little, evily hot cayennes growing.

Here I am at 17 w 6days with part of the potted garden.

The Tadpole is growing as well. We've hit the 19th week mark (we'll be 20 weeks on Monday and, since pregnacy typically lasts 40 weeks, we're about halfway there). I now officially can't wear my jeans and I'm busting out of most of my other pants/skirts. Mom got me these cool belly bands that have allowed me to put off shopping for quite a few months. Especially with the changing weather here, it's been very helpful to not have to buy multiple seasons of pregnancy clothes. There aren't a lot of maternity options here in town (Target and JC Penny's being the ONLY options), so it's been great to put off buying. But, I'm now starting to slowly add in new clothes. Sis has been a great help, finding all sorts of online sources for inexpensive maternity clothes. Given that these are fairly disposable items (I won't be wearing them past fall!) and that I do have two seasons to worry about (November is very different from July!), it's nice to not spend a fortune on clothes right now.

A week later, and I look a bit bigger. The biggest tomato here is our cherry tomato.

We've had several visits with the Dr (we're seeing one Dr now, but will get transferred to a clinic attached to our hospital in August (either with a midwife or with a Dr)). The heartbeat is fast and loud. We're looking forward to our ultrasound appointment very soon. We're not planning to find out the baby's gender, so that will be a surprise to all of us come November! We're only scheduled for the 1, unless there are any problems that need monitoring.

So, that's the growing news around these parts. I've got two more weeks of teaching for summer class and the class I'm taking starts this week for 6 weeks. I'm also doing some contract work for a big company that I can't really discuss further in this format. Plus, you don't really care about the details, trust me.

In cat news, the cat is nuts. He has two modes: attack cat and passed out. But, his morning habits have me completely smitten. You might remember us complaining about Miles' tendency to wake us up as early as possible with loud cries and whines regardless of his supply of food. This cat, however, uses the strategy of coming to snuggle in bed and being sweet and loveable to let us know that he's completely out of food. Plus, he eats all of his food, even the crumbs, and isn't remotely picky about food. So, although he doesn't want to sit on my lap while I type or snuggle with me in bed, I'm happy to have him around.

[tap, tap] Is this thing on?

If you haven't noticed, I've been terrible at updating this here blog. Since last August, I have been on quite the roller coaster of school craziness. And now with the impending birth of Baby X, I'm sure things aren't going to slow down.

But I've decided I miss writing on this here blog. Not for you. For me. Writing run-on sentences about inane details of my life is strangely fulfilling. So I'm going to try to be better. And K and I have been cooking some more lately, so I may even post something onto our eating blog, which is super neglected, but, in my opinion, a cool idea waiting to happen. [We made Raspberry Fool this weekend, in tribute to the Rimsky Korsikoffee Shop. It was beautiful and tasty.]

No promises, as who knows what will happen next with life. But I am going to try to do something with this here blog. Maybe even Cole will get a chance to post something.

It's a Boy!!!!

Cat.

So to add to our already too busy lives, we decided to adopt a cat. It's been about 3 months since Miles passed, and Kimberly has been pestering me for a new cat for about 2-3/4 months. I honestly think she's more excited for the cat than for the baby.

Our new friend is a male, orange, neutered cat and is fully declawed. So far, he has been spending most of his time in the house roaming, looking around, investigating, and watching birds outside the porch doors. Whenever he sees a bird at the feeder, his jaw starts shaking and he emits a strange meow-craw sound - I'm a little scared he's having a stroke or seizure. I'm pretty sure he's going to hurt himself by running full steam into the glass one of these days.

We got him from the local animal shelter. they had to pull him from some coal bins at the local power plant. Apparently he was completely covered in coal dust. No one is quite sure how long he was there, but without claws, it's surprising he lasted long at all. They are not sure if he was abandoned or lost by a family, but no one has claimed him for over a month.

We were having some trouble naming him, but think we have decided on Cole, a reference to his hiding spot.

So far, Cole seems to be fitting in well. We've brushed a lot of fur off of him, and it looks like it isn't going to end anytime soon.

Welcome Cole, we hope you like babies.

Yummy things when you're pregnant

Well, or yummy things when I'm pregnant I guess. Things from this list are guaranteed to appeal to me - at least this week.

1. yogurt and fresh mango (they've been on super cheap discount here in town and I've been buying them by the bushel)

2. cereal (and I haven't had cold cereal on a regular basis for years)

3. Mexican food!

4. fresh grapefruit (until last week when my heartburn kicked in)

5. juice (any flavor, all of the time)

6. steamed milk (so much tastier than coffee)

Yucky things

1. coffee (ugh... I don't even want to smell it)

2. beer (not that I'm drinking it, but I again don't want to smell it)

3. cold milk (unless it's with the cereal above)

4. lunch meat (we get the best sundried tomato turkey here, and the thought of it - ugh)

5. mustard

6. hummus

7. cheese

Not that any of you care, I'm sure... but my dramatic appetite shifts have surprised me.

Stephen Hawking and my dad

With the news today that Stephen Hawking, the great physist, has been hospitalized, I had an immediate recollection of my experience listening to Stephen Hawking speak.

I was a fairly nerdy young teen/girl... prone to fantasy and wild escapism. I think my dad, an engineer by both profession and personality, often wondered what to do with me and how we were to connect. My Christmas present from my dad one year, a special present just from him to me, was a pair of tickets to see Stephen Hawking downtown. I remember that the tickets were in an envelope on the tree rather than wrapped as a traditional present.

We went off to see the lecture, and it was so cool. I was there with my dad and he didn't know much about this topic (advanced physics and black holes) either. We were both learning something new. I was one of few women (and likely the only girl) in the audience. I remember being mesmerized by the talk, by Stephen Hawking's voice (computer synthesized) and the fact that he took questions and laboriously typed out answers during an intermission between the talk and the Q and A period. I remember an assistant changing the overhead transparencies he used to demonstrate different aspects (remember overhead transparencies!).

After the talk, we went to a diner with some of dad's friends and had pie and ice cream and talked. I remember these men talking with me as if I was a full member of the discussion, rather than a kid. It was so great taking part in this conversation and talking with this grown ups about this exciting talk. 

I didn't get much mileage out of this at school, attending a science talk not being a particularly "cool" thing to do. But I remember this fondly. I feel so fortunate to have had a dad so interested in spending special time with me.

I cherish these special times I was able to have with my dad. I hope that Stephen Hawking can safely recover and return to giving his great talks, writing his books, and inspiring new teens. 

Baby related details

So, random bullets of baby-related news

• The baby is due November 17th (or there abouts). 
• We don't know the gender and aren't really planning on finding out.
• I'm feeling much improved these days 
• We have good care through the health center here and then we'll transfer to the local hospital

I guess that's it... I'm not sure really what else is interesting about the baby at this point. You can't yet tell I'm pregnant, so that's not exciting news. 

We're positive.....

... that we're pregnant! 

What the @#%^&$#%

So, it's April 2nd. Officially spring, the birds have arrived and the weather should be improving, right?

It's snowing. It snowed two days ago, and it's snowing right now. 

Seriously? Snow? Come on. I'm am so freaking tired of this.

brrrrrrrrrr

Today is a sad day around here: Miles finally succumbed to the tumor that was in his belly. We had to put him down this morning.

We had Miles for 2-1/2 years. Most of the time he was pretty great, except when he was peeing in bad places or throwing up on the rug. It's pretty sad to not have him around anymore.

This was a post he wrote a while back, but I was never able to get around to publishing it for him.

We'll miss you Miles.

___________________________________________________________________

So, FeedMe and PetMe seemed to have settled in this strange place they're calling The Middle. They say that, "The Middle" and then laugh in this strange way that's not really a laugh. They're so strange. But, who cares, I'm a cat. The important thing is that they haven't forgotten to feed me and pet me (respectively). So, the food's fine in this joint. But recently, it's been awfully cold around these parts. PetMe has been wearing funny things on her head (did she grow some winter fur? It's green... strange). And my paws get so cold walking across the floors. So, I meow and meow and meow and meow... trying to tell them to turn up the heat already. Sheesh. It's cold people, you can turn up the heat a little.

Well, even though they only speak a little Cat, they seemed to have figured it out (maybe it was the meowing at 4am? I think they are better speakers of Cat in the morning. Hmm, maybe a controlled test? Early versus late meowing? Must try it out.). They got me this magic carpet. It's so wonderful and it's my new best friend. I will never leave it ever ever ever again. PetMe said that it came from Ben and Jerry. I don't know what's up with that, those dudes sure were crabby when I hung out with them. Maybe this is their peace offering? And she said something about some dude named Tyler too. I hear that his PetMe is sad about him... sorry dude.

So, the magic carpet. It rocks. I was a little suspicious at first (what with it smelling a little like Ben Jerry and Tyler (I assume). But once I realized the magic possiblilities, I was hooked. It seems to be like snuggling with my old littermates, back in the old days. If only my mom could see me now!


Some times PetMe comes by and pets me (wonder where she got that name? I'm a cat, not a poet, people.) She seems a little sad. I don't know what her deal is. Maybe she wants me to go on a diet? I'm don't know what's up with this potbelly, must be all of lounging these days. Well, I'll hit the gym and see if I can get a little more buff.