Bump Shot - Week 34

I hardly look pregnant in that middle photo - but whoa belly in the others!

Thoughts on Week 34:

*  This was the week I really thought things were going to go downhill.  I heard so many people talk about things "falling apart" at week 34, so I was preparing myself for the worst.  Rib pain, acid reflux, horrible swelling, and all fun things of that nature.

It hasn't been too bad yet.

*  Although my feet are starting to swell, so that is not exciting.  They look a bit chubby.  My ankles are still fine and normal looking, but my feet are fat.  It's not really that uncomfortable except when I go on long walks.  Then they feel a bit stiff.  Oh, and my work shoes don't fit so well.  Today I wore flip flops, but not sure what I'll wear for the rest of the week.  I'm hoping that I can get the swelling to go down - maybe I should start putting my feet up, since I haven't done that yet.  And I only lie on my left side now, not on my right anymore.  That's suppose to help too.  We'll see what the doctor says at my next visit - she said everything is fine as long as the swelling goes down at night.  My feet weren't swollen in the morning, but they did swell up fairly shortly after.

*  I am really keeping my fingers crossed that it's not pre-eclampsia.  Definitely trying to avoid that problem.  I need to eat more hamburgers (supposedly protein helps prevent preeclampsia, along with watermelon - I'm eating a lot of that too).

*  My family threw me an awesome baby shower this past weekend.  I will post about it soon.  I loved every minute of it (minus the fact that I can never actually talk to everyone and feel badly) and got some really great stuff.  However, now I have so much stuff to go through in such a short amount of time.  I have to get organized, figure out what I still need, wash all the baby clothes, wash the diapers, get a dresser or something, organize the room, buy some lamps, and so much more.  Oh, and just unpack from the move.  Geez, where did the time go???  And hubs and I aren't being crazy about things - I didn't want a ton of "stuff" for the baby, so we didn't ask for that much.  It's still a lot anyway.

*  I love watching the baby move around in my belly.  You can see my stomach bulge out in weird places as he pushes against me.  It's like he's trying to get out though my belly button!  Not gonna happen little guy.

* I am starting to feel his weight.  He probably weighs about 5 pounds and when I'm going up four flights of stairs to our apartment, my legs get a little tired.  I'm not uncomfortable yet, but at times like that I can tell I'm carrying around some extra weight.

*  I can also tell that my lung capacity is shot.  I don't usually get out of breath from stairs or walking, but I can tell that I'm breathing much harder than normal when I do things like that.  It's a weird feeling since it never really happened before (even when I was running, I wasn't usually out of breath).

*  I'm still feeling great overall.  I am sleeping like a rock and don't normally wake up in the middle of the night.  I am comfortable and have no back pain or crotch pain (sorry, TMI) or ligament pain.  Nothing.  So, I am very happy about that.  If I didn't bump into things with my ginormous belly I would forget I was pregnant sometimes.

*  I'm starting to get nervous that I'm going to go into labor soon.  I am taking maternity leave starting in September so I'm really hoping that Maple Baby stays in the oven for that long.  I don't want to go into labor 2 hours from my house and then have to drive 45 minutes to the birthing center.  Who wants to be in labor on a public bus?  Not me!  So I have daily conversations with him to let him know he'll be so much happier if he stays in there for a while longer.  We'll see how well he listens.  Or if he decides to spite me and stay in for an additional two weeks!

*  My belly button still hasn't popped.  I must have had the deepest belly button on the planet because my stomach is definitely big.  However, I still can't see the end of my belly button.  Weird?  Who knows, but at least I don't get that annoying rubbing.


I think those are all of my random thoughts. So far pregnancy is treating me quite well.  Let's hope motherhood does too!

Spots of Happiness V.3

It's time for another Spot of Happiness!  I haven't posted too much this week because I was at conference all week and then when I got home I was trying to deal with mice.  And I was also getting to bed really late and getting up early and was a gumpus.

It happens.  Even I get grumpy!

But, even with a grumpy week, I can still find a few spots of happiness to share with you!


* Getting the opportunity to attend the XIX International AIDS Conference in DC.  I've worked in HIV for a long time and it was a great experience being surrounded by such inspiring researchers, advocates, and policy makers.  It was also motivating to hear the new advances and see how far we've come in the 30+ years since HIV/AIDS was discovered.  Although some stories still cause tears and we still have so far to go, we have made a decent amount of progress.

Part of the AIDS Quilt

* Also tied to the conference, I got to see some friends that I've met through the years.  We usually only run into each other at HIV conferences, since we work all over the country, so it was fun to reunite and catch up.  I love seeing friends from far away!

* My parents' are visiting!  This weekend is my family-organized baby shower (woo-hoo, I'm soooooooooo excited) so my mom and dad arrived yesterday and my older sister is flying in tonight.  I love when they come to visit (although I would love it more if my apartment weren't infested with mice and I could show them my new place without tip-toeing around corners).  Hubs is actually spending the afternoon with my dad (he loves my parents), which is a nice change since he usually sits home by himself after he gets off work.  I love when my parents visit!!!

My lovely parents!

* Catching a mouse in our mouse trap.  Ok - so that's not really a great spot, but it's true.  I was so happy to be down at least one mouse.  Hopefully not too many more to go!  The exterminators are coming on Monday so I will be thrilled to see them.

* I can't help but be happy that it's Friday.  I know it's always Friday when I write this post, but today I am especially grateful because it's been a long and exhausting week.

* Baby movements!  This Maple Baby is so freaking active.  It's crazy.  My stomach moves all day long - he is constantly pushing on my belly and stretching and moving all over the place.  Funny guy!  It's fun to watch my belly change shape and hubs loves to feel him move around in there.  It really feels like there is an alien in my tummy sometimes!

What spots of happiness do you have this week?

Have you even had a mouse problem?

A busy Weekend and Conferencing

I’m beginning to think that I don’t actually have to mention that my weekend was busy – I think it’s busy every weekend.  I’m beginning to get a little tired though, and have thoughts of slowing it down.  However, I love everything we do on the weekend so I’m not sure exactly what I should “slow down”.

The weekend usually looks pretty much the same.  Walk – errands – golf – golf – food.

Saturday morning it was pouring so my Team In Training-turned-pregnant-turned-mom-walking group headed to the mall (to explain that weird title, I made some friends from Team In Training last year, we all got pregnant and started walking together, and now they have had their kids and I’m waiting for mine).  Walking around the mall is exceedingly boring (and when I worked at the mall we completely made fun of the mall walkers), but it beats not walking at all.  And when it’s raining cats and dogs, it’s the only dry option.  And I guess it’s better than walking on a treadmill.

Afterwards, Ivan and I headed to run some errands and grab lunch.  These days I LOVE hamburgers!  So, we headed to Red Robin.  I didn’t take any pictures, but I got the Red’s Tavern Double.  Doesn’t it look tasty?

I just took that photo from their website.  It makes me hungry looking at it.  And unlike McDonald’s or Wendy’s, the burger actually looks like that when it comes.  I find that when I order a Wendy’s hamburger, it comes all smooshed and not nearly as appetizing-looking as the photo.  This burger looked just as good on my plate as it did in the photos.  And you can’t mess up the bottomless fries…although I’ve never actually finished my fries and asked for more. 

I think hamburgers are the thing I’ve craved the most during pregnancy.  I don’t normally eat hamburgers, and when I do, they are turkey burgers.  I think part of it is the fact that I’m trying to reach 100g of protein a day for the Bradley Method diet (supposedly helps with delivery and helps to prevent preeclampsia, which my sister had twice).  Where I would normally opt for a vegetarian option, I now order the burger.  And it’s tasty!

Sunday consisted of coaching golf in the morning (like always), then heading to Wegmans to try and do some grocery shopping, and then walking nine holes of golf.  Yeah, not too much variation from my usual Sundays.

Except for Wegmans.  We just got a Wegmans grocery store and people are bananas for it.  I wasn’t that familiar with it before the hub-bub started, but I feel like I was indoctrinated in the months leading up to the opening.  So yesterday was my first visit.  And sadly enough, I was a bit disappointed.  First, it’s been opened for a month and it was still PACKED.  So packed it was hard to move around the store (I went with my sister so we had to use carts and each take a kiddo).  At my normal grocery store people seem to follow a path – going up and down the aisled in an organized manner and staying to the correct side of the aisle (like how you drive a car).  At Wegmans people seem to weave in and out of everything…jamming aisles up and making it impossible to stop.  At times I had to grab things while moving because I was afraid I’d loose an Achilles tendon if I paused for too long.

The grocery store looked really nice and the bakery was delightful.  And so was the seafood section – if I had money to spend on expensive seafood and not the frozen shrimp I had tonight (that I had to peel and devein myself).  And I hear there is a great food court-style thing, which I would love to try out.  However, I will most likely not return to do my normal grocery shopping.  It was too complicated.

That’s my review.

And now let’s jump to today.

Today I headed to the XIX International AIDS Conference.  Woo-hoo.  I know it’s work-related and may sound boring, but I was pretty excited.  This conference only happens every two years and it is usually held overseas (because the U.S. used to ban HIV+ people from entering the county so the conference organizers boycott the U.S.).  Since the HIV+ ban was lifted they had it in the U.S. this year – and right here in DC.  It’s exciting to me to see all the HIV activity happening and all the articles in the newspapers and ads on buses, etc. 

Yup, I’m easily pleased and seeing these banners on the streets pretty much made my day.

I headed to a bunch of sessions – some good and some boring – and could feel the passion building in my blood.  Sometimes I’m afraid I’m gonna get apathetic to HIV because I work with it every day; however, conferences like this really renew my focus and motivation to work hard.  Even if I don’t ever see the “results” of my work (I work in prevention and will never actually see if what I do prevents someone from getting HIV), I feel renewed passion to continue fighting and talking about condoms and safe sex and getting tested – to everyone I meet.

Conferences are interesting because you can find a session that sounds SOOO interesting and then you show up and it’s incredibly boring because the presenters are horrible.  And then some are fascinating and you wish they went on forever.  That was the story of today.  A few good sessions and a few bad sessions.

And I would write more except I just saw a mouse running around the living room and I am completely freaked out. 

I hate mice.  With a passion.  And I may not sleep for two weeks.  I had a feeling when I moved in here that I may have some critter problems, but the owner swore that there were no critter problems.  Umm, well, there are.

Luckily hubs isn’t scared of mice and he just killed the little guy with a book (sorry to all you people who think mice should be caught and released – not really hubs’s style).  I’m afraid to ask if he put the book back on my bookshelf….

Now I have to go to bed and hope I don’t dream about mice taking over my apartment.

And I have to hope that I can get some mice-control people here ASAP.  And hope the neighbors don’t have a mouse problem that is causing problems here.

I have a lot of hoping to do.

And I’m a bit scared to get out of my chair because I see imaginary mice running all over the place out of the corner of my eyes.

Ugh.  Do I really need more to worry about?????

 

Have you ever been to Wegmans?  Do you love it?

What did you do this weekend?  Anything out of the ordinary?

Have you ever had a mouse problem?  Did it go away?  How did you survive?  How did you sleep at night?

Spots of Happiness v.2

And now for another version of Spots of Happiness - and after yesterday's day, a focus on happiness is definitely needed!

Here are a few of the spots I've had this week:

* Getting to see my bus friend after almost two weeks!  With her daughter in town visiting and me going to Vegas, we went a long period of time without catching up, it was nice to reunite.

* Work implementing "health of staff" policies that include flexible work day (being able to come to work earlier/later and leave earlier/later), compressed time (working 9 hour days and getting every other Friday off or ten hour days and getting every Friday off), and telecommuting (being able to work from home one to two days a week).  I had initiated the discussion on the possiblities of these work schedules over a year ago and I'm super happy that they were finally passed by the Board of Directors!  And perfect timing since some of these may come in handy after Maple Baby comes.

* My hubby deciding to skip his golf league so that he could go to my pre-natal appointment with me.  He has yet to miss an appointment and is even going to the cloth diapering class with me tonight.

* Hubs taking me out for ice cream at Cold Stone last night!  Yum!  I don't always like ice cream but yesterday it was particularly good.  He said I looked too serious.  It was probably the fact that I'm so irresponsible that I was driving around with an expired car registration...

* Having lunch with an long-time friend.

* My aunt sending me a bunch of adorable onesies!  They are so cute!

Thanks Aunt Pam!!!

 
* Getting Dolce half-way groomed yesterday - his other half will have to wait until next week.  He was at the groomer's from 10am - 5pm and was only half-way done.  A dog can only take so much grooming!  He's going back next week to get finished up and then he'll be so clean and beautiful.  Not that we don't love him stinky and dirty...


* Finding out that Maple Baby is head-down and will most likely stay that way!  Phew - I was nervous about having a breached babycakes, but hopefully his head will stay put.  He pushes so hard on my belly sometimes I think he wants to come out my belly-button.  Not so fast Maple Baby - you still have many more weeks to cook in there!

* Finally going over my maternity leave plan with my boss and getting everything approved.  Now I just have to meet with the people taking over my project and figure out how I'm gonna go to Chicago with a three month old!


So, I guess I had lots of spots this week.  It feels so nice to focus on the good things, especially since the bad things can bog a person down!


What spots of happiness have you had this week???

Birth Class Drop-outs

It's official.  Hubs and I have missed a total of 5 Bradley Method classes.  I know, I know - how prepared are we going to be if we never show up.  It wasn't all my fault though.  We missed the first one because I was on a business trip to Atlanta.  We missed the second and third because I was on a business trip to Las Vegas.  We missed the fourth last week because I was too tired.  And we missed tonight's class because I was too tired.

So, work and being tired seem to be to blame.  We really had plans to go today but it just didn't happen.  I had a semi-breakdown this afternoon and then we had to drive 45 minutes for my pre-natal visit and then an hour in the opposite direction to pick up our dog from his grooming appointment and then would have had to drive 30 minutes in another direction to get to class.  I didn't feel like it.  Plus, by the time we got home from picking up the dog, walking him, and grabbing a bite to eat it was almost 7pm - and that's what time class starts.  But we were 30 minutes away.  I feel badly - especially since we spent $300 on the classes and then have missed half.  I'm hoping she lets us make some of them up or at least borrow some of the videos to watch at home.  The information is interesting but by the end of the week, by 7pm, I'm pretty exhausted.

Today should have been nice and relaxing because I took a sick day.  I usually work from home when I have a doctor's appointment but I decided to just take the entire day as a sick day instead.  I thought I'd have some time to relax and catch up on life before my appointment, but it didn't work out that way.  Hence the mini-breakdown.  And by mini, I mean mini.  I don't actually have real breakdowns so really all that happened was that I wanted to cry.  A meltdown usually means that I actually cry.  That's pretty much it.

So what instigated my mini-breakdown?  Well, I got up and drove hubs to work and then came home.  I checked my work email (I had some press statements that I was waiting to get back and wanted to send out today - so wanted to make sure I checked my email a few times).  No one had emailed me since it was only 6:30am so I decided to take a nap.  I fell asleep until 9:15!  I then got up and flew into the shower and then rushed to get Dolce to his grooming appointment by 10am.  We were only a few minutes late (ok, more like ten).

After dropping him off I headed to PetSmart because I wanted to pick up a cover for our car seats to protect them from Dolce's massive amount of hair.  It's kind of embarrassing when we have someone in our car and they emerge looking like they just rolled around in a cotton bin!  I also picked up a few toys because Dolce didn't have any toys and I wanted him to have a few things to play with.  Next stop was Target because I was hoping to pick up a few things for the house.  I mainly wanted something to put our shoes on but ended up eliminating that from my list and instead buying a shower caddy to put my shampoo on, a new 10" frying pan (mine has a bunch of scratches on it and I worry about cancer), a mitten that gets dog hair off fabric, and a stud finder (as in studs found in houses, not good-looking men!).

I started getting pretty stressed because everything was adding up and we are trying to save money and I keep "throwing" it all away.  Moving and dogs are really expensive!

When I got home I got sucked into work and did that for a while - until hubs called me to ask if I had gotten my emissions test done. 

Whoops!  That was the other thing to do on my list and it had TOTALLY slipped my mind.  I had already asked for an extension so I don't have much more time.  So I looked for the emissions slip but couldn't find it.  I still haven't had time to fully unpack the house and so many things are still "lost".  I guess that's one of the things.  Apparently you can get your emissions test with your car registration though, so I figured that was good enough.  However, when I got to my car and decided to look for the registration, all I found was an old registration that expired in 2011. 

Ahhh!

That won't work and my new registration had come in October so I had NO IDEA where it might be.  So much for being organized.  Somehow I had managed to get my registration stickers on my license plate but had completely misplaced my actual registration card.

No emissions test today then.

I did go online and order a new registration for my car though.  And since it wouldn't come for a few weeks I figured I should print the temporary registration they give you - just in case hubs or I get stopped.  Well, I had never used the old printer my dad had given me last year so I pulled it out and tried to set it up.  After about an hour of setting it up and finding all the cords and printing the documents - it became apparent that it was out of ink and you couldn't make any of the registration information out. 

So, I gave up and decided that I wasn't going to do the emissions test and I would just print the emissions out at work.

But by now it was time for me to pick up hubs and head to our appointment.

So I got none of the things I wanted to get done, done.  Like wash our towels, put away our clean clothes from last week, wash the dishes, unpack, hang-up pictures, and RELAX.  Hence, the mini-meltdown and not going to class.

There is just too much to do!

And I started to hyperventilate when the receptionist was making my next few appointments and she was saying things like 36 week and 39 weeks and things like that.  I am running out to do things before Maple Baby comes!!!!

Hubs made me happy though when he decided to skip his golf league so he could go with me to my pre-natal visit.  I didn't even make it seem like he should come - I told him that I was totally fine going alone.  However, he said he really wanted to go with me so we went together.  I thought that was sweet.

And then I got a package in the mail from my lovely aunt with a bunch of onesies for Maple Baby!  She said that it was sad I only had one onesie and I was almost 8 months pregnant - so she sent a bunch.  And they were soooooooo cute!

And hubs said maybe we can play Yahtzee tonight.  And playing games always puts me in a good mood.  I'm trying to relax a bit because I keep reading about how stress really affects the baby and I don't want to give my baby ulcers.  And poor Maple Baby already had to live through A&P II with me and experience all that stress, and the stress from moving, and the stress from my trip to Vegas, and the stress of having so many things to buy and no money.  Ugg, poor Maple Baby.

How was your Thursday?

Were you stressed during your pregnancy at all?  If so, did your kids turn out ok?

Are you happy tomorrow is Friday???

Why I'm hoping to have an unmedicated birth

I don't have any pictures today, so I figured I'd post about something that doesn't require pictures: my birth plan.  Ok, so I'm not so organized that I have a real birth plan yet, but I have a birth idea.

As long as Maple Baby and I remain healthy and he doesn't decided to come too early or too late, I am planning on a birth center birth.  What does this mean exactly?  Well, a birth center is run by midwives and does limited interventions (no pitocin, no epidural, low episiotomy rates, no C-sections, etc.).  Obviously if there is a problem, like I end up needing a C-section, I can easily and quickly be transported to a hospital.  In my case there is an ambulance two doors down and the hospital is 7 minutes away - so very easily accessible.

I decided I wanted a birth center birth years ago, way before I was pregnant.  It was actually when my sister was pregnant.  I bought her Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth by The Boston Women's Health Collective and ended up reading the entire thing. 

It had a section on birth centers and the benefits and things like that so I did a little research and found a birth center near me that looked really nice.  I decided then that if I were ever to have children I'd like to birth in a birthing center as opposed to a hospital. 

My sister's births solidified that idea.  Not that my sister had horrible births, she was quite happy with them and both her children were healthy.  I was just disappointed with how she was treated while at the hospital and the interventions they used.  Nurses would just walk in and out of her room and look at all the machine print-outs, etc.  They never really explained much to her and when asked a question they would give a really quick, simple answer.  I, a person who likes an abundance of knowledge, wanted more information.  And I felt like my sister deserved more attention and care than she was given.  This is just my opinion because my sister didn't feel like that at all.  We are just very different, which is completely fine.  I support my sister's decisions to have her children at the hospital 100% - I think people should give birth wherever and however they are most comfortable.

I knew that for me, being able to birth in a bedroom setting, with different birthing positions and less hospital-like style would work best.  I wanted to be able to move around freely, hop in a bath for a few hours, listen to music, and things of that nature.  Most of the time you can't do that in the hospital (although you can in some).  And to me, hospitals are a place for sick people - and a healthy pregnancy isn't a sickness.  Obviously, many health conditions can lead to the necessity of a

This is one of the birthing rooms -
looks much more like a B&B than a hospital!

As for the un-medicated part, I have always just wanted an un-medicated birth (and I'm secretly terrified of the epidural needle).  Not really for any reason in particular.  I have read lots of information on babies being born drugged from an epidural, mom's feeling drugged, bad epidural stories, etc., but I did not base my decision on that at all.  I think that there are good reasons to have an epidural and women should not be judged because they choose one. Plenty of healthy babies are born to mom's who have an epidural.

Really, I think I choose an un-medicated birth because my mom had un-medicated births.  When my mom talks about giving birth to me and my older sister she never talked about being in huge amounts of pain or laboring for hours and hours.  She had really easy births with us (or so she says) and we both just "popped" out - no medication, no screaming in labor, nothing really scary at all.  And I think that that is what resonated with me.  The idea that birth wasn't necessarily as scary as they portrayed it on TV or in the movies - that it could really be something quite natural and pleasant.  I think growing up not having this huge fear of childbirth or thinking it was the worst pain in the entire world had a profound effect on the way I wanted to deliver my children.  If I had grown up with stories of fear and pain and torture, I might be terrified to give birth without any type of pain medication.  I guess we'll never know though.

So, that's my plan.  I definitely don't think it's the plan for everyone.  People have different reasons for choosing to birth the way they do, and those reasons should be respected.  I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to birthing a baby.  I do think that women aren't informed enough about their choices (I had to do all my research on my own and read a bunch of books, etc. - it's not something I ever learned in school or heard from a doctor) and about childbirth in general.  Most people take a class that just goes over hospital policies and then shows a video with a naked women screaming and giving birth and that's it.  I don't think that that is quite enough information for anyone.  However, I do work in the health field and I am very interested in making good health choices for myself and researching medications and treatment plans rather than just taking a doctor or nurses word for it (or pop culture, mainstream media, or friends).  So, that is how I approached birth.

Now I just have to see whether Maple Baby will cooperate.  If I go into labor before 37 weeks or after 42 weeks then I won't have too much of a choice - I'll have to go to the hospital.  I am pretty flexible though - my main goal to have a healthy baby and you won't see me fighting tooth and nail to make sure I have the baby the way I want to have him.  I am ultimately at the mercy of him and when he decides to make an appearance and how (he could be breached, etc.).

I do realize that a lot of people have really strong opinions on these topics - and some people feel it is their right and duty to let me know.  Many people say that I will be begging for an epidural or that it isn't safe to give birth outside of a hospital, etc.  However, people really seem to be forming a lot of opinions on pregnancy, birth, and childrearing these days and there is no way to please everyone.  Breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding, caffeine or no caffeine during pregnancy, exercise during pregnancy, attachment parenting vs. whatever the opposite is called, vaccines vs. no vaccines, etc.  There are so many different philosophies and there is no best answer for every parent and his or her child. 

I am just doing what I feel is best for me and my baby - and I'm trying to to read too many "Mommy Wars" articles - especially the comments section!

*******************************************

What are your thoughts on childbirth?

Did you have an un-medicated birth?

Did your mom ever talk about your birth story?

Bump Shot - Week 32

I can't believe that I only have 8 weeks left (give or take)!  It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant.  It's kinda crazy how fast time flies.  Now, maybe other people feel like I've been pregnant for forever, but it doesn't feel that way to me at all.  People keep asking me if I'm ready for the baby to come and I give a forceful, NO!  We are definitely not ready.  We are far from ready!  Of course if Maple Baby came tomorrow I would adjust, but we sure could use the next 8-10 weeks to prepare a bit more.

Moving and having a week long trip to Vegas kind of put a hold on all-things baby.  It was hard to think about baby stuff when I was worried about finding someone to help us move, find time to box our stuff up, move out of the apartment, unpack the new place, plan for a huge work event, get everything ready for a week-long work trip, etc.  And we sure didn't want to buy a bunch of stuff that we then had to move from one place to another.  So we put it off.

And now we are in crunch time.  And not just for buying baby things - because I realize that babies don't need that many things to survive.  We have a car seat, a diaper, and a onesie so Maple Baby should make it home safely from the birthing center.  However, we still have lots to do.  We are required to take a Dress Rehersal class that the birthing center offers that gives information on when to call the midwife, when to drive to the birthing center, etc. and we never signed up for it.  I thought about it in April but it seemed too early.  So, the only option was August (they only offer it once a month and July's class was already filled).  Yikes - talk about last minute.  We are signed-up for the last possible class before Maple Baby comes!

I also need to sign up for a Breastfeeding class that they offer at the Birthing Center too.  I know from lots of people that breastfeeding isn't quite as easy as it sounds and I want to make sure I am prepared so I don't get super frustrated and upset when it doesn't go easily.  And I'd like to avoid the cracked/bleeding nipples as much as possible.  I'll probably take that class in August too!

And I really wanted to take a Cloth Diapering 101 class so that I could feel prepared to cloth diaper, but the July one was full.  Luckily the woman at the baby consignment store was more than willing to meet with me one-on-one to answer all my questions and go over basics and stuff like that.  I was so happy she offered to do that.  I am sometimes overwhelmed with all the different types of diapers, the washing process, the storing process, the diaper pail process, etc. and am relieved that she's willing to review everything with me.  For free.  I'm telling you, this store is the BEST!

So, those are a few of the things left on our to-do list.  We also still have a few more birthing classes to go to and I have a few more books I want to read.  Oh, and there is a Caring for Baby class I'd like to attend with hubsters, just to make sure we know what we are doing.  I feel pretty confident about caring for a newborn, since I have helped my sister out with her two; howerver, I know it's a lot different when its your baby and no someone elses.  Plus, it might be useful to hubsters to learn a few tricks that don't come from me (i.e. me telling him what to do).

We'll see if we have time for that!

I should also get my maternity plan ready for work.  And decide on my maternity leave and all that jazz.  So much to do!  Please Maple Baby, stay in the belly for a bit longer!!!

Golf and Thundershirts

These days the weekend routine is pretty much the same.  I do a morning walk on Saturday, run errands Saturday afternoon, grocery shop Saturday evening, coach golf classes on Sunday morning, and then play golf Sunday afternoon.  It is rare for these plans to change too much.  This weekend was pretty much the same.

However, I do have a few interesting things to report.

First, hubs took his driver's permit test and passed!!!  I know - unbelievable.  Just a few short weeks ago I was in a battle with MVA/DMV about whether he was eligible and I finally won the battle - and then he passed the test on the first try.  You may not think this is amazing but it took him six tries to pass it last time.  I think he finally got the computer system down.  It was a very long afternoon though.  We got to MVA/DMV at 10:30am (hubs had to work in the morning and I had to walk) and didn't leave until 3pm.  Can you believe that???  Seriously, they give you a number for every little thing and make you wait in line forever.  It was crazy, but we made it out with smiles on our faces.

Since we had spent so much time there, we missed our normal errands because the stores were already closed.  However, I convinced hubs to go to my favorite dog store, since we are now doggie owners.  What did I find there to buy?  Some natural dog treats - pumpkin flavor - and a Thundershirt!  I have been researching the Thundershirt for some time now, wondering if it was something that might help Dolce out.  I have never been sure if his craziness might be due to some dog anxiety as opposed to just bad behavior.  I've read about Thundershirt and asked the vet about its effectiveness and so decided to purchase one and see what happened.  I think that Dolce gets a little anxiety in the car and sometimes on walks to new places.  He isn't the best walker to begin with and pulls like there is no tomorrow, which is why we use the gentle lead harness on his little nose (it looks kinda like this, but not exactly the same).  It keeps him from pulling but doesn't hurt him in any way.  It has worked wonders but since he's now walking in a new neighborhood, he's very skittish and pulls on the leash all the time.  I decided (with my degree in pet psychology, obviously) that maybe he got a little bit of anxiety in new places.  Hence, the decision to buy the Thundershirt. 

I thought he would hate wearing it, but he didn't seem to mind.  He didn't try to take it off or anything.  I'm not sure the shirt is made for super fluffy dogs, but it still worked.  I took him for a walk with it on and he was SOOOOO much calmer.  It was amazing.  Next trial will be putting it on him for a car ride.  Or at the vet.  I feel like it might be a bit too hot for him to wear on our walks all the time though, so I might have to break it out in the fall/winter.  I felt like it was kinda mean to make him wear it when he was 95* outside and he's already wearing a fur sweater.  The only thing was he wouldn't lay down with it on.  He just sat like this the entire time.  It said to leave it on for 8-10 minutes so he could adjust but after that I took it off - I felt bad that he was sitting.  The second it was off he lay down (umm, it seriously took me five minutes to research whether I should say lay, lied, laid, or layed...)!  Thundershirt = success so far!

On Sunday hubs and I played golf.  That, as noted above, isn't anything unusual; however, Sunday was the one year anniversary of my Uncle's death.  I can't believe an entire year has passed - it really feels like it was just a few days ago.  I guess his memory lives strong in my heart.  I am still involved with the Team in Training (the group I trained with to run Marine Corps Marathon in his memory) and usually walk with them on Saturdays, but I wanted to make sure I did something on Sunday too.  So, hubs and I dedicated our golf game to my Uncle.  My Uncle loved golf and we even had the opportunity to play together at my sister's wedding back in 2008.  I can't say that my golf score was worth much, but I did par on two holes (and one of those holes is really hard - so I have a feeling Uncle Dave was trying to help me out a bit).

I have still not encountered any problems golfing while pregnant - minus the fact that there are no maternity golf clothes.  Luckily that skirt still fits (below my belly, of course) and my sister found this golf shirt in Cabo San Lucus that has an empire waste with elastic feature.  It still seems to fit ok.  And no, hubs and I don't normally coordinate our golfing attire - we are matchy-matchy by accident!  We decided to ride in a cart today instead of walking because I was a bit tired when we started and it was 92* out with something like 95% humidity.  Miserable weather but worth it. 

And Uncle Dave - I still miss you and think of you all the time.

So, that was pretty much our weekend.  We were supposed to buy curtains for our bedroom but there just wasn't time.  Maybe today or tomorrow?

What did you do this weekend?

Spots of Happiness v.1

 I really liked the Spots of Happiness aspect of my other blog and since I am trying to stick to just one blog, I thought I'd take it with me.  I can have Spots of Happiness on this blog too, right? 

So, without further ado, here are my spots for the week!

* Seeing my hubby after being apart for a week.
* Adopting Dolce from my sister.
* Getting a pedometer and finding out that I walk 10,000 steps a day without even trying.  Even though I have a desk job.
* Eating yummy Pad Thai.
* Exploring my new neighborhood.
* Realizing that the blinds in our bedroom don't block out any views - after walking around naked for many days (ok, this isn't really a good thing but it sure made me laugh!).
* Lots of reading time on planes and in hotel rooms.
* Lovely baths in an amazing bathtub at Mandalay Bay hotel.
* The Pinapple Aloe drink my hubsters picked up for me, without me even asking him for it!

What spots of happiness have you had this week???

Las Vegas!!!

First, I'd like to point out that I had to go to Vegas for work.  Not pleasure.  And it's a good thing because pregnant women and Vegas to not mix.  Funnily enough , when I walked down the Strip people were handing out cards for strip clubs.  As I passed, they actually pulled their hands back.  I guess they didn't want pregnant women at their strip clubs? 

And drunk people are extra annoying when you can't even have a glass of wine.  And skinny, sexy girls all decked out for a night of debauchery are annoying too.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't master the sexy waddle.

Where I Stayed

I stayed at the Mandalay Bay Hotel - which was quite nice actually. 

I'm not sure if it's as fancy as the Bellagio, but it was fancy enough for me.  And it was huge.  On Saturday I didn't even leave the hotel - I worked all day and then ate in the hotel buffet for breakfast and dinner.  Then I crashed - ten hour days on my feet is no joke.   Before crashing I took a bath though - the bathtub was amazing.  Actually the bathroom was amazing.

I enjoyed a bath every night.  It was fabulous!  The room was quite nice too.

The only thing that was annoying was the mini bar.  Normally mini bars are inside a nice little fridge.  Hidden out of site.  Not here!  Nope.  Right on top of the dress, strategically placed in front of the television was this nice little mini bar.

Doesn't that look tempting!  It was - especially those gummy bears on the right.  The Love Box wasn't so tempting to me at that moment, but everything else was.  And those gummy bears - $13!  Unbelievable!  And just in case you wanted to pick something up and smell it, they were all weight-sensored so if you picked it up for more than 30 seconds you were automatically charged.  It was hard to stay away, but my per diem did NOT take into accound $13 gummy bears.  So I left it all there and just drooled.

The Mandalay Bay also has a great pool area.  Supposedly 11+ acres of pool.  Even a part called the beach that had sand and waves.  Of course for the poor, un-VIP people there was no shade.  Lots and lots of chairs but not a single unbrella or palm tree to protect your skin from the 115* heat.  Now, if you were rich and special they had some private cabanas you could rent.  Some of the higher priced cabanas surrounded private pools with lots of shade.  Nice.  Too bad the pool closed at 7pm (or 6pm on the weekends) so I never had a chance to check it out.  My window faced the pool area though, so I snapped this shot.  It looks like there is a lot of trees and shade, but they were all around the cabanas and private pools.  And in reality, a palm tree doesn't actually provide much shade.

 

Where I Went

Although I was working long hours every day I was in Vegas, I put on my big girl shoes and headed out of the hotel every once in a while.  Not often (the bathtub was so tempting), but enough to see a few sites.  On Friday, when I didn't have to stand for 10 hours, I actually managed to walk 2.5 miles from the Mandalay Bay hotel to the Venetian.  It was a bit complicated and crowded (and hot), but I survived.  And miraculously, I arrived without even sweating.  Dry heat is AMAZING.  In DC I can sweat buckets at 80* because it is sooooooooooooo humid, but in Vegas it was well over 100* and after walking for a long time I didn't break a sweat at all.  Unheard of!  Here are some pics I snapped of my walk.

Ok, I thought I had more but apparently I didn't snap anything between New York, New York and the Venetian.  Whoops.

And on the last night I was in town, my coworker and I were walking around the casino on our way to the Bellagio for dinner (we ended up at Noodles - best Pad Thai ever!!!) and some guy approached us and invited us up to the Foundation Room for a few drinks.  The Foundation Room is by invitation only and it was quite interesting.  There were a bunch of little rooms that were decorated Asian/Buddha style. 

We had a few drinks (I had a few mock-tails) and we pretended we were rich and famous.  And then we left.  It was fun while it lasted.

What We Ate

I would write up a review of the food places we ate at, but nothing was that good.  Everything was a fortune but I can't say I was all that impressed with quality.  So here's a quick run-down.

• We ate at Burger Bar, which was supposed to have amazing burgers, but they were just ok.  I had a veggie burger and it was good, but nothing spectacular.  
• We also ate at Border Grill for lunch one day and it wasn't too bad.  We just had appetizers though (which were like $9 a piece), so it's hard to screw up appetizers.  We had some kind of bean filled empanada and quinoa fritters.  Tasty but expensive.
• We ate at the Bayside Buffet for breakfast a few times and once for dinner.  I was not that impressed.  Breakfast was decent because you got a lot of options plus coffee and orange juice, so it wasn't too bad of a deal.  Dinner at the buffet was horrible though.  I didn't find much that I wanted and the few things I put on my plate were a huge disappointment.  My coworker ate a bunch of snow crap claws though so she was happy!
• The best meal I probably had was at the chain Ri Ra - an Irish pub.  There is actually one in DC, so kinda funny I went all the way to Vegas to eat at a restaurant I could eat at every day.  They had this amazing mac and cheese though and I was thoroughly satisfied.  I love mac and cheese. 
• We also headed to the Venetian for some delicious Italian, but I didn't really get anything delicious.  A golf friend had recommended some place in the Venetian and said it was on the square.  Well, there were three restaurants on the square and I have a feeling we chose the wrong one (we also chose the cheapest one, but entrees were still $20 a piece).  We ate at OTTO, which is owned by Mario Batali.  It should have been good but it was not.  I must have ordered the wrong thing.  I was quite disappointed.  I like my little Italian restaurant down the street from my office, Famous Luigi's Pizza.  Now, they have super yummy Italian for half the price.
• And as mentioned above, we also ate at Noodles in the Bellagio.  It was good and my Pad Thai was very yummy but my coworker was less than impressed with her meal.  So, it wasn't a win-win, it was more like a win-lose.  If you find yourself there, I'd stick with the Pad Thai.

Ok, that's pretty much my trip in a nutshell.  A big nutshell.  Ok, so it was a pretty long description and I doubt anyone will read the entire thing.  However, I wanted to make sure I posted something since I was there for so long.  I didn't really talk much about my work there but I don't like to go too much into details about my work.  So it will remain a mystery.

I will say that there was a huge UFC conference happening at the same time - and I was not there for that.  It made for interesting hotel companions though!

*******************************

Have you ever been to Vegas?

Where did you eat/what did you do?

What trips are on your agenda for the summer?

 - That was my last trip until December - yay!!!  I had three trips in three months so I am happy to be home for a while - and maybe I'll get some unpacking done.

Baby Bumps and Hiccups!

I'm a little behind on the bump shots.  I was doing so well, but it seems that I got a little lost.  Oh well, I'm not sure that everyone is overly interested in seeing my weekly bump shots.  I am currently 31 weeks, but I don't have photos from that yet (I have some photos from Vegas but I haven't loaded them up on my computer yet).  So, instead you can see weeks 29 and 30.

That's good enough, right?

Another lovely bathroom shot!

and

I apparently wear the same jeans every Friday to work!

I feel like I got a lot bigger between week 29 and 30.  It's hard to tell from the photos because the angle and shirt I'm wearing always makes a huge difference.  But I definitely felt bigger.

My little bellybutton still hasn't popped.  I'm wondering if it will.  I'm kind of liking it staying in (which probably means it'll pop tomorrow).  I still have a ways to go though, so who knows what will happen.

Here are some of my goods and bads of pregnancy:

Goods!

* Still sleeping fine.
* No strange cravings or huge hunger attacks.
* No heartburn or other uncomfortable digestion problems.
* Strangers are so nice to me and feel free to just chat with me all the time.  And smile at me.  I think pregnant women make people happy.
* Back still doesn't hurt too much, just after a long walk.
* Baby is kicking up a STORM.  I sometimes think he is trying to get out through my stomach.  He pushes so hard sometimes it's unbelievable!
* Baby hiccups - he has the hiccups all the time and it feels so WEIRD!  It's like an eye-twitch, you can feel it but can't do anything to stop it.  My belly kind of vibrates from inside and it is such a weird sensation.  So funny!

Bads!

* A bit emotional sometimes - I am hoping this doesn't mean I'm going to suffer from postpartum depression.  I get sad super easily and for no reason.  I'm thinking it's hormones and the stress of moving and work and all the other fun things I've been trying to deal with - like adopting a doggie (I hope he's not crying/barking all day long while hubs and I are at work).
* Not hungry very often.  It's nice that I'm not starving, but I'm often not hungry so it's a chore to get in all my Bradley Method foods.  I wish I were a tad bit hungrier so I felt inspired to cook.
* I miss sleeping on my back and stomach.  Although I've been able to get to sleep just fine (except for these last couple of days trying to adjust from Vegas time to DC time), I would be much more comfortable on my belly.  Or snuggled up with hubs.  It's hard to snuggle with a huge basketball between us!
* Trying to organize maternity leave and juggle my current work load with preparing to be gone for three months.  Ugg, not fun at all. 

I think that's about it.  Honestly I don't have too much to complain about yet.  I'm still waiting - people say week 34 starts the downhill trek.  The baby gets a bit crowded in the belly and starts kicking ribs and stuff.  We'll see! 

I am nervous about having a breech baby, but hopefully he'll turn (if he hasn't already).  I'm also worried about going into labor early.  But I guess these are all natural worries - nothing too out of the ordinary.

And although I said I wasn't hungry, a coworker brought in supplies to make microwaved s'mores and I grabbed two for myself.  How could you say no to this lovely creation!!!

Seriously yummy!

What are you craving right now?

Have you ever tried microwaved s'mores?

What are the goods and bads of your past week?

A New Addition to the Family

No, the baby did not come early!!!!

But we have adopted a doggie.  My sister’s doggie to be exact.

If you’ve been around for a while you know that he’s not the best behaved doggie on the planet.  He likes to eat baby toys and pacifiers and then needs $3000 worth of surgery.  Yikes!  But my sister was going to give him away and I just couldn’t bare to see him go.  So, hubs and I decided to bring him to live with us.

Yes, I know, we are crazy.

I mean, we will have a baby shortly and many toys and pacifiers will be laying around here too.  I am just a sucker when it comes to dogs and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that with some regular exercise and attention he’ll reform.  We may also spring for some additional obedience classes.  You can never have too much training, right?  Currently he knows how to sit.  Alright, so he needs some work.  We’ll do the best we can though and hopefully it will all work out.

Or we’ll cry ourselves to sleep every night.

Today is his first day with us.  I picked him up this morning and brought all his goodies to our house.  He’s a bit confused and wanders around every once in a while.  The real test will be leaving him home alone tomorrow while hubs and I are at work.  We plan to keep him in the kitchen because it’s tiled floor and can easily be gated off.  However, he’s enjoying sleeping in our bedroom right now.

And drooling all over the floor!

 

Do you have any pets?

Have they ever eaten anything and needed surgery?

How have your pets and kids mixed (if you have kids)?

Welcome!!!

Welcome to the new Maple and Mud!!!!  I am so excited to show you this new design and layout.  I love it so much.  Emily White Designs did such an amazing job and I would recommend her services to anyone who wants to give their blog a facelift.  She created such a wonderful blog for me and I love how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you love the new and redesigned Maple and Mud as much as I do!  I still have some tweaking to do so you'll see a few additions in the future (new pages, new About Me, etc.) but some new features already available are the RSS feed, the Contact Me button, the Pinterest, and the Twitter.  I admit, I don't Tweet or Pinterest all that much but maybe in the future I will get more into it.

I'm hoping to add pages to incorporate Spots of Happiness, Books, Running, and Pregnancy/Baby stuff.  I'm excited about the new site and hope you are too.  Please let me know what you think!!!!

I am currently in Vegas for work right now and am flying home today, so I haven't had a chance to blog for a bit.  Too many long hours on my feet working conferences.  I'll write about it all as soon as I get a chance!

For now, take a minute and look around the new Maple and Mud and let me know what you think!