cindy's world

A judge from my building, running into Mr. W: “Hey, I just saw your wife this morning. She’s looking pretty big. What is this, she gets married and lets herself go?” I work with goofballs.

I had my 38-week checkup with the OB Tuesday afternoon. Ultrasound revealed that Allie is still in the proper position — head down, laying on her side. Size looks good, the doctor still expects her to be within 7 lbs at due date. Good amount of amniotic fluid around her. Heartrate at approximately 130 bpm. My blood pressure looks good (105/70), and I’ve been steadily gaining about a pound a week so now I’m still right about at a 30-lb gain. Allie’s been active, altho now that there’s less room, there’s less nudging and more squirming. Often a foot will slide from my left upper ab to my right upper ab, and I’d get a hip check right under that. “Would you like me to check if you’re dilated?” he asked. Sure! I’m curious.

That manual check wasn’t comfortable. I involuntarily sputtered, “Ow!” He told me to take a deep breath and let it out slowly, and I did. It didn’t take long. So I’m 65%-70% effaced, but not dilated (normal to have only effacement first with a later dilation in first time pregnancies, he said). I asked him how he could tell the effacement by feel, and he said he could push up against the cervix and feel Allie’s head, and that her head is at -1 station. He said I’ve lost most of my mucus plug already, and that most women don’t lose it like a one-time plug falling out; they’d merely get thick discharge mixing into their already more frequent discharge. I’d expected to see some traces of blood when I lost my plug (which word, btw, is totally misleading), so I was a little surprised. He said some minor spotting is normal after a cervical check, but if I get blood-blood like a menstrual period, to call labor & delivery.
“You’re ahead of other women on a first pregnancy, but I’d still say to expect a due-date delivery. You can always have her early and prove me wrong,” he said with a smile. He offered to “sweep [my] membranes” at my next checkup (Nov 17) to encourage labor starting if I’d like. I actually don’t even expect to make that appointment, given what Rebecca has always said.

Rebecca, as of the evening after the appointment, still saw Allie arriving “around or by the 13th.”

I fell asleep early quite accidentally, but awoke around 9:30 p.m. thanks to a smack on the cheek delivered by Mr. W in his sleep. I felt some discharge leakage, which has become rather commonplace in my 3rd trimester. I wobbled to the restroom, which has also become very commonplace lately, especially after Allie made her 2nd drop this weekend. It looks like the rest of the mucus plug came out in that leakage. Nothing too exciting or different from what I had been discharging, except for the color being like that of old blood. I called out to Mr. W that the mucus plug came out, and he said groggily, “So what does that mean?”
“Nothing. Just that there’s some progress. And that Rebecca is more right than the doctor.” I soon heard snoring from the bedroom again. Meanwhile, I took a nice hot shower. I kept seeing the 10th in my head in my shower, so I thought I’d figure out what day that is. Thursday. My last day of work before scheduled maternity leave. I don’t expect any action anytime soon, so I hope to have an uneventful next few days at least until I’m off on maternity leave.

For the billionth consecutive post about Allie (or so it seems)…

She’s 37 weeks today, which means she’s reached full term! Yay! I had a short and sweet OB visit this morning before work. I’m at 154 lbs, which I found rather disturbing, but the OB of all people wasn’t concerned. Almost as a pre-emptive excuse, when the doctor walked in and asked how the baby and I are, I told him she seems to be growing by leaps and bounds to the point where it’s noticeable every few days (not a lie). He said cavalierly, “Well, they’ll do that to ya at this point.” He measured my bump (such an understatement) and said it’s right on par with where it’s supposed to be (within 3 cm of the # of weeks gestation). He did an ultrasound and noted she’s head-down on her side, which is how she was orientated last check-up, and that her bladder’s full and “right about to pee.” I asked when I can expect her to do the last quarter-turn to be face-down, how the birthing class said is the position we want the baby to be born in. He explained, “We want her on her side right now. She’ll make that last turn herself to get out while you’re in labor.” Oh! She’s not a procrastinator. She’s been in that position for about a month now. He said what I had experienced last week mid-walk was likely a contraction, and that the rock-hard tightening of my stomach that I’ve felt (with my fingers) fairly often lately, which comes without any pain or much sensation, is the Braxton Hicks. As for the bumps and pokes I’ve felt on top near my diaphram, those are “booty-bumps” and she’s also got her right foot up there. I asked if he could tell how big she was at this point, and he said if they have a concern about the baby’s size at this point, they’d refer the patient to radiology for a proper measurement, but since everything measures within normal ranges, he expects her to be in the high 6 lbs, low 7 lbs at her due date. “Just where you wanted her to be,” I remembered.
As he helped me sit up, he said, “You’re at about 30 pounds right now?”
“I’m right about at 30, yes.”
“That’s good. I think you’re doing a good job in keep your weight where it should be, and she’s at the right size. Just keep up with the walks, keep your weight pretty much where it is, and you’re fine.” He shook my hand and smiled at me. Whoa, did he tell me 30 is okay? Is this Halloween today or April Fool’s Day? I thanked him went on my way to work.

According to the due date calculator today:

Your Pregnancy Calendar

Today is Tuesday October 25th 2011.
You conceived on Monday February 28th 2011
and your due date is Monday November 21st 2011.

239 days have passed since the conception,
and you are 27 days before your due date.

You are 36 weeks into your pregnancy,
and you have 4 weeks to go.

You are in the 3rd trimester.

90% of your pregnancy has passed, there is 10% left to go.

Current complaints I have for physical discomfort: I wake up with pain now. On the side that I’m sleeping on, that side of the middle back and the area just under that breast would be so severely, painfully sore. Turning over and switching sides only helps temporarily before that new side starts hurting on the same respective areas. Pillow placement seems irrelevant. Well, I’ve been sleeping on my side(s) for 9 months, so I guess my body’s getting a little tired of it. Also, I wake up with my fingers stiff and in pain, especially in my left hand. Sometimes the pain is also in my left wrists and elbows. Finger movements aren’t smooth, but rather jerky. Thankfully, this stuff goes away within minutes of my being awake and moving around. I’m gonna blame the pregnancy hormones.

Allie doesn’t like me sitting while leaning back, cuz that gives her less room. She’ll struggle and move around until I sit up very straight, giving her an extra inch or two in the fundus. This makes car rides challenging. She’s also now started hitting the shoulder belt since my stomach protrudes beyond my chest and the shoulder belt pulls into my stomach a little. She’s always bopped stuff infringing on my belly space like when I read a magazine on my belly or rest an arm against it, but I guess she’s more crowded now that she pushes away even seat belts. I have to sit in the car stiffly as straight as I can, right hand pulling down on the shoulder belt to give it slack, left hand pulling the lap belt away from my lower abdomen. I frequently wonder what I oughta do if Mr. W in his impatient driving style rear-ends anyone. I figure I’d brace myself by putting my feet against the lower frame of the footroom, rather than releasing the seatbelts and letting them strangle Allie.

Allie goes very quiet when I’m playing piano, but bops around when Stepkidlet sings and plays her guitar. I guess she finds one soothing and the other stimulating. That kinda makes sense; I usually don’t play “exciting” stuff.

Rebecca was at the coffee shop yesterday, so I asked her for a “date update.”
She said, “Did I tell you before about the 7th?”
I replied, “You’d initially said 13th, 14th, but then later on you said as early as the 7th to as late as the 23rd.”
Later on, as we walked with her to her car/office, she checked again and said, “I’m still seeing 13th, 14th.”

I guess Allie’s gonna be early. Yay! It also explains the oddities I experienced yesterday. Mr. W and I walked to a few nearby stores to run some errands in the morning. While inside one of them, I started getting a little bit of the sick feeling I’d get when my blood pressure drops and my vision is about to black out. I looked around for some place to sit, but of course there was none. I started taking deep deliberate breaths. Mr. W asked me what was going on and I told him I feel sick and need to sit. My lower back had been sore for maybe 15 minutes at that point, too. He grasped my arm and walked me to the front of the store, and by then the sensations faded so I was fine. We left the store, walked toward the next one (in the direction of home) and as I stood waiting for the pedestrian walk sign to turn at the intersection, I suddenly felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. I stood there, panting, as odd uncomfortable cramp-like sensations hit the top of my stomach, just under the ribs. “I don’t think this is her doing it,” I said, pushing at the hardness, as cold sweats started coming and I started getting light-headed again. That faded in less than half a minute, and we went into the next store. While in there, looking for wallpaper glue for the border in Allie’s room, I got light-headed again and leaned against the side of a shelf and tried to breathe slowly to not hyperventillate, holding my breath between inhales. That soon faded, too, and we went home. I drank a glass of water, laid down, and fell asleep. I hadn’t felt that tired since I was pregnant. So, I’m thinking it was Braxton Hicks.

We’d better pack our bag!

3 sessions of birthing classes down, 3 more to go. I thought I’d be totally freaked out and traumatized by the birthing videos, but I wasn’t. Instead, watching that stuff totally inspires me and gives me a sense of empowerment about the imminent labor process. (We’ll see how I react after we see videos on Caesarian births this Friday. ha.) I like having the road map so I know what to expect. Right now, I’m still set on making everything as natural as possible, no drugs or surgery unless absolutely medically necessary. (At my OB appointment yesterday morning, the ultrasound revealed that Allie is already in the head-down position, and it’s unlikely for her to flip over to breach position between now and labor, so that’s a big part of the battle already won. She was laying on her left side, which means she’s facing my right hip. We just need her to make a quarter-turn clockwise between now and whenever she decides to debut in the next 5 or so weeks and we’re golden.) Comforting thoughts:
* this pain is SO temporary compared to the rest of my and Allie’s lifetime, I can suck it up for a day
* my body does everything naturally; there really isn’t anything for me to do except bear the waves of contractions as they come until I can push; the medical team and nature will take care of the rest. This isn’t like an exam I have to study for and perform on.
* there is a finite number of contractions to bear, and a finite number of hours of labor to get through; each contraction/hour brings me closer to finishing and holding Allie (even tho I don’t know what the actual number is, it doesn’t matter)
* I’m expecting the absolute worst mind-boggling pain beyond anything I’d ever imagined; if it’s better than that, great. if it’s exactly that, I’m mentally prepared and ready for it, like training for a race day. One little step ahead of the last, always moving forward, just concentrate on the next step.
* this pain is different from a pain in which you know that something’s wrong (like when you’re injured); this is what the body is designed to do and it will produce all the right hormones to counteract or create what it needs to have this happen, and I’m curious and excited to experience it.

Kaiser recommends that we interview pediatricians in anticipation of picking one after arrival of the baby. It seemed unnecessary to me; I figure these doctors are busy enough seeing patients all day long that they don’t need paranoid parents asking them a bunch of interview questions when they’re doing their jobs like all the other doctors. Besides, if it turns out you don’t like a doctor, you just switch to another one, like with adults, so I don’t know what the big deal is. How different could these doctors be? It’s not like I’m deciding between Western, Eastern, holistic and alternative medicine. Nevertheless, Kaiser specially has half-hour appointments designed for this process of interviewing, so I looked at a list of pediatricians in the two medical offices closest to the house, my intuition locked onto one of them, I read his biography, liked him, he happens to be taking patients right now, and we had our appointment yesterday after work. He was running almost an hour late, so I started getting nervous that he would be in a rush or a crabby mood, having to deal with a stupid parent interview when he should be getting caught up on his patients. Nope! He came in, thanked us for waiting, was as pleasant as can be, open, friendly and jovial. He talked faster than I do! He was also very knowledgable. The first thing he said after the introductions and greetings was that he would never tell an anxious parent that their time is up in an appointment; he always takes the amount of time that the parents require to be comfortable, even if it means staying later in the day before he can go home. After the interview, Mr. W said, “I like him! I’m very comfortable with him.” So am I. We found another benefit to doing the parent interview: dibs on the doctor we want. If he fills up for patient intake between now and Allie’s birth, we’re “in” no matter what because we’d done the interview with him. Also, even if he’s full, he’ll always take siblings of existing patients, he told us. Not saying that Allie is gonna be a big sister anytime, but it’s good to know the options. =P

Mr. W and I spent the weekend testing out and installing the carseats in his car. I turned around yesterday and noticed that he’d kept the base of the infant carseat latched in his car. Michelle and Eddie got us the Britax B-Safe infant carseat, which we like because we also bought the coordinating Britax B-Agile stroller for the complete infant “travel system.” We just lift a latch to remove the cradle of the infant carseat from the base in the car, then click the cradle into the stroller (which, btw, folds up flat with one step to go into the trunk easily), and we’re ready to go without having to move Allie out of one thing and into the other. Cuz I hear people regret waking sleeping babies. =P At my cousin Jennifer and her hubby Brad’s advice (they have a newborn for whom they’d paid a carseat consultant for advice and carseat installation), we bought the next-size-up carseat, the Britax Boulevard, as a secondary carseat. This 2nd carseat can be installed backward-facing (infants) and forward facing (older infants & toddlers), and with a $15 special foam padding, the Boulevard is converted into an infant carseat for smaller babies. Mr. W installed the foam on the inside of the Boulevard this weekend, too, and we practiced installing and using all 3 Britax items. What great products. We’ll probably put the Boulevard in my car or in my parents’ car, depending on who does the 2nd most traveling with Allie.

We’re getting there! No last-minute panic, yet. 🙂

Someone at work mentioned a “baby pool” the other day. As cool as it would be to have a daycare at work with its own swimming pool for babies, we’re in the midst of an economic crisis, so this “baby pool” refers to a potential revenue gaining event. I wasn’t aware of this, but the person discussing the baby pool with me said that people bet all the time on when someone was going to give birth, and he expects that such a wager will be made regarding the day of Allie’s debut.

Rebecca had already given me a 2-day range of the day she “sees” Allie coming out, so I wondered how ethical it would be for me to join a pool when I’m in regular contact with a clairvoyant. And then I thought, these wagers aren’t even LEGAL so who cares about ethics, right?

The Universe decided to make things more fair. I had an online conversation with Rebecca later the same day I learned what a baby pool was, and she “checked in” to see if she had an update on the birthing situation. That 2-day range was GONE. What she now saw was “could be as early as the 7th, or as late as the 24th.” WHAT?! With a due date of the 21st, any doctor could’ve said Allie could be up to 2 weeks early, or a few days late! This wasn’t going to help me in the office pool!

Me: uh-oh…if it’s the 7th, I’ll go into labor at work.
Rebecca: 🙂
Me: HMMM, that could be fun! I’ll run around the courthouse going, “My water broke! My water broke!”
Rebecca: Well, I’m not sure about that. I have the impression you will not go in to work on the day you are going into labor. You might feel a bit funny and for once you will listen and not go in to work and it will turn out you will be in labor.
Me: HAHAHAHA! “for once you will listen.” it’s like you live with me.
Rebecca: …well…I do “eavesdrop” a bit into your life, but always with permission 🙂
Me: of course, you’re welcome to. I appreciate the good intentions with which you do that. 🙂
Rebecca: Thanks…and I appreciate you more than you know.

On Tuesday, Allie decided she was going to be an upside-down kickboxer on our entire drive home from work. Every two to three seconds, she’d kick up at my diaphragm or my stomach. The assault on my gut was making me feel sick. Mr. W suggested I recline the passenger seat to encourage her to change positions or calm down, or give her more room, so I did that. She still kept at it. Then I turned slightly to my left, which did cause her access to change a bit. But now she was kicking at my left ribs. I rolled to the right. She did it to my right ribs. I gasped for air the entire drive home, and as soon as we got home and I walked out, she stopped. The same thing happened yesterday on the drive home. If she kept practicing her kicking like this, she’s going to be able to walk the day she comes out. That’s probably what she’s preparing herself for. I told Mr. W that she hates his driving. (Who could blame her? haha)

Mr. W took Monday off from work cuz his parents and sister-in-law were still over, and well, he didn’t want to go to work. I still went to work. Mid-afternoon, he called me and said, “Look at the nanny cam.” So I typed in our internet nanny cam’s IP address and saw that in the guest-room-turned-Allie’s-room, that Mr. W had cleared out the queen bed and guest furniture, put together the crib, dragged my La-Z-Boy chenille rocker-recliner up there next to the crib, and was now rocking in the chair looking at his handywork. We have a nursery! He’s such a handyman — when he realized that there was some weird construction screwup and the rails for the drawer at the bottom of the crib were an inch farther apart than the width of the drawer, instead of calling the company (which I would’ve done), he simply went to Home Depot and bought some wood and reconstructed the bottom of the crib and redid the rails so that the drawer now fits in there. We figured it was fine, since that piece only stays there for the first couple of years anyway. When the crib converts to a toddler bed, the drawer has to come out, and when it converts to a full-size bed, again, no drawer.

For a visual, this is the crib (and dresser + hutch) that we got. Mr. W found the company, Baby Appleseed, online and fell in love with their styles. An unborn person now possesses the most expensive pieces of furniture we have in the entire house. We paid additionally for the upgrade from pine to alder, also, because Mr. W felt that when we invest in furniture expected to last 18+ years, that we should get good solid hard wood. I love that the company plants 10 trees with each crib purchased to contribute to sustainability.

I also love that despite the fact that Mr. W had made up his mind long before meeting me that he was done having more kids, he appears to be REALLY into Allie. He’s taken so much initiative on researching and picking out her stuff, and putting it all together. The only thing I’d done for the nursery so far was put all the baby gifts from the shower away in it. He sat in there with me through that, too, playing with and examining all the loot. He’s also come with me to every single baby prep class — breastfeeding, infant care basics, healthy pregnancy, and we have infant CPR, maternity hospital tour, and a series of birthing classes coming up he plans to attend with me, also. As much as he jokes about how I need to have experience changing ALL her diapers and taking care of her cuz he’d already done his tour of duty with his first two, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have some occasions when we’re actually fighting over who gets to take care of Allie’s next need. The stepkidlet is eager for her share of Allie, too. She’s already planning her next semester’s courses so that she could get certain days of the week completely off to take Allie Duty full-time. My mom had already offered to take Allie on Fridays, her weekly day off as she works 4/10s. Hopefully this will all work out to reduce the expense of a nanny.

After we had the nursery cleaned up the other day, Mr. W went and got the stepkidlet to come up and see the room. “How cuuuute!” she exclaimed over everything. I watched for maybe a spark of jealousy that Allie’s new furniture is ridiculously elaborate compared to all the hand-me-downs that the stepkidlet and the rest of us had, but there was none of that at all. Instead, she said toward my tummy, “All right, Allie, your room’s all done. The only thing missing is YOU! Do you hear me? This is your sister! Come out and play!”

I’ve had a good-busy week so far (as opposed to bad-busy), starting from last Saturday, when Ann threw me the classiest, most beautiful baby shower ever with about 15 of my closest friends and family at her beautiful new house. It was in the traditional non-co-ed style, or she would’ve had to find a bigger venue elsewhere. I discovered while putting together the guest list that I have WAY more male friends than female. We’ll have to use THAT guest list for something else later on. 🙂 It was great seeing people I haven’t seen for a long time. That’s one of the cool things about celebratory events: it gets (most) people together in a jolly mood to celebrate. My parents-in-law and sister-in law (Gamer Bro’s wife) even drove down from Vegas and spent the weekend with us to attend the shower. I’ll post photos when I get a moment to sit down in front of the computer and compile photos. My mom sent me a slew of photos she’d taken the same night. I’m hoping others will process and make their photos available soon, so I can steal some. 😀 (How did we ever survive without digital photos and the internet?)

Vanessa was out of town on the weekend of the shower, but still wanted to celebrate with me, so we met up on Monday at The Melting Pot in Brea. It was her first time there, but she did great with the fondue dinner. This was also the first time I’ve seen her since she’d gotten engaged, so there was lots to talk about. Like, how she’s planning on making Allie a little playmate in 4 years. Yay! It’s funny when I think back to how early on in this blog, when I’d first met her in jujitsu, I’d referred to her as Navy Girl Vanessa to give her some form of identity. I’d also called Ann “Commenter Ann” or “Commenter A,” because that was how we interacted in the beginning — she commented on this blog. And now the both of them have larger-than-life presence and their names alone hold enough meaning and identity to be simply “Vanessa” and “Ann.” Meet my friends, Vanessa and Ann. Of course you know them, I talk about them on the blog.

Tuesday was supposed to be my down-day of the week. I’d planned to do my laundry and get the photos organized to post on the shower. However, one load of laundry in, and the washing machine gave out on me. It refused to spin or drain, so my clothes were just sitting in a vat of dirty water. I turned the dial back a bit and re-ran the last portion of the prior cycle. That worked, but the darn machine stopped again when it got to the same point of the wash.
Mr. W had just received a phone call days before from his tenant describing the exact same problem with the washer at the rental place and Mr. W had given the tenant permission to call a repair guy over and fix the problem on Mr. W’s tab. Mr. W was understandably concerned with how much it was going to cost him, and now this was happening at our house, too. After an initial freak-out period where he exercised his yelling, cussing, hitting and kicking muscles, Mr. W went online to see if he could troubleshoot and find a decent fix. Turns out this is a common problem and most of the time, the issue is the lid switch. In the next half hour, Mr. W took the washing machine apart, found the problem with the lid switch, and FIXED it! We have a working washing machine again!
Of course now it was too late to do the rest of my laundry loads, but it does show one thing: there’s a reason for everything. “WHAT ARE THE ODDS of this !@#$ happening AT THE SAME TIME as the !@#$ at the condo?!” Mr. W had lamented. “WHY would this happen to everybody?!” Apparently, it was to answer his prayer about having to spend hundreds on getting a professional out to fix his tenants’ washing machine. I encouraged him to contact his tenants to see if they’d gotten someone to fix their machine yet, and if not, to see if we (Mr. W) can go over and do it ourselves (himself).
He texted his tenant the next day, turned out the tenant hadn’t gotten anyone yet, so after work and my chiropractor appointment yesterday (Wednesday), we went to Mr. W’s rental property and he FIXED THAT WASHER, TOO! Same part, same problem. On the drive home Mr. W spoke of how he didn’t have the confidence to attempt to fix a washer at someone else’s home, but because it had happened at our home, he was okay to attempt it first on his own. That then gave him the experience and confidence to try it at the tenants’ place. The total cost for the repair at the tenants: $45 for a new lid switch. They were happy, we were happy. I was happy cuz while Mr. W was spending half an hour doing the fix, I hung out with the tenants’ two very nice young adult daughters and played with their two cats.

Today, childhood friend Sandy (she still needs that title to distinguish her from coworker Sandy) and I had made plans to meet up. She moved to Texas about a year and a half ago, and I hadn’t seen her since. She flew back to CA to attend my shower and was staying a week, so we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of being in the same state, and she wanted to come visit Dodo. Because I’ve known her from age 6, I figure she won’t find it rude if I do the rest of my laundry while she visits.

Just got back from my 29-week prenatal appointment. Seems like just a couple of weeks ago that I was there, can’t believe it’s been a month. Mr. W came with me this time.

After my giant weight leap in the 2nd trimester (seemed like 10+ lbs overnight), I was scared to get on the scale at the nurse’s station, but I weighed in less than 2 pounds more than I did a month ago, so that was a relief. The OB said my total weight gain at this point is about 20 lbs, give or take, depending on what I consider my starting weight to be. He still wants me to stay within 25 lbs total, but didn’t give me a lecture or anything this time. He said in Japan, they’re “really strict” and put the max weight gain at 10kg (22 lbs), that’s it. Okay, but their babies aren’t sharing genes with a 6ft+ white guy. Having gone thru the second half of my second tri where the weight just flew on without my having changed my lifestyle habits, I feel like it’s a little out of my control, so I wonder how Japanese doctors enforce their “strict” weight gain guidelines.

My stomach measured normal (by tape measure), and the OB was FINALLY able to confirm on ultrasound that Allie’s an Allie and not a Riley. She’s upside-down in me right now, feet at my ribs (which explains the multi-directional tapping I’ve been getting at both my sides, near my ribs, simultaneously). He focused in on her face and we got a really clear view. She’s sooo cute right now! She’s got these big round eyes, and as we watched, she blinked at us (“WOW! I can’t believe we can see that!” Mr. W said excitedly), then moved one fist up to her face (I felt a little jolt in my abdomen when she did that), opened and closed her mouth, made a sucking motion with her jaw, and then squeezed her eyes shut. “She looks like mom,” the OB said.
“Really? Don’t all babies look exactly the same on ultrasound at this stage?” I asked.
“No, not really,” the doctor said. Hmm. Maybe she DOES look like me. Mr. W said the doctor was joking.

I also got my whooping cough vaccination today, because the doctor said the baby would benefit immediately from the antibodies I make. He strongly encouraged everyone who would come in contact with Allie to get whooping cough vaccinations, because there’s a surge in cases and pertussis could kill an infant. I told him that the Stepkidlet had just told us that a few days ago and encouraged us all to get whooping cough vaccinations. “You have a smart daughter,” the OB told Mr. W. (Mr. W is soon to have TWO smart daughters.)

A few minutes ago…
Me: I wish we’d taken a video of the ultrasound today.
Mr. W: Yeah. I didn’t know it’d be that good.
Me: Haha, it’s NOT ‘that good’; all she did was blink and suck her thumb.
Mr. W: Yeah…that was pretty amazing.

Too bad I can’t take her out early, play with her, and then put her back in. (“But then it’ll be all messy and bloody,” gross hubby pointed out.)

I pretty much only come here to write a post if there’s a lot of stuff I want to say and document. Otherwise the short little ditties just go on the social networking site. I feel a little bad about this, cuz blog readers don’t see my quickies and I lose out on the daily documentation. Stuff like:

Today: “Cindy woke up this morning on her stomach, with Allie trying to tap out. Oops.”
“Cindy indulged in some yummy Japanese treats for breakfast. Thanks, Lauren [court reporter’s daugher working for Disneyland in Japan], Danielle [court reporter’s daughter visiting Disneyland sister], and [court reporter]! =9 Allie’s all happy and bouncing from it right now.”

Yesterday: “Cindy and hubby got Allie what will be the most expensive furniture in the entire house. =P http://www.babyappleseed.com/beaumont-crib.htm”
“Cindy dreamt Riley came out instead of Allie, but as a talking intellectual small child. He had to wear Allie’s pink ‘coming home’ outfit that was too small, but when asked why he hid his gender behind his foot at the last ultrasound (preventing proper clothes from being prepared for him), he wouldn’t give a straight answer.”

Sunday: “
Cats find their sunny perches anywhere, so watch where ur steppin when one’s around.”

Saturday: “Cindy is among a throng of 2000 (& growing) ppl for the raffling of lake spots for the B52 concert tonite. Not feeling optimistic. Come on, blue-8.” (along with a whole album of photos, posted later, of the resulting surprisingly decent spot we snagged on the sand at a diagonal to the stage, but front-center for the fireworks show after the concert, and photos of us there with our guests, Coworker Sandy, her hubby Rich, Gym Trainee, and my growing-like-a-week godson, Gym Trainee’s now 14-yr old high school kid.)

Friday: “Cindy wonders if she should alert plaintiffs’ counsel to the difference between ‘skim’ and ‘scan,’ as he keeps telling witnesses things like, ‘This is a half-inch document, if you could just scan this briefly?’.” Comments on this one were amusing.