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October 21, 2003
Okay, I know I’ve been promising a long update and I’m way overdue. I’m just aiming for a quick update of the highlights today, but with my usual verbose style I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets rather long. I am hurrying though, so I hope I don’t forget anything.
Derek is working in Omaha now, which is about 3 ½ hours away. He’s gone for 4 days out of the week, and he may start working overtime in the next few weeks which could mean a 5 or even a 6 day absence at times. It kind of sucks but it’s a necessity. On the up side, he really likes the job up there. Aden and I are getting into a routine and keeping busy, so the days go by quickly. I have felt amazingly blessed by all of my wonderful friends, who have been constantly calling and inviting me over so I don’t go stir crazy alone in my house with a toddler! :) The evenings are a little lonely but I do enjoy the time to myself.
I’ve been working on lots of house projects in an effort to be productive and cross things off my mental to-do list. Well, the first two weeks Derek was gone I sat around and moped like a lazy bum, but now I’m being productive. :) Most of the projects are small, like reorganizing my pantry so there’s room for all the brooms and mops to hang up, or catching up on all of the reruns of Angel I have taped. Loving that show, by the way! :) We are plagued by annoying little gnats that come out of the trees at this time of year and cover all the screens, making it impossible to open windows and enjoy the lovely autumn weather, so I’ve also been trying to figure out a way to deal with them. I don’t know what they are or if anyone else has them at their house, but they’ve been driving my crazy for 6 years now. Nothing works and there’s no way to get rid of them, but I did achieve a partial victory by using a staple gun to attach a very translucent fabric to the inside of all the old screens on our two screen porches. I can see out, the gnats can’t come in… I still can’t open any windows in my house without sweeping up a million dead gnats the next day, but at least we can enjoy our porches! :)
But the biggest and most exciting project is our kitchen! Originally we wanted to wait to work on the kitchen until we could really do it all—new appliances, new cabinets, etc. But that might be years, and in the meantime we were stuck with a really old and dingy kitchen—remember, our house was built in 1912, and the latest kitchen renovation was probably in the ‘40s or ‘50s. I couldn’t ever seem to make it look clean no matter how much I scrubbed--yuck. Then the dog started ripping up the old linoleum, and by the time he did the entire laundry room and started on the kitchen we had the motivation we needed. :) So, last week I ripped up the rest of the old grimy linoleum. Aden was so funny, he wanted to help me so he went and got lots of his tools and tried to mimic what I was doing. Finally he gave up and decided to put all of the scraps in the trash for me. Every time I handed him a piece, he said “Oh, thanks!” and ran to the trash can. I kept telling him, “No, thank you!” because it cracked me up so much—who else would be so excited about throwing my trash away? :)
Anyway, we spent the weekend prepping the floors and putting down new vinyl tile—white with taupe speckles. Unfortunately the prep work took longer than we expected (doesn’t it always?) so the kitchen is the only room that we completed. I’m going to do the pantry and stairs to the basement this week and the laundry room will have to wait until Derek is home again. But the floor looks great—and so clean!
The next step is putting up wainscoting to cover the condition of the kitchen and laundry room walls. When we moved in there was peeling floor linoleum on the walls, yes WALLS, up to a height of about 5 ½ feet. Upon its removal we discovered that there is some kind of funny, cardboard-backed fake tile (probably a precursor to linoleum) underneath. But in some places, a previous owner had tried to remove that stuff and taken chunks of plaster with it, while still leaving a healthy amount of adhesive and cardboard backing. Lovely! So we are just going to cover it with wainscoting and be done with it. Then we will be painting EVERYTHING! I’ve bought the paint for the doors, windows, trim, and cabinets and plan to start on them this week. They will all be a nice clean white, the wainscoting is going to be a dark red, and the walls above will be taupe. When we’re done I’ll post pics on our website, so you can see the before and after. I think it’s going to be amazing!
I’ve had two appointments, one with my doctor on 10-9-03 and one with my midwife on Saturday (10-18-03). The OB appointment went fine, no big deal. I was at 11.5 weeks at that point. I hadn’t really gained any weight yet, maybe a ½ pound, and everything was fine in my urine, blood work, etc. I caught them in an error (they had forgotten to run the additional TSH test that I had requested) so that embarrassed him, especially since I’d already been billed for it, but he just had them run it at no charge right then. It took a while to find the heartbeat but then there it was. What a wonderful sound! I have to admit it was a relief to hear it. I didn’t really think anything was wrong, but it’s just so good to get that confirmation—yes, there really is a little heart beating in there! Then he answered all of my questions, I got my blood drawn, straightened out some billing questions, and went on my merry way.
Now, my midwife appointment… let’s just say the difference was like night and day. I’ve always liked my OB and enjoyed chatting with him, but somehow I always feel kind of empty or unsatisfied when I leave his office. He’s funny and nice and kind, takes the time to answer my questions, but it’s still kind of… impersonal? Routine? Perfunctory? Like he’s not actually that interested, or he’s heard it all before, or he’s only half-listening. It’s hard to describe.
But the appointment with Fran was just awesome. 90 minutes of her complete attention, as if MY pregnancy is the most fascinating thing on the planet (which of course it is, LOL), and a genuine interest in everything. Derek and I were really impressed at how in-depth and hands-on it was. Even the basic things she did, the things that a doctor would also do, were done so much better. For instance, when she checked my urine she showed us the test stick first, and explained what all of the indicators were and what colors meant normal, and then showed us that it all matched up perfectly. We spent at least 30-45 minutes on my health history, Aden’s birth, and how I am feeling now (physically better, emotionally rocky, and constipated if anyone is curious, LOL!). We listened to the heartbeat for quite a while and laughed because the baby kept squirming away. “Hey, get back here!” she joked at one point, and said that it was great the baby was so reactive. She told us that she has a recording device she can attach to her Doppler so we can have a tape of the baby’s heartbeat once it’s a little bigger and not so squirmy. How cool is that? :) Then she measured my uterus (it measured 14, a week ahead, but she said it really doesn’t mean much at this point) and showed me exactly where it is right now. It’s almost up to my belly button—I had no idea it was so high already!
Then for the best part—Fran palpated my belly and was able to show us how the baby was lying, and both Derek and I were able to feel it too. I didn’t know you could tell the head and butt and everything at 13 weeks, but we could! The baby was about 3-4 inches from head to butt and using the bottom of my uterus as a hammock, lying transverse with the head on my left and the butt on the right, and we could even feel a scrawny little leg sticking up! It was just so awesome, and I think it was especially nice for Derek to be able to feel it.
And, speaking of feeling the baby… I am certain I can feel movement now! About 2 weeks ago I felt a few twinges that I thought were baby but I wasn’t sure. Then last weekend I was driving and felt a complete flip! I knew exactly what it was and I was absolutely giddy as I told Derek what had just happened. There was no mistaking it. Since then there have just been smaller movements, twinges or little pushes here and there. I can’t believe how wonderful yet strange it is to be feeling it already.
Another thing I am feeling much earlier this time is pelvic separation pain. It’s minor so far, but definitely starting. I’ve moved wrong a few times and strained it a little, and I’m sure the fact that the baby is laying right there doesn’t help. I hope once the baby gets bigger and moves up that it will go away for a while. I had pain with every movement, from walking to rolling over in bed, for the last 2 months before Aden was born and I really don’t want it to last even longer this time!
Aden is still interested in the baby and brings it up at random times now. For instance, he was playing yesterday and gave me a toy that he thought the baby would like. :) I’m not watching Katie anymore so Aden and I have more time to talk, go for walks, and go to activities like storytime at the library. I’m trying to savor every moment of one-on-one time with my precious boy. And this morning we went to the hospital to visit Linda, Katie, and her new baby sister, Maggie! Maggie was born at 7:12 this morning, weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces and doing great despite all the stress she has caused mom in the last 9 weeks since their car accident! I thought you would all like to know that everything turned out well.
Hmm, 4 hours after I started my “quick update” and it has become quite the novel. Thanks for sticking with me! If you have any energy left, I've got a few questions I'd love to hear about on my TTM board.
Tara
Does anyone else know about those gnats I mentioned? Is there a way to get rid of them?
What's the strangest thing you've encountered in an old house remodel? Have you ever just wondered, "What were they thinking?!?"
Any remedies for pelvic separation pain? I tried tylenol and a chiropracter last time, to no avail.
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