stats : week 23

23 weeks : the size of a mango.  interesting that i am allergic to mangoes, possibly the reason for the hormonal surge over the last 48 hours.  

over half way

heart rate : 130 beats/minute

belly is 22 inches (new this week, slightly odd to have a measuring tape on your belly)

baby kicked the monitor, so things are moving along perfectly.

xo, 

s+d

the nursery

and so we begin.  the extremely challenging effort of creating the right (and best) space possible for our baby.  just a few before photos... 

we are transitioning what used to be my office and closet into the baby's room.  dave and i now share an office, which used to be the man room.  we have both lost 'a room of our own' in the process.  

as you see, currently the room is blue.  which i kind of liked for a bit, but with closer inspection it is nasty dirty and has the build-up of several years of use.  it's changing, just not sure to what color yet.  my guess is a much lighter version of blue.  and no we don't know the gender of the baby.

thanks to my Mom, Dave and some sweat... we took out the carpet.  

So, if this were your floor would you:

a. sand and re-stain it

b. paint it bright white and lacquer it

c. put in pergo flooring to match the hallway flooring

d. other : please post answers!

We're beginning to clear the canvas for the ultimate baby room, that does not succumb to the tragic baby-ness of most baby rooms.

XO, 

pregalina

birthing class -OR- hippy love session #1 -OR- rose colored glasses

our first of six birthing classes was last Wednesday.  and, yes, i have taken the past five days to process.  i'll begin with my vision of what i expected.  dave and i sitting rubbing my belly, talking about all of the wonderful parts of pregnancy, meeting our fellow classmates and hearing their baby stories.  maybe we'd get into the labor thing a tad, and words referencing private parts would be used sparingly.  love is in the air, and some trippy music is low in the background.  i was wearing this beautiful purple suede coats of my moms from 1965.  so, now on to what really happened.  

everyone was late, because no one could find the yoga studio, so tensions were a tad high. thankfully we have our friends Mandi and Keith in class with us, so we can discuss all post-class.  it also, as Dave pointed out, gets your friendship to a new level when you spend six weeks discussing your wife's vagina with each other.  and that's pretty much how the story begins... 

we were all invited to sit on yoga bolsters for the next hour and a half.  i was beyond excited to be introduced into this new world of all things natural labor.  the teachers julie (our doula) and katie, started out the introductions and were very serious.  they explained... the first session would be a game (seriously?  game it was not.) in which we would all get a set of index cards with solutions and they would pose situations (labor situations of course) for us to respond to.  it's kind of like in a math class when they say we are going to start off with a 'pop-quiz' just to see where everyone is in their studies.  read: to gauge how bad off y'all are and expose our weakest links.  

the first situation : you lost your mucus (throw-up in mouth) plug.  now, for some of you this could be normal language.  for me and the rest of you, this made me gag and i tried not to throw up.  from here forward we'll refer to it as MP.  one of our classmates said, "well, i'd just put it back in."  and I nodded in agreement, right.  something falls out, you put it back in.  as the rest of the class (doulas included and my lovely husband) found it hysterical.  to this very moment, I still do not know what an MP is, and lack the maturity to have a discussion about.  (self, go to dictionary.com for definition in privacy of own home)  at this point I realized that I have lots, make that HEAPS to learn.  that was drilled into my head when i didn't understand the whole dilation-effacing-contraction thing that followed.  

the one card that i did have in my pile was : PRETEND YOU CAN'T HEAR.  perfect, can i use that card at this very moment?  now was this a card in my pile a coincidence?  i think not.  Mandi later said it 'was a psychological moment of you gripping the card in your hands for three rounds of the game.'  in the short time we've know one another, she knows me very well. 

later in the session, Julie was discussing the idea of being open to birth.  she's right.  you need to be open to it, and right now i am not.  she said a lot of women go through this and think i want a natural birth and their subconscious mind says - no, not really, just take the drugs.  and folks, if there had been drugs available at birthing session #1, I wouldn't have thought twice.  and over the last few days, my conscious and sub-conscious minds have been having lots of chats over coffee and lunch, etc.  

so over the last five days, i have done lots of reading.  i am not scared of labor, i am just uneducated.  knowledge is power, got it.  now i just have to start imparting knowledge on myself.  and having dave impart some of his medical know-how on me.  

send me good labor loving, birthing class 2 is in t-minus 48 hours.

XOXO

 

channeling the mathews gene's

i have really wonderful memories of my mom and aunts sitting in my aunt barb's living room talking into the wee hours of the night - which was probably only 8.30, but I was young - all the while working on some project.  i can't remember who was doing what but it was an organized chaos of fingers knitting, sewing, making lace, needlepointing.  and of course the hand that wasn't working had a long cigarette or a glass of wine.  

not sure of i'm channeling or just feel this innate desire to make something for our baby.  so my lovely friend Mandi, has offered to teach me to knit.  according to her, 'oh, it is so easy'.  what i haven't told her is that the last time i tried this i made a very itchy red wool scarf, that resembled something more akin to a diaper than a scarf.  which my loving Dad wore for several winters until it was some how 'lost'.  and i did try a hand at knitting a few years ago to make a dog toy, that was a horrible ending of a dvd and knitting needles in the garbage.  thankfully i have folks around me to remind me of said occasions.  (thank you babe)

time to start anew.  and there is also this really fab knitting store, knitty couture that i have been wanting to check out.  so last week i bought myself some needles and yarn.  after several minutes of being overwhelmed (worsted, skein, what?, who?) and not sure what i was doing the women at knitty couture came to my rescue.  some lucky family member will find a bright green scarf in their stocking this holiday season.  dad, it may just be you, to replace the red diaper scarf.  lucky man.

my goal is to make a lovely little blanket for the babe.  and it could be only a 2x2 square, not setting my sights too high. 

i'll keep you updated on the progress.

xo, 

pregalina

last harvest

this past weekend was gorg, in the Lou.  70s and sunny.  please note it was also november 1.  so instead of running to retail (having a baby really makes me want to shop), I tackled the garden.  i haven't been the regular green thumb reporter i had hoped to be, but once the queaseys started, the garden took the hit.  

so i gathered the last i could from the garden...  green peppers, green tomatoes, beets, herbs and the last of the marigolds.  i was surprised at how much we had.  so i tried my hand at roasting beets and made a huge batch of pesto... yum!  

(the pesto looks so nasty, but it is going to look beautiful over warm penne with fresh parm!)

having a garden taught me a lot.  like how much i don't like squirrels, and increased my fear of snakes ten-fold.  don't we live in the city?  but on the glass-half-full side, it was a working metaphor of tending your garden and taking care of the weeds, because eventually the weeds take over and you loose your marbles, or lettuce, in this case.  it was a great experience.  next year, more garlic, less tomatoes, plant the beets earlier and do a bit more watering.    oh, and the experiment of marigolds around the edges to keep away unwanted neighbors (i.e. bunnies) works!  thanks aunt jane!

xoxo, 

the lime thumb gardener

change = hope

i have been having so many nagging unraveled feelings about bringing a babe into this chaotic place we called the world.  after last nights vote came in, a few of these thoughts were wrapped up into a nice little package with a beautiful bow.  even though there is hard work ahead, i feel better knowing Obama is at the helm.  I feel like we will be able to travel abroad again, and not feel worried.  we will be able to move to a new place where people truly are seen as people, not red or blue, black or white.  i hope that this little thing inside of me will live in a world that is better than where we are today. 

peace, 

momma 

ps. so happy i bought this onesie a few months ago!  and apparently the baby won't use an iron, just like it's momma.