A Week of Ups and Downs

A lot has happened in the last week, and most of it very early in the week. I guess I'll just start at the beginning...

Monday at work, the HR department was called into my boss's office. There is some restructuring taking place and the IT department is moving under HR and some office's and hierarchy's are changing. The important part of this (to me) is that I am being moved to IT and I will report to a new boss. I'm also moving buildings. This is a really good move for me. I'm going from a cubicle in HR to my own office in IT. I'll also get to concentrate on IT projects. YEAH! I made it back to my major....finally. But at the same time, I'm not thrilled about moving to a new building. I like where I work and who I work with. And while I know everyone where I am going, it will just be different.

I also took this opportunity to talk with my (current) boss about maternity leave and coming back to work. Yes, I realize I should have done this months ago, but I didn't. I told him I wanted 3 months off for maternity leave. I think a 6 week old baby is just too little to put in daycare! By 12 weeks he should have better head control and I should (let us hope) be getting a better night of sleep (as compared to 6 weeks). I also asked him about the possibility of coming back to work part-time. With Garen's travel schedule, I'll be a "single-parent" on a pretty regular basis. If I work everyday, but for less hours, I think I will be happier and more productive. I also think I will still be able to accomplish my job. No decisions have been made yet, but I should have the loose ends tied down soon.

Monday night Garen and I had some friends over to watch the LSU vs. OHS game. It was a great game! Our friends Shannon and Donal brought their 2 kids (4 and 1) over and it was great watching Garen watch them drop crumbs on the carpet! LSU won, which made the evening even better.

Tuesday on my way home from work I talked to Mom and I could tell something was wrong. JP was sick...very sick. For those of you who don't know who JP is, he is my cat. I got him in college and had him when I lived by myself in Des Moines. He even came with me when I moved to Memphis. When Garen and I moved to TX, I asked my parents to keep him until Garen and I became "stable". When we bought our house last year, I tried to get him back, but Dad wouldn't let me have him. After a year with my JP, Dad became a bit attached and said that JP was his cat now. And JP loved my parents house! So JP stayed in Iowa and Garen and I got Nilla.

Well on Tuesday, Mom played with JP around 10am. Around noon, when Dad came home for lunch, they could here him meowing. He was lying at the bottom of the stairs, not moving. His back half was completely paralyzed! They rushed him to the vet and after several x-rays, said nothing was broken and they had no idea what was wrong. They had 2 guesses...either a herniated disk or a blood clot. Unfortunately the vets office didn't have the equipment to tell definitively. They recommended my parents take him to Ames (Iowa State's vet clinic) for further tests. JP couldn't move or feel anything below mid-back and he lost control of bowel functions. They began treating JP for blood clots immediately. At 11pm that night, when the vet came in for rounds, JP looked sick (up to this point, he didn't actually act sick). While the vet was working on him, he died. The vet called my parents in the middle of the night and requested to do an autopsy, for free. He said he had never seen a perfectly healthy cat (or any animal) die like this.

The autopsy showed several blood clots throughout JP's body. He died from an infection in his intestines that spread very quickly. Apparently JP had a heart problem, although he didn't have any symptoms of heart disease. Mom and Dad (and me) aren't taking this very well. JP was a really good kitty...he even liked Garen!

As of today, I am 29 weeks and 1 day pregnant. The baby is the size of a squash. Garen doesn't think that is very descriptive...as squash come in all sorts of sizes. The baby is about 3 pounds now and moves all of the time. Sometime my stomach just jumps and twitches!

Hello 3rd Trimester!

I had my first appointment in the 3rd trimester this week. I go back again in 3 weeks, so he has moved my appointment frequency up just a bit. Baby G is doing great. His heart is beating fast and my stomach is measuring at the right growth. I gained 4 more pounds over the holidays, putting me at a total of 20.5 lbs over pre-pregnancy weight. I glad the rate of weight gain slowed to something more moderate! If it had kept up with the rate of the last few visits I'd be a cow by the time this baby is born! I definatley look a lot more pregnant now. But the picture below actually doesn't look too much different from the one 4 weeks ago. I've gotten bigger above the bump and below the bump, but the bump itself hasn't grown out anymore. I also feel pretty good. My back still hurts from time to time, but nothing like it did before. Things have finally settled down into a nice pregnancy (please don't let me eat those words!).Garen's parents came up on Thursday. They had a wedding to go to in Nashville this weekend so they came up a few days early to visit. It sure did get cold for the few days they were here. It made me remember what Iowa in winter is like! I just wish we would get some snow with the cold weather.

As of today I am 28 weeks and 1 day pregnant. There are only 83 days left until my due date! The baby weighs about 3 pounds at this point, and he can see light (although I'm not sure from where), smell, hear noises outside the womb, and taste. Apparently the foods I eat now he can actually taste, so my eating habbits will influence his for the rest of his life. No preasure! I guess I better put down the ice cream and pick up a carrot...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Garen and I had a great time in Baton Rouge over Christmas. We were able to see a lot of the family (although we did miss some folks) and sit and relax a bit. Christmas was a lot of fun. Garen got me a new Citizen watch and he got a new Bosch router...well, the instruction manual! The darn thing was too heavy to haul down there just to bring back, so I wrapped the instruction manual for him. Baby G (who we are getting closer to naming, but still doesn't have a name) had a very nice Christmas as well. He got his first football, a bunch of clothes, a baby monitor, and an adorable LSU outfit. He is already getting spoiled and he hasn't even been born yet. We got to meet our adorable new niece Riley, who is now about 3 months old. We also got to see our nephew Reece, who miraculously became a little person since the last time we saw him. He is over 2 now and is just a ball of energy.

We flew home on Wednesday, which despite all of the disrupted flights around the country, was on time. The airport in New Orleans wasn't even crowded. Landing in Nashville was another story though...that airport was packed! But we made it home. Nilla was anxiously waiting for us (well me...she doesn't care for Garen) and I got to hold my little fur-baby. Then it was off to bed so we could both work the next day. Garen and I both have a 4 day weekend again this weekend, so the house is getting a good cleaning and organizing.

As of today, I am 27 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I have a check-up this week and I think my appointment frequency is about to be bumped up to every 2 weeks. I'm a little nervous about being weighed again after the holidays. At this appointment they also do a diabetes screening, which means I have to drink this horribly sweet drink and then let them take my blood. I don't think I will know the results until my next appointment. So wish me good luck, I hope I don't have gestational diabetes. I've also got a dentist appointment this week. I swear I have a cavity. I'm not sure what they will do about it while I am pregnant, but I sure hope they will fix it.

Travel to Louisiana

Holiday shopping is done! Garen and I flew out Friday to spend Christmas in Louisiana with his family. The flight down was really good and we got out before the big holiday rush at the airport.

Garen, his dad, and his brother Otto went fishing today. They caught 7 or 8 fish, but they said it wasn't a great fishing day. He had a good time though. All of the girls and I went out for Sushi last night. The rest of the time we are here is full of planned visits with relatives and friends. Garen's friend Adrian is a photographer and he offered to take pregnancy photos while we are down here, but I don't think my belly is big enough yet for pregnancy photos. I still feel like I just plain look fat sometimes. It really depends on the day and the clothes. I'd rather wait until I have a HUGE, obvious belly before I take those types of photos.

As of today, I am 26 weeks and 0 days pregnant. By this point, the baby should be able to recognize the sound of my voice. He probably can't recognize anyone elses yet, but he will before he is born. I guess I talk enough (who me??) that he recognizes me. Any time now, he will be able to open his eyes. I don't know what he will be looking at...but apparently he can open his eyes. Yesterday I hit 100 days left of pregnancy! It's all down hill from here.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

My fruit changed!

There isn't too much to update about this week. Since last Sunday, Garen and I have cleaned the house and gone to work, and that is pretty much it! I didn't have any extra doctor's appointments (thank goodness) and we really didn't do anything this weekend. The last few weekends have been so busy though that it has been nice to have a break. We leave on Friday for Baton Rouge for the holidays, so I'm glad we've had a weekend to relax before then.

As of today, I am 25 weeks and 1 day pregnant. My fruit FINALLY changed! Baby G is the size of an eggplant and is about 9 inches long. I found a really neat website that has short little videos about babies growth and their progress each week. It is pretty neat to watch how fast they grow.

Back to the Doctor

Last Sunday I went to the Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans game in Nashville. A co-worker gave me tickets, and since Garen was out of town, I took my friend Shannon. The game was great, and Tennessee won, which made it even better. It was supposed to pour down rain during the game, but miraculously held off and all we had was a little mist. Our tickets were club level, which was really nice. The food is better, the seats are more roomy and comfortable, and they have massage students inside giving out free massages, it was great!

Monday night I woke up with an awful side pain. It continued the whole day at work and then again Tuesday night. I started thinking maybe this pain wasn't baby related (it felt like it was in my kidneys) so I called the doctor on Wednesday and they had me come it. Dr. Anderson thought it might be my gallbladder or kidneys, but it turned out not to be anything internal (thank goodness!)...which means it WAS baby related. I pulled the little itty-bitty muscle in between my lowest 2 ribs on my right side. Who knew such a little muscle could cause so much pain! Well, I didn't actually pull it, the baby growing is now causing my ribs to push out and just normal movement caused it to pull. Apparently it is continually being pulled all day long and then at night when I am sleeping and the muscle relaxes it causes the most pain. Cure - time and Tylenol, not the answer I was hoping for. But I can say that I definitely feel better now.

While I was at the doctor they weighed me again. I had just gone to the doctor the Tuesday of the week before, so it had only been 8 days since I was weighed...I gained 6 lbs!!! They put me on 2 scales just to be sure!!! Of course, at my last weigh in I'd only gained 1/2 a pound, but still. So now my grand total is 16 1/2 pounds! Here is what I look like now -

Garen came home on Friday and we went appliance shopping. I asked for a new washing machine for Christmas and the Sears Appliance Outlet in Nashville was having a sale. And on top of the sale, they were giving out $100 vouchers to the first 25 people in the store...so we left the house at 6am Saturday morning to get a voucher. There was a line outside, but we were one of the first 25 and were able to get the certificate, and I have a new washing machine now! We bought an LG front-load with a 4.0 cf capacity, it holds a LOT of clothes! We really needed a new washing machine before the baby comes.

As of today, I am 24 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I wish I had a new fruit to update the size comparison...maybe next week. Baby G is still nameless but discussions are on. I don't think we will make a decision for a while. Baby G is incredibly active and Garen can not only feel Baby G kick and spin, but we can watch my stomach jump and move when the baby moves. Nilla actually likes it and tries to lay on my tummy when the baby is most active. It is cute.

GO LSU!

This has been the busiest week at work! But during the week I had my 6 month check up. Baby G (who is still nameless) is healthy and has a strong heartbeat. My doctor talked to me about prenatal classes that the hospital offers (I need to sign up in Dec. for the Feb classes). Unfortunately the classes are 1 night a week for a month, so Garen will only be able to go to 2 of them with me. There are a couple of classes we can choose from - a Lamaze class, a newborn class, and a breastfeeding class. I will definitely take the latter two, but I'm not so sure about the Lamaze - I planning on taking drugs! I know it doesn't always work that way, but I'm going to be optimistic because I don't think I can take 3 classes in February!

Tonight is my office Christmas party, which I am partially in charge of. Unfortunately, today is ALSO the LSU vs. Tennessee SEC championship! Most of the people I work with are huge Tennessee fans, so we are trying to get a TV set up so we can watch the end of the game. Otherwise I think we will have a lot of late party-goers! One of the other ladies setting up with me today is a Tennessee fanatic! I decided to play a little joke on her tonight and when I was making name tags, I made her a special one with a giant LSU logo on it!

I set up the play yard that Mom bought us. Man was that thing complicated! It wouldn't be so bad if the directions had been followed (Garen!) because it has a very specific order to follow when putting it up. It actually took so long that it is still up in the dining room. Nilla decided to check it out and spent a few hours sleeping in it 1 night this week. Since then she has left it alone. Below are pictures of her exploring it.

As of today, I am 23 weeks and 0 days pregnant. My fruit didn't change!!! I think the website I've been visiting updated their fruit and moved the Papaya up a week.