36 weeks: boo!

Your baby is gaining about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy hair that covered his body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected his skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Next week, your baby will be considered full-term. Most likely he's in a head-down position, but if he isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an external cephalic version, where she'll try to turn your baby by manipulating him from the outside of your belly.

Happy Halloween, folks!

This is my second year in a row being bedridden on Halloween--last year, it was because I had some form of the flu.  That was fun.  

And this year, I'm not at the door handing out candy because, unfortunately, I don't look pretty.  I think I need to make an effort from now on to make myself presentable, because I literally scared myself when I just looked in the mirror--and nope, I'm not wearing a costume.

So, Tom has candy man duty, and he's loving it.  He so cheerfully greets the little kiddies when he opens the door and it literally makes me melt.  

And I can't wait until next Halloween because we'll get to dress up our own little trick-or-treater!  I'm kind of a mean mommy, so I may have to subject my Scoutie to costume torture to match Grant's outfit.  Heh.  At least we'll get cute pictures!!! 

confessions of a modified bedrested lawyer

I have some confessions today.

I don't know what modified bedrest means.  My doctor said I can work from home but, beyond that, I don't know what that means.  Can I clean?  Can I do laundry?  Can I run (calmly and slowly, of course) to the grocery store?  Can I go to Target and just pick up some last minute stuff?

I always seem to clamp up and have no sense to ask questions that I should ask whenever I go to the doctor's office.  Especially if I hear something unexpected.  That's why I'm such a brilliant lawyer.  I spent a buttload of money to go to law school, and apparently didn't learn basic lawyering skills...like asking questions and thinking quickly on your feet.  And that, my friends, is why I have no idea what modified bedrest means.

After we left our doctor's appointment on Wednesday...you know, the one where she told me to go on bedrest...I went into a frenzy.  We went to Babies R Us and Costco to pick some things up, our dear friends' house to have dinner, and the mall so I could pick up a backordered shelf from Pottery Barn Kids.

Yeah...in retrospect, that's probably not what my doctor meant when she said I should go on bedrest.

I carried a load of laundry to do from Grant's room this morning.  I should've put it all in a basket last night and had Tom carry it down before work, but I didn't.

I didn't because I was watching the Suns game last night.  Which causes me all sorts of anxiety at times.  Probably not the best idea when you're trying to manage your blood pressure.

I know I'm supposed to just kick back and relax.  I know I'm supposed to, because the most important task before me for the next few weeks is to make sure I don't give my doctors any reason to induce me or Grant an excuse to show up to the party early.

In fact, when I asked my AWESOME boss if I could work from home, he readily agreed but asked why I'd rather not be stressed and just take sick leave for the rest of my pregnancy.  Fortunately, things aren't too stressful at work now, and I would rather save up my leave to spend with Grant later.

But, yeah, I know.

But I also want to go to that small group dessert party, and my dear friend's 30th birthday bash, and Target.

Sigh.  I should just call and ask my doctor what she meant by modified bedrest.  I have a feeling I'm not going to like her answers.

My puppy is now chewing her nails.  I just yelled, I mean, firmly told her to stop.  That's a bad, disgusting habit.  I guess she does some other disgusting stuff, like groom her eh-hems with her tongue.  I shouldn't stress out about it.  Yeah...that was my last confession of the day.

I'm gonna try to take it easy now.  If it makes you feel better, my feet were elevated the entire time I composed this post. :)

be careful what you wish for

So....we had our 35 week appointment yesterday.

I wasn't expecting anything "exciting" to happen. 

In fact, I was complaining to my coworkers about how useless I feel like some of these appointments are--you just go in and give a urine sample, they take your weight (I hate that part), they take your blood pressure, measure you, ask you if you have any questions, and send you on your merry way and say, "See you in x weeks!" 

Usually, these appointments take, oh...5 minutes.

All was good and dandy, until the nurse looked at me and said, "Wow, your blood pressure is really up today."

Sigh.  I was hoping this day wouldn't come.  In fact, the day before, my cousin and I were discussing her pregnancies and our family history of preeclampsia, and I said, "I think I'll be okay...my blood pressure's been great so far!"

Then she told me, "Yeah, my blood pressure was great until 35 weeks."

Dun dun dun!!!!!!!

Sure enough friends, it looks like this apple didn't fall too far from the family tree. 

So...my doctor did all the comprehensive measurements - as she felt around, she said, "Grant has dropped already. And wow, Grant is a pretty good size!  I'd estimate around 7 lbs.!"

I asked what "normal" is around now...and she said 5 lbs.  Great.  My child is a humongous mongloid.  I'm gonna blame Tom's genes for that, 'cause I was only 5 lbs. 5 oz. when I was born.  Tom has no idea how much he weighed.  So he gets the blame.  HAHA.

Then she measured "down there" and said I'm 60% effaced and .5 dilated.  She took my resting blood pressure again and it dropped to 100/64.  Hallelujah!

However, she said, given the way my body responds to rest, she wants me to go on modified bedrest.  She asked me to not come into the office anymore (even though I sit at my desk all day!) and wrote me a doctor's note.  I have to talk to my boss today and hopefully he'll agree to let me work from home.

My doctor doubts that I will go the full 40 weeks, is hopeful we can stick it out a few more weeks, but wouldn't have any qualms about taking him in the next week if my blood pressure gets worse.  It's funny that, in yesterday's post, I was wishing for this pregnancy to be over already...because in a matter of minutes, that feeling evaporated and I prayed that Grant could stick it out until at least November 7, when he's full term.

After our appointment, Tom and I were sitting in the car, and he asked, "So...what does this mean?"  For him, it's making sure the car seat is installed and running some errands for me.

For me, I think it means I need to stay home for a couple of weeks.  :(

For all of us, it means Baby Grant watch is officially on.  He could come any day, folks.  And it looks like we're going to have a November baby for sure!  If you have a moment, please pray that he stays put until November 7.  :)

10 miler

Have you ever run a 10-miler?

I have.

Yeah, it's something I'm extremely proud of.

Not because it's a remarkable accomplishment.  In fact, it's nothing compared to what my sisters have done--they've run marathons!  Of that, I am in awe and I bow down.  Here's a pic of them after they finished the 2010 Chicago Marathon:

Aren't they hot?  I mean, folks...they took this pic after they ran 26.2 miles.  They obviously got the good genes in the family. :)

But I digress.  Get to the point, Tina.

I was thinking about the 10 mile race I ran in a couple of years ago.  If you know me, the fact that I actually ran and finished that race is a big freaking deal because I used to hate running.  With a passion.  I can't say that I love it now, but I can now appreciate why people run.

Of course, the main motivation in my training for the race was the fear of God....well, no, actually it was the fear of being so slow and getting picked up by the bus of shame. 

Like most of my runs, the first mile or two of the race were pretty miserable.  I wanted to stop, turn around.  Then I got into a good pace and I was feeling pretty good.  I thought, "Hey, this ain't so bad!  I can do this!"

Then came miles 8 and 9.  Oh my word...those were some dark miles.  My feet started hurting, and I just did not want to finish.  I just wanted to be done.  I wanted someone to just pick me up and get me over the finish line.
  
In many ways, the feelings I felt during my 10 mile run are pretty similar to this pregnancy.  I ain't gonna lie.  I've been having a hard time with pregnancy this past week, and I feel like I'm on miles 8 and 9.  Aches and pains, fatigue, boredom...they've all set in, and I'm ready to just get this baby out!  But I know that I need to push through these miles...because without them, I can't get to mile 10.

And I remember mile 10, too...along that last mile, they tell you how far you are from the finish line...1200 yards, 800 yards, 400 yards, and you see the finish line.  Right when we saw the finish line, I remember running up a slight hill and thinking, "NOOOOO!"  But I did it.  And at the end of the race, I felt awesome.  And ate a banana.  And I didn't even spot the bus of shame!

I think we're approaching mile 10.  Just gotta push through the dark miles.  :)

greased lightnin'

Why this car is automatic...(hip shake)

It's systematic...(hip shake)

It's hydromatic...(hip shake)

It's greased lightnin'!!!!

Surely, you know this song and the movie it was in.  Because if you don't, I might have to stop being your friend. 

Just kidding. 

Or am I?

Anyhoo...remember my post about Tom's beloved...the green monster?

It only took a whole month after that post, but I'm happy to report that the green monster has left the building!  I felt bad about being so happy, so I took a final picture of Tom with the green monster (note the duct tape holding up the mirror...which fell off while Tom was driving it into the dealership).  

  

I gotta admit, I kind of miss the little gal. 

Okay, I'm over it.  We got the equivalent of one car payment out of our trade-in.  I did a happy dance.  Tom thought we should've gotten more.  Um...yeah.

Thanks for the memories, Jetta...pause pause pause...NOT. :)  Never again will we utter the words, "We own a Jetta." 

Anyway, Tom and I went back and forth about which car to buy for a while.  Here in our neck of the woods, if you have a hybrid with "clean" plates, you are exempt from some of the carpool restrictions.  Though we commute in together for the time being, you just never know where life takes you, so Tom really wanted to take advantage of this exemption while we could.  We also drive a lot, so we thought a hybrid might be a good choice...you know, to reduce our carbon footprint, yadda yadda.  But if I'm being completely frank with you, we just thought it might be neat to save money on gas and get that darned exemption.

So...we started out looking at the Toyota Prius.  Then we heard that Hyundai was coming out with their Sonata hybrid in the fall of 2010 with rave reviews....nope, not here yet.  Boo.

So we went back to the Prius. 

Then we wondered if we would regret getting another small car, since we were expecting a little one.  So we considered the Toyota Highlander hybrid.  And we went in for a test drive.  Loved.that.car.  Wanted.it.so.very.badly.

Then we looked at the little sticker....which gave us a serious case of sticker shock.....and we went home, calculating the enormous car payments we'd have to make each month.

Oh yeah, did I tell you?  Hybrids come with about a $10K premium.  Yeah, awesome.  And not in a good way.

So then we thought, "Well, what about a Toyota Camry hybrid?  Or should we get a Prius?  Or a Camry?  Or a Prius?".  Well--after sitting in both, we decided that the difference in the interior roominess was comparable.  So, really, we could have gone either way.

I know very well the temptation to get that big "family" car as soon as you are expecting.  Believe me, I know.  But we have one kid right now.  Lord willing, if/when we have our next kid, we may need to get a bigger car...and by then my sweet ol' Honda might decide to leave this lovely world, too.  So...at that point, we might decide that it is time for me to finally get my long-desired minivan (shh....Tom wants one, too....but if he says it out loud, it might cost him man points).

But for now...we are proud owners of...drum roll, please...

A Prius!  Yup, Daddy's got a brand new set of wheels...a brand new set of wheels that gets 50 miles to the gallon(!!!!)...and I think he's smitten. :)

I told you that he would love again. 

Go, "green", greased lightnin'!

35 weeks: showered with love

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Folks...I'm pretty sure that I've said this before, but I don't know if I can say this enough: I am a blessed woman.  Like unbelievably beyond blessed.  I have friends and family that people can only dream of. 

You may recall that, back in July, Tom and I took a trip back to California, where our sisters and friends threw us a co-ed shower/bbq.  Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from that shower...so I haven't been able to share them here, but I had SUCH a great time meeting up with my West Coast lovies.

This weekend, as G turned 35 weeks, my sister and friends threw me a wonderful shower for my East Coast lovies. 

But because the shower was at my house, Tom and my hostesses conspired to let me enjoy one last weekend out...date night in DC!

We stayed at the W, aka Hotel Washington.  Swanky, I tell ya.

The hotel overlooks the Department of Treasury and the White House...it has amazing views and is a popular night spot in DC.  But...we went before sunset, just to take a quick peek.



We dined at the famous Old Ebbitt Grill, and then took a stroll.  We stopped by the White House to say hi to the First Family.

Then we went to the DC Improv to see Steve Byrne.  He was funny.  :)

Afterwards, we got back to the hotel and I just passed out from exhaustion.  Third trimester exhaustion has officially set in folks!

After 11 hours of sleep, we headed back to our humble and definitely not swanky abode in Virginia, where my lovely hostesses were getting everything ready.  Here they are, Jennifer, Allison, Grace, Gloria, Hannah, and, my sister, Jen.  Not pictured is my dear friend Suna, who is enjoying a well deserved vacay in Korea after taking her boards.

The afternoon started out with a prayer. 

I started tearing up during the prayer, because these ladies have been our prayer warriors throughout our journey.  And, if you recall, many of these ladies were at the prayer meeting right after the egg retrieval and before the embryo transfer.  God has been so gracious in providing us with such a wonderful family of believers.

Then we had a time of feasting.  The spread and the decorations were just beautiful.

My family and friends are beautiful, inside and out.  Seriously.  I know a lot of people say that, but it's particularly true of my friends.  They are also very generous....I was so blown away....

And here are the favors...Grace's famous choco chip cookies and her awesome handwriting.  They slay me.

And I can't end this post without giving credit to the awesome photog, my dear cousin Jeannie, who is just adorable in so many ways.  I love her.

I also love love love those big yellow balloons.  I imagine taking pics of Grant holding a big yellow balloon someday.  :)



34 weeks: 100th post!

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.


I can't believe it...this is my 100th post!  I originally started blogging to keep friends and family updated on our IVF process, and now it's been mostly to keep people updated on Grant's growth and a little random rambling here and there.  100 posts later and we're just weeks away from meeting Grant!  Woohoo! :)


I'm sitting at home today after a trip to Costco and starting my first of many loads of laundry just for Grant!  It's so surreal.  I just feel like so much of this is so surreal.  I feel Grant every day.  I've seen him move in the ultrasounds.  And yet, somehow--this new title of "mom" just doesn't seem very real.  It's hard to feel like I belong in Babies 'R Us or the baby aisle at Target.  When I step into the nursery, it feels like I'm walking into someone else's house.  I just feel like an impostor or something.


Weird, right?


Anyway....thank you for reading my blog and keeping up with the Ros.  If you've read all 100, you get a gold star and big virtual hugs and kisses from me.  :)

i am the face

I know I've posted several times about how I miss Elioenai, Grant's sweet twin.  I will never forget the morning of May 5, when we found out that Eli had left us and gone to heaven to be in the presence of our Father forever.

Though I think about Eli often--daily, in fact--today is a particularly *special* day, as it is the National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, a day to remember the 2,000 American women who experience miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or the death of a newborn each day. 

Two thousand.  Every single day.

That just blows my mind.  I can't believe it's that common...and it makes me really sad, because that means there are so many suffering in silence because it's just one of those things that no one talks about.

So today, I join the I Am the Face campaign, as Face #1441, to remember all of the mommies and daddies who lost their babies too soon.  And I remember my sweet Eli, who is perfect and whole, and loving every moment with our heavenly Father, even as we grieve our loss.

And I give thanks to the One who gave me the special gift of being Eli's mommy on earth, if only for 10 weeks, and who keeps my tears in His bottle. 

Blessed be His name.

you can't have your cake and eat it too

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of the recent Chilean miner rescue.  Now, I have to admit, my husband is the news junkie in the family, and my interest in the news typically only peaks when something big, dramatic and emotional happens....like this Chilean miner rescue.  Ok...and when it involves scandal.  What can I say?  Years of living in LA rubbed off on me--I enjoy trashy news. :)

Anyhoo...about a month ago, I heard that one of the miners' wives, who was at the vigil, heard another woman calling out her husband's name and crying.  Basically--she asked, "Who the heck are you?" and the woman revealed that she was his longtime mistress. 

Drama.  So, of course, although I was already praying and hoping those poor miners would be rescued...this story just made it Days of Our Lives juicy!  (Yes, I watch that show.  Don't judge.  It's a sentimental thing--I used to watch it with my non-English speaking Grandma when I was growing up.)

But I digress.  Initially, both women were reported to have said they would stand their vigil and wait for him.  I was like--"WHAAAAA?" and told Tom that, if I were his wife, I'd wait and push him back down the hole.  (I know....not very Christ-like....sorry, but I'm keepin' it real.)

Well...apparently, Chilean miner #21, Yonni Barrios, asked for both women to wait for him on the platform during his rescue, and his wife decided..."Heck no!" and didn't show...and the footage of his rescue shows him kissing and hugging his mistress.  Boo.

That image made me really sad.  I mean, you would hope that this idiot would have some clarity being down in a mine for 69 days, and be sad that he could cause his wife of 28 years pain.  That his near death experience would make him want to be faithful to her.  But he wanted to keep both?  Idiot.  His wife was a lot more gracious than I would've been--she actually said she was glad he was alive.  At best, I would've given a "no comment."

Sigh.

It makes me love my hubby more.  'Cause when he tells me that he would never even think of cheating on me, I believe him.  Call me a fool...and I know...a lot of men cheat on their wives.  But I do know this...my husband has integrity and is a good, honest man. 

And I'm his lucky wife.  Who just told him I'd push him down a hole if I caught him cheating on me.  Just sayin'.  HAHAHA.

labored breathing

We had our first birthing class tonight.  It was an interesting experience, especially because I'm starting to become really fearful about labor and delivery.

I learned a few things, though.

1. If the relaxation breathing during labor is anything like what we practiced tonight, I will be cracking up hysterically, because my husband cannot seem to be serious about anything.  (I think we annoyed our very serious post-partum nurse classmate because I could not stop laughing.  Yes, Nurse Kacie, we are immature.)

2. Tom is a beast and his "tender" massages probably left bruises on my arm, so we're going to have to practice the concept of "gentle."

3. No mirror, thank you.

4. EPIDURAL IS MY FRIEND!

:)

33 weeks: a big ball of hormones

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

To celebrate today's milestone, we took our hospital tour today.  Even though I've been pregnant for 33 weeks, it was totally surreal. 

When we were in the labor and delivery room and the nurse was talking about what happens during and right after birth, she said that our baby is going to be cold, and the lights are going to be bright, so that daddy should walk over to the area where he's being cleaned and talk to him to soothe him because he'll recognize his voice.  Then she explained how he'll be alert in the first hour after, so I should feel free to unwrap him and put him directly on my skin, so that we can bond.  I started tearing up and had to do everything in my power to not cry a big fat ugly cry--'cause if I let myself, I think I could've ended up on the floor wailing.  Seriously. 

Oh geez--how embarrassing would that have been?

I cannot believe we're actually going to have a baby.  It's something I just took for granted before we met the nasty infertility monster, but the fact that, after 4 years of hoping and praying, we could be holding our son in a mere month and a half just blows me away. 

And this little one...the one that I've had all to myself for the past 33 weeks...I'm going to have to share him with this big, bright, sometimes cold world.  I don't know how I feel about that--happy and sad...excited and scared...ready and totally, absolutely, most certainly, not ready.

Ok...I'm gonna go have that big ugly cry now.

P.S.  Mommy resisted and saved the cupcake for Appah.  Isn't she so nice? :)

pop quiz

It's Friday!!!  Time for a pop quiz! 

I'll be nice and make it multiple choice, so you don't have to think too hard. :)

Question: What is pictured below?

A. A red velvet cupcake from Red Velvet.

B. What is left after Tina had her own red velvet cupcake.

C. The red velvet cupcake that Tina bought for Tom.

D. The red velvet cupcake that Tina is now thinking about eating.

E. The red velvet cupcake that Grant is asking Tina to eat.  Seriously, he's tugging on the umbilical cord. 

F. All of the above.

Considering Tom rarely reads this blog without my prompting...I suppose I could get away with eating it and he would never know better. 

And it would be for his son, after all.

And in the off-chance that he reads this post, it would just be a great lesson in how much we need to sacrifice for the sake of our children.

So.very.tempting.

simply sweet

My parents are pretty darn cute.  Whenever I say something like this to them, their Korean ideas about respecting elders and such kick in, and they say, "Cute?  How can you call your parents cute???"  I think it's disrespectful or something, but I can't help it.  They are cute.

I called my mom yesterday and the phone call kept breaking up.  I asked what she was doing, and she said, "Oh, we're just driving around."  Now...my parents split their time in San Diego and Phoenix because, while our their residence is in SD, their businesses are in the Phoenix area, where I was born and raised (yes...there are Koreans in Arizona!).  So, naturally, I assumed that they were on one of their drives to/from SD or Phx.  My mom explained, however, that they had a pretty bad day at one of their businesses the day before, so they decided to run away and go on a drive to Prescott.

For those of you who aren't from Arizona, Prescott is about a 2 hour drive from Phoenix.  And for those of you who aren't in my immediate family, this is what my parents would do on a whim while we were growing up.  After a long hard day at work, my parents would come home on random occasions and say, "Everybody get in the car, we're going on a drive!"  And sure enough, the sibs and I, and sometimes our grandparents, would jump into our huge huge conversion-sized van with a bed in the back, and off we'd go!

Sometimes the drive would be to the outskirts of Phoenix.  Sometimes we'd go and see snow in Flagstaff (yes, it snows in Arizona!).  Sometimes we'd drive to California. 

And once we reached whatever destination my dad chose, we'd get out, stretch our legs, maybe eat something, and drive right back.

This was fun...until I hit the magical age of "this-is-so-annoying-because-I'm-a-teenager-and-I-am-too-cool-for-this."  (This stage is the reason why Tom is afraid of having daughters, by the way.)  But even when I felt the need to be an obnoxious brat, it was fun because we were together.  We always sang songs...usually in 3 or 4 part harmony...and usually something in Korean that our parents taught us. 

I'm pretty sure most of those songs were the types of songs adults sang while totally drunk...but no matter...it was fun.

I always assumed that we kiddies were invited on all of the excursions that my parents took, but a few years ago, my dad told me that they sometimes would wait until we were in bed (our grandparents lived with us, so they weren't leaving us alone!!!), and then jump in the car, drive to the Grand Canyon (which was about 4 hours away), watch the sunrise, and then drive back before we knew they were gone. 

That image makes me so happy.  That, and the image of my dad courting my mom when they were in Korea--he had very little money, so for their dates, he'd bring her oranges, and they'd ride the city bus all around the city until it was time to go home.  He said it was his way to show her the city.  Hahahaha.

There are a lot of things that I'm grateful to my parents for--and probably more than anything, I'm grateful for the way they showed us how important it is to spend time with each other, with no agenda or purpose but to experience life together.  I admit that I can get really caught up in this culture where it seems so important to have the latest and greatest "things" and forget how to just live simply. 

But then I think about my parents, and how they are at their happiest...driving to nowhere in particular, but loving every minute because they are together...and that, my friends, fills my heart with so much love that I might explode.  And these people, right here, are basically my universe:

Lest you think, however, that I am not still that obnoxious teenage brat, at the end of our conversation, my mom asked me if I needed anything, and I said, "Oh, yeah...can you bring me, I mean, Grant a Le Creuset dutch oven in a pretty color when you come?"  (My parents own a kitchenware store.)  She was like, "Whaaaaa?" and basically called me a brat.  :)

32 weeks: bouncin' along

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

Hello friends!  We had our 32 week check-up yesterday and everything seems to be going well.  Frankly, up until this point, I think that these visits have been kind of useless...they weigh me, take my blood pressure, make me give a urine sample, ask me how things are going, I say "fine" and then they say, "okay, come back in x weeks."  I think I could do most of that on my own.  Oh well...I guess I am just saying that because, aside from our little early scares, things have been pretty uneventful so far.

Anyway, because there are 6 OBs at the practice I go to, they could all potentially deliver G, so I have to meet all of them.  I met Dr. W. yesterday and she saw me walking down the hall before she came into the room, and when she came in, she said, "Wow--you look so happy!  You were just bouncin' along!"

What can I say?  I am happy.  I don't know why, but I've gotten that reaction lately. I guess people expect a huge huge huge pregnant lady to be miserable, uncomfortable and hormonal.  It's not that I'm not uncomfortable.  I am.  It is tough lugging around extra weight and having a little person kicking you in the ribs.  And it's not that I'm not hormonal.  I am.  Just ask Tom. :)

But miserable?  No.  I've said it before, and I will say it again--I love being pregnant.  I wish I could do it 5 or 6 more times (to Tom's dismay...hahaha).

Calm down, folks.  We're not going to do it 5 or 6 more times. 

Heck, I'm afraid we're not going to be able to do it even once more.

But that's why I'm loving every minute of this pregnancy--even during my most uncomfortable and hormonal days--it may be our only shot to enjoy this miracle.

And, because I remember what miserable felt like.  And this...is not miserable.

Ok--I'll stop, before this post starts spiraling downward into a Debbie-downer post (wah-wah), and I will end with a happy thought: Since G now has fingernails and hair, I did what any responsible mother would do on such a momentous week...I got a pedicure and my hair done.  Heehee. :)

my favorite things

Have you heard?  In honor of the 45th anniversary of The Sound of Music film, Oprah reunited the cast of the film as well as the real Von Trapp family singers for her October 29 show.  OH HAPPY DAY!  This is my favorite musical of all time!!!!!!!! 

Oh, Christopher Plummer--there are so few men that mom and I both drooled over, and you are one of them.  They don't make 'em like you anymore.  You had me at "Edelweiss."

And here's a factoid about me that you all don't really need to know...but I was Mother Abbess in our high school production.  I cringe when I think about my actual performance, but it was so fun to be in it!  And, although Mother Abbess didn't get to sing it in the film version, she (I) got to sing the song My Favorite Things in the stage version! 

Oh wait, I forgot to say, it's OCTOBER!  Holy moly!  I can now officially say that I'm due next month.  Whoa.  And just so that doesn't seem totally out of the blue, I can tell you that October is one of my favorite things, because it is when fall weather kicks into high gear.

So, in honor of October and The Sound of Music, here are few of my favorite things (in no particular order...some serious, and some just plain silly):

• fall, and all things fall--including the foliage, brisk, cool air, and pumpkin anything;
• and while we're in the seasons mode, the holidays--specifically, Christmas!--and Christmas music at any time of the year;
• sisters;
• the quietness that descends after the first snowfall;
• grant's "good morning!" kicks;
• good conversation over good food with family and friends
• staying in on a rainy day and listening to the sound of the raindrops beating on my window;
• pedicures (which reminds me...I need one, stat!);
• pretending like I'm in a music video while I'm walking down the street;
• sleeping in late with my hubby;
• puppies!!!!;
• historical, majestic buildings;
• ellipses....;
• hearing my mom sing "The Lord's Prayer" and "The Holy City"; and,
• mindless, predictable chick flicks and lit, and sports movies.

Hmm...interesting list (to me, anyway).  In no way is it complete, but I didn't want to bore you anymore.  What are a few of your favorite things?

Happy October!!! :)