Baby D Passed Again!

On Wednesday, Baby D had its 20 week anatomy scan and (s)he passed with flying colors! The heart has four chambers, the spine goes from the head to the butt, there are two arms (with hands and fingers) and two legs (with feet and toes) and he/she weighs a total of 12 oz (a Coke can!). 

Of course, Baby D was being a bit stubborn. Apparently it was sitting during the sonogram, making it difficult for the technician to get a picture of it's entire spine (from head to butt). Finally, after about 45 minutes, Baby D moved and we got to see the whole spine! It was actually very cool. (Sorry no pictures of that. I think the tech was just glad to finally be done with us.) 

 

H is now even more convinced that it is a girl. At the end of the sonogram, he said something to the technician and reffered to the baby as a "he" and she corrected him by saying that he shouldn't say "he" because we don't know what the sex is. That, of course, made him even more convinced that we're having a girl. I'm enjoying the waiting game. It's kind of fun to guess. Only problem is that we have to pick two names, two sets of furniture, two stroller colors, etc.

PS I know H isn't fond of being mentioned here, but I just want to tell this quick story. When I arrived at the hospital (I was a bit late, hard to find a cab), H was waiting for me at the front. There was a blind man trying to find his way to the door without anyone to help him. So H walked over to him, asked if he needed some help and verbally guided him to the door. What a gentleman! 

Shopping

On Sunday we decided it was time to begin our baby shopping research. Being Jewish and superstitious, we don't plan to buy anything before the baby comes (except for the necessities) but we do want to be prepared so that we don't have to make those decisions when we're sleep deprived new parents.

Our journey took us to Buy Buy Baby, (the Bed, Bath and Beyond owned baby megastore) where we decided to focus on strollers and baby furniture. At the stroller section, we played around with the Bugaboos before someone was available to help us. I must've asked some good questions because by the end of our little tour, we had another couple (due one month before us) listening on! We then stuck around to hear their questions and then moved on to the furniture department.

In the furniture department, a knowledgeable woman came to help us almost immediately. We had already decided that we wanted furniture that converts from baby to kid to teen so that was one decision down. She walked us around and showed us a variety of brands and collections. There was even a collection with my name! We left liking the first two brands we saw best - Natart and Old Mother Hubbard. Now we have to decide what pieces we'd like and find a collection that offers all of those pieces. 

There's a lot of decisions to make and we haven't even gotten to bedding, clothing, etc. I'm overwhelmed...

Everybody Drink!

When I was in high school, I spent a summer in Israel with my youth group. One of my counselors was a bit paranoid about dehydration. Once an hour, she would yell "Everybody drink!" All 30 of us had to drink from our water bottles. I could've used her yesterday.

I got dehydrated yesterday - no fun. It kind of felt like a bad hangover with cramps. I had a headache, was nauseous, tired and overall felt blech. So, I went home from work around 2:30. I bought two Gatorades and cuddled up in bed with Jackson. After some rest and lots of fluids, I felt a bit better.

From what I've heard, most women experience this at least once. They're not kidding when they say you have to drink a lot of water! It's just that at some point water becomes VERY boring. Someone should invent pregnancy water. In my mind, it will come in different flavors and be addictive (without harming the baby) so that pregnant women want to drink.

Today I'm back at working and feeling better. But now I have a water bottle at my side at all times!

Math

So we all know that math isn't my strongest skill. I'm not bad when I have a calculator and I can plug formulas into Excel, but when left to do simple math in my head, I screw it up. So it should come as no surprise that it took H a good 20 minutes on Saturday morning to explain to me that I'm not in my fourth month, but rather in my fifth. For some reason, 19 weeks means four months in my head. In the real world, when you are 19 weeks, you are in the second week of your fifth month. He explained that weeks 1-4 are month 1, weeks 5-8 are month 2, weeks 9-13 are month 3, weeks 14-17 are month 4 and weeks 18-22 are month 5.

Of course, I didn't understand his first explanation so he had to give me a second one. (He counted backwards from my due date.) I finally got it and am now accepting the fact that I am in my fifth month.  I guess I've been telling people I'm in my fourth month for the past month and a half. 

Let's hope Baby D takes after H in the math department.

What I Miss

People have asked me what I miss most now that I'm pregnant. I know they are referring to food, but there's a lot more than food that I miss. So, I think it's time for another top 5 list.

Top Five Things I Miss (food included)

1. Turkey sandwiches 

2. Dresses (or skirts) with zippers

3. My jump rope 

4. Sleeping through the night

5. My mind

Saving time

One great advantage to being pregnant is the time I save getting dressed in the morning. Currently, I have about 4 skirts, 6 tops and 3 dresses that fit and I can wear to work. So while I used to take 15 minutes to figure out what I wanted to wear and tried on at least 2 outfits, now I get dressed in one minute. The odd thing is, I'm not really getting to work any earlier. 

Pregnant

You know you're pregnant when:

1. A stranger in an elevator says "Oh, we're having a baby!" (We?!?! What did she have to do with it?) 

2. Your husband is excited you've gained weight in your belly and lovingly talks to it.

3. You have to sleep on your left side. 

4. You get excited over little flutters in your lower abdomen because it means the baby is moving/kicking. 

5. You are hungry. All the time.

Today's Adventure

So this morning I woke up with a small asthma attack. I took my rescue inhaler and about 10-15 minutes later realized that it wasn't working. I moved on to my nebulizer and did an entire treatment. Once complete, I thought I was getting better. Then, it got worse. It was hard to breathe, I was coughing (so much so that I went and sat near the toilet), my hands and head were tingling and I was dizzy. I'm sure you can see where this is going - a fun little trip to the hospital! (I haven't been to the hospital for my asthma since my sophomore year of college.) 

H (short for husband, it'll be faster from now on, promise) took me to the hospital and they directed us to the 12th floor - labor and delivery. Thirty minutes later someone finally saw me and my asthma had calmed down. I learned that in addition to my asthma, I was hyperventilating and that was causing the tingling and dizziness. 

After a few hours of tests on me (did you know they can check your oxygen levels just by putting a thing around your index finger?!?!) and the baby, they determined I was fine. Baby D's heart was beating normally, there were no contractions and I wasn't dilated.  So they gave me a prescription for Advair (I HATE steroids) and told me that I should see a pulmonologist. So I made an appointment with one for Monday. 

We were there for so long that one woman had her baby during the time we were there. I didn't get to work until 1:00 today. At least I got to catch up on some reading. 

I'm Full

Tonight is our dating anniversary. Five years ago today I met my husband at Monkey Bar in midtown Manhattan. We had a few drinks and were having such a good time that we decided to continue our date at a comedy show. It was a great evening (even with the rain) and we try to go back to Monkey Bar every year to remember our first date. Yesterday one of my RSS feeds informed me that Monkey Bar was being purchased by an unknown buyer and was closed for the day. Today I learned that Graydon Carter (editor of Vanity Fair) and a few partners purchased the bar/restaurant and it will be closed for the next year to undergo renovations. How selfish of Graydon. Didn't he know we planned to go there this evening? Couldn't he have waited until Friday?

Since our original plan was no longer an option and I can't drink anyway, we decided just to celebrate at home. We ordered pizza and I ate three slices (two is usually plenty for me) - I was so full. Then about an hour later I decided that the best use of my Coke would be to make a Coke float. So I did. And I drank/ate it. 

I AM SO VERY FULL!

Pregnant or not, that's a big meal for me. It's actually a bit painful. I still haven't bought into the whole "your pregnant so you can eat what you want" theory. I try to balance my vices (chocolate chip cookies and ice cream) with fruits and vegetables. I don't down a gallon of ice cream in a single serving (one scoop only) and don't stuff my face with junk. So now I'm feeling guilty. And full.

The MTA Hates Pregnant Women

Somewhere deep in the corporate headquarters of the MTA, there's a bitter man (probably divorced with very limited visitation rights to his children) who hates pregnant women. He's decided to take it upon himself to do everything possible to make sure their subway/bus ride is a miserable experience time and time again. Here's his five step plan:

1. make the subway platforms extremely hot and humid, making an August day above ground seem like a cool, fall evening
2. in key "family" areas of the city (such as the Upper West Side), time the trains so that they come very far apart during peak times, thus ensuring that pregnant women have to wait in the sweltering heat and must then navigate themselves (and their belly) into a packed car
3. strategically place one smelly person on each subway car/bus so that pregnant women, with their heightened sense of smell, almost gag each time they get on
4. just as it appears that a pregnant women might pass out from being crammed into a packed car (frequently without air conditioning), stop the train or bus for a few minutes, citing some inexplicable reason
5. for the final touch, hire rude employees

Let me tell you, his strategy is working. I see very few pregnant women on subways and buses and I don't blame them. Most of them probably take cabs. Come to think of it, this MTA guy might actually have a secret deal with the Taxi & Limousine Commission where he gets 10% of every cab ride taken by a pregnant women.

My first baby product purchase

On Saturday I went for a prenatal facial (one of the joys of being pregnant - my skin is all broken out) and the facialist recommended that I use diaper rash cream to help reduce the swelling of my pimples. Apparently, it's safe for pregnancy and really works. So on Monday I purchased Desitin. I've used it for two days now (on my back only - it freaks me out to use it on my face) and am hoping to see results soon. At least it doesn't smell and isn't greasy.

Exercise

Two weeks ago, my husband purchased an elliptical machine so that he (and me) could exercise in the apartment. It came on Friday and he spent Saturday putting it together. He put the whole thing together by himself without having to ask for help or call the company for assistance with their terrible directions. I'm very, very impressed. 

Birthday

My last birthday before I become a mom - how strange. For dinner, the husband and I went to my favorite Italian restaurant - a small place where the owner rattles off the dessert menu in such a thick accent that I always have to hear it twice. Even though we had a reservation (always need one there), we still had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. As soon as we sat down, the owner (he seated us) pointed to me and said that I cannot drink because I'm pregnant! He was the first "stranger" to notice I am pregnant. And he wasn't shy about it either. There was absolutely no hesitation. We're still trying to figure out how he knew. I don't really look pregnant yet, just fat. And the dress I was wearing is not a maternity dress so I really did look like I put on a few pounds. Anyway, dinner was great (as always). When we got up to leave the restaurant, he asked me how far along I was. He told me to come back in a month because then he will tell us what we're having (great way to get business!). Honestly, that guy is half the reason the place is so great. 

Good News Comes In Pairs

On Friday afternoon, I got an e-mail from my OBGYN that Baby D had passed all of its tests! We're in the clear! 

Today we found our new apartment! Yup, we're moving again. (For those who are keeping track, this will be my 8th home since I moved to NYC. I moved here in 2001.) This time, we're leaving the city in search of more space for our growing family. This one bedroom just won't do once Baby D is here. So in the beginning of September, we'll become residents of Greenwich, CT. We'll have to get new drivers licenses, buy another car and take the train (instead of subway) into work. But, we'll have more space, semi-reasonable rent and access to the beaches. Life will be good. 

Just a quick note: Jackson is sitting on my lap right now and was trying to type! He's hit a few letter keys, the caps lock, delete, etc. I've had to push the keyboard as far away as possible in order to get this post written. He just realized that he's defeated and is now resting his head on my arm - continuing making it difficult for me to type!