Friday, November 30, 2007

Hooray for Friday

I'm very relieved that it's Friday. This week went by very quickly for some reason, but I'm ready for it to be over...

I had a really fun day yesterday, and I went to IKEA with my mom on my lunch break. Of course, I told my boss that I needed to run to the doctor's office to get some paperwork done, but I don't feel too guilty. It was the first time I've taken a lunch break all week. IKEA was fun, and I bought some Christmas gifts, and ate some delicious meatballs and macaroni and cheese. Then Mom got us some lingonberry frozen yogurt on the way out. It was very good. I really love the kid's stuff at IKEA, and the stuffed animals are so cute, and soft and squishy. I told Justin I'd like to some day get Hosey the panda bear that they have there, as it's very soft, and cute, and doesn't have any hard parts (the eyes are just thread, so it should be OK for babies on) and Justin grew up with a panda bear. Justin wants to stitch up the holes in his panda and give that to Hosey, but I think we should wait until Hosey gets older for that, since Mama Panda (Justin's panda) has hard plastic eyes and is currently dropping out chunks of foam from her insides. She is very cute though.

My mom also gave us a new shower curtain that she found at Ross, and it's absolutely perfect for us. It's covered in pictures of 1960's kids' foods. Stuff like pudding and chocolate milk, and it is very cheerful and child appropriate. We love it! And she had some books, including a very cute baby book called "Baby Owls." The owls are very cute, and their names are Percy, Bill and Sally. I love baby books. She also gave me a memoir by Ann Lamont about her first year as a mom. I really like Ann Lamont, and she's a really funny writer who is easy to read. She's more of a bohemian that we will ever be, but still, the message at the root is the same.

We went to dinner with our friends J and J and their baby Evie at our nieghborhood Fellini's. It was fun, and of course, being around babies is always good practice... :)

We're going to Stone Mountain tomorrow night for family Christmas (courtesy of my Grandma and Grandpa) and I'm really excited about it. We're staying at the Evergreen resort on Saturday night, and I can't wait. I love sleeping in hotels. Big beds, a TV with real cable, and the most easily adjustable air conditioning! It's like heaven... Poor Katie, we have to get someone to watch her. Any time we go on vacation, it's not really fun for her. Although I usually have my friend Sarah at work watch her, and Katie likes her a lot.

Anyways, I'm stalling again at work. Back to the grind!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

36 Weeks

Just putting up the obligatory 36 weeks post! Last night was another night where I had the following happen (these things are starting to be constants):
1. I dreamt that I was in labor and/or had the baby, and forgot to call anyone in the family
2. I woke up having to pee, and thought for a half second that I was in labor, since it takes a minute to shake off a dream like that...
3. I flipped back and forth like a beached whale before finding a comfortable position for my ever "blooming" belly.

And for once, I didn't dream that Hosey was born, and ended up being something other than a human child. Over the weekend, I dreamt that Hosey was a kitten, and that Hosey was a large hot dog. I'm not joking.

In other news, we went to see a movie last night with my friend Sarah from work. Into the Wild, and it was really good. Really long, but really good. And I was not totally uncomfortable the whole time! That may have been due in part to the fact that we saw the movie at the Midtown Landmark Arts Cinema over off Monroe, and that place just makes me feel cozy. The theaters are smallish, and the chairs are comfy, and Justin got us a gigantic fudge brownie to share. In fact, I'm going to guess that the brownie was the only reason I was comfortable and happy. It was a seriously good brownie. But the movie was also very good, just a little long. We started to get squirmy towards the end, and there were some slightly silly parts in the movie, but overall, we give it maybe 4 out of 5.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Antsy antsy antsy

Tomorrow is 36 weeks, and I'm once again constantly caught in that divide between "Oh gosh it's so close I don't know what to do" and "it's never going to be December 26." I had a scare at my sister's house last Thursday where I stood up to go to the bathroom and was hit with excruciating lower back cramps that took about 15 minutes to go away. I had a mental soundtrack of "Oh no, no, no, no, no, not yet." While I wouldn't mind being a little bit early, I really want to make it past 37 weeks. Fortunately (and obviously) the back pains went away. I'm still having more and more regular Braxton Hicks contractions, and they are getting a little bit stronger and last for up to a minute at a time, but they are only in my abdomen, and nothing at all in the back. And they are worse in the car or at my desk, and really don't happen much if I'm laying down. These all add up to Braxton Hicks contractions. Real ones don't go away, and get progressively more painful.

My sleep has been rough the last few days, and I wake up a lot. It's harder to fall asleep, too. I'd been having this really nice holiday lately where I fell asleep very quickly, and stayed asleep easily. Although last night, someone in the street was apparently stomping on large pieces of corrugated tin before putting them into their truck bed. It was very weird, and woke me, Justin, and Katie up. People are so bizarre. I've also been enjoying Hosey's movements, as they are mostly pushes and gentle swishing, although there are usually four or five karate chops a day. On Thanksgiving, Hosey had been very quiet, perhaps lulled to sleep by all the food, and then my sister put her hand on my belly saying she wanted to feel it kick, and Hosey immediately delivered an earth-shattering kick that startled me and my sister. I think Hosey is already showing signs of a sense of humor and intelligence beyond that of most fetuses. :)

Work is fine, as I'm feeling tired lately, but nothing much else. The pain in my side seems to be staying gone, perhaps because the baby has dropped. However, it's increasingly hard for me to concentrate, as I keep wanting to research birth plans and what to take to the hospital. Yesterday I spent about 8 minutes just watching the undulations going on in my belly, which looked like a bowl of jello quaking and shaking all by itself. Very good for my productivity... I had my review a couple of weeks ago, and it was a very good review, so maybe I'm just lulled into a sense of security. My workload has also fortunately slowed a little, and I leave at 5:30 most days. It's making a very big difference.

It feels like it's been forever since my last doctor's appointment, although it is only 3 weeks between my last one and my next on December 5. I'll be exactly 37 weeks for that appointment, and I know they'll be doing the stress test, but I'm also devising a list of questions to ask as well. I'm going to see if she'll attempt a guess at Hosey's size, although I know a lot of doctors don't like to do that. Justin might be able to come with me to this one, too, as he's getting more and more anxious, too. At dinner on Friday, I told him that I was having contractions (meaning the fake ones) and his face was priceless. I didn't mean to scare him, and I thought my tone of voice communicated that it was just the Braxton Hicks kind, but I guess not. I can't wait to see him when I really do go into labor...

Sunday, November 25, 2007

101 Posts!

Today marks my 101st post to "Hosey Makes Three." I've been trying to figure out a way to print out the blog to keep as a sort of baby book, but the program I found doesn't work. It's supposed to let you upload your blog to it, and then transfer everything to PDF format and allow you to print it out as it appears. Again, it didn't work. It wasn't able to recognize the blog, so I'll have to look for another way.

Anyways, the four day weekend went by way too fast. I'm not looking forward to going back to work, as me and Justin have had a really nice time just hanging out together and getting stuff done. We're feeling pretty prepared, or at least as prepared as one can be for something like the arrival of a baby...

Thanksgiving was nice, and we spent it with my Grandparents, my Aunt Ellen, Uncle Patrick, and their twins, Anna and Sarah Ellen. My sister and her husband and two daughters also came. It was really nice, and although I brought a squash casserole, my grandmother had made enough food for an army, and it was all delicious. Justin especially loves the sweet potato souffle. Afterwards, we went to my sister's house for a while and just relaxed. Friday we did lots of errands, and put the car seat in! It's so weird having it in the car now, but it makes us feel better knowing it's there in case of an emergency. Friday night we went out to dinner for my dad's birthday in Virginia Highlands, and there were a million of us. It was a little overwhelming, but definitely fun. On Saturday, we had another baby shower, that my sister and her husband were nice enough to throw us. It was a small shower with our friends (boys and girls) and people were encouraged to bring diapers and wipes. We had a lot of fun, especially at the part where my sister melted six different candy bars into six diapers and we had to guess which was which. We all got perfect scores.

The other fun part was forcing people to decorate a onesie for Hosey. We had stencils, stamps, and fabric paint, and the products are hilarious. I'll post pictures at some point soon. In the meantime, Hosey has a super trendy selection of DIY artsy onesies. One, courtesy of our friend Bob, has a fist, and the letters FTP for Fight the Power. It's somehow so very appropriate.

Today, we took things easy, and went for a cozy brunch while it rained at one of our neighborhood favorites, Gato Bizco. Afterwards, we headed over to Young Blood Gallery that I seem to talk about every two days to see our friend Ariel's pottery on display. It's gorgeous! I was also tempted to buy some really neat Christmas Stockings, but then I looked at the price tags... Now I'm thinking I'll try to make some. I think felt would be pretty easy, with a nice blanket stitch. They just won't be made to hold giant lumps of coal. We went to Last Chance Thrift Store in Decatur, where I found an immaculate set of 1970's paper Christmas Decorations for under $2. They are fantastic! I can't wait to put them up in a few days. Big crepe bells and garland, and a banner that spells out "MERRY CHRISTMAS..." Perfect. Then we went to IKEA to pick up a frame for the poster we bought at the craft festival. Where else can one find a fantastic big frame for $5? It was a total madhouse though, and we were in and out. Although we made time to share a cinnamon roll... It's strange how people seem to turn into absolute savages at IKEA. They push, they steal, and they elbow. And they stare. I am getting tired of people staring at my belly. Sometimes they stare at it, and then smile at me, but sometimes they stare with this odd look of disgust on their face, as though I were walking around with a giant cyst or a goiter... Bizarre.

This evening, we packed the hospital bag partway. We'll try to finish it soon.

We hope everyone had wonderful Thanksgivings, and we are sorry we couldn't see more of you!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

35 Weeks today!

I can't believe it, but I'm officially 35 weeks today. It's gone by so fast! Justin is starting to ask me if I think the baby is going to be early, and for some strange and mysterious reason, I feel like it will be closer to 37 weeks than 40 weeks, but I also think that it will probably come at 42 weeks just because I said that. My belly is definitely dropping a lot, which seems to have opened my belly up for a ridiculous appetite. I try to snack during the day on healthy stuff (I'm forcing myself to eat carrot sticks. I hate carrot sticks) but I feel like it takes a while to get full. Except for in the morning. Raisin Bran is my breakfast every day, and it seems to sit like concrete on my belly for about 3 hours.

I don't seem to be having Braxton Hicks contractions, which makes me worry that the baby really will come at 42 weeks. I have noticed quite a bit of hiccuping from Hosey, and last night I wondered if I'm confusing Braxton Hicks contractions for hiccups. It's hard to tell. Hosey is still very active, but it's mainly pushing and scooting and sticking his/her bottom against my belly really hard. That's the funniest.

I read in the baby book that 99% of babies born at this point make it fine, and very few have lasting health problems. That always makes me feel better. Speaking of which, I'm feeling really well lately. I have my days where I'm exhausted for what feels like no reason, and my feet and ankles are still really swollen (as are my hands lately) but the pain in my side is mostly gone, and I just feel like a big pregnant lady. I'm pretty moody, getting irritable easily, and hence have been sequestering myself from too much contact with family and friends, and just confining myself upstairs when I'm home with Justin and it happens. I'm pretty sure it's all normal pregnancy stuff. I realized that as of next Wednesday, I'll be 9 months pregnant. That seems so strange to me... I had a lady walk by me in Little Five Points, and she said "You're not pregnant, are you?" and then doubled over laughing. I didn't quite see the hilarity, but I chuckled with her. At the Indie Craft Experience, one vendor asked, looking pointedly at Justin, "Did he do that to you?" and just barely cracked a smile. I love strangers.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

The nursery is almost done...





Today, we got lots done around the apartment. Hosey's nursery is really pretty much done. We put pictures on the wall, made up the crib that will sit empty for the next few months, and put the stroller together. We will install the car seat next weekend. Justin joked that we should take the stroller out for a walk around the neighborhood today for practice, but we figured that we might look a little crazy. The bassinet is set up and ready, too, with clean sheets. Thanks again Mom and Leah! It looks very cute. I took pictures and put them on Flickr.

We also used some birthday money I had been squirreling away and bought a couple of new chairs for the living room from a vintage store in Little 5 Points. The woman who owns it is really nice, and actually has extremely fair prices. I had seen a large leather chair there yesterday and fallen in love with it, and managed to talk Justin into going back with me to get it today. It's sort of ugly, and looks a little 80's, but I think in the room, it looks fine. It's one of those chairs that you sit in, and you are sold. I call it the baseball glove chair, because that is sort of what it looks like. It's really big and comfy, and easy for me to get in and out of, even with my growing belly. We figure it will be a good chair for when Hosey comes, too. We counted, and with the two new dining room chairs that Susan brought down a few weeks ago (which I recovered today), we have seating for about 12 people now. This makes me feel better for when we have visitors with Hosey's arrival.

We also got a new office chair for the living room. Our IKEA chair is on it's third seat in under a year, and this last one my mom had bought for us. Even though the seats are only $6 to buy, it's starting to add up. So Justin found a chair he fell in love with at the same vintage furniture store, and it really is perfect. Very slick. We also got a little bit of a break buying two pieces from the dealer. And compared to Athens vintage prices, these were closer to flea market prices...

We are also starting the very early part of packing the overnight bag for the hospital. I picked out way too many outfits for Hosey, but I wanted to be sure that I got lots of size ranges covered. I washed those outfits, and today we bought some travel sized stuff, like toothpaste, and a couple of toothbrushes, so we don't have to worry about remembering our own when the time comes. Probably around week 37 I'll start putting clothes for me in there, too. And for Justin. I read one book that recommended that your partner bring a swimsuit, in case they want to get in the bath or shower with you during labor. The mental picture was just too much for me. Poor Justin in a bathing suit trying to fit into a shower with a gigantic pregnant me who is also in pain and possibly breathing fire. We decided we'd skip that advice.

Sunday morning already

Justin and I have had a nice weekend. We stayed busy, going to Lenox on Friday night to look for a new pair of jeans for Justin. That worked out perfectly, as to our surprise, Express (for men) was having a sale where all jeans were $20 off. He found a nice pair and got a great deal. I love it when that happens!

Yesterday, we went to the Indie Craft Experience, which is a great big market that was set up in this really neat studio called the "B Complex" over in Capitol View (yucky neighborhood, neat place). There were over 70 vendors, all selling really really neat things that they make themselves. We bought a few things, like a journal, probably to be used to track Hosey feedings in a few weeks. The man selling the journals was really creative. He takes old hardback books, everything from Cat in the Hat to old books called The Universe. We got one that is some kind of 1960's social science book. He leaves a few pages of the original book scattered throughout the blank journal pages and the whole thing is spiral bound. Very creative. The best part was that he sells them for only $12, which is very reasonable for handmade crafts. A lot of the vendors had beautiful things that we would have loved to bought (especially for Christmas gifts) but out of necessity, they are expensive. We did buy a print for the kitchen from a girl who does these really neat botanical drawings. Ours is sort of a poster about "air plants." It's neat. And it was very reasonable also.

The last thing we did there before leaving was make our own T-shirts. They had a stand set up where you could donate $5 to the Hagar House (a great charity) and get a t-shirt and the opportunity to stencil a design on it. I made one with the Indie Craft Experience logo, which is a bird holding scissors in its feet. Justin did one with a nuclear symbol in three colors of blue.

After that, we headed to Manuel's to watch the football game, or the last half anyways. It was nice to see Georgia win, and we ran into some friends there, too. After that, we went shopping in Little Five Points with my friend Sarah, where I bought a fantastic 70's "Newport News" coat that I think might be maternity. It was very cheap, and it's warm. It is sort of ridiculous looking, kind of like a hippie tent or something, but it has more than enough room for my belly, and I like that!

Last night we went with friends to see the new Coen Brothers movie at Phipps. "No Country for Old Men." It was really good, but definitely tough. Lots of gore. Lots of gore. But it was really just so well made. The acting, writing, directing... amazing. Tommy Lee Jones was really wonderful, and surprisingly, Woody Harrelson was spot on playing a cocky cowboy. We give it a ten out of ten.

We hope everyone had a great weekend!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Sad news

My grandmother (my dad's mother) passed away this morning. While I cannot make the trip to New Jersey for the memorial service, I will be thinking of her. My dad promises that in a year or so we will have a family event to remember her. Justin and I are thinking of using her name for the baby's middle name if Hosey is a girl. It's a beautiful name, Elizabeth, and it was my middle name before Justin and I got married. I think it would be a nice way to remember her. She was a very wonderful woman, and I only wish that I had been able to see her more growing up. It's hard to have family live so far away. I'm glad that Hosey will have lots of access to his or her grandparents. And we'll definitely have to tell Hosey all about "Gramma Zaic."

In the meantime, I'm trapped at work, as I don't get paid days off, and with only three paying days next week, I'm not going anywhere. I've got my door closed, but I have to complain just a little that it doesn't seem fair to not give your employees paid days off sometimes. However, as my officemate got fired last week, I'm trying to be on my best behavior. Doesn't it seem like things always happen all at once?

34 Weeks and Hosey is locked and loaded

I just got back from my 34 week check up. Nothing too exciting, except that I remembered to ask the doctor what position Hosey is in, and she said that Hosey is head down. Sounds like Hosey's head is down, and feet are up in my rib cage, and the bottom of the baby is smushed against my belly. So the baby is facing my back. Does that make sense?

My blood pressure was good this time, although I still have no frame of reference. I think she said it was 90/100. I don't know what that means. But I remember that when I was first pregnant it was 70/100. I read that the further along you are, the higher your blood pressure gets. Maybe that's in part due to the fact that your blood volume increases close to 50% while you are pregnant. That's so gross.

Anyways, she also gave me a brochure about labor, and kept patting my back and giggling, saying, "Not too much longer now!" It scared me. I was supposed to go back in 2 weeks and then have weekly appointments from then on out, but my doctor and the other doctor I see, Dr. Kleiss, are both out of town that week. So my next appointment is 3 weeks out, the day I will 37 weeks. I think it's December 5. Anyways, I have to have the strep test done, and I guess I should bug them about testing my blood again for iron levels, as they were supposed to do it today and didn't.

The doctor also told me that she wants me to call if I have any pre-term labor signs, but as far as real labor, she doesn't want me to call until my contractions are very painful and five minutes or less apart. She wants me to labor at home as long as possible. That's fine with me. I'll probably be mean and whiny, and best to keep that to onesself and one's husband as long as possible. Lucky Justin. She did say that if my water breaks, I should call no matter what. From what I hear, it's not so easy to tell most of the time...

Anyways, I'm avoiding work. I'm just starting to get excited and my focusability around here is declining a little bit. Or a lot. Don't tell anyone. :)

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Phew!

So I finally heard back from my doctor's office today. My ultrasound was normal. This is definitely good news. I'm weirded out by having severe pain in my side for weeks and weeks with no explanation, but I'm OK with that. And while it's been bothering me a little bit today, it's nothing like it was. Somehow, the start of this week seems to be marking the point of it getting better. I'm so glad! Just having it not hurt all day yesterday made me feel great. I went out with Justin to run some errands after work, and then got home and hung out with him in the living room... Just like a normal person! I feel sheepish having been complaining for so long and not having any sort of reason for it, but the only thing I can say is that I wasn't imagining it!

One thing we've been working on is baby names. We've got the boy list and the girl list whittled down to three names each. We're working on middle names, too, so each name has roughly 3 options when you include the middle name. I think we'll try to get the whole name worked out for all three of each gender, and then we'll just have three names to choose from once the baby is born. It's like a geometry proof...

I've been perusing the baby announcements on my favorite website, www.etsy.com, and it is starting to make me think I'd like to make my own. We'll see about that though... I just like looking at some of the interesting things people do. Some are REALLY terrible, with excessive amounts of bows and lace and lambs and any other baby thing you can think of. It's like a giant bundle of overkill. I actually found an article on the Martha Stewart website with cute ideas about making your own. And they really were cute. Surprisingly, a lot of Martha Stewart's craft ideas are really amazing. Please don't tell anyone I said that.

Well, I'm going to get back to work, doubly refreshed knowing that I don't have a gall bladder on the verge of bursting. :)

Monday, November 12, 2007

Thank goodness for Muppet Shoes

I always hated Ugg boots. They came out, and pretty much every female in Athens seemed to have a pair within a week. Of course, it was still 70 degrees outside, and they mostly wore them with very short skirts and t-shirts. All I could think when I saw the masses of them walking around campus was that they made everyone look like their foot had been swallowed by a clunky and cruel monster.

Yesterday I bought fake ugg boots. From Target. They were very cheap, but still. I'm feeling a little guilty. However, my feet are continuing to swell and spread, and I am down to roughly two pairs of shoes that fit me, and they are both ballet slipper type shoes that don't allow for socks or cold weather. So these boots are really comfortable. And they are lined with fleece. And my feet fit in them. Please don't judge me.

I also ordered a pair of black suede moccasins from Target. They are technically slippers, but they have rubber soles like regular shoes, and I tried some on yesterday at the store. They were very comfortable, especially since they are also lined with fur, but they didn't have them in my size. Rather than troupe around to the 9 million Target stores in the Atlanta area to find my size, I just ordered them on the Target website today. I never do things like that, but I figure now's a good time to start.

Still no news from the doctor, but my side has been feeling much much better for the last couple of days. It was still bothering me on and off until today, but not all the time round the clock pain like before. Today it hasn't hurt at all (knock on wood). There's a lot of pressure in my torso, both from what feels like little feet, and just the general weight of my belly. It's a new sensation. I have to remember to ask the doctor if she can tell if the baby is head up or head down. My appointment is Wednesday, so I figure I'll stop calling about the ultrasound, and if they haven't called me by my appointment on Wednesday, I'll just harass them in person. :)

Wednesday marks both my doctor's appointment, and 34 weeks. I can't believe it. I keep thinking that I still have at least 7 weeks, and that's a long time, but really, the baby will be "full term" at around 37 weeks. So I want to try and have the car seat in and the nursery ready by 36 weeks. I know that sounds silly, since the baby won't be in the nursery for months, but still. I guess it's my nesting instinct...

We hope everyone is doing well!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Chatagua Festival 2007 and other things



Well, first and foremost, I posted my first blog to the Atlanta Parent blog that they set up for me. The URL is http://www.atlantaparent6.blogspot.com/ in case you are interested. I'm trying to figure out exactly what type of tone to use, and trying to keep things personal, but interesting to strangers. It's definitely a learning experience... I also have to remember to ask them to change the spelling of the title. They put in an unecessary apostrophe, and the English major in me didn't even want to post to the blog until that was corrected, but I realized that I'm being a little silly.

We had a fun day yesterday at the Chatagua Festival in Winder. We got to see Ella and Chloe dance, spend time with my mom and Leah and even saw my grandparents for a little while. It was a nice day. My sister and I trekked to Mall of Georgia, and I almost bought Hosey some stuff at Gymboree, but talked myself out of everything. It was on clearance, but it was all bigger sizes that would fit next fall/winter. What if Hosey is extremely chubby or extremely skinny? I had visions of this cute winter coat, sized 12-18 months, fitting right at the end of February, or even worse, sometime in September! And Justin pointed out later that it will be fun to pick things out as we go. I just have this bargain shopper streak that makes me want to buy things off season and on clearance.

The pictures are from the festival, but of course, the rest are on Flickr. It occured to me the other day that a lot of you don't have Flickr accounts. This is absolutely fine, but I put the settings for photos of my nieces on private, so only people with Flickr accounts who are listed as friends or family of mine can actually view them. All of the other photos are public though. Just thought I'd mention that.

Justin and I worked in the nursery for a while today, arranging things how we think we'll keep them. It's much nicer in there with the new orientation. We also installed the new blinds on one side, which ended up being a ridiculously huge problem, as the window was a weird size, etc. Let me just tell you that there was a lot of cutting, breaking things, stripping screws, and swearing. It was definitely harder than putting the crib together... We also compiled the initial baby load of laundry with blankets and the crib mattress cover. Once that's all washed I can make the crib, which of course won't be used for months, but it will look cute!

We got the bassinet from my Mom's house last weekend, and again, thanks to her and her family for sharing! Especially Leah! We're trying to decide if we should go ahead and set it up in our bedroom, or leave it in the nursery for a while... The next few weeks will be getting busy with Thanksgiving and other family events, so we're trying to at least get a handle on what needs to be done. Is anyone ever ready for baby?

Oh, and don't worry, we are still working on the name game. We just haven't found that perfect one yet. Everything seems just a little short of perfect.

Friday, November 9, 2007

All over the place

This has been something of a difficult week. It's been long! I don't have much new to report, just a few points. You can see that I am very scatter-brained these last few days, and probably mildly incoherent.

*My grandmother is not improving. Please keep her in your thoughts and hearts and send love to her in New Jersey. I'm sad for her, and very sad that I cannot go to visit her, but I know that she is well taken care of and has a lot of family with her right now.

*Selfishly, I'm still anxiously worrying about my ultrasound. I called the doctor's office today to follow up, and the nice woman I spoke with told me that radiology has yet to send the ultrasound results back up. So no news there. The pain is still present, although today has been a little better. Let's hope that continues!

*I have a little piece of happy news. I sent an e-mail to the editor of Atlanta Parent magazine and told her that I thought she needed a younger and less experienced parent to join her current team of bloggers. To my shock, she responded the next day and told me she thought I'd be a good edition. So at some point in the next week or so, I'll be starting a blog on their website. I'm sure it's not paid, and it's not exactly the New York Times, but I'm excited. I'm trying to build a resume with my writing and eventually be able to try and land some more freelance work that is actually paid. But we'll see. If anything, you all just have to click on the blog at Atlanta Parent a million times a day to make it look like the whole world wants to read my blog.

Anyways, this weekend Justin and I are off to Winder to see Ella and Chloe perform at the Chatagua Festival on Saturday morning. I love watching them dance. I need some uplifting time, and I think this will be perfect. The Chatagua Festival is fun, too. We enjoyed it last year. There are cows and bulls and ponies, and crafts, and the Native American dancers were really neat to watch. Chloe was mesmerized by them.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

33 Weeks and Sad News

Today marks 33 weeks. It turns out that it is bad timing, as I just found out that my Grandmother on Dad's side is not doing very well healthwise, and I would have liked to go up to see her. After calling my doctor yesterday, the nurse told me that it is strongly advised that women past 32 weeks not travel. I asked if I could drive, but since it's about 14 hours in the car, she said that would be even worse than flying. My sister is going to go to New Jersey to visit her on Saturday, so I'm going to write a letter for my sister to read to her for me. It's not optimal, but it's the best I can do. I feel very badly about it, but again, I don't have very much of a choice. I'm hopeful that she overcomes the odds and maybe we can go see her with Hosey in the next few months.

I still haven't heard from the doctor, and I still have the pain in my side, but I'm continuing to hope that it's something normal, like maybe the rib pain that my doctor was talking about. I read about some women who have their babies stick their feet in between ribs of their moms, and this can be very painful. But it shouldn't be permanent. Maybe Hosey just is a little stinker and is constantly wedging his/her feet in there. Hopefully I'll know by the end of the week. When I spoke with the nurse yesterday, she said they still hadn't had the results sent up from radiology. Again, I'm assuming if it was something really bad, the technician would have helped get the results pushed through faster. So for now, I'm trying to convince myself that it is normal.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

No news is good news?

I haven't heard anything back from the doctor yet. I did call yesterday at lunch time to make sure that the ultrasounds made it back up to my doctor's office, and the woman I talked to sort of laughed at me. She told me "we don't work that fast." Oops. When I pushed a little to find out when I should expect a phone call, the best I got was "later in the week." Apparently the results have to be reviewed by a radiologist, and then it will get sent to my doctor, etc. etc. The wheels move so blindingly quickly at hospitals. I was just hopeful because last time, the doctor called me the same day as the ultrasound to let me know I didn't have a blood clot. But I guess that was more of an emergency situation.

In other news, my mom and I are going to a class at Babies R Us in Alpharetta tonight. It's all about newborn care, stuff like baths and skincare, etc. I'm sure it will be lots of shameless plugs for the sponsoring companies, but I'm also thinking there will be coupons. And samples. :)

Monday, November 5, 2007

Part One

I just got to work a little while ago, and my ultrasound went very quickly. The technician wouldn't tell me anything. He was nice, but very quiet. For now I'm just in limbo waiting for the doctor to call me after looking the results over and let me know if everything looks OK. I'm really hoping that it is all fine. I'm still having the pain in my side, but I would like to be told that it is nothing but gas or heartburn or something. After doing some research, gall bladder problems do not look fun, and while they are definitely better than some things, I would rather just be dealing with regular old pregnancy pains. It's just that the pain has been very severe, and lately makes it difficult to do a whole lot. Over the weekends, I'm OK to stay out and about for most of the day, but usually by late afternoon I'm in enough pain that I have to go home and lay down for a while. Usually it takes about half an hour of laying down, and the pain goes away. But it's very frustrating.

Our weekend was nice, with things fairly laid back and easy. We went shopping for a little while on Saturday at the thrift store to get costumes for a Halloween party on Saturday night. However, we ended up missing the party because even after laying down for a couple of hours, the pain in my side was excruciating, and the party was out in Kennesaw, which would require lots of car time. I was disappointed, as I was looking forward to going to the party and acting normal for a little while... but oh well.

Sunday was my family birthday party at my Mom's house. It was very fun. My mom cooked some delicious Paula Deen vegetable soup, and we had a delicious cherry stuff dessert that she made. I got to see my little sister, and my sister Kendree, her husband Jon and Ella and Chloe were there. It was a nice afternoon. We arrived thinking we were 15 minutes late, and then realized we were 45 minutes early, as we both thought the time change was supposed to happen overnight on Sunday night.

Anyways, I'll put up another post once I hear back from my doctor. Hopefully it will be today.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Tee Hee; Warning, objectionable content



So halfway through a spirited Cranium tournament last night, everyone ran out of beer/wine. Since I am officially a DD for the next few months, I offered to drive to Greene's Liquor Store on Ponce, which is very close to where we were at my friend's apartment in the VA Highlands. There were six of us, three girls and three boys, and we ended up just going with the girls and leaving the boys at home. So I was in charge of getting Justin his beer.

Here's me, 8 months pregnant, buying beer. Don't I look thrilled? I was oddly embarassed walking through there carrying a 12 pack of Negro Modelo and having to heave it around my big belly. But I think it was a golden moment. As you can see from the guy behind me, I don't think anyone in the store really thought anything of it, or maybe they just assumed that my belly was brought on my too many Negro Modelos and not a Hosey. Either way, I just thought I'd share this picture. I think it shows my true class.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Please Excuse my pregnant lady emotional moment

The last couple of weeks marked both me and Justin hitting our one year mark (mine was Tuesday) at our jobs. It's hard to believe it's been a year already that we've been living in Atlanta, but at the same time, we've been through lots of changes (ahem, HOSEY).

It made me look back and sort of take stock of how much our families have helped us through some tough times, from moving back from Taiwan, to finding jobs and a new place to live, to adjusting, my minor surgery saga, and then baby, and then moving. And I know that the biggest change is yet to come.

I know everybody knows how they've pitched in to help us get through everything, and I hope you all know how much Justin and I appreciate it. It's overwhelming for me to think about how much people have offered up to us to make things easier and better for us. It definitely makes me less scared to have the baby and worry about how we'll manage the changes that come along with it. Thank you again for everything.