Reader's Digest 24

Just a quick 24 week update for those of you that are interested in pregnancy. Understandably, probably not many of you. But I have no time to take requests as we just received TPB season 6 in the mail and I must get to it ASAP.

Baby Heart Rate: 150-160s.
Weight gain: 14 lbs. Eeep! Doctor assures me it will slow down in 3rd trimester.
BP: 90/68. Yes, I'm an alien.
Fundal meas: He didn't pull out the measuring tape but he felt around to find the top of the uterus and said I'm right where I should be so probably around 24 cm.

We discussed the ultrasound from 3 weeks ago where she measured 9 days smaller than the feb. 18 due date. He thinks maybe she's just a smaller baby. (Or maybe my LMP date is the right one... we'll never know for sure.) We also talked about birthing positions, the possibility of no drugs and delaying the drops, shots and other assorted newborn baby fuss, in order to give time for immediate bonding. He's cool with all of my concerns/wishes thus far.

I'll try to post a picture some time this week. J just got back tonight and we went for dinner so I haven't had time to take one just yet. Soon though you will all get to see what a localized 14 pound weight gain looks like. Miss Vanity is on extended medical leave right now..... we don't know when she'll be back.

Logication

There are some days when the world seems to decide to drive me crazy, sometimes literally. Today is one of those days. In the short (about 15 minutes) drive to the gym, I saw three cars parked in the one lane of the very narrow windy road. In all cases there were pull-offs and driveways within 100 metres of each car. The first two had pulled off to use their cell phones.... I guess that's better than driving while chatting, but come on....100 metres? The third was an old couple who had pulled off so the man could take a leak. Since Sicilians rarely travel beyond the 10 mile radius surrounding their homesteads, I'm willing to bet he was minutes from a real bathroom. But I guess he couldn't wait.

As of last weekend I am officially certified in CPR and first-aid. The 9 hour class nearly killed me. But, as J pointed out, at least I was around people who could save me. The sad thing is we could have been finished before lunchtime.... a lunchtime that was cut in half with the empty promise that we would get out early. The most annoying thing was that the instructor (Ricky?) kept incorrectly using common expressions and making up words.

J is away this weekend so I am left to do creepy Brianne things for 4 days. Creepy things like writhing on the couch with cramping agony/ kicks to the bladder and reading Dostoevsky.

Next week we have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do in preparation for our trip to Naples and my mom's visit. I have yet to find the envelope containing old emails, phone bills, and ticket stubs proving that I didn't just marry J to get a g.c. I guess I must be pretty devoted to the charade considering I moved all the way to Sicily just to sit on my a** and house a baby.

Happy birthday tomorrow to my brother, Charles.

22 Weeks or 8 Years.... Whichever is Longest

There's no denying it anymore.... I look pregnant. Weight gain to date: 11 lbs. Condition: Emotional basket case (um, hello? second trimester? isn't this supposed to have gone away by now?) and dry splotchy patches of skin presenting on my face. Fantastic.

Random Ramblings

Taken at the end of July, in Budapest.

So I'm more of a daily grocery shopper than a once-a-week/month bulk, frozen goods shopper. I pretty much have to be what with all of the perishables that are part of my diet. Because I'm in there almost every day and the same people see my purchases pass through the scanner, I'm even more annoyed by what happened yesterday. As I was checking out, the woman bagging my groceries said (noticing an item of chocolate I was buying), "oh, are you craving a lot of chocolate because of the baby?" "Um, not a lot, but sometimes I guess." "Don't have too much.... it's bad for the baby!" This is the same woman that sees me buy fresh fruit, vegetables and yogurt EVERY OTHER DAY of the week but feels the need to express her concern over one indulgence. People and their unsolicited opinions. Pregnancy really brings them out and I find it very irritating. Bad for the baby, right. I'll keep that in mind while I'm shooting up later.

I've been a regular, vivid, dreamer since my 'college' days. When I read earlier in my pregnancy that I may start to get vivid dreams, I scoffed, thinking, I've already got that one on lockdown. Well, now they're just as vivid, but also deeply disturbing. And involve ex-boyfriends more often than not. Fantastic.

I sprayed myself in the perfume aisle yesterday with a perfume I used to wear back in the days of working nearly full time with the symphony and being able to afford designer clothes. Well, not afford exactly, but bought just the same. I had forgotten how much I love this perfume. I think I will buy it. Not because I miss those times (I was single and it was a bitterly cold winter), but because it's nice to remember sometimes.

I saw a couple of kids do the "Crank That" dance at a party last weekend. I really want to learn it but sadly, I think I'm too old and too white. Maybe I'll just daydream about being cool.

When I heard Maroon 5 was coming out with a new album I was very worried and thought that they too would feel immense pressure. How do you follow perfection? Well I bought the new album. I can't say it's bad, but it's no "Songs About Jane." And I think I've narrowed down the why. I think it has to do with the mixing and production. Part of the punch of the first album was the clarity and presence of Adam Levine's voice. Sure the instrumentals are fantastic, but they're only super-fantastic with his prominent vocal stylings. On their second album, he's almost in the background and it makes a lot of the songs sound like candy pop.

Adam Levine has done some great collaborations with Kanye West. They should start a band.

21 Week Update

Today was the day of our big ultrasound. As you can see from the picture of our baby's giant head and shoulders, she is starting to look like a person....that person being my brother Charles....at least from this angle. We got many pictures taken and from the front view of her face she looks more like Skeletor from He-Man. Baby needs to put some fat on those cheeks!

The u/s tech, claiming to have never been wrong in ten years, confirmed that it's a girl. Having been shown for myself, I think it's pretty hard to dispute.

Everything is in its right place so far. Brain, heart (and chambers), limbs... and she weighs a whopping 13 ounces....almost a pound! There is still some debate over the due date but I've read that it's silly to get all worked up about it so I'll be prepared for her to come any time between the beginning of February and middle of March.

The tech oohed and aahed at how beautiful she is and how smart she is based on looking at her brain. Then the radiologist went on and on about how easily she is photographed.... I guess the less layers of fat you have between your skin and uterus, the easier it makes their job. I knew there was a reason for doing all of those crunches!

Baby girl bubbles is currently positioned with her head beside my belly button and her feet on my bladder. I was wondering why I'm getting up to pee more at night when everything I read tells me I should be getting a break by now. I often feel kicks down there, especially right before dinner and at night. It's not painful at this point but always takes me by surprise.

The picture of me was taken last week. I don't feel like taking one today. Suffice it to say I'm big and random people are noticing. I guess that's normal for 5 months. When my landlord came over with the oven technician this morning (yes, it's finally fixed!) her eyes popped out of her head.... she didn't know I was pregnant I guess.

Anyway, we're really excited, especially because we now have quite a bit of the 'big' baby purchases out of the way and can envision using them.

Ok, enough baby for now. We got our summons to Naples for the immigration interview and it means we will be stuck there for the first day and a half of my mom's visit. Sucky.

I went to the courthouse to get my Italian police certificate and discovered that men in shorts (even shorts that cover the knees) aren't allowed to enter, but apparently you can bring in your dog. Go figure. The lady I dealt with was mean and kept yelling at me in Italian and in the end, I'm pretty sure she ripped me off. But I got it done so that is that. Now I just have to get it translated.

A Night Out

Taken Saturday, at the Khaki Ball. It was a good time, but a long night of sitting and watching other people drink, resulting in quite a bit of abdominal pain. I won a door prize... a wine carafe...funny. Maybe I'll put flowers in it.