Could I be slowing down?

I knew I would have to slow down at some point in this pregnancy... I didnt expect it to come this soon though, I must say. For the second consecutive week, I did not want to go to the gym yesterday, and shockingly, I didnt go.

When I got home last night I walked my dogs for an hour and ended up with a sore lower back, of course. We had a delicious salad for dinner (boiled eggs, romaine lettuce, roasted red bell peppers, steamed chopped asparagus and broccoli, a few garlic stuffed olives, mini pickles, apple and sunflower seeds) and I collapsed to the sofa to work a few rows on my baby blanket for an hour and dip a few ginger snaps in some lemon curd! Managed some stretching and squats before bed and was out cold!

So I guess I cant do as much as I could. What a realisation at 26 weeks pregnant!

Where should we go?

I want to be taken away for the weekend so that DK and I actually get to spend some quality, adult time together. I dont want to think about all the stuff around the house/yard that needs doing before the baby gets here. I dont want to read about the three stages of labour. I dont want to look at any baby furniture and worry how we dont have anything at all yet, not even a cleaned out room with clean walls and a clean carpet.

The only weekend we have available for this is April 16th. So I have to chose between missing the violin quartet at the Ford Center and the Memphis Botantical Gardens Spring Event (my favourite time of year; tulips, daffodils, crocus etc) and squeezing in a trip.

If I do decide to miss these things that I have been looking forward to for literally over 6 months now, the question is:

Where should we go?

Assuming we can get some days off work, I dont want to drive more than 8 hours. It wont be hot enough to lie on the beach and play in the water, despite not necessarily wanting my huge stomach to be exposed to the unsuspecting public. A hiking trip with a cabin might be nice, then do we take the dogs?

hmmmm, so many questions when I dont even know if squeezing a trip in to the ONLY (and I mean only) free weekend we have available between now and the baby's birth early July, is even going to be relaxing. Not to mention that this means all the stuff around the house and yard remains uncompleted.

Belly pics

If you are squeamish, please turn away now.

I seem to have little growth spurts about every two weeks. Here are the pictures we took at the weekend. Naked skin is about to be exposed to you!

23 weeks pregnant. Although today I am 24 weeks!

Oh elasticated waist jeans, how I love you so!

Small reliefs

There are many reasons why I love my husband so very much. Not least because when woken up in the middle of the night by a distraught pregnant woman who wants to talk about breast feeding concerns, computer game rules for the kid who isnt even here yet and then cry hysterically about the baby's teeny tiny neck, and how she is going to kill the baby because she isnt going to hold it right, he doesnt get angry at all, but gently explains that the crazy pregnant woman in question will be fine and that unless she holds the baby in her mouth (dog-like) or by the toe, he is sure she wont kill the baby by picking it up wrong and that we have about a decade to work out computer game rules. Phew.

Im not sure if that ended the sleepless night or not, but it certainly made me feel better and stopped the crying. Speaking of which, Im beginning to speculate that I need more sleep as I cried twice on Friday and twice on Sunday, having not cried in many weeks. Why didnt I cry Saturday? Who knows, but it seems co-incidental that I took an afternoon nap Saturday...

I felt terribly guilty for letting Mojo out for the loo at 1130pm last night and falling back to sleep, only to remember he was out there at 130am, rush to let him in and realise that he had been sitting by the back door in the rain for two hours. Oh dear. Perhaps that's what sparked the hours of no sleep.

And then Im jet-lagged from the time change and not making it out of bed until 715am, which is a shame as I had actually been enjoying getting up at 6am. Hopefully as the morning light increases again, I will start to wake up earlier.

Anyways, Happy belated Mother's Day to all those English mother's out there (why is that on a different day to the American Mother's Day but Father's Day is the same?) and Happy belated 29th Birthday patient and loving husband.

Sad day in Spring

I didn't think it was possible for there to be a sad day in Spring: the bestest time of the year.

Alas, today is a sad today.

Today is the first day of the year that I officially couldn't walk my dogs at lunchtime. Today it was 75F at lunchtime, and at over 50% humidity, that spells danger for big, black dogs who still have a thick winter coat. So sad. They even laid in the shade in the back yard.

Instead, we sat out on the deck, basking in the sun; me doing my beached whale impression, Danny eating Corndogs right next to me. We did discover something funny though... the baby has an opinion about pomegranate juice. We are disagreed on whether its opinion was, "ick, don't drink any more of that", or "mmmmm, give me more, give me more!"; but every time I took a sip of juice, we would see a massive deformity in my tummy; a big ole punch out the side! Hilarious!

So, answers on a postcard please; how can I achieve the following all in one day and not end up distraught with exhaustion?
-walk the dogs, not at lunchtime (due to the heat)
-get in an extra hour of work 2-3 days a week so that I can take Friday afternoons off
-work out (go to the gym or swim)

I cant really get up any earlier than 630am I dont think, some days I dont even make that. I cant go to bed much later than 9-930pm, and I hate just getting in and going straight to bed, so I need to be in the house by about 7pm at the latest each day. So if you can think of a way round my conundrum, please let me know! I somehow need to fit all of this in, in one day!

I know every one here is willing it to warm up, but I was really enjoying daily highs in the 50s and 60s, as I really love my daily walk with my dogs. So sad.

Dash it!

There is a tiny blip of a thunder cloud about to pass over my house, so instead of going home to walk my dogs in the last of the beautiful evening light, I suppose Ill have to go home and take a nap. Oh dear.

22 Weeks

Last Thursday Munch turned 22 weeks. Friday we went to the doctors and had, what was possibly our last, ultrasound. The baby is too big to see all at once now, especially if you are not wanting to find out the gender.

144 beats per minute

Weight 1lb 1oz

Baby is still breach, but again we were assured there is lots of time for it to turn. Head is right underneath my belly button (making the ultrasound interesting for someone that cannot bare to have their belly button touched), bottom is by my pubic region, feet are off near my right hip.

My blood pressure was fine at 126/70.

I had gained 6 lbs.

Right on schedule for July 8th delivery (just remember that 5% of babies are born on their delivery date).

Another crazy weekend!

I wonder if 'nesting' has set in just a little too early. I say 'too early' because I just cant carry on like this! Not for four more months! Im a hard working fool.

Friday we had our 22 week doctors visit, which I will post about tomorrow after I have scanned in the Ultrasound pictures. Then I grocery shopped, hitting up three different stores, as usual, and easily sinking $200. Dont worry though, Im more like a bi-monthly shopper, so next week Ill just buy milk and eggs, it doesn't cost me that much every week! Walked the dogs, of course. Fertilised my vegetable patch, potted up some seeds, cleaned out my car, took a nap, then went to Taylor Catfish with the Klimetz' for some fried fish, how very Southern of me!

Saturday started out with crepes and stewed fruit, I think Im addicted! Danny painted the new lounge/office so I took myself outside to clear leaves. I cleared leaves like nobody's business! My daffodils are starting to open and I just wanted to be able to see them rather than having to hunt out little specks of yellow in the multitude of ugly brown dried up leaves. Ended up wearing myself out though and sat on a paving stone hoping Danny would come looking for me. Hooray, he did, so I got some help up, thankfully! Had some shut eye with Mojo on the outdoor love-seat, then showered up and took a nap in bed. Made a yummy lasagna for dinner and one for the freezer too.

Sunday was equally active, this time I woke up at 6am, cleared a few buckets of leaves I hadnt managed the day before, cleaned the kitchen and started some bread. All before I got Danny up at 9am! I scrubbed the windows, something I dont do nearly often enough. We moved the furniture into the new lounge/office, dusting as we went, and even vowed to throw some stuff away. Have to get a desk, but other than that, its a beautiful, warm and inviting room that we now both want to spend time in, rather than somewhere we dump stuff we dont know what to do with. Fantastic. Give it another month and we can start on the baby's room!

I cannot believe we organised the whole room in a weekend! I then took a nap with Tux on the outdoor love seat (got to appear fair!) and Danny rode at the trails, although how he had the energy for this, I dont know.

For dinner Sunday, I made Danny's favourite, for working so hard. I opened up a pork loin and stuffed it with fried apples, walnuts and raisins (seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh ginger and lemon juice, then added some cumin spiced bread crumbs). I breaded the meat and roasted it alongside carrots, parsnips and leeks, glazed with a mix of pineapple juice, lemon juice, honey and rice vinegar. We had this accompanied with sweet potato mash, then Danny had corn and I had collard greens (sauted in the same mix as the roasted veggies with raisins). Oh and dont forget the freshly baked bread. I then found room for a scoop of ice cream later in the evening!

What a weekend!

Night Night

I had a great swim last night and even found myself a swimming buddy to make sure we are motivated to go each week.

Went out to dinner with some friends to get two-for-one burgers, which was my idea as I wanted beef. This happens to me about every two weeks and it had been well over three since I last ate beef, so it seemed about time. When we got there, everyone in Oxford had also had the same idea so we had to wait over thirty minutes for a table. I kept seeing burgers float by. grrrrrr. Eventually we got a table and I took a few bites of my burger and was stuffed to the brim. But I managed to squeeze about 2/3's of it in. By the time we got home it was way past 9pm, the dogs needed feeding and a few things needed to be picked up. So we climbed into bed around 10pm and I fell asleep sitting up to the Simpsons. Alas, as soon as I laid down to sleep, indigestion set in. I have been rather lucky in this department of pregnancy and this was about the first time I have really got indigestion so that it was terribly uncomfortable.

I guess I passed out at some point but woke up during the middle of the night with indigestion again. Then Danny started snoring. Hardcore snoring. Since he only does this when he is sick, and I wasnt sleeping anyways, I just let him snore on. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped. Of course I panicked that he had stopped breathing so I was deathly still, feeling if the bed was moving with his inhalations. Phew, it was! Then it was baby playtime! Awesome! What a conspiracy. Then I had some form of strange awake-dozing nightmare type thing that totally freaked me out.

Then my alarm went off and I went soundly to sleep!

Re-woke at 7am and forced myself out of bed. Still made it to work just past 730am so I dont have to stay late today!

Its going to be one of those days! Hope yours is better!

Drugs

Who gave the baby crack without me knowing about it yesterday? Own up.

Either that or it was practicing for its first try-outs for the football team (soccer).

What a weekend!

What a weekend, and no pictures to show for it, even though the photographer is back home! Useless!

So I had this great idea Friday that I could try to get all of the things done that afternoon, that I needed to have done before the Vegetarian Potluck being hosted at our house Saturday evening. So I got busy! I left work early and kicked out an hours worth of exercise at the gym. Still getting eyes drawn to my ever expanding tummy, but I guess Ill get over it. Rushed over to the grocery store and spent a small fortune on random crap. The most exciting find however, is that they have lemon curd at Kroger. This may seem like a small discovery, but I kid you not, I LOVE LEMON CURD! Its not the best brand Ive ever tasted, but in small town America and lack of time and my own chickens for the thousands of egg yolks it takes to make from scratch, one really cant be fussy. Walked the dogs when I got home and then set to cleaning. Managed to explode a Pyrex 9x13" dish in spectacular fashion (don't ask; stupidity), then had to spend an hour picking up tiny pieces of glass. Then had to sweep, vacuum and mop the kitchen floor to try and make sure I got all of the glass up. Fun! Suddenly remembered to eat, thankfully, as I was getting cranky, although there was no one there to reap the benefits of this crankiness. Made what turned out to be the most incredible cheesecake that has ever melted on my tongue! I made the base out of ginger snaps, spread lemon curd on the base (then proceeded to eat the rest of the jar) and the cheesecake itself was lemon (adjusted from recipe). Sat down, exhausted at about 1015pm to wait for my most handsome one, who rolled in at 1045pm. Both of us were exhausted but hadn't had a real conversation in weeks, so chatted a little. I asked if he was ready for a shock and moved the quilt of my tummy and stood up. He was in shock at how much one little tummy can grow in two weeks; its no longer a little tummy, that's for sure!

Saturday, even though I was exhausted and had gone to bed at midnight the night before, I still woke up with sore hips at 7am. Great. Walked the dogs with my good friend Summer and went to the Bottletree with her and her husband for late breakfast to play catch up. I had to order extra food after I had finished my Danish, as I was still hungry! Piggy! We popped over to Home Depot for some random stuff and then home to set to cleaning again. We cleaned off the beautiful deck in the hopes that some folks would take the party outside, since our house is rather small. Then my life was all encumbered by a cake. I baked a German Chocolate Cake for Danny's father. I would say overall, between Saturday and Sunday, I probably put in a good 12 hours to this cake. Baked the cake part and set it up in the pantry to deal with Sunday. Sat down at 530pm Saturday evening with my book and folks started arriving around 630pm. It was an interesting crowd. We hardly knew anyone that came, which is pretty funny! But the deck did get utilised and the fire was a great success. I had to ask some stragglers to leave at 1030pm because Danny and I had cleaned all we could clean and I was tired! Everyone left their beer, and we had brought a case of Natty Light for those mooches that didnt bring beer, but no one drank it! Now we are going to have to have a party just to get rid of the cooler of beer in the back yard!

Sunday I woke up even earlier! 6am this time; I struggled to get comfortable and finally gave in and got up at 7am. Started some bread for my lovely husband, then started some English muffins as I know he loves those too, then I began the assembly of The Cake. It needed a custard filling which I literally had to sit and stir for 45 minutes so that it didn't burn on the bottom. That then had to cool. I then made a chocolate frosting unlike any other, it then had to cool. Then a syrup. I walked the dogs while everything cooled. Proofed the various breads around the kitchen, then assembly began. It started out well, but since I had been instructed not to use coconut and pecans (main ingredients in the filling) there was nothing to grip the layers of cake, so they started to slip off. Then I broke one layer, transferring it onto the growing mountain of sugar, eggs and butter. I began to panic that after all of this effort, my cake was going to be a flop! I actually shouted at my baby for the first time. Here I was, having a cake disaster and the baby was having playtime in my abdomen, seriously poor timing. I snapped at it to calm down as Mummy was concentrating, and of course, it made no difference! It was playtime and that was that! Danny came running and had the bright idea to toothpick it together and then we stuck it in the fridge in the hopes that this 'set' the custard. Remarkably this worked! The chocolate frosting went on beautifully and I piped flowers on the top. I have to say, it was beautiful and I am so disappointed that there is no picture for you. Somewhere in there I managed to slice my thumb on the oven. Yes, you read that correctly, on the oven! It was the part where the decorative stainless steel meets the actual oven, apparently its sharp. I started yelling as I was in shock that I had just cut myself so deeply on the oven. Danny was on the phone to my mother but eventually got his arse of the couch to come help me. I ran it under cold water and announced that I was over it now, it was just the shock. Then Danny looked down and laughed, 'oh my god, look at your stomach, its huge!', so I burst out crying. Shocked, he asked me what was wrong as he thought I was over the cut, and I managed to blub out that my stomach was huge and that I just couldn't take it! He tried to rationalise that there was a baby in there, but come on, rationalising with a pregnant woman about how fat she is, seriously, you thought that would work! We finally ate breakfast just after noon, jumped in the shower and drove to Memphis to celebrate Danny's father's 52nd birthday with him. Danny made me taste the cake since I had put so much effort into it, but rather predictably for someone that does not like chocolate, I thought it was disgusting. Everyone else thought it was delicious though, thank goodness! Happy Birthday Paul!

Im exhausted.

Its actually a relief to be sitting at my desk crunching numbers with no physical activity or thought processes acting at all.

We didn't manage to grocery shop in all that fuss, so we will be eating whatever we can find in the cupboards and freezer this week! Save for the $2 pineapples they had in the Holly Springs Walmart, steal! And possibly the other three jars of lemon curd that haunt my every waking moment!