Free At Last!!!

Free, free, free, free at last, thank God almighty I'm free at last!

Unfortunately I'm not talking about being free of the hospital, but it's something almost as cool! ...I'm free from my IV pole!!! I've been tethered to this pole since being admitted on Friday afternoon. It has to come to the bathroom with me. It hangs out by the shower while I'm trying to wash my hair one handed. I get wrapped up in the 8ft. IV tube at night. The needle was in my wrist so it was uncomfortable to move my left wrist which made many activities difficult. I could unplug the whole IV stand from the wall to take it places, like the bathroom, but after 15 minutes it would beep constantly. I called it my puppy dog on a leash because it followed me wherever I went. Hope thought we should tape a picture of Taylor to it which would have at least made it a lot cuter. Now the IV pole just gets to sit in the corner of my room until Friday, at which point it will again become my constant companion.

4 Days and Counting!

It's official, on Saturday I will become a mom! It's a little overwhelming at the moment, especially when you google "labor induction", but I think by Saturday I'll be ready. All of the last minute baby prep details are getting completed in the next few days. Nathan is in charge of getting the car seat installed. He went home last night and picked out a "coming home" outfit for the baby to wear (Sarah, she's going to wear her "I love hugs" sleeper that you bought us). He brought me back 2 of Taylor's tennis balls (not because I miss him THAT much, although I do miss him like crazy, but because they recommend using a tennis ball to massage your back while you're in labor or even while I'm laying in bed). Nathan's parents bought us our present last night - a pack and play with a tent to go over the top to keep the kitties from smothering the baby. That should be delivered before we get home early next week so baby will have a place to sleep in our bedroom. I'm ordering myself a new dresser online today to have it delivered later this week (okay, maybe this isn't part of preparing for the baby, but I'm guessing Nathan wants to move all of his clothes off our closet floor into my old dresser at some point). My parents bought their tickets last night to fly in tomorrow. I'm hoping to schedule a time within the next week to have a company start installing our basement waterproofing system. It would be ideal if the jackhammering of the foundation was done before we got home with a newborn. Why is it my life never seems boring? The more I write these blogs the more I realize how full all of my days are and it's stressful trying to get everything done while laying in a hospital bed. My family is being great and pitching in. Maybe it's good that I'm forced to relax for a week before giving birth. I'm sure my body will thank me in the long run.

Dry Bread for Breakfast

While the food is delicious here at Women & Infants hospital, it has taken me 3 days to learn I need to be VERY specific when ordering my meals. For instance, yesterday I ordered decaf tea with breakfast. I received a cup of hot water and a tea bag. Guess I forgot to circle "packet of sugar" on the menu. Last night, I was actually afraid they'd bring me my cheerios this morning without milk because I knew I forgot to circle "milk" under the beverages section on the menu. Thankfully, they were smart enough to figure that one out on their own and I didn't have to eat dry cereal. I do, however, get to eat a plain english muffin with breakfast. Guess I forgot to mention that I wanted jelly (or peanut butter, or butter, or anything! come on people! not that hard to figure out nobody wants to eat a piece of dry bread!). You can be sure that I double checked my meal orders for tomorrow to make sure I didn't miss any little detail!

Vacation is Over

Well, that mini-vacation I was experiencing is over. It was fun while it lasted. I'm not saying I was sent home, in fact, I earned myself a stay for an undetermined amount of time. I'm just saying this hospital room isn't nearly as cool as it was when I first arrived. I guess 3 days on bed rest gives you a different outlook on things. Plus, when you can't fall asleep until 12:30am because that's when they finish the fetal monitoring and then they wake you up at 6am for blood work (but then, don't bring you breakfast until 8am!), I never feel fully rested. Oh what I would give for 9 straight hours of sleep! I'm still enjoying the food, but I'm tired of being attached to an IV pole 24/7, measuring all of my pee, and sitting in this bed.

For those looking for an update - my blood pressure is not coming down, even though they increased my meds. The baby is still looking healthy and there is no concern for her. They are not sending me home because I am showing signs of preeclampsia, however they still aren't positive that's what is causing the high blood pressure. It could just be my kidney disease. Whatever it is, there are rumors being thrown around of inducing me in the next 6 days, which means I'd hopefully give birth next weekend. Anyone know what next Saturday is??? My 26th birthday! I don't mind sharing my birthday because birthdays really aren't a big deal to me anymore. I just don't want to be intruding on her "special day" once she's old enough to know what a birthday is. I guess that's a silly thing to be worried about at this point. I should just be excited that there is possibly a light at the end of this long tunnel and before I know it, I'll get to hold my daughter for the very first time and this will all be worth it.

I only see the doc each morning on her rounds so I always have more questions than answers. Unfortunately the doc really doesn't have the answers either, so my questions go unanswered or I'm told, "we'll re-evaluate tomorrow". Kinda sucks to not be able to plan ahead or know if I'm going home anytime soon. Our church was throwing Nathan and me a baby shower today. That had to be canceled. Hope is in town all week. She's spending the nights alone at our house (visiting hours end at 8) while Nathan stays in the hospital with me. Probably not exactly what she had in mind for her vacation to RI. I have no idea if I'll make it back to my office before going on maternity leave. I hate leaving a few things half finished and making other people pick up my slack. I was supposed to have a murder mystery birthday dinner next Saturday with friends as my last bash before the baby arrived. I was looking forward to playing the role of the knocked up cheerleader named "EC Lay". I thought maybe I could laugh myself into labor since we had such an awesome time at our murder mystery dinner last year. Guess that will have to be canceled as well.

My dinner just arrived. I got in a disagreement with the nutrition lady when she brought me lunch. I told her that I never filled out a dinner order since I didn't think I'd still be in the hospital today. She said she got my order yesterday. Looking at my tray... I'm not sure who placed my order, but it sure wasn't me! My first clue... caffeinated tea. I swore off caffeine last January. My second clue... some type of dark meat chicken filled with lots of bones. I only eat boneless, white meat chicken. Unfortunately, I will not see the nutrition lady again until she comes to pick up my tray in an hour. Good thing I have granola bars! Yup, my stay at the "Hilton" is definitely over!

a mini-vacation away from home

Once again, I find myself laying here in the hospital, not in false labor (although the Braxton Hicks contractions are still going strong), but with high blood pressure. While nobody loves overnight stays in the hospital, I gotta be honest, this hospital is AMAZING!!! I'm staying in a brand new wing that opened about 3 weeks ago. The rooms are all singles and set-up like a hotel room... private bathroom complete with shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and a hair dryer. I have a flat screen tv, dvd player, small desk, wireless internet, and a couch that folds into a twin bed where Nathan slept last night. This area of the hospital is perfectly quiet... no intercoms, beepers, or alarms going off. The food is amazing too! I had chicken caesar salad for lunch and roasted turkey with gravy, cranberries, mashed potatoes, carrots, bread, and ice cream for dessert. Every meal comes with hot tea, juice, and milk. After spending the past month being woken up by a sick dog every night, I think this hospital stay is a mini-vacation! Not only are the accommodates excellent, but they hook me up to the fetal monitor 3 times a day so I get to lay here in my quiet room and listen to my daughter's heartbeat. Nathan got to experience it for the first time last night. There is something so relaxing about hearing the constant whoosh, whoosh heartbeat and knowing your daughter is healthy and thriving. Plus, the fetal monitor tracks my contractions. Nathan enjoys looking at the print-out and telling me how high up the page the contraction peak reaches. My record so far is 90% of the way up the grid. Luckily, I would still classify these contractions in the annoying and semi-uncomfortable stage, which is why this isn't real labor. I've been here in the hospital since yesterday (Friday) morning. I was sent to Triage by my OB after my blood pressure was higher than normal and I had a pounding headache. They are evaluating me for minor pre-eclempsia, a condition that can be dangerous to both myself and baby if it becomes severe. So far, it's been 24 hours and my bp is still higher than it should be. I guess we'll see what they say this afternoon when their 24 hour observation is up. In my opinion, this baby was full term yesterday and she'd be just fine living outside my body, so inducing labor and allowing my body to get back to normal would make my kidneys the happiest. We'll see what the docs say. Either way, it sounds like my OB doesn't allow her renal disease patients to go to a full 40 weeks and will induce them around 39 weeks to take the stress off their kidneys and blood pressure. That would mean I will have a daughter by Halloween if not much sooner! :) ... gotta run, time to enjoy my breakfast in bed!

Baby Ducky

I threw a baby shower for my good friends Brendan and Echo Duckett. I decided to make it rubber ducky themed (in honor of their last name) and had a fun time searching for cupcake and cake decorating ideas. Here's what I came up with...

The cake... the ducks on top are actually rubber duckies. I'm not THAT artistic! The soap bubbles are all rolled, white fondant.

The matching cupcakes. I made the ducks out of colored chocolate using a chocolate mold.

Fall Cooking

Fall is finally here! The difference between the east and west coasts is that the west coast has many evergreen trees so the fall colors are interspersed with green pine trees. Here on the east coast, everything is deciduous so when the trees change colors, they ALL change colors. It makes driving down the highway absolutely beautiful. Both sides of the road are lined with all different colors. Unfortunately, it also means once the leaves fall, all you see are sticks for miles and miles. Pretty ugly.

In honor of the fall, the soup section of my cookbook is back open for business! Tonight I made "Easy Corn Chowder" with cheesy biscuits. After I pulled the cheesy biscuits out of the oven, since it was already preheated, I threw in a butternut squash (picked fresh from our garden!!!... the one and only squash that came from 3 squash plants...) to roast for butternut squash quesadillas that we'll eat tomorrow night. My sister has a blog going full of recipes she wants to try/has tried. I enjoy reading through it and getting new meal ideas. While I'm not ambitious enough to start an entire recipe blog, I thought I'd share tonight's dinner recipe for those who want to try a new, easy-to-make, soup. I recommend doubling the recipe, which will give you enough for 8 servings - plenty to freeze or eat for lunches.

Easy Corn Chowder - from Pampered Chef

2 medium unpeeled red potatoes
1 cup cubed cooked ham (can usually be found packaged near the kielbasa at the grocery store)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 Tbsp flour
1 can (14oz) chicken broth
1 can (12oz) fat-free evaporated milk
1 can (15oz) creamed corn
2 Tbsp sliced fresh chives
salt & pepper to taste
cooked crumbled bacon (optional - I usually forget it)

1. Cut potatoes and ham into 1/2 inch cubes, set aside. Dice bell pepper. Coarsely chop celery.
2. Heat butter in a large pot. Add bell pepper and celery; cook and stir 3-4 minutes or until crisp tender. Stir in flour; heat another minute.
3. Gradually whisk in broth, evaporated milk, and creamed corn. Add potatoes; bring to boil. Reduce heat; cook uncovered, 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
4. Stir in ham; heat through. Remove from heat, stir in chives, salt and pepper.
5. Ladle soup into bowls and top with crumbled bacon, if desired.


Cheese Biscuits

2 cups baking mix (ie: Bisquick)
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I actually used 1/2 cup of an Italian cheese mix that I had in the fridge, and it was delicious too)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley flakes

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Combine baking mix, milk, and cheese in a bowl. Mix until a soft, sticky dough is formed.
3. Drop by the spool full onto an ungreased baking sheet, making approx. 16 2" balls of dough
4. Cook 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
5. Melt butter, stir in garlic powder and parsley. Brush over the tops of the warm, cooked biscuits.

My new job

It's official, during the last month of pregnancy, attending doctor's appointments is like a full-time job. Or at the very least, a part-time job. Just last week I spent 14 hours (between Tuesday - Saturday) at various doctor's appointments or laying in the Triage unit at the hospital being evaluated for preterm labor. (No, I was not in labor, I'm definitely 100% still pregnant!) My OB finally being perceptive that I get a little agitated when she walks into my room at 8:30am for my 7:45am appointment asked if I needed a note to explain to work where I was all these mornings. What am I in 2nd grade??? "Dear Meditech, I'm sorry Megan has to miss work at least 2 mornings a week for doctor's appointments. Could you perhaps still pay her for this time she is not in the office? Or maybe not deduct all those hours from her sick leave?" Ya, I'm sure that would go over real well. It's not like I schedule my appointments to purposefully miss work. I don't have to be in the office until 9am so I make all appointments for their first available time... 7:45. This means at the time I'm usually getting out of bed on a work day, I already have to be sitting in a waiting room. I don't understand how I can have the first appointment of the day and they're already running 30-45 minutes behind schedule. Don't get me wrong, my OB doc is extremely nice, knowledgeable and has provided me great care all through my pregnancy. I just don't need the added stress of juggling work and at least 3-4 doctor's appointments a week, while my sick time balance has shrunk to exactly 1 day. That means for my final month of pregnancy, until I actually do give birth (going into labor doesn't count, I gotta actually push the baby out of me to officially be on maternity leave), I have 1 sick day to use. If I go over that I have to use vacation time. Woohoo! I always wanted to spend my vacation sitting on a table without a backrest in an exam room. Nothing could possibly be more comfortable or more fun!

Big Belly!

It's official, I'm big! I don't feel THAT big... until I look in the mirror and I'm reminded that I have this huge belly sticking out the front of me. It's getting a little harder to get up from a laying down position. The stomach muscles no longer work like they used to. I've been having fun tracking my weight gain on the WiiFit. Surprisingly, I haven't gained much weight over the past few weeks. Most of my weight gain happened in July/August. It was recommended that I gain 25-35 pounds and I'm on the low end of that, but that's okay with me. I'm still eating pretty much non-stop. My newest favorites are cheese, crisp apples, and any hard candy that I can suck on. And of course, Tums... gotta have them close at hand at all times. Tums make up the 7th food group of a pregnant lady's diet. I love being pregnant and feeling my baby move, but I think I'm ready to be done with this stage. I'm pretty sure my ribs agree. They are ready for a break and want their personal space back.

Lately...

It has been awhile since I've posted an update on my life, so here in random order, is what's been happening with me lately...

***

I have 44 days left until due date. I'm not anymore prepared to bring this baby home than I was a month ago, unless you count having hung empty picture frames on the wall of the nursery, but I don't think that's one of the necessary baby-prep items. If we have to stop and buy diapers on the way home from the hospital, so be it!

***

My parents are coming tomorrow to spend 4 1/2 days hanging out around Providence and doing any random job that needs to get done around the house. It'll be nice to have them around, and even nicer to take a few days off work. I don't think they've been to RI since May 2008. My mom will be impressed with what I've done to all of her plants (or not!). They suggested we contact some basement waterproofing specialists and have them meet us on Friday to get an estimate on what it would cost to prevent our basement from flooding again. Then we might be able to do something useful with the space someday. I also have my next ultrasound scheduled for Friday. I'm hoping my parents get to come along and see their grand-daughter for the very first time.

***

I'm throwing my first baby shower for a church friend on Sunday. I've never thrown a baby shower and I've only been to a handful in my whole life. I'm a pro at bridal showers, but a complete newbie to the baby shower scene. I guess this means myself and friends are moving on from the bridal stage to the baby stage in life. Baby showers open up a whole new realm of adorable cupcakes that are begging to be baked. I have already started on my design for Sunday's shower. Pictures will be posted.

***

Taylor has allergies again. I thought we were going to get by with one hot spot outbreak on his shoulder in August. I was wrong. Now he has a bacterial skin infection and hot spots under his chin. The poor guy is miserable, which makes me miserable watching him. Luckily we have him doped up on enough benadryl at the moment that even if his itching hasn't gone away, at least he's too tired to care.

***

I have never had problems sleeping anytime anywhere my whole life. I got the nickname "Sleeping Beauty" in college for a reason. I am also one of those people that need at least 8 hours of sleep a night to function during the day and if I'm going to take a nap it must be at least 2 hours long. This week, something changed. I'm waking up every night around 4:30/5am and feel like I'm ready to get up and start my day. I'll get up and use the bathroom, check on Taylor and put a cold compress on his hot spots, give the kitties some attention, then climb back in bed and lay there for 45 minutes until I finally fall asleep again. Maybe my body is preparing me for the 5am feedings? Somehow, even with this loss of sleep, I can make it through the day and not be completely exhausted by dinner time. I don't know where this extra energy is coming from, but I'll appreciate it while it lasts.

***

I tried to battle the weeds in my backyard. I figured that since I'm throwing a baby shower and inviting anyone in the church that wants to come, I should try and make my yard semi-presentable. Rather than pull each weed by hand, I thought I'd take the easy way out and buy some Round-Up. Unfortunately for me, my weeds all seem to be immune to Round-Up. The stuff will kill any of my plants that I so much as get a drop of Round-Up on a single leaf (yes, I know this from experience!), but douse the weeds and a few days later, they're still growing strong. What do you call a green thumb that is only good at growing unwanted plant life?

***

I'm seeing pictures of every one's vegetable gardens and bountiful autumn harvests posted on blogs and facebook. I would post a picture of my harvest, except 3 cherry tomatoes aren't very exciting (plus, I already ate them). My dreams of homemade spaghetti sauce have been squashed for the 2nd year in a row. We do have 3 pumpkins and 2 butternut squash still on the vine. Hopefully they'll ripen quick enough to beat the first frost, but I'm not holding my breath.

***

This next week is apparently the week of doctor's appointments. I have 1 OB appt, 1 ultrasound, 3 fetal monitoring appts, and 1 nephrology appt. Seriously, it's a full time job just to attend all these appointments! I'm not dying people! My baby is doing just fine! Can you let me go at least 3 days without hooking something up to me or taking some bodily fluid out of me for testing! Thank goodness for AMAZING health insurance coverage.

***
Nesting. What exactly is it? Some may say it's the reason I spent 2 hours vacuuming every last piece of dog hair out the back of my car. I think that's more related to the fact that my parents are coming and there is no way they would have climbed in the backseat with all that hair. Who knew my car seats were grey and not tan? Maybe "nesting" is the list I'm starting to make of all those "spring cleaning" chores that you never actually get around to doing once a year. If that's nesting, then yes, I am nesting. I'm not really sure how cleaning out my shower drain is going to help when I bring a baby home, but it is something I'm determined to get done in the next few weeks. Along with cleaning out the dryer vent, scrubbing down the fridge and freezer shelves, washing the front and back glass doors, and organizing the basement. None of these have anything to do with the baby, yet I feel compelled to get them all done. Again, thank goodness for that extra burst of energy I seem to have acquired! Also thank goodness for parents who I'm sure are going to be thrilled to help me knock out my "nesting" list. :)

Things I Wish I Had Known Prior to Pregnancy...

Like most people who are pregnant or considering getting pregnant soon, I'm sure you've read your fair share of websites/books that tell you what to expect while you're expecting. I know I sure did (and still do). I get daily emails about what is happening to my body and the baby this week. As I've gone through this process, I've compiled my own list of things I've learned and wished someone would have at least warned me about. Sorry if some of them are TMI, but I wanted to be honest and share all of my crazy pregnant thoughts. I still have 44 days til d-day so this list may continue to grow over the next month.

1. EVERYTHING is potentially harmful to yourself and your baby. Get over it, and don't stress about it. I'm sure our parents didn't take half the precautions they recommend these days and we all turned out fine, right? From my experience, it's a lot more dangerous to myself and the baby if we run out of milk when I'm craving that late night bowl of honey-nut cheerios!

2. At some point, you will pee your pants a little when coughing, sneezing, or laughing. There is nothing you can do to prevent this.

3. The most random foods will trigger the acid reflux in the 3rd trimester. For me, it is carrots.

4. When you hit the last 2 months, you are hungry, but after dishing up a huge plate for dinner you can only eat about 5 bites before you feel full because little baby is invading your stomach space. This just means you will have to eat even more often and will wake up even more starving every morning.

5. Caffeine free Diet Coke does NOT taste the same as normal Diet Coke. I never thought caffeine actually had any flavor, but I don't know what else can explain the difference in these 2 drinks.

6. You will never get tired of feeling your baby move, even if it's in the middle of the night and all the bumps and jumps wake you up. You will, however, not appreciate the times when your baby decides to see exactly how far she can push her foot out your side before you are forced to poke it back in for fear she might rip through your already tightly stretched skin.

7. You will grow out of your maternity pants and your maternity shirts will not be long enough to cover your large belly by the final month. Your butt will grow right alongside your belly.

8. At every OB appt you have to pee into a cup. Not such a big deal, except nobody told me peeing in a cup becomes very difficult to do the last 2 months. I haven't been able to see over my belly in quite some time.

9. Floating weightless in a pool is amazing, however before wearing a bathing suit a particular region usually needs to be shaved. Not something you want to do blindly!

10. Your spatial perception gets more and more off the larger your belly gets. I constantly have a wet line across my midsection because it hangs over the counter when I wash my hands. I have even heard of a friend who closed their belly in a cupboard.

Some Things Never Change

I guess it doesn't matter how old he gets, some things never change...

8/15/05: The day I got Taylor.


Good thing the fan has grown with him.

Hot Mama

Do you remember in Father of the Bride part II when Nina and Annie are pregnant and George and Franck have to wear winter coats, hats and gloves in the middle of the summer because the air conditioner is turned up so high in their house? Yeah, that's how I feel, except we don't have central air so I can only freeze Nathan out of the bedroom where we have our little window AC unit. Nathan pulled out his flannel pjs after a few nights of freezing to death (while I'm wearing minimal clothing and have thrown off all of the covers). I am SO ready for summer to be over. It's supposed to be in the 50s tonight and you can bet I'll have that window fan on all night! Don't worry, I'll make sure Nathan knows where the down comforter is before he comes to bed.

Our Practice "Baby"

Nathan and I have been collecting a few baby items here and there over the past few weeks. Erin and Forrest gave us the Moby wrap we wanted when we were in Seattle. Of course we had to try it out asap. I soon realized that wrapping it around myself is easy, the difficult thing will be positioning the baby correctly. After practicing with a teddy bear, I decided the bear wasn't quite heavy enough to simulate a real baby. I started looking around the room for something in the 9-10lb range and spotted the perfect thing...

I now feel comfortable putting a newborn in the Moby knowing she will be secure.

Nathan and I finally picked out a stroller/infant carrier travel system and I picked it up this weekend. When the cats saw the stroller for the first time, they assumed it was a vacuum, starting hissing at it and ran to hide under the bed. We thought if we kept the stroller in the family room long enough they'd get used to it and realize it's not a vacuum and doesn't make noise. Judging by this next picture, I think our plan worked! Dorothy did not climb in here on her own free will, but she did stay long enough for us to take her on a few trips around the family room.


We are very lucky to have our own practice "baby" on hand who is so willing to help us learn to be parents. Although I have a feeling she may run and hide when I bring home the first round of cloth diapers. I may be pushing my luck with those...

Her Gift

As most probably know by now, my Grandma Nan passed away in June. It was expected and everyone got to say their final goodbyes, which I guess makes it a bit easier in a way. This last weekend we all gathered at Useless Bay on Whidbey Island to have a party and do what my Grandma loved best - take the ferry to the island, walk on the beach, climb the sand dunes (so maybe Grandma didn't do that one, but us cousins always did!), watch the tide come in, roast hot dogs and marshmallows, and tell stories. It was a beautiful day and I can honestly say there were a lot more laughs than tears the whole weekend, which is just they way Grandma wanted it. On Sunday, the family gathered with my Grandma's friends in Everett for a celebration of her life. During the celebration, there was an open mic time where people could get up and share their favorite stories or lessons learned from my Grandma. She was an incredibly smart, independent, strong, stubborn woman... I like to think I inherited all of those traits! I wanted to get up and share my story of Grandma, however being the pregnant, emotional wreck that I am, I don't think anything coherent would have come out of my mouth. Instead, I have decided I will blog about it...

Everyone in my family can say they got their love of Broadway musicals from Grandma Nan. And while I also love Broadway and all the Broadway soundtracks, Grandma Nan passed on a different love of music to me... the piano. I can remember being 3 or 4 years old and visiting Grandma at her house on Tulalip Ave. where I'd sit in the living room and listen to her play the piano or organ. To me, she was amazing! Grandma gave my family her piano and it was moved from WA to our house in Roseville where my mom, sister, and I all started taking lessons. I couldn't wait to be able to play the same music as my Grandma Nan. Whenever she'd come to CA to visit, we'd put on a piano recital for her and she'd sit and hum along to the familiar tunes for as long as we wanted to play. Eventually, I got good enough to play one of her favorite pieces at a recital - The Spinning Song. To this day, it's one of the few songs I have semi-memorized and still one of my favorites to play. I no longer take lessons or care to know all the theory behind the piano music; I just like to sit and play. The piano is my sanctuary where I can block out everything going on around me and everything inside my head and just focus on the black notes on the paper in front of me. The peace I feel while playing the piano can't compare to anything else I've experienced in life. The piano has pulled me through tough times of death, sickness, break-ups, and loneliness. I have my Grandma Nan to thank for introducing me to this wonderful instrument and giving me a coping mechanism to deal with all that life throws at me. This gift is irreplaceable and whenever I sit down to play, I will always think of her and perhaps I'll play a little "Spinning Song" because I know that would make her happy. This Christmas, when I'm at my parent's house, I can't wait to sit and play Christmas carols with my daughter on my lap. Someday I hope that she'll want to learn to play just like her mom and her great-grandma Nan. This is one gift that I'll be happy and proud to pass along.

Meet Zo!

Nathan and I got the opportunity to have another ultrasound this morning to measure the growth of our baby. Women with hypertension can have smaller babies, and even though my blood pressure has been great all throughout my pregnancy, they wanted to play it safe and check her growth. It was amazing getting to see her again. It made me that much more anxious to meet her. Even though it was just your typical 2D ultrasound we could see so much detail. We got to see her adorable nose (I can't wait to give it a kiss!) and her lips and chubby cheeks. She was sucking on her fingers most of the time - we could even see her little mouth sucking away. I think she was happy and content and ready to settle down for her morning nap since we watched her give us two big yawns. They approximated that she currently weighs 2lbs 13oz so she still has some weight to gain, but everything looks right on track. 79 more days until her due date!

For those of you who have difficulty deciphering ultrasound pictures, this is little Miss Zo's profile. You can see her whole head, cute nose and right below her nose is her hand which is partly inside her mouth. You can see 3 fingers on the very left of the picture coming out of her mouth.

This was from the first ultrasound we had done at 8 weeks. She's grown a tad since then. :)

Social Security at Work

My current Social Security status...

If I die, Nathan may qualify for up to $1100/month if we have a child.

If I die prior to having a child, Nathan may qualify for a one-time payment of $255.

If I'm going to die in the next 2 months, Nathan better hope that Zo makes it out alive. ;)

Sorry if some of you find this morbid, but I find it hilarious... I've already paid over $14000 into Medicare and Nathan may get a one-time payout of $255. I guess that's our government at work for ya!

Getting Anxious...

According to the due date countdown, I have 81 days left of carrying this little one in my belly (however, I'm still convinced she's going to come early, or maybe I'm just hoping she comes early). In a past blog I was freaking out about not having enough time to get everything done. My views are quickly changing. I'm getting very anxious to meet her. It's weird having bonded with her, talked to her, learned her sleep patterns and yet never having met her or seen what she looks like. I can't wait to hold her in my arms and see Nathan hold her for the first time.

In other random notes...

We started a baby registry at Babies R' Us 2 weeks ago and have slowly been adding items to it as we think of other things we can use. We still have a few things left to pick out and put on the registry (ie: a carseat! How do I know which is the best/safest and will work with a stroller I like???), but it's nice to finally have a list of the essentials. It makes walking into Babies 'R Us a lot less overwhelming when you realize you really don't need every single baby gadget and toy!

Nathan and I almost finished the nursery. We just have some touch-up work to complete and then it's all ready for baby Zo! Even if she won't use it for awhile since she'll be sleeping in our room, it makes me happy to walk into the nursery, sit down in the glider rocker and rock back and forth enjoying the peacefulness of "Zo's Garden" (where Zo will be replaced by her real name... I'm even painting a sign for the door. :) ). Even in my tummy, Zo loves to rock. The movement calms her down (reduces the number of kicks, flips, punches and pushes I feel). It helps to rock right before bed to put her to sleep so then I can usually fall asleep before the kicking/punching starts up again.

I'd love to post pictures of the nursery, but I'd really like to have all the final touches in place first. The last major component we're missing is our bedding. It'll tie everything together. Those of you who are anxious to see the nursery in its final form, our bedding is on our Babies 'R Us registry. *hint hint* ;)

My mom and dad are coming for 5 days in September to help with all our final projects. I guess my plea for help worked.

I made a list of all the things I need to get done at work before I leave on maternity leave and I've already been able to cross 3 items off the list. Something about lists and crossing items off of lists is very relaxing. I think I inherited that from my mother.

Time just keeps flying. Nathan and I had our friend Paul here to visit all last week. We visited the zoo, attended Waterfire and listened to some live jazz music, played Settlers, cooked lots of food and desserts, and played plenty of Wii. We dropped him off at the Boston airport at 4:15am(!!!) this morning. Having him visit made last week go by very quickly. This Friday we head to Seattle to celebrate my Grandma Nan's life and gather as a family to say goodbye to her. Of course I'm not looking forward to flying, but I am looking forward to seeing cousins that I haven't seen in over 3 years. We'll also get an evening to spend with college friends, reconnecting with them for the last time as a childless couple. The next time we'll be back in Seattle will be August 2010 and baby Zo will be almost 10 months old! The following week I have a friend from London coming to stay for a few nights. Her and I worked together at Camp Hidden Falls the summer of 2003. We haven't seen each other since so I'm very excited to have someone around that calls me Paja and knows all the same crazy camp songs! Before I know it, it will be September, my parents will be visiting, and we'll be counting down to my birthday (and Hope visiting) and the final weeks of pregnancy. Until then, I'll just keep eating everything in sight (hey! I'm supposed to gain another 15 pounds in the next 2 1/2 months, those are the doctor's orders!), peeing every hour or two, putting up with all these annoying Braxton-Hicks contractions, sleeping as much as possible, and rocking my daughter to sleep every night. Life doesn't get much better than this. :)

Fashion of the Future?

I have decided that maternity pants are possibly one of fashion's greatest inventions. The main reason?... elastic waistbands. I know people claim that elastic waistbands were only hip in the 80s, and maybe that's true, but I think they need to make a comeback. Here's why:

1) Elastic waistbands fit everyone! No more having to shop for jeans that fit your waist after you've gotten them over your butt and hips. Pants-makers wouldn't have to make pants in all different sizes... now S, M, and L would suffice. Maybe they'd have to make different lengths, but it's much easier to fit one's inseam than it is to fit their butt, hips, thighs, AND waist! (and let's be honest, it's rare that you actually find a pair of jeans that fits all of the above!) My maternity jeans fit me better than any other pair of jeans I've bought, and in my opinion, they make my butt look fabulous. :)

2) If all pants had elastic waistbands, shirt designers would be forced to make longer shirts that cover the waistbands. That means no more midriffs or muffin tops being displayed in public. Who can argue against that?

3) Going to the bathroom is SO much easier and faster when there are no snaps, buttons or zippers involved. I have been wearing elastic waistband maternity pants for the past 2 1/2 months. It has become habit to walk into a bathroom stall and just pull down my pants, no other steps necessary! This is a habit that I have no desire to break once I actually fit back into my regular jeans. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt or rip something the first time I try to go to the bathroom while wearing regular jeans. If all pants had elastic waistbands, I would not have to worry about such things.

4) Girls, we all know that we have that special pair of jeans that we can still fit into when we're feeling bloated and need a little extra room. If all your jeans had elastic waistbands, you would no longer be restricted to this one pair of pants each month. All of your pants would be fair game!

5) Guys, I know you'd all like a pair of pants that you can wear to the all-you-can-eat buffet... or as Joey, from Friends, put it "my thanksgiving pants". You'd never have to worry about loosening your belt or discreetly undoing the top button.

These are just my opinions, and maybe I'm already going through maternity pant withdrawals, but really, I think everyone would be happier, more comfortable, and look awesome in elastic waistbands. What do you think?

Green Thumb

Nathan and I attempt to keep a nice looking yard, however, in my opinion, we fail miserably. Of course I'm comparing my yard to my mother's yard, which isn't a fair comparison because she is a Master Gardener and spends hours working in her garden. Nathan and I are very good at growing one thing... weeds! Lots of them! All kinds! All sizes! They're taking over the grass, the flower beds, the vegetable garden, the front walkway, the dog run, you name it, we've got a weed growing there! We have one weed by our woodpile that is now over 2 ft. tall and draping over the lawn. Nathan walks over to the weed on Sunday and comments on how it looks a lot like a tomato plant. Then we notice, the weed is growing small green tomatoes. Yup, that's right! I may not have a green thumb, but I'll have you know that my weeds are capable of growing tomatoes! HA, beat that, Mom!

The sad thing is, I planted 2 tomato plants in the vegetable garden 2 months ago, and they aren't producing a darn thing.

Long Time Friends

Some people claim facebook is detrimental to human socialization and contact. If you're truly "friends" with a person, then you wouldn't need facebook to keep in touch, that you'd just pick up the phone and call them every once in awhile. I am going to argue the opposite. While I do not think wall posts and picture comments are enough to cultivate a true friendship, I do think facebook is amazing at allowing people who have lost contact over the years get back in touch and renew their friendship, which otherwise would have been lost and unrecoverable.

Exhibit A: Jamie, my best friend from 5th-8th grade, and I lost contact when we went to separate High Schools. It's difficult to stay in touch when neither of us had our license and we lived across town from each other. Plus, we made new friends in High School and our lives moved on. I found Jamie on facebook last winter. It was awesome to see pictures of her family and her 2 kids. One day Jamie posted a facebook status update about her husband making it to the International Tree Climbing Competition which is being held in Rhode Island this year. (Who knew we had big enough trees for an international competition???) Knowing everything in RI is within a 45 minute drive, I was excited about the possibility of seeing her again after 12 years apart. This past weekend, thanks to facebook, Jamie, her husband Dave, myself, and Nathan met up for lunch in downtown Providence and had a great time catching up on the past 12 years. Had it not been for that single status update, Jamie would have come and gone from RI without me ever knowing! It was wonderful just picking up and chatting as if we'd been friends for years. I think some people are meant to be friends, no matter how many years they've spent apart.

Myself, Jamie, and Tarryn at 8th grade graduation, June 1997:

Jamie and me in Rhode Island, July 2009:

I don't think we've changed all that much. :)

Tummy Update

26 weeks 2 days... 96 days to go!


A lazy, hot, Sunday afternoon in the Backman household

Camping Adventures

Nathan and I LOVE to go camping. If it were up to me, I'd head for the hills every single weekend. My love of camping started when I was little. The summer after my sophomore year of college I spent 10 weeks as a counselor at a Girl Scout Camp where I slept under the stars (rain or shine!). I love being outside in the woods, taking hikes during the day, sitting around a campfire, cooking over a camp stove, and stargazing at night. When I met Nathan and learned he was an Eagle Scout who also loved to camp (and has many more outdoor survival skills than I ever will) I could not wait to take off with him for a weekend camping trip. Being past their camping days, my mom sent me all of our old family camping gear when I graduated from college and moved into my own house. In the fall of 2005, Nathan and I went on our first camping trip to a campground outside of Sandpoint, ID. I think that's when the tradition started... RAIN, RAIN, RAIN! It's a joke now that when we go camping, even if the forecast says it will be clear, there will be rain at some point over the weekend. Let me take you on a walk through our rainy camping adventures:

September 2005: Our first camping trip together & Taylor's first camping trip at 16 weeks old. It rained for 3 days straight and everything was a big mud pit (which Taylor thought was awesome!). It was my first experience with hanging a tarp from the trees to keep us dry (no tent is waterproof no matter what the manufacturers claim!). Luckily Nathan is an expert at all those Boy Scout knots so the tarp was hung in no time. We had an awesome site that you had to hike down a hill to access. The only downside... the rain water ran down the hill and right under our tent.




August 2007: I unfortunately do not have any pictures of our campsite, but for our 1st anniversary we went camping in MA. We arrived at the campsite as the thunder was rolling in the distance. In a mad panic we assembled the tent and as we started to hang our trusty tarp the thunder became louder and the rain began to fall. By the time the tarp was fully hung it was pouring. We spent the rest of the night holed up in the tent with Taylor. The rest of the weekend was gorgeous and we spent all day Saturday hiking the Friends Trail. Even though the weather was gorgeous, Taylor did all he could to get as dirty as possible.




September 2007: I found Otter River State Park online and it got such great reviews I wanted to go check it out. This time we forgot to check the weather forecast, although I'm not sure the forecast could have predicted what we experienced. All day Saturday was horribly hot and humid - the perfect set-up for a massive thunderstorm. Around 3pm the thunder began rolling in the distance and the wind picked up. We hadn't bothered to hang a tarp over our tent this time as we were not expecting rain. When the rain began to fall we headed into the tent. All of a sudden the thunder and lightening became so intense the flashes were blinding and we had to yell to hear each other over the roar. The winds became so strong Nathan had to hold the top of the tent steady. Tree branches began to fall all around us. One hit the top of the tent and ripped a hole in our rain cover. At that moment we opened the window to the front door to see the branches and twigs flying past, but instead about 30 feet in front of the tent we watched a large tree snap in half. It was at that point we decided our camping trip was over and it was time to pack up and get out, especially since the hole in the tent roof left a puddle inside the tent. Just as we finished packing up the campsite, the rain and winds subsided. It was at that point we realized the road out of the campground was blocked by tree. We also saw that our neighbors were trapped in their car between 4 huge tree trunks, 2 that fell behind them, 2 that fell directly in front of the car. The next campsite down was not as lucky. A large tree fell through the middle of the campsite, hitting their tent and smashing the hood of their car. I believe a lady in the tent broke her leg when the tree landed on her. They couldn't go anywhere since the tree was on their car and it took 10-15 min. for the paramedics to make it into the campground as there were power lines down across the campground entrance. Since we weren't headed anywhere fast, we took a walk around the campground to survey the damage. The firemen believe it was a small tornado that took out the trees as all the trees that fell were in a straight line starting at our campsite going through the two sites next to us, then it jumped over the lake and the destruction continued on the other side. We were very glad to have made it home in one piece. Taylor was such a trooper through the whole thing and was as calm as we could hope through the entire storm.

Our campsite:

The site next to us:

Two sites away:

July 2009: The past weekend Nathan and I, along with our friends Dan & Sherry and Anna, went camping in CT. We did check the forecast and it said to expect showers from 1am-8am with 1/4" of rain accumulation. We've survived more than a 1/4" of rain (obviously!), except we still have that hole in the top of our tent from the above camping trip, so to be on the safe side we decided to once again pull out our trusty tarp. At 11pm the thunder starting. Within 10 minutes the rain was falling in sheets. The water running off the tarp could have been mistaken for a waterfall. We went to bed listening to the rain, thunder and flashes of lightening. Around 1am the rain fell so hard it sounded like constant thunder. That's also the time we heard the tarp hit the top of the tent and slide off to the side. Even though the tarp was tilted to allow run-off, the amount of rain falling was too heavy for the twine holding up the tarp and it snapped. Our tent began leaking through the window seams so we just pulled our bed away from the side and went back to sleep. Not much else you can do at 1am! We woke up at 8am and got out of the tent to survey the damage. Everything that was carefully placed under the tarp was now soaking wet. Anna lucked out in that when the tarp came down it landed directly on top of her tent. She stayed nice and dry and slept wonderfully through the night. Dan and Sherry would have stayed a little more dry had their air mattress not sprung a leak and left them laying on the wet tent floor. Lucky for us, the rest of the weekend was dry (well, as dry as can be with the high humidity!) and we all slept wonderfully on Saturday night.

Hanging the tarp:

Trust me, if I knew how to tie the fancy knots I would be sitting on his head!

I would say we got 2" of rain over the course of the night. These chairs only began collecting water after the tarp fell.

The next morning. Anna is still asleep under that green tarp.

So... anyone want to go camping??? We know how to have a great time!

100 Days...

...until my due date!!! Some of you may think I'm a little too excited because 100 days is still a long time, but when the countdown started around 250 days, it's very exciting to finally be reaching the double digits tomorrow. Of course this also means I only have 100 days to finish getting everything ready. Not only is the nursery half-way painted, but the crib isn't assembled, all the crap that was in the junk room (now the nursery) is sitting in the hallway, we haven't registered for any baby items, and I definitely have WAY too much stuff to do at work before going on maternity leave. Unfortunately, with each day that passes I have less energy and the couch looks more and more comfortable when I get home from work. I think I need my mom to come visit for a weekend... things magically get done when she's around. I have no idea how she's so productive, but apparently I did not inherit that trait. Or maybe I'm just lazy... I think I'll go ponder that thought while I lay on the couch and watch Friends. :)

What's In a Name...

Sorry folks... I'm not talking about the baby's name. That will remain a secret. ;)

I thought people might be a little confused by the name of my blog, so I wanted to explain myself. Ever since I was young, I believe I have been a very easy, simple person to understand. When I was a baby and I got cranky, I hear that my parents just had to feed me and put me to bed and all was good. When I was in high school, my friends knew who I was - I didn't play games or pretend to be someone else to fit in. I was the logical one of the group who put my thoughts ahead of my emotions and made decisions easily. In college, being a computer science and math major, I loved that all problems could be broken down into a set of logical steps to find a solution. Many problems are only as complex as you make them. After college, while I spent day after day working a job that bored me out of my mind, I began to think about what defines me, what excites me, how would I describe myself to someone in the least amount of words. After listing out all the random things in my head that I felt reflected my personality, I realized many things I listed contained juxtapositions (ie: I'm a dumb nerd, I love a clean house but never spend time cleaning, I'm quiet but have a hard time not giving my input when I have an opinion). After reviewing my long list, the final thing I wrote was that I'm simply complex. What you see is what you get with me. However, under the surface there is so much more. Only a few people throughout my life have been given the opportunity to see the true complexity behind the simplicity. Perhaps this blog will allow the rest of you to get some small glimpses into my simply complex life.

And She's Off...

I have always been one to enjoy reading other people's blogs. In fact, with my Google Reader all set-up, I probably read way too many blogs than I should each day (mostly about puppy raising for Guide Dogs and CCI). After being asked by multiple people when I am going to start a blog my answer was always "when I have something to blog about, like a new puppy or a baby". Well, I guess I better live up to my promise because baby #1 is on its way. However, the fact that I'm pregnant really doesn't give me much to blog about either. The things going on in my life (and body) are probably not blog appropriate. I keep thinking that maybe I should wait until Baby Zo* is born to start this blog, but then I realize Baby Zo will basically be doing what I've done for the past 5 months... eat, sleep (and poop, but I really wasn't going to mention that after my previous sentence...). So, if my blog is going to be boring, I might as well start it now. I'm going to leave you with the same disclaimer everyone makes when they start a blog... I do not promise to update this blog religiously, but when I have something to say, I will try to find the time to jot it down. Happy reading! :)

*The baby in my belly is named Zo short for Zoe, thanks to Sarah and Chuck. Zoe means life in greek (I think). But "Zoe" was too feminine so it was shortened to Zo until we knew if it was a boy or girl. Even though she's a girl, Zo has kinda stuck. Her actual name will not be revealed to anyone until she is born.

PS - I was a math major for a reason... writing is NOT my speciality so no judging my grammar!