To some of you, the title of my blog may indicate that I have, in fact, finally lost it. What are tummy sticks and belly bands? (Lose two points for any guess that involves Rock Band or Guitar Hero, and do not pass go.) Let me enlighten you!
Tummy sticks is the name Jeff has given to feeling the baby move. It originates from the movie Wedding Crashers, and has nothing to do with babies. Rather, it involves a very creepy guy holding Vince Vaughn's character quasi-hostage and tickling his midsection, aka playing "tummy sticks." Mini Peel finally played tummy sticks yesterday afternoon! I've read various descriptions on baby web sites and in baby books of what those first movements will feel like, but I think they were a little off. A few different sources mention a feeling of butterflies in the stomach, but that doesn't quite sum it up. It is more like an actual butterfly fluttering about inside your lower stomach! Some of you former preggos may recall another way of describing those movements, but for me - a flutter by of a butterfly! It occured sporadically for a few minutes and that was it until the middle of the night. I woke up for a couple minutes (this happens a lot more than I believe is reasonable!) and felt a flutter followed by a swift, direct punch/kick straight out! I smiled and fell back asleep...for a little while at least! Even crazier is the fact that I have felt a random "flutter" in the last week or so, but it wasn't until yesterday afternoon that I was 100% convinced that that was tummy sticks! Keep it comin', Mini Peel!
Ok, now what about these belly bands? Again, the former preggos or their friends may well be aware of belly bands. For the rest of the world (or at least that tiny handful of people that read this blog), let me explain. Belly bands are an awesome, awesome creation that will enable me to extend the use of pants or skirts that will no longer fasten properly at the waist, but otherwise still fit perfectly. You simply pull the belly band up over your unzipped or unbuttoned pants and fold over - wah lah - pants stay up like magic! I was a doubting Thomas as I perused the selection online, but was more than convinced after trying one on tonight with my favorite suit pants. It really does work, and it actually looked good, too! Hopefully, this wonderful tool will be one of use thoughout the pregnancy provided only one area of my body continues to grow! 20 weeks and so far, so good!
Oh, one more thing to share tonight. A coworker's wife told me a neat way they kept one aspect of their baby's arrival a surprise. They were confirmed the baby was male through an amnio, which they shared with their family and friends. When they learned this fact, they shared it with family and friends without sharing the baby boy's name to be. Instead, they told everyone the initials only. This enabled their family and friends to monogram away should they care to, and also provided a fun game of guess the name. Apparently, no one even came close, but the guesses likely provided some comic relief from time to time. I am not good at hanging on to things (or information) that I already have in my possession with an intent to share at a later date. I give Christmas presents early, give birthday presents early and then buy another, etc... So, there is no way I could keep the gender or the name to myself, and you can bet that I will never be one of those people that chooses to be "surprised" with the gender until delivery! I will be surprised next Tuesday when we learn if Mini Peel is a boy or a girl, and that is about all I can wait.
Ok, time for bed and, if I'm lucky, another short round of tummy sticks! Later tater tots!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
it smells like pineapple in here
A little bit of advice: don't mess with a pregnant lady.
Jeff likes to tease and pester me sometimes simply for the sake of amusement, but he made one slight mistake yesterday. He was sitting in the chaise lounge playing a video game, intently concentrating on the TV screen with his hands glued to the controller. I stepped into the kitchen to grab my dessert for the evening--vanilla yogurt and pineapple chunks on the side. I was half listening to Jeff as he rambled on about something or another while attempting to pester me. Suddenly, I realized he was vulnerable at the moment. He was sitting, relaxed, not looking my way, and both of his hands were occupied. I decided to seize the moment...carpe pineapple, you might say! I ran over to the Jeff and without any notice, stuffed a pineapple chunk into his nostril.
Oh, I laughed!
It all happened so quickly, but I am pretty sure he thought I was going to hand feed him said delicious chunk of pineapple into his mouth....not so, my friend! I ran back into the kitchen and doubled over in laughter. Jeff, with his hands still glued to the controller, turned to me with an incredulous look on his face and pineapple dangling from his nose....I laughed even harder. He seemed unable to comprehend why his sweet wife assaulted him with a piece of fruit. Hehehe... (I was so mad when I realized my camera was not at home--this was picture perfect!)
He finally removed the pineapple, nonchalantly continued on with his video game and said, "it smells like pineapple in here."
Don't mess with a pregnant lady, or you too, might become a victim of a run-by fruiting.
Jeff likes to tease and pester me sometimes simply for the sake of amusement, but he made one slight mistake yesterday. He was sitting in the chaise lounge playing a video game, intently concentrating on the TV screen with his hands glued to the controller. I stepped into the kitchen to grab my dessert for the evening--vanilla yogurt and pineapple chunks on the side. I was half listening to Jeff as he rambled on about something or another while attempting to pester me. Suddenly, I realized he was vulnerable at the moment. He was sitting, relaxed, not looking my way, and both of his hands were occupied. I decided to seize the moment...carpe pineapple, you might say! I ran over to the Jeff and without any notice, stuffed a pineapple chunk into his nostril.
Oh, I laughed!
It all happened so quickly, but I am pretty sure he thought I was going to hand feed him said delicious chunk of pineapple into his mouth....not so, my friend! I ran back into the kitchen and doubled over in laughter. Jeff, with his hands still glued to the controller, turned to me with an incredulous look on his face and pineapple dangling from his nose....I laughed even harder. He seemed unable to comprehend why his sweet wife assaulted him with a piece of fruit. Hehehe... (I was so mad when I realized my camera was not at home--this was picture perfect!)
He finally removed the pineapple, nonchalantly continued on with his video game and said, "it smells like pineapple in here."
Don't mess with a pregnant lady, or you too, might become a victim of a run-by fruiting.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
19 weeks
I think the 18 week picture looks more pronounced than today's 19 week pic... possibly because I am back to my normal eating habits after being on the road for awhile? It is so good to be home, by the way! We are just a pinch shy of hitting the halfway mark--only 21 more hot summer weeks to go!
Jeff and I took Mini Peel to his/her first baseball game complete with womb-side seats last night. ;) It should be the first of many baseball games to come as I have such fond memories of going to Cubs games at Wrigley with my dad when I was a kiddo. (Hence my love of all things Cubs-related, and naming my best dog, "Wrigley.") Not sure how the game ended, because we left around the seventh inning stretch to squeeze in dinner at Bangkok Royal. Ah, how I love that place. I haven't experienced any pregnancy food cravings, but I am not above pretending that Bangkok is my new craving in order to eat there as much as humanly possible. Jeff has actually suggested naming our kid after our favorite waiter, Pom. (Don't get me started on the craziness of baby names that has spouted from Jeff's mouth...honestly, Ahab Peel? Lorenzo Peel? Vince Young Mack Peel, Jr.? Not a chance!)
Speaking of names, we did renew the conversation for a girl's name. I had always liked Campbell, but it has been losing appeal mostly due to the fact that I cannot come up with a middle name to pair with it. In an somewhat democratic manner (okay, maybe not), I believe we have arrived at our final choices of name for a boy and a girl. Now we just have to wait until May 6th to find out! Ahhhh....
Friday, April 18, 2008
proof!
Here we are at 18 weeks without any of your standard side-posed, benchmark, progression of pregnancy pictures. I considered taking a picture at 10, 12 and 14 weeks, but it seemed like there was no change to document. Until now! Jeff sleeps in later than I do, so I had to serve as both the photographer and the subject during this impromptu photo shoot. We'll try to get some better ones next time--let's say meet back here at 20 weeks? :)
PS. No comments on the chest, people!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
With parenthood comes maturity..
..or at least I hope. ;) In my last blog I forgot to mention the antics of my husband at our last doctor's appointment on Monday. Let me preface this blog with the disclaimer that one of the things I love about Jeff is his ability to balance the silly and serious. However, Monday must have been a day where he resorted back to juvenile tendencies.
I picked up Jeff from Allen Samuels where he dropped off his car for an oil change. Almost immediately after entering my car, Jeff farts, lemme tell you, the aroma was not the least bit pleasant. I roll down the window and chastise him. He laughs. We continue our drive to the doctor's office, and he farts again! I am annoyed and my nose is offended--Jeff laughs and blames it on the Fiber One bar he consumed earlier that day.
We arrive at Dr. K's office at which point I set up my next regular appointment and ultrasound. The nurse then instructs me to pee into a cup using the bathroom attached to her workspace. I do as I'm told, and when I attempt to exit the bathroom, ol' Jeffie is blocking my way out in this narrow workspace. I ask him to move, so that I can get out and continue on with the appointment. As I make my way out, my nose is once again alerted to an all too familiar odor. Jeff farted again, and this time, I was not the only ungrateful recipient of this offensive "gift!" I'm sure the nurse thought I was the bearer of bad smells, because she immediately walked away with a comment that she either needed to ask someone a quick question or something like that.
So, I sit down in my usual chair to get in position for my blood pressure check upon her return. Jeff sits in the nurse's chair, and we gaze around at the baby pictures of past patients of Dr. K. Out of nowhere, another nurse buzzes our nurse's phone and says, "Christy?" My mature and serious husband turns his head to the phone on the wall and in his best matronly voice replies, "mmm hmmmm," as if he were prepared to continue this charade and answer whatever question the other nurse had for nurse Christy. I wish I had a snapshot of the look on his face at this moment, and then another snapshot to compare with the mortified look on my face! The other nurse replies to Christy-Jeff asking if he/she has a second or if he/she is with a patient. As my husband begins to quietly giggle and open his mouth for another chance to embarass me, I quickly reply, "Sorry, she is in another room with Dr. Koeritz at the moment!" Jeff began to laugh, I chastised him for impersonating a medical professional, and then I gave in to the laughter, too. I am lucky that this husband of mine that is capable of driving me nuts (in a good way) is also quite capable of cracking me up.
When we moved a couple minutes later from the nurse's workspace to room next door to await Dr. K, Jeff farted one more time for old times' sake, I suppose. ;) I will have to remember to hide the Fiber One bars before our next appointment in May!
I picked up Jeff from Allen Samuels where he dropped off his car for an oil change. Almost immediately after entering my car, Jeff farts, lemme tell you, the aroma was not the least bit pleasant. I roll down the window and chastise him. He laughs. We continue our drive to the doctor's office, and he farts again! I am annoyed and my nose is offended--Jeff laughs and blames it on the Fiber One bar he consumed earlier that day.
We arrive at Dr. K's office at which point I set up my next regular appointment and ultrasound. The nurse then instructs me to pee into a cup using the bathroom attached to her workspace. I do as I'm told, and when I attempt to exit the bathroom, ol' Jeffie is blocking my way out in this narrow workspace. I ask him to move, so that I can get out and continue on with the appointment. As I make my way out, my nose is once again alerted to an all too familiar odor. Jeff farted again, and this time, I was not the only ungrateful recipient of this offensive "gift!" I'm sure the nurse thought I was the bearer of bad smells, because she immediately walked away with a comment that she either needed to ask someone a quick question or something like that.
So, I sit down in my usual chair to get in position for my blood pressure check upon her return. Jeff sits in the nurse's chair, and we gaze around at the baby pictures of past patients of Dr. K. Out of nowhere, another nurse buzzes our nurse's phone and says, "Christy?" My mature and serious husband turns his head to the phone on the wall and in his best matronly voice replies, "mmm hmmmm," as if he were prepared to continue this charade and answer whatever question the other nurse had for nurse Christy. I wish I had a snapshot of the look on his face at this moment, and then another snapshot to compare with the mortified look on my face! The other nurse replies to Christy-Jeff asking if he/she has a second or if he/she is with a patient. As my husband begins to quietly giggle and open his mouth for another chance to embarass me, I quickly reply, "Sorry, she is in another room with Dr. Koeritz at the moment!" Jeff began to laugh, I chastised him for impersonating a medical professional, and then I gave in to the laughter, too. I am lucky that this husband of mine that is capable of driving me nuts (in a good way) is also quite capable of cracking me up.
When we moved a couple minutes later from the nurse's workspace to room next door to await Dr. K, Jeff farted one more time for old times' sake, I suppose. ;) I will have to remember to hide the Fiber One bars before our next appointment in May!
Monday, April 14, 2008
D-Day
...or in other words, "Determine the sex-Day," has gotten pushed back to May 6th. We were originally told that we would go back two weeks after today's appointment to discover the answer to our burning question, but now we have to wait three weeks. It is just a difference of one week's time, but it feels more like five years! In case you can't tell, I am getting incredibly impatient waiting to learn whether we are going to raise a Brooks or a Campbell!
We went in this afternoon for a regularly scheduled appointment with the great Dr. K. We listened to the heartbeat again and an occasional swift kick to my abdomen! The heartbeat sounds great and the kick sounds stronger than last month...still glad I can't quite feel that yet! From the sound of it, mini Peel has been working out to his/her Tae Bo video with intensity! (I'm joking, obviously...they don't make DVD players that small, duh.)
Mini Peel and I took the day off work today for a much needed break. I was out of town all last week and almost the entire week prior, so needless to say, the household and my sanity were in need of some upkeep. Jeff did an admirable job keeping the house picked up, but there is always more to be done. Aside from cleaning and grocery shopping, there was a definite need for a loaf of pineapple-zuchinni bread to be baked! (Ahhh, complete with delicious smells seeping out of the oven at this exact moment.)
Time for some lawn mowing...maybe a car washing...we'll see. :) Later tater tots!
We went in this afternoon for a regularly scheduled appointment with the great Dr. K. We listened to the heartbeat again and an occasional swift kick to my abdomen! The heartbeat sounds great and the kick sounds stronger than last month...still glad I can't quite feel that yet! From the sound of it, mini Peel has been working out to his/her Tae Bo video with intensity! (I'm joking, obviously...they don't make DVD players that small, duh.)
Mini Peel and I took the day off work today for a much needed break. I was out of town all last week and almost the entire week prior, so needless to say, the household and my sanity were in need of some upkeep. Jeff did an admirable job keeping the house picked up, but there is always more to be done. Aside from cleaning and grocery shopping, there was a definite need for a loaf of pineapple-zuchinni bread to be baked! (Ahhh, complete with delicious smells seeping out of the oven at this exact moment.)
Time for some lawn mowing...maybe a car washing...we'll see. :) Later tater tots!
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