Cyber Monday/37 weeks

Look at those chubby cheeks! Yikes! I am a little puffy today and have also been embarking on carb-a-palooza so I can look forward to being puffy for at least another day at this point.

Saturday night ended up being very fun. We had a fast dinner at Taco Joint (Armitage and Halsted). It was reasonable for a "sit down" taco place and I enjoyed my elote and taco salad. Allan said his gordita was fabulous, but the taco of the day was "meh". The margaritas were also good (by report).

We then headed off to Century City to see The Descendants with George Clooney. Even though we bought tickets at home online, when we got into the theater (15 minutes before the start time of the show), it was COMPLETELY packed. I have never seen a theater so full, or one that was oversold for that matter. We ended up at My Week With Marilyn instead. The girls loved it, I think the boys were "ok" with the choice. But at that point, there were limited options and we had already purchased snacks for a movie! Michelle Williams is amazing.

Yesterday (Sunday). We got more "stuff" done and C&D came over to watch the Bears game. Here is what I remember about the game:
Cutler was out and Bears need a better backup quarterback
the weather looked better in Oakland than it did in Chicago
River continually "crop dusted" us as we watched the game.

After the game we headed out to The Publican for dinner with another group. Allan said it was the best meal of the year. I don't know if I would say best meal, but it was in the top 5 for sure. Everything was amazing. Highlights (for the non fish eater) were the hanger steak, ham plate, duck, and chocolate tart. Apparently the oysters and sturgeon were also amazing. I hope that we can take my parents there when they visit over Christmas in a month.

I read somewhere that women get "cranky" before labor starts. If that is the case, watch out! On the other hand, I was woken up by a bunch of cranky people yelling at each other outside my window this morning, so it could just be that as well.

Turkey Day and Beyond.....

If there are pictures associated with this post, than I will actually have FOUND the cord which connects the camera to my computer. Let's all hope. It's been a fun weekend so far but here is what I have been thinking about:
baby
labor
baby
sleep
baby

We have had a good weekend so far. Thanksgiving started off with Allan running an 8k turkey trot with his friend while I hung out with the wife and kids in Lincoln Park. Allan ran a respectable 48:29 and his friend CRUSHED the race with a 39:45. Yikes! He had said his goal was to beat 40 minutes since he turned 40 this year. Wow. I can't wait to run the race next year with the goal of "run the whole thing".

We had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and then headed home for a nap before heading out to "the LF" for dinner. Being pregnant has its advantages, we were asked to bring "bread" SCORE! The food was awesome. My favorite part was the sweet potatoes with marshmallows. yum, yum. We came home and created a ginormous list for the weekend before crashing to sleep. I brought my camera but did not take pictures since it seemed everyone else was...but now I have none to post. *fail*
River has no problem relaxing.....

Allan called yesterday relaxing and while we did nap, I was really happy with the fact that we (I) was able to start working through the list. I am not sure if this is some sort of crazy nesting response, but it made me feel happy to get stuff done. I ended up taking my car to the dealer for two *minor* recalls and an oil change. About an hour after we left the dealer, they called me and told me I could not have my car back. One of the recalls was for the sunroof and mine was "the worst they had seen yet". The long and short is/was that my car is not road safe and they can't give it back to me till it is fixed and currently sunroofs are backordered nationally....so I have a loner for the duration that requires me to either fold Allan in half or chop off his legs for a drive more than 30 minutes.

We had lunch at The Counter (yum), rented MI:III (in preparation for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which we want to see in December), and did some Black Friday shopping at CVS (this is about all the shopping I can handle). At home we continued to work on the list and ended up watching Limitless with Bradley Cooper, which was fine for a free movie, but I was glad we had not paid for it.

Lazy day today (Saturday) so far. I am off to go hang curtains in the baby's room and work on more shopping for Allan since his birthday falls right after Christmas. I feel that I need to be prepared for both early this year.

In more random thoughts: the blogger I posted about in "Do People Lie About What They Eat?" has suddenly started posting some less than stellar food choices (or things that are "normal"). Do I think she read my blog? not a chance! I just think it is a funny and weird coincidence.

Another running blogger I follow who has been pregnant had her baby. She has been BIG and measuring ahead the entire pregnancy and went full term (over 37 weeks) but had a smaller baby (under 7lbs). I was surprised. Should I be?

I cried this morning when I worked on packing my hospital bag. Stressed? Yes! Part of me can't wait to get this baby out, the other part is FREAKING OUT!

We are headed out later to pick up our crib and will likely have another fun filled night on the couch. The excitement never ends!

Half and Half Coffee

I told my sister on the way to work today that I made half and half coffee (half coffee, half 1/2 and 1/2). I was not paying attention this morning and had a slight "overpour". Yum. At this point, dairy continues to be my main source of calories so I am not worried. Both the dog AND I were sick this morning. Here is hoping that Allan can survive unscathed. Today, one of my biggest fears is that I continue to feel sick most of the time after the baby comes. I know this is not realistic but it is still a fear.

Took some 36 week pregnancy photos this morning. Check out my "fake it till you make it" smile. I am clearly NOT any sort of professional photographer and had not washed my hair - but at least I am TRYING!:)



ok - off to find out if my 9:45 is merely late or not showing up. If they no show I am not going to be happy because I have a HUGE hole in my schedule and did not bring enough stuff to do today.

I am thankful for:
1. The fact that River seems to be feeling better and is eating again.
2. Milk - it does my body good (during this pregnancy at least).
3. half and half coffee
4. The book "The Night Circus" - I am still loving it.

Monday Mope (36 weeks today)

I was exhausted yesterday after doing some errands in the morning. I got back home about 1:00 and went back to bed. Allan came home eventually and we had spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. I'm working hard to get back in to cooking (even just a little). Between not wanting to eat a night (heartburn) and just not being hungry at night - my cooking for dinner has suffered. Also, I eat so little, it seems not worth the time. My goal this week is to cook dinner at least two nights.

I managed to stay up till 11 (which is good) but was up again at about 3:30 and could not get back to sleep. I started reading the Night Circus which is great so far. I am excited to read more tonight (hopefully not in the middle of the night though). I did go back to bed eventually but when the alarm went off, I seriously did not think I could physically get out of bed. They say if you wake up in at the wrong point in your sleep cycle it is harder to get up. I have been up without alarms for months so this morning was BRUTAL!. I did manage to get up, shower, get Allan from work, and get us both to the OB office by 9:15. They write down when you get to the office on your sheet so the pressure is on to be on time!

The good news is that my weight is still good, I was up .2lbs this week (still under 20lbs for the pregnancy). The OB says that my cervix is closed but is thinning (about 50%). He said everything looks good and that I could go into labor at anytime. My next appointment was supposed to be next week - and we made it for Friday so it is more like two weeks away at this point. I hope to make it to that appointment! At this point I am just tired and achy most of the time - which is normal for this stage. I am excited to have another ultrasound next week to "check up" on the baby.

One of my favorite things to do during this pregnancy is to go to the Doughnut Vault after OB appointments and get two old fashioned buttermilk doughnuts and a cup of coffee. We made it to DV by 10:00 and they were sold out/closed for the day. I got teary and almost started to cry. Pathetic, I know. I just had been looking forward to getting DV for a week! I don't even like doughnuts, only those from DV. My ridiculous food based stress continued when I saw later that Allan went to Pinkberry for lunch. I LOVE Pinkberry and got all bummed out again! At that point, I went to Starbucks to get a mocha and scone for lunch - yes, my nutrition is beyond stellar! Maybe I was weepy because I was hungry....duh!

Good day at work, I think I am ready for the accountant tomorrow and am now sitting and watching the Sing Off. I may go crawl into bed with a bottle of water and the Night Circus. hmmmm maybe I'll write some more thank you notes first. SO CLOSE to being caught up with them! Also need to get out the sewing machine, work on some mending, hang curtains. hmmmm we will see what happens

Do People Lie About What they Eat?

As I sat down to lunch today (hot dog, chips, grapes) I thought about a blog I follow were the blogger literally posts EVERY meal she eats WITH pictures. Of course she is thin, beautiful, perfect (and young). I wonder, does she ever go hog wild with chips, pizza, chocolate or does her blogging (which I think she makes a living off) keep her completely on track?

I did not take a picture of my lunch - yes, it was that pathetic (but yummy). I am off to finish it off with homemade ice cream.

Super Saturday!

These days, I pretty much don't sleep past 7:00 because I wake up nauseus and need to eat something to settle my stomach (mostly because I really don't eat much at night). This 7:00am wake up call is actually the second one. Usually the first is between 2:30 and 3:30 when I have to pee and then can't sleep, so end up reading in bed for an hour our so. At this point, if I get good sleep between when I fall asleep (between 10-11) and the 2:30-3:30 wake up call, I am happy. Last night, I redboxed Captain America and (I) fell asleep during the point at which blue stuff was injected into the lead actor (Charlie?).

I made cinnamon rolls (undercooked) for breakfast and also cooked the last of the pancetta in the oven. Allan came down and was VERY happy. I tried to take a picture of his breakfast: honeycomb cereal, mountain dew, cinnamon roll but my camera battery is dead. He has now been gone for a few hours to see the trainer, get gas, do a costco run......and generally avoid the list here at the house.

I've been busy with trying to fill up all the garbage cans available to me, clean off the balcony, organize stuff and do laundry. My trick is to set the kitchen timer and work for an hour on my feet, then take a break. It is amazing to me that I NEED a break after an hour. I was ready to sit down when I heard the timer. After an hour off my feet (seven thank you notes and some web surfing), I am ready to get back up....but may not make it an hour. LOTS going on in the belly today!:)

We had an EARLY dinner at Geja's (thanks to a groupon). It was great and the interior is so dark that you can't tell what time it is, or what the weather might be like outside for that matter. I *knew* we could split one "meal" but ended up ordering the cheese and chocolate package for me and a full meal for Allan (including meat). Fondue is GOOD but heavy. We were done eating by the time the meal was over. It was fun to have a "date" dinner before the baby and pretend to be romantic.


After dinner we headed out to see the Immortals at City North 14. While I am glad we went to a movie, it may or may not have been worth $30 (2x 3D movie tickets + parking). We put in Captain America and it put me to sleep AGAIN! I may ask for a copy of the movie for Christmas to use as a sleep aid.

Dammed if you do.....dammed if you don't

I had my "midwest baby shower" last weekend. It was a wonderful event that was well attended by family and friends. As I have said before, I continue to be amazed by the generosity of the people in my life. There was some drama on who to invite. On one hand, I wanted everyone to feel included and be invited, on the other other hand, I did not want people to feel I was trolling for presents (especially since I was married about six months ago and most people have ALREADY been very generous to me this year.) Adding to this, at almost 40, everyone in my life has been to NUMEROUS baby showers and I think most are "done" with them. After the first 20, they are not as fun anymore.

There ended up being about seven people who were "on the bubble". They are all people who I have been close to in the past but am not currently close to and/or have not physically seen recently. After asking several friends in the "friend groups" with these friends, only one of the seven ended up being invited (someone that I ended up seeing for coffee and explained the situation to.) In the course of my asking for advice, I received an two different emails that made me VERY gunshy about inviting anyone that was not currently a good friend/someone that I had not recently seen or contacted. Etiquette says that if you are invited, you should sent a present. Again, I did not want people to feel obligated to attend, or give a present. Given this, I decided to go "small".

Of course, pictures are now on Facebook and one of the friends who was not invited has already made a comment that makes me feel bad they they were not invited. I am sure I am the topic of some emails right now. ugh

Did I make the right decision? Should I have worked to keep this event off Facebook?

I am going to write a separate post on the actual baby shower that is not angst filled....

coffee catastrophe

So I decided to make coffee at home this morning a la Tabitha since I had the time, inclination, and all necessary ingredients. Allan nicely provided me with REAL 1/2 and 1/2 after I mocked him regarding his fat free 1/2 and 1/2 purchase.

I made the coffee, and then promptly dropped it on the sidewalk while walking to my car to go to work. Not to worry (I think) I have a Tassimo and 1/2 and 1/2 at work so I thought I'd just make another cup there. Great idea till I was in a hurry and dumped RANCID 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee. Yuck. The bummer is the 1/2 and 1/2 was still supposed to be good (per the date)! grrrr I then made ANOTHER cup with the only stuff I had left, sweetened coffee - which was to sweet. At this point, I am headed to starbucks (which I wanted to do anyway) and feel like I have wasted a TON of time and money. Now I have read a blog article that from 2-5 today holiday drinks at Starbucks are BOGO, so I am going do errands first and get coffee after 2pm (and save my BOGO for tomorrow).

I also decided to take a picture of the "penis candy" that was given to me at my baby shower last weekend from a German guest. I don't see it, but Allan could not stop laughing last night.


The baby dropped at some point yesterday, I think when I fell (not hard) walking home last night from my car. My center of gravity is COMPLETELY different and I have already slipped in the bathroom and crashed into a wall today. He is also sitting on my pelvis, which makes ANY movement VERY uncomfortable. eh - I won't be pregnant forever! My friends last night kept telling me how great I look - I feel crappy - at least I LOOK good!:)

Hump Day

Above is a picture of my lunch of choice these days. Unfortunately the Park Ridge Dairy Queen is seasonal and closes this weekend. I figure a blizzard is not the best lunch choice, but at least I am not eating it WITH a lunch!:)

My funk seems to be continuing this week. I am sleeping well but wake up out of sorts. I can usually get it together for the morning and early afternoon but then start dragging by the afternoon and am done for by evening.

Last night, I was supposed to meet with Uli but was NOT feeling well at work. Thankfully she was also available on Friday so I can meet up with her then. Even better, she is out of school by 4:00 so we can meet earlier (which is better). I spent the evening on the couch watching the Biggest Loser - which I think may have jumped the shark. Is it just me?

Plans tonight to meet friends at OTS and watch the Hawks game, plans tomorrow to meet a friend and go to the Time Out shopping thing. I hope I make it....

35 Weeks (and Counting)

I finally got my camera, charged battery, and myself all in the same room for some belly pictures. I've been feeling pretty emotional today and am not sure what is going on. For me, this pregnancy has been all about the physical symptoms, not the emotional ones so I was NOT happy with being teary and stressed.



Here goes writing to get it out so I can move on:

First: I was trying hard to "get stuff done" this morning. Laundry, loading the dishwasher, putting stuff away, moving stuff around, etc. The reality is that we don't have a big place and I just keep bringing more stuff in, which stresses me out.

Second: I was dogstalked this morning. River was so underfoot that I kicked him several times. While he usually follows me around, this level is ridiculous. I then started freaking out that he knew something I did not know and that I was about to go into labor. I wondered if Allan forgot to feed him. Now that we are at work, he is fine. Maybe he just wanted to go to work or get out of the house?

Third: I then started thinking about all the ways Allan and I are not ready for the baby, what is going to happen when the baby comes, what is going to happen after the baby comes.

Fourth: thank you notes....they keep piling up. It is so wonderful to have such generous people in my life, but I am stressed about thank you notes.

Fifth: It hit 1:00 and I realized I had to eat, but I already had heartburn and was nauseous. I was gagging while talking on the phone with a friend, nice. I did force myself to eat something, but only under duress.

Sixth: emails from my Mom. Need I say more.

Ugh - the good news is that I feel better, the baby is moving, and I have no BH (nor have I for a few days). I keep telling myself that the baby needs to keep growing and everything will work out......right?

Weekend Wrap-Up!

Ugh - I swear I am going to post more of what is going on during the week and then it never seems to happen! Also, even though I charged my camera battery, I have no pictures to post. Maybe I will be able to cut and paste some off Facebook....

Friday - I don't know where the day went. I had a kid in the morning, met Amy for pedicures at 11;15, took a nap, met Allan downtown for an OB appointment at 3:00 (all clear), walked through Nordies (still not interested in shopping), and met friends at Mercadito for dinner at 5:00. I've eaten there before but did not remember it being sooo good. My favorites included the chicken tacos, mexican street corn, and plantains. For dessert the five of us split a flan type dessert and chocolate/habanero cake. Yum, yum, yum. I only wish I could have had more than a sip of margarita! soon.


We all then walked over to the Oriental Theater for Rock of Ages. It was amusing and fun. The rest of the girls went out after the show for an 11/11/11 drink, but I drove Laurel home since I had to be up at 5:00am to drive Allan to the airport.

Saturday: 5:00 a wakeup call was brutal, but necessary to get Allan to the airport for a 7:00 am flight to San Francisco where he was meeting up with Ninna to drive up to Giny's wedding. I am glad he went but have missed him this weekend! Saturday was busy with yard work, a nap, a dog walk, and my "Midwest Baby Shower". Tammy was generous enough to host and I was showered with love and gifts. I loved the "high tea" theme and think/hope everyone had a great time. I made it home by 7:00pm and crashed HARD.

Sunday: yet another busy day today! I have been unloading the car, doing laundry, went to a play with Laura at Timeline, wrote 10 thank you notes, and ordered curtains for the baby's room. Now we just need to have them arrive and get Allan to hang them before the baby makes his appeareance.:)

Stand Up, Sit Down....

Whelp - I officially did to much yesterday and my body fought back.

Friday I drove to New Buffalo to meet up with Allan who was there for the day on a "math retreat". (yes, these are things I just don't really ask about). I left early with plans to hit the outlet mall on the way, traffic had other plans. As it was, I arrived at the Red Arrow Roadhouse in Union Pier, Michigan somewhat late and sat down to a new fun game. The people at the table each say the name of a move in in turn that everyone else has seen. The goal is to get to ten movies that everyone has seen. epic fail, I think the highest we made it was to three movies. It was fun though and something to keep in mind for future events with strangers at a table (well, I was a stranger, everyone else knew each other). Thankfully, traffic was fine on the way home and it took literally 1/2 the time for the return trip. We hit the sack.

Saturday we were up early and el'd it downtown for Allan to run the Hot Chocolate 5k. We hoofed it from the el, I then walked with a friend to get coffee who was running the 15k (which started 30 minutes later), walked back to the finish line (not the start), then walked to Buckingham Fountain to meet Allan, walked back to the el, had brunch at Glenn's Diner (yum, totally worth the hype) and went home. By the time we got to the front door, I was a mess. My stomach felt hard and tight and my pelvis hurt (I don't know how else to describe it).

My downfall was that it was a beautiful day. In Chicago ,when we get these days in November in Chicago there is this sense that you CAN"T waste them. So after a nap, Allan and I walked (slowly) into Lincoln Square to try to buy a book for Uncle Kent (they did not have it at the Book Cellar) and try on Vibram's at Fleet Feet (neither of us were sold). We stopped for a gelato at Pachiugo and sat on a bench in the sun eating (coconut for me, banana for Allan, vanilla for both of us).

Unfortunately, this was just to much exercise and put me over the edge. I walked VERY slowly home and needed to stop every few minutes to take a few breaths. It felt like my stomach was getting tight and squeezing While it did not hurt, it was not comfortable. When we got home, I immediatley lay down with some water and "encouraged" Allan (aka Mr. Energizer Bunny) to go get a haircut and see the Red Bull Snowmobile thing at Wrigley that we had printed out tickets for. I started writing down the times that my stomach was getting tight and hard - pretty consistently 4-5 minutes apart.

After two hours (and a period when I thought things were slowing down), I called the Dr. The fact of the matter is, it is to early for this baby to come out and while I did not want to go down to the hospital, I am willing to do what it takes for a happy, healthy baby. The Dr. on call was great. She said it was fine for me to hang out at home as long as things did not get worse and told me I had done the right thing in calling her and letting her know what was going on. We agreed on a plan of action and when I should call back/go to the hospital. Luckily, things did not progress and I am supposed to call early tomorrow morning to go see the Dr before my Friday afternoon appointment.

Today we headed up to Lake Forest for the day to meet up with N&B who were in town for the weekend. They were staying in the "tennis house" of this AMAZING estate off Lake Road. This place was crazy beautiful and huge with an indoor tennis court, guest houses, old overgrown outdoor grass court, gardens, and a main house across Lake St (on the lake side). Must be nice, I am glad I get to visit!

We picked up Aunt JT and headed to Onwentsia Club for a really lovely lunch. Aunt JT was good friend of Allan's mom and a charming lunch companion. I told Allan that I want to get to know his Lake Forest relatives better so I can take the baby up without him in the spring and build some connections. This is really the first baby of a new generation and people are thrilled. I am thrilled to have family close and we already have invitations to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since I won't be with my family, I am happy to be with new family!

After lunch we tried again to get a book for Uncle Kent (the bookstore was closed) and then dropped in for a quick visit. He looked good and it was a nice visit. He was thrilled to hear that Allan had been to Game 6 of the world series and wanted to talk about playing golf next summer. We drove back into the city (Allan drove, I napped) and I crawled into bed. Trying to keep the baby happy and don't want a repeat of yesterday! Must.keep.baby.healthy My lesson for the weekend is that I really have to take it easy. I know this, putting it into practice is not as easy for me. 34 weeks tomorrow - 2 more weeks till I am "full term".

AND...I MUST take some belly pictures this week....it is huge!

My Funny Husband

Who is usually funny only when he is not trying to be funny (and not when he is). Was making me laugh hysterically last night (Wed). The first awesoeme thing that he did was bring home pringles - which I ate and was then not hungry for dinner. No wonder my fingers are puffy today!

We are later sitting on the couch watching Modern Family and I am feeling the baby jump fairly rhythmically.
Susan: I think he has hiccups.
Allan: Who? River? (the dog)
susan: No you idiot, the baby! hmmmm this is facebook worthy.
Allan: You know, many of my friends on facebook don't know...
Susan: What? That you are an idiot? They are your friends, how could they not know?
Allan: *responds with finger gesture* laughing

I was in a good mood last night, have been in a pretty good mood this week.

You Know You are Pregnant When....

I bought a new waterproof matress pad becuse I have a tempurpedic mattress and am terrified my water is going to break in bed and ruin it (costing me millions). It took me no less than 15 minutes to change out the mattress pad and change the sheets this morning. I was so exhausted afterwards I had to lie down for another 15 minutes to recover.

epic fail

Cool and rainy here today. I am off to do some errands (office max, petco, ulta) before seeing some kids this afternoon.

Decaf coffee from Starbucks on the Clover machine is rocking my world today.....