Thoughtfulness, Blessings, & Generosity

Last week hurricane/superstorm Sandy rolled through. Matt and I were very lucky that we didn't experience any damage to our house; in fact, we never even lost power, which was not typical. We had only a small amount of water leak into our basement, so we're very grateful that things weren't worse, especially when not too far away there was much more damage. Due to the storm, Matt and I were home from work last Monday and Tuesday, and one of those days we got a surprise in the mail. Actually, it was two surprises, in the form of gifts for baby Odin. We weren't expecting anything in the mail, so getting to open the two packages was sort of like Christmas (I mean, who doesn't like opening presents?)!

The first package we opened was from Kate and Alex, Matt's sister-in-law and brother, who live in Portland, Oregon, and have an adorable 17-month-old son named Mac. They randomly sent us this little outfit at which I can't stop "aww-ing." (The onesie says "Cuddle" on it in red letters.)



The ears! The feet! So much cuteness!

What a sweet and thoughtful thing to do to surprise us and provide an adorable little outfit for baby Odin. Since he'll be born in the winter, I'm sure he'll get to wear this a number of times, and I can't wait to take pictures of him in it.

Our next package was from an entirely unexpected source. A coworker of mine sent us a gift box (which contains an assortment of small baby items) from Citrus Lane, along with a 3-month gift subscription, which means we'll also be getting boxes in November and December! This coworker isn't someone who works directly with me - she doesn't even work in the same area as I do - but she is a real sweetheart; obviously she was under no obligation to think of us and do something so kind and generous, but she did and for that we are so appreciative. Here's what was in box number one:

It included a swaddle blanket, little lamb rattle, Bathtime Baby wash, gripe water, and a kit for making a hand/footprint keepsake. The fun part is that since we'll get a box monthly for the next two months, we'll get to be surprised twice more by what we find in the boxes. What a great way to try out different baby products! Hooray for having such generous and thoughtful people in our lives - we are very blessed!

Week 28: Overdue Musings and Art Update

Things have been busy, so I wasn't able to get it together enough to post last week. My most recent appointment with my midwife was a week and a half ago, and everything was right on target - my rate of weight gain, the measurement of my belly, and Odin's heartbeat were all perfect. Now, at 28 weeks pregnant, the weight gain is starting to show in my face, which is a bummer, but I really should just be grateful I went this long without my face blowing up like a balloon. Usually if I gain any weight at all, the first place it is noticeable is in my face, and unfortunately there's no disguising that.

The countdown is on - 12 more weeks before baby Odin is born. 12 more weeks of carrying around extra weight and bumping into things with my belly. I have to say, there are some pregnancy-related things I am looking forward to getting rid of, like back and sciatic pain, but I have really enjoyed pregnancy up to this point. I know I haven't hit the difficult/uncomfortable part yet and that it'll get worse before I give birth, but it has been a wonderful experience to see and feel Odin moving in my belly and to know that I'm protecting and caring for him until he is born. Plus, the whole pregnancy process is still so fascinating to me; it's bizarre and amazing.

While the nursery is still in a state of disarray, here's a look at the five canvases I painted to hang in there. As I said before, I am not very artistic at all, but I thought it would be fun to make some art for the nursery, just as a personal touch. I wanted something colorful but also simple, since my art skills are so lacking. I decided to pick up some cheap 8" x 10" canvases and paint background colors on them, then trace silhouettes of animals on them and paint them in different colors. It was pretty simple, but it took a bit of time since I had to go so slowly when painting the animals.

Here are the canvases with their colorful backgrounds (and a strategic photo-bomb by Oliver):

And here they are with the animals painted on them:

Not perfect, but the best I could do. Also, if you look closely in the upper right-hand corner, you'll notice a second photo-bomb, this time by Murphy.

There is nothing detailed about these animals, they are just the silhouettes, but I thought they'd be cute and add some color to the nursery. Matt thinks that because I deliberately painted the animals colors that they're not in real life that Odin will grow up thinking that elephants are green and giraffes are purple, etc., but I have faith that Odin will be able to figure it out.

New belly photo coming soon!

26 Weeks and Counting

I'm just checking in here; I am working on another post but it won't be ready for another couple of days. So in the meantime, here's a brief update for week 26.

Matt and I still haven't come up with a middle name for Odin. Honestly, we haven't even discussed it lately. Our calendars have been pretty full and I guess it's just not at the top of the priority list. But I'm sure we'll come up with something before the baby is born.

The nursery hasn't been painted yet; I still need to get all the stuff out of the room so we can paint the walls and then clean the floors. I've gone through some of the stuff in there (there are a lot of old papers in that room that can be recycled or shredded, so I wanted to go through those things and get rid of as much as possible), but there are still a number of boxes and small storage bins that need to be moved out.

A week ago I started the last class I'll take before I give birth. It's an 8-week class, so it will end just after Thanksgiving. While I am happy about knocking out another 3 credits before Odin comes, I am certainly not thrilled about having to manage school work while also trying to get things in order at home, not to mention getting ready for the holidays.

Speaking of getting things in order at home - I have just over a month before my baby shower happens AT MY HOUSE. That means there are a ton of things I want to get done before then, like small projects and a thorough cleaning, but also because there are likely to be enough people in attendance that I need to make my basement look decent as well as the main floor of the house (we're going to have to make it a two-story party!). This might not sound like a big deal, but my house is only one floor and the basement, so there is nowhere to store extra stuff that I might want to move out of the way. The house won't look perfect regardless of how much time I have to get it together, but I'll do the best I can to make it comfortable for guests - I hope they'll cut me some slack.

Odin has been very active the past few weeks, often making my stomach jump noticeably. Feeling him move is one of the few things I will really miss about being pregnant. It's just such an awesome experience.

As for me, I'm doing well except for near-constant back pain. It doesn't seem to matter what shoes I wear, how I sit, how often I stretch and move, it just hurts. And the pain wakes me up in the middle of the night, too, but that's not a huge deal since I usually have to get up to pee anyway. My belly is still looking the same as it did a couple weeks ago, so I'm not planning to do another belly photo until next week.

Coming soon will be a post about the five small, simple paintings I'm working on for the nursery. They are my very humble attempt at putting some personal art in Odin's room.

23-Week Update: A Look Back, Upcoming Sonogram, & Baby's Name

Tomorrow I will hit the 24-week mark in my pregnancy. It seems impossible that so many weeks have passed by already. It's strange to look ahead and think about all the things I need or want to get done before the baby comes. But it's even stranger to look back at my pregnancy experience thus far. I am so used to feeling the Peanut move now that I get paranoid if I don't feel him move for a while. I've gotten to the point where I've accepted the fact that I just can't lift heavy things and I need to ask for help when I'm working on something that requires more physical exertion than I can handle. Sleeping through the night is a completely foreign concept, and back pain is a daily nuisance. I don't mean to complain; I have not yet experienced anything that isn't completely normal in pregnancy, and I'm grateful for that. It's just interesting for me to think about the things that have shaped my pregnancy experience up to this point.

Speaking of hitting the 24-week mark tomorrow, I set up my next sonogram at work (which will most likely be the last one I have) for next Tuesday, September 25th. Just as I did when I was 10 weeks along, I have the opportunity to have a 3-D/4-D sonogram done here at the college. Now that I'm much farther along in my pregnancy, the images will actually look like a 'real' baby and not just a nub with arms and legs. I am, again, so excited for the chance to see what he looks like, and to just watch him move around.

Let us recall the images from previous sonograms:

8 weeks                                              10 weeks                                                    19 weeks

Who knows what the 24-week set of images will look like - all I care about is getting to see him! I will, of course, share images (and video, if I have one) here next week so you can all see him, too!

In other news, Matt and I finally agreed on a name for the baby (well, a first name - we're still working on a middle name)! We chose the name Odin. We like the way Odin sounds, and while it isn't especially common, we don't think it's especially weird either. For those of you who don't know, Odin is the name of a god from Norse mythology. In fact, he's Thor's father (I totally vetoed Thor for a name, but then suggested Odin instead). I've gotten some mixed reactions to the name (one person made a puzzled face and asked, "Is it a family name or something?"), but we love it and have been referring to him by name for about a week now. That's all the news I have for now, but check back next week for sonogram photos!

Advice, Opinions, and Judgments

As many mothers will tell you, and as I've found out firsthand, when you're pregnant you get judged. A LOT. People just can't seem to help themselves. It's like people think a pregnancy belly means open season on criticism. Pregnant women also get plenty of unsolicited advice and opinions. Granted, most people who share the advice and opinions have good intentions, but that doesn't always make it easy to listen graciously. I'm sure it's more difficult than I realize for mothers not to dole out advice to moms-to-be. I certainly don't claim to have all the answers about pregnancy and motherhood; I have asked my mom friends a million questions already, and they've been wonderful about answering them. I guess it's just that when the advice is unsolicited it seems to come across as a bit condescending (not always, but sometimes), which is frustrating because while I know I should just be grateful that someone is sharing their words of wisdom with me (or at least what they consider wisdom), at times I just want to tell them to stop talking. I know, not the right attitude on my part. I'm working on it.

Now that it's obvious to people that I'm pregnant, I've started getting some pretty interesting looks and comments when people see me with my morning cup of coffee. Quite a few people have looked at me disapprovingly while I'm holding my coffee cup. I don't let their judgments make me feel bad, but I will say it is a strange thing to receive such disapproving looks and to know exactly what people are thinking. For the record, pregnant women are allowed to drink a certain amount of caffeine each day. And not that it's any of their business, but I only drink one cup of coffee each morning, and each one is decaf. As in not caffeinated. So as far as I'm concerned, the coffee-related judgments are silly, and I refuse to walk around defending myself for having a cup of decaf in the morning. And just for reference, making comments in a disapproving tone of voice like "Oh...You're still drinking coffee, huh?" or "That baby is gonna come out hyper" or "Should you really be drinking that?" isn't likely to change anyone's behavior. It will only serve to make the commenter feel that they are somehow better than you, which is really what many (I would say most) judgments are about.

Speaking of judgment, this one really made me angry. I ran out to the grocery store recently and was standing in the checkout line when I noticed that the woman in line behind me was glaring at me. I mean really glaring; I swear I could feel her eyes burning holes in the back of my head. After a minute, I turned around and the following conversation happened:

ME: Can I help you?
HER: No. But I'm going to pray for you. (said in the most judgmental tone of voice possible)
ME (super annoyed): And why are you going to pray for me?
HER (looking at my belly): Well you've clearly gotten yourself into a bit of a 'situation.'

[At this point I noticed that she had also glanced at my left hand, and I realized that I wasn't wearing my wedding and engagement rings (I had taken them off to put lotion on and hadn't put them back on yet). Things were starting to make much more sense, but understanding where she was coming from only made me angrier.]

ME (in my very quiet, "I'm really mad" voice): Are you really so arrogant that you feel the need to pass judgment on people you don't even know? I'm 32 years old and have been married for 5 years; you're judging me for having a baby because you assume I'm unmarried? Who do you think you are? You think you're justified in judging me because you're religious? Well then I think you're going to hell.

OK, so here's the thing. I realize I was harsh with her and that perhaps I should've chosen a more constructive approach in my response. But the reason her comments made me so angry is because I thought, what if I was unmarried or what if I didn't have enough confidence in myself to disregard her comments? What if I took them to heart and let them really affect and hurt me? You all might not agree with me at all on this, but I thought it was wrong of her to say what she said. She just wanted to look down her nose at someone. I honestly hope she doesn't do that to anyone else in the future.

I just needed to get that stuff off my chest - if any of you are ever feeling particularly judgmental, please consider keeping it to yourself. You might have the situation all wrong, and even if not, what result are you trying to achieve by sharing your criticism?

Next week I'll have a new belly photo as well as another post, so check back (not all of my posts are as negative as this one)!

Random Pregnancy Things...

This weekend is Labor Day weekend, and as I mentioned in a previous post, Matt and I will be going out to western Maryland to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. It has been so long since we've taken a vacation that we're really excited about this little 3-day jaunt. Since I won't be posting again until next week, I thought I'd throw together a list of random pregnancy-related things that you might find interesting, amusing, or just weird. Besides, who doesn't love a good bulleted list?

• My belly hasn't really changed since last week, so I don't have an updated belly photo.
• Matt was able to put his hand on my belly and feel the baby kick for the first time on Saturday.
• The other day my Dad referred to the baby as Mr. Peanut, which is totally appropriate and made me chuckle. I couldn't help but picture the baby with a top hat and monocle.
• I haven't had any cravings for weird foods or food combinations; I craved bagels early on, but the most consistent craving I've had has been for salad (who 'craves' salad when pregnant - why not chocolate?). I think my cravings are boring and need to step up their game.
• Since I became pregnant, Oliver (one of our dogs) has changed the way he snuggles up to me on the couch. Before, he would lie down beside me and smush himself against my leg, but he wouldn't actually be on my lap. Now he sits his butt next to me but lays his head on my belly. He never did that before, but has done it pretty consistently since I've been pregnant. It could very well be a coincidence, but I have to wonder if he can hear (or just sense) that there's a baby in there.
• My two pregnancy complaints right now are back pain and insomnia. The back pain is a combination of sciatic pain and muscle spasms in my lower back. The insomnia is frustrating because I haven't yet figured out the secret to sleeping more than a few hours a night. I can sleep just fine during the day, but they frown on that at work.
• Two people at work were asked to take over my Curriculum and Instruction responsibilities while I'm out on maternity leave. They both declined. I can't say I blame them.
• We still haven't decided on a name for the Peanut. Matt suggested Thor, but I said no.

I'll post again next week. Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Nursery Musings

In recent years, it seems like the trend for creating a nursery has been to excessively design the room, making it an elaborate production that often epitomizes form over function. Look through a magazine and you'll see massive cribs, huge wall murals/stencils/decals, and ridiculously overdone themes (often the baby's name is on a wall somewhere, too). And I'm not just talking about celebrity nurseries; 'regular' parents are putting in the time, effort, and money to create over-the-top nurseries. Yeah...I'm not doing that. Need an example of what I'm talking about? Here are two.

Oh for crying out loud.

I understand wanting to prepare the baby's room and make it comfortable, and that decorating the nursery is an exciting and emotional process. I also understand wanting to create a space for the baby that is soothing and calming, yet also engaging, inspiring, and stimulating. But it seems like parents-to-be (especially the moms) feel that not elaborately decorating their baby's nursery must mean they don't care enough. It's as if they need to prove to other people, to themselves, and/or to their future child just how much of a caring parent they are, and they feel that the nursery they provide is a reflection of their love and dedication. Are these super-fancy nurseries cute? Sure, but really, how much of the nursery's decorative merits are actually judged - or even noticed - by a baby? And how much time does a baby actually spend in the nursery when he/she isn't sleeping? I'm not suggesting that there's something wrong with decorating, I just think the "norm" had shifted to an excessive level.

Because a nursery just isn't complete without A CAROUSEL.

But lately I've noticed that many people seem to be getting on board with the idea that a fancy or elaborately designed nursery isn't a yardstick by which to measure how much you love your baby. It looks as if parents are now becoming more focused on creating a highly functional space that is still comfortable and provides visual stimulation for when baby is awake. This approach resonates with me. I'm pretty sure my attention and affection will matter more to my child than whatever hangs on the walls of his/her room.

Since the nursery I'll be decorating is very small, my focus will be on organization and keeping it as simple as possible. I plan to use either a mini-crib (normal crib, just smaller dimensions) or a very simple and streamlined crib in the space (I'm still debating which I'll end up with). A low dresser will serve double-duty as a changing table, and rather than a massive glider and ottoman in the corner, I'd rather have a simple, clean-lined (perhaps a bit modern) rocking chair for those middle-of-the-night nursing sessions. The walls will likely be gender-neutral - probably green, beige, or gray (though I already have a lot of gray in my house since it's my favorite color, so gray might get tossed from consideration) - and I plan to provide visual interest by choosing some great art for the walls, an area rug to cover the hardwood floor in the middle of the room, and some fun curtains. Other than the crib, dresser, and chair, the only other furniture will probably be bookshelves for storage (and books). There won't be an adorable hamper with woodland creatures on it, just a couple of small plastic laundry baskets that will live on the floor in the closet. Speaking of the closet, I plan to use some organizing products to get things as neat as possible, and put a disc light in there so I'll be able to see.

At this point, those are my ideas. Basic, yes, but I hope to make the nursery a functional space without too much furniture or unnecessary stuff packed into it. Going forward I'll report back to let you know if I have accomplished any of this successfully!