Posts filed under 'Family'
I am now in week 34 of my pregnancy. I am round and beginning to waddle. Brian did an impression last night at dinner of me walking to the bathroom half asleep in the middle of the night and my sister asked, “Why does she look like Frankenstein?” Ha ha, very funny.
The time seems to be slipping away quite quickly, and I have a crapload of stuff to do still. Today I spent an enthralling hour trying to decipher the forms that I have to fill out for my state disability leave. Yes, it is called disability leave, something I am still trying to grasp. Since I don’t have a single employer who provides maternity leave, I have to file for payment throught the state. However, as with anything else in which the government is involved, it is confusing as hell. I made the mistake of actually calling the toll-free number and asking some polite questions, but that didn’t go over very well. Mrs. Davis, as she introduced herself, sounded like I was interrupting her manicure and how dare I risk her cracking a french tip! It was almost as fun as that time I called the Social Security office, but that’s a story for another day.
It is bloody hot again, which really doesn’t help my state of mind. Lucy and I are locked away in the air conditioning today and I refuse to come out until the sun has gone down. She, however, would love to go out and bask in the sun if only I would let her. Crazy biatch. The baby keeps getting bigger, which is of course a good thing, but is now pressing down on my lungs a bit so breathing is not such a fun and easy task anymore. Let’s see….what else can I complain about? Hmm…I fear that if I get into anymore detail about my physical discomfort, things may get a bit too, how you say, graphic. So, let’s just move on, shall we?
One thing I have accomplished in the past week was I READ A BOOK! What a novelty, having time to read. Granted, much of that time was found on breaks from scoring Cinderella 3 (direct-to-video, of course). I read Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Steven Dubner. It was incredibly interesting and I was surprised at how quickly I tore through it. Thanks to my friend Charlie for recommending it, lending me his copy, and not bitchslapping me when I told him I had lost it. After my success with this book, I decided to compile a post-partum reading list. I figure I’ll be taking 3 months off from work and be stuck at home a lot, so maybe I’ll do some more reading? (I can almost hear the laughter from the experienced mommies out there.) Anyway, this is what I have so far:
The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth (just started this one)
Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell
My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
and of course, the requisite baby book:
The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer, by Harvey Karp M.D.
That last one was recommended by the teacher of our childbirth class-of course I don’t know if I’ll need it yet, but I figured better safe than sorry. (Depending on how things go, that one might get bumped up on the list.) If anyone out there has read any of these titles and has opinions to share, I would love to hear them. And more recommendations are always welcome. I might just be able to fight my late-onset illiteracy after all.
August 24th, 2006
It’s 3 a.m. and here I sit yet again, wide awake in front of the computer. This whole not sleeping in the middle of the night thing is getting old, I have to say. At least I have the comfort of knowing that once the baby comes I will be so tired that I should be able to sleep standing up in a moving bus if I want to. Wow, now there’s something to look forward to.
In other news, I have been trying to get myself geared up for life post-partum since it is just around the corner. I decided that maybe it was time to stop indulging my need for nightly cartons of ice cream as that will not be so helpful in getting my body back in shape after the birth. Also, every time I go into the supermarket and get in line with 4 pints of Ben & Jerry’s, I can’t help but feel like a bit of a cliche (pregnant woman, ice cream, all I need are some stupid pickles and to be in tears, constantly). So, we’ve switched to Skinny Cow desserts for now and I m trying to increase the walking I do every week. I’ve gotten back into using my Polar watch and heart rate monitor. If nothing else, it keeps me interested in walking becuase I get to come home, input the information into the computer and geek out over all the little charts and graphs it spits out. I know it will be a little while still before I’m running again but this helps me feel like I’m at least doing something.
My allotted 2 hours of sleeplessness are coming to a close. Hopefully no more posts tonight, only anxiety dreams about forgetting to change the baby’s diaper for 16 hours.
August 20th, 2006
I’m in the home stretch now, one more week until my recital. Things have been going pretty well, not counting the minor meltdowns I have every so often. It is great though when those moments happen to be able to blame them on pregnancy hormones and be done with it. Who/what is going to assume responsibility once I have this kid?
Speaking of kids, I am not the only one who has a big event next weekend. Lucy is registered to compete in the annual Nuts for Mutts Dog Show in Woodland Hills. Nuts for Mutts is a big fundraiser for New Leash on Life, an organization that rescues dogs and helps to find them new homes. And it is an opportunity for us proud owners of mutts (also known as All-American dogs, according to our dog trainer) to force their dogs to compete for prizes. Last year, we found out about the show pretty late and the only category still open was Best Dressed (that and best Chihuahua Mix, but we didn’t think she could pull that off, even with the ears). Oddly enough, my dear husband has had some experience dressing up our animals so we decided to go for it. Here is her outfit:
Isn’t she stunning? Make sure to look at the larger size of the picture so you can see the pearls around her neck (yes, they are fake…I’m not THAT crazy). Sadly, we didn’t realize the extent to which the other competitors would go to win the category. There was a dog dressed as Pinocchio with his owner dressed as Gepettto, a little pup with a spiked collar, kilt, punk t-shirt and green mohwak and, my personal favorite, the three-legged dog dressed as a pirate with a peg-leg. So, Lucy didn’t get out of the qualifying round and there was much sadness. When she got home that night, she smashed her pearls, threw herself on her pink canopy bed in tears and refused to play with her Barbies. Her only consolation was that we promised to enter her in multiple categories this year and play to her strengths.
This year she is registered in Most Beautiful, Ear-esisitible Ears, and Mystery Mutt. I can’t go to the qualifying rounds next Saturday because that’s the day of my recital and I will have to sit around at home and “relax”, but if she advances to the finals we all get to go on Sunday, including my mother who will be in town and forced to attend (hilarious).
Yes, I am crazy. But at least it is all for a good cause. Honestly, on Saturday the 29th I’m not sure what I will be more nervous about-my recital or Lucy’s big show. If she wins a ribbon, I told her she can retire early.
April 22nd, 2006
I have been a bad blogger. Honestly, I have been too busy to even think straight lately, let alone put together cohesive sentences. Spring is always crazy for musicians, I’m not sure why-maybe spring is just crazy for everyone? It seems like all the work I would love to have spread out evenly over the course of the year lands in my lap for the months of March, April and May. I’m not complaining, I am very happy to be a working musician, it would just be nice if I didn’t have to pull a couple of 12 hour days this week when back in November I was sitting around on my ass. Whatever, enough complaining…on to the good stuff.
Adding to all of my confusion lately (and the explanation for my non-running status) has been the fact that I am PREGNANT. It is very exciting, and something Brian and I have wanted for a while. This will be our first child, not to mention the first grandchild for both our families so needless to say, this kid will be one spoiled little brat. We are very happy, but I have spent the last few months being very, very tired which has made it hard to get a lot of work done. I think it is slowly getting better (I am officially in my 2nd trimester now) but I know there is a long road ahead.
I had really hoped to keep running through my first trimester, but it was amazing to me how clearly my body asked me not to. I just can’t do it. Not to mention that now that I have a heart rate monitor, I have discovered that with only brisk walking, my heart rate sometimes goes up to about 150! How crazy is that? I hope my heart doesn’t explode one of these days when I’m doing something really strenuous like buying groceries.
Anyway, there it is, my big news that I have been keeping from all of you (all five of you) for the last three months. I assure you, this will not turn into a baby/pregnancy blog-I’m not ready to go down that road. But at least I can regale you with tales of my constant weight gain and non-stop eating. I’m pretty sure there will be some good material in there.
April 1st, 2006
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