Some random thoughts before I lose my mind to "pregnancy brain" ...

Time for a little update…

As I type, I’m 19-20 weeks along.  I’ve been told that “pregnancy agrees with me” – I guess all those jokes about have “child rearing hips” and “being big boned” and “made for having babies” are starting to prove positive for us.

I escaped my first trimester with not a hint of morning sickness, or any kind of nausea for that matter. I had a slight sensitivity to smells, but nothing that made me sick. About the only negative thing I can report is a runny nose and a penchant for sneezing at 20 times in a row at least once a day. So far, I’ve only gained 2-3 pounds, so I’m sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Or, maybe I’m carrying around a little mini-me, who will be born too early and very small. 

We have an ultrasound on Saturday, so another photo will be coming soon. And, no, we don't want to know the gender. We're both completely okay with the idea of having a child together and, until we meet our bundle of joy for the first time, I can't really say if I truly "want" a boy or a girl. I just want a happy, healthy family.

I did have a bonafide chest cold a few weeks ago, which isn’t fun at all when you’re pregnant. Fortunately, I was far enough along that I could take a Z-Pak. I was down and out for a few days, though being genuinely sick might have been just what the doctored ordered. After a last minute road trip to DC for my company’s winter briefing, contact with 400 people, being on my feet for three days, and getting absolutely no sleep, suddenly being relegated to my pajamas and the couch and bad reality TV didn’t seem so bad.

The house is coming along, slowly but surely. Nearly everything in sight is finished, though we are using the nursery as the final resting place for what remains to be sorted. We’ve been jokingly calling it the “nursery hoard.” Once we get those last few boxes of stuff put away—and, I’m not kidding – most of the boxes actually say “stuff” on them—we’ll be tackling the last and most enjoyable part of moving in: hanging our art. This has been my favorite moment in every place I’ve lived, and I’m sure it will be just as satisfying to finally see the walls of our home warmed up with the pieces of memories we’ve both collected and purchased over the years.

I’ve also been working on the baby registry. Baby registry. How weird is that? One day, you’re adding “must have” books and CDs to your cart; the next, you’re trying to decipher what exactly it means to have the “best” crib mobile and choose between swaddling clothes and figure out how many BPA-free pacifiers we need. It’s extremely fun, though, to be picking out Buckeyes’ onesies and tiny little hats and mittens and socks. I think this one is my favorite so far:

 

The nursery is sort of complete in our heads, and needs to be pulled down from style heaven. We have a hand-me-down crib that just needs some lovin’, plenty of beautiful re-purposed furniture, and have already sold a pile of our duplicate books to start our stockpile of classic children’s books. I’ve dropped about 1,000 hints to my parents that I want my mom’s bentwood rocker that she rocked me in. My dad recently informed Matt that I’ll have not one, but three choices of rockers, which, if you know my dad, seems somehow exactly apropos.

Otherwise, Matt and I are just plodding along, trying not to fret too much. Every once in a while I think the both of us temporarily panic about our child having some horrible disease of deformity. And there’s nothing very comforting about the idea of paying bills, PLUS a mortgage, AND the never-ending list of obligations that come along with parenting. At the end of the day, we are very much in love with each other and our new home. Honestly, I’m only worried about two things:

1. How we’re going to juggling three jobs between the two of us and raising a child
2. The cats jumping into the crib

Everything else will work itself out.

It's a bird! It's an alien! It's a baby Cooper!

For those of you who aren’t on Facebook or our speed dial or close enough for word of mouth…

…I’m pregnant! I’m due July 11, feeling incredibly healthy, and more than just a little excited. 

So much has happened since my last post. We limped our way through Thanksgiving and Christmas, and were able to be with the people we love the most. Moving closer to family was such a perfect decision. The holidays were a great time to be around friends and family, but we also had so much more going on, it felt pretty crazy at times. With two full-time jobs, I was working 70 hours some weeks. Matt started a new job at a company that provides specialty pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products, related services and targeted therapy management programs. And we were slowly, slowly telling folks about the bun in my oven. We broke the news to just our immediate families over Thanksgiving, and told the rest of the world after New Year’s.

After spending the worst week imaginable at the home office for job #1, I rushed home to finish up the semester for job #2. I had a few days off and then started with ASU’s spring semester, but this time with only two sections instead of four. 40 students versus 80 is a huge difference! Matt is settled in at the new job, still learning the ropes, but getting better every day.

I’m working out with a personal trainer twice a week and doing prenatal yoga. Matt is ready an expectant father book, and I’m following the growth of our newest family member via the wonderful BabyCenter emails. We do not plan on finding out the gender, but are already compiling a list of names for both. We kind of like the idea of meeting the little one before deciding. We’ll see how that goes!

In other news, I’m part of a 3-pronged pregnancy study, which provides a little extra money, some extra oversight for the baby, and a free Graco car seat! We have plans to go see the Suns play the Cavs in March. I’ve never really explored the Cleve, so I hope to visit with friends, eat good food, and have a nice local weekend vacation. We’re looking into maybe attending a Buckeyes basketball game as well. I guess focusing on sporting events is just a fun and easy way to bring out the road warriors for a weekend. We hope to take a little “babymoon” sometime in June, and maybe maybe do something relaxing for my birthday on July 5…if there’s no baby yet!

Otherwise, we will spend my second trimester finishing the never-ending task of unpacking, which was nearly impossible during our the hectic chaos that was November and December. As soon as we’re settled in, we have to get started on pulling together the nursery. Luckily, Matt already did some work on the room, stripping out the ugly chair rails and patching the walls, before painting it a comforting shade of campy green. We’d like to freshen up the ceiling and trim, and breathe new life into the built-in bookshelf. A friend of ours has a crib, we have a few odd pieces of furniture, and my parents have a stash of antiques that we might raid. I have confidence we will create a warm and loving space for baby Cooper.

We send our love to you and our home will soon be in shape to have open doors for visitors. We hope that you all are enjoying a happy and healthy start to 2012. Hugs!

1-Year Ago Today...

...I had back surgery.

Before surgery, I had the worst year of my life. I was in pain every day, which was just icing on the cake for a number of personal and professional issues. In fact, when I first arrived in Pittsburgh, I got ‘2010’ tattooed in Roman numerals on my wrist, so I could always remember that I made it through such a rough year, as a stronger and smarter person.

Since surgery, everything has changed. 

In April, my husband (then fiancée) and I quit our jobs and moved back east to Pittsburgh. I was deemed “fused” at an ortho here during my 6-month follow-up appointment. I finished eight weeks of physical therapy merely days before we left for our 2-week wedding extravaganza in up-state New York. We were married July 30. Shortly after Labor Day, we found the house of our dreams, and became homeowners in mid-October. Throughout the late-summer and early-fall, we took three mini-honeymoons. And, now we are embarking on starting a family of our own.

And I have done all of that without being in pain.

I was lucky enough to have a talented surgeon, Dr. Doerr, who is generally a wonderful person. From my first appointment to my last post-surgery follow-up in February (before we left AZ), I was treated with respect and kindness by Dr. Doerr and his staff. Every step of the way, I was comfortable and informed – two essential coping mechanisms. I even was able to help a teenage acquaintance here in Pittsburgh through her own journey with the same surgery by passing along some of the same information and wisdom I learned during my experience. I am incredibly happy that the path I took in 2010 lead me to Dr. Doerr. 

Today, I am whole again. Literally.

Our Kind of Town

I've already put in 10 hours between both jobs today, and moved as many boxes as I can - so I thought I'd write a blog about our trip to Chicago in October...

We flew in on a chilly, blustery night, and hopped on the Orange line. The trip from Midway to the Hotel Felix was uneventful. After we unpacked, we had some time to kill. Matt turned into an iron fool, ironing everything he brought in one fell swoop. Turns out our friends couldn't meet up. After one failed attempt to get pizza, we ordered a Chicago Classic from Lou Malnati's. It was less of a pizza, and more of a tower of flavors, with a dish of dough, a blanket of mozzarella, a river of tomatoes, and an entire layer of uninterrupted patty-style sausage. At 1am on a Thursday in Chicago, we tasted real pizza for the first time. Then, we passed out.

Friday started with coffee, fruit and pastries in the room. We headed out for a cool, brisk, 16-block walk to the Sears (well, it's Willis now, but I refuse to call it that) Tower. We waited in a line to get in the lobby then a line to watch a documentary then a line to get in the elevator then, finally, made it to the Skydeck. What a view! We even ventured out onto "The Ledge," a glass box that lets you walk out of the side of the building and look all the way down to the street. Even though the price was a bit steep and the wait was pretty long, the Sears Tower is totally worth it.

From there, we took a taxi to Navy Pier, where we walked and walked and walked some more, and then rewarded ourselves with a pumpkin beer and a Chicago dog at the Landshark beer garden. For dessert, we had stuff churros. That's right, you heard me: churros filled with chocolate and strawberry! We actually walked so much that I wore a hole in my sock and quickly developed a blister. I bought $7 men's Jameson brand dress socks at the Irish store at the pier, and we headed back to the hotel on foot.

Before heading out for the night, I helped Matt only sort of bomb his Excel test for temping. We went to a Chines/Japanese fusion restaurant called Jia's, and had an incredible dinner. Afterwards, we met our friends Caleb and Anjali at the Kingston Mines for some blues music and $27 cocktails. We saw Vance Kelly & the Backstreet Candy Lickers, and the main act, Big James & the Chicago Playboys. The music was awesome and Big James was big. There were people of all ages and colors and ages all together all at once to enjoy the night of music. We said our goodbyes, headed to the hotel, and had a 3am pizza - this one not worth noting, however.

Saturday was a somewhat lazy morning. We finally got going and hopped on a long, angry line of tourists to hop on the Chicago Trolley. We hopped off at the Chicago Theatre, and wandered around the theatre district snapping photos of old-school signs. We even saw a humungous, outside Picasso sculpture. Our line-jumping karma was quickly evened out by a crabby bus driver who claimed our tickets were invalid. We waited around forever, straightened out the nonsense, and then caught a ride to Millenium Park with Caleb and Anjali.

We saw Cloud Gate--or, better known as "The Bean"--had our second Chicago dog; walked around in circles and past and through Grant Park; sat by Monroe Harbor; parted ways again; took forever to find the trolley stop; and, finally hopped on - determined, this time, to not hop off again and to sightsee all that Chicago had to offer on the beautiful day. We cruised down Michigan Avenue, saw the Hilton and Sheraton and other gorgeous buildings, wove through museum campus, saw most of the Magnificent Mile, a larger-than-life Marilyn Monroe statue, and the Wrigley Building. We hopped off at the Water Tower to see Caleb and Anjali one last time. After saying goodbye for the last time, we caught our last trolly of the day, where, low and behold, the same grouchy bus driver awaited us. But, Shirley redeemed herself by letting us get off the bus near our hotel instead of at the actual stop.

We relaxed at the hotel for a bit, had a glass of wine, and headed out for dinner. I took Matt to Fogo de Chao for dinner. Although this restaurant is a carnivore's heaven, the salad bar is incredible in itself. As if starting with a city block of salad choices isn't enough, don't' forget the addictive warm cheese bread, crispy polenta, garlic mashed potatoes, and fried bananas. But, of course, the main event is meat, meat, meat, and more meat. If you haven't tried a Brazilian steakhouse before, make this your first stop. You will eat like Caesar. 

We took our dessert back to the hotel and turned around to head out for the last stop of the day: the John Hancock Building. Although we had to wait in another line, drinks at the Signature Room are a must. We ogled each other over wine and dim lights. I took in the best view of the city from the Ladies room. We finished the night with an un-metered cab ride, ESPN, and dessert.

Sunday started with breakfast at Yolk with our friend Shorty. This was another incredible meal. I surprised Matt with a 60-minute couples massage, and then we headed to the Shedd Aquarium. We found yet another long line to wait in, so we ate another Chicago dog and enjoyed the blue skies. Other than the foreigners behind us, who were standing inches away for entire wait and constantly bumping in to us, this aquarium is worth any kind of waiting in line. We wandered around for three hours, taking in all of the frogs, fish, seahorses, and jellies. We both became shutter bugs and happily snapped away all day.

We went back to the hotel, watched some football, and headed out for dinner. We walked to Gino's East, where we had a stupendous Caesar salad and a deep-dish that came in second to Lou's. The ambiance is worth the trip though, as every single square inch of Gino's is covered in names and messages and graffiti of all kinds scrawled on the walls. We finished the evening with one comically small sundae and the comforting rudeness of the diner wait staff at Ed Debevic's.

On Monday, we said goodbye to Chicago. Breakfast in the room...taxi to the Orange line...short trip to Midway...delayed plane...and back to the real world. Fortunately, even four hours of spirit-crushing, post-vacation errands couldn't ruin our day. That night, we received the keys to our new home. What a way to end our trip to Chicago!

wish i had arms like ganesh

wake up pack Matt's lunch go to desk early stare at computer screens skip lunch to cram in some grading call utility companies change address *again* rear-end brand new spitfire review estimate for damages drive loaner ford go grocery shopping do some grading pilates zumba personal trainer ignore aching knees thank god for pain-free back crank up heating pad do more grading find clothes for fall try on 500 pairs of shoes look for winter coat donate blood wait for no one to show up at online office hours conference calls skype calls emails emails more grading more grading endless dig up endless email attachments for mortgage plan for trip to chicago can't wait to see chris find time to paint 

patch the fireplace shim and plane the doors caulk the basement windows shop for area rugs refinish furniture grading grading grading grading grading grading stretch an evening with chuck palahnuik wake up at 4am for an all-day meeting in virginia submit second academic status report grading pilates sleep in steelers vs. patriots zumba personal trainer laundry groceries to do list move in visit with eamonn and gretchen watch the ravens lose? take a deep breath wade through november too remember that 2011 had more life, love and happiness that 2010 could have ever dreamed of hug matt