Saturday, February 27, 2010

seven quick takes

Friday Quick Takes!

1. I've had my iPhone for about a year, but I feel like I really USE it now. Just all of the sudden it really clicked how I could unleash some of its power to make my life a bit easier and entertainment filled. I think it's mostly that being on bed rest or just being exhausted means I'm laying down and bored and I've suddenly discovered a bunch of cool apps and how to feel comfortable browsing the web. And I'll go ahead and say I get what the appeal of the iPad is (except they totally should have named it the iSlate or iTablet) but I wont' be buying one any time soon. It would be kind of nice to have a bigger screen with the same dynamic experience to be able to really read in bed but how much longer will I be stuck slash have the time to enjoy it?

2. All I'm doing these days is hanging out at home growing a baby or going to doctor appointments to check to make sure the baby is still growing. This is supremely boring and what is even more frustrating is that although I have time and my own vehicle and whatnot, trying to venture out for much more than a doctor appointment wipes me out. And apparently when I come home and lay down again I snore loud enough for my mom to hear in the kitchen. I digress. Boring. I am bored bored bored. Also I have nothing to talk about with anyone because all I do is stay home and hope my blood pressure levels off and the baby is just fine. Not that no one is interested in that, but it doesn't make a very interesting conversation for very long.

3. In roughly less than a month, it is highly possible that my sister and I could be sitting in my parent's living room each nursing a baby.

4. I LOVE THE WINTER OLYMPICS. I get caught up in whatever sport is airing. I don't quite understand curling but I'm getting there... And I have to say short track speed skating is totally my favorite. I love getting to see the background stories on athletes and rooting for people and seeing history be made. I didn't realize there were so many winter sports that I enjoyed! Summer Olympics are an easy draw for me but I now simply and firmly LOVE THE OLYMPICS.

5. Pregnancy symptoms that caught me by surprise that I'm pretty much over: carpal tunnel syndrome, an endlessly stuffy nose, and ever expanding feet. I have high hopes that a few months after Baby C comes out to play that these will at the very least calm down. I'm really hoping my feet aren't going to stay exactly this big because it's going to be kind of difficult to find cute shoes and socks but I'm resigning myself to the idea that they won't shrink too much just in case. And the carpal tunnel syndrome really has got to go. The stuffy nose is bearable, just kind of obnoxious at night especially.

6. Bare bones honestly, I sit in my room with the tv on or a book open and my mind drifts and I start thinking about my friends. I start wondering what happened to all of them. I used to have a bunch in California and a bunch here in town and with the exception of a precious few (T and B, I'm looking at you), if I don't initiate conversation or hang out time, it doesn't happen. I understand that everyone has their own stuff going on and some schedules are less forgiving than others because I've totally been there. I just find myself wondering how much is me being overdramatic because I'm stuck at home with pregnancy hormones pumping through my system and whether or not really cleaning house on Facebook is reasonable right now. How do you ask people to please talk to you or hang out with you without just being lonely and needy? Or is that just okay sometimes?

7. I honest to God fall more in love with Ki on at least a weekly basis if not daily. Sometimes it's really specific things (him gushing over baby shoes, back rubs without being asked, his excitement about playing poker) and sometimes it's just getting to lay next to him at night or that we have matching wedding bands that we each loath taking off for any extended period of time. I had no idea that I'd marry him when I first met him or even through the first part of our relationship. But I count myself blessed every day to have him in my life, for us to have formed a family, and for there to be a baby about to join us.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

humpday happiness

A list of things making me happy this week...

...watching a ridiculous amount of movies.
...Facebook
...my mom buying clothes for the baby with coordinating accessories
...my husband's reaction to itty bitty baby shoes
...the amazing amount of use I've gotten out of my bath robe. Excellent purchase.
...brisket, even if I still feel hungry later on
...corn beef and cabbage
...THE OLYMPICS
...Ki's fascination with curling
...new episodes of Family Guy and King of the Hill on Adult Swim
...a handful of new maternity shirts. I may be almost done but it sure is nice to have some not the same old clothes to wear!
...the realization that if you don't pluck your eyebrows for awhile, it's unlikely anyone will actually SAY anything about it
...pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome either easing up or me getting used to it
...saving money
...sparkling water! Yay for sparkling water!
..."arguing" about baby names
...reading
...more cold weather!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

insert olympic theme here

Sorry for the dead air around here. I was sick with a cold for a little bit (now I just passed that around the rest of my family, what a good sharer am I) and now I'm on bed rest. I think new posts are going to be hit or miss for a little bit around here but I will try to work on it. But here's a little update anyway!

Bed rest is not as awesome as it may sound. My blood pressure had been fantastically low until last week. I take it at home twice a day and write it on a log for the doctors to see so I'm very aware of it. It just started creeping up for no particular reason. Well except for the part where I'm pregnant I guess. It didn't seem super worrisome to me because my blood pressure has definitely been higher in the past. But when I went to the high risk doctor for my weekly non-stress test, the bottom number was pretty high. I didn't really think anything of it until they came in to take my blood pressure again after I'd been sitting in the recliner listening to the baby for awhile and then I knew something was up.

So I was in the ultrasound room with my husband and sister-in-law and my favorite ultrasound technician and two people came in to tell me that because of my blood pressure I need to be on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy. I couldn't help it, I started crying. The baby had been super wiggly while we were doing the non-stress test and basically uncooperative and I was really tired. And also I don't know if I've mentioned this but I cry ALL OF THE TIME. Commercials, Olympic events, text messages, a passage in a book... It's ridiculous. It just took me by such surprise because despite being told at the beginning of my pregnancy that I could die or the baby could die or we could both die, things have been pretty non-eventful. Outside of the insane morning sickness that lasted two trimesters and getting put on medical leave I guess. I had started to think I was going to make it to the end without any of the awful scenarios they lectured me on at the beginning.

I've been getting headaches about every other day and although they haven't been violent, they are apparently related to the blood pressure. So I have a list of symptoms I need to call the doctor for should they pop up and I'm to spend more time laying down than up moving around. My blood pressure has to level off or go down because the next step is a hospital stay or being induced.

If I can hold on for two more weeks, the baby is considered full term. And actually the baby is doing great! S/he weighs 5 lbs 13 oz and most often you aren't allowed to take the baby home from the hospital until they hit five pounds. Also s/he has been making breathing movements for at least three weeks and has continued to grow like gangbusters, all of which indicate a happy and healthy kid in there.

It's difficult to just stay down. There are baby clothes to be washed, sorted, and put away. There are boxes in my room that need to be packed up again and taken to the storage unit so it doesn't look like such a ridiculous disaster area in there. I like to cook things that are involved. And I like to not be stuck in the house.

To anyone who is working outside the home, I'm sure mandated bed rest sounds like a fantastic idea. If I was still working, I'm sure being at home would make my blood pressure drop pretty nicely. But now I'm just at home and limited on what I'm allowed to do. The part where it's not super specific is frustrating to people around me, I'm sure. I get it and I know my blood pressure and what it means. Also, my due date isn't for five weeks and I have at least one doctor appointment a week until then so things could (probably will?) change. I'm not sure that I was officially diagnosed with preeclampsia, but I'm at least on the very edge and it's not something to mess around with.

So, all in all, I'll be at home. Visitors are fine! Especially if you want to bring some magazines, a movie, or a book for me to borrow. :) Thank heavens the Olympics are on. I think I might just try to have all my babies where the Olympics are on at the very end because it is fantastic to be able to watch so much of so many different sports I don't necessarily know anything about.

Friday, February 5, 2010

recipe: stuffed jalapenos

Oh so delicious, relatively easy, and any time you make them people will be impressed. I can practically guarantee it!

KICKASS STUFFED JALAPENOS

Ingredients:
approximately 15 jalapenos from the produce section at the grocery store
16 oz of Jimmy Dean original sausage
8 oz of cream cheese
2 cups of Italian style shredded parmasean cheese

Crumble sausage and fry up in a skillet. Drain the grease after the sausage is cooked all the way through.
Combine the sausage, cream cheese, and 1 1/2 cups of parmeasean cheese.
Set aside.

Cut the jalapeno peppers in half, length wise. You may need gloves to avoid being burned by the oil from the peppers.
Depending on how spicy you want the end result to be, scoop out the insides of the peppers. The more seeds you leave in, the spicier. And there is a vein that runs through the pepper that if left in will also contribute quite a bit of heat. Scoop everything out entirely for the mildest possible result.
Spoon sausage mixture into each jalapeno half.
Sprinkle remaining parmesean cheese across the tops of the stuffed peppers.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. When the peppers go from bright green to more of an olive green color, they are done. The filling should be hot all the way through and the peppers should be soft rather than the firm you started with.

Serve! Excellent with a nice cold beer.

Don't expect to have any left over! I have made a small amount and I have made a LARGE batch and they will all be eaten. Make sure you allow time to bask in the compliments.

seven quick takes

Friday Quick Takes!

1. I'll just start with the one that is probably TMI: I miss peeing like a normal person. I have to go to the bathroom ALL OF THE TIME but it's never for a really satisfying session. A little tinkle and that's it which is ridiculous for the amount of pressure I feel down below driving me to waddle my way into the bathroom. At night especially I don't even flush every time because I feel like it's a waste of water to only flush that much down the toilet. You know those times when you feel like your bladder is going to BURST and you go to the bathroom and you kind of wished you timed your stream because you're so impressed with yourself? I miss those days terribly.

2. Baby shower tomorrow! I'm really excited because I think it will be a fun afternoon and I like it when people gush about my baby. S/he is already adorable and it makes me happy that other people think so too. So yay for a whole afternoon of food, games, and gushing about Baby C!

3. My niece and I had a long conversation last week about how the baby pees and it comes out when I pee, but the baby won't poop until after s/he is born (hopefully anyway). I think the next question is how is that baby going to get out of me. I'm hoping my sister will head me off at the pass for this one.

4. I like to think of myself as a pretty smart girl. I will say trying to apply for any kind of government assistance is ridiculously confusing. At my first WIC appointment, they suggested I apply for everything else I could get information on because you just never know. We desperately needed SOMETHING and it ended up that moving in with my parents has filled a lot of those gaps. But, this was in November and I'm just now getting letters in the mail about different things I may or may not qualify for and none of it is particularly straightforward. Sometime I'm going to write a whole big ass entry about this because even if it makes people uncomfortable, I think they should know the whole "welfare system" sucks big time.

5. My friend Mike asked if I would like to contribute to a web site he was starting called Tangentopia. I excitedly accepted and have thought of a few things to write and post on there but have also kind of drug my feet a little bit on the actual posting. I'm such a chicken. I am super thrilled to get to write for something besides myself but it's also scary. I need to sack up and just do it. But if you don't mind, click on over there and comment on stuff. Tell us what you'd like to see there too.

6. I am pretty scared about the first six weeks after the baby is born. What is it going to be like? Will I have good instincts? What about sleep? If I have post partum depression, how will I know and how long will it last? Will I be able to stick up for myself and my child and take on the role of motherhood right away? The only thing that doesn't worry me is what Ki will be like. So I guess it's not all awful. Words of encouragement would be accepted gratefully though.

7. Superbowl Sunday is coming! I could not care less about the actual game but I enjoy the over the top commercials. Ki and I are going to the house where he plays poker every week. I thoroughly enjoy that group of guys so I'm looking forward to the company. And also the food. I have never had a bad meal at that house and will honestly rearrange my schedule if I'm invited over for something involving food. We are bringing stuffed jalapenos and something else that's safe for me to eat in case the rest of the meal is also jalapeno themed. I just haven't decided what yet. All I know is I need to BEFORE Sunday because I don't want to go near the grocery store.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

humpday happiness!

Wahoosie, a list of happy things from this week!

...NSTs for the baby--it's nice to sit in a room for an hour with my husband and listen to the baby's heartbeat. Good thing I don't mind since this a weekly event now!
...hot showers.
...watching tons of episodes of The Office in no particular order
...if I take my wedding ring off at night before I go to bed, I can wear it the whole day long.
...Ki thinking it was funny when I fell asleep on his chest and maybe drooled a little
...a GORGEOUS wedding present from my aunt and uncle that arrived in THREE BOXES. I cannot wait to figure out what to cook with all of my new awesome cookware!
...SPARKLING WATER
...coming up with ideas of things to post to www.tangentopia.com where I get to be an editor (as soon as I actually post something anyway)
...using my Blockbuster Online membership
...checking books out from the library
...text messages, especially when I have conversations with three people or so at a time
...long phone conversations with my cousin. It's fun being pregnant at the same time as a relative!
...being almost done with setting up the baby's room
...playing around with makeup
...the rain!
...a wonderful crazy generous gift from T arriving in the mail
...long conversations with my six year old niece
...watching my husband get more and more excited about the baby being born soon
...BABY SHOWER ON SATURDAY!
...watching Teen Mom and then reading the bulletin boards on www.televisionwithoutpity.com--I can't help myself
...Arby's
...Stand-up Show Down on Comedy Central
...my nephew asking "Auntie, can you make this baby a boy please?"
...watching High Stakes Poker on Sunday nights
...Mug Root Beer
...LOST IS BACK!
...Prilosec
...following Sesame Street on Twitter