A Baby Sprinkle

Come and enjoy food, friends, and games! This is Baby #2 for Rahim and Mary, so just a "sprinkle" of gifts will do. Your "presence" at the celebration is more than enough! Sunday, October 25, 1:00PM

I hope someone who reads the invitation (on Evite) appreciates the play on words. I worked hard on it!

Because this is baby #2, I do feel weird about having an official "baby shower." We're not starting from scratch - like we don't need a stroller, a wipes warmer, a diaper genie, etc. I'm thinking we do diapers, onesies, blankets, and cloths - all of that basic stuff in pinks, purples, yellows, and greens. Otherwise, this baby girl will be decked out in blues and browns. In terms of ettiquette, I wasn't sure if we should register for gifts or not; I did anyway, at Babies"R"Us. Making a registry, even if you don't get most of it, is pretty fun. It's like making a christmas wish list or window shopping.

Right now, I want this baby to be born more than anything.

Big, Bigger, Biggest

Okay, here I am at 32 weeks and 4 days. The odd thing is that I may have "lost" weight during this pregnancy. I've only gained about 15 pounds and most of that is the baby, who is about 4 lbs. Bring on the cookies and ice cream!

Not too big looking from the front...

But a first glance can be deceiving...


Please ignore any stretch marks... I think your skin would stretch too!


Baba always says "baby" when he points at my belly. I hope he'll be ready for when the baby arrives!


Except for the logistics, R and I are ready. We can't wait to meet this little girl!

Saturday Afternoon

My sweet tooth is kind of out of control these days. It's a good thing I haven't started my post-pregnancy weight loss yet. I'll be sad to restrict my intake of Nutella, ice cream, cookies, and cake. It's gotten so bad, I have even been eating sugary cereal or adding sugar to my "healthy" cereal. At work, there always seems to be cake or donuts to celebrate someone's birthday or some type of accomplishment. The Krispy Kreme donuts are irrestible, pregnant or not.

While waiting in my doctor's office yesterday, I read a recipe for cream cheese and raspberry brownies. I don't usually bake desserts myself, but I might just try this. I'll use a pre-made brownie mix and add the cream cheese and raspberry "topping." Yum.

It's raining and Baba is taking his nap. I'm about to enjoy a bowl of delish strawberry ice cream with chocolate "freeze" shell. Remember that stuff?

Weighing to Simply Be

As I'm sitting around on my proverbial nest with this baby, I am fantasizing about losing weight and fitting into cute clothes. I have already stopped looking at clothes when I go to the store, vc since pretty much nothing normal will fit me nowadays. Even some of my plus-sized tops are pretty snug against my enormous bump. I do have enough maternity and well-fitting tops and bottoms anyway. It's the one time in my life when everything is pretty much cute, whether it's loose or bump-hugging.

After the baby is born, I hope to get back to my lowest weight. It will help, I hope, that we'll be living with my MIL. Her neighborhood isn't the safest necessarily, but I hope I can go jogging a couple times a week at least. Otherwise, I will drag my butt to the gym in the pre-dawn hours. Also, she owns a treadmill that I might take advantage of. I am determined to really lose the weight this time.

Of course, it's easier nowadays to look stylish when you're plus-size. Stores like SimplyBe offer ladies of any size up-to-date outfits and accessories. I especially like their jacket and skirt collections. I can't wait to receive their seasonal clothing catalogues. Whether you're ordering online or ordering through the mail, you can look sharp in no time. And when I'm a few sizes smaller, I'll feel even more comfortable and confident.

Flood, Flood, Go Away

Rain and rain and more rain. It had actually been raining for so long, since the previous weekend, it seems, I didn't know anything was wrong when I woke up Monday morning. It's not my habit to watch the morning news or any tv before I head out to work, so I'm lucky my MIL sent me a text around the time I usually wake up. She warned me that the major intersection I usually drive through to work was flooded and traffic was backed up. I made up an alternate route in my mind and went back to sleep. Then I got another text saying my school district was delaying opening. I finally rolled out of bed and turned on the tv in the living room. After watching a bunch of commercials and not really absorbing any news about flooding, I saw that my school district had announced it would open two hours late. Ha-ha! More sleep.

I reset my alarm and snuggled up to my hubby under the blanket. About an hour later, I woke up to start getting ready. I knew there would be delays and didn't want to be late. I turned the tv on just to be sure and make sure nothing else had changed. Well, lo and behold! My district's schools would be closed for the day!

What happened over the course of the day would become national news, with interstates downtown flooding, people losing their lives trying to cross flooded areas in their cars or on foot, and boats rescuing people from their homes. I literally sat sometimes with my mouth hanging open and my eyes bugged out. I just can't believe the flooding and the damage. I feel so fortunate that our neighborhood did not flood, we didn't lose power, and we're all safe.

In the meantime, two days sitting around the house have been good for me and the baby. I got a lot of laundry done, played a lot with Ishmael, and basically stayed off my feet. I pulled out a knitting project - a baby blanket - I started making when I was pregnant with Ishmael.

My mind turns now to my students and how I can support them. Some of them will surely have been affected by the flood. Can we collect clothes, school supplies, and toiletries for families? Thank god it was dry and sunny today. Of course, a storm system looms to the southwest. I wonder if Obama can send in the National Guard or something to help prevent further flood damage.

Before and Now

I have written about five or six blog posts in my head but they just haven't made it to the blog. Here's a quick and dirty update:

-29 weeks tomorrow and the baby is doing great. I have NO protein in my urine so far, which is very different from this time when I was pregnant with Ishmael. I found this blog post I wrote during that pregnancy, which makes for an interesting comparison. With that pregnancy, I had the protein and my blood pressure was creeping up. I was already seeing the dr 3 times a week and ended up going on bedrest about three weeks later. I am feeling so much better during this pregnancy; I even look less swollen! So, maybe bedrest will stay away a bit longer and baby will be able to stay in utero longer too. Hooray!

-Of course, the hardest part this pregnancy has been emotional and not physical. We're not as worried as we were last time, so I don't mean it in that sense. I just mean that I have been more depressed, anxious, and uncomfortable. Financial woes and general pregnancy discomfort have put me on edge and made me not the happiest person. Too bad.

-In about a week, when it's time to refill my Lovenox, I'll be starting shots twice daily. Ugh. It's just preventative, but still sucks.

-Plans for moving in with my MIL are continuing. This might be coontributing to my unhappiness. It will be good financially, but it will put a strain on... well, everything. Good to help with the 2nd baby, but fraught with possible... who knows.

Okay, I do have more to say... but my energy level just plummeted. Since Baba is taking a nap, I may just lay down for a bit. While I can. I promise to write more soon.

Strung Out

A friend of mine at work, who is also the orchestra teacher, is offering a strings class for teachers and staff. I couldn't sign up quickly enough. I have always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument. My brother had violin and keyboard lessons growing up, while I was told to join chorus. I tried teaching myself guitar and managed to learn a few chords. Now I'm going to learn to play the viola! Yippee! I am over the moon happy.



Here's a crazy cool video I found on youtube. We haven't even started playing yet, but I have viola on the brain. I'm going to rent a viola in the next few weeks, so I can practice at home (in all that spare time I have). If/when I go on bedrest, you can guess what I'll be doing!

Teaching While Pregnant

I guess school starting did slow me down on blogging! The first week, I was too tired to do much more than stare at the TV when I finally got to relax in the evenings. That was after chasing after playing with Ishmael, feeding him, feeding myself, possibly feeding my husband, and doing some cursory cleaning. I wouldn't even turn the computer on in the evenings, so I eventually started just leaving it at work during the week. Lesson plans would just have to wait.

Last weekend, I woke up Sunday morning to quite a surprise, too. I found myself lying in a small puddle of clear liquid. I did smell it to make sure it wasn't pee, then I called a nurse line. Her advice was to get myself to the hospital to get checked out, since my "water" could have started leaking. Well, three hours and a lot of fuss later, and we were on our way home. I could have done without the "what if" scenario for if I actually was leaking amniotic fluid - staying in the hospital until delivery, which could be in two weeks or three months. Thank goodness everything is okay. Worrying about preeclampsia is enough.

My blood pressure did go up a little bit during this second week of school. I've tried to rest more at home and stay off my feet as much as possible at work. Easier said than done. Luckily, it's just the beginning of the school year and the kids are still on their best behavior.

Body Pillow

For the last month, sleeping has been a bit of a challenge. Once I really started to get a bump, it became harder and harder to get comfortable. I got a body pillow, to hug in the night. That helps when I am extra uncomfortable. Our mattress doesn't help. Your back will hurt more and me the longer you sleep on it. Forget oversleeping, since you'll probably regret it. We went shopping for a new mattress, but many of these stores try to sell you a mattress the way you might buy a car. A company like SD Mattress avoids tactics like this and guarantees informative and friendly sales reps. Maybe a good night sleep is just one shopping trip away.

Think Pink

It's a girl! It took some time, some careful observation, and two ultrasound technicians, but it's official! We had been rooting for a boy, but a girl is no less great news. She'll just have some boy onesies to wear, alongside all the pinks and purples I'm sure her grandmother and other relatives will get her. Nearly 90% of Ishmael's wardrobe is sponsored by his grandmother. It's amazing how few outfits I've had to buy him. Just a set of onesies now and then, but grandma has really gone all out in the shorts and t-shirt department. Not to mention shoes.

Thinking of a name is already a challenge. Almost all the names I've liked have been shot down in a few seconds by R. But we still have plenty of time to think about it and negotiate.

Having a girl does bring up some mother-daughter issues for me. But I know in terms of mothering, I am not like my mother at all. I think my concerns are actually quite normal and won't be an issue probably until she turns 12. Let's just have her born and safe in my arms first.