Random Thoughts of the Day 4/29/10

1. Did you know a bushel and a peck are actual units of measure?? I thought it was just a cute song - "I love you, a bushel and a peck..." Seems like whoever is singing really loves you, right? They love you a bushel and a peck! That must be a lot! However.....1 bushel - 35.34 liters. 1 peck = .25 bushels = 8.81 liters. So this person, singing such a cute song, just loves you about 44.15 liters or about 22 - 2 liters. So basically....I love you about 22 - 2 liters of Coke. That'll only set me back about $30...so pretty much you are worth $30 to me. I love you that much.... (is it sad that I'm such a huge dork to actually go thru this??)
2. Anyone recently dating someone? Or recently married? Do you shave your legs like everyday to make sure they are silky smooth for your partner? Ok...now, anyone in a serious relationship? Or been married for many years? How often do you shave your legs for your boyfriend/spouse anymore? But you know who I shave my legs for every time? - my ob/gyn...what up with that?? I can't be the only one that does that, right??
3. I am a Glee virgin....well up until tonight. I had heard about it but just never had time to squeeze it into my TV watching schedule. I have been recording the most recent episodes after the break. I've only made it thru one and a half episodes. HOLY MOLY!!! Why didn't anyone tell me!?!?! It's an hour long musical every single week! I was made to watch this show! Since early pregnancy sleepiness prevented me from finishing the Madonna episode, I will be back to watching it tonight!!

Where the Heart Is....

So I would imagine it's a pretty common worry among pregnant women - something is wrong.

It might not be for any "real" reason that they are worried....just 'cuz.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I took an additional pregnancy test, just to confirm. About two weeks later, I took another...just to "make sure" I was still pregnant.

The first doctor's appointment - to be able to see the baby and hear its heartbeat was a huge sigh of relief. But it was still early in the pregnancy, so of course, I still worried.

Today was my second doctor's appointment. I knew I wouldn't be able to 'see' the baby this time, but a doctor's approval that things were OK would grant me the reassurance I needed for the time being that things were just fine.

Cherry on top? I actually got to hear the baby's heartbeat again!!! This time with a doppler that was used on my belly. The doctor instructed me to put my hand on the speaker....and I could actually "feel" the beating heart from the sound. It was such a wonderful feeling and that sigh of relief I needed to know things were OK. It felt wonderful! I told the doctor that my husband would be jealous and she suggested recording it. I did, with my blackberry, and was able to let Adam listen when I got home. I keep listening to it over and over again and have been glowing ever since!!! That's our baby!!!

NEEDED: Marriage Ref!!

Fight: Stephanie, aka Mommy, wants our wee little one to grow up and be strong and healthy....without brain damage. Mommy wants her children to wear a helmet when riding a bike (and skateboarding, rollerblading, etc.). Simple, cheap, easy way of preventing a possible head injury or death by wearing one and definitely won't "interfere" with the bike riding fun. Some additional statistics:

• Non-helmeted riders are 14 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than helmeted riders
• Helmets can prevent 75% of bicycle fatalities among children
• 85-88% of critical head and brain injuries can be prevented through the use of a bicycle helmet
• By wearing a helmet, an injury can be prevented every 4 minutes
• A bicyclist died every six hours in the year 2002
• In the year 2000, 90% of bicycle fatalities occurred to riders not wearing helmets

http://www.thinkfirst.org/teens/BicycleSafety.asp.

Adam, aka Daddy, doesn't feel that protecting our child against possible brain damage or death by wearing a helmet is something that he does not want our children to participate in. Wearing a helmet will make them "soft".

I'm sure almost everyone reading this never wore a helmet as a kid. But then again, how many people didn't wear seat belts in the car either. I can understand that I was being unreasonable if I was asking my kid to wear a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, mouth guard, hearing protection, safety glasses and a harness to prevent the kid from falling altogether - but I'm not trying to prevent the kid from falling and scraping his knee...I'm trying to prevent a head injury.

So.....taking into account that I'm only growing a fig-size child at the moment....it might take about 6 years to settle this debate, so I figured I'd start thinking about it now. Oh...and the fact that we have had this argument for about 2 years already (before we were even planning to have kids). Your thoughts?? Helmet and safe kid?? No helmet and possible head injury??

Triathlon Day!

Triathlon Day is here!!! Everyone did a great job. My Adam, Jimmy Dillon, Tim Woelfel and Meghan Ryon competed! Nerves seemed to start getting to everyone as it got closer to the start. Almost everyone seemed pretty tired just after the swim and between the rain, super strong winds and the temperature changing every second, almost everyone agreed that the bike portion "sucked." Everyone finished super strong on the run though! But most importantly....EVERYONE FINISHED!!!! (with mostly smiles!)

The total event was 800 meter swim, 13.5 mile bike and a 5K (3.1 miles). There was a transition area in between each to change and hydrate or whatever you needed, but you were still on the clock!

Because of baby to be, I decided not to race this year, but had the important job of taking pictures. :)

Tim into the pool.....#130 to start

Jimmy jumps in a few people after Tim....#135

Adam looking like he's taking a leisurely stroll....#137

Meghan during the swim....

Tim starting out on the bike portion

Adam transitioning to bike

Meghan heading out for the bike

13.5 miles later...he's still looking good :)

Adam hydrating before the run

About 2 miles in......

Jimmy after the race...he looks a little tired

Meghan - almost to the end

Everyone happy they finished....and thankful it was over :)

Great job, guys!!!

To eat or not to eat....deli meat

So several people have asked if I have had any cravings so far. Well....I have an answer for that.

Do you know when you CAN'T have something and it only makes you want it MORE? I'm totally feeling that right now. If you go online and read the things that pregnant women should avoid doing and eating....I'm pretty sure all women would end up laying in a ball in bed most of the day, unable to eat or drink ANYTHING! That's almost what it feels like. Avoid nitrates, eat organic (because of risk of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, etc.), no tuna (mercury risk), no sushi (mercury and parasite risk), no deli meats (listeria risk), avoid most/all seafood (mercury risk), raw or undercooked eggs (salmonella), soft cheeses (food-borne illness risk), unpasteurized milk or juice (food-borne illness risk), excess caffeine (could cause miscarriage and dehydration), alcohol (duh), etc. The list goes on and on.

I'm fine with about all of them. I will miss my soft cheeses though - blue cheese on salad or yummy goat cheese (unpasteurized) on homemade bruschetta anyone?? Yummy!! Also, a runny egg sandwich sounds amazing. I can make the sacrifice.

What do I want? A #16 on french, no tomato with a bag of plain kettle chips - Oh Jimmy Johns, how I miss thee. A #16 is a turkey sandwich that I am wanting so bad, it makes my teeth hurt! However, turkey falls under the "no deli meat" rule. By spending about 30 seconds online, you can see that "everyone's doing it", but is it worth it? Most people don't even know you aren't supposed to eat deli meat and I'm sure there have been millions of babies born without a single blip of a problem while the mommies ate their #16s and Subway sandwiches all the 9 months.

Get in my belly......

So....to eat....or not to eat....that is the question......

Everyone knows!!!

As of yesterday....parents knew, brothers and sisters knew, aunts and uncles knew....

.....cousins knew, friends knew, my parent's travel agent knew, my sister's hair stylist knew, my dad's entire office knew....I'm also pretty sure that everyone my mom passed on the street, in the grocery store, in the mall and at the dentist knew too.

Everyone knew....except....my....work.

Most anyone around me knew that these were the folks that I wasn't screaming the news from the rooftops to. Those same people all seemed quite confused on why this teensy bit of information to my bosses would make me nervous. Seriously?!?! Knowing that by the end of the year I would be sitting at home, sleep-deprived, changing poopy diapers, feeding a baby all day/night long and having all sorts of fun while not working while they continued to pay me for 6 weeks. The fact that I haven't worked in this group for even double digit months yet did not help my nerves. Also, since I have two (not just one) male bosses....I guess I wasn't open-minded enough to give them enough credit to 'accept' this bit of news.

So today was the day to tell them. Meeting scheduled? CHECK. Talked to HR about company policy? CHECK. Game plan developed with Adam? CHECK. Don't throw up on the bosses while in the meeting? I'll try really hard.....

Well, the 'somewhat' good news is that they were completely understanding and friendly about it.

The 'super duper' great news is that I didn't throw up (or do any other bodily function) during the entire meeting!!!

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow will mark 10 weeks along in my pregnancy.

Adam and I have been very curious about the development of the baby and have been reading online regarding "what is developing this week" and "how big the baby is this week."

I just read this bit about Week 11 and I'm fascinated and hardly can believe this is what is happening. What are your thoughts??

"...your little scientist is already starting to explore their body, focusing most intently on touching their head, and especially their face and mouth. Their mouth in particular will provide them with hours of entertainment. This happens not only because your baby is gaining coordination, and is therefore able to move a hand on command, but also because their palms have gained sensation and can actually 'feel' what it touches..."
http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/calendar/week11

"She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two - nor will you notice the hiccuping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming."
http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-11-weeks_1100.bc

So the baby is actually moving around inside me and feeling already. I'm speechless......

I Dream of Peeing

I would imagine everyone has the image in their head of a nine month along, due-any-minute pregnant woman, waddling her way to the bathroom every 60 seconds. It's easy to understand how a bowling ball baby, pushing down on your bladder (and up and sideways on everything else inside you) would be uncomfortable and cause a prego woman to have to visit the facilities quite regularly. Who would have ever thought that that begins much earlier than growing that bowling ball baby?

According to one pregnancy website, I'm growing a kumquat this week. Does anyone even know what a kumquat is? I had to google it to find out.

(A kumquat is a citris fruit, that closely resembles an orange, only smaller and often oval)

So lately, instead of dreaming of bears or being a CTU agent, I'm having the 'pee dream.' "What is a 'pee dream', Stephanie?" you ask?? Anyone out there that has ever had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night has had to have had a 'pee dream' before. There are several aspects that will help define this sort of dream. First, you spend the entire dream trying to find a bathroom. The only thing on your mind is getting to a bathroom. And key....you wake up from the dream and you....surprise....have to actually go to the bathroom. So pee dream leads to me getting up at least once or twice in the middle of the night. What's going to happen when it's a bowling ball???

TMI???? HA! Sorry :)

(Buckeye) Bun in the Oven

Adam and I had made a deal (before we got pregnant). I get to raise our daughters to be Ohio State fans. He gets to raise our sons to be Illinois fans.

I didn't mean to lie on purpose....but our children....will be raised Ohio State fans.
Adam teaches the dog tricks.....

I will be teaching our kids "O-H" "I-O" from the age they will be able to speak and somewhat be able to move their arms in the shape of the letters.

They will be the first kids in their class to be able to spell OHIO when they actually live in Illinois.

They will know what Muck Fichigan means and will be allowed to say 'damn' only if it's in the song "We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan...."

They will ask to paint their room Scarlet and Gray when they are 2 years old.

They will know who Jim, Eddie and Archie are.

They will be one of "those" kids that has the Ohio State cheerleader or football uniform.

I will be able to teach them at a very young age that if people hate you because you are an Ohio State fan....it's only because they are jealous that you are better than them.

Pretty much...they are going to be Buckeye fans from birth. In preparation of this day....Grandma and Grandpa Von Wahlde have purchased some "start up equipment" to help with this. Who doesn't need an Ohio State sippy cup, OSU bib and OSU pacifiers?? (pictures to come) I already have two children's books ready to go.....now we just need to to start raising the future Buckeye.

Shhhhh.....don't tell Daddy.......

Craving......

Mommy....wants....no, NEEDS....SKYLINE! Pretty, pretty please!

Cincinnati, look out. Fatty-bo-batty is coming to town and needs her some Skyline!!!

Hormones or just being a woman?

So lately, I have been perhaps a teensy bit more emotional than usual, but I don't blame ALL of it on pregnancy hormones - I think being emotional is also just part of being a woman in general. Adam seems to think that anything that upsets me or annoys me or makes me a wee bit "cra cra" is related to hormones. I just think he wants to imagine that I'm totally normal and I can't help my hormones so he blames it all on them.

So the other day, I was relaxing and watching TV when a Folgers commercial comes on. I cried. Not just "aww, my eyes are watery," but sobbed. Ok, so perhaps a little "cra cra," but check out the commercial. Father + daughter + warm cup of coffee + cheesy Folgers music = magical, right?!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1320151605?bctid=60450628001

So I thought I'd dig up a few other commercials that might make me a little emotional. Take a look for yourself. I can't be the only one that gets choked up with these, right?!

Never Walk Alone (P&G): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo0ejBHp8UI

To their moms, they'll always be kids (another P&G): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSn5Z7EC4ME

Peter home for Christmas (another Folgers): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOQk_pWmisA (Jaclyn showed me this one)

Short and Bald (Johnson & Johnson): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7FyH_A9xQ (Meredith showed me this one - she cried after Mason was born)

So seriously, am I the only one? I can't be! Any other commercials that you get emotional when you watch?

Baby's First Robe

Baby got his/her first present today! Baby's first bathrobe!! Just looking at the picture, can you tell who gave it? Can you hear her quacking away while baby wears it? Can you see Auntie Jaclyn pinching (or biting) the baby's chubby cheeks? In 9 months we'll have a little soft-skinned baby O'Neill to wrap in the robe after a bath! I can smell it now.....

Babies and Hormones and Bears...Oh My!

Let it be said....hormones can cause some interesting problems, as I'm finding out. One of which is crazy dreams. I rarely remember my dreams, but lately, I feel like I'm either in an episode of 24 where I'm a CTU agent or just totally bonkers. Last night, I was being attacked by bears....not just me, mom and dad, Melanie and Jordan were there too (sorry guys). We tried to rent a lovely cottage in the woods but barely made it in the door because of a huge bear that kept following us around on the edge of the cliff that apparently this magical cottage was on. Where does this stuff come from??

So between having to get up to pee in the middle of the night at least once or twice and these crazy dreams and the fact that I'm hot....then cold....no, hot....wait, I'm cold....I'm sleeping poorly. On top of that fact that I'm already exhausted even before I get out of bed in the morning. I struggle to keep my eyes open at work because I'm so tired. I'm contemplating building a place to take naps under my desk...right?! There's plenty of room just going to waste under there!

Check out this link....Imagine this girl....but me....and at a desk, instead of a highchair....this is me today.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prlesIFijMA

What's the point?

So I guess I started this blog to try to keep some sort of a record of my pregnancy (and hopefully after baby is born too!). I don't keep a journal (even though I've always 'meant' to) and I haven't been keeping up with my scrapbooking that much. I figured this would be a way to jot down my thoughts and feelings and what's going on with me (and the baby). I've found that my memory is turning into something like my mother's (sorry, mom) and I don't seem to recall things that I might have considered myself able to do previously. I'm convinced, after having countless hours of conversations with Jaclyn, that this is because my brain is full of things that happened about 15 years - like ridiculous, random, absolutely useless memories from our childhood/teenage years. So why not blog, right?

And although my mother gets multiple calls a day from me, most days (again, sorry, mom), I hate being away from my family and seeing them all the time, so this might also be a way they can see what's going on with us and not have to pick up the phone or Facebook stalk me. Aren't I making it almost too easy?

So although I have backdated some of the previous posts from notes I had been keeping before on my own, I start the blog now.....or again....

MEETING BABY!!

We met baby yesterday!!!!!!

My first doctor appointment. I had no idea what to expect and I was really trying not to get my hopes up that we would have a sonogram done. I kept reading on the internet that most of the times they don't do one until later since you can't really see it and that you won't really be able to hear the heartbeat until about 12 weeks. So I tried really hard not to get my hopes up.

We walked back into an exam room and the technician dimmed the lights. Are we going to meet baby?!

I undressed from waist down and the technician came back in. They used a v- sonogram and within seconds we could see something....just a white spot. The technician moved it around a little more and there it was....OUR BABY!!

It's probably one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen. I didn't cry...I just sat there in amazement with my mouth open. Adam sat and rubbed his face and didn't say anything. Baby was only 1.8 cm long...but you could see details of the features - nose, hands, feet and you could see the heart flickering. The technician moved around a little more to make sure things look ok and I asked her if she could go back to the flickering heartbeat again...she pushed a button and you could HEAR the heartbeat!! Our baby, at 8 weeks, has a heartbeat! 183 beats per minute is what it measured out to be.

Blood work followed and then schedule the next appointment in three weeks.

We left the doctor and couldn't even wait to start the car before we were on our phones calling our parents. WE MET BABY!! Adam just wanted to drive around to see who was around anywhere to show off his baby like a proud father with the four sonogram pictures. I still had a queasy stomach and really wanted to nap but how could I even think about those at a time like this?! There is a life inside me....with a beating heart! It had a nose and hands and feet and wasn't bigger than a bean. I feel like, for the first time, I have that pregnancy glow! I feel like I'm on cloud 9. WE MET BABY!!!

I'm actually growing fruits and vegetables....

So in Wanda Sykes' most recent stand-up she talks about how messed up the US measurement system. We don't like the easy metric system with 10s....we would much prefer 12s and 16s. She speaks in a hilarious bit that doctors have to learn to give diagnosis in "fruit". If a doctor told you, you had a tumor in your head that was 10 cm, we might just look confused, wondering if 10 cm was good or bad. Seeing this confused look, the doctor would have to give the same diagnosis in fruit, you have a tumor in your head the size of a grapefruit.......then you can fully grasp what they heck they are talking about.
Adam and I have been noticing the same things while reading about the growth of the baby.

Week 5 - baby is now .3 cm or the size of an apple seed. Oh, I see those all the time. Much easier than metric and fractions!

Week 7 - baby is now 1.3 cm or the size of our blueberry. Aww, he or she is our little blueberry this week! What a cute fruit.

Week 8 - baby is now 1.6 cm or the size of a lima bean. Aww, now it's our little lima bean! And my uterus is the size of a grapefruit.....how lovely.

It's all cute and fun and games until I'm carrying a watermelon.....

Since you're pregnant, you should have clean air....

My husband is the greatest. I have needed an oil change and since my routine lately has been - get off work, come home, eat something, fall asleep, it hasn't left much room in my schedule for me to actually go and have the changing of the oil actually done. This morning he tells me, half asleep, that I should take his car to work so he can take it in for me. What a sweetheart!

He tells me later that he got the oil changed and the cabin air filter replaced. He told me that this act of kindness wasn't something he would normally do, but since I was pregnant, I should have clean air to breath. How thoughtful! HA! So the rest of the time, dirty air is fine??