Da Nile

Is not just a river in Egypt...

I am sort of in denial that "Life As We Know It" is about to come to an end. It's not that I'm sad about it, per se, just kinda... in denial. Tonight was a typical Monday night in the Collins household. I worked late (typically one of us works late, while the other spends the time from 4:30 to 6:30 being bored alone at home, and also hungry, and wondering where the other is :), it never works out that we are both home early, or both home late... oh well...), and Nick had dinner ready when I got home. We ate, chit-chatted about our day, and then went about our "lazy Monday night". Nick hopped on his X-Box to waste some time playing Dragon games (oops, just let out his HUGE nerd secret) and I dinked around the house and the internet. Now it's 9:00 p.m., we're chilling in our upstairs TV room, with the dog fast asleep, curled up behind Nick's knees on the couch. He's so darling, that dog.

What on earth will a typical Monday night look like in 3, 4 weeks? Okay, I guess I am kind of sad about the end of this "era". Even though I'm thrilled at our upcoming arrival, I am also sad to close this chapter... the chapter of me, Nick, and our dog. Is this totally insane?? Or am I just going through the normal process of "what the hell, I'm about to become a parent!"

Hopefully I get some breathing room tomorrow at work, and I will post about my awesome baby showers. Honestly, people love us so much, it's overwhelming. We have the best family and friends. I just wish we got to see everyone more often... and my awesome boss Tammy organized a simply lovely shower at work, and I was reminded how sweet my co-workers are. Ugh - overwhelmed!!

Work has been VERY hectic trying to wrap things up. I am only going to be gone for 12 weeks, but it feels like 1 year. And I am certain I will be logging into my work computer while off... (although the frequency of which I do so will probably be different from my guesstimate of the frequency, as of now... if that makes sense?) (i.e. once a day, vs. multiple times a day? is once a week more like it?!)

Our baby still doesn't have a name... another kind of hectic thing going on. Is it crazy to say I'm still surfing "baby names" websites looking for ideas?!

I guess you could say I'm a tad bit... LAST MINUTE when it comes to this stuff. :)

TTFN, lovelies....

Lindsay

Hmmm... not being the best mama blogger.


What is new? I am officially six months pregnant. LOTS of kicking going on. It comes in waves, though. When she kicks, it's a lot. Then there will be hours of nothing at all. After work today, before Nick headed out to the bar with his buddies (hey, he's gotta get his kicks in now!) he asked me if she had been moving around today. I had to pause and think about it, and I realized I hadn't remember feeling anything. A couple pokes and prods later, there she was! So cool... :)


Also? I am officially out of breath doing anything. Roll over in the middle of the night? Heavy panting. Not the type of heavy panting that one typically thinks of when you say you were rolling around between the sheets. ;) Haha! Getting out of my car? Out of breath. Shoot, now I have to WALK INTO MY WORK BUILDING? I feel like I just ran a marathon. Now, naturally, I'm exaggerating a bit, but you catch my drift... phew.


Also new development: I'M GROWING. I've gone from little bit prego to WHOA BELLY. I have pics to prove it, it's not that I'm too shy to put them on here, it's that I lost my camera cord a few months ago and now it's an ordeal to upload pics. But I'll get some on here soon, promise. I've taken a few bare-belly shots too, so I can look back on them later and laugh at the thought that I thought I was big at this stage. My future self will get a kick out of it, after my future self has experienced the joy of being 9 months pregnant.


I kind of regret not doing a weekly belly shot (bare belly or not) - I've seen montages on other blogs and it's SO COOL. But honestly, I wasn't too geeked about being pregnant in the beginning. Not that I wasn't geeked to have a child, but I wasn't "into" being pregnant. I think I've written about this before... can't remember. Anyway, I'm kind of regretting that (both the not taking pictures part, and the not "being into it" part), but oh well, not going to dwell on it.


I'm just trying to make up for my lack of pregnancy-gaga-enthusiasm from the first few months and cram it into the last few months. What a thing it is to be pregnant for the first time. It's... magical, in a way I can't really describe.


Nick and I just had our two year engagement anniversary on Tuesday, 12/8. We celebrated by having a mini-date at home and it was quietly and simply one of the best nights of my life. We didn't whisper sweet nothings, nor did we feed each other chocolate covered strawberries, or even exchange love letters. But we sat together in our family room, on the small love seat, snuggled together watching "Love Actually", which was the movie that spurred our engagement. Our puppy was crammed on the love seat as well, if you can imagine that. I managed to snap a pic of all of us crammed on the couch... will post later!


Anyway, my reason for bringing it up is this: my engagement anniversary is so close to being just as good as my wedding anniversary, because I remember how happy I am to be married to Nick and how absolutely lucky I feel to be exactly where I am right now. I love our little family of three (me, Nick, Murphy). Being engaged was the best... you're this blushing bride and everyone is so excited for you and you've got this bride glow about you. Then your wedding day comes and it's a big party of everyone you know and everyone who loves you, celebrating you two. What a feeling. Honestly, I think I DO like my engagement anniversary even more than my wedding anniversary because it was just about the two of us. The start of it all. (Gosh I'm cheesy tonight :P)


So, how does this all tie back to being pregnant? Well, being a blushing bride was the best time... it is so EXCITING to plan your wedding and plan your life as a family of two. And I have that same excitement, except it's less selfish and more... OH MY GOD WE'VE CREATED ANOTHER HUMAN BEING! So this is much more reverent and humbling experience, even though I don't always show it and convey it properly. It's hard to wrap my brain around it sometime. Another thing I think is cool is that this time in our lives - we'll never experience it again. Being first-time parents. The future is SO UNKNOWN to us right now, and it's all "I wonder what..." after "I wonder what..." Having your 2nd or 3rd kid is still an amazing experience, I am sure, but you only have your first once, ya know?

And the other funny thing about pregnancy is... it goes so fast, and so slow all at the same time. But I am grateful that it has gone somewhat slow, because going from childless to parent is such a huge deal, it's beyond just being a wife, or a friend, or a sibling, or a child. It's like the #1 job you can have. Well, I say it probably shares the #1 job with being a wife. Eh, I am rambling at this point, so I'll sign off now... more posts to come later...

I have been a SLACKER on my baby blog. :(


At almost 6 months prego now, I regret not writing more about my experience. I have come to realize that in my life thus far (deeeep), the two biggest things that have happened to me is 1.) getting engaged/married and 2.) having a baby. Getting engaged and being a fiance was the best feeling in the world... I LOVED being a bride and getting married. How happy is a bride?!


Now that we're becoming parents, well it's a whole different ball-game. We're excited, in a whole new way. Now I can feel her kick. Last night, Nick laid his head on my stomach and could feel her kick - a real good kick! - at least 3 or 4 times. Honestly, we've fallen more in love with each other through the process. How great is that? And I think it's only the beginning!


We had a few couples over last weekend, including Jeff and Sandi's Miles & Mayse (3.5 yr old and 8 wks old). They're our only friends who have kids, really. And we honestly don't spend a whole lot of time around kids, so when we do, it's all "oh cute!" This time, though, with 2 kids around, it's was run-run-run with the wild man Miles, and "watch the dog!" with tiny baby Mayse. I thought Nick would be terrified about our very first "real live baby in our house" situation, but after everyone left, he hugged me and said "I can't wait for us to be parents."

Seriously, guys, pinch me... is this really happening?

11.10.09

I woke up this morning to Nick telling me "I dreamt I was holding our baby... now I know what she looks like!" Isn't that precious. I just wish I was more awake to properly respond. He is the type of person who, upon waking up, is 100% awake/alert/ready to chat. I, on the other hand, am still deep in sleep and can only conjur up a grunt in recognition that he is talking, and talking to me.

Anyway, today was BABY DAY. Nick is off for the week, and I was off for the day. After this 7:00 a.m. conversation (one-sided conversation), I fell back asleep until 9:00 a.m., because why not sleep in on your day off? For serious.

We met up with Jackie for lunch, then were off to IKEA for baby furniture. Yay! We walked away with a crib, a dresser, and about $250 of other (non-baby) crap. How did that happen? Don't ask... let's just say, if each shopper gets his or her own cart, then he or she will be more inclined to, say, fill that cart. Is all I'm saying.

Then, on the way home from IKEA, I spotted a store called Buy Buy Baby. Never heard of it before, it was kind of like a Bed Bath & Beyond except all baby-related, obvs. Anyway, Nick pulls into the parking lot, and I turned my head to see the "Expecting Mothers" parking spot, and even though it was only two spaces closer than our spot, I actually made Nick pull out of the spot and back up in the parking lot and park in the "Expecting Mothers" spot. And thus snapped a pic to commemorate. Wahoo!

Upon studying the picture immediately after it was snapped (we all do it, don't front!), I commented "Wow, my face is getting chubby, cool!" to which Nick grabbed the phone, glanced at it, and said "This is how you always look." Errrrrr. KTHXBY.

Oh! And we also stopped at Lowe's and picked up some mini paint samples (love those) and painted some swatches in the baby room. I think we're going for a purpley mauvey color. With white furniture (my wish list), Nick's input was that the walls should be a darker color. I really lobbied for white furniture (as opposed to the really dark stuff Nick liked) so it was a compromise I was willing to make. I think it'll turn out nicely. I also fancy this light fixture:

What do you think of it? Can you picture it in a baby room? I think it's cute... and girly :)

Okay, well this mama best get herself to sleep. Work in the morning. It was a really nice day off (my last vacation day of the year... save for a 1/2 day I'm using later this week to help paint the baby room!) and I loved spending it with my mister. Now off to dreamland so I can meet our baby like Nick did last night. :)

P.S. Nick says she has dark hair. Hmm...

I Did It!

So guys... BIG DAY for me. Honestly, huge day for me.

I got a shot, and not only did I not faint, not throw up, I didn't even really flinch or have an episode or anything! I truly consider this a miracle of miracles, I haven't had a shot in about 12 years. I have never had a flu shot, not because I'm anti flu shot, but because of my needle phobia.

And I was going back and forth over the H1N1... did I want to be a guinea pig? Was it really safe? Yadda yadda. I talked with people (or spouses of the people... to get their spouse's opinion) I know who work in the health care field (RN (x2), NP, PA) and 3 out of 4 of them were going to get it. And I tried to read info from the web on the subject. Do you know if you read something on the web, it is true? :P

So the only articles and sites I read that indicated any skepticism were from people like me. Non-doctors. Which, I know doctors aren't Gods. Far from it. But I never read a truly convincing piece from a medical professional that said "DON'T GET IT". So I got it. And I survived it. Go me.

Few Things

I had my first contraction this weekend. We were staying at my parent's house, and sleeping in a divine bed (any bed that is not my bed is divine... even a couch... HATE would be the word that comes to mind when I think about my bed... but I digress... and use even more ellipses...) and I woke up in the middle of the night. Now, normally I wouldn't share this kind of detail... and to tell you the truth, I'm still just half-committed to telling you this detail as I continue to write these sentences. Okay, okay, I give in. I was having a dream... not a terribly risque dream, per se, but in this dream... I was doing things that create babies. OMG there I said it. I honest-to-God have never had a dream where I was having sex. It was a first. So I woke up, and put my hand on my stomach instinctively, and it was as hard as a rock. I was like "huh... this is probably a contraction" and went back to bed. You know, I had to get back to that dream! J/K!! I didn't really do anything, I didn't get up out of bed or anything, just felt the really tight tummy, had that one fleeting thought about it being a contraction, then went back to bed. I told my doctor about it today (leaving out the dream part... I mean, it's not like we're BFFs...) and she confirmed "Yup! That was a contraction!" WEIRD.

I also probed my doctor a bit about a 'typical' birth at U of M. I started reading this book (Your Best Birth) and while yes, I realize it is a fairly biased book, but I wanted to get some feedback on what a normal birth is like at the hospital I plan on delivering at. I am glad to hear that Pitocin is not an automatic/given, that my doctor has only done three episiotomies in her 20 years practicing, and I only have to be hooked up to monitors for 20 minutes every two hours. I was pretty stoked to hear I can have a pretty natural childbirth if that's what I choose to do. I don't have any illusions of knowing how it will go, how I will tolerate childbirth, whether I will want an epidural, whether there will be other complications that will necessitate a C-Section, but it's nice to know that if everything is progressing normally, then I can decide how I want things to go, for the most part. They have a couple of rooms with tubs in them, too, so a water birth is an option. I think the other big hospital in town has many more rooms with tubs.

Anyway, the last bit o'news at my doctor appt today is that they are not only out of H1N1 but out of the regular flu shot as well! So... even though I went in with a brave face (I haven't had a shot in, like, 15 years and was nervous as hell - I don't want to faint in front of Nick or my doctor), I left with all of my skin intact. I am expecting a call though when they get more in... and I guess I should start stalking other places that will be getting it.

That's it for now loves...

I Need To Post More Frequently

What's new? Hmmm. Roxanne tells me I need a new post, so here is a new post.

• Stretch marks on my belly. Boo. Yes, I use creams and lotions and vitamin gels. Not working. :(


• Maybe a baby moving around in me? Kinda cool! Except I am not really sure if it's a baby or a fart about to be born.


• Ultrasound in a few days - I'll get to see if we have boy-parts in me or girl-parts in me. Either way, isn't it weird to think I am growing a pee-pee or a vee-vee in me right now?


• When I am actually a parent, will I be one of those annoying ones who says "pee-pee" or "vee-vee"? I hope I just call a penis a penis. I think I will.


• H1N1. To get or not to get? I know it's just a flu shot (and I always want to spell flu "flue" when I'm typing it... every time, without fail) but I just hate that it's like seriously JUST released, like a week ago. Do I really want to be a lab rat for it? Still on the fence... I've talked to some people in the medical profession who are also divided on the issue. (NP, pregnant, getting it; RN, not pregnant, not getting it.)


• Today I got to see where nursing mom's pump their breast milk during work hours. It's literally a locker-room bench in the ladies bathroom, around the corner from the stalls, where there is a 1-stall shower in the bathroom. Why is there a shower at work? Anyway, this bench area is SOOOO NOT GLAMOROUS. They just put a lock on the door to this small area a month ago, THANK GOD. The whole area reminds me of a camp-ground bathroom... kind of mangy and has that damp shower smell. So gross.
• That's all for now folks! More later...