18 weeks

It hasn’t been the best of weeks. Hence why this is the only post this week. Sorry about that – I hope to remedy the situation next week.

(Nothing terrible has happened, just a couple of bad days.)

So baby and I are at 18 weeks! That means he/she is roughly the size of a sweet potato (5.5 inches):

Baby is the size of a sweet potato!

It kind of weirds me out that he/she is that big already. I mean, look at a ruler, 5.5 inches is pretty big! Sometimes it just still doesn’t really seem like there’s a baby in there. My belly is size-ably bigger and it’s getting harder and harder to find clothes in my closet that look right. Maternity pants are such a Godsend, and I think I’ll be set after getting one or two more dresses.

Not too much is new this week. It’s pretty apparent that baby can hear things now – I broke a glass this week and it fluttered around for nearly 10 minutes. I think I really scared it! And I’ve figured out that if I eat ice cream I can get it to move for a few seconds, I think the cold shocks it a little bit. In less than two weeks we’ll get to see baby in an ultrasound, and hopefully find out whether we’re having a little boy or girl! They had ultrasound pictures on the wall when we had our first one done, and it’s amazing that you can see the baby’s little face and everything already. We’re so excited, which makes our appointment feel so far away!

Hubs is panicking a little about my weight. They (WebMD) say that healthy weight gain is 2-4 lbs in the first trimester and 1 lb per week after that. I’ve gained 3-5 lbs so far (I can’t remember exactly what my pre-pregnancy weight was), that’s 4 weeks into my second trimester. That’s not too far behind, if at all. I’m not worried about it, I eat when I’m hungry (and sometimes when I’m not), and the doctor will bring it up at my next appointment if they’re concerned. In the meantime I’ve started drinking whole milk instead of skim, buying full fat cheeses, and Hubs insisted on buying me ice cream. I have no problem with that

17 weeks

I’ll be doing a weekly post about the pregnancy/baby, that way there’s something consistent and the rest of the posts aren’t littered with random pregnancy goings-on.

Today I’m 17 weeks! What To Expect says that means baby is 5 inches long already, roughly the size of a turnip (they like to compare the size of the baby to fruits and vegetables, I guess to give you a frame of reference).

Baby is about the size of a turnip!

There is definitely an undeniable baby bump now, which is awesome and strange at the same time. All of the exercise and eating right to get a flat stomach, and now I’m thrilled that it’s not flat anymore. Oh how our priorities change. I’ve also been able to feel the baby move somewhat consistently! I guess it’s kind of early for that, but what I’ve been feeling this past week is definitely baby. Sometimes it just feels like a tiny poke, other times it feels like someone is trying to tickle me from the inside. It’s pretty much the most adorable and amazing thing ever. Hubs has even started talking to my tummy now (since baby has developed ears), and it makes me melt and tear up every single time.

As much as I seriously love being pregnant (even though it does cause a lot of worry), it’s obviously not all puppies and rainbows. Every night I develop major hip pain (you’re not supposed to lie on your back or stomach starting the second trimester, so that just leaves the sides). Apparently the Snoogle is supposed to help with that, but it only does so much. I also have the most terrible time with food. Something will sound great one minute, and then I’ll hate it the next. I feel like all I do is eat, and all of the snacks I have seem so boring now that I’ve eaten them so much. I’ll be starving and nothing sounds appealing, so I just have to pick whatever sounds the best. In fact, the only real emotional breakdown I’ve had so far was over food, go figure.

In just a few weeks we’ll be finding out whether baby is a little boy or a little girl!

Tags: family, marriage, pregnancy

It’s cycling time again!

If you don’t remember from last year – Hubs and I both love cycling. And I don’t mean just the act of riding a bike, but we love to watch bicycle races. Last year I even gave you a tutorial on how to watch cycling (specifically the Tour de France), and Hubs and I watched two stages of the Tour in person while on our honeymoon. And guess what? It’s that time of year again

The peloton riding past us last year (that’s Frank and Andy Schleck front and center).

While there are a multitude of interesting Spring Classics such as the famous cobblestone Paris-Roubaix, the big races are the three Grand Tours of cycling:

• Giro d’Italia (May)
• Tour de France (July)
• Vuelta a Espana (September)

Since Hubs and I don’t have cable, watching the spring classics isn’t really possible, but luckily television networks are more than happy to take your money so you can watch the grand tours online. The Giro started May 5 and will end on the 27, so we have been enjoying that.

The Giro is entertaining, but it’s nowhere near as fun to watch as the Tour. Although the leader’s jersey is pink (instead of yellow like the Tour), and part of me laughs a bit seeing all of these athletes battle over what is essentially a pink shirt. But the Giro is tough, so many of the “big names” of cycling sit it out so that they’re not too tired for the Tour, which can make it a bit boring. It’s still quite a battle, but it doesn’t quite have the excitement factor of rivalries like Schleck-Contador. A lot of the sprinters still ride the Giro, which makes flat stages interesting. But even the sprinters have been having a tough time this year because of crashes, especially poor Cavendish.

I’m pretty much saying I’m excited about cycling this year. The Giro is shaping up to be an interesting ride, and I can’t wait to see the Tour. The Vuelta (which I don’t think I’ve ever watched) should even be interesting this year since it’s rumored we’ll see the return of both Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong.

While we’re on the subject of Contador… I don’t think I ever posted about his ban other than on twitter. I think Contador is an arrogant asshole, especially after the great Andy Schleck chain debacle of 2010. He further displayed how much of a whiny baby he is when he threatened not to return to cycling if he was convicted of doping. Well he was convicted, Andy Schleck is now the official winner of the 2010 Tour de France, and guess what? He’s not quitting cycling, he’s setting his sites on winning the Vuelta after his ban is finished this year. He got exactly what he deserved and I couldn’t be happier, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that he does make races exciting to watch and I’ll probably watch the Vuelta if he rides it.

Tags: cycling

Overwhelmed

This is the year of life-changing events. My brother-in-law is getting married at the end of this month, and my sister is getting married in July. Then there’s the whole baby thing.

And those are just the big things going on right now. I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed.

As a PhD student, I usually have at least one undergraduate student working for me. The girl I’ve worked with for the past year is graduating, and I couldn’t be more sad to see her go. She was the first person other than Hubby to know that I was pregnant since I couldn’t work with a lot of chemicals in lab anymore, and she has even found and trained new people for me. I came to work today and found the sweetest card and a box of different kinds of tea on my desk – she even asked if they were okay for pregnant women and marked one that isn’t. She is such a sweet person and I’m seriously tearing up realizing that she’s done here and moving on. I was super lucky to have her working for me this past year, and I’m really going to miss her.

Then last weekend we had to drive out for my sister’s wedding shower, and now that it’s over my mom is in full-on baby shower mode. Which is super sweet, and I really appreciate it, but I’ve honestly never even liked showers… so I keep getting calls about places she’s looking at, and what theme I would want, and I really have no preference at all. I’m glad that she’s so excited about the baby, and I’m really thankful that she wants to throw the shower, but more planning is just kind of stressful.

Baby is really just stress in general because I just worry about how he/she is doing all the time. Which just got worse yesterday. I go on a message board for moms due in October, and one girl that was super sweet and really active on the board just found out yesterday that she lost her baby. She was worried that she wasn’t feeling any movement so she ended up going to her doctor and they couldn’t find a heartbeat. Most losses take place in the first 14 weeks, and she was 18 weeks along (I’m 16 weeks). It’s incredibly frustrating having no idea what’s going on in there. Although all of the frustration and worry is worth it at every ultrasound or every time I get to hear the heartbeat, it’s just scary because appointments right now are so few are far between. So I ended up caving and did what a lot of the other girls on that message board did, I ordered a doppler to listen to the heartbeat at home. I can’t wait for it to come in.

And I also recently realized that in about a month I’ll already be halfway through this pregnancy, and that’s if I go the whole 40 weeks. I started looking at all of the baby stuff we need to buy, and it’s a little overwhelming too.  The website Lucie’s list has helped a ton in making decisions about a lot of the big stuff, but then there’s clothes, blankets, etc. Not to mention I’m still really on the fence about whether or not to cloth diaper, so I’ve been reading up on that a lot too. And apparently daycares fill up super fast and have long waiting lists for infants, so we really need to get on that. So much to do!

Lastly, but still very important, I really need to get going on my thesis. My plan is to have it done before the baby comes so that my advisor will have plenty of time to edit it while I’m on maternity leave. If the baby comes on it’s due date (highly unlikely), I have about five and half months from now to get it done.

As I said, overwhelmed. But I am extremely thankful that everything I’m overwhelmed with are good things. Weddings, people graduating and getting jobs, the baby, and me getting closer to finishing school. I just need to take a deep breath and keep going.

On a completely unrelated note, they debuted the first episode of season 2 of Sherlock on PBS last weekend. Absolutely amazing. If you’re in the UK you probably already saw it earlier this year, but if you’re in the US check it out on the PBS website, you can stream the entire episode.

Tags: family, life, pregnancy

The Parasol Protectorate series

The Parasol Protectorate is a five book series by Gail Carriger. Book five actually just came out recently, and it took a lot of willpower not to write a review before I read it – I loved the series that much.

The first book of the series - Soulless

Let me be honest with you from the start: if you dislike or are sick of vampires and werewolves, this series is probably not for you. But the vampires and werewolves in the story are much different than, say, Twilight. In fact, I’ve never really seen vampires and werewolves written this way (and I’ve read a lot of vampire novels). Wikipedia describes Soulless as “a steampunk paranormal romance novel” that takes place in Victorian England.

The world Carriger creates is much different than many supernatural novels. Vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are integrated into society and have their own cultures. Then there is the introduction of a new supernatural creature – the preternatural. A preternatural has no soul, and can cause an immortal to become mortal when touching them (this only lasts the duration of the touch). Alexia, the heroine, is a preternatural. A spinster preternatural with an attitude.

The premise of Soulless is simple – vampires are disappearing so they suspect the only preternatural in London – Alexia. So Alexia, innocent of whatever is befalling the vampires, decides she must find out what is happening. But of course, she must be overshadowed by  the head of the Bureau of Unnatural Registry, Lord Conall Maccon, a disagreeable (but very handsome) alpha werewolf.

Unfortunately synopses for the other four books would most definitely include spoilers, and I don’t want to spoil anything. These are far too fun to read for that.

So now that you have an idea about the story – here is my review (a bit more in depth than the very obvious “I loved them.”)

I bought a set of the first three books on my Nook last year before we went to France – I thought that would definitely be enough reading for plane rides, train rides, and relaxing. I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining the first book was. Hubs, on the other hand, caught sight of the word “werewolf” and proceeded to tease me. There are just some things he’ll never understand.

The books really do have a little bit of everything – adventure, mystery, humor, and romance (straight, gay, and they can get a little steamy). The characters are charming and likeable. They’re easy and quick reads. I took a break from the series after Soulless because I already had another book lined up, but I read Changeless, Blameless, and Heartless in rapid succession. I finished Heartless a week or two before Timeless was set to be released, so I had to take a short break before devouring that book too. Obviously I loved them and fully recommend them.

No book or series is perfect, however. This definitely isn’t a read for men (I think the “romance” part probably gave that away). Sometimes the writing can get a little slow and repetitive. Obviously if vampires and werewolves aren’t your thing, these books probably aren’t going to change your mind. They’re also not dramatic and serious like an Anne Rice novel, if that’s what you’re looking for.

So if you’re looking for an entertaining read and don’t mind some vampires and werewolves popping up, give Soulless a try, you might just end up reading the whole series.

Tags: book review

So about all of that “busy”…

I’ll be honest, a lot of the busy was work/school and family drama. Do you really need more of that? I didn’t think so. So I won’t elaborate.

But, part of the busy is going to affect the blog in a kind of big way. And it’s a little bit exciting. And it’s been absolutely killing me not talking about it.

Hubs and I are expecting a baby in October.

3D ultrasound of the little one at almost 10 weeks.

We are both absolutely over the moon and more excited than I can even explain. I mean, look at how cute he/she is already, and that was a month ago.

So here’s what’s going on:

• I’m 14 weeks today and in my second trimester. I’m due October 26.
• Yes, I did get morning sickness (everyone seems to ask me this). Luckily it was only an everyday thing for a couple of weeks. Now I just get intensely carsick on our commute home.
• Yes, we will be finding out the sex (another thing everyone asks us). But we’re only going to share it if the tech is very sure, because we don’t trust the prediction otherwise. I already have two nephews that we were told were going to be nieces until they were born, I really don’t want that with our baby.

Something that I want to get further into is exercise, since it’s obviously a big part of my life and what I write about. It’s suggested that women keep exercising during pregnancy, it’s supposed to really help when its time to give birth. It seems like the normal suggestions are:

• Go by rate of perceived exertion. If you can’t have a conversation with someone, you’re exercising too hard. If you can sing a tune, you’re probably not exercising hard enough.
• Whatever you did before, you can probably continue to do, just scale back.
• Stop doing something if it doesn’t feel right.

And that’s been working pretty well for me. I’ve had to switch from running to walking, and I’ve reduced a lot of my weights and take much longer rest periods. Then when I was reading through all of the information the office gave me, it had some weight restrictions. I continued to exercise ignoring the weight restrictions (I wasn’t much above them anyway after scaling back), making sure that I was comfortable and didn’t get too fatigued. Luckily, when I went to the doctor yesterday, she was on board with that. She said that as long as I don’t have to grunt and strain to lift a weight, it’s fine. She then proceeded to tell me I’m probably fine anyway because I don’t exactly look like I deadlift 200 lbs. While she’s right, I hope to be lifting much more before I see her a few years down the road for another pregnancy But honestly, just the fact that she said that made me feel better about her suggestions. Before I started exercising seriously, I had never heard of a deadlift. So the fact that she threw that out there, I feel like she knows what she’s talking about exercise-wise and isn’t just feeding me the steady-state cardio guidelines that are everywhere.

I’m not going to post about every aspect of my pregnancy – honestly, you don’t need to know that stuff (and probably don’t want to). I’m sure there will be many posts that don’t talk about it at all. But it still is a big part of our lives, so it will show up. I’m saying this because I realize that some people are sensitive about the subject and may not wish to hear about it all of the time, and rest assured that you won’t. Just a heads up on the future, and I hope to see you around

Tags: family, life, marriage, pregnancy

Lyric Love

I kind of have a thing for lyrics. Okay, maybe more than a thing – I’m a bit obsessed. I mean, I do have some Motion City Soundtrack lyrics tattooed on my side.

Without good lyrics, a “good” song is just catchy. That’s it. Not really any meaning. Although bad music with good lyrics isn’t good either, kind of like poetry being yelled over noise. But that is neither here nor there.

A couple of my favorites (only two, I promise):

“Hold Me Down” by Motion City Soundtrack. My tattoo is “the leaky sink of sentiment,” which I think describes my overemotional nature pretty well. I also love “you’re the laziness of afternoon,” “you’re the failed attempts I never could forget,” and “you’re all the metaphors I can’t create to comprehend this curse that I call love.”

“If I Had A Gun” by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Did you really think you were going to get through a music post without this song? My absolute favorite: “Excuse me, have I spoke to soon? My eyes have always followed you around the room. ‘Cause you’re the only God that I will ever need, I’m holding on and waiting for the moment to find me.” Try telling me that’s not amazing.

So those are some of my favorites. But let me tell you what really bugs me. What drives me absolutely nuts.

When people get the lyrics wrong. Over and over and over. I get that some people are just impossible to translate. Like Patrick Stump, for example (hence why Fuse made fun of “Dance, Dance”):

But this is the age of the internet. Google “song name”+lyrics and you have links upon links giving you the correct lyrics.

The one that bugs me the most is “Sigh No More” by Mumford and Sons. When their album went big, I saw crafts everywhere putting lyrics from that song on canvas or what have you. And 90% of them had the lyrics wrong. (Unfortunately since their popularity has waned somewhat, I can’t find any examples.)

Most people wrote the lyrics beginning with “Love will not betray you.” Here’s how that part of the song really goes:

Love that will not betray you,
dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man
you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
At my heart you see,
The beauty of love
as it was made to be.

I know, it’s just a little word, “that.” But it completely changes the meaning. Now instead of love in general, they’re talking about a specific love. Now whose love, that is up for interpretation. To me, the lyrics sound like they’re talking about God’s love, but whatever floats your boat, that’s the beauty of lyrics.

Here’s what I’m getting at: Lyrics are awesome and it takes a multitude of talent to write amazing ones. If you love the lyrics to a song, look them up. Reading through them will not only ensure that you get them right, but it might give you even more appreciation for the beautiful poetry they actually are.

What are some of your favorite lyrics? I’d love to hear them!