Sorry everyone, it's been a bit since I posted. Things have been so busy around here that I just haven't been able to get my act together (maybe I was just too wrapped up in the Red Sox sweeping the Yankees), but I'm happy to be finding some time now. Since you last heard from me, I have officially hit my half way mark in this pregnancy. I'm currently 20 weeks and 6 days. I've started feeling our little girl moving all the time. I keep being told I'm in the "honeymoon phase" of my pregnancy. I'm over the morning sickness and have yet to get too big as to be constantly uncomfortable or swollen. I think maybe they have a point. I do feel great. I have my share of back pains and I have definitely "popped" and am really showing now. Some girls at work have even started tracing my growing belly every 2 weeks. It's absolutely horrifying, but they've promised that "I will love it" after I have the baby (I sure hope so or else it's really not worth it).
So, back to my very active daughter. Feeling your baby move is one of the craziest feelings anyone can ever experience as far as I'm concerned. Part of it is absolutely wonderful knowing that your baby is in there (I mean, obviously I know she's in there, but this is a very tangible reminder). And despite how wonderful it is, sometimes it makes me feel like there's an alien in my stomach trying to break out. Either way, I can't say that I don't smile everytime I feel her so I certainly have nothing to complain about. Now I can't wait until she starts kicking hard enough for Timmy to feel her too. I'm already predicting she's got a great running future ahead of her with her daddy as a coach!
I actually predicted we had a little gymnast in there since I saw her do flips at our first ultrasound around 13 weeks (despite Timmy's insistance that we really didn't have the genes for that with his amazon like height and my complete lack of coordination), but I guess we'll just have to see! It was also nice to have the doctors all reconfirm this week that it is indeed a girl...it even made me feel better being able to see "the money shot" for myself on the ultrasound screen. It just nice to be able to see her thriving in there
So that's all the exciting news for now. I'm already working on my next post now about my feelings on The Nest and other mommy bloggers. Keep checking back in for baby Parcell updates!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
How to Talk to a Pregnant Woman
This is advice that, as far as I'm concerned, is applicable to everyone. I wish someone had given it to me before I was pregnant. As basic as some of these things may seem, you'd be shocked that those of you who have never been pregnant before just don't seem to get it.
So, pregnant women sometime have a tendency to gripe a bit. And you know what? We deserve it. As much of a blessing as it is to carry a child, it's definitely not easy. First, there's the morning sickness. When I was dealing with morning sickness, it was an inexplicable all day feeling of being on the verge of losing whatever I had just managed to eat. Thank God for chocolate milk, bagels, and oranges which got me through my toughest days. Once the morning sickness subsides, there is the constant back pain, headaches, swollen hands, legs and feet. Then, of course, we have that little joy of pregnancy called labor and delivery. I haven't gone through it yet, but from the impression I've received from those who have, it certainly is never considered painless. All in all, what I'm trying to say is, we have a right to gripe a little if we want to. If you have an issue with it, you get pregnant and see how it feels.
Among pregnant women, the most common gripe regards rude comments and inappropriate touching from family, friends, coworkers and that overly friendly guy on the street or in line at the grocery store or on the train. So, for all of you who currently fit into one of those categories, I have some tips for you that will help you to avoid aggravating any pregnant women in your life.
First off, and most important, never tells us we look huge (or fat!). We're carrying a baby. It comes with baggage. We know we're bigger than we used to be and we deal with the prospect everyday that we may never return to having those abs of steel. Last thing we need to hear from you is that we must be having a giant baby because we still have 2, 5, or 7 months to go. Everyone carries a baby differently so please don't compare our growing bellies with any other pregnant woman you've ever known. If you feel completely compelled to say anything about our appearance, most likely you will have to "stretch the truth". I don't care if it's a bold face lie and I actually have acne all over my face, just tell me I'm glowing. Even if I know that I can't see my own feet and haven't been able to tie my own shoes for weeks, lie and tell me I'm barely showing or that I'm definitely "all baby" and just carrying in my belly. And never ever say anything about my clothes getting too small or not matching. Unless you've been pregnant (and therefore aware enough not to say these things), you have no idea what it's like to have to get dressed every morning. Some days I end up sitting on the floor of my closet in my bath robe out of exhaustion and frustration resulting from trying to find an outfit.
Secondly, unless we take your hand and place it on our belly, please make no attempt to touch me. Unless you are a close female relative or my husband, don't rub, poke, or hold your hand on my stomach. I was recently discussing this exact topic with a pregnant friend and we came up with several strategies. I've decided that every time someone inappropriately touches my baby bump, I'm going to go ahead and rub their beer gut right back. Then I'm going to ask you if you like it. Kinda snarky, I know, but it's my prerogative. I also enjoyed my friend's strategy. She's going for the all out avoidance method. As soon as she sees that hand headed to her belly, she's going to zig and zag and jump wildly out of the way just to avoid it. I don't know how successful it will be, but it's going to be hilarious to watch and that's enough for me.
My husband and I made a conscious decision to find out the sex or our child and to make this public knowledge. We also decided that we would keep our baby's name a secret until she is born. This means that it is a secret from everyone, including our parents, our siblings, our closest friends. When I politely tell you that we are keeping the name a surprise, don't try and convince me to tell you because you won't tell anyone else. Please think for a moment, if we're going to tell anyone, why would I be telling my coworker who I hardly know? Ridiculous...One of the main reasons were not announcing it is because I have no interest in hearing what your opinion is. This is our baby and we get to name her. It's one of the perks.
All in all, when having a conversation about the baby, don't ask if I'm excited. Of course I'm excited. If I wasn't, I wouldn't tell you anyway. I'm also absolutely terrified and I don't feel like you need to know that either. Also, don't asked me if it was planned. I know I've been married less than a year. I know I'm only 24. You don't need to point these things out to me. We're having a baby. Isn't that all that matters?
Ok, I could keep going. I do have more, but I'm afraid I've already scared off most of my readers with this post. I'm really not so bitter in real life. I actually am glowing and excited. Consider this a rant of a pregnant woman. Just don't chalk it up to "hormones"....
For more advice on this matter, here are a couple of my favorite websites:
CBS News
NFIB
Ask Men
Minti
So, pregnant women sometime have a tendency to gripe a bit. And you know what? We deserve it. As much of a blessing as it is to carry a child, it's definitely not easy. First, there's the morning sickness. When I was dealing with morning sickness, it was an inexplicable all day feeling of being on the verge of losing whatever I had just managed to eat. Thank God for chocolate milk, bagels, and oranges which got me through my toughest days. Once the morning sickness subsides, there is the constant back pain, headaches, swollen hands, legs and feet. Then, of course, we have that little joy of pregnancy called labor and delivery. I haven't gone through it yet, but from the impression I've received from those who have, it certainly is never considered painless. All in all, what I'm trying to say is, we have a right to gripe a little if we want to. If you have an issue with it, you get pregnant and see how it feels.
Among pregnant women, the most common gripe regards rude comments and inappropriate touching from family, friends, coworkers and that overly friendly guy on the street or in line at the grocery store or on the train. So, for all of you who currently fit into one of those categories, I have some tips for you that will help you to avoid aggravating any pregnant women in your life.
First off, and most important, never tells us we look huge (or fat!). We're carrying a baby. It comes with baggage. We know we're bigger than we used to be and we deal with the prospect everyday that we may never return to having those abs of steel. Last thing we need to hear from you is that we must be having a giant baby because we still have 2, 5, or 7 months to go. Everyone carries a baby differently so please don't compare our growing bellies with any other pregnant woman you've ever known. If you feel completely compelled to say anything about our appearance, most likely you will have to "stretch the truth". I don't care if it's a bold face lie and I actually have acne all over my face, just tell me I'm glowing. Even if I know that I can't see my own feet and haven't been able to tie my own shoes for weeks, lie and tell me I'm barely showing or that I'm definitely "all baby" and just carrying in my belly. And never ever say anything about my clothes getting too small or not matching. Unless you've been pregnant (and therefore aware enough not to say these things), you have no idea what it's like to have to get dressed every morning. Some days I end up sitting on the floor of my closet in my bath robe out of exhaustion and frustration resulting from trying to find an outfit.
Secondly, unless we take your hand and place it on our belly, please make no attempt to touch me. Unless you are a close female relative or my husband, don't rub, poke, or hold your hand on my stomach. I was recently discussing this exact topic with a pregnant friend and we came up with several strategies. I've decided that every time someone inappropriately touches my baby bump, I'm going to go ahead and rub their beer gut right back. Then I'm going to ask you if you like it. Kinda snarky, I know, but it's my prerogative. I also enjoyed my friend's strategy. She's going for the all out avoidance method. As soon as she sees that hand headed to her belly, she's going to zig and zag and jump wildly out of the way just to avoid it. I don't know how successful it will be, but it's going to be hilarious to watch and that's enough for me.
My husband and I made a conscious decision to find out the sex or our child and to make this public knowledge. We also decided that we would keep our baby's name a secret until she is born. This means that it is a secret from everyone, including our parents, our siblings, our closest friends. When I politely tell you that we are keeping the name a surprise, don't try and convince me to tell you because you won't tell anyone else. Please think for a moment, if we're going to tell anyone, why would I be telling my coworker who I hardly know? Ridiculous...One of the main reasons were not announcing it is because I have no interest in hearing what your opinion is. This is our baby and we get to name her. It's one of the perks.
All in all, when having a conversation about the baby, don't ask if I'm excited. Of course I'm excited. If I wasn't, I wouldn't tell you anyway. I'm also absolutely terrified and I don't feel like you need to know that either. Also, don't asked me if it was planned. I know I've been married less than a year. I know I'm only 24. You don't need to point these things out to me. We're having a baby. Isn't that all that matters?
Ok, I could keep going. I do have more, but I'm afraid I've already scared off most of my readers with this post. I'm really not so bitter in real life. I actually am glowing and excited. Consider this a rant of a pregnant woman. Just don't chalk it up to "hormones"....
For more advice on this matter, here are a couple of my favorite websites:
CBS News
NFIB
Ask Men
Minti
Saturday, April 14, 2007
The Origins of Tazby
Warning: This is not a sex ed post. If you don't know how babies are made, you are definitely not ready for my blog. Simply click here and please return and read away once you've familiarized yourself a bit more with the process. With the rate at which this pregnancy is progressing, I really don't have time to regress all the back there.
So, as you may have noticed in previous posts, my husband and I refer to our little one as TAZBY. Let me clarify, since I have been asked this question on several occasions, we do not actually plan on naming our child Tazby. What kind of horrible parents do you think we're going to be? My first goal in motherhood is not to (intentionally) traumatize my poor child for the rest of her life. This is the same reason that we refuse to name her a normal name with some crazy spelling variation as is so popular these days. We're really just not horrible parents-to-be. We do have a lovely name all picked out that we will be more than happy to announce at her birth, but for now, she's just our little tazby.
I don't think I'm mentioned this before, but when I first began dating my husband, he decided that I had been missing out all my life because I had never had a nickname growing up. I, of course, clearly didn't know that I was being deprived of anything (Lisa doesn't usually come with many nicknames), but for this reason, he began calling me Zuzu. For those who don't know (don't worry, I know most of you won't), Zuzu is the name of the little daughter of Jimmy Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life (you know, the one who says the thing about how angels get their wings every time a bell rings?). Anyway, apparently our mutual blond ringlets made my husband decide that this would be a perfect nickname for me. Well, the name stuck so over the last 3 and a half years, he has simply called me Zuzu.
Ok, so now that you understand that (don't worry, that was about as complicated as this post is going to get), Tazby is our own little conglomeration of "Timmy and Zuzu Baby". Some couples choose peanut or bean or squirt or some other cute size reference, but I am fairly confident in saying that I am currently carrying a one of a kind Tazby.
So, as you may have noticed in previous posts, my husband and I refer to our little one as TAZBY. Let me clarify, since I have been asked this question on several occasions, we do not actually plan on naming our child Tazby. What kind of horrible parents do you think we're going to be? My first goal in motherhood is not to (intentionally) traumatize my poor child for the rest of her life. This is the same reason that we refuse to name her a normal name with some crazy spelling variation as is so popular these days. We're really just not horrible parents-to-be. We do have a lovely name all picked out that we will be more than happy to announce at her birth, but for now, she's just our little tazby.
I don't think I'm mentioned this before, but when I first began dating my husband, he decided that I had been missing out all my life because I had never had a nickname growing up. I, of course, clearly didn't know that I was being deprived of anything (Lisa doesn't usually come with many nicknames), but for this reason, he began calling me Zuzu. For those who don't know (don't worry, I know most of you won't), Zuzu is the name of the little daughter of Jimmy Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life (you know, the one who says the thing about how angels get their wings every time a bell rings?). Anyway, apparently our mutual blond ringlets made my husband decide that this would be a perfect nickname for me. Well, the name stuck so over the last 3 and a half years, he has simply called me Zuzu.
Ok, so now that you understand that (don't worry, that was about as complicated as this post is going to get), Tazby is our own little conglomeration of "Timmy and Zuzu Baby". Some couples choose peanut or bean or squirt or some other cute size reference, but I am fairly confident in saying that I am currently carrying a one of a kind Tazby.
Monday, April 9, 2007
I do have intuition!
I hate to brag about myself (ok, not really :-) ) , but I have to say I was pretty darn proud of my motherly instinct when the doctor confirmed to us this morning at our 18.5 week utrasound that we are, in fact, having OUR OWN LITTLE GIRL! Over the last couple of days, I was preparing myself to learn that we were expecting a little boy just because the possibility has been so far off my radar, it almost shocked me when the doc told us it was a girl.
Now, I can't say that it's 100% certain as our little girl wasn't being entirely cooperative for the ultrasound techs. Like a good little girl, she was keeping her legs closed (Lord, please let that habit continue for the next 25 years!) I'm not worried though, to us it was just an extra confirmation of what I've known for almost 5 months now...IT'S A GIRL!
It's incredibly surreal to actually know what our little baby is going to be, but I just couldn't be more excited. I know my husband is just going to make the best dad and that our daughter is going to have him wrapped around her little finger from the moment she makes her entrance into this world (I'm even pretty comfortable saying that she already has him completely wrapped up even where she is right now!). Let me just say, watch out future boyfriends because he already has plans to scare you away...For my husband's perspective, check out his blog!
I just pray God keeps his eye on our little girl...she deserves it.
Now, I can't say that it's 100% certain as our little girl wasn't being entirely cooperative for the ultrasound techs. Like a good little girl, she was keeping her legs closed (Lord, please let that habit continue for the next 25 years!) I'm not worried though, to us it was just an extra confirmation of what I've known for almost 5 months now...IT'S A GIRL!
It's incredibly surreal to actually know what our little baby is going to be, but I just couldn't be more excited. I know my husband is just going to make the best dad and that our daughter is going to have him wrapped around her little finger from the moment she makes her entrance into this world (I'm even pretty comfortable saying that she already has him completely wrapped up even where she is right now!). Let me just say, watch out future boyfriends because he already has plans to scare you away...For my husband's perspective, check out his blog!
I just pray God keeps his eye on our little girl...she deserves it.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
IT'S A GIRL...OR A BOY!
Five days from now we are finally going to find out if our little baby Tazby is a girl or a boy! I have to tell you, I'm a little nervous to know....and it's not because I really have a preference toward one gender or another, but I know I'm going to feel a whole lot of guilt if the ultrasound technician sees some "family jewels". I'll be honest, I'd love to have a boy, but I have been so sure this entire pregnancy that this little bundle in my belly is my own little girl. I've insisted on calling her (or "it" I guess I should say) a she. It just has seemed so unnatural to even imagine Tazby as a boy. So, if "it" does turn out to be a bouncing baby boy, I really hope I haven't already scarred him for life!
I'll be completely honest though, I will be totally shocked if they don't tell us it's a little girl in there. I've taken all of the gender predicting tests (including the Chinese Gender Calculator and innumerable Old Wives' Tales). Some say boy, some say girl. The way I figure it, there's a 50/50 chance they'll be right! Either way, I know we'll be thrilled.
I'll be completely honest though, I will be totally shocked if they don't tell us it's a little girl in there. I've taken all of the gender predicting tests (including the Chinese Gender Calculator and innumerable Old Wives' Tales). Some say boy, some say girl. The way I figure it, there's a 50/50 chance they'll be right! Either way, I know we'll be thrilled.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
The first 16 weeks...
So, let me begin by letting you all know why you should be glad that I didn't post during my first 16 weeks of pregnancy. I'll spare you the details of how I discovered that I was pregnant. To make a long story short, I showed up at work several days in a row feeling "under the weather" when my very observant friends suggested that perhaps it was time for me to pee on a stick (as they say). And I did and I can not say I expected to see what showed up, but there they were...those fateful and life-altering two lines. So what did I do? I can't lie and say that I didn't totally panic. I can't imagine any woman, whether caught completely unaware or been trying for years to conceive, would not tell you that one of the first emotions they felt was total shock. Luckily, as I've mentioned before, I do have an incredibly loving and supportive husband who took our little surprise so much better than I ever could have expected. It didn't take long for that total panic to actually start transforming into much happier dreams of our future family.
If I had been posting in the early months, it probably would have been a lot of complaining about how it took me three times as long to get ready for work in the morning because I could barely get out bed without running to the bathroom. I'm sure I would have mentioned that I woke up every morning at 4:30am completely famished, only to find that Timmy had left crackers on my nightstand to lull me back to sleep. And you would have heard aout the agony of keeping such big news a secret for the people you want to tell most!
There were days where it was absolute torture not being able to tell my mom about all of my new found aches and pains or gush about how I fell in love the first time we saw the baby doing flips or bouncing with hiccups on the ultrasound machine. But we had made a conscious decision to wait until we could assemble both of our families in one place (definitely not an easy feat) and tell everyone our big news.
It's a strange thing to tell your parents you're pregnant. I'm a grown woman and happily married, but it's easy to know why it was such a frightening prospect. I feel like I had been taking all necessary precautions to not have to go to my parents and tell them about my impending parenthood for all of my adult life. It was hard for me to imagine a positive reaction, but of course I completely underestimated both my family and my in-laws. I know it was certainly a shock when we finally let them discover the new member of the family (although my detective minded mother-in-law had been on to me since our last visit to their house months earlier...very little gets by her...I think it was my unusual refusal to drink excessively).
As hard as it was to wait so long to tell our families, I can't imagine having done it any other way. It was a wonderful joy to see all of their reactions and I really have to recommend our idea to any expectant parents wondering how to "break the news". We decided to buy a children's book for each member of the family. For our parents, we tried to pick books that we remember them reading to us while we were small. Then we mounted copies of our sonogram picture to cards that read "See You in September!" and attached them to the front covers of the books. We wrapped them and put each person's name on the outside of the package and used them as place cards for when the whole family sat down for dinner. I think they were all touched when they opened them (even my father who looked like he was on the verge of a coronary and continuing to check his pulse throughout dinner). For any of you who are even the slightest bit nervous about announcing your news, remember that although there may be shock, no one can't be thrilled about the arrival of a new baby. Enjoy this time as much as you can because it's a wonderful, amazing thing...we just couldn't be happier and we definitely can't wait for our Tazby!
Tomorrow I'll let you know our gender predictions for our big ultrasound on Monday!
If I had been posting in the early months, it probably would have been a lot of complaining about how it took me three times as long to get ready for work in the morning because I could barely get out bed without running to the bathroom. I'm sure I would have mentioned that I woke up every morning at 4:30am completely famished, only to find that Timmy had left crackers on my nightstand to lull me back to sleep. And you would have heard aout the agony of keeping such big news a secret for the people you want to tell most!
There were days where it was absolute torture not being able to tell my mom about all of my new found aches and pains or gush about how I fell in love the first time we saw the baby doing flips or bouncing with hiccups on the ultrasound machine. But we had made a conscious decision to wait until we could assemble both of our families in one place (definitely not an easy feat) and tell everyone our big news.
It's a strange thing to tell your parents you're pregnant. I'm a grown woman and happily married, but it's easy to know why it was such a frightening prospect. I feel like I had been taking all necessary precautions to not have to go to my parents and tell them about my impending parenthood for all of my adult life. It was hard for me to imagine a positive reaction, but of course I completely underestimated both my family and my in-laws. I know it was certainly a shock when we finally let them discover the new member of the family (although my detective minded mother-in-law had been on to me since our last visit to their house months earlier...very little gets by her...I think it was my unusual refusal to drink excessively).
As hard as it was to wait so long to tell our families, I can't imagine having done it any other way. It was a wonderful joy to see all of their reactions and I really have to recommend our idea to any expectant parents wondering how to "break the news". We decided to buy a children's book for each member of the family. For our parents, we tried to pick books that we remember them reading to us while we were small. Then we mounted copies of our sonogram picture to cards that read "See You in September!" and attached them to the front covers of the books. We wrapped them and put each person's name on the outside of the package and used them as place cards for when the whole family sat down for dinner. I think they were all touched when they opened them (even my father who looked like he was on the verge of a coronary and continuing to check his pulse throughout dinner). For any of you who are even the slightest bit nervous about announcing your news, remember that although there may be shock, no one can't be thrilled about the arrival of a new baby. Enjoy this time as much as you can because it's a wonderful, amazing thing...we just couldn't be happier and we definitely can't wait for our Tazby!
Tomorrow I'll let you know our gender predictions for our big ultrasound on Monday!
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