Updating The Internet

I had CS take this last night when I was waiting for the pasta water to boil. I might have been sticking my back out a little, and it's the end of a long day of turkey leg, frozen icee, and cinnamon almond eating at the Festival, and it is the end of the day (when I tend to look a lot more prego due to bloating). But look at it! It's huge! My mom even said I might be the basketball type. This is so not true, but that'd be nice. I know pregnancy is not the time to wail over extra weight, but the more I read, the more it seems like excessive weight gain is not a good idea. I'm almost halfway there and I've only gained 7-9 pounds which is just fine. I don't want to put fifty pounds on, just to struggle to get them off. I eat when I'm hungry and I try to eat a balanced meal. Last night I made spaghetti and as I served myself a plate, I realized that I forgot the broccoli so I had to steam up a bowl before I could eat.

We went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday. I almost didn't go because it was just CS and I. I knew it would be hot down in Apache Junction and crowded as it was the last day. But I'm glad we did! The festival that Colorado has is terribly boring compared to the Arizona one. They had so many performers, and the seating was covered so you didn't roast in the sunshine. The most eventful performance was from a man named Dextre Tripp who could walk the high wire. He began one stunt by wandering the audience, looking for a "volunteer". He came up to me, took my hand, and said "It's your lucky day. You know why? I'm gonna pick him." and he took CS up on stage. And gave him a lighter. CS had to assist him a a few stunts (handing him a chair, a unicycle, whatnot) before Dextre Tripp handed him three juggling pins to hold while he scaled CS's back and stood on his shoulders. Then he lit the pins on fire and juggled them while standing on CS's shoulders. I could not have been more amused.

Even better, as we were walking around, I heard someone walk past and say "That's Chris! Chris." and his companion responded with "Oh, Chris from the show. He's FAMOUS."

May 1st

(btw, we didn't get the RV. We were all set to go get it on Saturday when they called us on Friday night at 5 and said the bank changed their minds. I think this is bullshit because the RV place should not take your money and tell you it's yours when the bank has the final say. That's just a mindscrew.)

So the apartment/house search is on the way. The place I found yesterday might not actually allow dogs like they told me it did. I found out today when I turned in the application. It's ok if they don't, because I wasn't actually excited about living over in the ghetto again. After my disappointing meeting with that apartment broker, I walked down the street to a Cafe to get some decaf coffee and a pumpkin pastry (something Spanish, I do not remember. Panella?) As I left the coffee shop, I noticed a woman walking into a realty office just down the street so I meandered my way down to see if she had anything for rent. And LO! She does. Two houses, actually. But they are not ready until May 1st. Which I thought was April 1st until about halfway through the conversation and that made me sad. One might be ready on the 15th of April, but she can't promise anything and it's the smaller of the two places. It might not have laundry hookups either but it can be furnished. So many options. (Not really) I found a place in the paper but when I went to go look at it, I knew instantly that it would.not.do. Too dirty and not in a nice area. I'll stay here in this little RV park for now because I am not living in squalor just because it's ready in a week. We would need a lot of paint and some new carpet in order for that place to be ready.

It's frustrating to do this again because I'm sure it will be a never ending process. Every time we move, we will have to struggle to find a place. Because we don't get here early enough to get the better places nor are there a lot of nice places to live in these small towns. The broker I talked to this morning told me that lots of landlords are being greedy for money right now because it's been so long since they've had people coming into town. I understand they want to make money when they can, but exploiting us is not ethical. Yes, we get a housing stipend. But it doesn't cover everything.

This was why a nice, new RV had such appeal. Never having to deal with sucky landlords and dirty apartments? Yes, please. Even when the RV lady wants Hunter on a leash AT ALL TIMES because she's afraid her preshuss squeaky toy dogs are going to be mauled. Yeah right, lady. Hunter is more afraid of those little rats than they are of him. It's because he knows I hate toy dogs. They aren't real dogs, more like furry alligators that yip.

Finally!

There is an IKEA in Tempe, AZ. OMFG, I am so excited and going tomorrow!

I might have found an apartment, too. I went to the realty companies in town and found one apartment to be had. It's not in the best part of Globe, but the apartment itself was quite nice and new. The road leading up to the apartment is rough dirt, not even road base and there are no trees nor a good place to walk the dog for my daily mile and a half. But if that's all that I can have in this town? I'l take it. The windows open in all the rooms and it smelled freshly painted. That's all I need. And it had newer carpet. Thanks, SOLD.

There is one other place we might check out, it's a house for rent but I don't know how much yet. The broker was going to call the woman and see if that was still a possibility and I hope it is for a reasonable amount.

I just can't wait to decorate with IKEA furniture. This has been years in the making.

I'd Like To Be On The No Call List.

My doctor's office called me yesterday. When I answered the phone, I assumed that they had the results of my Downs Syndrome/Trisomy test (since I'm new at this baby game and have no reason to dread phone calls from doctor's assistants). I listened while she told me that Dr. M went over my ultrasound results and that because they did the ultrasound so early (I was 16 weeks and 2 days, NOT 17 weeks) it looks like I might have a low lying placenta but she couldn't be sure because the ultrasound didn't give enough detail. She tells me that because they aren't sure of the placement of my placenta that they will be doing another ultrasound inbetween 20 and 25 weeks. But until then Dr. M says nothing in the vagina which means no sex. Inwardly, I have no reaction because I process things at a snail's pace, while outwardly I'm laughing a bit because my sex drive is about zilch, much to CS's disappointment. The assistant on the phone with me counts out my weeks and finds a date to do the ultrasound again, right at 26 weeks on May 20th. I say "sure, ok" and pen it onto my Dashboard with all my other appointments.

I have her explain what a low lying placenta means, which I don't actually understand but go along with. I ask her what to do if I start bleeding and her response "Oh, just call us. I don't expect you'll have any trouble since you haven't had any bleeding so far."

I call CS and break the bad news to him; swearing that this is not an April Fool's joke.

I call my mom and start crying even though I'm not really upset. Or at least, I don't feel panic rising.

Then I count out how many weeks I am, and discover that I will be 20 weeks at the end of April. I will be over 25 weeks when I have my appointment. This is not right to me. If you're going to tell me that I have a "condition" (maybe, not really sure) then why in the name of all things holy are you going to make me wait TWO MONTHS to see if it's really true when you might be able to tell around 20 weeks and a month sooner? Plus, you're telling me to not have sex with my boyfriend when that's the very thing that got us in this situation in the first place? And when he is very excited about the 2nd trimester because that's when I'm supposed to want sex all the time, and should be saying things like "Aren't you there yet? God, it's been four minutes." You want me to say no to sex for two months when you maybe think I might have a condition that's not really a condition until 28 weeks?

I didn't know anything about a low lying placenta until I iVilliaged, What to Expected, and Mayo Cliniced in the past 24 hours. From what I gather, the placenta moves it's way around the uterine lining to attach at the top, where it's more nutrient rich and less likely to cause complications before and during delivery. Before 20 weeks, it's not considered in a danger zone if it's not attached at the top, but after 28 weeks you want it there. However, even having a simple low lying placenta is not a cause for worry or drastic measures like abstaining from sex or bed rest or a c-section. There are three types of low lying placentas but low lying itself is not a large cause of concern.

However, I'm frustrated with this Dr. that I have not met yet. From my research, it seems that I don't need to be concerned yet. And if you're going to tell me to abstain from sex on a "maybe" then I'm not sure I am going to be a very happy patient with you. I fall under a category of patient that doesn't want to have too much modern medicine interfering with this process. I don't want to have all the testing available, I don't want pain meds, I don't want a C-section, I don't want to be induced. I was raised by parents who had homebirths and midwives for almost all their children. I like that idea. It's personalized and family oriented. I don't like having a Dr. who thinks that I need to do this because I might have that. It's too removed. She doesn't know me and she's imposing on me.

I'm also terrified to go against her. What if she's right and I have sex and start bleeding? What if I lose this baby? Then I should have listened to this woman because she's the doctor and I'm not and it's My fault now. I hate the worry and fear that these doctors can create with all their "knowledge" and their own fear that if they don't caution me to the extreme, I can go right ahead and sue them. Can I not sign a waver saying I promise not to sue as long as you promise to just tell me straight, cut the medical bullshit of "if" and "could".

I want a midwife.

Grown Up

Please tell me how she went from this:
















To this:

Happy Easter

I spend Easter outside. I didn't go to church like DD, or dye eggs with JBelle, or have yummy Easter dinner. But I did watch my adorably dumb-ass dog jump out of a moving boat into the lake, went for a drive on a winding narrow dirt road, and found the perfect place on the river to spend summer weekends.

Hunter likes to fetch sticks in the water. He will also swim after skipping rocks and if he is standing in the water, he will stick his head underwater to fetch the rock you just threw at him.









Kudos if you can spot my baby belly.

Somewhere In The Second Trimester

I had my first appointment at my new doctor's office last week and they were so kind as to change my due date again. It's really frustrating to go to a new doctor and have them change something that you've been told is the be all end all of dates. Not that I think I will deliver on that date. I fully expect to go over that date by at least a week but they based my September 2nd due date on the first ultrasound and the Dr. said they are rarely off by more than a few days at such an early stage. So I want my new doctor's assistants to listen to me and just put down the 2nd, not the 29th or the 1st. September 2nd. OK? Because if it's not the 2nd, then you are telling me I am 17 weeks along when I clearly think I am only 16 and two days. Do not make me miss a day in my Pregnancy Countdown!

However, they did redeem themselves a little when they offered me an ultrasound. Sadly they don't have 4-D so I had to deal with the grainy ugliness of the old school ultrasound machine. We aren't finding out the sex, but it would have been nearly impossible not to see if had it been a 4-D machine because baby joey was laying on it's back, fully exposed. CS swears that he saw it's a boy but I think he's wrong. He's not an ultrasound technician! Just wishful thinking, my friend. The heartbeat was 150, quite in the middle of the spectrum so there is no guessing there.

He also claims I'm carrying low. But you can decide for yourself.

Pick A Date!

My new office has changed my due date again. Now it's September 1st or the 29th of August. I'm not sure which one I'm supposed to be going with. GAHH. It's frustrating because they base it all on the date of your last period, which makes me conceiving this baby about two days after my period ended and that's not quite how it works if I read my literature correctly. So I don't even believe that the September one is right, but whatever they say.

My new OB's office is quite large and simple. They don't have a 4-D ultrasound, which was a huge disappointment to CS and me. It's just not the same to see that grainy baby when you could be seeing your baby with detail. We don't want to know the sex, but with a better ultrasound, we could have been able to tell. CS claims to have "seen it" when the technician was moving the wand down from the head to the feet. He's not convinced that we're having a boy and wanted to register for only blue things. I still maintain that we have no idea. He doesn't know how to read ultrasounds!

Everything is good, the heartbeat is in the mid-range (150) and baby joey is about 5 ounces and somewhere around 4 inches long. The head was on my left side and feet on my right. I'm still not feeling any kicks, even though baby joey was moving around the whole time we were doing the ultrasound. Baby also refused to roll over so we could see the spine, even though she tried vigorously shaking my stomach with the wand. Stubborn, just like the daddy.

After the doctor's appointment, we made our way to Target to register and had a lovely argument over something duck related. I'm sure it was a good time for all the people walking around us as I tried to figure out why CS wouldn't use the scanner thingy on any more items after I made him put the most adorable Duck robe on the list. I mean, there are blue zoo animal sheets on there! I can have a duck robe. But apparently boys don't wear robes.

Then I made him wait while I found cute dresses to wear. Thank god the style that's in right now is loose and flowing. Because prego pants? Are fugly.

Welcome To Arizona, Land Of The 24 Year Old Snowbird

CS and I bought an RV yesterday. Supposedly. According to the sales people, we meet a few of their banks criteria for loans so even though it was a Sunday, we signed the forms and paid a down payment on a Prowler 5th Wheel. CS assures me that it's not a joke, that his is how he got the truck but I'm waiting for them to call and say "ok, when do you want to pick it up" and "here are your keys." That's when I'll go along with it.

I know it sounds so ridiculous that I am going to own an RV. I mean, I'm having a baby for Pete's Sake. However, this RV? Has an extra room, with a little cupboard and drawers! And a real DOOR. Right now I'm living in a box and I can't tell you how much difference a real door makes.

So before you freak out that I'm a crazy, crazy who lives in a RV park and will be having 6 kids in dirty clothes and 3 dogs tied up underneath my 5th wheel, let me explain. If we continue moving around from place to place (like we plan on doing) we are going to be wasting handfuls of money every month. Not only in rent to skeezy landlords who allow their apartments to fall apart and refuse to give any of the deposit back when we can't give a full thirty days, to paying for utilities, and also renting furniture. Will all those bills piled up, we are paying over fifteen hundred a month in living expenses just to live in a horrible apartment. By buying an RV, we are saving ourselves almost a thousand a month. What would you do if you had an extra grand a month?

The other benefit is with moving. When we get to a new place, we don't have much time to find a place before CS has to be at work every day. These small towns aren't used to a large group of people coming in so finding a place isn't easy. Which means staying in a hotel and that costs mucho dinero. Also boring for me. When we have our own 5th wheel, we just secure everything down and drive away. No more scramble for boxes and packing them into my car and CS's truck. No disrupting the baby's life because we are picking up and moving. It's the closest we can get to making a stable environment for a baby.

This 5th wheel is HUGE. It has a really tall ceiling and the kitchen has tons of cupboards and even a pantry! (sorta) There is a TV stand and a table. Room for Hunter on the floor and a real shower. It's new. It doesn't smell musty and previously smoked in. Truly clean and sparkly. It just makes sense even if it's a tad bit weird to admit that I will live in the RV park off the highway, last row at the top, third trailer in.

Why The Windows In My Car Are Now Set To Child-Proof

The other day I was driving around Globe with Hunt hanging out the window and we happened upon a very steep hill. So steep that when I stopped at the stop sign, my car immediately began to roll backwards when I took my foot off the brake to press the gas. My car made a clunky noise in protest to getting across the intersection and we made it through when I realized the next street was a dead end. So I swerved to get the car into the first driveway I can turn around it and when I get there I turn my head to make sure no one is behind me and I see Hunter. With his head being rolled up in the window.

15 Weeks

I bought my first pair of maternity pants while I was in Seattle. From a place called the Pumpkin Patch. They were sixty dollars but the girl at the counter scanned a little card and suddenly they were only fifty. Did you know that maternity pants don't come in sizes? I mean, they do, but they are Small, Medium, or Large. I tried on the mediums first and shockingly they were far too big for me. I sent CS to go get a small, and when he returned I tried them on. Shockingly, they fit just fine. I guess this is where I tell you that I have only gained four (4) pounds in the past three and a half months. I wasn't even showing until two weeks ago and all that showing doesn't add up to extra pounds like I thought it would. However, my mom has been kind enough to point out that I will not be the cute basketball belly type. Apparently, I should have known that. At least, that's what she says when I walk past a mirror and bemoan my chubby state. And today after lunch, I told CS that my boobs were bigger today. After eyeing them, he told me they hadn't changed but I insisted that they have started to sag and he told me to shush up.

I'd take a picture for you, but the camera is in the car. Maybe later. When I recover from my headache. My friend, Canada Dry Raspberry club soda is trying to help me out. I blame the headache on my Cherry Slush from Sonic, because what I clearly ordered was a Cherry LIME slush. However, they also gave CS a medium fry and a small drink, so I think it's safe to say they are idiots. Such a shame, the rest of Arizona has been so pleasant. Even when I burned my arm on my plate of mexican food at dinner last night, the waitress heard my "ouch" and laughingly warned me they were hot again. New Mexico waitresses would have never told us the plates were hot in the first place. Which is why I never had Mexican food in NM, never, not once.

720 Miles Later

We are in AZ. It took a long time. I do not relish doing that drive again. There was nothing spectacular about it and I had to stop to pee more than I needed to re-fuel my car. I think there was an incredible pass we drove through, very tight switchbacks down a 7% grade but it was dark out and I could only see the road. It was through a reservation and quite a few miles away so I don't see returning there often.

I made the mistake of commenting to my mom as we drove through the reservation town about how NICE things were in Arizona and how nothing was boarded up and it was all clean and new and sparkly. I should have kept my mouth shut. Globe is much nicer than Hobbs ( I went to Safeway this afternoon and had four people ask me if I needed help in the span of 5 minutes) but it's still a small town that's seen it's glory days back in the mining boom. So many of the hills and mesa's surrounding us are made of materials taken from the mines and in the reclaimation phase. There are no trees here, but there is a winding stream running through town that I took Hunter to this morning. I haven't found any parks but there is a golf course. There are restaurants here that I will actually enter. I've seen coffee shops and a nutritional store.

We're still not sure where we are going to live. Right now we are in a hotel for a few days and after that we are trying to get into an RV park and stay in a borrowed 5th wheel for a bit until we can try to get one of our own (we are in the Snowbird state). I've only liked one park so far and of course they had no openings. It was down town and by the river so I could walk Hunty there. Maybe something will open up soon. If the trailer idea fails, I suppose we will drive around and find places for rent or sale and get a house.

This is my least favorite part about going someplace new. So much unknown and small towns are harder to get a place to stay than a big city. I wish it was all set up for us before we even got here. That'd be perfect, thanks!