April 24, 2009

Stop the Fun-der!

We’re having some goofy weather this morning.  I awoke at 5:00 a.m. to an unnaturally pink sky.  The sun was out, but the combination of pink, orange and yellow brought back memories of tornado skies.  Shortly after that the sun decided to hide and a dark blue sky appeared to the north, signaling rain was on the way.

At 6:00 a.m. the thunder began to rumble.  Lightning soon followed.  I was trying to work, but I’ve have this fascination with lightning.  I also have an irrational fear of it, too.  I unplugged the laptop and worked soley on battery power.

Then the sun decided to peek out for a second or two.  She left as quickly as she appeared.  Cloudy skies moved in, the thunder and lightning continued and at 7 a.m. -ish, the rain began.

It’s always so neat to hear the sound of heavy rain on the roof.  With no television or radio on, I heard the splattering and looked out the livingroom window.   At that moment thunder crackled and a bolt of lighting shot through the sky.  I leaped to the other side of the room.  I’m not in the mood to be electrocuted this morning.  Maybe next week. (Ha…)

Dawson woke up a minute later.  He came into the room, looked out the window and cried, “STOP the FUN-der!” in the same tone that Susan Powter exclaims, “Stop the Insanity!”

I started to giggle.

“Mumma, fun-der is not funny!  It’s scary!  No laughing!”

I’m still laughing when I think about it.  That boy of mine can make even the rainy days better.

April 22, 2009

Bizzay…

Today was one of the busiest days I’ve had in a while.

I woke up early, did some work, frantically tried to get Dawson dressed (he hates waking up in the morning, just like his Mom and Dad), dropped Dawson off at daycare, did some more work, helped a friend with an important task, participated in a conference call, ran errands, paid bills, balanced the checkbook, got Dawson from daycare, went to the bank, dropped off some cash so my husband could have a Boys’ Night Out, drove to my mom’s house, went to a Lia Sophia party, spent too much money (shhh!  Don’t tell the Huz.  That means YOU, Copps Employees!), dropped my mom off at home and picked up Dawson (my brother babysat while we were buying jewelry), went to the grocery store for one little thing, went home, had a cupcake with my boy, and now I am blogging.

Man, am I exhausted.

On top of it all I’m having some pain in my lower back, left buttock and left thigh.  It’s horrible.  Sometimes my leg buckles when I walk, that’s how intense it is.  My doctor thinks it might be sciatica.  Already.  I’m only 13 weeks.  Yeesh.

I think it’s time for bed.

What did you do today?

April 20, 2009

13 Weeks Down

I had a prenatal appointment last Tuesday, the first one with my OB/GYN.  When I arrived I gave the required urine sample and afterward the nurse rushed me into the exam room to take my blood pressure.

“You might want to wait a few minutes,” I said.  “I have a history of high blood pressure and I really don’t want a false reading.  I did rush to get here.”

No problem, she said and then told me to get undressed from the waist down, put the ugly gown on and climb onto the exam table.  The thought of my impending pelvic exam made me panic and I started sweating.  I’m sure my blood pressure skyrocketed at that point, too.

After the nurse left the room, I did as I was told and waited nervously for Dr. F to arrive.  He walked into the room several moments later, with an intern following behind him.

“So, I have intern today,” he said in his Russian (Ukranian?) accent.  “Okay?”

I said okay, but didn’t realize I was giving permission for this new guy to be in the room during this exam.  After the usual niceties and general pregnancy questions (How are you feeling?  You have any sickness?  How is blood pressure?), it was time for the pelvic portion of this visit.

I won’t go into details because I’m certain you’ve all been in this uncomfortable position.  After a few minutes the nurse asked me (while I’m being poked and prodded) if I was okay.

“Are we doing alright?” she asked.

“Umm, I think so…aside from feeling like George O’Malley is standing next to me….I think I can handle this.”

They all laughed.  I didn’t think my Grey’s reference was all that funny.  Maybe they hear that all the time.  And then the nurse said, “Well, I suppose George is better than Korev, right?”

I just smiled and nodded.  I wanted to put my clothes back on immediately.  It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve had this pap and pelvic thing done, it never gets any easier.  I shudder when I think of the many more times I’ll have to go through that in the next six months.

When Dr. F was done, he grabbed the doppler and tried to find my baby’s heartbeat.

“Now, you measure a leetle over 12 weeks, and it might be too early for heartbeat, okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

“I’ll try, but I will push hard so take a breath, yes?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Eef we don’t find eet, we do ultrasound.  But don’t worry.  We try.”

“Okay…” A feeling of uncertainty fell over me, but I tried to relax.

Dr. F was true to his word.  He began pushing on my lower abdomen so hard that I gasped for breath.  It took a little over a minute to find the heartbeat but it felt like an eternity, and I began to panic.  Suddenly, the sound of galloping horses filled the room and tears began to stain my cheeks.

“Oh, there eet eez!” Dr. F said smiling.  “We hear it!”

My baby’s little heart was beating at 160 beats per minute.  I was so relieved, so happy, so thankful to God for keeping me and my baby healthy.

“Eet looks like you’re growing a healthy Wisconsin girl.” My doctor said.

“I think it’s a girl, too!” I told him as he helped me to sit up.

Dr. F has been so wonderful to me, so I told him how grateful I was that he is my doctor.

“Congratulations,” he told me, and gave me hug.  “You’re pregnant!  At last!”

It was kind of weird to have my male doctor hug me with my gown still on, but I was so happy to hear the heartbeat, and so thankful to Dr. F.

Ever since my appointment I’ve had dreams of the little girl (or boy) growing in my belly.  I’ll be 13 weeks pregnant on Wednesday.  The first trimester is almost over.  I feel so relieved, but I’m also impatient about the next 27 weeks.

Typing that out makes me laugh a little.  Only 27 weeks to go?  Really?  That’s all?  I’ve got so much to do!  Maybe waiting isn’t so bad afterall.

April 18, 2009

I Miss New York

I’m sitting around at home on this lazy Saturday, home alone — no hubs or Dawson to commandeer the remote — so I’m flipping through the channels and discover that the Sex and the City movie is on HBO.  I saw this movie on opening day in the theater.  I loved it so.  I laughed.  I cried.  I ooohed and ahhhed over the fashion.  I fell in love with New York City all over again.

I pre-ordered the movie on DVD and when it arrived several weeks later, I couldn’t bring myself to watch it again.  I still haven’t watched it for a second time.  In fact, when I caught a glimpse of it while surfing channels, I quickly chose a different movie to watch.  (Ocean’s Thirteen if you must know.)

To be perfectly honest, the reason I cannot watch the SATC movie again is because I loved it so much the first time.  I’ll explain this in a moment.

My husband finds this completely strange.  Strange because I still watch the seasons (I have all six boxed sets) every so often.

“Why is it you can watch an entire season in one sitting, but you won’t play the movie?  I haven’t seen it yet.”  Doug says.

“Well, if you want to watch it, just say so and I’ll go do something else.”

“I don’t get it.  You love Sex and the City.  You were addicted to that show and cried when it went off the air.”

“I know,” I say.  “It’s just that the movie was so amazing, everything I wanted it to be.  I feel like I’ve been given closure, a happy ending.”

Don’t get me wrong.  I love the series because it’s awesome.  And the movie is wonderful.  I just think that if I watch it again I’ll want more.

I know that Sex and the City 2 is in the works and while I’m very excited and will no doubt be first in line at the theater, I also worry that the new movie won’t be as good, or that it will leave much to be desired.  Why try to top a good thing?

Thinking about all of this makes me miss New York.  It was a year ago in April that I visited the Big Apple and fell in love with the Flatiron and the Empire State Building and Bethesda Fountain.  And the Brooklyn Bridge.

Yes, I miss New York.  Someday, I’ll go back.

Maybe I will watch the movie again, just so I can reminisce all the things I love about my favorite big city.