Distractions

for the most part, Chicklet's impending arrival is a wonderful concentration device. i've posted this before, but knowing that a baby's on the way really kicks your work output into high gear (it did for me at least). but every once in a while i find myself daydreaming about Chicklet while i'm working, and it's a wonderful distraction. just now, for instance, i set myself up down in the computer lab at school to do some renderings before my next class when i decided that i would not be able to work any further unless i had a nice cold can of coke sitting next to the keyboard. so i got up and went to the coke machine, and as i stood there feeding it my dollar i heard it's innards rumble and knew that the rock hard can of carbonated beverage was rocketing its way towards the delivery tray at warp speed. thinking of the day that my child, barely able to walk, will be standing next to me, fascinated by this glorious machine that delivers drinks he/she will not be allowed to drink, i made a mental note to warn Chicklet to keep his hands away from the opening until after the can arrives. and it made me smile.

Hi From the Womb!

Hi Guys!

I had a really busy morning this morning. I was sleeping peacefully when suddenly someone started poking at me. I tried my best for several minutes to ignore it, but whoever or whatever it was just wasn't going to leave me in peace. Thanks to the infusion of orange juice and apple juice that I got early this morning, I had the energy to punch, kick, jump and try to swat the thing poking at me. Everytime I waved my arms or kicked or jumped up and down in frustration, I heard muffled voices saying "Oooh!" and "Oh, my god!" It was crazy, it was like someone was watching my every move on a monitor somewhere. I have to find out what this is all about. Whatever it was, it certainly woke me up and got my heart pumping (at a whopping 161 beats per minute, I might add!). I may only be 2 1/4 inches from my butt to my head, but I won't stand by and let someone prod me all morning. As soon as I'm big enough, I plan to throw some of the jabs and left hooks that I've been practicing so that they think twice about waking me up. I think in another month or so I'll be able to make those jabs felt. The very last poke that was directed at me settled over my chest. I think they were trying to listen to my heart. I heard a muffled, deep voice (I think it was the one they call "Kenny") say it sounded like the alien radio signal from the movie "Contact." Whatever. This Kenny guy sounds like some sort of sci-fi geek.

I do know that the paparazzi were after me and got some shots of me, even though I tried to hide by curling up in a ball. I managed to get some of the images, and have included them. I think the one of my face makes me look like an alien, but the profile pictures are dynamite! I have a fantastic nose, if I do say so myself. I'm definitely star material, and I think these headshots could go for thousands on Ebay.

My quarters are getting tight, and I'm thinking I need to upgrade to a larger space. So far, I've been pretty considerate of my neighbors and haven't taken up too much room. Space in my 'hood is at a premium, but I hear rumors that there's room in front of and above my pad for me to expand, maybe add a few more inches so I can stretch my legs. I haven't done it yet, but I'm thinking about it. Maybe I'll get around to it in the next month or so.

That's all for now. I have a photo shoot set for two months from now, so I'll send more of my rock-star quality pics then. In the meantime, I'll be practicing that left jab. I'll be ready for them next time...
Chicklet out.

"Outed" at the Office

So this past Friday afternoon, I was outed by one of my co-workers. I was trying to figure out how to break the news to my office, and was pretty much ready to do so, when Amy did it for me. Several of us were standing around in the middle of the office, between Carol's and Kathy's desks, chatting. Everyone in the conversation (Amy, Jamie, Carol), except for Kathy, already knew that I was pregnant. This wouldn't have been a relevant piece of information had the conversation not taken the turn that it did. Amy starts talking to me about Notes from the Underbelly, asking whether I'd seen it. I instantly worry about where this conversation is headed. We talked about how great the show was, etc., until she says "Oh my God! It's totally your life right now!!" And she said this at what I will call "Amy Volume," which is a volume that does not necessarily involve her indoor voice. I looked just past Amy at Kathy, who is sitting at her desk acting like she didn't just hear that. I think Kathy is probably very, very good at acting like she doesn't hear a lot of things that are said within her earshot. So I waive at her and say, "Hi Kathy. I'm pregnant." So that was it. The cat was out of the bag. The we went ahead and let the rest of the office in on it, except for Jackson, who is off on vacation in Paris, and Jacque, who we're intentionally screwing with. We've been starting "rumors" about my pregnancy and baiting Jacque with them. Actually, Carol and I have been up to this for a few weeks. We'll keep it up until I'm in maternity clothes. We might still deny it, even then.

The moms are at it again

I'm glad we didn't make our moms wait too long before giving them something else to obsess over. After the wedding frenzy was over and life started to resume to a quasi-normal state (with the exception of the wedding photo proofs), Kenny and I sprang the baby news on them. On the day we told my parents, my mom wanted to immediately go out to Babies R Us, so we indulged her. That place is completely overwhelming, by the way. We had no idea what we were doing, what we were looking for, or where to begin. I think even my mom was overwhelmed. That trip wasn't the end of it, though. She called me today from USA Baby to ask me what baby monitors we had decided on because they were having a sale. I confessed to her that we hadn't even so much as glanced at baby products since we left Dallas (other than the onesies that Kenny came home with yesterday). She went on to tell me that she purchased a mattress, two baby blankets, a bath set, a new comforter for the guest bed (so the nice one that's in there now doesn't get destroyed), a set of linens for the crib, and various other things I can't remember. She also told me about the crib that they're about to buy for their house. It sounds much nicer than we one we'll probably be getting for ours.

Kenny's mom got just as excited, but her excitement has not yet turned into a shopping spree, although I'm sure that's just a matter of time. When we broke the news to her, she immediately took me down to their basement, where we pulled out the crib and sorted through some of the baby clothes and toys that she saved from when Kenny and Lauren were babies. She went down there a second time with Kenny. I have to admit, Lauren was a very well-dressed baby. And Kenny had some pretty kick ass big-kid toys, such as a complete Voltron robot, which I had to convince him to leave in New York as it's not Chicklet-appropriate for another couple of years.

This is all very fun. It's cool to see our parents get all crazy over grandkids.

UPDATE: this is Kenny writing now - i wanted to bring Voltron back for me, not Chicklet! that thing rocks!

Notes From the Underbelly

Notes From the Underbelly premiered last night on abc (check it out here and read a CNN review here). i was looking forward to it, as it looked funny from the previews - i mean it actually looked funny, not the typically vacuous new sitcom. plus, it's about pregnancy. sounds like a good match right now. let me start off this review, and end it, by telling you that this show is spot on. aside from the fact that we're not rolling in $ in La Jolla, CA, it seemed that this show was mirroring our own pregnancy experience. the writers must have recently been pregnant, b/c they remember everything - from the actual 'stress' of conception, to the assortment of symptoms such as enlarged boobs, mood swings, the nesting instincts, and the need to upgrade your car - and they fit all of it in a storyline that was riotous. cindy and i were laughing out loud for nearly the entire episode - it was as if it was written for us.

the show premiered last night, but is moving to wednesdays 8:30 EST. if you don't find it funny, then wait until you get pregnant and watch it again.

The scary thing about symptoms is...

...that you don't appreciate them until they're gone. I've had two days of feeling really, really good. I've had very little, if any, fatigue, no nausea (not that nausea was really ever a problem), great mood, and some welcome mental clarity. All of this makes me nervous because it can be a bad thing when your pregnancy symptoms subside, unless it is time for them to do so. Of course, I am almost at the end of the first trimester, when little Chicklet is supposed to be transitioning to use of the placenta for his/her life support needs. This is often accompanied by some relief for Mommy. I hope that's all that's going on here. If so, it is a very welcome change.

Hooray Brain!

My brain came back yesterday, and it felt amazing!! I had energy for the first time in two months and I could actually think. It's really incredible to notice a marked difference in your own mental clarity. I've never experienced anything quite like that before. I felt like I could solve any problem put before me yesterday. I mentioned this to my boss, and he seemed a little concerned that I had been having problems up until yesterday. He's probably calling our malpractice carrier as I write this. Anyway, I took advantage of the brain-has-returned thing and worked until about 10pm last night. I got so much done! I hope today is just as good, for the sake of our clients and my billable hours.

to be as cute

i just found this pic of Cindy as a toddler, and i hope Chicklet is as cute and expressive as she was in this pic. moreso, actually.

twins?! ain't no twins here...

i can thank cindy for my fear of twins. before that first ultrasound, she kept egging me w/ the possibility of our having twins. they run in her family, and (from what she says) genetically tend to occur every other generation. i haven't bothered to fact check, b/c just the mention of a possibility of twins got me freaked out. she had dreams about twins. she talked about twins. mostly to get me worked up, but there was still the possibility of truth. until we had the ultrasound which set things straight. thank god. but i'm apparently not over my fear of twins yet - i just remembered a dream i had last night that our second ultrasound showed two babies, not one, in cindy's belly. i woke up in a cold sweat, my clothes drenched, to the sound of thunder and rain pattering on the roof...

That'll teach me to brag about not having morning sickness...

So I've been one of the very lucky few who do not suffer from morning sickness. I've breezed through almost a whole trimester with only one or two brief waves of nausea, and no vomiting at all. Until today. I woke up feeling great, rested despite our quick trip to New York. I ate a quick breakfast of cottage cheese, a piece of fruit, and some pomegranite juice, followed by my prenatal vitamin. I think that may have been my first mistake. I never take my prenatals in the morning, usually because calcium interferes with the body's intake of the iron in the prenatals, and I eat lots of calcium-rich foods for breakfast. For whatever dumb reason (dumb being the operative word for this pregnancy, apparently) I changed my routine and took the vitamin in the morning. I felt fine. I got into the car, and as we drove down the street, I started to feel a little queasy. Then the excessive salivation started in. I was afraid that if I even mentioned it to Kenny, I'd throw up. He noticed something was wrong, however, and suggested we turn back. That suggestion was also based on the fact that I was driving in the opposite direction of where we needed to be going. Chalk that one up to my missing brain. So I floor it home. So many stop signs that I've never noticed before, oh my god!!! As we pulled up to the house, I notice our neighbor walking to his car to go to work. I prayed with all of my might that I would not need to throw up in the front lawn. That would make for an interesting piece of gossip for the neighborhood. When Kenny unlocked the door, I barely made it into the bathroom before I revisited my entire breakfast and prenatal vitamin. They don't look as good the second time around. I felt better for a bit, then, as I pulled into work, started feeling sick again. I never threw up a second time, probably because Carol, one of my co-workers, came to my rescue with some sprite and animal crackers. I'm not entirely 100%, and although it is now lunchtime, I'm not really interested in lunch. I really, really hope that this will pass quickly and that this isn't payback from the pregnancy gods for my relatively easy first trimester. Maybe it's Chicklet saying enough with the pomegranite juice. One thing is for sure, I won't be drinking that stuff again. I also won't be taking my vitamin in the morning. Ever.

3..2..1 - All Systems Go!

this blog is now officially open to the world, and the state secret of Chicklet's existence has been leaked to the press. Cindy and I flew up to NY this weekend, had a wonderful time, and got to tell my parents and sister the great news. here's a brief rundown:

Friday: fly to NY, sit through inevitable 2 hr delay b/c JFK blows. i keep saying it'll be great when they finish that multi-billion$ multi-year renovation, but until then... get to NY, hang out a little, and go to bed.

Saturday: today's the big day! everyone is running around doing their own thing for a while. i've made sure that everyone can sit down to our traditional Passover lunch. have a talk w/ my Dad about finances and future planning (b/c we usually have that talk whenever i'm up in NY). i had to bite my cheeks to stop the grin from busting out when he started talking about 'when you start having kids'.

ultimately everyone sits down to lunch, and we're all being silly and having a great time. somehow my Mom comes out w/ this claim that she can tell what's going to happen before it happens, that she can tell when something big is on the horizon. man, what a setup! we have fun joking w/ that for a while, and then i say to her: 'well, did you know that we got you guys a present?'

we then make my parents sit next to each other so that they can open the box together (same as how we told cindy's parents - baby clothes in a tiffany's box), and tell them that it's a thank you for all the hard work they put into the wedding, and not to be fooled by the box b/c it's not actually tiffany's. so they open it, and my mom picks up the layette and starts laughing - but not in a 'oh my god you're pregnant' kind of laugh, rather a 'this is weird and cute and i obviously don't get it' kind of laugh. but cindy and i just stand there together smiling, and so she looks down into the box again. it wasn't a slow realization. it wasn't a slow look up w/ a stunned deer in headlights look and i'm so flabbergasted and excited that i can barely talk (like cindy's mom wonderful reaction) kind of look. it was an all at once bursting moment of realization. her eyes literally jumped out of her head and her jaw dropped. cindy and i were grinning ear to ear. and then it came - 'oh my god! i'm gonna be a grandma?!' and then the whoopings and excitement by everyone commenced. my dad was stunned - i can't remember any reaction from him until the hugs started. i think he's still stunned and having a hard time believing it. he's obviously thrilled, and he said he expected us to start soon, but i don't think he expected it to be SO soon. lauren knew that we were having a baby b/c an IM conversation we had about buying a house w/in 9 months and schools and hospitals near the house had gotten her suspicious. i convinced her that schools and hospitals were generally important things to look at when buying a house, and that they're good for resale value. she didn't buy into that (truthful) argument, but kept quiet about her suspicions. Chicklet drew her a card (to Aunt Lauren) that talked about how much fun they'll have together and how Lauren won't have to ask the 4 questions at Passover Seder anymore. Chicklet also drew a cute picture of the 2 of them standing together (it looked suspiciously like a drawing i made when i was in kindergarten).

the rest of the weekend involved us going to see 'Blades of Glory', which is definitely worth waiting for the rental. i would have rather seen Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but hey, we compromised. we also went down into the basement to check out my old baby crib and toys - i found my old Voltron (the one that actually disassembled into individual lions)! it's so kick-ass. my dad's bringing it down to austin when he comes down for graduation. it was a short, but very sweet weekend. can't wait to see everyone again when cindy's belly is a bit more prominent... :)

Genetic Counseling

with the tools at our disposal these days, genetic counseling is practically a standard part of pre-natal care (at least in my mind). it's always best to be as educated as possible about anything, but particularly when you're bringing a new life into the world. finding out about your and your partner's family history, and how those histories combine to create possible genetic abnormality scenarios, is responsible parenting. all that the counseling (and testing if you choose to go further) does is prepare you for the possibilities that may arise, such as CF or Tay-Sachs or any other condition that your baby may be born with. ultimately for us, it wouldn't change anything - we'd keep the baby no matter what (unless there was something direly wrong that would create a very short and painful life for the baby).

it was calming to find out, though, that our histories provide for an extremely low chance of any type of abnormality (barring those that occur naturally and randomly). being Jewish, it's standard to get tested for Tay-Sachs before having a child - this has been ingrained in the mind of every Jewish person from the point of conception. but since Cindy was not born Jewish and her family isn't Jewish, and neither of our families have a history of Tay-Sachs, the chances of our child having Tay-Sachs is about 1:360,000, rather than the roughly 1:750 for a Jewish-Jewish Ashkenazic union (according to National Tay Sachs & Allied Diseases Assoc.). we also learned that because our family histories are so different, any of the minute chances we had for any other type of abnormality kind of cancel each other out (to put it simply). so all in all, our developing family is in pretty good shape.

must...tell...parents...soon!!

it's killing me that i still haven't been able to tell my parents that we're having a kiddo. the closer we get to the day (we're flying up to NY next weekend just to tell them, though it's under the guise of a passover / pre-hectic-graduation weekend visit), the more i catch myself nearly slipping and giving it away on the phone. i've unwittingly nearly told them about it about 4 times this week. such a conversation goes something like this:

Dad: "so how's you're day going?"
Me: "ok. it's been hectic what w/ getting my portfolio ready and school and such."
Dad: "yeah, you sound kind of tired."
Me: "yeah, i was up early today. [mental catch at this point, as i nearly said 'yeah, i was up early today - we got to see an ultrasound!')

or today's conversation, for instance:
Dad: "can't wait to see you guys next weekend!"
Me: "yeah, it's going to be a great weekend!"
Dad: "too short, but sweet."
Me: "sweet indeed." [mental catch - 'yeah, telling you guys about the baby is gonna be exciting!]

beyond that, we're getting close to the trimester mark, which has been our set date for telling the wider world about Chicklet and releasing this blog upon the interwebs. the trimester mark is kind of meaningless now, though, since we've already had an ultrasound and counted the heartbeats (a healthy 167/minute at the time). once that type of information is known, and the trimester mark is close by, the statistical risk of miscarriage goes way down. so there's really nothing holding us back now from spreading the joyous news aside from my parents and sister not knowing, and dang how it's frustrating!