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January 31, 2006
I've seen the world... now where's my couch?
I'm done.
Yesterday John and I took the day off and had a total date day. After a breakfast of bignets and chicory coffee, a haircut and eybrow wax, a lunch at Fox & Obel, an afternoon matinee (Walk the Line), a wee bit of shopping topped with hot chocolate, I was exhilirated. I felt awesome. John thought it was the hot chocolate; I call it being high on living a public life.
I woke up this morning all excited. Today was the day that I had planned on for months. I was going into work. People, I fixed my hair. Eyeshadow was used; MASCARA came out of the cabinet. I even wore lipstick. Deoderant. I didn't wear comfy pants today. Jewelry! We dropped Gus off and into the city I went. I haven't been to work since November.
I walked in with ten minutes to spare. I was then covered in meetings, from nine until I left. Before I got there, I was trying to convince John that I should go into work tomorrow, too. He was far from convinced, I was cocky as all get out. Come on, it's a great idea. I finally conceded that we should talk about it at the end of the day, see how it goes.
I'm not going back to work. I'm working from home until the end. I was bragging that I had no contractions... until the afternoon....and it was then that I really conceded that I was silly, silly, silly, and that my couch beckoned. It was awesome to see everyone that I had been working with remotely. It felt great to feel normal for those few hours. But really, in the end, John doesn't need to be figuring out how to get me to Oak Park once my water breaks. He just needs to worry about getting himself to Oak Park when my water breaks.
It's just good sense, and thank goodness at least one of us has it... so I'm slow at getting it, sue me.
Posted by janna at 08:03 PM | Comments (0)
January 29, 2006
What's 9 weeks between a Mama and a baby?
That was easy.
A piece of cake.
The paper chain is gone.
I took a shower today without timing myself.
I walk up and down the stairs with a wee bit faster clip.
I went out for brunch this morning.
I walked to the car.
I did some laundry last night.
I folded clothes standing up.
I don't think I've ever been so tired during this pregnancy as I feel right now. It's not taking much activity to wipe me out, so as far as my big plans to do big things? Eh, probably not.
John and I are taking the day off tomorrow. The original plan was to go to a movie, go get my haircut, have a nice lunch...but there are no movies that I want to see. I don't want to sit in a theatre for two hours or more if I'm not excited about the movie. I want to get my haircut, but so many places are closed on Mondays.
What is life trying to tell me?
At the doctor's appointment last Thursday, I was one cm dialated (only 9 more to go!) but my cervix wasn't any shorter or thinner. Now it's the waiting game. When will it happen? Where will I be? The great big unknown.
The most glamourous experience of my preganancy happened after Thursday's appointment. Apparently I had protein in my urine. (ooh, gentle reader, read on! it's fascinating.) See, silly old me did'nt drink anything before my 10 am appointment. And the night before was kind of dry. So my doctor said she needed to do a 24 hour test on me.
As I was waiting for my 'prescription', the office manager said that I would have to collect my urine for 24 hours.
I knew she had to be kidding, right? Ha, ha....??
Oh no.
Off I went to collect a lovely 'jug' that would reside in my, umm, refridgerator for 24 hours. (You're all welcome to come over for dinner anytime.)
That collection experience tops even the three-hour glucose test.
Lesson: DRINK WATER, PREGNANT PEOPLE.
Posted by janna at 01:52 PM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2006
Incubatrix
That's right. Someone asked if it would be appropriate to call me an incubatrix.
I think that is the best alternative to 'gestator', don't you?
Posted by janna at 10:16 PM | Comments (1)
January 21, 2006
Sella
Liz brought Sella by for a visit. What a joy! It's been about a month since I've last seen her, and she is a reminder to me of how quickly babies change. Makes me so excited to meet Baby E.
As I was holding Sella, Baby E was literally kicking her butt. He should be careful, she's got at least two months on him.
Posted by janna at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2006
Need I remind you of what tomorrow is?
Tomorrow marks ONE WEEK from the end of bedrest.
(I will admit, just typing that caused me to have a contraction. It can't be that bad if I can still type through it, right?)
Posted by janna at 05:02 PM | Comments (1)
January 19, 2006
Amy & Karl have been married for a quarter...
...and I'm just now putting up a few of the pictures.
Back in the day, October, we went on our East Coast tour, ending in a grand finale: Amy & Karl's wedding.
It had rained the entire week before. Non-stop. It stopped just hours before the event and turned out to be a gorgeous day.
My favorite picture:
Posted by janna at 07:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2006
Tick faster, clock....no wait, stop ticking
I am so fricking conflicted right now.
I look at the rings left on my paper chain. After today, there are 12 rings. Twelve days.
On Saturday, January 28th, I want to go out of the house.
On Saturday, January 28th, I want to stay curled up in bed, not disturbing the uterus.
I want to cook. A huge meal. With many complicated steps and many lovely flavors...and then, then I want to do dishes. All of them. I want John to sit on the couch, feet up, beer in hand, waiting for me to bring out dinner. While dinner is cooking, I want to go downstairs and put the fifth load of laundry in the dryer because I can. After that is started, I'll skip upstairs, run up to Gus and pick him up and tickle him and hug him and kiss him and just hold his head on my shoulder and argue with him about how I love him.
If I do those things, I will have a baby on January 29th.
Are we ready to have another baby? (I know, should have thought of that on our anniversary...)
This bedrest has given me a distraction. Instead of worrying about the logistics of having two children, I've worried about keeping this new babe safe, healthy, strong. Instead of worrying about how Gus is going to understand having a sibiling and the impact it will have on his life, I worry about Gus doing some kind of WWF move on my belly.
Tomorrow Gus is going to daycare and John and I have the day off. We thought about cheating and taking me to a movie, but the thought of sitting upright for more than two hours makes my body ache in anticipation, so we've nixed it.
Baby E needs these days. I know if he were to come now his chances of survival are extremely high and at worst he would be in the hospital for a bit, but I'd rather wait until he's able to come home with me 48 agonizing hours after giving birth.
So, Baby E. We are so excited to meet you, but could you get a little more fat on those bones before you say hi?
Posted by janna at 10:01 PM | Comments (2)
January 14, 2006
Happy Birthday, Grandma!
We love you and we were celebrating you today!
Posted by janna at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2006
Love is a battlefield
As Gus and John were leaving this morning, I said to Gus, "I love you!"
"NO!" he said, shaking his head. "I love YOU!"
It's like this every morning lately. We try to explain that you can love each other and other people... to no avail.
I have to admit, though...This is one battle I'll let him win anyday. The memories of hearing Gus say "I love you" in his sweet little two-year-old voice will sit in my heart for the years to come. As he grows up, I'll probably remember it now and then and want to cry like I am right now.
Holy heartstrings being pulled...
Posted by janna at 08:17 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2006
You two are funny
Thanks for the lovely visit Jenn and Ryan!
Posted by janna at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)
January 09, 2006
A three-day difference is not insignificant
Today at my doctor's appointment, we asked the nurse if anything special was happening at this appointment(seems there is always some kind of test or process to go through). She looked in my chart and said, "Okay, with a due date of February 28th, that puts you at 32 weeks and 6 days."
Uh, wait... our due date is February 25th, we hit 33 weeks last Saturday.
No... that is the date the ultrasound said, we're going by your 'cycle' which puts you at February 28th.
My brain quickly determined the fact that my paper chain was wrong. We had been planning everything around January 28th as the 'day of freedom'. In fact, it's the 31st.
The doctor came in. I asked her which date I should be going by. She said the 28th.
"Well, I'm STILL going off of bedrest on January 28th," I said.
"I didn't hear that," she said. "I'm on call that weekend, so that's okay."
Wait, wait, wait. It's not like I'm going to suddenly have a baby the minute I start walking more than twenty feet, right?
My Mom. She reads this. She's all about going by the rules. She's coming to town the weekend of the 28th. We are going out to eat, damn it. January 28th. Mom, don't you dare tell me to sit down. :)
Baby E's head is down, that big wave and lump I feel is him turning on his side. Everything on the outside looks great. So great, in fact, I don't have to go back for two weeks. It almost turns out to be more than two weeks since it's not until the 26th.
Pros: I don't have to go back for two weeks, meaning she thinks I'm doing well and keeping things steady.
Cons: I'm in the house for two-plus weeks.
I'm glad I like it here.
Posted by janna at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2006
Which one has the baby?
(I post this with love...and with permission.)
Posted by janna at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)
The stages of John
Upper left: Grizzly man, just back from a hunt. (THUMP, THUMP on the chest).
Upper right: Something college about it... can't even find the words.
Bottom left: Undeniably very "My Name is Earl". You're my baby's daddy?
Bottom right: *sigh of relief*... There you are.
Yesterday John handed in his MFA application, and with it came the beard deadline. When faced with the choice of the beard deadline being now or at the end of bedrest (three weeks away), you obviously can see which I chose.
He's back! Beard, see you in 11 months.
Posted by janna at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)
Practice
Posted by janna at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)
Gas
I never thought I would say this when looking at a gas bill that is $300:
"Oh, that's not so bad."
Posted by janna at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)
January 06, 2006
Losing it?
Just guess who does the following:
Calls Zeppo 'Gus'...repeatedly? "Go outside, Gus."
Orders spicy Chinese food the night after experiencing the most horrendous bout of heartburn yet?
I have no idea who would do those things. Silly woman, whoever she is.
Posted by janna at 01:06 PM | Comments (0)
January 02, 2006
Back to work, people
If you thought this holiday time was just going to keep going and going, you were so wrong.
Listen, I would never say this under normal circumstances, but getting back to work tomorrow is going to be the best thing for my health.
Truly.
When no one is here with me, I sit. All day long, except for the bathroom, food/water breaks. When people are here with me? I get up...I do not bedrest well when there is other living going on around me. I get properly scolded, and I'm not up for long stretches by any means (my uterus starts scolding me, then...I get it from all sides), but I certainly am compelled to do more.
It is so counter-intuitive, I realize. You would think I would try to do all my cheating when no one is around, but I am one of those folks that just gets sucked into work, and my uterus thanks me for it.
And anyways...I think Gus is SO ready to be with his friends tomorrow, he will be practicaly driving the car himself to daycare.
I will miss my Mom scolding me, though...and bringing me water. I'll drink water, Mom, I swear.
Posted by janna at 10:41 PM | Comments (1)
January 01, 2006
The DeVylder 2005 Year-In-Review
I probably say this every year... but what a year it has been.
This time last year, Gus wasn't even walking yet. He was saying a few words, signing a few words, had a few teeth. He seemed to be on the verge of everything. I'm watching him right now, running around the table as John plays bass, falling into the pile of pillows that he pulled from the couch by himself. Thirty minutes ago he was sitting in a chair, piling up blocks in a really tall tower, exclaiming, "I did this!" Last night in bed, Gus suddenly had this language burst where he had to recite every word he knew- rapid-fire. APPLE, TABLE, BOWL, EAGLE... it was hysterical and a slightly-bizarre glimpse into what his brain is doing right now. The synapses will not stop firing, he cannot stop talking.
This week, he has suddenly started counting. What?? We have this tradition before eating of holding hands, counting to three, and saying HOORAY! Gus loves it, and usually asks to do it again about five more times throughout the meal. This morning, over pancakes, we were trying to have him do the counting for us. Suddenly, he says, THREE, FOUR, FIVE! Uh, you know how to count to five? Wait, if we keep going, you know that EIGHT comes after SEVEN?
So when I think about this past year, or this past week or just even today, I can't even imagine what I'll be saying about Gus a year from today.
2005 has been the year of:
-Amazing Gus growth
-Pregnancy
-Falling more in love with Oak Park. John and I have always had a bit of wanderlust, thinking we just had to move out of here as soon as possible. We like Chicago, we would say, but we don't love it. Something changed this year. I don't know if I could say that I love Chicago, I still long for less congestion and more breathable air, but we have come to love Oak Park, our neighborhood and our house. It would be hard to leave.
-Destroying all our credit card debt (It was a long, hard, expensive road, but I'm so proud of us for finally doing it...we were up to our eyeballs. Seriously. We wanted to have it gone before Baby E came, and we did it just this past month.)
-John taking the scary leap from permanent job to freelancing, which has turned out to be one of the best decisions on so many levels.
-Travel...Lake Tahoe, Santa Monica, East Coast tour, Iowa. Tons of family and friends. Such a lucky time for us. All with one child. What will travel be like with two? I won't think about that right now. We've also had wonderful guests this past year... my Mom has been here often, we've seen John's Dad several times which is a feat considering his home is in Dubai. We're lucky.
-Finishing our basement...just about. If any of you had seen our basement before, and you haven't seen it since it's transformation, you will be surprised. John did all of it, and it looks amazing. Now we have more space for Gus to play, all our office stuff is down there, and we are on the verge of being an organized family (that makes me laugh...yeah, right.).
-Application to grad school...John is in the process of applying for an MFA program, to start this fall, fulltime. The possibility of it is so exciting, I hope everything comes together for him. This man eventually needs to teach...he's patient enough with me, just imagine with undergrads.
-Celebrating five years of John-and-Jannadom, three years of 'official' marriagedom. We've done a lot of living in that time...I'm excited for what's next.
I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions...but I must say, I do hope to continue putting stories of Gus and Baby E up here. When I look back at older entries, I am easily reminded as to why I do this. I would never remember all of the little things that I write about, and I hope Gus and E will enjoy having some kind of record of their early years.
Happy New Year to all!
Posted by janna at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)
Oh my.
2006.
We're having a baby in 2006.
The year is here. It seemed far away, and now bedrest doesn't seem long enough, the days aren't long enough. They will tumble by and suddenly we will have a baby.
I'm very excited, don't get me wrong, but wow. It will be quite an amazing ride.
I've gotten many good wishes and notes from people, saying they can't wait to hear about the good news at the end of January. I think I need to set the record straight... I don't think I want to have a baby at the end of January. I know I can, I know we'll have a 36-weeker, but I think I'd like to push it into February a bit. (I realize how ridiculous it is for me to be writing about this since a. the baby will come when he damn well pleases, and b. I can't schedule everything in my life)
See, if he waited until February a bit, I could be off bedrest for at least a week or so, being out and about... OUT OF THE HOUSE. Maybe I could go to a movie. Maybe John and I could get one more date in before babysitters are just not options for a good while. Once Baby E is here, I am happily teathered to him or a pump, so it is best to take advantage of this window of opportunity.
I appreciate the excitement, let's just push it a week or two!
Posted by janna at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)