Making Assumptions

When you see people on a regular basis, but never really talk to them, it is kind of fun to play detective and figure out the details of their lives from tiny clues. I have noticed I do this with the moms at daycare.

It starts off with clothing and vehicles. Depending on the type of clothing they wear and the vehicle they drive, I try to come up with an occupation. The daycare moms that wear scrubs all must work at the Children’s Hospital down the road. The Ann Taylor/classy woman that drives a top of the line Mercedes has a cushy office job, some kind of executive. The friendly woman that wears rags and drives very large new Dodge vehicles is probably married to a car dealer. Wedding rings let people know who is married. The happiness of a marriage can sometimes be detected by overheard cell phone calls. A nasty fight could indicate trouble. I completely realize my assumptions could be way off base, but I have come to believe in the little stories that surround these people.

The funny thing is when I think of the kind of clues I must be dispensing, I laugh. For several months this year, I stopped wearing my wedding ring. Did people assume that my husband and I were going through a rough spot? I doubt they noticed that my ring was causing a small rash. Also, I have started going to Subway for lunch every day. Does that mean I am on the Subway diet? No, it is just one of the few food places that has a rather mild smell, which is important for a pregnant woman. I guess I could go on and on.

Basically, things are not always as they seem, but it is fun to play detective.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

I am stealing this from Rachel (a.k.a. a comedian’s sidekick).

Go to Wikipedia, type in the month and day of your birth, and then list 3 events, 2 births and a holiday that fell on that day. Here are mine:

January 28th

Event: 1547 - Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England. **Interesting because these were my ancestors.

Event: 1813 - Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.

Event: 1986 - Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission (Space Shuttle Challenger disaster) - Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart 73 seconds after liftoff killing all seven astronauts onboard, including Christa McAuliffe, who was supposed to be the first teacher in space. **I remember this one


Birth: 1948 - Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer **the Russian on Sex in the City

Birth: 1977 - Daunte Culpepper, American football player **currently playing for the Miami Dolphins


Holiday/Observances: World Leprosy Day

Too Nice

On the radio this morning, they claimed that 75% of women have dumped a guy for being "too nice." I had to laugh. That is exactly what I said about Steve before we started dating. Why are women so silly?

When I mentioned that hang up to my mom, she told me that life is challenging enough without having a difficult person in your life. She said I should be with someone pleasant. I must have listened, because we started dating a little while later.

Looking back, I realize that these dumping women are probably just use to crazy demanding men (perhaps because of past relationships or because of their fathers). When they don’t face one right away, they move on thinking they will be bored. By doing that, they could really miss out on a great thing. Plus, dumping women need to realize that most people are extra nice in the beginning.

As for the challenges, everyone comes with their own set of issues whether or not they are “too nice.” I say, embrace the men that are “too nice” and don’t worry, they will still be a pain. On the plus side, nice guys usually do not pick fights over stupid things.

Big Cry Baby

Lately, it seems like I fill my blog with complaints. Not that my life is so bad, but I only seem inspired to type when I have negative things to say. Unfortunately, today is no different even though in reality only 2 bad things happened. Normally, I guess I would deal with them and move on, but because I am pregnant the incidents were worse that usual.

1. It started off with a broken tooth. Note to self: do NOT chomp on life savers especially when you are in the first trimester of pregnancy and dentists want to avoid working on your teeth.

2. On the way to the daycare, Miss Lexi started making gagging noises and before I knew it chucks of breakfast were erupting all over the car. I had to pull over and attempt to clean her & it up without breathing so I would not add to the mess.

I guess I should have posted a warning not to read this if you have never been pregnant and plan to in the future. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.

Bunny Irony

You have probably noticed that I finally got rid of the Easter Bunny theme on my blog. Besides the fact that Easter has been over for a while, the irony of the theme was just killing me. As you probably know, Easter was originally a pagan holiday celebrating fertility. That is why one of the symbols is the bunny. The fact that I am now pregnant after torturing all of you with the theme for so long teases the conspiring/superstitious side of me. Now, I’ll just stick with the pregnancy theme for a while.

Déjà vu, I’ll Always Remember You

My OB appointment was yesterday. I woke up with the worst sinus headache ever, which is VERY inconvenient when the options for relief are severely limited. I just decided to wait for the doctor’s advice. I showed up right on time and filled out the million pages of paperwork. The social worker papers are the worst. Yes, I am married. Yes, my husband graduated from high school. No, he does not smack me around. Why don’t they ask if I smack him around? That could be dangerous for a pregnant woman too.

During my hour long wait just to be called into the back, I experienced déjà vu. Here I was sitting in the same room I did many times in 2005. It is the same story with a bunch of women - some very pregnant, some with new babies, some just wanting a regular check-up, and even some there for the Gardasil shot. This time, I didn’t look at the ones with big bellies and think about how it would feel. I remember and it made my back ache. The two new moms reminded me about how nice it is to have a little baby and how much engorged breasts and stitches hurt. I think that made my head hurt even worse, if possible, so I rested in my hands and covered my eyes. I also secretly plugged my nose because someone’s perfume was killing me.

By the time they took me to the back, I was fairly apathetic about everything except my headache. As a result, most of my questions were about wanting drugs. She wants me to stay away from Sudafed in the first trimester (the only thing that works). Instead, I could try Claritin (not D just regular) and Afrin. If it doesn’t improve, she’ll give me antibiotics, which will probably be the case. I peed in a cup. Then, they took blood and sent me away with several samples of prenatal vitamins. They also scheduled an ultrasound about a month away (12 week mark).

Fourth Anniversary

It has been a long time since I posted any personal pictures, but today is a special day. I decided that it called for a special picture – the first picture I ever posted on a blog. Ok, so that isn’t the only reason it is "special." It was of our anniversary dinner at the Melting Pot two years ago today. It was only a few weeks later when I discovered that I was pregnant. Yes, it was one of the last evenings of complete non-parenthood. Can’t you just see the lack of responsibility shining in our eyes? We didn’t know what we were missing.

I am feeling too tired to dig up wedding photos or recount anything sentimental. Perhaps, next year I will when we hit the big "Fifth Anniversary" and I will not be pregnant.

Dad’s Birthday

Today is my dad’s second birthday since he passed away. I don’t feel like getting sentimental though partly because I am tired. Actually, he wasn’t at all a sentimental person at least on the outside. In fact, he was quite standoffish and cold. That is how he came across to most people. He had a dry, but wicked sense of humor that made him fun to talk to at times.

Last year, my sister was here as our nanny so I bought a yogurt cake and we had a little celebration. His death was much harder on her than me. I guess I am posting about this mainly to officially recognize that I remembered him on his day.

Teasing but Definitely Feeling Worse

I sit here taking deep breaths, wishing my head would stop spinning, and trying to will my stomach into submission. I would like to spend the next few weeks sprawled out on the couch watching mindless tv, but it will not happen. This pregnancy is definitely worse than the last one. Last time, I didn’t even think about buying saltine crackers. This time, I’ve been there done that and graduated to ginger snap cookies (they supposedly help with sea sickness).

I went online to see if I could discover clues as to why it is worse. All I could find was that sometimes women suffer from hormones more when they have girls, but Lexi was a girl. The second possibility (according to the internet) was twins. I started teasing Steve (my husband) about it because his reaction to these things is funny. He often gets overwhelmed by Lexi, so the thought of twins is more than he is willing to consider (too late now).

With Lexi, I absolutely knew she was a girl around week 12. So far, I have had no premonitions, rays of light, deep thoughts, or feelings (other than sickness). The idea of twins isn’t that far fetched though because 1. It runs in my family (my grandma is a twin) and 2. I am no spring chicken (near the 35 mark when the chances go up).

The other thing worse about this pregnancy is that I didn’t go to a fertility specialist. I know that sounds odd, but because I was going last time I had ultrasounds very early on. I had the first one at 5 weeks and the second one at 7 weeks. I don’t even know when most pregnant women get the first one (please leave a comment if you know). I guess I’ll just wait and see and of course, keep teasing Steve.

Mother’s Day Announcement

Two years ago, I announced that I was pregnant right before Father’s Day. This year, I am doing it before Mother’s Day. That’s right, me, the fertility challenged girl, is pregnant again and this time without even seeing the specialist. Oh, it was part of the plan, but I didn't know if it would happen naturally.

Are you surprised after harping on my little brother this week? It was clearly a diversion tactic (for me), because I had babies on the brain. His news just seemed more surprising than mine.

I am about 7 weeks along and according to the internet the due date is December 31st (tax baby). I am feeling nauseous and very tired (more than last time), but this time I have a wild toddler to deal with so no time for that. Although I want to complain about the less enjoyable parts of being pregnant, we are very excited.

Now, I am back to being a pregnant blogger. Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers & everyone else who ever had a mother. We can all celebrate.

Rain Dance

It is time for South Florida to organize a huge Rain Dance. Besides being in a drought, the Everglades are on fire and the smoke is choking everyone. I doubt a regional rain dance has ever occurred, but something has to give. I, for one, would like to breathe again.

For those people who aren’t into dancing, protest signs and t-shirts will do. We all know just how experienced many people in South Florida are at staging protests. I am not saying they work either, but let’s try something.

If we figure this out, California can copy us.

Explaining the Shock

My last post announced that my brother's wife is having their 5th baby. I guess the reasons that I find it strange is not really the number of kids he has. I have thought about it and come up with a few:

1. He is my YOUNGER brother.
2. Growing up, it is hard to picture any of your siblings with kids (much less 5+).
3. Their oldest is only 7 years old.
4. His wife is about 28 years old & at this rate, they could end up with 10.
5. He owns a small company & they don't have any health insurance.
6. They are the family you sit near at church if you want to be entertained. You sit far away if you have a headache or don't want your kids to imitate his. (I like to be entertained.) Individually, they are well behaved, but together watch out. His two girls are in the same class at church. They went through 4 teachers in a few months until finally my other sister-in-law was asked to take over the class.
7. His wife gains over 70 pounds with each one and takes it off within 6 months by breast feeding. That has to be hard on her body.
8. I like babies, but being pregnant is another story.

Reasons I shouldn't be shocked:

1. Every other year, they announce another one.
2. They have a huge house.
3. They drive Suburbans.
4. Their kids are beautiful.
5. They seem to be EXTREMELY fertile.
6. They are Mormon.
7. I had just been teasing him about it a few weeks ago.

BTW, I don't think my brother would be mad if he did happen to read this (which he DOES not). He would just say, "Yeah, whatever!"

Aunt Again???

I just found out that my brother’s wife will be popping out their 5th baby in November. What is more shocking is that the oldest just turned 7. Ok, so they are Mormon, but I have to say that I am still truly amazed. His wife has spent a large portion of her 20s being pregnant, which is (at the least) extremely uncomfortable. I tip my hat to them and am happy to have another baby in the family. Oh, and no they don’t read my blog so feel free to be shocked.