Pregnancy dreams

All the books tell you that weird dreams are to be expected during pregnancy, and I have definately had my share. In the last month of your pregnancy, the books say that dreams about birth and motherhood, waiting for the baby, resposibilities of being a parent, you baby's face, etc. are all very common dreams...

So where does the dream that Dan (who didn't actually look like Dan, he looked like Lew, the guy I dated all through college) decided that he didn't want to be with me anymore, so I decided that the best way for that to happen was to poison myself by eating dog treats (because dog treats are poisonous...right??? ROFL) come in to play? Which category does THAT one fit in? Or last night's dream, where even though I was married (to Joey McIntyre from NKOTB...ok so I have been watching Dancing with the Stars and he's still just as hot, but it must not have been the best marriage, as he was also married to someone else...), I was dating these 2 guys who were best friends (who happened to be the 2 guys that Phoebe from Friends was dating at the same time, the kindergarten teacher, and the fireman...yummy), and I was breaking up their friendship so I told them that I couldn't date either one of them (but the fireman still helped me chop down the weird flower plants that were growing out of my tree in the backyard). Or the one early this morning where I was making out with Chief O'Brien from Star Trek the Next Generation... (now THAT was just odd...it wasn't even Commander Riker, or someone cute!) Someone please tell me, which parenting anxiety dream categories these fit into??? Why can't I have the normal "I left the baby at the grocery store" dreams...or the "I have the baby and she looks like Spock" dreams?

Yesterday was Ania's Ph.D. defense. She made it through with flying colors, as I knew she would. MIL went with me, just in case. It was a good thing...I started having more Braxton-Hicks on the way home and she took over driving. So now that I have made it through Ania's defense, it's time to get this baby moving! Spicy food, long walks, you name it, I'm up for it! Dan and I noticed that I have my worst bouts of Braxton-Hicks when he's home, so we figure he had a 4 day weekend this weekend, this must be when the real labor is going to happen, since he will be home...see the baby is just trying to put us through the least amount of stress possible and is waiting until we are both at home and ready before she makes her appearance. Next doctors appt is next wednesday...I keep feeling like I am missing this week's since I had to change it because of the defense, I woke in a panic this morning (Chief O'Brien still in my head) thinking I had overslept and slept through my appointment...

Oh and a funny story...this happened a while ago but I keep forgetting to post it... I was having Braxton-Hicks (big surprise there huh...) and Dan was helping me breathe (meaning that he breathes the way I am supposed to breathe, and then I guess the point is I am somehow supposed to match his breathing or something...) so anyways he's breathing in for 4, out for 4...but he had just eaten a bowl of Recees Peanut Butter Puff cereal, and he is blowing 4 counts of peanut butter breath in my face. I looked right at him and said, "That's not helping, it's stinky" we got a good long laugh about that one, after the contraction subsided. Since then, he doesn't breathe with me anymore...or if he does, he faces away... He likes to bring that up to make me giggle and take my mind off of the contractions or back pain, or whatever is ailing me at that moment. (he's also particularly fond of the first trimester story, when I got out of the car, got halfway up the porch steps, and threw up in the yard because I couldn't make it into the bathroom... for what ever reason we both find this story extremely hysterical and it usually makes me laugh for a good 10 min...must be the way he tells it)

I have been tagged by Valerie!

(and its a good thing too, as I have nothing to add here today other that it's hotter than hades here and I am miserable :) )

1. Total Number of Books Owned: Oh good lord, I haven't the slightest clue! Probably well over 300 or 400, with an additional 100 or so textbooks/research books/reference books

2. Last Book Bought: personally: Janet Evanovich "To the Nines", though I have Harry Potter 6 on pre-order, and will be heading out to my nearest Walden soon for Janet Evanovich's "Ten Big Ones" (or whatever that is called). Mom just sent me the final 2 books in the Sweet Potato Queens book series (if you haven't read these books, drop what you are doing NOW and go to your local library or bookstore and get the first, "Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love" by Jill Conner Browne, and just make sure you have nothing better to do for the rest of the day than read a book and laugh your ass off)

3. Last Book Read: God Save the Sweet Potato Queens, Jill Conner Browne (second in the series, not QUITE as funny as the first, but still a must read). Was in the process of "Babyville" by Jane Green, but got bored and depressed (i.e. sign of a bad novel...I didn't read it in less than 2 days LOL), so I stopped reading it and started "Sweet Potato Queens Big Ass Cookbook (and financial planner)"

4. 5 books that mean a lot to me: ooh, this is a toughie... lets see...

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (book 1 Chronicles of Narnia), by CS Lewis. A classic series of books that will always be my favorites. Reminds me of my childhood (my copy of this book is battered I read it so much).

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield (though the rest of the Celestine series was awful), very "spiritual" book without being religious. Reminds you to be in tune with the world, rather than tuning out (which is oh so easy to do).

A Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy, Vicki Iovine. Absolutely hysterical, the only way I managed to get through my first trimester of nausea sane. (Diary of a Mad Mom-to-Be...I think that's what it was called, also helped)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (first in the series) by JK Rowling. OK so I love each of these books as much as the one before, but the first will always hold a special place in my heart.

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Never before have I seen a man be able to write a female character so accurately. Some passages it's as if he was walking around in my head. (His other novel "I Know This Much is True" is excellent as well)

OK so I am sure this last question was supposed to bring out some inner feelings about deep, serious novels, but I can't think of ANY! My mind must be in a happy, fluffy place at the moment...probably because I am so darned hot and thinking was causing my brain to overheat, resulting in the reverting back to a less intelligent state so as to use less energy and survive... Either that or I haven't ever read a life-altering book... (and I figured it would be far too dorky to list David Grilly's "Drugs and Behavior" textbook, as it is what pushed me toward psychopharmacology as a career, but that would be admitting that I had actually READ a textbook...) I love books, I read like a fiend, and when I find an author I like, I read everything I can get my hands on by them. This has been true for Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, Nicci French, Sue Miller, Anita Shreve, Jennifer Crusie, Janet Evanovitch, John Grisham, and others I am sure that I am forgetting

So I don't know that many people that blog so I tag Lauri

Other than that...nothings doing around here... OB appt tomorrow (come on cervical progress!!!)

I really hope I never meet Mr. Braxton-Hicks...

actually I am sure he's probably dead or something, but if I ever do meet him I am going to give him a piece of my mind. Alright I know it's not his FAULT we have these contractions that do NOTHING for labor progression, but did he have to be so darned self-centered and name them after himself??? Who wants to think about some old male doctor while they are having pointless, painful contractions? And they are so darned frustrating. Every time I start having them I get all excited thinking "this might be it" and then NOTHING.

Spent 6-9pm last night in the throes of a full out Braxton-Hicks attack. They are getting quite a bit more intense and painful every time I have them. But they are SO irregular, last night they started out about 8 min apart, then started slowing to 12 min or so, then all of a sudden 5 in a row at 5 min apart, and then 14 min and then 20... Last night I found that walking helped, they weren't quite as intense when I was walking, so I waddled in circles around the kitchen with Dan following close behind. Poor Max thought we were nutty, watched us for a while, and then went and laid down in the basement. For a while there I thought we were going to have a slow moving conga line in the kitchen, me in the lead, Dan following close behind, and Max behind him trying to figure out why we were walking in circles. Must have been a sight!

Our cord blood donation kit came in the mail yesterday. Umbilical cord blood contains tons of stem cells that can be used for transplantation to save people from things like leukemia and other blood and bone marrow diseases, and might hold the key to cures for other disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. It is collected after the cord is cut, from the side of the cord that is attached to the placenta, so there is no risk to baby or mom for the procedure. Basically there are 3 things you can do with cord blood...1) privately bank it (for a $1500+ initial storage fee and yearly banking fees) so that you have it in case you or your children need it, 2) toss it out with the placenta, or 3) donate it to a public bank where it may be used as a transplant for someone that needs it and/or for research to determine what else the stem cells might be used to treat and cure. Dan and I talked a lot about it, I really wanted to save it, but we are not at high risk (nor are our children) for any of the diseases treated by the stem cells, nor did we have the money for the upfront fee right now, so we had a hard time justifying private banking. So we decided than rather than let these potentially incredibly valuable cells go to waste, we would find a way to donate them. So we found a public bank that accepts donations, and filled out all appropriate paperwork. It's so gratifying knowing that something so often thrown away without a second thought, is going to be headed off to potentially save a life (if used in a transfustion) or save many many many lives (if used in research). Feels good to "do my part" so to speak. You never know who you might pass on the street one day who's life was just saved because of the gift my child gave long before she was aware of what that gift meant. And the donation process took so little effort, you fill out a health questionnaire, send it in, and if approved, you get the donation kit, and the docs and nurses at the hospital take care of everything else. The only thing is I will have to have blood drawn for an HIV test, but women in labor usually have an IV line in anyways, so no additional needle sticks for me even. Such little effort for such huge potential gains. I wish more people knew about dontation (most docs only give you information about private banking, and private banks don't advertise public donation procedures, and most public banks don't have the money or resources to fund advertising like the private banks do, I found out about donation through a pregnancy/parenting message board). OK off my soapbox :)

Not much going on...

No progress on the labor front...one more week and spicy food and long walks here I come :) Will have to look up all of the other "old wives tales" for speeding up labor. Dan's grandma told me to crawl upstairs backwards...um, is it the crawling upstairs backwards that starts the labor, or is it the fall down the stairs that does it???

Saw this on Valerie's blog and thought it was fun

You Are From Mercury

You are talkative, clever, and knowledgeable - and it shows. You probably never leave home without your cell phone! You're witty, expressive, and aware of everything going on around you. You love learning, playing, and taking in all of what life has to offer. Be careful not to talk your friends' ears off, and temper your need to know everything.

What Planet Are You From?

Certainly does sound like me...

Remember that scene from "Alien"...

OK so maybe not the scene from "Alien" but the one from "Spaceballs" where the alien pops out of the guys stomach and starts singing "Ragtime Gal"... I swear that is how my child is going to come out!

Baby movements have honestly been some of the strangest internal feelings I have ever had. When I first started to feel her move, they were more like tiny muscle spasms. It felt like my stomach muscles would suddenly flutter a bit and then stop. Interesting feeling...much MORE interesting once I realized that it wasn't ACTUALLY my stomach muscles spasming, but my baby kicking and fluttering and whatnot. Then she started to kick. At first I was the only one that could feel the kicks, no big deal, kinda light, a little reminder that she indeed was still in there, awww how sweet kind of kicks. Then she started to KICK! Now these kicks not only could others feel, but you could see them. If I happened to be sitting up and not wearing a bra my boob would go flying (if you know me, you know that is quite a feat...them are not small boobies). Now she was/is very stubborn. She'd sit there and kick and kick, and I'd say to whomever was around (Dan, Holly, Mom, etc) "Come feel she's kicking" and as soon as a foreign hand landed on my belly she'd stop, as soon as the foreign hand would give up (patience is not a virtue many have when sitting with baited breath with their hand on someone else's stomach) she would immediately start kicking again. Now, my child is quite large...and she's running out of space. Rare are the strong kicks, gone are the sweet little flutters. Now when she moves she takes my entire body with her. Dan and I will sit and watch as she moves her little tush (which is lodged up under my rib cage) from one side to the other...you see this very large unnatural lump in my belly, and then you see it slowly shift to the other side. Occasionally it will shove itself out a bit further, you'll see a few knee jabs, and then settle down into its new position. Meanwhile the head and shoulders are down lower in my abdomen...most days one part or another pressing directly on my bladder. Last night I was laying on the couch, her butt pressing its normally large lump out of the top of my stomach, and she must have decided to turn around so that her butt was towards my back. I felt like my entire stomach was caving in. She was using my lungs/diaphragm as a pushing off point for her turn around, so I couldn't breathe either. It was a very interesting feeling to say the least. That position didn't last very long though...by 4 am the butt lump had returned, and she started punching my bladder as usual.

So one of these days in the fairly near future, I am going to meet this child o' mine, and honestly I hope she comes out the regular way...and not the "Spaceballs" way!

Well yesterday's Father's day party at Holly's was cut a bit short for us. I was sitting on the chair, and suddenly felt awful. Horrible time breathing, totally uncomfortable, the whole nine yards. So I tell Dan we have to leave, and we do (amidst everyone else panicking that I am not feeling well).

I get in the car and start having contractions...yay... these were a little worse than last week, more painful and my back hurt too. They were about 5-7 min apart, but they stopped as soon as we got home. So I spent the rest of the day laying on the couch watching Harry Potter movies, drinking lots of water. I went to bed around 9 last night, and got up around 9 this morning (well aside from the umpteen-million bathroom trips during the night), guess I needed rest!

When do babies sleep the whole night through? I can't wait! I haven't had a full night of sleep in the past 8 months, and I know I am not going to get a whole night of sleep for quite some time yet...but I am really really looking forward to that first night when she sleeps all the way through the night...wait, who am I kidding? I am going to be a nervous WRECK that first night, I'll be checking on her every 5 seconds to make sure she is still breathing! OK so maybe I a.m looking forward to the second night she sleeps all the way through the night :)

I feel a bit like a lemming...

If everyone jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would I do it too? Apparently so :) I have decided to join the blogging masses and post random stuff about what is going on in my life.

There's a few reasons why I decided to jump on the blog bandwagon...but the only one I can currently remember is that my family lives far far away, and I am about to have a baby. SO if I can actually WRITE in the blog, on a semi-regular basis, I thought it might be a cool way to keep them updated on the daily (well let's be honest here...weekly...I think I can commit to weekly) events going on in their granddaughter's/niece's life.

So I guess I should start out with an intro of sorts...right? OK...so I am 28, I have lived in CT for almost 6 years, prior to moving out here for graduate school I lived all over the place (IN, IL, KS, MI, MN). I have a Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience and am a college psychology professor. I have been married for 2 years to my best friend Dan. He's a bit of a goof sometimes, and sure there are days when I want to strangle him, but 99.999% of the time I am head over heels in love with him and consider myself to be a very very lucky person to have found someone that makes me so happy. I am currently finishing up the 8th month of my first pregnancy...it's been a wild ride, let me tell you... Had morning sickness for the first 4 months or so, got a reprieve long enough to finish out the spring semester, when the belly and baby started to get very large. Now it's tiredness and difficulty breathing, and mega back pain, and difficulty sleeping for lack of a comfy position. I am more than ready to meet my daughter...but she's got about another month to "cook" so I guess I have to be patient (not one of my strong suits). She will be my parents' first grandchild, and Dan's parents' third. We also have a dog named Max, but more often than not we call him Moose (I started it...I don't remember why...but it stuck!). He's a wicked smart dog...understands so much (time for bed, get a drink of water, etc. It's kinda freaky sometimes...). We adopted him from a no-kill shelter that takes in animals from pounds with high euthanasia rates (Max came from a pound in Kentucky where 70% of the dogs brought in are put to sleep because they are not adopted fast enough). He is an Australian Shepard Mix (the kennel said collie, but I think he's got hound in him somewhere) and he's 3 years old. He's got the sweetest face, and a "naturally docked tail" meaning his breed only has a stump of a tail, so when he wags it his whole butt wags...too cute! Last vet appointment we found out that he is fat, so he is currently on a diet. Of course it doesn't help that the neighbor, the post man, the UPS girl, and the Fed Ex guy all give him treats on a daily basis if he is outside when they come by... (heck the FedEx guy gives him a treat even if he doesn't have a delivery here, just happens to be passing by!) Everybody loves Max.

Let's see what else... I am a scrapbooker. Once upon a time I considered myself a paper scrapper, however in the 3 years or so that I was doing that I made a grand total of 10 layouts. Now I use my paper supplies for making cards mostly, which I love doing, but all of my layouts are created digitally. I am on 2 digital design teams (www.digitalfreebies.com and www.scrapdish.com), I made it to the 4th round of Digital Scrapbooking Place's "Scrapping Idol" contest, and hope to do one better next time! My scrapping "home" though is www.acharmingplace.com. I spend the majority of my message board time there. Great people, great friends, great fun, what more could you ask for! I have met some of my best friends through scrapbooking...kinda cool! Lately I have been trying my hand at creating digital scrapbooking kits...maybe someday I'll get up the nerve to try and sell them, who knows.

Well that's about all I can think of right now...going to go make myself some waffels with peanut butter and syrup (not it's not a pregnancy thing...it's just really good) and get going for the day!

My favorite picture of Max...thought I'd share :) This is on a paper layout that I made for a circle journal I was in