The McBryders

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Still waiting...

Waiting, walking, weeding.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Exasperation

That has been the theme of this last week. It took awhile to figure out the name of the emotion I was feeling, but I think exasperation hits the nail on the head. Which, of course, begs the question: what am I exasperated with? To which, the only answer is EVERYTHING! :-)
I told my pre-natal yoga class on Monday, that now that everything is ready, all I have to do is to sit around worrying: I haven't practiced my hypnobirthing enough, David and I haven't done our breathing exercises, is Samantha going to be "too big", etc etc etc. My yoga teacher, a wonderful and wise woman, said that it is no surprise that I am thinking those thoughts; we are of a culture that has a hard time BEING, we would rather DO. And now, it is time for me to just BE.
Since Monday the exasperation has lessened. We did a lot of centering techniques in class to clear the mental clutter and I think it helped. Monday afternoon David and I continued to DO: we washed and detailed our two cars. I don't think they have ever been as clean as they are now! We then went for a walk (about 35 steps before I said, "ok, enough, let's go sit!") and sat at the wading pool and watched all the kids and their parents. It was very nice. Three years ago we would've run screaming in the other direction, but for some reason, our viewpoint has changed!
Tuesday we got up pretty early and went shopping for some new plants. Came home and did yardwork. Ah, who am I kidding? I did a lame attempt at weeding for about 10 minutes, before I decided I was done bending over. David stayed outside and got our front yard looking great!
Well, I'm off to work again. Tomorrow is my next appointment with a doctor, and it also happens to be my technical due date. We'll see what he says, but I am betting that Sam is going to be an August baby. Ohm.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

The lasts.

This weekend has been filled with "lasts"...you know, the "last" time David and I can go out to brunch with friends, the "last" time I will meet with my FlyGroup, the "last" time I can have tapas al fresco, the "last" book club meeting. You get the picture. Now I know these are not truly the last times I will do these things, but they do seem to be the last time before little Sammy gets here. I gotta say, this weekend has been fun!

Saturday morning David and I went to brunch with 6 friends and had a wonderful time. We rarely (if ever) do this, so in this case it was a first and last experience! The sweetest - and totally unexpected - thing was that they came bearing gifts...gifts for ME! :-) Bath salts, yoga supplies, sumptuously smelly lotions, etc. It was such a thoughtful thing for them to do. Ah. My friends.

Sunday I met up with my FlyGroup. A brief introduction: a couple years back I was reading my Real Simple magazine and ran across a reference to www.flylady.net. Out of curiosity I went to the website and spent the next couple of hours browsing around. This website was created by a woman who had had a hard time getting her house (and consequently, her life) organized. She finally found a way that worked for her. Some friends of hers wanted to try it also, so she started a small yahoo group to send out daily reminders ("Where is your laundry?", "Do you have your shoes on?", "Have you decluttered for 15 minutes?"). The yahoo group membership has grown to over 250,000 people worldwide. It's free, it's supportive and based on all of the testimonials that are sent out, it has helped a LOT of people.
Anyway, I digress. Last year the members were encouraged to meet locally and share stories, advice, etc. So, I found myself going to a local shopping mall and sitting in the food court. A few minutes later there were about 6 or 7 women that gathered. A group of us clicked and decided that it would be fun to meet at each others houses and help in the decluttering, cleaning, and organizing process. We have continued to do this for over a year and it has been fun and very helpful.
So, Sunday we met at one of our houses and had ourselves a FlyParty - since I didn't want to do anything strenuous or fume-filled, I stayed in the living room and shredded old documents for an hour or so. The rest of the group dispersed and swept through the kitchen and pantry cupboards. Spending a couple of hours helping each other tackle a put-off project feels wonderful!

Sunday night my brother and sister-in-law came up to visit for Aunt P's last (again with the lasts!) night in Seattle. We had a fabulous barbecue on my parents' patio and followed that with a rousing game of Turbo Cranium. Family game nights. Good.

Monday was my pre-natal yoga class (though I have a feeling it wasn't my "last" class). We had a newbie there who just found out she was six weeks pregnant. That has been the best part of the class: learning from the 30-40 weekers and reminiscing with the less then 20 weekers.

After class, David and I went out to lunch, took my aunt to the airport, and then visited our new nephew, Joshua. Joshua was born on June 30th and this was the third time we got to see him. It has been an exhilarating experience sharing this pregnancy with Bob and Janey. We've gone to all of the Baby 101 classes together, swapped books and stories, and now we get to visit and see the "outcome". What a sweetie! However, I did get a taste of trying to comfort and calm an inconsolable baby. We all watched frantically for clues: is he hungry? tired? cold? hot? overstimulated? does he just want to cry? I could feel the tension in my shoulders increase the longer that Joshua cried. Such a learning curve! Having someone hand off the baby to as I clear my head is going to be a requirement! I can't wait. Seriously.

Tuesday we had another pre-natal doctor's appointment with one of the other docs in the clinic. Since they have an on-call rotation, they try to have us meet all of the doctors prior to our delivery - just in case. This particular appointment was pretty uneventful. Sam hasn't moved very far - she is still head down and at -2cm. But our doctor did ask us "so...has anyone told you that Samantha may not be a small baby?" We laughed nervously, yeah, we heard that.

I think I'll wrap up this novella with a quick question: is there anything more annoying than trying to grow out your hair?! Grrr.




Thursday, July 14, 2005

Proof?

If you page down, you can read Stephanie's post regarding some of the surprising observations she has made during pregnancy. One of her observations has to do with "water retention." I'm not sure this qualifies as proof, but check out these piggies:


As you might imagine, we have a ton of snapshots of Stephanie in the "family way." Here's a recent one, capturing Stephanie perusing the owners manual of yet another newly received baby gadget, a microwave bottle sterilizer. It's great that Stephanie is reading this document, even though I'll be the one actually operating the gadget, since, let's face it, the bottles are for ME! (since nature has not endowed me with the necessary tools!)

And here's one of Steph (and Samantha, duh!) with Ron and Sandy, soon-to-be grandparents!

A few things about pregnancy.

You know - I had misperceptions about how pregnancy would be. I think most people feel that way. I'm just glad I was wrong about most of them!

Please don't throw tomatoes at me, but I feel the need to count my blessings. I have had a fairly simple pregnancy. No morning sickness to speak of; no fatigue; everyone's concerns that I would have a miserably hot pregnancy have been unfounded (we have had a surprisingly cool summer so far!); and sadly no strange food cravings (I was looking forward to those for some demented reason). All in all, I count myself very lucky.

On the other hand, I did "contract" gestational diabetes, so I have gotten to poke my finger four times a day; I have to watch my carb intake; I get to pee on a stick every morning. And there is the concern that I will have a "big baby". Or, more specifically, one that won't quite fit. So, I'll continue watching my carb intake (and try to limit the number of times I indulge at the Cold Stone Creamery!)

But the four things that I have found most surprising about pregnancy are:
  1. The need to pee. I guess it is not so much the need to pee but the frequency of said need. I used to be a camel. Getting up four times during the night has been quite a change. But, it seems that is slowing down now due to...
  2. Water retention. Did you know that when you retain water, if you press on your leg you can see your finger imprint? We found this out at a Massage for Labor class we took. David found this highly amusing.
  3. Skin tags. What the heck?! I will be visiting a dermatologist after things settle down. Enough said.
  4. The club. Truly, I had no idea. There is a club out there. Next time you see a pregnant woman, don't watch her, watch everyone react to her. You will see people smile as she walks by (and I don't think it is due to the waddle). Especially people carrying babies, or walking their toddlers. Oh! And other pregnant women! It's not exactly a secret handshake, but there is definitely a knowing look: a "you're one of us" or "I know what you are going through" or "you'll make it" kind of look. And those are just the people that keep their distance!

Being pregnant puts you in the public domain. Some people get bugged by this, but I just find it interesting. The questions ("the end of July", "it's a girl", "yep, Samantha", "yes, it's my first") come from everyone: I mean, who would've thought the teenage boy at the gas station would give a rip?!

This has been a wild ride. I have enjoyed it. I have a couple of weeks to continue enjoying it and then it'll be onto the next phase. I just hope the next step goes as smoothly!!

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

You Want Graphic?

Howdy. This is David, one half of the team, SeattleS. I will be distinguished in future posts and comments by my unique RED COURIER FONT.

This will be the first post I've ever made to a blog. Wow! Does this bring me into the 21st Century?

Below, for your graphic viewing pleasure, a sonogram of Sam's profile at 27 weeks. As of today, she's nearly 38 weeks. Our latest sonogram was 2 weeks ago, and she was so big we couldn't get any full body shots. I mean, I like looking at her knee, but I'm going to make the assumption that her knee lacks mass media appeal right now. Perhaps, in 18 years or so, when she's a world-famous tennis star or teen idol, a knee shot might be of some public interest, but for now, feast your eyes on that cute 27-week-old schnoz and those pouty little lips!

I'm having a wonderful time reading all your comments. I think I'm getting Blog Fever!


Tuesday, July 12, 2005

A word of caution.

As Sam's arrival gets closer, we find ourselves going to more and more doctor's appointments. I will be talking about these visits on this blog. I want to take people's sensitivities into consideration by trying to limit my graphic references, but to be honest: at this point I don't know WHAT is too graphic anymore! Total inundation of descriptive body parts and birthing stories has rendered me numb. I hear this sort of thing happens. So, my word of caution is this: be prepared to stumble upon a graphic reference or two. Okay?

On a different note, check out the budding poet:



Think he is excited?

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Perhaps an introduction is in order.

Here we are, David and Stephanie. The bump is Sam, Sammy or Samantha depending on how much she is dancing and flailing. As you can probably tell, our lives are going to be changing quite soon. Like, three weeks or so, soon.

We have been busy lately. Notice the walls - a delightful peach shade painted with our first attempt at texturizing. If you could see the floor, you would notice that the wood floors look newly stripped and varnished. New baseboard molding has been installed. Not to mention the general furniture, rug, clothing and toy placement. Quite busy. In fact, I think the busy-ness has distracted us from thinking too much about the change that will be occuring. But now, we have put the finishing touches on the room. We have just to pack our "To Go" bag and gather a list of names and phone numbers. Now the excitement is setting in.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

So I went to add a comment...

...and walked away with this blog. Who knew? Just this morning I lay in bed thinking, "y'know...since we are going to be new parents and all, maybe we should look into creating a blog". Of course, as soon as I got out of bed, that thought vanished.
Later, I went to read my cousin's blog and wanted to add a comment - somehow I got in the create a user loop and lo and behold! : A new blog.
We'll see how it goes.