Shower Pictures

Here are the pictures from the Shower that Kathy and Dan threw us! Thanks so much everyone for coming!!


Real men come to Baby Showers, so says Dan.

The Hagen's and the Hellbusch's

We weren't ready for this one

Whitehead's and Hellbusch's

Whitehead's, Hellbusch's, and Hagen's (my side of the family)

Another of the family

Hellbusch's (Seth's side of the family)

Another Hellbusch shot

Mr. Squeaky and Mrs. Spendypants


Just kidding it's Baby Momma and Baby Daddy

Kathy, Evelynn, and I

Seth and I opening presents

Yay a playmat from Grandma!

A medical kit from Uncle Chet

One of her bed sets!

Everyone watching us open gifts

I'm really excited to open gifts

Yeah super excited

Baby Chuck's from Uncle Jesse!

Kathy (the hostess with the mostest)

Cool Uncle Jesse, Evelynn, and I

Heavy Baggage Blogger L'ara and I

The beautiful table!

Partying is such sweet sorrow.

Hello blog world!
Look at me! On time at work, actually going to work a full day, and feeling good. Woot Woot!

Mrs. Spendypants
I told Seth that I needed to get Elizabeth Kostova who wrote “The Historian” new book “The Swan Thieves” (yes I Amazon linked all those for you!) since I didn’t it win it in two contests online, I mean I tried to get it for free! Anyway he asked if we could wait until it went on clearance and I was like, no, it’s a great book. And then he got all bent out of shape because he knew I really liked “the Historian” and he was eager to read it and I lent it to my Mom and it has disappeared. So he was all bent out of shape about not getting to read it, and he wasn’t about to let me read another awesome book and then give it away. So I started whining about it and he said “Listen here Mrs. Spendypants, you are going to get a budget if you aren’t careful!” and then I laughed because he called me Spendypants.

Sale! Sale!
I can’t believe it, Target is trying to kill me. All of our registry stuff (okay most of it) is randomly on sale. I emailed my Mom to tell her that if she knew anyone or if she wanted to get stuff off of it, now is the time. Weird. Hopefully it last past the shower so if I get gift cards I can use them. Mrs. Spendypants is very excited at the prospect.

Of course
When I quit American Idol, the guest judge is Neil Patrick Harris. GAH! Damn you Idol! I totally pouted about it for like three minutes this morning when I found out.

Mel
Mel at work is great, Mel is short Melanie by the way, and she is awesome. She just tied my shoe for me. And she bought Evelynn the cutest baby Gap clothes ever. Tiny hats and little jean skirts and jeans. So cute.

Shower!
I’m so excited for the shower this weekend. I can’t even tell you. I’m getting my hair cleaned up on Friday with my Mom and Seth says I can go buy the party dress, so it should be a great time. I’m excited to see everyone.

Target! *angry fist shake*
I just got an email from Target that reads thusly- “Dear Carrie and Seth, We wanted to let you know right away that some of the items on your registry are no longer available or have very limited quantities. But don't worry—we've got you covered. Chances are these items were seasonal, or they've been replaced with the latest and greatest styles you'll love even more.” And then it goes on to list 15 of my items. I like how they are like, don’t worry! We have better junk for you to buy, your taste is old. You are already behind the times, never mind you have planned your nursery around what you picked out and have already painted and bought matching recliner covers. Fuckers.

What the heck blackberry?!!?
For some reason, be it blackberry or facebook, but my facebook app has been junky for the last two days and is not working. It will alert me that I have messages on facebook but it won’t let me see them. It’s driving me effing bananas. Get it straight.

Meetings Meetings everywhere
So I’ve already have had two meetings this morning and I have two more this afternoon. Yikes. Things are shaking up out here. I knew I should have slept in!

Mrs. Spendypants out
Alright I’d better get ready for these meetings. Hope you all have a good day!

Love (for Target to quit jerking my baby registry around),
Carrie

Afternoon ramblings...

Random thoughts for the afternoon

I need to eat lunch, but I’m nauseous and I really don’t want to barf in my work trash can. Or even dry heave at that. I don’t want to be “that girl”.
All of the sudden, for some random reason, Word 2007 has changed my standard settings for when I open a new document. It is really pissing me off. I hate Word 2007. I think I’ve officially lost a skill on my resume because of it. I used to know Word inside and outside and upside down and now I can’t even fucking find where I turn off the spaces between lines. And what happened to the drop down menus? Were they so bad? No, they weren’t. What’s bad are these new tool bar buttons. Do you know it took me 45 minutes to create a Table of Contents the other day? It used to take me two minutes. I spent 35 of those minutes hunting for the button to even create a TOC.
I miss my Mom and Dad. I know they aren’t that far away, but the fact that they aren’t in their house and aren’t there if I want to drop in or if I have an emergency really freaks me out. Like when I was sick I was secretly willing someone to bring me soup and I would have called my Mom and dropped a hint but she is in Syracuse.
I was all excited because I will miss a boring all department meeting on Friday for my PT appointment but they moved the meeting to Thursday to accommodate someone’s retirement party, which was scheduled for Friday. So now instead of missing two hours of boring stuff, half which I don’t understand and trying to decide when the best time to take a bathroom break is, I will miss cake and ice cream. Damn.
My boobs are seriously bothering me. The nipples are uber sensitive and it is making me sick to my stomach every time I move and they rub on my bra. I just want to walk around with my hands over top my boobs to stop them from moving. Also there was a point when I thought they were super awesome because they were huge but now my belly sticks out farther than my boobs and wins the “huge” category of things on my body, and they just look small again. And they leak strange stuff that crusty’s on my bra’s and freaks me out. And my nipples are huge. I know this is way too much TMI for you, but seriously, all my ladies out there getting ready to make babies. You should know what you are getting into. Giant boobs that hurt your back and leak stuff and nipples that turn dark colors and imitate pepperoni. True story.
I am so mad at Target. I just realized over half the stuff on my registry is online only. No one wants to buy you presents from your registry online. They want to go the day before or the day of the shower, pick the stuff up and be done with it. They don’t want to pay extra for shipping and have to plan in advance to get you something. Trust I know, I’ve shopped off of many registries. And unless the party is in another state, I’m going to the store. Target tricked me. It gave me all these super cool options online and me, thinking they would be in the store too got it all, and now my registry is a mess and I’m either going to end up with weird gifts I can’t take back or a boatload of gift cards, which is totally okay, I’m grateful for any gift I get, but I’m really mad at Target for making me seem difficult to people.
Speaking of gift cards, Seth and I have over 175 dollars to Best Buy still. We never buy anything at Best Buy (so overpriced) and we don’t know what to do with them. I wish they would just let us sell them back to Best Buy.
I gave up on Human Target. I just couldn’t do it. It was too much bang boom and not enough listen to the really hot guy say interesting stuff, or listen to Chi McBride make great jokes. I am however totally into Life Unexpected even though they cut Kate’s hair from the pilot which I HATE and it runs into my Heroes/Big Bang Theory taping so I have to tape it on Wednesday nights when it repeats.
I’m about to give up on Heroes. Lord what is going on. I don’t even want to watch anymore. And Num3rs too. I asked Seth twice this weekend if we could just delete the three hours’ worth of Numb3rs we have on the DVR because I didn’t want to watch them.
In greater TV news-HOW ABOUT CASTLE? What a great show, if you aren’t watching it, get to it, because you are missing one of the better written shows out there and the acting is phenomenal.
Why do all the little girl bibs have at least one bib in the set that says “I love my Mommy” why aren’t there any that say “I love my Daddy” in the set? It seems wrong.
I tried to eat lunch and I feel like vomiting.
My facebook status currently reads “that new Black Eyed Peas song ‘Imma be’ confuses me because I think they are saying ‘Applebees’”
I hate all facebook apps, games, and anything that requires me reading the same crap about how you saved a fish or what social interview question you answered. Unless the question is about me, then I’ll read it.
My husband has not made it to work this week until around 9am. I envy him. If I could I would do that every day. I totally want to give him hell about it, but then I remember in 45 days neither of us will be sleeping much or making it anywhere on time.
My mom called me a couple days ago and said “after Evelynn’s born I want to have a Sip and See” except she said it really fast and I thought she was telling me she was having more surgery. I was like “What part of your body do you get a sipnsee on?” I was watching Grey’s at the time, in my defense. And they say weird things like that all the time, like whipple and humptyback and stuff like that.
For those of you wondering, a “Sip and See” is where you invite your friends over to see the baby and sip tea (or beer and wine in my family’s case). It’s a southern thing, my Mom’s friend Pam, who is the most awesome Southern Lady I know gave her the idea.
Of course she wanted to have it in April, but we are so jam packed in April its unreal. We have two weddings (Holly and Ty’s and darling jenifriend and Jeremy’s), we would like to do the baptism in April since my husband is channeling his father and thinks the baby will spontaneously combust if we don’t baptize her three seconds after she is born, and I think Easter is in April this year.
And the month of May my mom will be off traveling Europe with my Aunt and Grandma (SO JEALOUS) so May is out.
The summer will fly by, I’m sure of it.
I don’t know how to feel about maternity pants. I keep going into the bathroom and trying to unbutton my pants and then flipping out because I think I’m trapped in my pants. Then I have to pull them down like sweatpants and I feel like an old lady.
I almost bought old lady jeans the other day because they had an elastic band and it seemed like a great idea, but they only came in stonewash and true blue jean so I didn’t get them. I don’t think anyone would have let me live it down if I bought jeans with an elastic waist.
You know I was one of those girls, who always liked being put together. I liked being overdressed for things and wearing too much make up. (I never had the ability to overdo my hair) I always told myself growing up that I was never going to be one of those wives or mom’s who let themselves go. My mom surely didn’t. Then I got pregnant. Now my husband is lucky if he doesn’t see me in sweatpants and an oversized tee shirt. I quit wearing makeup 7 months ago. I pull my hair into a ponytail most of the time. I do get dressed for work in the morning, but would totally wear sweatpants if they let me. I even quit wearing anything but tennis shoes. Dude I used to blow people away with my shoes. I looked at them longingly them other day. Bright red open toed pumps, banana yellow pumps, PURPLE POINTED PUMPS. I miss them.
Speaking of feet, last night, for the first time ever, my husband complied with my request to rub lotion on my feet. My husband hates feet. But after seeing some guy do it on Baby Story for his wife it looked so good. And I have a hard time reaching my feet these days. So I asked, meekly and without demand while he was doing his homework, if he had a second , could he please come help me rub lotion on my feet, when he had a second of course. Then I went back to the bedroom and waited. He trudged in and asked me which lotion and rubbed it on there and went back to homework. I almost died of shock. Granted I was looking for more of a foot rub and he was just getting my lotion on there, but the minute it took him to do it I was in HEAVEN.
Yesterday, to celebrate the fact that I had NOT spent the day on the bathroom floor, I made Seth a lovely steak with mushrooms cooked in white wine garlic reduction. Then once the mushrooms were cooked I added “cream” (okay sour cream because I was out of cream but it’s the same damn thing). I was so proud of me. Seth walked into the house and goes “WHAT STINKS IN HERE?” Then I was instantly mad at him for the next hour. Even when he made me a grilled cheese.
I miss Conan.
When I watch Evelynn move around in my stomach it is so cool, but it also freaks me out at the same time. Sometimes she does this thing where it feels like she is having a seizure in there and then I freak out and panic for the next 90 minutes until she starts moving normally. I also will wait for her to move around and get comfy after I get up and pee one of 20 times in the middle of the night. If she doesn’t do it immediately I sit there and panic. I may never sleep again once she is born. I’m already trying to find out if it’s legal for Seth to implant a GPS chip in her.
Dude, is it time to go home yet? The first day back after more than 2 days off are the hardest.
Do you ever think back to people in your life from ages ago and wonder what they are doing? I used to work at a high end Disney store at the mall (that is now an Abercrombie and Fitch) and the owner was bat shit crazy. To this day I wonder if she finally snapped or if she is still hocking Disney statues for 400 bucks a pop.
I still love Disney Movies though, I collect them on DVD for Evie. She is going to LOVE Sword in the Stone like me, I know it. Who am I kidding, she is going to love Sleeping Beauty and all the Princesses.
One Disney movie I abhor is Lilo and Stich, I will never show that to my daughter, unless I want to show her how to be a horrible insufferable brat.
I hate when my husband asks me if he can call me back, when I call him at work. I want to be like, no you can’t. Mostly because I know he will forget and I will call him back an hour later and he will be like, oh yeah and by then I will have forgotten what I called him for.
Rubbing my pregnant belly feels really good, unless I hit my belly button, then I feel sick.
Okay I’ve killed enough time, off to internet stalk random things.
Love (that you all are here to listen to the crazy lady),
Carrie

I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.

Hi blog world!
I made it off my bathroom floor. Did you miss me? The whiny pregnant lady? Well I missed you. I thought of all sorts of things to tell you, but unfortunately, Bagheera, my nursemaid, just stared at me blankly when I asked him to get me the laptop so I could write you. He’s such a hard ass nurse.

The past weekend
We had such a busy weekend, I think that was half the reason I was so rundown. Friday I had my physical therapy appointment which was HEAVEN. Ladies, if you are pregnant and your back is killing you, I highly recommend asking your doctor about seeing a Physical Therapist. I only wish I had started seeing her sooner and not been in misery so long. Pregnancy really changes your spine, you have no idea, plus it releases this hormone that makes things all loosey goosey (so your pelvic muscles part like the red sea) and things get so out of whack. Most insurance will cover these visits since it will help prevent you from having back problems later in life and help with an easier delivery. Also someone will massage you for at least thirty minutes and you don’t have to pay them 65 bucks. Anyway, Seth got home super late and I cleaned the heck out of the house. Then we had to go to Walmart where we spent an hour trying to decide if we wanted curtains or not, we decided to hold out for Target (only later to discover the ones we bought don’t fit lengthwise) and then we ate Pepperjax and went to bed.
Saturday was my Grandpa’s 82nd birthday party. I was starting to feel nauseous a lot and tired. We rode to the party with Jesse and Kathy which was fun. And the party itself was really nice, much to our ridicule on the way down about having a party at the Sleep Inn. It was nice to see my Dad’s side of the family who I don’t see that often. My cousin Angie has a one year old with fire red hair and I kept telling Seth that was what Evie would look like. It made me excited. Angie’s little girl was so cute and was wearing the cutest little outfit.
We left the party first (of course) because I started feeling like dump. We went home and I literally took a three hour nap. I woke up just in time to pull on some pants and head over to my parents to pick up my Dad for the car show. Seth, Dad, and I went. It was a lot smaller this year, more vendors than cars it seemed like. But they had the batmobile and the bumblebee camero both which were fun to see. My dad and I have been going to the car show every year since we lived in Omaha, which I like 10 years or something. Wow. After that we grabbed dinner at China Road (which I had been craving FOREVER) and headed home. Seth and I watched a couple DVR shows and went to bed.
Sunday we woke up and headed over to my parents where I took a spa bath in my mom’s spa bathroom and Seth and my Dad worked on projects for Evie. My Dad made her these for me to paint and put above her crib:

How freaking cute are they? I cried a little when I saw them because they are so perfect and beautiful. I have them laid out on my table with the paint next to them. I am afraid I’m going to jack them up, I really have zero creativity skills. I should call my friend Jason over and have him paint them for her, since he is the only artist I really know. Seth worked on the armoire and I have my fingers crossed that he might actually get it done! He is taking Friday off to go work on it and has plans with my Dad to finish it up Sunday. If they get it done, when Seth goes to visit his parents in February he can have them put the stain on it and then it will be done!
The church brought over lunch for my mom (she is still in recovery) so we had that and I cleaned up and straightened things up for her. I know how it makes me crazy and I’m sure it makes her crazy too to have your house a mess and you can’t do a thing about it. After that Seth and I went home. I really started to feel like dump then. I ended the night on the bathroom floor vomiting. And that’s basically how I’ve been for the last two days. I came back to work because if you are gone three days, they make you bring a doctor’s note and I didn’t want to bother my doctor since all the baby books say this happens sometimes. They already think I’m crazy and a pregnant hypochondriac. I was going to call Tuesday if I still couldn’t keep anything down (like Monday) but ate some small meals and was able to keep them down pretty well. Tuesday I only vomited to make myself feel better after I ate a too heavy lunch. I’ve been trying to be really careful about not eating too much or too heavy. I’m not hungry at all, so that helps. Anyway on top of that Monday I had the worst throbbing headache. It felt like my pulse was racing and my heart was racing and my temples were going to bust out of my head. Seth thinks I was dehydrated. Then Tuesday morning I had an allergy attack and thank goodness that was the day I started keeping stuff down, because if I hadn’t been able to take my allergy meds, who knows what would have happened. So yeah, as usual, worse pregnant lady ever.

My sweet kitties
Like they always do, Bagheera and Willow took turns nursing me. Bagheera spent all day on the bathroom floor with me Monday. At one point I went downstairs to get a fresh towel and he followed me down the stairs and stood on the bottom set and screeched at me. I like to think he was saying, “LAY BACK DOWN, YOU ARE SICK!” Willow was pretty indifferent Monday, coming into the bathroom every now and then to check on Bags and me, hanging out in the bathtub and making noise. Then Tuesday when I was located more in the bed, Willow came and cuddled up with me and slept with me most of the day. So that was sweet. They really all the best Bengals ever. You should be jealous. Here are some pictures I took of them being cute Saturday night:


New clothes!
So I have the greatest parents ever, as if you didn’t know that already and weren’t uber jealous. Sunday when we went over to their house they took me into their bedroom and surprised me with three new maternity outfits. As you know I have been anti maternity wear just because it’s so freaking expensive I could hardly afford it. They bought me two outfits I would consider work outfits (black and brown corduroy pants and a red and a cream sweater) and a shower outfit (fancy grey dress pants and a cute grey and white shirt) and two maternity tanks. I was so moved and excited. I’m wearing the black pants and red sweater today! I love my parents so much. My mom even hemmed the tan pants for me because they were a little too long. They are going to make the best grandparents ever. Seriously.

This weekend
I’m sad to report that my maternity session with darling friend jenifriend got put on hold because her “day job” sent her to Dallas for two weeks. At first I was sad, but then I realized this was a huge blessing in disguise because I haven’t seen Jeni in 12 years and this weekend would have been so hectic and we wouldn’t have gotten the time together that we deserve, that our friendship deserves. We counted it a blessing from God and have decided to reschedule in February. But even if we don’t make the maternity photos happen, I am SUPER excited about newborn photos, those are the ones I want the most. And I think it’s such a blessing to have a friend who is a photographer whose style I love. I can’t wait to see her again!
I’m also VERY excited for my first baby shower on Saturday at Kathy’s (at one o’clock for the family and friends reading). She has been working super hard on the whole thing, and I am really grateful to her for that. She is going to make a wonderful Aunt and Godmother. Her life has been pretty stressful of late with work and family stuff, but she is still managing to make this shower happen and I know it will be classy and great, like everything she does. I’m also excited to see friends and family!

Baby Evelynn
Things have been going great in her world. She makes being nauseous even less fun because she kicks around and hates the squeezing when I have to heave. And she doesn’t like laying on tile floor one bit. I know I’m going to go back to the Physical Therapist and she’s going to be like, WHAT DID YOU DO?? Other than that, she has been super active. Yesterday a dead baby Grey’s Anatomy came on and I had to turn it off, but I am happy to report, that I successfully can watch Baby Story now all the way thru, even the birth part and not freak out.
Better get truckin’
Alright friends, if I think of some of the fantastic things my stomach and Baggy kept me from telling you yesterday I will write again this afternoon!
Love (to not be on the bathroom floor today),
Carrie

Still alive! Still hugely pregnant!

Hi Friends,
I finally made it off the bathroom floor to tell you all I've had a wicked stomach bug the past couple days. I hope to be back at work tomorrow!
I'll recount all the fun for you then!
Love (to not throw up),
Carrie

Reality continues to ruin my life.

Yay Friday! Hooray!

Am I the only one?
Am I the only person who, when stuck behind a garbage truck in my neighborhood looks in the truck to see what my neighbors are throwing away? The problem with my neighborhood is that while we are technically an Omaha address, we are actually in Sarpy County, we are what’s called a SID (I have no idea what that means). Anyway that means we are not covered by Omaha city services like snowplowing (thank God) and trash pickup (which these days, thank God too.) But that also means we have to pay for our trash service, and there are like six you can pick from in the Omaha area. So on various days of the week, there will be trash pick up, usually every day but Sunday and Saturday. So I see the back end of a lot of garbage trucks.
This morning someone threw away a bunch of Walmart brand popsicles. Also what looked to be some kind of plastic thing, and canned air. I like to imagine what kind of lives these people lead. Do they huff the canned air, eat a bunch of Walmart popsicles and break all the plastic tray’s in their house? It’s a fun game for the morning drive. Don’t judge me.

Last night’s TV
Last night I watched Ugly Betty, which was really sad because once again, TV is out to get me and Hilda’s baby doesn’t have a heartbeat. I totally remember that moment. I cried like it was yesterday for me.
Then I watched Human Target, I think that show has one more strike and then it’s out. Even though I just figured out the guy who plays the weird tekkie connections guy is the same guy from Watchmen, Rorschach. The cast is good, the writing is just terrible. And I’m one of those people who if I’m watching some kind of “action” by myself, I fast forward thru the karate chopping and the punching to get to the end faster.
After that I watched Bones which was actually a really good episode. Felt like the old Bones from Season 2 or 3, before things started to get all weird. I liked what Hodgins said to Angela, and I liked that they were working on JFK.
I didn’t watch Grey’s because my husband has class Thursday nights, and even though he proclaims to hate most things about Grey’s (Meredith for one), he still gets bent out of shape if I watch it without him. So I don’t. At least I try not to. It’s not my fault if that is what the channel is on and I watch until the commercial break.

This weekend
Man our weekend is busy, but hopefully it will be relaxing as well. Tonite we need to swing by Walmart and get a couple things. Then we need to go to Dollar General to get my Grandpa some sweatpants for his birthday (I have NO idea why they have to be Dollar General sweatpants, but he’s lived a long life and if that is what he wants, then I’ll get it). I have to make Summer Pasta Salad for his birthday party on Saturday. We also have to watch Grey’s and eat dinner somewhere in there.
Saturday we have my Grandpa’s 82nd birthday party in Syracuse. Kathy and Jesse are riding with us. Then we are coming back home.
Sunday my Mom will be back in town so we are going to do lunch over there and drop off the snowblower and Evie’s armoire. At some point we need to go to Target and get the refill on my test strips.

Next weekend
I am so excited for next weekend I can’t even tell you. Darling Friend jenifriend is coming to take my maternity pictures and family pictures. I haven’t seen her in like 12 years! Since we were in 10th grade! Kathy’s shower is on Saturday and I’m super jazzed for that. She has been working really hard on it and I know it’s going to be a great time.

Alright friends!
I’d better get to work, I have a PT appointment today at 2, so I’d better get some stuff done!
Hope you all have an amazing love filled weekend!

Love (randomly checking my registry now that invites are out),
Carrie

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.

Hi All!
So I don’t have anything uber interesting today.

Evelynn’s blog
Evelynn’s doctor’s appointment went well. When we asked the doctor what position she was in (she has been head down since week 30) and Dr. Karen started feeling around, and it was taking entirely too long and the doctor was making a strange face, so I started panicking and I asked what was going on and she said that she was having trouble telling her head from her “lumpy little butt”. So then I posted on facebook that the Dr. told us our daughter had a “lumpy little butt” and she must have gotten it from her Dad, because no one has ever described my butt as little. Ha.
A friend informed me they recalled some Graco strollers, the same brand as our travel system, but I checked and as far as I can tell, our stroller isn’t in the recall. Phew!

TV
Last night we watched Big Bang Theory, which was hilarious. The Nebraska references always crack me up. And then we watched Castle, which was GREAT, even though this episode wasn’t all jokey and was serious, they still managed to get in a few giggles and you didn’t feel guilty. Then we watched Heroes, which was meh. I kind of wish they would either kill that show or get some new writers because it’s getting old and hard to watch. Claire’s a college lesbian now? I mean come on.
Then I watched American Idol and I was so excited because Kristin Chenowith was the guest judge!! But then I was sad because they only had her for one of the two days in Orlando. They should have her always. And let her sing, a lot.

My pregnancy in review
Okay so here is a survey someone sent to me that I thought I would do for fun since I have nothing of substance for you today. I’ll answer what I can:
Your name? Carrie
Father’s name? Seth
Are you still with him? Yes, I can’t believe he stuck around thru this crazy
Were you trying to get pregnant? Yes, but we were told by modern science that it wasn’t possible without help
When are you due? March 13th, 2010
When did you find out? July 6th, 2009
Where did you find out? At home, at six in the morning before I went to work
How far along were you? About 4 weeks
What was your reaction? Shocked, speechless, Seth wouldn’t believe it until we took a blood test at our fertility clinic
Who was the first person you told? Seth, and then I called my parents
How did you tell the father? He was standing right there with me.
What was his reaction? Let’s not get too excited, let’s wait until we take a blood test at the doctor’s office
Did you have any morning sickness? Hell yeah. I threw up constantly, usually because of my favorite foods. Most of the time I just threw up to make my stomach feel better. Not because I absolutely had to.
Cravings? Not so much, they got worse as I progressed in the pregnancy, but they have seemed to multiple since most of the foods that I can’t eat (because of the diabetes) I want now more than ever.
Food Aversions? Um…in the beginning pickles made me vomit on cue.
Worst pregnancy symptoms? The heartburn, the ab separation, the back pain, leg numbness, the fatigue.
Funniest pregnancy moment? Probably just the random comments I get from people, and the inappropriate questions.
Favorite pregnancy moment? When Seth felt her move for the first time, his face was just heart melting
Worst pregnancy moment? Probably when we went in at 7 weeks to hear the heartbeat and they couldn’t find it and tried to get us to do a D&C.
Awkward stranger moment? The lady who told me she would adopt my baby and raise it in a Christian home.
How has the father been through this? Amazing, patient, caring, and super excited.
Does baby like music? She LOVES One Republic, and anything with a good beat. Like her Momma.
Stretch marks? None yet, but I’m sure they are coming, my mom had them. I’ve been buttering up my skin every second I can. Which is really awkward at work by the way.
Hardest part of pregnancy? Actually being pregnant. I thought it would be a cakewalk and it so isn’t.
What are your fears? That she’s going to come out messed up or just be someone I can’t handle or love.
What are you most happy about? A baby! And the first baby in both our families so you know she is going to be spoiled.
Did you want a boy or girl? I wanted a boy, but I’ve very much warmed to the idea of a little girl.
What did the father want boy or girl? He just wanted a healthy baby.
Do you have a name picked out? Evelynn Ann. I told Seth we need to get a boy name just in case but we can’t come to agreement at all.
How much weight have you gained? 23 pounds
Have you felt the baby move? That’s all she does, in fact I get worried when she doesn’t move!
Are you keeping the baby? Um…yeah. Weird question.
Do you plan on a natural or medicated birth? DRUGS DRUGS DRUGS. In fact if they can just put me to sleep and wake me up when it’s over, I’m down with that
Are you scared about labor? The fact that I have to push this child out of my vagina.
What do you think will be the worst part of labor? The pain, and the afterwards part now with the tearing and the giant pads and the squirt bottles
Have you taken any classes? Have you been reading this blog?
Who will be in the delivery room? Seth and my parents
Are you having the birth videotaped? Absolutely not, why would anyone want my lady bits on video?
Do you think you will cry when you see the baby for the first time? Yes, probably because I won’t believe I actually did it.
What do you think the fathers reaction to the baby will be? I’m not sure, I think he will probably cry, but I don’t know. I didn’t think he would cry at our wedding and he did.
How do you think family and friends will feel? They are so excited, sometimes I think they are more excited than me, but they don’t have to worry about pushing her out, so…Ha.

OH MY GOSH
So Seth finished painting my bathroom cabinets last night. My guest bathroom is like 75% fully remodeled. This weekend (he’s already started painting) he’s going to put the trim back on and then the only thing that bathroom needs is a new sink basin and light fixture. I can’t believe it.
Here are some pictures:

The medicine cabinet

The big cabinet

Both cabinets

Cabinet and vanity

Better shot of the big cabinet

PS the Seagrass baskets I have for magazines and random bathroom junk are from walmart in the bathroom fixtures section. I KNOW, who knew?

Alright off to work
I’d better keep my trainee out of the cookie jar today. I leave you with this adorable picture of Bagheera sleeping on Willow last night. Awww…Bengals Cats.


Love (for it to be the end of February already),
Carrie

Ice, Ice Baby

Hi All,
They had more ice up north where I work than down here, Seth thought it would be a good idea if I stayed home, me too.
But then he went to work so I pouted.
Then the cats, who normally would not leave my side if I was home, abandoned me to start practicing their Ultimate Fighting moves.
Now it is time for our doctor's appointment, which we will be late for because my husband is picking me up and he is perpetually late.
And now the cats are mad at me because they both keep trying to get in my lap for love and as soon as they try to lay down and rub their heads on my legs they fall off. And they are all claws all the way down. The doctor is going to look at my belly covered in fresh cat scratches and freak out.
Oh husband is here! Must run!
Tell you more later!
Love (when stay at home days include everyone in this family),
Carrie

This is why I love Anderson Cooper

Check out the story here-
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/18/anderson-in-the-midst-of-looting-chaos/
Careful though, it's pretty graphic. Anderson saves a young boy from a looting riot.

Amazing.

Love (Anderson Cooper),
Carrie

People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them.

Hi all! Sorry I’m late today. You must forgive me. The weather around these parts is pretty craptacular and I hate driving so I was waiting for the fog to wear off, and as if a sign from God, I got a headache (I haven’t had one of those morning headaches since the second trimester!) and Seth slid thru two intersections on his way to work, so I was right to wait. At least in my head.
I probably won’t be in tomorrow since they are predicting ice all day and I have a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon when it is at its worse. So heads up there. Maybe I’ll take some pictures for you…or maybe I will finish my book!

TV
Last night we watched Chuck and I started watching Human Target. Chuck was really good, that show just gets better and better. The guest star though (the villain is usually the guest star) was Angie Harmon who I know and like from her Law and Order days. Although I have a problem with Angie from her makeup commercials that completely ruins her for me. One of her eyes is bigger than the other. The left one. It drives me nuts. I can hardly look at her face without screaming in my head, ONE GIANT EYE!!! I never would have noticed it if she hadn’t done those Neutrogena commercials or whatever they were. Oh and if Angie happens to google herself and stumbles across this post, I think you are a great actress-your giant eyeball just freaks me out. Sorry.
Human Target had Chi McBride in it, who I LOVE from Pushing Daises. (sniff, sniff, I miss that show) so I was all jazzed up about it. It also had some really hot guy whose name I don’t know. I watched about the first half hour and wasn’t impressed. Chi was the best part. So I don’t know if I’ll even finish it.

New TV
Yesterday on Google News there was an article by a woman who likened the new CW show “Life Unexpected” to “Gilmore Girls” (WHY ARE ALL THE GOOD SHOWS CANCELLED?!?!?) so I DVR’d that last night too. I haven’t watched it yet but I will let you know what I think. The lady said the pilot isn’t great but to give it a chance beyond the pilot. I have to get some new shows in my arsenal so I stop watching crap like Jersey Shore and Teen Mom and Tabitha’s Salon Makeover. As much as I love watching them (and they are always on repeat) I feel like my brain is rotting.

Top Blogger?
So I got an email today that a website named me a top blogger! Thanks to you all! Thank you so much for visiting and reading! Here is the site: http://www.feedjit.com/news/US/bertha-9/
I’m not sure what it means but it made me feel all warm and squishy-thanks so much!!

Blogstalking
I spent some time blogstalking yesterday around new Mommy blogs and I stumbled across one where a lady said that she wasn’t going to turn her TV on until her new baby was two. Holy Moley that woman has will power, good luck to her. I wonder if she is still paying for cable? I can’t even fathom not having cable, Seth threatens it all the time but I’m pretty sure cable being on is in our prenup. (No I don’t really have a prenup, but I’m pretty sure I made him promise before we got married)

My Momma
Thanks to everyone for your well wishes, prayers, and good thoughts sent to my mom. She is doing really good. She moved to my Grandma’s house on Sunday and sounds like she is really enjoying it. Last night I had to drop off a spare DVD player for her at the Bowling Alley where my Dad was for league night. She is being a trooper as long as she stays on her pain meds-you hear that Momma?? STAY ON THE MEDS!

Evie’s room
I’ve been trying (as you may have read) to get Evelynn’s room ready for pictures. It’s really hard because I am not the kind of person who likes to wait until the last minute to be ready for something big and life changing. I had most of my wedding planning stuff done two months ahead of time. If I know something big is coming, I like to take care of it and be ready for it as best I can. So it drives me NUTS that I don’t have all her stuff ready to go by now. And I’m super grateful for all the lovely people in my life who might buy me gifts for the shower, but dang it, I want it now! How awful is that? All because of my control freak nature. Luckily I have a husband who squeaks when he walks and won’t let me go buy everything. The whole Target putting my entire registry on clearance didn’t help either. Jerks.
So anyway yesterday I finally got around to picking, printing, and giving the block letters we are putting on the wall (of her name) above her crib, to my dad. Hopefully he can get those done by this weekend and I can get them painted and put up. Then at least I know that one wall is photogenic.

Speaking of maternity pictures…
I’m so excited for mine, I’ve been looking at other people’s on photographers websites. But okay, so here’s my qualm with that, why do people have to make their maternity pictures all sexy? Like why do you have to be naked holding your boobs, or not holding your boobs? Why would you take naked pictures of yourself pregnant and pose provocatively? I don’t get it. I don’t feel sexy AT ALL. Nor do I really want to. I’m about to be a Mom. I want fun pictures with laughing and love and I want them to convey the anticipation we have about her. I want to be able to show them to her and other people. I don’t want to be like, look everyone, look how sexy I was when I was a whale. It really weird’s me out and totally confuses me. Also the ones where the Mom and Dad are holding each other and pretend to be sleeping. Um, is that so you can look back and remember the times you got to sleep? I mean I know I’ve done a lot of sleeping during this pregnancy, but I don’t think it needs to be commemorated in my maternity pictures. You know what does need to be though? My hot pink sweatpants. Those need an awards ceremony and a national holiday. So yeah, all of the maternity pictures I’ve seen googling around the internet have really put me off. That’s why I know I have the best photographer because she totally gets what I want. Just look at her work. There is no naked pregnant lady sexy posing. At least, not that she’s put up anyway. And trust, I’m no prude, but if you are going to take naked pictures of me, take them when I actually look super sexy and thin and at my ideal best. This *points to giant stomach* is not my idea best. And definitely not sexy. You should hear some of the sounds that come out of me because of it.

Ice, Ice Baby
So tomorrow is more ice. That stinks. I was really making an effort to come to work every day this week. However, people are already saying at Seth’s work that they aren’t coming in, so maybe my hubby will be working from home and will be able to keep me company. Probably not, but a girl can dream right? They will probably also cancel my dr.’s appointment which I HATE. But what can you do, I do want my doctor to live until delivery and not die in an ice accident.

Okay better get trucking
I just caught my trainee stealing cookies out of a classroom I sent him into to retrieve some carts for updating. Lord help me. Dude is like 100 years old, he should know better. Seriously.

Love (getting things ready for Evelynn),
Carrie

My year in review....

I’m bored and saw that someone else did this on their blog while I was blogstalking people. I thought I would regal you with my answers…

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Made a baby. Remodeled a house. Kept a relatively updated blog!
2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
If I did make any, I forgot them. So they must not have been that good. I didn’t make that mistake this year. People tried to make resolutions for me, but I wasn’t listening to that mess.
3. Did anyone close to you have a child?
My cousin Tara had a baby. I think that’s about it. Oh wait no, Melissa had a baby (didn't she...?)! And she is adorable, both Melissa and the baby.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, praise Jesus, some people came close though, jerks.
5. Where did you travel?
Let’s see Seth and I went to Kansas City, New York,and Orlando.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
I’d like to have work stop being done on my house. I’d also like to have some blog posts with more substance and observation rather than the normal what I did yesterday dribble, since people tend to enjoy the ones with observation.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory?
Most definitely when I repeatedly peed on a stick and it had two lines, the first time I heard her heartbeat and saw her face, and GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting knocked up, when modern science told us that we couldn’t. I’d also say getting thru my first year of marriage gracefully and with love. Also living thru Black Friday while pregnant.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Being pregnant. I’m the worst pregnant lady ever. I hate it, I wanted to love it so bad and I am just awful at it. It has negatively affected most everything in my life. My love of food, my ability to work hard, my mobility, what little motivation I had to work out, my love life (oh it happens ladies, trust, no one feels sexy when something is kicking them and mystery stuff leaks out of lady parts it never did before), and my relationships with some people. I’m just no good at it. Beyond that, the fact that we once again did not take our free honeymoon this year.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had a ton of pregnancy related illnesses and injuries this year. Before that I don’t think that I had much of any besides the occasional cold/sinus infection.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
The new TV in the living room! Oh and my new car. Oh and Evelynn’s crib.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Seth’s. Seriously, that man is a saint. After that my Dad, he’s dealt with more than his share of crazy from me this year. And my mom who has been super supportive at all the right times. Brothers from all sides have been pretty good to me this year too.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
There was actually one person in particular whose behavior not only confused me and broke my heart, but put it in a place where I wasn’t sure whose job it was to fix our relationship, since they cut off all communication unexpectedly, I finally gave up and decided it wasn’t mine and it wasn’t worth being sad about anymore. You can’t make everyone love you or even like you. And since there was no communication as to what exactly I may have done to offend this person, after months of supporting and encouraging this person, I couldn’t fix it. As helpful as the term “you know what you did”, I really didn’t. But in retrospect, I wish them the best and hope their life is happy. I know mine is now.
14. Where did most of your money go?
The bank of Seth, where nothing ever comes out without an epic battle in the middle of the Target baby clearance aisle. (I won though! The boppy is mine!)
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Besides the baby? (which gets less exciting with each passing month of new aliments and the realization that she has to actually COME OUT at some point?) Disneyworld.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
The “Celebration” song from the Disneyworld parade. My brother sings it randomly some time and it is hilarious.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
A)Happier B) Um, FATTER, this morning I said to Evelynn, “Look kid, you can kick all you want, but I’m aware that we are running out of room on the HMS Mommy…” C) I would say for day to day things we are poorer since the Bank of Seth has put a Vulcan death grip on our finances in fear of our impending poorness when Evelynn comes.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Travel. I wish we had went on our honeymoon and I wish we had gone to Chicago and other places, it will be so much harder now with Evelynn. I also wish I had written more blog posts, as previously discussed.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying for sure, worrying about relationships that are dead and gone now, worrying about people who are out of my life now, worrying about the State of Evelynn everyday. If I took anything from this year it is to trust God’s plan.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
We spent it snowed in Columbus, and I spent most of it sleeping because for some reason at my in-laws, I can sleep there like no one’s business.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I fell more in love with my husband this year. And I fell in love with a little person who is currently dominating the lower part of my rib cage.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Not even a funny question. How about my favorite NEW TV programs this year? Castle, Ghost Adventures, and watching football with my husband.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Yes. But hate is a strong term, I try not to hate the people on my hate list, but I’m no saint, some days the hate is strong. It may or may not surprise you that everyone on the hate list is a man. Ha.
24. What was the best book you read?
Hmmmm…Gosh there has been so many…Joshilyn Jackson’s new one “Girl who stopped swimming” was amazing. Man, just go back to my posts, if I loved it I wrote about it!
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Matt Nathanson (sp?)
26. What did you want and get?
Pregnant and a new car and a new TV
28. What did you want and not get?
A honeymoon trip to Mexico
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Star Trek…weird right? Followed closely by Harry Potter
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 28, which I try not to have an epic meltdown about. And I think we just had a nice dinner on my birthday. I also got to go to the bookstore. It was pretty low key, which is how I wanted it because I was feeling pretty horribly pregnant.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
To have won the lottery.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
The beginning of the year I was really coming into leggings and cute shirts and rehashing my love of high heels. Now at the end of the year I cry when I find pants that fit, I’m wearing my Mom and husband’s clothes, and yesterday I bought a pair of pink sweat pants and told everyone on facebook I wish I could wear them to work EVERYDAY. In pregnancy, comfy is key.
33. What kept you sane?
Napping. Napping and my family and friends. Oh and my baby doctor.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Obama was pretty rockstar this year.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
The entire election I got into, especially Vet’s rights and healthcare and the recession.
36. Who did you miss?
I missed my friends in Sioux Falls and our life in Sioux Falls a little bit this year. I however did not miss my JOB in Sioux Falls at all.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
I think the best new person I RE-met was my darling friend jenifriend from www.jenifriendphotography.com. She not only provided a sounding board for me to hash out problems, she gives wonderful advice, is as crafty as they come, and has a heart and soul bigger than I deserve to have in my life. I also have a great co-worker I met this year when I started in my new area, and she’s pretty rockstar. Friday she called me “family” and I almost cried.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Nothing will go according to your plan, but everything will go according to God’s plan.

Great part of being a grownup, you never have to do anything.

Hello All! Here I am, on a Monday, actually ready to tackle the week. At least until Wednesday when it starts icing again.

What I did Friday
Well Friday I got up and went to see the “specialist” about my back and leg problems. I think UNMC just likes to call everyone that works there a specialist. Turns out I was seeing a Physical Therapist. I came in and started to tell her what was wrong and she asked me to stand up and show her my back. Then she practically yanked my pants down and started pressing on my hip area above my butt on my back. Then she told me what was wrong, and when she started asking if I had certain symptoms, all of them matched what I was getting ready to tell her what was wrong in the first place. Basically the left side of my pelvis has shifted down lower than my right side and is out of alignment. It also makes my left leg longer than my right. And apparently, if I had tried to give birth vaginally, I would have broken my pelvis. Awesome. So they lady did some snap crackle pop, then massaged my butt for an hour and then told me to go home and rest and take some Tylenol. She also gave me tips on sleeping (it requires 10000 pillows, Seth no longer sleeps in bed, he has to sleep on the floor because there are so many pillows crammed in all my nooks and crannies) while pregnant. I have to go back every Friday to ensure my pelvis is staying in line and isn’t slipping again.
I thought it was a bunch of hooey, but as soon as I started walking I noticed a difference. Even driving home in the car I wasn’t leaned over to the right like I usually am. I felt more balanced. Then I went home and slept the best I have ever slept since becoming hugely pregnant. I didn’t wake up because something fell asleep or because my hips hurt of anything like that. It was blissful.
The only drawback was my butt hurt like no one’s business from the aggressive massage my left cheek got. Every time I went to the bathroom I checked in the mirror assuming my entire left cheek would be a bruise. It never did bruise but it is still pretty tender to the touch.
Seth got home and he drove me over to my parents so I could see my mom who came home on Friday. Seth went to the gym and then came back and visited and then we went to the grocery store.
After that we watched all three hours of Heroes we had on the DVR. Thank goodness. Now if I could just get the three hours of Numb3ers we have on there off, my DVR might start looking a little less like I abuse it. Which I do.

Saturday
Saturday Seth woke up and went on a tour of the Lucky Bucket Factory (a local beer brewing company in Omaha) with my Dad and brother. I stayed in bed, still blissfully sleeping.
When he came home I got ready and we went to check out a baby consignment shop that turned out to be a huge bust.
On the way back to the house we stopped at Target to pick up one of my eight million prescriptions. I checked out the maternity section to check on the price of my dress (still too expensive) and then walked through the baby section. It was then I noticed pretty much everything in the baby section was 50% off, on clearance, including most of the stuff I registered for. I panicked. I ended up buying the Boppy I registered for because it was a great price, and if someone got it for me at a shower I could just take it back. I just didn’t want to lose the Boppy because it was kind of special because it’s pink and has birds on it (Some “what your name means” sites say that her name means “Little Bird”) and I kind of started tearing up in the store at the thought of losing the Boppy. I also got a cheap crib sheet so that when we take maternity pictures and do the one where we are looking at the crib, we don’t still have a dead baby crib.
I’m still not sure what to do about my registry. I ended up looking at it when I got home and most of the stuff is still available online, so hopefully people don’t mind either giving me gift cards or buying online.
We came home Saturday and Seth was exhausted so he went and took a football nap and I made cinnamon rolls and Mexican coleslaw. I also put a roast in for Seth. Then I went and cuddled with him. When we finally rolled around to doing something, we decided to have pizza for dinner. We called our friends Holly and Ty who came over and had pizza with us and watched football. It was a good time. Holly knows a lot about babies, she’s a baby nurse, and she looked over our stuff (we got some safety sleeping stuff) and approved for us. They stayed until about ten and then we closed down for the night. We went to bed and watched the last two episodes of Mad Men Season One so that we could give it to my mom for her recovery.

Sunday
Sunday we woke up Seth took me to my parents and dropped me off while he went to the gym. Then around 1 we had a lovely dinner with my parents and Chad, Mel, and Jason. It was a lot of fun and the food was good. It’s pretty much the last time I’ll see my parents until the weekend because they have moved to Syracuse so my grandparents can take care of my Mom while my Dad works in Lincoln (Syracuse is about halfway to Lincoln from Omaha). Also so my Dad can keep an eye on my other Grandpa, who is lonely and isn’t in the greatest health.
After that we stopped at Walmart and Seth got a haircut for our maternity pictures and I found some clothes for work on clearance. Then we got a mattress for Evelynn’s crib. When we got home I put it together and it made me so happy. Here is what it looks like now:
Then I laid on the couch and read my book “Mercy Seller” which has been really good and I really wanted to take the day off of work and finish it today. Seth painted the guest bath and it is almost done! Hooray!!
I made lunches, and we watched Big Love, Criminal Minds, and Castle. All my favorites. Then we went to bed.

Dr.’s
This week I only have two doctors’ appointments. I know, what am I going to do with myself? We have our regularly scheduled one on Wednesday and then I have the pelvis check on Friday.

This weekend
So starts the busy weekends until the Evelynn comes into the world. This weekend I have the car show with my Pops, our yearly date, Friday. Then Saturday I have my Grandpa’s 82nd birthday potluck in Syracuse. Sunday is more house remodel work.

My silly Bengals
Here is what my cats did all weekend:

It wasn’t even that cold. They have just started snuggling under the covers. Even in bed. This particular shot was taken on the couch, I got up to get some water and they took over my warm spot. Jerks.

Manic Monday
Okay everyone, I’m off to make the world a better place! Hope you all have a great day!!

Love (Boppy’s with Birds),
Carrie

No one can earn a million dollars honestly.

Hi blog world!
Sorry I missed you yesterday. My mom’s surgery was a little more than I could mentally handle so I stayed home from work and went and saw her in the hospital.

Momma
She is doing okay. In a lot of pain, but handling it like a trooper. She was totally out of it when she was on the pain meds so that was kind of fun. She may never live down some of the things she said in my family. I still haven’t lived down the fact that I wanted Mac and Cheese after my nose job apparently because my brother brought it up yesterday.
I brought her some cute little plants and put them in a basket and some comfy jammies. Listen if you are going to visit someone who isn’t well, bring them comfy pajamas. It’s the best gift you can give. They will be so happy because they have new pajamas and estatic that they are comfortable because they are in awful hospital gowns. I know when I’m sick I just want to lounge in pj’s (okay that’s all the time) and having soft new ones that are nice and roomy make a huge difference. That’s my advice to you all.
My mom is staying at a hospital in town, I won’t name it because, well, I don’t have a very good opinion of it. I thought it would be the nicest hospital in town and it is so run down and gross. It’s super ghetto, there are more cops there with patients than visitors. It blew my mind how much nicer my hospital was compared to it. I thought my hospital was the ghetto one but I was totally wrong. Compared to this hospital, UNMC is state of the art. Anyway, sorry I can’t name the hospital, but maybe if you email me I will tell you. Ha.

I’m bringing 80’s back
Yesterday I officially gave up on pants. I was down to one pair of pants that fit and I REFUSE to go buy more. I have like 59 days left, there is no way I’m buying more pants. Or underwear for that matter. Yesterday, at the suggestion of a coworker, I tried wearing leggings instead. It was so much better. Nothing was too constricting, I didn’t feel like I had to pee constantly, they were easy to get up and down and I felt kind of cool and in style. I went to Walmart yesterday and bought a few more colors and some longer shirts and dresses. All for under 20 bucks. Now that is maternity wear I can approve of. Although I found the perfect dress to wear in my maternity pictures at Target. You can peek at it here. I’m secretly hoping it drops in price in three weeks.
Also I had to learn how to put on boots with the fur yesterday while hugely pregnant. I had no idea when I dug them out of the closet they were going to be a problem. I about fell over twice, tried sitting down to put them on, and ended up pressing my forehead against the wall to balance while I put them on. I’m sure if anyone had seen me they would have laughed, but I was just relieved, I was about 20 minutes into the endeavor.

Evelynn’s blog
We had a great appointment at the doctor yesterday. I have to go see ANOTHER specialist for my leg and feet and back problems. They think I have a compressed nerve, which apparently means Physical Therapy. So they got me in first thing tomorrow morning at 8 am. I don’t know how long it’s going to take or how I will feel afterwards, but hopefully I can make it into work. I don’t really mean that. I should say, hopefully I’m exhausted and get to go change into pj’s and visit my Mom (she is supposed to come home from the hospital today or tomorrow) and enjoy a long weekend.
Anyway I only gained like a pound and a half at the doctors thanks to my new sadistic diabetes diet. They seemed to be okay with that, they said as long as I keep gaining I should be okay, the amount doesn’t matter. It brings my grand total of weight gained up to 23 pounds. Everyone (especially in the diabetes office) is always really careful when they talk to me about weight, like I’m going to be super sensitive about it, but it doesn’t bother me one bit. I knew getting in to this that I was going to gain weight. I actually panicked more yesterday when I hadn’t gained the requisite four pounds a month that the book says you should gain. If anything, having all this extra weight on my frame has taught me that I probably wouldn’t be able to handle it unless I was pregnant. My body just hasn’t taken well to lugging around an extra 23 pounds.
But anyway everything measured and sounded good. I talked to my doctor about some of our questions from Child Birthing Class. And I told her about my mucus plug theory and she agreed and then told me to keep an eye out in case contractions start, then we should be concerned. I did learn we don’t get another ultrasound unless there is a problem which makes me sad, but she said you can’t really see anything anyway because everything is so cramped in there.
So my daughter either loves or hates the One Republic song “All the Right Moves”. This morning the radio dj’s were all on commercial or obnoxious so I turned on my new One Republic CD to that song and she started jamming, kicking my ribs, turning around, just going to town. Then it rolled to the next song and she stopped, I went back to “All the Right Moves” and she started again. I’m going to go with that she likes it; my child has good taste already.

Jerks
Someone stole the box from under my desk yesterday that I was using to prop up my feet. I’m so angry about it I want to send out a building wide email and make someone feel like crap, but that would require effort. I’ll just pout about it.

Mr. Hellbusch
Seth had his first business trip with his new group yesterday. He had to fly down to Dallas Texas. Most of his group stayed overnight, but my wonderful husband came home because he knew it would make me happier to have him there. Even if he did come home worn out and grumbly. It worked out really well because I dropped him off in the morning (super early) and then picked him up that night and I was already downtown visiting my mom so it wasn’t a super long drive or that out of the way for me to pick him up.
He seemed like the trip was worthwhile and productive, but now they are talking about sending him on two more trips before the month is out and those ones would probably have to be overnight. They are trying to get all his trips in before the baby comes. While I appreciate the effort on his new bosses part to keep him around when the baby is here, but I still don’t see why they have to send him everywhere. It’s like they are showing him off or something. They say they want to bring him “up to speed” on all the different parts of the operation. I think they just want to parade their new savior of the program.

Waiting
I’m waiting for the guy I’m supposed to be training (the only reason I showed up to work today) to show up. He was supposed to be here, but he hasn’t. This is the second training day he missed. Oh well, I really don’t have anything super pressing for him to do anyway, just busy work. I’m still trying to write the training guide, but it’s hard to write down in order all the simple tasks I do. The other day I literally wrote, “get a pen and a staple remover”. Seriously.

Better catch up
Alright friends, I’m going to catch up on my blogs and gossip. Hope you all are having a good week. Hang in there! We are almost done!

Love (my new leggings),
Carrie

To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle.

Hi all!
It was a rough night in the Hellbusch Household. Seth had stomach problems and I had my usual baby up and down all night fun. So we slept in this morning. Seth has class tonite so I can stay at work later today if I need to.

TV
Last night all my favorite shows taped, my DVR is filling up quickly. Of course we sat down to watch Chuck last night and Seth was like, I can’t do this and we had to go to bed. (Seth wasn’t feeling well) we did get How I Met Your Mother in last night, which by the way, greatest musical episode EVER. Loved it. We have so much to watch though.

Tomorrow
Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day for sure. I have to drop Seth off at the airport at 7 and then go to work. I have my normal doctor’s appointment tomorrow at 2:45 and then after that I am going to see my mom at the hospital where she will be recovering from her surgery. Then I have to go pick up Seth at the airport after that. Hopefully he’s not delayed or anything.

Random
Why do the janitors at work leave the toilet seats up in the ladies bathroom after they clean them? To prove they cleaned them? Trust you can smell the bleach they used to clean them and the can of Lysol they sprayed afterwards to prove they cleaned them. Ladies don’t need the toilet seats up. Someone commented today they heard me slam the toilet seat when they walked by the bathroom after I had gone in. So then I thought about how ridiculous it was that they leave the damn things up in the first place.

Evelynn’s blog
Of course the Grey’s Anatomy that was on repeat yesterday was a dead baby one. So I couldn’t watch it, but it lead me to up my anxiety about her movements yesterday. She was pretty quiet yesterday but I think a lot of it had to do with how much pain I was in sitting up and trying to work. She made up for it last night when I was sleeping though.
This morning we jammed out to the new One Republic CD and she really likes two of the songs on there so I played them over and over for her.
This morning I sneezed while getting dressed and I thought I sneezepeed again but when went to clean up it was milky white goo. So now Seth thinks it’s my mucus plug going slowly like they said in child birthing class. Effing great. I’ll have to keep an eye on that.
Did I tell you I had to breakdown and buy new underwear? One night I woke up with a bruise because my underwear was so tight, so I had to go buy new underwear. It’s very comfy Hanes stuff from Target that was on sale but I’m still crabby I had to buy it.
Speaking of Target-when did they start trying to compete with Sam’s Club and Cosco? They have this whole new section of large quantities of stuff and it completely throws me off.
Evelynn and I go to the doctor tomorrow and I am ready to see my doctor. I have so many questions and ailments to go over with her, including my new one this morning.
I am so ready for pregnancy to be over!

Sugar Baby
The appointment was such a joke yesterday. Apparently they took me seriously in my epic meltdown during my first appointment when I was screaming at Seth that I was never going to do it and he couldn’t make me. Heh. I had no idea I was so convincing. Anyway the basically just wanted to make sure I was actually doing it and check my numbers, which they said were really good and that I could add more carbs if I wanted, but I really don’t think I’m going to do that. I’m just going to keep it low so I don’t give birth to the world’s largest baby. Of course they made me make another appointment in a month to talk to me about how to avoid diabetes after she is born. I wanted to shoot myself in the head. I hate that friggin place.

Alrighty then
I’d better get to work friends! Hope you are having a good Tuesday!

Love (to get a chance to watch some of the shows on my DVR!!),
Carrie

The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything - or nothing.

Whew. What a strange week last week was. And what an eventful weekend this week was.
Sorry about leaving you high and dry Friday and with the snow days, but Seth has been doing something to our home computers and it was too much of a pain to figure out what I was allowed to do when so I just stayed snuggly with the cats. You understand.

Childbirth Education
Okay so Saturday we had our Childbirth Education class. Wow. What an experience that was. I took three pages of notes. 1 ½ of them were notes for my blog.
We got into the class right before the start time, I was sure we were going to be late because, well, my husband is perpetually late. I was ready a full half hour ahead of him and just laid on the couch and slept and waited and nagged.
We were the second couple there. There was a bevy of couples to choose from. We had weird hippie lady who kept reminding us she was doing this naturally and with a midwife she asked questions EVERY TIME about stuff she read on the internet. The longest question was one about “Mother directed pushing” which took a 20 minute explanation with a hand drawing on the board. When she was done the instructors were just like, doesn’t work, and moved on. We had yuppie hipster couple who looked about 20 but shockingly were married. They had fun dyed hair and answered questions during class in hypothetical. There was 2 woman or girls I guess who were in high school with their “fiancee’s” who were about 24-25. There was a woman and her Mom, I had the hardest time trying to figure out which one was pregnant until introductions. There was a lady who had twins nine years ago so this was her first birth in a while. There was a couple who adopted but this was their first birth. My favorite guy, however, was a guy we named Vodka/Sex. More on that later..and then there was Seth and I. We spent most of the class giggling and whispering in each other’s ear.
So first we went around and made introductions and of course we were third to last. Seth wouldn’t speak for us, so I had to. He said all the other Mom’s were doing the speaking so I had to. But then of course the leader ladies asked him questions too so he had to talk too. Our leader ladies were a doula who had been teaching childbirth education for 25 years, but hadn’t had a kid since the 80’s and a nurse who specialized in pediatrics and had been teaching the class for 20 years. She was a single mom who had two kids in their early 20’s as well.
During introductions, the man known as Vodka/Sex, or V/S from now on, said that he came to the class so his wife would stop yelling at him and nagging him. Such began V/S string of strange questions, thoughts, and proclamations.
Shortly after that, he asked the instructors if it was true that woman can have sex up to the day they give birth and if it was good for the baby like his friend “Bone” told him. When the instructors confirmed that yes, couples could have sex and it was good for starting labor, but it was really if the couple was comfortable with it. He turned to his wife and said “See you have no excuse, you should be doing me more, and it’s good for you.” His wife started crying, the first of many tears she shed.
The instructors then took the opportunity (the first of many times) to remind us the class ends at 4:30.
Oh I forgot to tell you about the lady sitting next to us who made the cute noises (the “aww” noise) and agreed with everything out loud that the instructors said. By the first break I was thinking of ways to stab her with my pen.
At this point, I wondered if there were any men who teach Childbirthing Classes, because if they had a man woman duo, the class would have been much more accessible to the men in class.
I then asked Seth if we could vote V/S out of class because he kept comparing things to his job steam cleaning.
When they brought out the breathing charts, Seth understood them. They looked like algebra class to me and I immediately blocked them.
All I could think during the class was “I’m never going to remember this crap during labor, all I’m going to be doing is thinking “GET IT OUT”.
One thing that particularly disturbed me, enough that I facebook updated about it at least 5 times was the fact that they take your underpants away as soon as you get to the hospital and don’t give it back. And they give you a gown that opens in the back. So your goodies are on display for however long you are in labor. I noticed this when we watched the first video on vaginal childbirth. There was a lady sitting on one of the “birthing balls” or yoga balls grinding on it and out of the blue, there is her naked ass and vagina on display for the camera. I was like, WHERE ARE HER PANTIES?!?! GROSS! I get that at some point you have to push a baby out and panties would get in the way, but I figured there was some sanitary way or something for modesty for the 24 hours you would be in labor before you deliver. I just had never thought it would be a no panty kind of day. There were all these charts of positions and I kept leaning over to Seth and going “THEY AREN’T WEARING PANTIES!!!” Later we had to make a list of things to pack for the hospital and I wrote “no underpants” and I also wrote “large stick to hit people with” Seth made me cross out the stick part and add underpants. At the end of the class they pulled out this “after labor kit” that you get and in it is some scary hospital mesh panties that they give you to hold the GIANT FRACKING MAXI PAD that you have to wear for six weeks or something while your vagina leaks blood and tissue on top of hurting. Oh here is something else horrifying I learned-after you have a baby, you can’t wipe. You get a squirt bottle from the hospital that you fill up with warm water and squirt down there and then pat gently to dry. Gew. Even like number two wiping. Can’t do it, you must make a homemade bidet and gently pat. Ugh, like giving birth isn’t bad enough, then for the next six weeks I have to leak crap and not wipe!?!?
V/S took this opportunity to ask if “all woman” leaked stuff (it’s called Lochia or something like that) or if that was just some women, because he plans on getting back to bedroom business immediately, but he doesn’t ride the red rollercoaster. His wife cried again. He had to have a special talk with the instructors after class.
V/S also had these fine moments: Sleeping during the videos (his wife cried when he started snoring), telling us stories about how when he worked for Jimmy John’s delivery he could just walk right into labor and delivery and steal a baby if he wanted, when asked what relaxation technique he could use while his wife was in labor he said “Vodka”.
Every time the instructors referred to us as “Mom” I would think of my Mom. Automatically. They would say things like “Now support partners, you need to make sure that you are watching Mom for tension and help her adjust her breathing” and a picture of my mom would pop into my head.
In some of the position posters, the ones from the 80’s, the “Mom’s” were wearing skin tight bright blue leotards or body suits. Seth’s favorite position was the one he called “A little Captain in you” or the raised leg lunge. It was pretty hilarious.
Another interesting thing I learned was that when you are pushing, you need to push from your upper ab muscles, like if you cough or clear your throat, the muscles you use to do that. You should not push like you are taking a dump, because you will take a dump and you will also get hemorrhoids. FYI.
Seth and I giggled thru the meditation session because it was just so hokey. Also because he was supposed to ask me what would help me relax and I said making out and he said no. So then I said lunch and he said soon. Of course they did meditation right before the lunch break so I couldn’t think of anything but eating.
We got to take a tour of the hospital, but Seth and I couldn’t figure out if we were delivering at UNMC or the Clarkson Tower so we went on the UNMC tour because we figured that was a best bet since our Dr.’s card said she was from UNMC.
The rooms were really nice and seemed really good, but of course it all kind of hit me and I’ve been having nightmares ever since because I know where all of this is going to go down. Last night I dreamt I gave birth to a cricket and everyone was trying to tell me it was a baby so I took a picture of it with my cell phone and it was a cricket. It was strange.
Anyway some of the cool things they do is “Rooming in” which is where your baby never leaves you unless you ask to have it take to the nursery. Even after it is born, unless there are complications. The delivery bed and the thing where they clean the baby up and run the tests are right next to each other. The floor that “Labor, Delivery, and Postpartum” are on is a secure floor meaning you have to go to the third floor to get to the elevator that will even take you to the LDP floor. There is two sides on the floor, the Labor and Delivery side where you will be until you deliver and then about two hours afterwards and the Postpartum side where you will be 48 hours (or 96 for c-sections) after the baby is born. There you will meet with a Baby Care specialist who will teach you how wash and swaddle and all that important stuff and a Lactation specialist if you are breastfeeding. (which I’m going to try). Also in the postpartum section is where you get to have visitors, the only people allowed in the L&D section are the people on your birth plan or people you say can be in there.
So that was my Childbirth education class. It was terrifying and hilarious all at the same time. Mostly thanks to Vodka/Sex and his crying wife. But entirely because of my husband who knows that the way to make things less scary for me is to joke with me about them.

This week
This week I have a busy week. Today I have an appointment with the diabetes specialist, Wednesday Seth is flying to Texas for the day, my mom is having surgery, and I have a doctor’s appointment with our regular doctor. And I’m going to try my darndest to get to work every day, although one of the things I need to discuss with my doctor is my lack of ability to sit for 8 hours without my back causing enough pain to make me cry and my legs and feet going to sleep. When I try to get up and walk around my hips and joints hurt so bad and my ankles swell up that I can hardly walk. Mostly the only positions I have where I am comfortable and not stressed are laying in bed or laying on the couch. So we will see what she says.

This weekend
Other things we did this weekend were have a lovely dinner with the Asche’s on Friday and caught up with them. We did baked potatoes which were AWESOME. We had dinner with my parents after the Child birthing Class so that I could ask some questions and regal them with the trauma I just endured and give them some information.
Sunday we relaxed and some errands and got the house picked up for the week.

Lots to do
Well I have a replacement to train and blogs to catch up on and gossip to read and hear. Hope you all have a great Monday!

Love (giggling in class),
Carrie